Page 13 of The Death King

I couldn’t live with myself if I had the opportunity to give her a better life but chose not to.

“I’m waiting, sweetheart.”

I forced my gaze to his and tried to think of a happy moment in my life. One of those times when my father told me he loved me before he left for a day’s ride. Or when my mother cupped my cheeks and kissed my forehead. I tried to think of real love, love that I’d only known briefly. “I—I love you.” I hated myself the moment I said it, wished I were dead, wished I could take it back. But what was done was done.

That disturbing smile returned to his face, gloating and arrogant, full of malice and pleasure. “Good girl.”

I made the long journey back down the ladder, very aware of the general inside me, poisoning me with his cruel possession. I went down that ladder every morning without the bitter taste in my mouth—but this time was different.

When the diggers realized I’d returned, they all paused in their work to look at me, surprised that I’d returned after being granted freedom. They exchanged looks with one another and, unable to bottle their shock, whispered to each other.

I walked back to my corner section where Amelia stood, her shovel clasped in both of her hands. Like everyone else, she was initially surprised, but when she read the look on my face, she knew.

She fucking knew.

The guards followed me and stopped when I reached Amelia.

I dropped my gaze and looked at the sand for a moment, where my bones would be buried someday. That night in the bathtub could have been my last—and I should have made it so. My eyes lifted to meet hers again. “Go.”

She shoved the spade into the sand so the shovel stood upright then walked to me. “What happened?” she whispered, glancing behind me to look at the guards who waited for the exchange.

It was hard to say it out loud, that my freedom had been denied by a man who refused to ever let me go. If he’d never been stationed here, I would be free. If I just had a different look, I would be free. “He won’t let me go.” My voice cracked with unshed tears as I spoke. I compartmentalized my experiences for survival, focused on the next step of my plan rather than the abuse I’d already endured. But my strength had waned, and I felt myself crumble into pieces.

Amelia inhaled a heavy breath at my announcement, anger flooding into her pretty features. Her eyes were like daggers when she was furious—and right now, the tips were sharp. She clearly didn’t know what to say. Otherwise, she would have run her mouth like she always did.

“Go.” I nodded to the guards behind me. “If it can’t be me, I want it to be you.”

She took another deep breath as her eyes glanced past me to the ladder, the escape to freedom. For just an instant, her eyes glimmered with excitement and hope, but the minute she looked at me again, those emotions were snuffed out like a dying fire. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

She embraced me with a hard squeeze, pulling me close and giving me as much support as she could in such a brief interaction, enough of her love to get me through the harsh loneliness I was about to endure. “Don’t give up, alright?” She pulled away and gripped me by both arms.

I nodded. “Live your life…and think of me.”

Heavy drops formed in her eyes, growing bigger and shaking every time her eyes shifted their gaze. When she blinked, the moisture was finally released from the surface of her eyes, and the tears slid down her cheeks like raindrops against a window. After she gave me a final squeeze, she walked past me…and took my place.

2

CALISTA

I held the shovel in my hand and stared at the sand, the beads of sweat starting at the nape of my neck and sliding down my spine. Every morning, my hair was clean and weightless, but by the end of the workday, it was like a knotted bird’s nest because the strands had been soaked in sweat before they dried into twigs.

I stared at the sand, unsure if I could plunge my shovel inside for another scoop. Even if I beat the odds and found another black diamond, it would grant someone else’s freedom and not mine, and that was poor motivation.

General Titan said I didn’t have to come out here, and maybe I should accept that offer. With Amelia gone and no incentive to work, I had no purpose down here. But if I didn’t come, my only purpose would be as his slave.

And that somehow seemed worse.

“Roooaaaaarrrrrr.”

I immediately dropped to my knees at the sound and looked up to the sky. Instead of seeing the bright-blue sky, I saw darkness, frost against the windows, torches bright in the distance. I felt the castle shake even though the sand was still. Then I blinked, and the blue sky was back—and I saw the mighty dragon pass.

It had happened in the blink of an eye, a flash of black scales glimmering in the sunlight, a beast so large it completely blocked out the view from the pit as it passed overhead.

The sand beneath my feet shook a moment later, a small earthquake that upended most of the people in the pit. Shovels fell flat against the sand, and people screamed in fright. I was already on my knees, so I didn’t topple over like everyone else.

“Rooooaaaaarrrrrr.”

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