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“Damnit,” I said, slamming my empty plate onto the tray.
“You need to keep a clear head. You have to keep your composure.”
“Says the man who came back here last night and sulked for hours.”
Ladon’s eyes went pitch black as he scowled at me, and I regretted my words immediately. If Reyna didn’t kill me, Ladon still might.
His voice was quiet, commanding all of my attention. “Don’t speak about things you know nothing about.”
There was an almost imperceptible shudder when he spoke to me. What in the hell had Reyna done to him? The more he thwarted my questions, the more curious I became. I didn’t think it was possible to rattle Ladon like this.
We stared at each other while tension built between us, waiting for the first to snap, until the second knock of the morning rattled the door. Before we had a chance to rise to our feet, Reyna stepped inside.
She wore her usual black gown that shimmered and sparkled as she moved. This one had lace sleeves that resembled cobwebs, and when she moved a certain way, it looked as if there were actual spiders crawling along her limbs. It had to be a trick of the light. Then again, she was a psycho. They were probably more of her pets.
She tossed me a flippant look before sizing Ladon up. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I thought I saw Ladon’s body go rigid before he settled into the calm and collected stature of a High Commander. He looked so determined not to let anything get to him.
“I hoped you enjoyed your breakfast. It was such a sacrifice for my people to offer you food this morning. I hope you appreciate it and really think about the toll you’ve taken on our community,” Reyna droned on.
Her ridiculous pleas for gratitude wouldn’t work on me. “You could always set us free. I wouldn’t want to be a strain on Murvort’s resources,” I said with the same faux civility she’d shown us.
She smiled. “Nonsense, Emilie. I wouldn’t dare prematurely toss out my guests. Especially not Osavian’s finest.”
I half expected Ladon to correct her. To inform her that I was Dreslen filth, but he remained silent.
Her eyes slid to Ladon, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him shift back and forth on his feet. He looked seconds away from tackling Reyna and strangling her to death.
“What is it that you want, Reyna?” I asked, drawing her attention back to me.
“I’m glad you asked. I’ll need your help today sorting out the Scholars’ Cavern. You see, we had a little quake a few weeks ago and all that shaking brought down shelves upon shelves of tomes. It’s an absolute mess.”
There were worse ways to be punished, I thought.
Chapter Eighteen
Emilie
Calling the Scholars’ Cavern an absolute mess was an understatement. It was similar to a library, but one that had been demolished. Massive piles of books stretched farther than the eye could see. It was as if every tome had been pulled off the shelves and dumped into the middle of the cylindrical cave.
Speaking of shelves, nearly every single one had been toppled over. Some still stood on the main level of the cavern, fastened in place to the wall. But as I looked up, balcony after balcony had been damaged by shelves falling over the railings.
The cavern was stories high, with a staircase that spiraled up the circular walls. It stretched toward the sky and disappeared into blackness. It was impossible to tell how tall the cavern was. Stalactites hung haphazardly from the occasional stone that jutted out of the walls.
When Reyna first took us into the cavern’s opening, we could hardly take more than ten steps before stumbling over mounds of books. Some of them appeared to be torn with cracked spines. Others looked like they had water damage from the cave’s moisture. An assortment of pages littered the floor with no clue as to which book they belonged to.
Reyna looked around with her lip curled in a snarl. She winced.
“Like I said, an absolute mess. I’m sure this should keep you busy for a while.”
She turned, and I watched as an invisible seal rippled behind her. Even with the vines on our wrists depriving us of our freedom, she didn’t trust us enough to leave an open door. She hadn’t left her henchmen behind, but I questioned whether the bats hanging from the balcony railings also reported to her. One ruffled its wings like it was insulted by the mere thought.
I’ve got my eye on you.
Ladon laced his fingers through his hair before placing his hands on his hips. He looked overwhelmed by the destruction and I felt the same way. He pointed toward a toppled shelf. “Help me lift this.”
After hours of sorting through endless heaps of books, it looked as if we’d made no progress at all. We’d cleared out a five-foot square, but most of it had just been moved to a second pile that we’d started for disposal.
About halfway through the day, Luther stopped by and within the blink of an eye, vanished the pile of books that were unsalvageable. It created a little more space for us to sort through the endless stacks.
