CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT TREW
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
TREW
Iwoke to darkness, a pounding head, and the realization I’d made a terrible mistake in going to the village. They’d jumped us, knocking both of us out, perhaps with some kind of magical weapon.
The air smelled like rust and earth, and when I tried to sit up, my shoulder collided with metal.
My disguise pendant was gone.
I reached out, my fingers finding cold walls on all sides. A shed. I was inside a fucking shed.
“Isi.” The word came out hoarse. I reached beside me in the darkness, my heart bruising itself against my ribs until my hand found fabric, then skin. “Isi.”
She didn’t respond.
I ran my fingers along her arm to her neck, finding her pulse. Strong. Steady. Relief nearly buckled me before panic surged back. Blood matted her hair, sticky and wet beneath my touch.
“Come on, Minx. Wake up.” I pressed my palm to her forehead, reaching for my magic to heal her. The power that usually thrummed beneath my skin felt distant, muffled, like I was trying to shout through water.
I reached for Gavelle through our bond.
Nothing. The emptiness where my companion should be felt like losing a limb. I pushed harder, straining against whatever barrier separated us, but the bond remained severed.
Magic-dampening. Someone had built this building specifically to hold people like us, I suspected to hold them until they could deliver them to Caldrith for a Day of Mercy.
“Fuck.” I tore a strip from my shirt, working by touch alone to wrap Isi’s head wound. My hands shook as I tied the makeshift bandage, gentler than I’d ever been with anyone in my life.
She still didn’t wake up.
I left her lying on the ground only long enough to examine our prison.
The shed was a quarter the size of a bathing chamber, and the smooth walls felt like metal.
They buzzed beneath my touch. Tiny cracks between the metal panels let in only the vaguest hint of light.
I found a door I couldn’t budge despite throwing my full weight against it.
The only opening was a small hatch near the floor that might be for passing food.
It wasn’t big enough for even a child to fit through.
There appeared to be no weaknesses here and no way out.
I returned to Isi and gathered her against my chest, positioning myself between her and the door. If someone came through, they’d have to go through me first to reach her. At least we weren’t bound.
Her breathing remained steady, and I focused on that sound in the darkness. Each inhale and exhale was proof she lived, even if she wouldn’t wake.
“Open your eyes, Minx,” I whispered against her hair. “Please.”
The hours crawled past. I marked time by counting her breaths and by the gradual slowing of blood seeping through the bandage. My head throbbed from whatever had struck me, but the pain meant nothing compared to holding a motionless Isi in my arms.
Before leaving Syllavar, I’d calculated every possible complication. I’d planned for ambushes, even from someone within our group, and for Skathe attacks. But I hadn’t accounted for small-town people who despised magic users as much as King Cyril. I should’ve. He had a long reach.
I was arrogant. Careless. And now Isi was paying the price for my assumptions.
The hatch scraped open, and a trencher slid through, followed by a water flask. I lunged for the opening, but it slammed shut before I could see who’d delivered the food.
“Wait,” I called out. “She needs a healer. Please.”
Footsteps shuffled away outside.
I wet a strip of cloth ripped from the garment I wore beneath my leather tunic and cleaned the blood from Isi’s face, trickling small amounts of water between her lips. She swallowed, which had to mean something.
Voices filtered through the walls a while later. I pressed my ear to the metal, straining to hear.
“…sure it’s her?”
“The innkeeper swears by it.”
“Those eyes gave her away. It’s not her face, but you know what magic can do.”
“She’s the Caldrith princess, no question.”
“The reward will feed our families for years.”
My jaw locked. Fuck, no.
“We’ll hand her to the king and collect our due.”
Rage and helplessness stormed through my chest. I wanted to tear through the walls with my bare hands, to make every person in this cursed village pay for touching her. But I remained trapped and powerless, holding the woman I loved while she bled in the darkness.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “If only I’d been more careful.” My voice cracked. “I need you to wake up, Minx, and tell me I’m an idiot for apologizing. I need to hear you say something sharp and clever that makes me want to kiss you and throttle you at the same time.”
Nothing.
I held her tighter, my lips against her temple. “I love you. More than my own cursed life. So you don’t get to leave me. You understand? You promised we burn together or not at all.”
The darkness pressed in from all sides.
I’d never felt more helpless in my life.
Isi stirred against me as pale light filtered through thin cracks between the wall panels. Dawn of the next day.
“Trew?” Her voice came out barely a whisper.
Relief crashed through me so hard I nearly crushed her against my chest.
“It’s alright, Minx.” I eased back enough to see her face in the dim light. Her eyes were unfocused, confused, but seeing her awake felt like breathing again after drowning. “How are you feeling?”
“My head…” She tried to sit up.
I supported her weight, one hand cradling the back of her skull beside her wound. “Easy. You were hit. You’ve been unconscious a long time.”
Her gaze sharpened as she took in our surroundings. Even disoriented, her mind worked through the problem. “Where are we?”
“Inside a magic-dampening shed. I can’t reach Gavelle, and I can’t use my power.” I touched her face, needing the contact. “How much do you remember?”
“The village. Buying food. Not much else.” She frowned, wincing at the pain the expression caused. “Other than someone hitting me from behind.”
“The innkeeper recognized your blue eyes. They’re holding us for the reward your father has offered.”
Understanding dawned in her expression, followed by frustration. “How long was I out? How much time do we have?”
Of course those were her biggest concerns. Not her injury or our imprisonment, but the mission.
“Tomorrow is the Day of Mercy.”
She closed her eyes, and I saw her doing the same calculations I’d been running all night. Too little time. Our team was scattered and no doubt searching for us, but they would have no idea where to find us.
“This is my fault,” she said. “I should’ve realized someone might recognize me even with your disguise.”
“I should’ve realized and crafted a better disguise. I thought the one I made would be enough.” I turned her face toward mine, making her meet my eyes. “I shouldn’t have suggested we come here.”
“We both made the choice.”
“Then we both bear it.” I pressed my forehead to hers, careful of her injury.
“Let me try my veil-sight. See if there’s a weakness in whatever’s dampening our magic.”
Her eyes went distant, that particular focus I’d seen when she examined wards.
After a long moment, she shook her head.
“I can’t see it enough to unravel it. It’s worked into the metal, powered by whatever I sense beneath the floor.
It’s elegant, actually. They designed it to contain magic users without killing them.
” Her jaw clenched. “But I can’t break it from inside. Not with this headache.”
“It’s all right.” I pulled her back against my chest, tucking her head beneath my chin. “Rest. Save your strength.”
“We don’t have time to rest.”
“We don’t have a choice.”
Her long sigh rang out. “I hate to ask, but I have to…”
Ah. I helped her over to the corner and turned around, though we’d find no privacy inside this tiny metal trap.
After she’d settled beside me again, footsteps approached outside. I tensed, positioning myself between Isi and the door. But whoever it was only shoved more food through the hatch before walking away.
“They’re not taking chances,” I said, checking the meager provisions. Bread, cheese, water. Enough to keep us alive but not comfortable. I handed her a piece of bread and the larger slice of cheese.
Isi picked at the food, and I could tell each movement pained her. “The others will come for us.”
“And walk into the same trap.” I’d been thinking about that all night. “This village is small but organized. They’ll be watching for anyone else from our group. I told them there were ten of us.”
“So we wait?”
“We wait and plan.” I met her gaze. “When they open the door to move us, we fight. Even dampened, we’re not helpless.”
She leaned into me, her hand finding mine in the dim light.
I laced our fingers together, drawing strength from the connection even if our magic remained blocked. “We’ll find a way through this.”
Voices filtered through the walls again as evening approached.
“Today, they said. Transport will take her to the high court itself.”
“Just the girl? What about the man?”
“Reward’s for the princess. The man’s insurance to keep her from causing trouble.”
I felt Isi tense against me, running through the same calculations. We needed to have a plan for when that door opened.
“Whatever happens,” I said quietly, “stay behind me. Let me take the first hit.”
“We face it side by side.” Her voice carried that stubborn edge I loved. “I won’t ever hide behind you. You know that.”
“I wish you would.”
“You actually don’t.”
“You’re right,” I said with a sigh. “But you’ll let me try to protect you anyway, because you’re injured and that’s what we do for each other.”
She didn’t argue, just held me tighter in the darkness.
“Tell me something,” she whispered. “Something that has nothing to do with this cursed mission or our horrible circumstances.”
I thought for a moment. “When I pawed your body after you stabbed me, looking for more blades, I lied.”
“Which lie are you talking about now?”
I huffed. “I never lie.”
“You just said you did.”