Chapter 96
CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
Ryker
As footsteps approached my cell, I rose from the floor. With my shoulders back, I stood in the center of the room; blood streaked my chest, and my ruined shirt hung in tatters around my shoulders.
More blood soaked my pants and stained the dirt floor. With the chains around my wrists and ankles, I couldn’t take off my ruined apparel.
When the guard appeared in front of my cell, he slid the tray through the opening at the bottom. He didn’t look at me before turning and walking away.
I waited until he was out of earshot before shuffling toward my next meal. The bread, moldy cheese, and gray slop in the metal bowl looked as appetizing as shit on a cracker, but I would force it down. I doubted Veni had poisoned it; he had far more fun plans in store for me.
Lifting the tray, I retreated to my cot and sat before the closing outer door took away our light. Unable to see anymore, I placed the tray carefully on my lap; I couldn’t afford to spill any of what little they’d given me.
My hands felt over the food until I found the bread. I nearly broke a tooth when I bit into the stale concoction, but I chewed and swallowed the sawdust-tasting garbage.
After I worked through the bread and cheese, my fingers fumbled for the spoon I’d seen beside the bowl. Once I located it, I dipped it into the porridge and tried not to think about the murky gray color I’d glimpsed before the light went out again while I ate.
It was cold and, for some strange reason, tasted of onions, but I choked a mouthful of the slop down. I was on my second spoonful when the utensil clanked against something hard.
Frowning, I moved the spoon around, tapping it against the sides of the bowl, but it didn’t create the same noise. I dipped the spoon lower and heard that same strange clank again as the utensil hit against whatever was inside my bowl.
Had they stuck a bone or something in there? Was I possibly eating something that once belonged to another amsirah?
It had looked like perfectly normal, gray gruel, but the duke would thoroughly enjoy having a bone or something more placed in my food. It would be a new way to screw with my head, and he’d enjoy every second of that.
It would also make eating more difficult, and that was a necessity. He’d take great joy in fucking with every meal brought to me.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered as I used the spoon to poke at the solid object.
My stomach revolted at the idea that it was a bone… my bone. The duke would get off on placing my finger in my meal.
I would have thought he’d prefer to watch the show, but he’d relish taunting me about it later. I hadn’t seen anyone grab my finger before we left the woods, but I wasn’t exactly paying attention to it.
While I didn’t want to know what was in the bowl, I couldn’t put it aside without learning what it was. I set my spoon down on the tray and took a deep breath before shoving my fingers into the porridge.
If I discovered my finger, I’d throw it out of the cell for the rats. Or better yet, I’d shove it down the throat of the next guard I killed.
I smiled grimly at that image, but it wasn’t enough to settle the unease in my stomach. If I discovered I’d been eating from a bowl containing my remains, I’d cut off pieces of Veni and feed them to the man every day for the rest of his life.
You have to get free first.
That was true, but I wasn’t going to let it dissuade me from dreams of a brighter future.
When I slid my fingers into the bowl my hand collided with the object tucked inside. My brow furrowed as I felt over the object while trying to discern what it was.
The metal was cool against my skin and solid, but it wasn’t until I felt its grooves that I realized I didn’t hold a finger.
I held a key.