Air vanished.
Pain exploded low and deep.
My babe.
The thought cut through everything. My clawing fingers stilled. Terror flooded my limbs, thick and paralyzing. He would kill our child without hesitation. Kallias’ heir meant nothing to them but leverage.
“Stay here. Donotmake a sound.” Egath’s tone shifted, tight with urgency. “I’ll send someone with the antidote. For blood’s sake, don’t move, Tallon.”
He did not wait for agreement.
The world lurched again as he lifted me. Stone blurred into streaks of gray. Wind tore at my ears inside the narrow passage.
Darkness swallowed the edges of my sight.
This time, I could not hold onto consciousness.
It was silent.
Warm, too.
Heat pressed into my skin from the thick furs cocooning my body, heavy and unfamiliar. No birds called beyond the walls. No wind threaded through open windows. The absence pricked at me. Even in Sol’s stone keeps there had always been sound. Wings. Voices. Life.
I frowned and dragged the furs to my chin, rolling onto my side. My hand drifted across the mattress, searching.
Empty.
Cold linen met my palm.
Air punched from my lungs as I jerked upright. Blankets slid down, pooling at my waist. I caught them against my bare chest and scanned the room.
Bright.
Large.
Plush red and gold draped the space in decadent excess. An overstuffed chair lounged near a tall window. A vanity gleamed with polished glass. A broad dresser stood against the far wall, carved with intricate spirals. The canopy bed beneath me rose high, its posts wrapped in embroidered fabric fit for royalty.
I did not recognize any of it.
Memory rushed back in fractured flashes. Tunnel. Blood. Egath’s shoulder crushing my belly.
I swung my feet over the bedside. The floor met my soles, smooth and warm. I ran for the single door.
It opened before I reached it.
A woman stepped inside carrying a silver tray. Egath followed close at her heels.
My heart slammed hard enough to ache. Breath stalled in my lungs. I wrapped my arms across my breasts and retreated toward the bed, refusing to turn my back on him despite my nakedness.
“Where am I?” My voice scraped dry, thick with sleep and disuse.
His gaze traveled down my exposed skin, unhurried. A smirk curved his mouth when he noted my discomfort.
“Why, you’ve made it to Vellos, dear Nienna. Quite traveled, aren’t you?” He laughed and settled into the chair, spreading his legs wide as if claiming not just the seat but the room. “So far from your lowly island nation.”
I snatched a fur from the bed and wrapped it tight around myself. The servant moved aside, head bowed, eyes fixed on the floorboards.
Vellos.
