Unless he was new?
“What did Lord d’Refan do about that?” the man probed, his gaze flicking to me again. I buried my head in my shit, shoveling it in my mouth and trying not to heave while I hung onto every word.
The Earth Mage laughed. “Fucking married that d’Aelius chick.”
I froze.
Every muscle in my body locked tight. I couldn’t even breathe while I waited for his next earth-shattering statement.
“Apparently the bitch is his now. Controlled by these bracelets on her wrists to cut off her magic. She’s too volatile. Though, if I were Lord d’Refan, I would’ve found a way to carve that fucking magic from her body. Fucking cunt from a fucking traitorous family? I would’ve gutted her like a pig right there in front of her people. After I fucked her in all of her holes, of course. I’m sure her pussy’s tight.”
I growled, every bone in my body was ready to kill the motherfucker who would dare to insult my sister like that.
Only I could be mad at her, dammit. Though I didn’t feel any rage now. Only pity, if what the guard said was true.
“Anyway, he married the dumb cunt to try and ‘unite the region’ or some shit.”
“Did it work?” the other man goaded quietly, his eyes now fully trained on me.
I gulped at his intense stare, but didn’t look away.
There was something off about him.
“Nah. Now Lord d’Refan has two rebellions he has to worry about.” He picked his teeth with a long, dirty fingernail. “Gods in the south and the Last Keeper’s top generals in the north? He’ll be calling all of us back to Vespera in a month. Just you wait and see.”
The Last Keeper’s generals?My heart practically leapt from my chest.
The man shot me a wink and a smile before distracting the Earth Mage with a question about his most recent late-night conquest.
I tuned out, not needing to hear a recount of something I saw and heard every night. I sat against the jagged ground, mulling over everything that I’d heard.
The rebellion—Torin—was in the north. In Lishahl, which bordered the Crystal Mines.
Ellowyn was now married to the Warlord, apparently against her will. All of the anger I felt toward her evaporated, and the warmth in my chest pulsed briefly. It was misplaced anger anyway.
I have to get her out of there.
I wonder if the rebellion will come here. I blinked rapidly, my heart pounding in my chest with a sudden epiphany. My head snapped back to where the man was standing with the Earth Mage, but he was gone.
Had I imagined him?
I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of prisoners retching from the rancid “food” as the Earth Mage and “cook” cackled.
“They’re eating shit!” the Mage crowed between hoots of mirth as he wiped tears from his eyes. A cacophony of retching and the smell of vomit filled the air at his words.
My stomach roiled as I tossed my plate aside and wiped my fingers as best I could on the ground. I wanted to be disgusted, but couldn’t.
My mind was elsewhere.
Focused on what it meant that the rebellion was here, and the strange man who gave me the news.
Chapter 17
Peytor
Three Months Ago
My feet swung over the edge of the ledge as my hands dug into the jagged side of it.
