Free Betrayed by Claire Robyns

door was kept filled with ale throughout the day and night.
    “I’m not cold and heartless.” She snorted her captor’s ridiculous denial out loud. “Then try feeding me now and then.”
    At least she was clothed. She’d found her gown tossed into a corner and had even managed to beggar a needle from a young serving girl who’d come in to tidy the chamber for Krayne. She smoothed her hands down the uneven seam that she’d stitched down the front, not particularly caring that she looked like a crumpled scarecrow.
    Amber came to an abrupt stop before the closed door. She was dressed, and hunger was an excellent excuse to seek Krayne out. Tentatively she reached for the knob. To her surprise and relief, it opened. In the dark passageway, she waited until her eyes adjusted. The wall was racketed with evenly spaced torches, all unlit at this time of day. There was only one way to go. To the right, the passage appeared to come to an abrupt end.
    Shoulders back, chin high, Amber strode down the passageway, looking for the world as if she belonged. No one stopped her. She hardly dared believe it.
    When she reached the top of a winding stairway, Amber hesitated. Krayne would not hear her out. He’d just haul her back to that infernal chamber and slam the door in her face. More likely lock her in this time. Was she missing her last opportunity to escape? Then she recalled Krayne’s face when he’d informed her that he would catch her again, and she started down the steps.
    The sounds and aromas from the great hall reached her long before she turned the last spiralling bend. The castle was taking its midday meal. Keeping to the wall shadows, Amber walked slowly as she scanned the rows of trestle tables for Krayne. Serving women strode up and down the aisles, bantering with the men as they went. Everyone else was too busy eating and talking to notice Amber. Or so she thought, until she reached the end of the hall and turned to find Krayne right behind her.
    “Going somewhere?”
    Amber swallowed her startled gasp and smiled at him. “I was looking for you.”
    He watched her carefully, saying nothing.
    And suddenly Amber didn’t know what to say either. She should have planned this conversation beforehand. How could she make him hear her this time? She considered softening him with a seductive smile, but only briefly. She already knew he wasn’t interested in her feminine charms. So she set her shoulders back and looked him in the eye. “We must talk. I know you hold no faith in a Jardin’s word, but I was born and raised in England. My uncle sent my father away—”
    “I’m well aware of yer family’s politics.”
    “Then you must know my uncle despises me.”
    “He brought ye back ta Applegarth.”
    “He believed I could break the curse!”
    “Curse?” Krayne grabbed her upper arm, keeping her pressed to his side as he walked them both back down the length of the hall. “I can hardly wait ta see what ye come up with next.”
    “My uncle will never exchange Stivin for me.” Amber dug her feet in, but Krayne simply pulled her along. “He wants me dead!”
    “The exchange is tomorrow, Amber.”
    “He won’t give you Stivin.”
    “Yer stories grow more colourful by the second.” Krayne sighed his annoyance. “’Tis one day. One more day ta suffer confinement fer the sake of yer beloved Stivin.”
    “Are you deaf?” shrilled Amber. “Or just plain stupid?”
    He yanked her arm. Amber lurched forward, and then forgot all about convincing him as she saw they’d reached the foot of the spiral stairway.
    “Wait,” she said as he hauled her up the first step.
    Krayne looked down on her with stony eyes. “What is it now?”
    She arched a brow at him. “I’m hungry. Am I not too valuable to starve?”
    “Forgive me, lass. I must have assumed ye too distraught ta eat after the hardships I’ve put ye through.” Krayne turned and led her back into the hall.
    “Are your assumptions always so far off the