Page 66 of Madness

When we were young it wasn’t unusual for us to wake up and have gone on the same adventure together in our subconscious. It was one of the fun things that made us feel closer as twins. It didn’t happen every night, but sometimes we would both wake up excited. I hoped this had been one of those moments.

“I had a dream…but it felt more like a memory…about that box King Ganglin has.”

“Oh?” Her voice was soft.

“It contains half of a coin thing, a token, is what our parents called it. They said that it contains unthinkable magic, and it was created by Mother Nature to protect us against other realms of the gods.”

“I know.” Hattie took a step back, her eyes squeezing shut, like she was anticipating that I would smack her or scream at her. Part of me wanted to.

“You know?” I didn’t yell, but any trace of humor, joy, or concern had left my voice.

“I never forgot.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. The spell never worked on me. After mom and dad died, I kept the box in my bag that I always carried. You asked about it a few times but always forgot about it less than ten minutes later, no matter what I told you about it. The spell worked on you.”

“Why didn’t you say something after you knew King Ganglin had it?” A hint of anger now tainted my words.

“I didn’t want to burden you. You already seemed so stressed out with everything else, I thought I could manage this one thing alone.”

“Since when are we not doing things together?”

“Don’t try and guilt me, Ryker,” she whined.

“I’m not,” I lied. “I’m genuinely concerned. I think there's a chance King Ganglin is in the Acture Court, too.”

“How? I followed him to the Obtune Court.”

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling. A glimpse I saw, once the magic released my memories. I saw the box and the background…it looked like the Acture Court. Maybe he is traveling.”

“I better tell King Windre.” Hattie chewed on her nails, her attention drawn to the floor.

“I need to check on Daethian anyway. I can contact you like this whenever, right?”

“Yes, it goes to the necklace I’m wearing.” She pulled a smaller crystal pendant out from under her shirt.

“Perfect. Now how do I make you go away?”

“That didn’t sound rude at all.” She lifted a brow. “Just let go of the stone and I’ll vanish.”

“Easy enough. I’ll reach out again soon, promise.”

“Okay. Love you, Ryker.” Hattie took a step back waiting.

“Love you, too.” I set the stone on my desk. The light faded from the crystal and Hattie’s image evaporated. As she disappeared, a desperate loneliness gripped me. A shiver ran down my back and I tried to shake off the terrible feeling.

I needed to go check on Daethian. But what kind of condition was I going to find my friend in today?

Light didn’t make it to the dungeons like it did the rest of the castle. There were no windows to offer a reprieve from the darkness. Firelight still glowed at the end of torches that lined the rough rock walls. A dark shadow waited in one of the larger cells.

Cold seeped through the stones that never seemed to warm, no matter how long you curled against them. Some things like that came back like haunting nightmares as I walked down the narrow staircase. My fingers brushed against the cut stone walls, and I wondered how many times Daethian had thrashed and pushed against them on his descent to his cell.

At the bottom of the steps, I took the glowing torch and touched it to the two wooden sticks on either side of his prison door. They lit a sunny hue of orange that shifted to a soft yellow-white glow. Two muscular arms hung through the bars, his wide chest resting against one of the few bars that ran horizontally. Unblinking, bloodshot eyes looked up as the sudden brightness illuminated his dirt-covered features.There weren’t any sickly snakes of dark black magic curling off of his skin, and his eyes were a somber bronze color.

“Ryker?” he whispered, squinting in my direction. “What happened? Why am I down here?”

The urgent need to hug him, to soothe his confusion and fear tormented me. Silently, I wrapped my arms around my body and stepped closer to him. I couldn’t help but want to touch his face, to offer him some sort of comfort amid all this distress. To do something. Anything.

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