"So we need an antidote," I say.
"Yes. But the only creatures brewing concentrated Hush-venom are the Apothecaries of the Silt District. They do not offer refunds to dissatisfied customers. Unless she bargained with the sea witch."
The witch.
Oona.
I look down at Mira's frozen face. The realization hits me with the force of a rogue wave. She acquired this rare weapon from a specific source. Mira, who always played the simple, loyal city guard, hid a forbidden obsession with dark alchemy. She sought the witch in the shadows. She purchased this specific suffering with a heavy price, trading something precious for this poison.
"She knows the source," I say, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
I lean over Mira. I invade her frozen field of vision, my red hair framing my face like a shroud in the water.
"You hear my voice, Mira," I hiss into her ear. "I know you hear me."
Her dark eyes don't move. The draught forbids the motion. But her wide pupil trembles a fraction in the blue glow of Bolt's cage. A microscopic flutter of terror.
"You bought this poison," I say. I hold the wicked glass dart directly in front of her paralyzed face, the purple liquid catching the light. "You bought this weapon to break his spirit. You did this to 'save' a prince needing no rescue."
I let out a harsh, brittle laugh, the sound ugly in the warm water.
"And look at the grand result, Mira. Look at the tragic destination of your noble saving. We're hiding in a trash-shell at the bottom of the world, and you're a useless, violet statue. Is this what you wanted, you selfish monster?"
I lean closer, my voice dropping to a venomous whisper that barely stirs the warm water. "You're a useless, violet statue, Mira. A monument to your own selfish ambition. Frozen in the dark, trapped inside your own skull while the world moves on without you."
I straighten up, my anger radiating through the water in palpable waves. My gaze falls upon Kael, who watches us with those dark, expressive eyes filled with a mixture of pity and concern. His hands remain still at his sides, but I can almost feel the silent plea for compassion that hangs in the water between us.
"Is this what you wanted?" I demand, turning back to Mira's paralyzed form. "Was this worth betraying your prince? Was this worth poisoning the one creature who showed you mercy?"
I spit the words at her, each one a small, sharp piece of shrapnel aimed at the heart of her frozen consciousness. The silence that follows is heavy, broken only by the steady thrum of Bolt's engine and the slow, rhythmic sigh of Mira's stolen breaths.
Inhale.
A full minute of suffocating silence passes.
Exhale.
The sound is a chilling reminder of the price she paid for her misguided quest—a life measured in stolen moments between the crushing darkness and the suffocating silence of her own making.
I grab her rigid shoulder, the hardened leather cold beneath my fingers.
"Is there an antidote?" I demand, my voice sharp as broken glass. "Blink once if there is. Twice if you're a liar."
Her frozen eyes remain fixed on the ceiling, unblinking in the dim blue glow. The draught holds her captive, a prisoner in her own skull.
"Blink your eyes, damn you!" I scream, my fingers digging into her hardened shoulder. I shake her rigid body, the movement useless against the magical paralysis.
Kael's hand closes around my wrist, his grip gentle yet unbreakable as the iron pipes of the engine cage. He pulls my hand away from the soldier's stiff body.
He shakes his heavy head, his dark eyes filled with a silent plea.Not like this.
"She knows the answer, Kael!" I shout, fighting against his protective grip. "She knows how to fix your throat!"
Kael pulls my body closer until our faces are inches apart. He forces me to look into his dark, calm eyes, the turmoil in my own reflection staring back at me.
He lifts his scarred hand, making slow, deliberate gestures.
She is frozen,he signs.We wait.
