Natalia’s POV
I couldn’t sleep in this horrible place, so I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what the ring did. It was so small and dainty that the ruby was hardly the size of a pebble. When I held it up to the dim light, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary; no hunger emanating from it, no light flickering within. Still, I had to try.
I bound it to myself with a tiny pinprick from my finger. Hardly any blood came out with how exhausted, dehydrated, and malnourished I was, but eventually, a single drop fell onto the ruby when I squeezed my fingertip.
Then, I slipped it onto my finger and focused on the stone, willing it to do something. Anything.
But nothing happened. Each time I tried, the ruby remained cold and lifeless. I began to wonder if it wasn’t enchanted, an
