Page 78 of The Throne's Undoing

Then, more voices joined in the fray, repeating her name round and round. It was as if a hundred voices spoke her name into the air simultaneously, varying tones layered on top of one another.

Kalisandre. Kalisandre. Kalisandre.

Her name was a hiss on their lips, a whisper in the air, a shout in her ears.

But as her name spun around her head, one voice stripped itself from the others.

"All you had to do was listen, Kalisandre. Was that truly so hard?"

The frigid air nipped at her ankles, causing a shudder to run down her spine as she recognized the voice by the disdain dripping from it.

"Father?" Kallie croaked, her throat dry. "What--what are you doing here?"

But Kallie received no answer as an ice-cold breeze swept in, sending a chill over her flesh.

"Father?" Kallie called out into the void, her heart pounding.

This time a second voice called out to her. "What did you do, Kalisandre?"

She could almost pinpoint the owner of the voice. But when the name was at the tip of her tongue, a finger brushed her chin and swept it away. Although she could not see him, she felt herfather staring at her with disapproval as the scent of whiskey drowned out the other scent lingering in the air.

"Such potential," her father hissed in her ear, and she shuddered.

Kallie could feel him tip her chin up, yet she saw nothing. No distinguishable shadows danced before her face. Yet he was there. She knew it.

"If only you listened..."

Kallie tried to swallow and clear her throat, but her mouth was too dry. "Father, I didn't--"

"Do not lie to me!" Domitius's voice roared throughout the tenebrious space.

The cold air licked Kallie's legs, and frost wrapped around her ankles. She didn't know where it was coming from. All she knew was that its icy tendrils were creeping up her calves and twisting around her limbs.

"Do you not remember what I have done for you?" Domitius demanded, his breath cold on her neck.

"Father, please. I--"

"Kals," a pair of voices whispered, one feminine and one masculine, both soaked with sorrow.

When Kallie turned toward the pair, her father called her attention back to him. "Who has cared for you all this time, Kalisandre?"

"Kals," the voices repeated.

Kallie's head swiveled. She searched the darkness for the source, but there was nothing. No one.

Notes of lavender and mint wrapped around Kallie.

"Trust me, Kals," a voice as sweet and bright as the first morning in the spring said.

"Myra?" Kallie croaked.

"This is for your own good," Myra whispered. And as sweet as her words were, they were sour in the air.

Suddenly, something tugged at her core, and Kallie blinked, straightening, as another voice spoke. Although it was quieter than the others, it sounded even louder in her ears.

"Never forget who you are."

Kallie's throat seized as her heart ricocheted against her ribcage.

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