A dripping noise coming from another cell kept me awake. The pitter-patter of the water rhythmically echoed through the entire place, giving me a pounding headache. If the elves wanted to torture me, they were succeeding.

  The orc in the cell next to me didn’t even try to sleep. The creature paced back and forth, sniffing the air and licking his chops where its bottom canine teeth protruded onto its ugly snout. I tried to ignore him, but he kept persisting at the edge of the cell. I could smell his foul breath, even from my cot.

  “Can you go drool over me somewhere else?” I asked, fed up with everything of the day. How had I gone from a potential hero, testing an experimental rocket that would lead to a golden age of space exploration for the U.S.A., to this all within twenty-four hours? It seemed absurd, and I kept hoping to fall asleep and wake up in real life, where this was all a dream.

  I had to actually fall asleep first.

  It was dark. Other than moonlight trickling in from high openings above each cell, small slits not large enough for a person to crawl through, we’d been left in darkness.

  With my eyes half open, I spotted a form at the front of my cell, a hooded figure who pulled her hood back in the darkness of the place to reveal her red hair and shining eyes, along with the glowing pendant around her neck, illuminating her face in the darkness-Lyrielle. She carried a small basket covered by a cloth. She carefully removed the cloth, draping it over her arm.

  “I brought you some food and drink,” she said.

  Skeptically, I peered at her for a moment before deciding to get up and move. My body ached from the abuse it had endured during the day. I needed rest for more reasons than my hopes this place was some kind of nightmare.

  I stepped forward, closer to her. Lyrielle had the scent of a flower bed, something much nicer than the orc breath I’d faced moments prior. Conversely, the ruffian elf in the cell also pressed against the bars.

  “You didn’t bring the rest of us food, sweetie?” the elf man asked.

  “I’m afraid not,” Lyrielle said firmly, not even looking in his direction.

  “You could give me something else sweet if you want to open the cell and come over here,” he said.

  Lyrielle flinched, though she didn’t respond.

  Seeing her irritation stirred something in me. I turned toward the jailed elf. “Listen, I’ve had the day from hell. And if you don’t butt out and mind your own business, you’re going to be in for a world of hurt.”

  “I’d like to see you try,” the jailed elf said, tapping the cell bars.

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  I stormed over in a hurry and smacked my open palm against the bars to make a loud clang. As I did so, the man backed away, tripping over himself and falling on his ass to hit the stone floor. It couldn’t have been comfortable.

  I chuckled to myself. “Serves you right. Now knock it off.”

  The elf turned away, seeming to be embarrassed by the situation.

  I returned my attention to Lyrielle, sliding over to stand before her.

  Her eyes shone at me with admiration. “You’re an honorable man, I could tell,” she breathed.

  “I do what I must,” I said. It sounded cliche when the words came out, but they also felt right. My heart started to beat a little faster at the sight of her. Amazing what a pretty face and a feminine demeanor could do to a man.

  She grabbed a piece of bread from the basket, holding it between the cell bars.

  I grabbed the bread. My stomach grumbled. It had been too long since I’d eaten. I’d been meaning to get the M.R.E.s out of the ship, but I never had the chance with Torven and his men stopping me.

  Even though it wasn’t the most refined of me, I devoured the piece of bread then. Crumbs fell from my face and on my hands, which I wiped on my space suit. I hadn’t realized how famished I’d been.

  Lyrielle giggled from where she stood. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  I raised a brow at her. “What’s a princess doing coming and feeding prisoners?”

  “Well, you’re not exactly a prisoner,” Lyrielle said.

  I motioned to the cell around me. “Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck…”

  Her forehead wrinkled into an expression of confusion.

  “Never mind.”

  She ran her hand back through her hair. “Regardless, I had a feeling about you, human.”

  “Call me John,” I said.

  “John,” she corrected herself. “That you’re important. I told you that your coming seemed to be an omen, one that could unite the elf clans together. We’ve been fighting each other for so long. It’s hurt our world.”

  “Sounds like your world and mine aren’t so different,” I said.

  She gave me a crooked smile. “Perhaps not. But I will bring you before the elders. I didn’t know that Torven would react so hostilely, you have to forgive him.”

  I shrugged. “If it’s his job to defend his princess, I get it.”

  “He’s the captain of our clan’s guard.” Lyrielle nodded. “But I felt compelled toward you for some reason. So far, my instincts have been right.”

  “What about this betrothed I heard about?” I asked.

  “Oh,” she said, bitterness dripping from her voice.

  “Yeah.”

  “We have a custom among royalty to be betrothed as youth. It’s part of politics to keep the tension between the clans down. I was given to Eodurn, but he is such a brute. I want no part of it.”

  “I see,” I said, not sure how I should react at this point. The girl obviously liked me, but I knew so little about her or her people—or even her world, for that matter. I didn’t want to get in over my head.

  Lyrielle glanced back down the hallway and then returned her attention to me. She held up the rune in her hand, its glowing light getting closer to her face, illuminating her beautiful features more brightly.

  “What is that?”

  “I don’t have time. I have to get back before I’m noticed, but come here,” she said.

  I did as she bid, and she pressed the stone against my forehead. She chanted something in Elvish I didn’t understand, but something tingled within my body when I did, almost like a surge of electricity going through me.

  “What did you just do?” I asked.

  “I have to go. I’ll see you on the morrow, John. The elders will side with me, I’m sure.” Without another word, she spun on her heels and glided with elegance down the corridor until she disappeared through the doorway.

  “You’ve got the affection of the princess,” the elf said in the cell beside you. “You’re a lucky one.”

  “Yeah, I don’t feel so lucky,” I said, retreating to the cot at the back of the cell and plopping down on it. It had been a hard day. I needed to try to get some sleep.