Page 5 of Ocean of Silver

But at least the window meant light, and that glimmer of the sun was my only salvation.

The cloudy nights when the moon didn’t appear became the times I prayed for death. When my cell was drenched in blackness—the soggy floor, the distant dripping of water, the small enclosed space—it felt like I was drowning in the tub. Endless. All over again. I couldn’t breathe those nights. I couldn’t break the surface of my perceived water prison to reach the light. The darkness surrounded me and trapped me down, and once again, my head was pressed against the tile beneath Kole’s menacing grip.

Once the sun rose, I would wake up shivering as the cold air hit my damp skin, drying my sweat. My body would shake uncontrollably as I waited to be fetched for my dailyquestioning.

Like clockwork, a Luxian guard would open my cell and drag my drained body into another room. In the beginning, they only asked questions. But it changed once they realized I wouldn’t speak. I dreaded that room and what it meant. It made me long to be curled up again on the floor of my drafty, cramped cage. But they never asked me why I was sent to Tennebris. No. They asked me questions about Sie—his weaknesses, his abilities, his family.

No matter how angry I was at him for leaving me to this fate, I could never give in. I could never tell them what they wanted to hear. I’d die soon enough anyway. All it would take was one guard to forget to call a healer after my session and then peace would finally find me. I could leave my body and this agony behind.

The door creaked open, and I sat up in my cell. It wasn’t large enough for me to stand. I couldn’t even stretch my legs out fully. All I could manage was to sit with my legs crossed or curl up into myself like a ball. The latter was my preferred position. I squinted at the blinding light breaking the darkness to see who my intruder was. It was too early for them to fetch me for the questioning. Stars still peppered the sky.

I managed to curl my lips in a small smile when I recognized the guard that entered. He had bright green eyes with a hint of brown in them. They reminded me of moss growing erratically on a tree trunk. It made me wish to be outside, to be anywhere but where I was. The guard reminded me of Peter. Except instead of a mop of blonde waves, his hair was Vallie’s firecracker red.

He was the only nice guard in the rotation of the men I saw. He bent down with bread and water in tow. My eyes were fixated on the food like a moth seeking damnation to flames. My mouth started to salivate uncontrollably. My dry lips cracked. This green-eyed guard was the only one who brought me food that wasn’t rotten or moldy. Most days, he was the only one who bothered to bring me any food at all.

I knew I shouldn’t eat it. If I stopped eating, my body would fail me. This agony would be over. That was what I wanted, right?

My stomach grumbled as I grabbed the small loaf before he could change his mind. He lingered by my cell, watching me as I inhaled the food in seconds. His eyes darted to my mouth as I licked my hands for any lingering crumbs. I didn’t think about the layers of dirt embedded into my nails as I slid each finger between my lips.

“Thank you,” I mumbled as I gulped down the small amount of water too fast. The bread stirred in my stomach and threatened to come back up. He gave a curt nod before turning back around, leaving me entirely alone. He never spoke and half of me was happy for that. I sometimes pretended he was Peter when all I would focus on were his eyes. And I was too scared that his voice would ruin my delusion. That as soon as I heard the guard speak and it wasn’t my friend, I’d have to admit that he wasn’t coming for me, that everything wouldn’t be okay.

When Kole drug me back to my cell in Tennebris after I first found out my fate, I was elated. I felt the curled up piece of paper that Peter had left for me in his coat.Hold on.That was all it said. Those two little words. But it gave me hope. It made me believe that he’d come for me. That he was going to save me just like he had in my dreams.

But then I was brought out in front of everyone to annul my marriage with Sie. And the next thing I knew, I was here in Lux, and it was too late. I woke up in a new prison with a new outfit on. Peter’s coat and note were gone along with the dream of escaping. Peter wouldn’t get me out of here. So whatever comfort I found in the Luxian guard was my own doing. It was the small part of me that wasn’t giving up.

I didn’t know how long I dozed off after that, but voices stirred me from my restlessness and when I forced my eyes open again. The sun was beginning to replace the night.

“Tezya, you’re here. We were just about to take her for another session,” one of the guards on rotation boasted proudly.

“Session?” a low voice growled.

“Yes, sir, per the King’s request. We have been trying for weeks now to coax any information out of her regarding the Dark Prince, but she won’t say a word no matter what we do to her,” the Luxian guard responded, but now he had a slight quiver to his voice. He sounded petrified, and in the twenty-seven days I’d been here, I had never encountered a Luxian guard who was scared before. They were all callous and merciless.

I couldn’t bother to tilt my head up all the way as the stranger came into view. I glanced slightly to see tanned, muscular calves hovering behind the bars of my cell. I was sure they would hurl me to my feet soon enough. I was curled up in my usual fetal position, but I didn’t care. It was all the space would allow for anyway. All I cared about was keeping the bread in my stomach down and not throwing it up.

The stranger spoke again, “This is her?”

The guard scurried over to my cell. “Yes, this is the prisoner from Tennebris.” I sat up then, finally taking in my surroundings and who the owner of the deep voice was.

The guard by my cell had the sun symbol of Lux over the center of his leathered uniform. I recognized him from mytorturesessions. He liked to smile as he flayed my back open until he was forced to call upon a healer to keep me from the brink of death. But his usual smug grin wasn’t plastered on his face this time.

Another guard stood toward the back of the room by the door. Squinting, I looked closer and saw the flash of red, then the green eyes. A worried expression flashed across his face as he glanced between the stranger and me.

That was when I noticed him. The owner of the calves. He wore loose-fitting black pants that stopped halfway down his legs. The material bunched up like it needed to go further down but couldn’t fit past his massive calves. He wore a baggy white shirt that fell over his pants, tucked in only on one side. And he was tall, about a head taller than the other two guards in the room. Every inch of him was corded and defined in muscle. I couldn’t help but notice how the guards recoiled slightly in his presence. My torturer was cowering, his previous arrogance and cockiness gone. But this stranger didn’t wear the Luxian guard uniform. He looked disheveled, like he had just gotten out of bed.

His hair was bone-white and shaved around the base of his skull, with long, thick strands falling at the top of his head, just covering his eyes. The messy locks favored his right side. He was attractive, as far as my jumbled brain could tell. But I couldn’t take my eyes off of his face. A thick, jagged scar went from the bridge of his nose to behind his right jaw past my view. I briefly wondered how far the scar continued until I realized I was gawking at him.

“If you’re here to beat me, you are going to have to get in line,” I spat at the stranger. Something about the way he assessed me made me unnerved. He opened the cell door and stepped inside. Well, squatted inside. He didn’t fit.

He was eye level with me now as my attention veered from his scar to his crystal blue eyes. He shook his head, causing his messy white mop of hair to spring clear of his vision. They were so clear and light that I swore I saw glimpses of silver in them.

Up close, I could really look at him, and he was the most striking and haunting male I ever saw. I stiffened as his pale stare pinned me to my spot. He clearly did not like my tone, and now I was worried that he really was going to beat me. And judging by his broad shoulders, thick muscles, and the way he composed himself—I might actually cave.

I averted my attention from his face as my eyes darted across his defined chest and strong arms. He must be in the guard with the amount of scars that covered his body. A five was branded onto his wrist, indicating that he was powerful and strong within Lux. I was getting used to seeing a lot fives.

The stranger spoke again but didn’t turn his attention away from me as he said, “You are no longer allowed to torture this girl. Tennebris finally sent over a compulsion user. I’m here to bring her to the King.”

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