Page 51 of Daughter of Shadows and Ash

Chapter 36

The world spun as I woke on a cold stone floor. I groaned, my body aching from the struggle. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, the reality of my situation sank in.

The plush furnishings and warmth of my chambers had vanished. In their place, damp stone walls pressed closer with each breath, the air heavy with rot and decay.

I pushed myself up, hissing as the icy stone bit into my bare feet. The cold seeped through my skin, straight into my bones, making my teeth chatter uncontrollably. Chains rattled, and I realized with horror that my ankles were shackled, the iron heavy and unyielding against my skin. Just days ago, I'd lounged in silks surrounded by my beloved books, losing myself in tales of adventure and romance without a care in the world. Now fate had thrown me into this hellish place, and those peaceful moments felt like nothing more than a distant dream. I huddled against the wall, my thin nightgown offering no protection from the bone deep chill, and wrapped my arms around myself in a futile attempt to preserve what little warmth remained. The damp fabric clung to my skin like a second layer of ice, each breath visible in the frigid air.

Desperately, I reached for the familiar tendrils of shadow that usually came so easily to my call, but they slipped through my grasp like smoke. Whether from exhaustion or something more sinister, my power remained frustratingly out of reach. My chest tightened with panic as I clawed at that dark well inside me where my magic usually resided, finding nothing but hollow emptiness. The shadows that had always been my faithful companions, my weapons, my shields, now abandoned me when I needed them most. Each failed attempt left me more drained than the last, like trying to draw water from a dried up well with nothing but a broken bucket.

"Welcome to the royal dungeons," a rough voice echoed from the darkness.

I spun toward the sound, my heart thundering against my ribs. From the shadows emerged a man, his matted beard streaked with filth, his eyes burning with an unsettling gleam. His tattered prison clothes hung from his muscular frame like moth-eaten curtains, and the stench of unwashed flesh and the filth of the cells made my nose wrinkle. There was something not entirely right about him, something that made my instincts scream danger even without my shadows to warn me. Perhaps it was the way he moved, too fluid for someone who looked so decrepit, or how those fever bright eyes seemed to see straight through my carefully constructed walls.

"Who are you?" I demanded, forcing steel into my voice despite my fear.

A broken laugh rasped from his throat. "Just another forgotten soul in these depths. Though I suppose misery craves company."

His presence brought no comfort, only more questions that clawed at my mind. "Why are we here? Who imprisoned us?"

Something sinister crossed the man's features. "Who do you think? The sun blessed royals of Sunneva. After all, this is theirdungeon." He scoffed as if it were a waste of his time to even answer. "Don't you like what they've done to the place?"

Ice flooded my veins. "What do you mean? Prince Oryn would never allow me to be brought here."

He shuffled closer, narrowed eyes almost softening with pity. "Don't be so sure. No one is brought here by accident."

"No," the word tore from my throat as I backed away. "You're wrong about him. Oryn wouldn't—" My fingers curled into fists, nails biting crescents into my palms as bile rose in my throat.

Royals care only for their crowns. They'll crush anyone beneath their boots to keep their precious power.

Chains rattled as he dragged himself closer to the bars separating us. "They call me Rasher."

His words coiled around my mind like poison-tipped thorns, tainting every tender memory we'd created. I could barely whisper my name through numb lips as I pressed myself against the frigid wall, willing the stones to swallow me whole. Anything to escape the crushing weight of betrayal that threatened to shatter my chest.

The Oryn who had stolen my heart with soft caresses and earnest smiles that tasted of sunlight and citrus promises couldn't have betrayed me.

Yet doubt slithered through my mind like frost across glass, crystallizing into dark patterns across every shared smile, every whispered secret between us.

The mate bond in my chest ached, a hollow reminder of what we'd shared, or what I'd foolishly believed we'd shared.

I'd danced with death and played with fire, surviving against impossible odds.

But in this wretched pit, with betrayal burning like acid on my tongue, the walls of my resolve began to splinter.

If my golden prince had truly betrayed me, what hope remained in this darkness? My chest constricted as if boundby iron bands, each breath a battle against the weight of his betrayal. Shadows danced at the edges of my vision, mocking my powerlessness, I who commanded darkness now drowning in it. The cruel irony wasn't lost on me that his sunlight, which once warmed my cold heart, now threatened to burn everything we'd built to ash.

Chapter 37

The iron-bound door to my cell creaked open with an ominous groan that set my teeth on edge, and rough, calloused hands jerked me to my feet. I stumbled, my legs trembling and weak from days of confinement in this goddess-cursed dungeon. They dragged me down a dimly lit corridor, my heart pounding with each footfall echoing against cold stone. The torchlight cast dancing shadows on the damp walls, and I fought to keep my breathing steady as fear threatened to choke me. My captors' grip branded bruises into my skin, but I refused to give them the satisfaction of hearing me whimper.

We entered a cavernous room, the ceiling vanishing into darkness overhead. The space was dominated by a figure shrouded in shadows, their form a wraith-like silhouette against the far wall. As they shoved me forward, my bare feet catching on jagged stone, I caught a glimpse of gleaming instruments on nearby tables, metal that glinted wickedly in the torchlight like a predator's smile. My stomach churned, bile rising in my throat as I recognized implements whose only purpose was to torture.

"Well, well... if it isn't the famed princess," a silky voice slithered from the darkness, each word dripping with poisonedhoney that made my skin crawl. "I've been waiting so long for this moment."

Their voice carried an accent as old as the forgotten kingdoms, refined yet corrupted, like something beautiful left to rot.

Drawing on what little strength remained, I forced steel into my voice despite the terror flooding my veins. "Who are you? What could you possibly want?" The words burned like cinders on my tongue.

The figure glided into the torchlight, revealing features carved by cruel curiosity. Those predatory eyes cut through me like knives, calculating and cold. Their lips twisted into something that might have passed for a smile on another face, but here it promised only agony. Dark skin inked with a glittering substance glinted in the light, jagged swirls framed their face and flowed down their neck disappearing beneath their coat. "Your magic calls to me. Such extraordinary power. I must know every secret it holds." Their fingers danced across the gleaming instruments with terrible tenderness.

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