Page 17 of Fate and Flame
She didn’t answer. What she was about to witness would be a lot more difficult to bear than what the guard had done. I hoped she had an iron stomach. If she revealed herself, I was going to have to bring out my dark magic and hope like hell I could get us out of the castle.
I had healed most of my inner wounds, but I left the bruising and flesh wounds. Eadas would have no idea I’d been healing myself, and that’s how it needed to remain for as long as possible. If I was going to get us out of here, he needed to believe I was weak. Unwilling to help myself.
“You dead yet?” he asked as he approached the bars with Autus’ new winged twins at his side. He glanced over to the uneaten food and scoffed. “You forget you are a lesser, Temir. You’re not too good for the food the king provides you. I can see how you’d be confused after all these years of privilege, but today, I think we’ll remind you of your rightful place.” He opened the bars and stalked in with that wicked grin of his.
Our fear intertwined as they lifted me to my feet. My fear was for her. I reached for the bond and held it, and she did the same. They could do whatever they wanted to me as long as she was safe. Undetected.
A guard handed Eadas a contraption, and I watched as he slipped his hand inside the glove and flexed the long knife-like fingers at the end of it while his nefarious laugh echoed through the shadowed dungeons.
I gripped the bond tighter.
The guards held me up, pinning my arms as Eadas made his first strike, slashing me with the claws of his glove across my chest. My skin ripped, and the blood seeped through what was left of my filthy shirt.
“Where are the rebels hiding?” Eadas asked.
I kept my head down and let my body hang limp. Perhaps if they thought I was weaker, they would leave sooner.
“Answer!” he roared.
He took another swing in the opposite direction, and the pain was so severe I wasn’t sure I could stitch myself back together. I tried to use magic to numb my nerves so that I wouldn’t feel whatever came next, but it was so damn hard to concentrate. I gave up and kept my focus on the beautiful female radiating fear and anger as she hid.
“Turn him,” Eadas ordered.
The guards turned, and he slashed into my back repeatedly until sweat poured down my head and I couldn’t help but cry out in sheer pain. He was shredding me.
“Tell me where they are, Temir,” he demanded. He wouldn’t have worked this hard if there was a rebel betraying us. He would have already known. Which meant, for now, all the rebels except for me were safe. And I still wasn’t convinced the king would let me die. He would work tirelessly until he learned about Oravan’s ring, and then he would destroy it and I’d be a slave to him for the rest of my life.
He ran his clawed fingers down my legs, pressing so hard you could hear the skin tear.
I yelled in pain. Nadra sent me comfort and strength, and that was all I could hold onto until the pain and blood loss became too much to bear, and I passed out.
I woke later to an empty cell and the heartbreaking sound of sniffles from the corner. “Are you okay?”
“You’re asking me?” she answered. “They nearly killed you.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, refusing to move an inch.
“Please use your magic, Temir. Please eat something,” she wept.
“Don’t cry.” I could hardly bear the sound of her broken voice. She was strong though. She’d remained silent through it all. “Just tell me another story. Distract yourself.”
“If you promise to eat something. Can you move?”
“Give me just a moment. I’ve been working on it.”
I let the magic coalesce through my body, clotting the bleeding wounds and strengthening myself. It was rough and exhausting, but I was able to sit up when I was done, though I was still soaked in my own blood. The root of all evil, magic was again my savior.
“Here,” she said, “hold out your hands.” The heavy chains dragged along the moldy floor as I did. A block of hard cheese and another half loaf of bread landed in them. “The food is getting low. I can try to sneak out and get some more the next time they come.”
“Nadra, if you can sneak out, you should go someplace safe.” I carefully took a bite of the bread.
“I’ve told you I won’t leave you and I meant it. I can sneak away to get food, but I’m not leaving this castle without you.”
I wasn’t sure I deserved that kind of dedication, but I was grateful. The gods had given me a mate that wouldn’t run, even though everyone else in my life had. She was exactly what I needed, and every minute with her, I felt our bond grow. “Tell me more about you.”
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you more if you agree to stop asking me to leave. I’m trying here, Temir. I really am. But please don’t push me away.”
I listened to that drop of water for a long time as I considered what she had said. She was telling me what she needed and giving me what I needed. It wouldn’t have been fair for me to deny her. So I didn’t.
