Page 71 of Forged By Heart and Claws
I led the way down the narrow corridor, every instinct on edge. The air stank heavily of rot and something fouler still.Several of the doors were slightly ajar, as if they'd been recently checked. No other prisoners cried out near Kaylen, which was a small mercy, but strange. These cells had been used to hold prisoners before executions in my great-grandfather’s time. Had she been set apart for some reason?
With nowhere to hide if someone came this way, we had to move fast.
The hall stretched ahead, maybe five hundred more feet until it joined another corridor in the dungeon’s grid. This section was too close to the main entrance for comfort. One wrong step, and any patrol glancing down the line would spot us instantly.
Feck.
Kaylen’s voice broke the silence. “Let me out! I don’t deserve to die!”
I crept toward her cell, Briar at my back.Go ahead. I know you want to be the one to talk to her.
She didn’t hesitate, inching in front of me. I moved slightly toward the cross-corridor near the entrance, every muscle taut, half my attention fixed on Briar’s voice and the other half on the echo of distant footfalls.
“Kaylen,” Briar called, her tone firm but soft. “Keep your voice down. Why did they imprison you?”
“Briar?” Kaylen rasped. Her pale face appeared between the slits in the stone door, barely reaching them on her toes. I stood behind Briar, arms folded, unreadable.
Briar nodded as she looked up at the narrow slits. “Tell us what happened.”
“Get me out, and I’ll tell you everything,” Kaylen said, her voice shaking. “I swear. I will help you defeat them. They can’t be trusted?—”
“Neither can you,” Briar snapped, her tone sharpening like a whip crack. Her nostrils flared. “You were involved.”
A dullthunksounded from the other side of the cell, like Kaylen’s head hitting the stone. “I don’t want to die.”
“You’ll face justice,” Briar said coldly. “But if you want a chance to begin to make things right, then you will talk.”
I admired Briar’s heart and strength. We both knew she wouldn’t leave Kaylen here to die, even though Kaylen deserved death. Her life was the only leverage we had to make her desperate enough to talk.
“You don’t understand.” Kaylen whimpered. “They lied to me. I swear. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to get me out. They’re going to execute me!”
I narrowed my eyes, resting one hand on my sword hilt. “Why?”
“They executed Bram,” Kaylen blurted. “An Aureline council member. He helped Colm. He was crucial to their success, according to him—and they killed him anyway.I’m next.”
I raised an eyebrow at this. Bram was the Aureline Council member who had been in the garden when Briar was framed. A grim satisfaction passed through me. Some of the Aureline traitors had already received their comeuppance, butwhywould they eliminate the young Aureline councilman when he’d been involved, at the very least, in framing Briar and likely my father’s murder? Unless they were eliminating everyone who could attest to that act. That definitely didn’t bode well for Kaylen.
“Because?” Briar pushed.
Kaylen exhaled in a rush. “Because I tried to smash Calla Lily’s perfect little face into a wall and said some things she found distasteful, and maybe set her dress on fire. The scaffing bitch set me up!”
I blinked and had to hold back a laugh.
“She told me to go up there and declare myself queen. Sheset me up.” Kaylen stomped, her foot splashing in something I didn’t want to think about.
“You were arrogant enough to believe you could just walk onto the dais and demand to be my queen,” I growled. “You deserve worse.”
Briar’s jaw clenched. “When’s your execution scheduled?”
“As soon as they come back.” Kaylen’s voice cracked. “Please, I will swearanyvow?—”
“Swearing won’t help you,” I cut in. “Your vows mean nothing now. The magic’s gone.” I scoffed at her.She’ll say anything to get out of there.
I know.Briar didn’t flinch. “Talk, and we’ll consider helping. But not before.”
Kaylen’s tone sharpened. “We’re not friends. But if there’s one thing about me that you know, it’s that I’m a mean, petty bitch.”
I lifted a brow. “You’re not wrong.”
