Page 9 of Tale of the Heart Queen

I lift my sword, pointing it towards the darkness, noting every door stands open and every cell stands empty. Did the rebels come down here to break out their friends? Moving along the narrow corridor, I sense there’s more to this eerie dread swirling in my gut. What if they saw Atlas and tore him to shreds? My feelings for him are complicated, but I would never wish him that.

I continue walking, staring into each empty cell, then reach the end as my breath stalls in my chest. A neatly folded golden jacket lies on the floor in the middle of a cell. On top of it sits an ornamental gold crown, like an offering.

Not an offering. A signal. The immutable evidence that Atlas was here and now . . . he isn’t. I recognize the crown and jacket he wore during the presentation when I tore apart my home.

I swing around, wondering how he escaped, then bile surges up the back of my throat.

Drex and Syran, the warders I assigned to guard Atlas, hang suspended to the wall, iron pins shoved through their white wings, and long gashes slit across their throats. Gold blood drips down their feathers, and crimson stains their gilded armor, their heads hanging, and their bodies limp.

And Atlas . . .

That fucking traitor is gone.

CHAPTER 5

LOR

ALLUVION—THE CRYSTAL PALACE

Isit in my cell and wait. I’ve considered a thousand options to extricate myself from this stone box, but none of them make sense. Sure, I could use my magic to blast a hole through the wall, but I need to earn Cyan’s trust. The ark isn’t just lying around for anyone to find, and I’ll have to talk—or trick—him into revealing its location.

I’ve already lost an entire day languishing in this prison, and I try not to think about Nadir’s pallid face, but I see it every time I close my eyes. The way he appeared, teetering on the razor-fine edge of saving. Is he awake? Does he know what happened? Does he think I left him with Zerra?

My heart squeezes with a physical pain that makes my bones feel too tight. I stare at the ring he gave me for my birthday and remember the promise of forever he made with it. I clutch my chest at the thought of losing him. I can’t do this. I can’t lose him. I just found him. I suck a deep breath in and then let it out, trying not to spiral into a pit heaped with regrets and self-loathing.

Left alone with my thoughts, I also can’t stop thinking about everyone back in Aphelion. My brother and sister. Amya. Mael. Even Gabriel. Gods, how I wish I could see them all. Wrap them in my arms and make sure they’re safe.

For the rest of the day, the only people who visit are tight-lipped guards, who drop off minimal amounts of water and some kind of thin fish stew swimming with tentacled morsels I don’t recognize before they disappear, pretending I don’t exist. A congealed bowl sits near my feet, abandoned after I sniffed it and nearly went cross-eyed.

“Please!” I scream with my hands gripped around the bars. “I need to see the king!”

I haven’t quite worked out what I’ll say should he grant me an audience, but I’m banking on the “everyone hates Rion” card and hope that he, too, has no love for the Aurora King. I’ll tell him part of the truth—that Rion captured me, and I escaped, but then I got lost, and that’s how I ended up on his doorstep.

It’s close enough to the truth to be believable. I hope.

“Please!” I scream. “Please!”

Is anyone listening? Maybe that female soldier with the fancy armor. She looked important and like someone who makes decisions about prisoners. She said the king would question me, but it seems like she’s forgotten about me.

Or maybe she hasn’t forgotten at all.

The way she hissed when she told me Serce’s granddaughter isn’t welcome here felt . . . personal? I recall the blistering rage in her eyes, and she might actually be using her time considering the best and most excruciating way to dice up my organs and string my head up onto a pike.

“Please! Someone!”

“Shut the fuck up!” shouts another inhabitant from his cell. “I’m trying to sleep!”

“Rude,” I say, and then I start shouting again.

Eventually, my voice gives out, and I slump against the stone wall as I slide to the floor, watching the sun set through the tiny high window. I can’t stay in here any longer waiting for Cyan to receive me. I crawl over to the bars and press my face between them, trying to gauge the number of prisoners trapped down here.

I didn’t want to resort to this, but it’s time to blow a hole through this dungeon. However, I refuse to hurt anyone in the process. If I listen carefully, I can hear the ocean’s thunder through the thick stone and decide the back wall makes the most sense.

Footsteps sound from the distance, echoing through the space. It’s time for what passes for dinner around here, I guess. I scramble back and curl up into a ball, uninterested in their slop, even though my stomach twists with hunger.

Once the guards leave, I’ll escape. Once I’m free, I’ll find another way to enter the palace. It means I won’t find the ark through diplomatic means, but at least I’ll be out of here and can start strategizing a new plan.

I scrunch my eyes as the steps approach but realize I don’t hear the sounds of carelessly dropped trays of food. Instead, the footsteps stop outside my cell, and my eyes peel open.