Page 163 of The Ashborn

The man grunted. “Welcome, then, to those who deserve to be here. It’s nice to have company. What’s your name?”

“Baila. How long have you been down here?”

A beat of silence passed between them. When Baila figured he wouldn’t respond, he said, “Too long to remember. I kept track for a while with the ebbing of the light, but when you’ve been down here as long as I have, it’s more depressing to know than it is not to.”

That life sounded tiresome. Baila prepared herself to live it. She got comfortable against the ground and watched the traced light again. “What’s your name?”

A loud sigh carried through the roots of the trees above them. “You can call me Thal.”

“Thal.” She said the words and let them settle within her. She was interested to learn more about Thal, if not for the very reason he would be her prison mate for the rest of eternity. No one came to see her since Broan handed her off to the Elvish. It was the queen’s guard that took her down, deep into the roots. Baila figured it was maybe five days’ time that she wasted away, but Thal was right. Keeping track proved pointless.

“I betrayed my friends,” Baila said after some time. “I helped my father destroy the realm and let him use me as a pawn. Then he used me to kill someone I cared for. Probably the only person I cared for in the end.”

“Relatable,” Thal said.

“Did you ever kill anyone?”

A gruff laugh sounded, mixing with the humming of the trees. “I’ve done my fair share of awful things in the name of the Elvish.”

So, he was Elvish then.

An odd friend to make, considering Baila’s past, but she was far out of options at this point. She closed her eyes and listened to the earth feeding the roots curling around her pod. She reminded herself that there were worse dungeons she could be in.

—Kienna—

Talon was wary of letting Kienna fight another day against one of his soldiers. She spent more time than usual on the training grounds, challenging the Elvish to duels and pushing herself beyond her physical abilities to work out the pent-up flood inside her. When she could beat every soldier on the field, she found a mage in the Emberreign Islands to use magic against her.

The Elvish were quick to design yet another charm for her, a stronger one to weave into the existing design on her arm. Her magic was too strong, they said. They needed to bind it further. Seredai wanted her to relinquish it altogether, but apparently, King Vaerin’s magic tethered to hers made it impossible to pull. He was ingrained so deeply that Kienna hated herself for it.

She couldn’t feel the smallest hints of power in her bones anymore. Kienna accepted it for now. Knowing Vaerin still lived in there, attached to her magic, brought her pain. She couldn’t bear it. So, she let the Elvish mage throw fire into her body time and time again. At first, Kienna wanted to let the pain rush over her. Let the flames scorch her into dust. Ruva convinced her to fight back instead. If anything, she could grow stronger against the artistry of magic.

Kienna pushed herself and the other Elvish soldiers to the brink of exhaustion. They should have told her no, but being named an heiress to the throne had its perks. Saying no to her would have been like saying no to the queen herself…or so Kienna liked to tell them.

Kienna, Ruva huffed after the fourth time she hit the dirt. Maybe it’d be best if you slept first.

“Keep going,” she growled through her teeth. The soldier panted, blinking slowly.

Connak grabbed Kienna’s wrist from behind as she moved to attack. “You’ll kill him if you don’t stop.”

Kienna turned, rage consuming her. In the turn of her distraction, Connak motioned his head to the side to let the soldier go. He picked up his items and scurried away quickly, a limp in his gait from when Kienna found a way to hit him before he could throw another fireball at her.

“You need to stop,” Connak pleaded. “You’re not sleeping, which means Ruva and I are not sleeping.” Exhaustion consumed every bit of his face with black shadows under his eyes. “Please, I’m begging you. This is madness.”

Ruva huffed in agreement.

“I will never stop,” Kienna said. “If I stop, I won’t be strong enough. I can’t be weak like all of you. I will take him out.”

“By killing yourself,” Connak said, grabbing Kienna’s arm again before she could pick up her weapon. She pulled her arm forcefully but couldn’t muster enough strength to pull away. “I can help you sleep if you need me to.”

“Stay out of my fucking head,” Kienna growled again, finally releasing her arm from his grip.

Let him help, Ruva begged.

You’re of no help either! You couldn’t protect him, so you can’t protect any of us. Neither of you.

Connak eased himself closer to her again, though she readied herself to push her dagger into him to keep his pity from washing her away. “I’m begging you to rest.”

“And I’m begging you to stay out of my life.” She turned on her heels and stormed through the forest.