Page 52 of Queen of Vengeance

I was so used to the feeling of them that even just the sound caused my body to react. I stood stark still, not even allowing myself to breathe as the guard walked past my cell, dragging his torture prod against the metal bars.

Only after he left did I relax.

“Good morning, Lea.” A soft, sweet voice came from the shadows of the cell where most of my cellmates still slept.

I knew right away that it was Dineta.

The stale breath I held in left my lungs as I whispered, “Morning.”

Dineta was my saving grace in this hellish life I was forced to live. She was my closest companion, although I had become close to most of my cellmates and even the people of my neighboring cells.

“Did you see they brought someone new in last night? Threw him in our cell. As if we have the room!” She struggled to keep her voice down as she expressed her exasperation.

“They threw someone else in here?” I was surprised that it didn’t wake me up. I was usually a very light sleeper.

“Man, were you really that knocked out last night?” she questioned before someone else stirred awake in the cell.

“Where am I? What am I doing here?” The man speaking wasn’t someone I recognized. It must have been the newbie.

I slowly brought myself to my feet and looked in their direction, crossing my arms to assert authority. “Welcome to cell 386. My name is Lea. What are you in for?”

I also heard the man shuffle to his feet and saw his face.

He was a younger man with dark brown eyes, but that was all I could see in this dim light.

“Damn, I guess that means they finally caught me.” He seemed to mumble to himself more than to me. Once he collected his thoughts, he looked back up and approached me. “My name is Miller.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering why he failed to answer my question about why he was there. I wouldn’t trust him until I knew what kind of person he was. “What is your crime?”

Dineta jumped to her feet and laughed off my curt interrogation. “Don’t mind Lea, she’s been here long and is very cautious. You’ll be safe here with us for the time being. Just don’t do anything to piss off the guards. There won’t be anything we can do to help you if you do.”

“Why do you want to know what my crime is so badly? We’re all in the same prison, which makes us all monsters.” Miller chose to keep his focus on Lea and ignore what Dineta said.

I took a step closer to him and crossed my arms tighter. “We might all be in the same prison, but not all the same. There are people here who deserve to be here. Though it isn’t very many, it does happen. I need to know if I must watch my back with you.”

Miller raised his hands in defeat. “Alright, it’s better to stay on your good side. So I’ll tell you. Let’s just say I angered a wealthy and powerful man. I was framed for writing illegal potion recipes and thrown in here without trial.”

“That’s very similar to what happened to Lea.” Dineta volunteered the information despite my glaring look.

“Not just me. There seems to be a lot of people in prison here, framed for things they didn’t do… People who opposed the rich and powerful.” I moved the conversation away from me.

“I heard rumors of such things happening, but I had never experienced it firsthand until now. That would explain why so few people from poorer towns will visit the capitol. There’s even been a drop of people pursuing potion writing or mixing.” Miller raised his hand, rubbing his chin with his pointer, finger, and thumb. “I never imagined it would happen to me. I thought, surely the people who ended up here deserved it.”

The air went stale and silent between us.

I can’t believe it. This entire prison is overrun with people who didn’t deserve to be here. It’s even common knowledge that this is happening, and no one has been able to stop it. I don’t even know if anyone’s trying to.

My mind is filled with thoughts of my loved ones.

They’d been waiting all this time for me to come home, but it doesn’t look like I’ll ever come home.

I was trapped in here like some kind of purgatory all because of that monster…

Jaricn Ransom. If I ever get out of here, so help me, Lunaira, I will hunt him down and kill him for what he’s done to me.

“Nadir!”

I was so distracted with Miller that I didn’t realize one of the guards had approached the cell.

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