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“Hm, Danyal had me eating forest critter for weeks, and it’s surprisingly fattening.”
I laughed and bumped my head against his. I yearned to have him alone again, in my arms, in a bed, the two of us without a care.
The room tilted; the floor tipped. I clung to Lark, heard him ask if I was all right. “Dizzy, that’s all.” He sat me down and scooted up next to me, so warm, I couldn’t stop from leaning against him.
“You must eat, Arin.”
“Don’t care for it.”
“I know where Pain’s crown is. I’m going to get it and get you out. A day, maybe two.”
I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. It was good he had a plan to get the crown, but right now, I just needed him here, with me.
“My prince of honey and sunshine was not made to be kept in darkness.” His fingers teased through my hair, and it felt right, having him here.
I mumbled a sound of agreement and shuffled closer. If I closed my eyes and ignored theplink-plinkof dripping water, I could almost imagine we were in my meadows. The sound of the ocean was a distant memory, but I hadn’t forgotten all of it. If I dreamed hard enough, I’d hear it again, and taste salt on my lips.
A melody drifted on that sea breeze, a sweet little humming sound. I sighed and listened to Lark’s spellbinding tune. Then, like the brightest of lights in the darkest of places, he began to sing. The tune was soft and delicate, like butterfly wings on that sea breeze. I’d never heard him sing, not like this. He’d recited poems and limericks, made fun of the rhythm, but this was something else.“I remember the times we had together, the laughter and the joy we shared, but now the memories are all I have left, and it’s more than I can bear,”he sang, his voice hauntingly beautiful.“The fire has gone out, the night is cold, and my heart is heavy with sorrow, but I know that someday we’ll be together, and I’ll wait for that tomorrow.”
He hummed the tune as a chorus, then began again. His voice chased away the dread and the cold and the despair. It likely sailed outside my cell too and echoed down the prison corridors. He’d told me magic was in the wonder, in the not knowing.The world is dark enough, it needs a little magic to light the way.Lark was my magic.
I’d ask him about the words, and the melody. But for now, all I wanted was for the tune to carry me far away from this nightmare and make me dream of the days we’d walked in the meadows together, and nothing and nobody could take that away.
CHAPTER34
Lark
I sangmy mother’s lullaby over and over, falling into its waking dream. I sang until my voice grew hoarse, because not singing meant letting the silence in. I’d never feared the quiet before. It had always been a part of my life. But with Arin dozing against my shoulder, his world reduced to four walls and bars over a narrow window, the quiet threatened to swallow him. His mind wouldn’t last much longer. He was not meant for places such as these.
But I was.
I stopped singing, and the hungry silence rushed in.
It was time.
After easing from Arin’s side, I gently laid him down, climbed to my feet and left his cell without looking back. If I’d looked back, I’d have stayed. It pained me to leave him, but this had to be done. I hurried down the outer corridor, each step silent, and snuck by the guard, unseen.
Ahead, the stairwell led down as well as up toward the castle halls. I took the steps down, descending into darkness. Razak had said Umair was far below, as deep as the foundations, deeper perhaps. Find the king, find the crown. Once I had the crown, I had a degree of control over Razak.
As the gloom pushed in, I stole an oil lamp from its sconce and hurried on. Down and down, around and around. The stone risers blurred, my breath misted, and a chill tightened my skin. There were no oil lamps here. The darkness became so thick that should my oil lamp snuff out, I’d be blind. But that wasn’t going to happen. I wouldn’t be down here long.
The staircase corkscrewed deeper into the mountain. I didn’t slow, didn’t stop. If I were to be discovered, it would be over. Everything—Arin’s freedom, the crowns, defeating Razak—hinged on finding Umair, and with him, Pain’s crown.
I hit the bottom step and stumbled into darkness. My breath misted in the cold. I raised the lamp, fought off dizziness, and studied the thick gloom. My lamp’s efforts illuminated a stone pathway, and after a few steps, a rock wall emerged, turning me right. Those walls had been left chiseled rough. This was nothing like the polished blue-silk-wrapped rooms in the castle high above me.
This was where Justice kept its secrets, deep inside the mountain where nobody would find them.
Pushing my light against the cloying dark, I walked on.
There was no sound, save that of my own racing heart and the lamp’s spluttering.
No doors either. Just a tunnel toward darkness. But all tunnels led somewhere.
This had to be it, didn’t it?
Ice dusted my clothes and nipped my fingers. I tucked my left hand inside my jacket, keeping it warm. The shivers trembled my hand holding the lamp, making the oil in its reservoir slosh and the flame splutter. If the lamp extinguished now, I’d struggle to find the path back.
I wasn’t thinking about that, only moving forward.
