Page 2 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams
“I expect better of you,” Caledon says, gently reproachful. “Better mastery of yourself…and better understanding of the pitiable state of the misguided souls in our care. You might be expecting a little too much of her, don’t you think? Morgana Angevire wasn’t brought up in the ways of the Temple. Her parents kept her closed off from the truth of our teachings. Cruel, really. Starving a child of the transformative power of Ethira will only make them vicious and wicked, selfish and depraved. We can’t expect her to understand concepts like respect and obedience. If she did, she’d never have stolen the gods’ power in the first place.”
I stare at him, counting the lies falling so easily from his lips. He doesn’t believe a word of it; Iknowhe doesn’t. And yet, as he speaks, a small sliver of doubt worms its way into my heart.
Don’t fall for it, Ana. Remember who he is. What he’s done.
Leon’s voice in my head stops the doubt short. This man is nothing but a greedy hypocrite, and it makes me angry how good he is at this. I snatch hold of that anger like a lifeline. It’s better than this all-consuming fear. Sitting up slightly, I meet his gaze.
“You’re convincing, Caledon, I’ll give you that,” I say, watching closely for his reaction. “But I know what you are. I know about your power.”
There. It’s subtle, but I spot a flicker in his eyes, the black surfaces of them gleaming for a moment. He didn’t expect that. Maybe he even thought his performance would sway me—convince even myself that I’m a dirty heretic.
I smile a bloody smile, letting him see my triumph.
“Poor child,” he says, laying on a pitying tone. “What a confused, misguided mess they’ve made of you. Clerics, will you leave us? I would like to counsel Miss Angevire alone.”
The figures in red robes begin to file out, but Tributin hesitates.
“Your Grace, I haven’t yet?—”
“Now, Tributin,” Caledon says, and there’s a sudden hardness in his tone that sends a jolt right down to my bones.
It’s obvious why Caledon isn’t concerned about being alone with me. I’m helpless here. The black cord wrapped around my wrists is suppressing my power, making it hard for me to reach. It must have dimane woven into it, and while cuffs like these can only do so much, I suspect they’ve been putting the same mineral in my food too. Just a sprinkle—too much kills you—but the slop they’ve been serving me has a strange bitterness I can always taste. It would explain why I’ve feltnothingevery time I’ve tried to reach for my power.
But even with those powers suppressed, Caledon is ready to take them. He’ll drain me now, peeling my magic away from my soul inch by agonizing inch, and then he’ll leave me for dead. I cling to thoughts of Leon, trying to draw strength from his memory. But he feels too distant now, and I’m suddenly very alone.
Once the clerics are gone, I drag myself back on to my knees as best I can and brace myself.
“Pathetic, stupid little girl. They won’t believe you, you know.”
I go still, because the voice that comes from the Grand Bearer now is completely different from the mild, patient tone he was using a moment ago. When I look up, his face is twisted in a smug sneer, black eyes shining like beetles.
“You could scream that I’m a solari from the rooftops of this city. No one would listen to a word. I have my dogs too well trained. They’d crawl on their hands and knees, licking the dirt on the street, if I ordered them to.Nothingyou say matters.”
Gone is the holy man of quiet authority. In his place stands a swaggering brute with a manic glint in his eye. He’s repellant, and part of me wants to shrink away from him, but I latch onto anger instead.
“If that was true, why are you too frightened to have yourdogshere for this conversation?” I shoot back.
He grabs my hair, yanking it back hard enough that I cry out. I see the spark of satisfaction at my pain on his face.
“I’m not frightened ofanything,girl. Why would I be, when every person I meet is just another fool to be used, another worm beneath my shoe?”
He releases me with a shove, and I nearly topple over again, catching my balance just in time.
“You too will be of use to me,” he continues. “I’ve seen the prophecy. Somehow, you’ve found a way to make yourself unusually powerful. You’ll tell me how, so that power can be returned to its rightful owner.”
I force myself to scoff, even though my scalp is still stinging from where he grabbed me.
“What’s the matter? Afraid a stupid little girl is stronger than you?” I say.
He snarls and leaps forward to lay his hand across the top of my skull.
White-hot pain erupts from his touch. I scream, but the noise is lost in the explosion of agony coursing through me. I’m being torn in two, with one side being pulledthroughmy skin, into Caledon’s hands. I look up into a pair of black holes, like two gaping maws waiting to swallow me up, too hungry to ever be satiated?—
Then Caledon releases me and steps back. The pain fades, and I see the voids for what they are—his eyes, fixed on me like a starving beast. He’s flushed and flexes his hand at his side as if he’s having to hold himself back from touching me again. He started to drain me of my magic, but then stopped himself.
“No one is stronger than me,” he says through gritted teeth, straightening up in front of the mosaic of Ethira. “No one is better. I am no mere man, wretch. I was born to be so much more. The whole world will bow to me in good time. Thatis my destiny.”
I understand now. Caledon doesn’t believe any of the stuff the Temple spouts about sacrifice and discipline, but he does believe inhimself.Why would he need more power when he’s already the most powerful man in the land? Because it will never be enough. He truly thinks he’s superior to us all, and he needs the magic to show it, toprovethat he’s the best.
