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Casja
MY MIND WAS MINE ATlast. The freedom did not help.
After we watched Lord Merick burn, Lady Queill ordered the soldiers to come back into the king’s room and take us to the dungeons. She kept her tendrils on our minds until we were out of the king’s tower and in the basement level where the dungeons were, so I could not dwell on what had happened until we were free of her control. The soldier did not speak with us or each other as they dragged Xira and me. They were not rough with us, but none were gentle either.
I assumed Lady Queill was in their minds, too, making sure they did not suspect her or Lord Lugh in Lord Merick’s death.
Xira started to sob as soon as I felt Lady Queill’s fog dissipating from my mind. My eyes stung from the shock, and my hands began to shake as the soldiers separated us and put us in cells next to each other.
They hadn’t simply left me alone inside my cell. Instead, they tied me to a chair, the ropes around my ankles and wrists stinging as the woman ensured I could not escape. I did not know why they had taken that extra precaution; even if I could, I had no urge to oppose what was happening to me.
The fight in me was gone if there had been any to begin with...
In a single night, I faced the fires of death and barely escaped with my life, thanks to Xira. Then, I witnessed the end of the gentle king, only to watch as Xira killed the king whose reign had been the briefest of them all.
“Xira?” I asked, my voice low and shrill.
She did not respond. I knew it was because she couldn’t. The sobbing sounds coming from the cell next to mine briefly became louder.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said. Lady Queill was controlling our minds.
The last part did not come out, even though I wanted to say the words out loud. Lady Queill had put a block on our minds. I could still think about what had happened, but I could not say the words.
Although it was not forbidden, I did not add that Lord Merick was an evil man. She wouldn’t care if he was the first she had killed. I couldn’t even imagine what killing someone might have felt like.
“But it was my magic,” she said. “I killed him.”
Her voice was croaked. She had never stopped crying since we left the king’s quarters.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I repeated. I wanted to say much more, but I could not.
“I felt him,” she said. “As my fire went to him, I felt him die. I could not stop it.”
“Lady Queill was in our minds,” I told her again, as though saying it multiple times could make her believe it. “I couldn’t do anything to oppose her either.”
“And now,” Xira said. “We are going to die. They’re going to torture us until we tell them where your friends went, and then, they’ll kill us. They’ll kill my family too. My brothers...”
She lost control again. No sounds came from her cell for a long moment as I searched my mind to find the right words to console her.
I could not.
She was right. Xira’s family were supporters of King Duncan. I did not know her parents, but I guessed they would not bow to the false king willingly.
“Lord Merick was planning to kill everyone, and that is why he is dead,” I said, evading the whole truth simply to be able to speak. I could not say that Lord Lugh and Lady Queill were the ones who killed Lord Merick. “I assume that means they won’t kill your father and mother.”
To my surprise, Xira laughed. It was the laugh of a mad woman, but a laugh nonetheless.
“That is for the others,” she said. “Why do you think I had to be the one to kill Lord Merick?”
Realization hit me. I felt stupid for not seeing it before.
“They will blame me for it,” she continued. “No one would follow Lord Lugh if they find out... I can’t even say it out loud.” Xira sighed.
I knew what she was trying to say. Although I could think about King Duncan’s death in the way it really happened, the words would not come. Lady Queill’s mind block prevented us from telling the truth.
“They’ll say I did it,” Xira continued after a short pause. “Perhaps they’ll say my father ordered me to do it. They won’t let my family live after that...”
She was right. All the pieces fell into a hole. They would come up with a story about how Lady Xira killed King Merick. King Merick’s supporters would blame Xira instead of Lord Lugh, and Lord Lugh would use that lie to take the crown that his father had stolen.
