Page 131 of Only Flames Remain

It was all too easy to pilfer the key while they were focused on the poison.

The normal dose was given every four to six hours. This dose would run through my blood in two. Now…I only needed to wait.

By the time two hours had passed, I could feel the strange magic simmering beneath the surface of my skin once more. I rose from the bed, knowing that another guard wouldn’t be along for hours yet. I might not have been the strongest fighter or the best with a dagger and sword, but I was clever. I would be remiss if I couldn’t admit that Queen Dyata and I had that in common.

I rose, silently padding to the cell door and wrapping my arm around the iron, inserting the key into the lock. It sprang free without so much as a peep and I pocketed the key down the front of my soiled gown, between my breasts. I could only hope that it was a master key that opened every cell door, though I doubted I would be that lucky.

I took off in the wrong direction, away from the corridor that would lead me up and out of the castle. I descended the moist, grimy steps of the prison to a lower level, scouring each cell for my mother.

It wasn’t until I was another two levels down that I found her, chained against the wall of her cell. My mouth opened in shock at the sight of her. Her onyx hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, her elegant frame thinner than I had ever seen. Her eyes were pressed closed. If it weren’t for the slow and steady rise of her chest, I would have thought she was already dead.

Her skin was pale, stretching over her bones in a grotesque way. While I had been in Gothryn earning favor at court, she had been here. Forced to endure torture in the dungeons at the hands of Queen Dyata.

I rushed forward, slipping the key into the lock.

It didn’t fit.

I pushed and pushed—twisting it this way and that—but the lock would not give.

“Godsdammit. Mother! Mother!”

She did not rouse at my calls. I wasn’t sure if there were guards on this level, and I didn’t want to draw any more attention than necessary.

I had no weapon. No poison. Only my wits…and that would only get me so far with physical barriers in place.

“Mother!”

She stirred, her chapped lips cracking open as her heavy gaze met mine. She tilted her head, as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing. The Ashbourne royals didn’t know anything about poisons…they were likely giving her hallucinogens without even realizing it.

“Do you have a hair pin? I have a key, but it doesn’t fit in the lock.”

Her chains were so tight she could barely raise her arms to feel around her head. She came up empty, shaking her head once.

I cursed, desperately searching around us. But there was nothing of use. I needed to go back up, find something I could use or find the key itself, then return.

But I didn’t want to leave her. Not even for a moment.

Guilt rose up the back of my throat. She didn’t deserve any of this. She was only suffering now because of my actions. Because I had dared to fall in love with a prince. I had created this entire mess, and the only one to blame was me.

My eyes filled with tears as I gripped the bars before me.

“I’ll be back. I promise.”

Her cracked lips turned into what I could only describe as a smile.

As I turned back toward the staircase that would lead me up, a great heaving boom stopped me in my tracks. The walls of the prison shook violently and I lost my balance, falling to my knees on the uneven dirt floor.

Before I could gather my bearings, the sound echoed once more. Rubble was loosened, falling from the ceiling in a hail of rock and rubble. I raised my hands above me to protect my head.

“What the—”

As I ventured to stand once more, the earth itself shook. My feet were taken right out from under me as the left side of the prison caved in. I swore, the plume of ensuing dust obscuring my vision.

I couldn’t leave her down here. The prison was collapsing and—

A cry rent the air that raised gooseflesh along my skin, a chill running up my spine as my face turned skyward. The ceiling of the prison had been torn off—the cells above that I had occupied mere moments ago flung through the air as if they weighed nothing. I sent a silent prayer up to Nytherion, the goddess of life, to protect the prisoners as my heart sank.

The sudden sunlight blurred my vision, my eyes blinking rapidly as they adjusted to the burning light.