Page 223 of A Soul to Guide

After a small wait while he signed, his translator said, “Fine. Like the Delysians, he will have to be detained, questioned, and assessed. We don’t allow risks to infiltrate the safety of our walls.”

Raewyn winced. “He has asked that he not be separated from me.”

“Until he is an accepted member of society, what he wants matters little. The process is the same for all outsiders of this nature. He nor I have any choice in the matter.”

Turning to Merikh, she explained this to him. Red sparks flashed in her vision, and of course, he rejected it.

“Please? It’d just be temporary. The process only takes about a day, since we don’t like to keep people detained for too long.”

“What if I am not accepted, Raewyn?”

She gave him a broken smile. “You will be. You have me, remember?” She lifted her arm and flexed her biceps as she tapped it. “I’m councilwoman Raewyn Daefaren, the representative for the Duskwalker people.”

Plus, she kind of did just give him her soul. Rejecting him would be considered cruel, since they were technically bonded, even if it wasn’t by her customs.

This might actually work in my favour.She almost wanted to rub her hands together and evilly cackle.

Blue flashed, and the end of his snout bumped gently against her temple. “Fine. I will go wherever they ask of me. I will warn you that if you are apart from me for too long, you will come to my side. If it’s not a safe place, you will not be safe.”

With a nod, she translated what she needed to back to Mericato.

After a little more back and forth between all four of them, Raewyn’s heart sunk when Merikh turned to give them his back and be cuffed. His left wrist was tied to his right biceps and vice versa – although they struggled a little with his quills, even though they were lying flat.

Disappointment washed over her, wishing it didn’t have to be this way.

When they walked towards the central tree, Merikh wrapped his tail around her midsection and pulled her close.

Curling her hand around the tuft of fur at the end, she took comfort in it, especially since her mind rebelled against where Mericato and his soldiers were leading them.

The silence that surrounded Merikh was deafening.

There was nothing there. Not a squeak from an animal, nor a crawl from an insect, not the distant movement of life just beyond the room he was locked within.

Inside was dark. The only lights were glowing orbs placed inside the stone of a central column. Their green light only illuminated the ceiling and ground where they circled.

There were no windows; Merikh wondered if that was to protect its usual occupants from the sun that would burn them, or to drown them in the abyss.

The walls were entirely made of black obsidian and appeared to have been carved from the inside, rather than being placed there. Although he was alone, gold, silver, and bronze prison bars were made to box its occupants in from all sides, the green lights reflecting against their mirror-like shine.

From what he could tell, in this round room there were eight cells.

The ground was hard and uncomfortable. He would have shifted to allow himself to lie down properly, but his arms were still locked behind his back.

He’d tried to break free from the binding, just so he could rest in this long and excruciating wait, but he was unable to. Whatever these simple, flexible threads they’d woven around his wrists and biceps were made from, they had to be enchanted.

That was wise, considering he may have been able to break himself from his cell. With enough strength, any metal could bend.

Raewyn had explained to him why he wasn’t allowed freedom from his trappings. They didn’t know what he was capable of, whether he could wield magic or not. Mericato had demanded that Merikh remain as constrained as possible until his trial or whatever.

Sitting on the ground with his legs straight, he rested his back against the wall behind him. It was the best he could do to be comfortable.

Although the air was stale, it was at least cool. It also wasn’t thin, since he was metres below the ground.

The wait was excruciating.

He was alone, had been alone for hours, possibly days. He’d slept three times out of boredom, to escape his containment.

Where is she?Thesmall whine that broke from him echoed back.

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