Page 38 of The Throne's Undoing

"I believe Medenia," Graeson said finally. "If she says we are safe, we are safe."

"I should mention," Medenia interjected, dusting off her soiled slip as she stood, "that the previous humans Nyrri has interacted with have not been kind to her. If Nyrri senses that you wish her harm, she will not hesitate to act upon her instincts."

Nyrri pushed herself up, and though she held her wounded wing closely to her, the sharp teeth she revealed warned that she was still utterly a threat.

Emmett squealed.

Dani groaned, mumbling, "Yes, becausethatis comforting."

"There is nothing to fear. Even dogs were once wild creatures," Medenia assured, surveying the group. When her gaze caught on Graeson, she cocked her head and offered him a soft smile. "Sometimes we only need someone willing to understand us to help shed our cold exterior, do we not?"

Graeson shifted but remained silent.

"Very well," Dani said, though the skepticism was still present.

"What are we going to do with them?" Sylvia asked, calling everyone's attention to them. Sylvia pointed to Terin and Kalisandre, who remained unconscious on the ground.

With her arms crossed over her chest and brandishing a smug look, Dani turned to Graeson. The faint traces of the bruise around his neck heated beneath her gaze.

He pursed his lips. The bruise would fade quickly. He walked over and picked up Kalisandre. Once in his arm, her head slumped back, but otherwise, she did not stir.

In his arms, she was safe.

He inhaled, blowing it out slowly.

Turning toward his horse, he said to the others, "We ride onward and hope that Terin wakes up before she does."

Chapter 11

MYRA

Myra chokedon her tears as she looked at her parents kneeling on the ground of the throne room. Mynhos leaned against her, her little brother's sobs shaking them as they sat helplessly with the king's guards at their backs.

Mynhos hadn't stopped crying since the guards, clad in armor, had kicked down their front door that very morning. When their father had spotted the men heading for their house, their mother immediately peeled open the hidden door beneath the pantry, urging Myra and Mynhos to hide in the hole in the floor.

Afraid of what was to come, the children had begged their mother to stay with them. But the space was too small and could only fit the two children.

With a quick kiss to each of their cheeks, their mother shut them inside, and darkness swept over them, whispering of the coming danger. The siblings gripped each other as boots pounded atop them and shouts filled the humble bungalow.

Somewhere, porcelain shattered, and Myra could imagine the men throwing her mother's beautiful pottery across the dining room.

As the guards ransacked the home, Myra tried to reach out and shift the guards' emotions, but her brother's fear and her own consumed her. To keep his tears at bay and his sobs silenced, she poured all her energy into settling Mynhos's emotions. She tried so hard to keep them both silent. Sweat dripped from her forehead, mixing with her sweat. Her arms ached as she tugged Mynhos close.

But despite her efforts, the guards had still found them.

All the way to the castle, as their hands were tied behind their backs, their mouths gagged and eyes covered, Myra could only think one thing: if she was stronger, she could have saved them all.

But her well of power had long since dried up. Not an ounce of the gift granted to her by the gods--a gift that was quickly becoming a curse--remained.

Even still, Myra refused to give up.

As Mynhos and Myra were forced to sit and watch their parents be interrogated, Myra mustered all the strength she could. She reached out to her parents, to the guards, to the king, but they were all too far to reach.

When she pulled onto the fading threads floating in the air that connected to her brother beside her, Myra's own fear and anguish caused the thread to slip from her grasp. She yearned to hold onto him--to dosomething.But with her hands bound, she could only scoot as close as possible.

"We must give credit where it is due," the king said to her parents, kneeling shoulder to shoulder in front of him. "Your ability to escape the Crown's notice for so long is commendable."

Her father tipped his chin up, his blond curls soiled with dirt and blood, but it was her mother who spoke. "Do whatever you want to us, but please, leave them alone. They're just children."

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