Chapter 124 Myla
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four: Myla
Sitting on the cold, damp ground encased by black stone and a wall of iron bars, I cross one ankle over the other and try to figure out just how many days I’ve been trapped in the dungeons.
I had awoken to the sound of other prisoners in the surrounding cells, one of the male guards bringing me a meager plate of stale bread and questionable meat while I still blinked the bleariness from my eyes.
I didn’t eat then, sure that it was only going to be a short wait before the king arrived to see the female who called herself the Shadow.
The excitement of watching his eyes widen with realization, of staring at the daughter he felt was an abomination, had provided me with sustenance that food couldn’t touch.
Hours passed, and I thought it odd that, as guards came and gathered those in the cells around me to be brought to the dragon fields, the king had still not come.
When a new plate of food arrived from a new guard, I paced my small cell, sure it wouldn’t be much longer before I would be rewarded with the shock I so desperately wanted to see spread across my father’s face.
But then more prisoners arrived and more were taken out—guards changed and more plates of food came—time becoming something I could no longer measure the passing of other than the fact that it must have been days.
Yet no one deigned to visit the fucking Shadow in the dungeon.
I tilt my head back and fold my arms over my chest, looking up at the black stone and imagining I can see through it to the palace overhead.
Where life is continuing on as normal despite my absence.
Then again, with the exception of Navin, would anyone even notice that I’m gone?
At least Sunis has. Though I don’t know if that is such a good thing.
With our bond so new, I am still learning how to decipher her thoughts and feelings and how to send her an accurate representation of my own.
When I said I was trapped, I felt her fear unravel over me.
It took quite a while to calm her down, so I decided to treat our conversations delicately until I could figure out how to get the fuck out of the dungeons.
Something that has eluded me thus far.
My body aches from sleeping on the stone floor, and I would kill the next person within arm’s reach if it meant I could shower with even the iciest of waters.
A long bout of time passes, long enough that my eyelids grow heavy and my head lolls to the side as sleep once more wraps her arms around me, when the echo of footsteps travels down the hallway separating the cells.
I jerk my head back up, my hands reaching for the sheaths at my thighs out of instinct, only to be reminded that I’ve been stripped of my weapons.
My legs shake as I force myself up, keeping my back against the wall.
The light of a single torch down the hall casts the incoming figure in amber light, and I narrow my eyes against the surrounding darkness as I try to make out their features.
But they are cloaked, their face obscured by dark fabric as their boots beat against the stone.
The firelight dances on a bronze dragon insignia at their shoulder, and despite my circumstances, anger crackles low in my gut at the sight. They’re fucking dressed like me.
“Fucking gods above, finally.” Even without seeing his face, the sarcastic lilt to his voice is one I would recognize anywhere. Navin steps in front of my cell, metal jingling in his hands as he searches for the right key. “Do you know how long I’ve been trying to figure out where you were?”
“At least a couple of days,” I guess, peeling myself away from the wall to walk towards him.
“Try five. I didn’t realize you were missing until like a day in”—he slides a key into the lock, only to curse when it doesn’t turn—“which I know sounds terrible, but you can’t blame me when you disappear for long hours in the night to go to Khargis.”
“I definitely can blame you and plan to.” Folding my arms over my chest, I watch him fumble with a new key. Only for it to not work either. “Navin, hurry up.”
“Helpful, Myla.” Mumbling something else under his breath, he tries another key, and this time, we both sag with relief when it turns and clicks, and the door holding the iron bars slides open.
“Anyways, I thought you had likely died in Khargis, so I began searching the streets until I overheard one of the guards say they caught a female who called herself the Shadow.”
I pause midway out of the cell. “You assumed I was dead?”
“Well, yes. Don’t act like there wasn’t an equal chance of you being dead as there was of you being captured.
” At his exasperated look, I smirk instead of arguing with him.
“Anyway, we need to hurry before anyone realizes you’ve escaped.
” He takes the cloak he’s wearing off and hands it to me before we head down the darkened corridor.
“Is there anyone else here?” I hadn’t heard a single noise made by another fae for a while.
“No. All the prisoners prior to your capture were brought to where they are doing the testing with the mages.” He turns right, more cells lining the walkway on either side.
The scent of mold and wet earth is heavy with each breath, and I nearly cry out in relief when I spot a staircase ahead, ready to breathe fresh air.
“It’s where Father has been this whole week, which is likely why no one came down to visit you.
They are all prepping for the big celebration. ”
“The celebration…” I pause, stopping part way up the steps as I stare at my brother’s back. “How many days did you say I was down here?”
Navin looks over his shoulder. “Five.” His brow lifts. “Why?”
Five days… “Fuck!” I growl, running up the steps until I pass him.
“What is it?”
“Aria,” I answer, an uncomfortable thread pulling taut in my chest. “I was supposed to meet her today. It’s been a week.”
We reach the top of the stairs, and I lurch for the handle, but Navin stops me with a hand at my shoulder. “Listen first.” My impatience scratches at my skin, and a feeling I haven’t acknowledged since Daiya left me to bear the consequences of our relationship alone burns acidic in my stomach.
Navin lays his ear against the door, its wood rough and likely as ancient as the rest of the surrounding rock. When he confirms we are good to move forward, I open the door and bolt through it, annoyed to find more stairs.
“How far down are we?” I ask as I take two steps at a time, Navin following my lead.
“Do you not remember the trek down?”
“They knocked me out when they captured me outside of my warehouse. They must have been watching it ahead of time.” Shaking my head, I clench my jaw at my failure. I should have known I wasn’t alone that night.
“Did your informant tell them?”
“No,” I bite out quickly. “She wouldn’t. It’s my fault. I got careless, and instead of killing one of the targets I’ve been watching for weeks, I went for the easier prey.”
We reach another door, pause another moment to ensure we are alone, and then continue up another flight, that rage within me growing with every step. “Let me guess? A guard?”
“An asshole.” I press my hand along the grimy stone wall as we climb, dizziness making my knees buckle beneath me. “So same thing.”
Navin snorts as we reach the landing at the top and a set of double doors this time. He presses his ear to one of them, eyes closing as he listens to the sounds beyond.
“Is it normal for there to be zero guard presence up here?” I ask, pulling the mask of the hood up until my lower face is covered.
“Everyone is at the celebration,” he answers, signaling for me to back up as he pulls one door open. “There is a big announcement Father has been teasing behind closed doors.”
We step out of the dungeon and into the first floor of the palace, golden light flooding my eyes and making me squint as sunlight pours in from the large windows across the room.
I send a message to Sunis down the bond to meet me as fast as she can at the landing post outside of my room.
We’ve only practiced landing there once, since the risk of getting caught is much higher, but I hope to capitalize on the distraction of my father’s gathering.
“Is Sunis coming for you?”
“Yes. I need to go up to our rooms.” Navin nods and alters his direction to lead us there.
Already, I can hear Father Yamin’s voice from where he speaks in the palace courtyard, a wide expanse of space only accessible to those the king invites.
“Do you know what he’s going to announce?
” At my brother’s lingering silence, I glance his way and find his face contorted into a grimace.
We reach the twisting staircase that will take us up to our wing of the palace, and as my thigh muscles protest the climb, I vow to kill every guard who locked me up in that dungeon. “Navin.”
He sighs, running a hand over his hair, the locks braided down his back. “No. Well, I have a hunch, but”—he lets out an incredulous laugh—“it’s impossible.”
My brows knit as I study him, Navin purposefully keeping his gaze ahead to avoid mine.
Father Yamin’s voice is somehow louder on the second floor, carrying through the glass windows and sliders with ease.
That irritating impatience returns as his words press into my ears, his topic of choice once more a supposed miracle bestowed upon us by the gods.
“And so, without further ado, I give you that which can only be explained by a benevolent god. One who has finally reconciled all of our misgivings and wrongdoings, all in thanks to our king! A male who has led his people back into the light! You cannot question the cost of a pious and virtuous society, not when the reward is a fallen prince brought back from the dead!”