Page 92 of Daughter of No Worlds

“Show me.”

Zeryth opened the door.

Chapter Thirty-One

Isteeled myself with such ferocity that it took me a moment to realize that the wisp of a body lying in the bed in front of me was not Serel.

No — that was a head of fiery copper hair, resting on that pillow, face turned away from me. And the arms that extended over the layers of blankets were long and gangly, not Serel’s lean, tanned muscles.

My mind stalled, unsure whether I was disappointed or relieved. But whatever whirring thoughts began materializing within me froze when the figure in the bed turned their face to look at me.

I clamped my teeth down on a gasp.

For a split second, I didn’t even think the face that greeted me was human.

But he was human. He was an old friend.

I swallowed my shock. Smoothed my voice into something so calm and melodic that I thought it had to belong to someone else. “Vos,” I breathed, in Thereni. “I’m so happy to see you.”

I saw only a glimmer of surprise in Vos’s eyes. Even that was easy to miss, mostly because it was impossible not to be distracted by the two gaping, triangular holes where his nose once was. Or the burn withering the freckled skin of his right cheek. Or the scar that traveled across his mouth, splitting his top lip in two.

No. Eyes. Look at the eyes. Those are the same.

The same as the last time I saw him: when I lied to him about my departure at Esmaris’s stables, tricking him into letting me leave.

Vos stared at me flatly, not reacting as I crossed the room and dropped to my knees next to his bed. I reached out to touch his mind, brushing my fingers against his thoughts, and was greeted with a searing wall of pain and fury that was so strong that I almost —almost— let my pleasant mask slip.

Vos’s breathing, which came in whooshing gasps through the holes left behind by his missing nose, quickened. And his expression hardened.

“Vos—” I slipped my hand over his, and didn’t show my surprise when I felt only two fingers beneath my touch.

“What are you doing here?” His voice snapped like a twig breaking in two, vicious and ragged. “It looks like you made it, then, didn’t you?”

“You did too. You’re in Ara. You’re free now.”

For a moment, he had no response. Then rage descended upon his features like a blanket of fire, muscles around his missing nose twitching into what would have been a sneer, that split lip curling. I had always loved Vos for his unabashed enthusiasm — the way every emotion danced across his face in illuminated colors. Now, the darkness of his anger, his agony, crossed him with the same intensity.

“Free?” he spat. “You call thisfree?”

“You’re in the territory of the most powerful Wielders in the world. They can help you.” I stroked my fingers across his hand, and across his mind. “It won’t always be like this. I promise it won’t.”

I hoped I wasn’t lying to him. Again.

“This happened to me because ofyou.”He yanked his hand away. “Did you think of this when you lied to me that day? Did you think about what they would do tomewhen they found out you were missing?”

Yes. I did. The answer curdled in my throat. Did that make it better or worse? Did it matter?

My eyes burned. “Tell me what happened.”

“What do youthinkhappened?”

Interrogation — when Ahzeen realized that Vos was a witness, and a key part of whatever bloody story he wanted to tell. Punishment — for Vos’s incompetence or his perceived betrayal. Probably some mix of the two. When it came to the lives of slaves, Threllians were not particularly discerning.

“I’m so, so sorry, Vos,” I whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.” Then I leaned forward, staring so deeply into Vos’s amber eyes that our faces were only inches apart, every decimated scar on his face painfully sharp. “Please, Vos— what happened to Serel? Where is Serel?”

I didn’t know it was possible for the rage to lurch deeper into Vos’s face, but it did. “He was sent for to go fight Ahzeen’s fucking wars. Before they took me. Before they questioned me. So I didn’t get to see them drag him away when I named him.”

My skin went numb. Vos’s eyes burned into me.

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