The Dragon Prince The City of Smoke and Night

Chapter Twelve Miyana Alone

Miyana remembered the Sunfire Elf ghost stories about Charringmoure. Ephai had been banished to the city for his treachery against the House of Gentlekind, where he had ruled the city with an iron fist before he was sentenced to an eternal slumber for his crimes against Lux Aurea and kidnapping and enslaving innocent women and girls, elven and human. Now he had awakened from his sleep and she was living proof that he was continuing his ritual. The only question in her head was why did he want her to be his queen when he was infamous for his misogyny. She was gazing out the window of her chamber at the city. It was more desolate than it was described in the stories she had heard. The city looked like it was made entirely out of black gold shrouded by smoky fog. There were no trees or life of any kind. The whole place stank of smoke, burned skin, and distasteful water from the roily moat that surrounded the city. Even the sky hanging above was sunless and murky. As far as Miyana could tell, this place was the opposite of Lux Aurea, while Lux Aurea once radiated beauty, radiance, and the military might of her people, but Charringmoure demonstrated nothing but dreariness, darkness, and coldness. Today was the first day after Ephai had brought her here. Now, staring at the window in the dim glow of a hazy sky, Miyana wondered what her captor had in store for her. The door swung open and a shadowy figure stalked gracefully into the room like a snake seeking its prey. Ephai leaned in toward Miyana and touched her shoulder, his fingers rough on her skin. She recoiled in shock. "Charringmoure is a sight to behold, isn't it?" he said as he smiled at the city. "It may not be as glorious as Lux Aurea before it came into ruins but I call it home." Miyana was too afraid to reply. This man standing before her had taken her away from Karim with the intention of making her his bride. She mustered up the courage to ask him why he dropped by her chamber. "I just came to see if you're comfortable," he replied smoothly. "I strived to treat my past servant girls well because I feel they have an honor in serving me." She looked around her chamber. It was a vast, simple room with unadorned black marble walls and a bed stood on top of a Hotcat rug. The bed had a lumpy mattress with bone white moth-eaten sheets. "I feel like I'm treated more like a prisoner than a guest," she said to him coolly. "The servant girl before you told me the same thing. They were too weak minded to realize how fortunate they are to work in the home of a well known figure from Lux Aurea's history," he sneered. "Unworthy, ungrateful wretches. But when I saw you at the tribunal for that human architect, I saw a potential far greater than those other women and girls I brought to my tower. You are cool headed, fiery, and a skilled warrior. With you as my queen, you will put all my previous servants to shame." "I don't care if you tried to torture me or force me to work here," Miyana said. "You may try to scare me into loving you but I'll never be your queen. My friends will come for me and your reign will be over." Ephai shrugged off her threat. "Well, once Karim is out of the way, we'll see how you feel." He used his medallion to summon three grotesque creatures with slimy red and black skin and bloodshot orange eyes. They had spindly bodies, pockmarked faces, and impish grins. "Go to the Sunfire Elves' camp, my Lava Walkers, and make sure Naima and her companions don't interfere with my plans," he ordered. They shambled out of the tower like zombies, their moans echoing off the walls. "My Lava Walkers may not be the fastest runners but they are devoted followers," Ephai sighed once they were gone. He reached his hand to Miyana's waist and pulled her in. "It's time I give you a tour of your new home." Terror washed over her as he led her down the hallway. He called Charringmoure her new home. On the walls were portraits that featured Ephai's past slave girls suffering torture or a painful death: a Skywing Elf woman tied to a tree while Ephai clipped her wings off of her back, a Moonshadow Elf girl who looked like the same age as Naima dancing for Ephai's amusement in shoes made of red hot coals, and a Neolandian noblewoman screaming in pain as Shadow Spiders crawled across her body. Some of the portraits showed elven servant girls, while others featured slave girls from the Human Kingdoms. One portrait caught Miyana's eye. It was a portrait of Ephai kissing a Katolian woman in a large garden. The woman's dark brown skin was tinged with gray. There was no denying it. Ephai was turning that woman into stone through a magical kiss. "Ah, I see you've found my favorite portrait," Ephai said, walking up to her side. "I caught that woman from Katolis from escaping my tower by trapping her in my garden. She begged me to let her go and she saw what I did to the others before her but I leaned in and told her that beauty was only skin deep and I had to get under hers to maintain my allure." "What did you do to her?" Miyana asked, terrified. Ephai smiled. "I kissed her and stole her life force, causing her to turn into a stone statue in my garden. Every time a servant girl tries to escape, I bring them to my garden and give them my petrifying kiss to steal their life force in order to keep myself from wasting away. And I know you won't escape from me, Miyana." He stroked a finger across her dumbstruck face. "What are you going to do with me?" she said quietly. "Now that I have all the emotions I need to power the Heart of Charringmoure, what purpose do I have for you? Since Karim was wracked with guilt when he found out he was a pawn of my plan, the thought of me making you my queen would break his spirit. Now, I don't want you to fall behind in your chores so allow me to help you get ready." He took a small pile of red amber powder and blew into Miyana's face. She coughed and wheezed until the dust was gone. She was draped in a faded brown caftan with matching shoes. "A perfect fit. This is the uniform every servant girl wore before you did. Now, run along." Ephai shoved her away. Throughout the day, Miyana scrubbed the floors, emptied the wastebasket of animal carcasses to the piranhas, (Ephai used both magical and non magical animal body parts for his potions), removed the flowers in the garden, and when she was gathering scum for Ephai's potions from the moat, a Bog Hyena poked its head out of the murky water and scared the daylights out of her and fell into the water. Soon Miyana came into her chamber, drenched in mud, weeds, and scum. She was aching from her head to her feet. She looked at her raw hands. Her nails were encrusted with grime. Tears sprung from her eyes like a breaking dam and she wept until she couldn't breathe. She couldn't lose hope. Karim would save her. She wiped her eyes and heard a scuffling sound. "Is someone there?" she asked. She hoped it was not Ephai, coming here to mock her. Something soft and fluffy touched the bottoms of her feet. She turned to see a fire fox looking at her with a sympathetic look. It had lush bright red and fiery orange fur, a black button nose, and cheerful golden eyes. "Hello, little one," she said, smiling at the fox. "Are you all alone?" The fox nodded. "I am too. But maybe we can keep each other company. What do you say?" With a happy bark, the fire fox jumped into Miyana's arms and licked her cheek gratefully. She laughed. "I think I'm going to call you Salana." Salana barked approvingly. "You and I are going to be great friends, Salana." Salana had become a ray of light to Miyana during her captivity in Ephai's tower as she gave her cuddles and she kept her warm on cold nights. "We'll be back together again, Karim," she said the third evening after she went into bed and Salana wrapped around her neck like a muffler. "I'll see you soon, my love." She dreamt that she and Karim were having a picnic under the golden willow of Lux Aurea in the royal garden despite the lumpy bed. She smiled through hopeful tears as she knew her friends would save her as long as she kept her chin up. While she was scrubbing the floor the next day, she heard Ephai raged at his followers for failing to stop Callum and his friends from heading to the Storm Spire to ask Zubeia for the city's location. "If Naima finds the map to Charringmoure, this could be the end of my reign of terror!" he yelled. Miyana smiled at his words. Ephai noticed this and snapped, "What are you smirking at?" She dropped her smile and continued scrubbing. "Forgive me for snapping at you, Miyana," Ephai replied. "I just don't want anything to ruin our special day. I wanted it to be perfect. Surely you understand that." "Yes," she said as she walked past him. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to go gather some ingredients for your spells," she lied. "Miyana." She turned to him and he glared daggers at her. "Never think about Karim. I'm your new true love now." She left to her chamber and she scribbled down a letter to Karim about her imprisonment in Charringmoure, Ephai's plan for her, and his kiss to turn women into stone. She ended the letter saying that even though he didn't mean what he'd said to her in his tent she knew that he could make things right for their people and for the both of them when the battle with Ephai was done and won.