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Like a leaf in a storm, Lumi and I had been tossed around by powers that did not even notice us. Maybe our mother had been targeted during the plague. Maybe she had been collateral damage.
I was no longer afraid for myself, there was nothing he could take from me anymore, and I had lived in fear for too long. Not caring was oddly liberating, doubly so when Flora’s deranged laugh echoed down the tunnel.
Dimitri nodded and even without magic I felt the ice inside him grow, felt the trust we had built through shared truths and kisses crumble.
“You will be judged by the magistrate and Council. Duty ties my hands. The trial starts tomorrow.” He squeezed his eyes shut, the mask cracking. For a moment, I thought he would take it all back, somehow rewind time and hurts.
“I only wanted to help.”
The cold, unreadable face returned. “When the Goddess’s gaze locks on you, you can only make the best of it.” The Crown Prince of Tal retreated from the bars and me, joining the others and raised his voice. “It will, if nothing else, be quick.”
The old manand unfamiliar noble nodded behind him. Then the prince and his retinue left, their steps echoing while I stared at the wall, his accusing eyes still digging into me.
Light steps returned.
Alone, Mariska leaned onto the bars much like her cousin had but there was none of the pained betrayal across her face. Instead, anger smoldered in her eyes.
“You shouldn’t be here, laws be damned. No matter your name or origin, I call youfriend.”
I straightened under her fierce tone. “Friend? I have lied and lied again.”
“And from what I heard you saved Dimi in Lowtown and then again on that bridge. You’re not evil, no matter what else you did, you showed more bravery and grace in one season than most nobles do in a lifetime. My stupid cousin will see it too. Solovyova fears heart turners above all others and he always looked up to her so much. I should have warned you...”
Her fierce whisper was filled with a passion she only used when speaking of the prince. It was disconcerting to hear anyone talk so about me, a useless thief and now kin killer.
Her slim arms reached between the bars until they almost touched mine. It was my choice to close the distance. I had no right to friends. I had few defenses to my actions. First, it had all been about money—enough to settle a debt that my mother took on for me and Lumi. A debt I added to after abandoning her.
You could have run when you killed Kirill, a voice inside me argued.Everyone expected you to.
But I was done running.
The chains barely allowed me to press my fingertips to hers.
Power rushed into me, tingling through my skin, and healing the chafed wrists and aching muscles. I could not hold back the sigh of relief.
“Don’t let them catch you here,” I said. People died around me, they would arrest her as a conspirator or worse. “Go and live well. If you want to repay me, heal others, even those who can’t afford it.”
She scoffed. “I know my duty, and I know you. Not everything is as it seems. I told you once to give my cousin time—now give me some to make him see sense. Sleep well, friend.”
Before I could tell her time was the last thing I had, she and her misplaced hope were gone.
Sleep did pull me under in the end, exhaustion taking its toll and leaving my dreams blissfully empty until the sound of slop hitting a metal plate woke me.
I ignored it.
Cold, infection, and starvation would not get me. My jailer had gleefully told me the trial started tomorrow and I had no doubt it would end with a sudden drop. Somewhere, Flora cheered. I imagined she knew of my fate and rejoiced in someone falling further than her.
Morovara, after surviving her daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughters, would soon prepare my body. I wished I had taken the time to get to know her. Wished I’d had time to build something to leave behind. Wished…
At least Ealhswip would not get my Spirit. Not that one more would matter as long as the plague fires burned. Perhaps on the Day of the Dead, Dimitri would join me in death, and I could explain the rest when the curse releasedme.
I had again survived magic overuse, lived through battle and too many near-death falls. In my bones, I knew I was not surviving this.
Lumi, I thought through the magic bond that should no longer exist.I’m coming to you.
Chapter seventeen
Dimitri
