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This feeling of despair was worse than when I was disconnected from Kah. Worse than when Lila was taken. At this moment, I didn’t care about the Zavien stone; I didn’t care about returning to Askeland. All I wanted was to get Raven back.
Maybe Averee was right.
You don’t know her.You’re being rash, she’d said about Lila. Was that true? Had my proposal been rushed?
No, Ididknow Lila. I loved her. Except … I’d never felt like this when I was with her. Like I couldn’t breathe without her. Like I didn’twantto breathe without her.
I recognized this feeling. That’s what terrified me the most.
“I should have told Raven the truth,” I said out loud, unsure if I was talking to myself or Kah. “I should have told her I knew about the suli map … about the king seeking the Zavien stone … about Lila …” I proceeded to list all the things I’d lied to her about. “Then maybe she never would have come to Askeland with me, and I wouldn’t be responsible for her death.”Like I’m about to be responsible for Lila’s, I thought.
“What’s done is done,” Kah said solemnly, his disembodied voice sounding like it had in the necklace. The optimism was gone.
What’s done is done.
Outside the cell, I heard movement in the bramble. Was someone out there? I stood up and peered through the vines to see if they’d stationed a guard nearby. The area was deserted.
With a slow exhale, I turned to take in my surroundings. If there was a way out of here or something I could use asa weapon, I would find it. Pacing my cell, I studied every crack, every bramble thorn, every corner. I emptied my pockets, shuffled through my clothing layers, double-checked my boots and bracers to see if any of my knives were still there—they weren’t. I listened for any more sounds emanating from the forest outside. The footfall of guards, the cry of a bird, anything.
There was nothing that could help me.
I could hear Kah pacing in his cell too, doing the same thing. Despite the shadow of death hovering so close, I knew Kah and I would fight to the end. For Lila and for Raven—and for old times’ sake, if nothing else.
Long hours passed, maybe days. Silence overtook the cells. The gray light outside faded to black and then to gray again. Once? Twice? The forest was too dark to tell. My lips were cracked from dehydration; my stomach growled with hunger. I barely noticed. The only thing I could think about was Raven.
33
Raven
There was a sour taste on my tongue when I awoke.
I cracked my eyes open, and a wave of panic crashed into my ribs. Nothing around me looked familiar. Thick panels of fabric wove in and out of the bramble vines, constructing the walls of the small circular room I was in. Several metal lanterns dangled from the walls, casting eerie shadows on the dirt floor. Clusters of dark violet berries clung to some of the vines, somehow managing to make the bramble look more sinister. Above me, there was no ceiling. The bramble walls climbed high up to the sky, allowing light to trickle in through the opening at the top. It was like I was in the middle of a dark chimney.
Alone.
Where was Jeddak? I shot upright, my head swimming as I did.
Everything was quiet. I was in a strange bed. An empty black goblet sat on the small table next to me. My attention shifted to the door, which wasn’t so much a door as an open archway in the wall of bramble. Wherever I was, I had to get out of here before whoever put me here came back.
I reached for the knife in my belt before remembering that the Bramblemen had taken it. Glancing around, I found nothing else in the room that would suffice as a weapon except the bramble itself, which I didn’t dare touch again. I’d have to go without.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and the room spun. I pressed my palms against my forehead.
“Ah, you’re awake,” a female voice said.
I tensed.
The owner of the voice glided through the archway, trailed by two Bramblemen guards carrying spears. The guards stationed themselves in front of the exit, while the woman crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Who are you? Where’s Jeddak?” I demanded. A lump rose in my throat at the thought of what they might have done to him.
“I think the better question is, who areyou?” The whites of her eyes shone bright against her flawless midnight skin as she studied me. She wore a flowing robe so deep purple it looked black, layered with a leather armor bodice, and an intricate metal headpiece that looked like a crown of thorns. “We found you trespassing on our lands.”
“We were just passing through,” I said cautiously, my eyes flicking between her and the guards. Even if I could get past these guards, I had a feeling there were more waiting outside in the endless maze of bramble.
“Others have claimed the same, yet they seem to always omit their desire to take our riches with them when they go.” Her eyes narrowed, wordlessly accusing me of being a thief.
My heart knocked against my ribcage. I didn’t want to know what they did to thieves in the bramblelands. “We don’t want anything from you,” I said, deciding to tell her the truth. “The Rathalans blocked the passageway through the mountains, leaving us no choice but to pass through the bramblelands toreach our destination. If you let us go, we’ll leave quickly and never come back.”
