My shoulders burned. I cried out and gritted my teeth to stifle another shout of pain.
The men shuffled out, leaving me in silence. I wanted to call after them, to taunt them, but I had done enough damage to my situation already.
The rattling of the chains echoed throughout the cell every time I moved, accompanied by the occasional whimper or moanof the other prisoners. The sound of my own breathing seemed deafening in the otherwise silent space. The taste of fear was palpable in this cell, almost like a metallic tang on my tongue. It suffocated me, making it hard to breathe, and the twinges of pain in my rib cage didn’t help.
It was just one problem, one pain among many. Just like before, the only way out of it that I could see was to fade into unconsciousness. I was too weak to struggle more or to escape, and there was no one to fight at the moment. Better to save my strength for when it would do me some good. I let my head fall forward and my eyes close, my mind wandering in a vain attempt to distract myself from the haze of pain and magic that filled my body.
The one part of me that had some semblance of thought left wondered if so many injuries would kill me. A magical explosion from some unknown foe, being snatched by a massive bird, then knocked out by someone who I could only imagine was the enemy.
And none of this would have happened, or at least not the last few parts, if I had listened to Ehuna and done what I was told. Ehuna was never going to let me live it down, but that was hardly my biggest problem right now. If anything, I would happily let her rail at me for days if it meant I got out of here.
For now, I could only hope and regain my strength so I could escape.
Chapter
Six
For once in the last few days, voices didn’t wake me. Unfortunately, that didn't mean it was a pleasant awakening.
When a bucket of frigid water splashed onto my face, I gasped and flailed, instantly leaving sleep behind. When my eyes snapped open, cold water flooded into them, making me blink rapidly.
I shook my head vigorously, splattering droplets across the room as the last of my tightly woven braid unraveled completely. My hair cascaded down over my shoulders in a chaotic tangle, each strand heavy with water that dripped and trickled down over my skin, sending shivers through my body.
I glared fiercely at the three people standing in front of me—two helmeted figures and one the same man I had elbowed just yesterday after he threw me in here. Of course it had to be him.
The man's lips pulled back, revealing a menacing grin that looked more like a snarl. Droplets of clear liquid slithered down the side of his wooden bucket and onto the ground.
A sense of relief washed over me as I realized it was just water he had doused me with. In my line of work, things could always be worse.
"Can I help you, fool?" I spat.
“Why are you here?” the man demanded.
Either I told the truth and they realized that I was no use to them and killed me, or worse, I lied and told them that I was a scout and they would torture me for information that I didn’t have. No matter what happened, torture or death or both were the only things I had to look forward to.
With that in mind, I decided on a mixture of a lie and the truth. “I’m a scout. I was snatched by some giant bird. I’m sure your people saw it.” I laughed, unable to help myself. “If they have eyes, they did see it.”
The guard snorted. “You really expect us to believe that you just happened to stumble onto our camp?”
I shrugged, startled to find that it actually eased my pain a little. "I don't care what you believe. It's the truth."
Or most of it anyway. Truth adjacent.
The men snickered, but the one in the back said something to someone standing outside the door, and the two helmeted figures grumbled as they left the room.
"Fine. If you're not lying, it doesn't mean that you'll get out of here. Someone else has to make that decision," the man said, and he left too.
I tilted my head as I looked toward the door when it slammed behind them. Who was standing behind that door? Whoever they were, they were clearly someone in a position of power if they could order the guards about in such a way.
"You shouldn't have told them you were a scout," a female voice said.
I jerked, startled out of my haze. The chains around my wrists rattled, biting painfully into my skin. I was used to discomfort, as all soldiers were, but not like this. It had been a long time since I’d felt this bone-deep ache, and I couldn't say I’d missed it.
I turned toward the hole in the wall on my left. My head pounded from my rough landing and my none-too-kind treatment thereafter, but I was at least reasonably sure that was where the voice had come from.
Mostly sure.
"What?" I said.
