Page 16 of Fate and Flame
“I’ve seen her with you, and she is the one who brought us here.”
“Yes, well, she was quite a spitfire when she was young.” I paused. The energy it was taking to hold the conversation caused my heart to thunder in my chest. I needed to calm it. Or maybe it was the memories.
“We can finish tomorrow if you need to rest?”
“I’m okay. But before I continue, I need to warn you. Others will come and they will do horrible things to me, and I need you to promise you’ll look away. I don’t know when they will come, I’m not sure what they will do, but just promise me you won’t watch.”
“I promise, Temir.”
“Thank you, Nadra. Thank you for coming, for staying. For pushing me.”
“You’re welcome,” she whispered.
I pulled at the chains to turn in her direction. Huge mistake, as a wound in my arm ripped open and blood seeped out again. I had to distract myself from the pain. “Are you cold?”
“This dress is massive,” she said as the fabric rustled below her. “It’s plenty warm enough if I tuck it around me.”
I gritted my teeth, willing my voice to sound calm. “I’m sorry I can’t do more for you.”
“Don’t apologize to me for your circumstances when I’m the one who put you here. I’m fine, you’re going to be fine, and we are going to find a way out of this.”
“Should I continue my story, then?”
She yawned. “Yes, please.”
It was odd. She was only a voice in the darkness—I couldn’t see her features at all—but as we settled into whatever madness this could be classified as, I felt her without touching her. I knew her without seeing her. She was giving me far more than I’d ever imagined possible as the will to live began to burrow deep within me once more.
“One day, the three of us spirited to the Marsh Court because Oleo wanted to find some mushrooms for the garden. At that time, Gaea’s magic wasn’t strong enough to carry two people at once. So, she started with me, as Oleo instructed. She dropped me off in the middle of a forest and then went back for him. Only they never showed up. I spent three days wandering that forest until a high fae who worked for Coro found me. He took me to his home, sent a messenger, and eventually, Gaea showed up to procure me. Turns out, she wanted the day alone with Oleo but then claimed she couldn’t remember where she had dropped me off.”
Nadra giggled. “Do you think they believed her?”
“Not at all. Oleo made her write paragraphs for a week. I think she hated me even more after that. Then we started having our lessons separately. We never really talked to each other again until we were older.”
“Did you love her?” she whispered.
Of course she had noticed it. I think everyone had. “I thought I did. But now I don’t know. None of it matters anyway. She’s gone. I’ll probably never see her again. We were doomed from the start, and I held that against her more than I should have.” The blanket of exhaustion covered me as the pool of blood grew larger.
“I’m sorry.”
“I think I’ll sleep now.”
“I think I will too. Good night.”
I closed my eyes, completely drained, and fell asleep. I woke to her deep, slow breaths. I healed as much as I could, including repairing my crippled hand, and fell back asleep. I repeated that several times until I thought I could probably sit up if I wanted. Instead, I let myself sleep again. We spent days like that. Exchanging stories. I’d heal myself as I could, little by little. It was amazing how much you could get to know someone if the only thing you had to do was talk to them for days on end.
“Wake up, lesser,” a guard called out one morning. If it really was morning. We had no idea. He opened the bars and dragged me to my feet.
I closed my eyes and hoped like hell Nadra really would turn away as she hid in the darkest corner.
“Sleep well?” he asked, just before hitting me in the groin. I doubled over and he kneed me right in the nose. He was lucky my hands and feet were still bound.
I heard a small noise from Nadra and coughed to cover it.
“The boss will be down soon. I hope you’re ready to answer his questions today.” He threw me to the floor and slammed the door as he went.
I waited and listened carefully. He didn’t leave as the others had.
“He’s still here. Stay quiet.” I breathed, hoping only she could hear me.
