He bucked beneath my touch, his head thrown back in a silent scream. Though I couldn’t see the changes occurring in his body, I could feel them. Bones, sinew, and muscle all stitching themselves back together. His body healed itself at an accelerated rate, using my strength and energy as its power source. The room spun around me, and I clenched my eyes shut, growing weaker and weaker by the second.
“Kaleah!” Cassie cried, but I ignored her. I wasn’t done. Ryker still needed more, just a little bit. . . more.
His arms finally released me, and I gasped as he shoved me away. Too weak to catch myself, I tumbled backward, grateful when Cassie caught me. She hugged me close, and I slumped against her chest.
“Are you okay?” Cassie murmured into my hair. I managed half a nod before giving up, too weak to lift my head. Even opening my eyes was a chore, but I forced myself to do so.
Ryker watched me, his chest heaving. He still leaned against the wall, but was no longer slumped over in a disheveled heap and a moment later he struggled to his feet and stared down at me. What did he see? Did he regret his decision to save me? His earlier shove suggested so, and I couldn’t deny that act had hurt. His hand twitched as if he wanted to sign something, but thought better of it, and he turned away.
I watched him leave, confusion twisting my exhausted frame. I couldn’t understand the strange look he’d had in his eyes. It wasn’t anger or even hate. It was fear.
13
Poison
Everymuscleinmybody screamed in protest, and I tried not to wince with each step down the palace hall. “Where are we going?”
The empress didn’t answer or look back from where she strode before me, golems and guards encircling us completely.
“And why is it so important that you dragged me out of bed?” I muttered, my question falling on deaf ears. A day had passed since I’d healed Ryker, and I still felt like I’d actually been trampled by that chaotic golem. If only recovering was as simple as healing. Lilitha had yet to acknowledge my efforts to save my intended, nor had she commented on the last day I’d spent mostly in bed, recovering my strength. A part of me hoped she’d leave it be, while another more selfish part wished she would recognize my success. And that maybe I wasn’t so foolish after all. Or useless.
The clinking of armor and pounding of marching steps halted. I sighed, coming to a blissful stop. Blinking back the fog in my exhausted brain, I did a double take, not recognizing our surroundings. I hadn’t paid the slightest bit of attention to where we’d been going and stared up at a massive metal door.
“Wait here,” the empress directed our entourage while two golems moved to pry open the heavy door. It swung outward, releasing a waft of rancid air from the darkness beyond and making me gag. She motioned me forward before passing through the entry. Marshal flanked her, but the rest stayed where they were, lining the hallway.
I gulped and, taking a breath through my mouth to avoid a bit of the stale air, followed. Sconces lit the way down a set of narrow steps. Stone walls replaced the familiar palace wood ones, and a dampness chilled my bones. I shuddered, rubbing my bare arms. The stairs ended a short way down, opening into a large chamber. I gasped. Two rows of cells—all empty, thankfully—stretched before me in the dim flickering light on either side of a thin thoroughfare.
“The dungeons?” I whispered, my already uneasy stomach continuing to churn.
“Yes, Kaleah,” my mother finally addressed me. “Now will you come along? We haven't got all day, and there’s a question I would have you answer before you collapse in a useless heap.” Useless. There was that word again.
She and her guards moved down the path separating the cages and, ducking my head, I trudged after them. The last thing I wanted to do was to be left behind in a place I was more than certain was haunted. Not looking too close at my horrifying surroundings, we reached the end of the cells, our path barred by yet another metal door. Marshal yanked it open, and the iron hinges protested, followed by a miserable moan and a waft of even fouler air.
“Ah, it would seem our guest is awake,” Lilitha purred, following Marshal into the chamber beyond. I darted after them, shivering as the fear and cold got the better of me. Light filled the circular stone room, the sconces on the walls revealing a gruesome sight.
A large table-like structure took up the center space, covered in empty straps and chains, along with an assortment of other tools I averted my eyes from, not wanting to even think about their purposes.
Chained manacles hung from the walls at even intervals, all empty save one. A filthy man hung on the far side of the room, his brown skin covered in sweat and dirt. A mat of tangled black hair covered most of his face until he lifted his head. Blazing gold eyes bore into the empress, his blood covered teeth bared in a snarl.
An Outlander. My eyes widened. “You caught the assassin who went after my father?”
“Yes, dear.” Lilitha smiled. “No one who threatens me can ever escape my wrath. In the end, I always win.”
The Outlander jerked forward against his restraints, yelling in a language I didn’t understand.
“Have you had enough, heathen?” The empress raised a thin eyebrow, crossing her arms. “Ready to tell us who sent you and your brother and what purpose you had for attempting to kill my bonded?”
“You will never break me.” He switched to common tongue and spit, missing my mother by several paces.
A sneer curled her lip. “Oh, but I think I will.” Sweeping up her silver skirts into one hand, she crossed the stone floor to the table. Her eyes lingered over the objects there before she picked up a small instrument with a needle tip.
“Before we continue, though, Kaleah, come here.”
A heavy weight settling on my chest, I forced my aching limbs to move. I couldn’t pry my gaze from the miserable sight of the furious man as I came to a stop at her side.
“Now, dear, tell me. Is this not the man who tried to kill you the night of the Harvest Festival?”
Taking a deep breath, I stared across the room, gazing into the eyes of a man who wanted me dead. His gold eyes stared back, but no matter how hard I looked, or how much I wanted them to be the same eyes I’d seen that night, I already knew my answer and exactly who those eyes belonged to.