Page 52 of Daughter of Shadows and Ash

Fear clawed at my throat as they strapped me to an ice-cold metal table, its surface slick with condensation. The restraints bit into my wrists and ankles with brutal efficiency. I reached deep within myself, desperately trying to call forth my shadows, that familiar darkness that had always come when I needed it most. Nothing happened. The emptiness where my power should have been gaped like an open wound in my chest, and panic bloomed fresh and sharp in its place.

"Ah, ah," the figure tsked, lips curling into a serpentine smile. Their voice dripped with honeyed venom that sent shivers down my spine. They held up a vial of shimmering liquid, turning it this way and that so the contents caught the harsh light above. Rainbow like tendrils writhed within the glass, hypnotic and deadly. "A little concoction to keep your powers at bay.Fascinating how it works, really. The way it binds to your very essence, like a lock without a key."

Terror clawed up my throat, a living thing that threatened to burst through my ribs as they began their twisted experiments. Each probe, each precise incision carved away pieces of my soul, as if they were trying to peel back layers of my soul along with my flesh. I thrashed against my restraints until hot blood traced burning trails down my wrists, the metallic scent of blood mixing with antiseptic and fear.

"Stop!" I screamed. The word ripped from my throat like shattered glass, tears carving burning trails down my temples into my hair. "Please!" Defeat tasted like bitter ash on my tongue.

My pleas echoed uselessly against stone walls. As agony clawed deeper into my flesh, my mind fractured, desperately seeking escape in buried memories. My screams faded to nothing.

Reality splintered like broken mirror shards, each piece reflecting fragments of a past I'd fought to bury.

Through the fog of torment, a voice pierced the darkness. Familiar. Impossible. My name, whispered in tones I knew better than my own heartbeat. The sound brushed against my mind like a gentle touch, a lifeline in an ocean of pain.

The comfort vanished like smoke between my fingers as fresh agony ripped through me, pulling me under.

In a heartbeat, I was young again, racing through woods where sunlight danced between leaves. Maël's laughter rang pure and bright around me as we chased each other toward our sanctuary. The ancient oak reached for us with gnarled branches, its trunk scarred with years of our climbing. Wild honeysuckle and fresh moss filled my nose, a memory so vivid it made my heart ache.

"Come on, Lor!" he called, his fingers finding each familiar handhold with practiced ease as he scaled the trunk. "I bet you can't catch me!" Sunlight filtered through the leaves, turning his brown hair to molten gold.

A grin spread across my face as I accepted his challenge, my small hands finding purchase on the rough bark. We would spend hours in that tree, our legs dangling from the highest branches we dared climb, whispering our dreams and fears into the wind. The future stretched before us like an endless road we thought we'd walk together.

The memory rippled and changed, pulling me to the training grounds years later. Maël's brown eyes sparked with mischief as he feinted left, catching me off guard. Morning light caught the sweat on his skin, turning each droplet into liquid gold.

"You're getting slow, little hunter," he taunted, flashing that crooked smile that never failed to make my heart stumble in its rhythm.

I lunged forward, my dagger finding its mark into his leather vest. "Not slow enough for you," I shot back, both of us smirking. Our bodies moved in perfect sync, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin, smell the woodsy scent that was uniquely Maël. The clash of steel against steel sang around us, a deadly dance we'd perfected over years of shared history.

The memory shattered, dissolving like morning mist. My stomach lurched as the past rearranged itself, the warmth of that training session violently replaced by the grandeur of my wedding day. The great hall of the Sun Palace glittered beneath thousands of crystals, each one catching and fracturing light into kaleidoscope patterns. I remembered how my heart had thundered when I saw Oryn waiting for me at the end of that sea of faces, his golden hair crowned by actual sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows, his ceremonial whites making him look like a god descended from the heavens.

His smile lit up the hall as he claimed my hands in his. "My mate," he breathed, those light eyes filled with a promise I foolishly believed. In that moment, our bond had hummed between us like a living thing, filling my chest with golden warmth and the taste of citrus on my tongue. Now, the memory of his touch carved new wounds into my chest, more brutal than any torture. How quickly that golden prince had turned to shadow, leaving nothing but ashes where our love had burned.

My body trembled on the cold metal table, tears mixing with blood as the memories threatened to break me completely.

Like a twisted game of the gods, they had given me perfect happiness before snatching it away.

His betrayal pressed against my lungs like a stone, stealing my breath.

Every heartbeat drove invisible blades deeper between my ribs.

Bound to this frozen table, I suffered while my husband, my mate, stood with my tormentors.

Where his presence once burned bright in my mind, our bond now lay cold and empty.

Were the gentle touches lies? The soft promises false? Had he ever truly seen me as his everything?

Warm blood traced patterns down my arm where metal bit into skin.

The cuts and bruises meant nothing against the raw wound in my soul.

This dungeon would become my tomb, my body left to their cruel curiosity.

Maël wouldn't come, lost in the years between us. Oryn wouldn't come, his love nothing but deceit.

Black mist crawled across my sight as their poison spread through my veins.

I embraced the darkness, praying for endless sleep. Oblivion seemed kinder than living with his betrayal.

Chapter 38

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