Chapter 135
As my consciousness returned, the first thing I felt was the headache.
It was a vicious, pounding ache that seemed determined to split my skull open. Every heartbeat sent another wave of pain through my temples, and for several long seconds, I remained where I was with my eyes closed, trying to remember where I was and how I had gotten there.
Then I smelled something that immediately made my stomach turn.
The air reeked of rot, damp stone, and something sour and foul that clung to the walls and settled at the back of my throat. I swallowed against the nausea and forced my eyes open, only to find myself surrounded by darkness.
A faint, flickering glow came from somewhere beyond the room, casting just enough light to reveal rough stone walls and a set of rusty iron bars. I tried to sit up, but pain shot through my entire body, forcing a groan from my throat.
"Oww... that hurt."
I pushed myself upright anyway, only to hear the unmistakable clink of metal.
I frowned and looked down.
Heavy iron shackles were fastened around my wrists, connected by a length of chain that disappeared behind me. For several seconds, I simply stared at them, unable to understand how they had gotten there. Then I pulled against them, hoping they would give way.
They didn't.
I pulled harder, but the chains barely moved.
"What the hell...?"
A slow sense of panic began to build in my chest.
I forced myself to look around the cell, desperately searching through the fragments of my memory for an explanation. The Heartforge came first, followed by the chamber, the explosion, and the portal.
Then I remembered Rhaevan.
I froze.
The memory came rushing back with painful clarity.
I saw him standing before the portal with blood running from his mouth, barely able to remain on his feet.
I remembered the dark magic closing in around him, the warmth of his forehead against mine, and the quiet certainty in his voice when he promised me that everything would be fine.
Then he had pushed me through the portal.
There had been an explosion.
I had seen his body thrown backward.
My heart lurched violently.
"Rhaevan..."
I scrambled to my feet too quickly and nearly collapsed when the room spun around me. I caught myself against the wall, breathing hard as I waited for the dizziness to settle.
He had been injured.
He had been alone.
And I had been thrown through a collapsing portal without knowing what had happened to him afterward.
I staggered toward the bars and gripped them.
"Hello?"
My voice echoed through the corridor.
"Is anyone there?"
No one answered.
"Where am I?" I called again, raising my voice. "Why have you imprisoned me?"
The silence that followed made my pulse quicken.
"Rhaevan?"
His name came out louder this time.
"Rhaevan!"
Still nothing.
I was about to call again when footsteps sounded somewhere in the distance. They were slow at first, but they gradually grew louder and faster until a startled voice carried through the corridor.
"The prisoner is awake."
Another voice answered immediately.
"Alert the guards."
I stared at the bars.
The prisoner? I looked around to see if there was someone else, prisoner like in the vicinity.
Were they were talking about me?
Several minutes later, a group of soldiers appeared at the end of the corridor. They wore polished armor bearing a crest I couldn't make out in the dim light, and a tall, broad - shouldered man walked at the front with a stern, unreadable expression and a sword hanging at his side.
The cell door opened, and I instinctively stepped backward.
"What is happening?" I demanded.
The man didn't answer.
Two soldiers entered and seized my arms.
"Wait. Where are you taking me?"
They pulled me toward the door without saying a word.
"Let go of me!"
I struggled, but my body was still too weak to put up much resistance. One of the soldiers twisted my arm behind my back, sending a sharp burst of pain through my shoulder.
I stopped fighting long enough to catch my breath.
"Please. Just tell me where I am."
No one answered.
Somehow, their silence frightened me more than any explanation could have.
They dragged me through the dungeon corridors, up a flight of stone stairs, and through a series of enormous passageways. I tried asking questions several more times, but none of the soldiers even acknowledged that I was speaking.
Then the doors opened.
Sunlight struck my eyes, and I immediately winced, turning my face away. When I finally managed to look up, I noticed the crest emblazoned across the armor of the soldiers surrounding me.
A silver phoenix surrounded by laurels.
The emblem of Eryndor.
My stomach dropped.
Why was I in Eryndor?
More importantly, why was I being treated like a prisoner?
I was escorted through the palace, although escorted was an overly generous description for being dragged between two soldiers who clearly had no intention of allowing me to walk anywhere voluntarily.
The familiar corridors of the palace passed around me, but instead of the warmth and familiarity I should have felt upon returning to Eryndor, everything seemed strangely hostile.
At last, enormous doors opened before us.
I expected to see the throne room.
Instead, I found a courtroom.
The hall was packed. Ministers stood along the sides while nobles filled the galleries, and knights lined the walls with grim, watchful expressions. Even ordinary citizens had been allowed inside.
Every conversation stopped the moment I entered.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward me.
A horrible sensation settled in my stomach as I looked around the room. It felt as though I had somehow walked into a story halfway through and, without knowing how, had become the villain everyone had gathered to condemn.
One of the guards shoved me forward.
I stumbled and fell to my knees.
A murmur swept through the hall.
I looked up at the throne.
The King of Eryndor sat there, staring directly at me.
His expression was unlike anything I had ever seen directed toward me. His eyes were cold, his face devoid of recognition, and there wasn't even the slightest trace of concern or warmth in his gaze.
There was only contempt.
A chill passed through me.
Something was very wrong.
I looked around the hall, desperately searching for a familiar face, but there was no one I could turn to. No Lucien, no Theo, not even Lysenne. None of the people I knew were there.
My gaze eventually settled on the minister standing before the throne.
I recognized him.
He had been the one who received me when I returned from Miss Ann's inn, and he had spoken to me with courtesy that day.
Chistopher? Conan something?
But whatever politeness he had shown me then was gone now. The moment our eyes met, something in his expression made my stomach twist.
He slowly stepped forward and unrolled a scroll.
"Cassiane Ardentia," he announced, his voice carrying clearly through the silent hall. "You stand before this court accused of the murder of Queen Seraphine of Eryndor and of high treason against the Kingdom."
For a moment, I genuinely wondered whether I had heard him correctly.
"What?"
My voice was barely audible, but he continued as though I hadn't spoken.
"You are charged with leading the organization known as the Veiled Thorn."
My breath caught.
"No, that's impossible. I have nothing to do with them."
"You manipulated the Kingdom into believing that Varynthar was our enemy while secretly conspiring with them."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"That isn't true. I would never-"
"You are responsible for the illegal excavation and smuggling of Solithium."
My mouth went dry.
"You possess a dangerous mineral capable of bringing destruction upon the world."
I could barely breathe as the accusations continued to pile one on top of another.
"You have employed forbidden magic to deceive this Kingdom and conceal your true intentions."
I looked around the hall, searching desperately for even one person who might question what was being said.
No one did.
There was no confusion on their faces and no uncertainty in their eyes. They were listening as though every accusation had already been proven beyond doubt.
Or perhaps someone had made certain they would believe it.
The minister lowered his gaze to the scroll once more.
"The captured members of the Veiled Thorn have confessed and identified Cassiane Ardentia as their leader."
The world seemed to tilt beneath me.
Someone had planned this.
Someone had constructed an entire story around me, gathered enough evidence to make those lies appear credible, and brought me before a court that had already decided I was guilty.
The Veiled Thorn.
Solithium.
Queen Seraphine.
Treason.
Murder.
Every accusation was impossible, yet somehow they had turned the impossible into something everyone in this room accepted as truth.
I shook my head desperately.
"I didn't do any of this. I don't know what you're talking about."
My voice cracked, but the minister regarded me without the slightest hint of doubt.
Then he slowly rolled the scroll closed.
"By unanimous decision of this court, Cassiane Ardentia shall be sentenced to death by poison before dusk today."
My blood ran cold.
I stared at him, unable to process the sentence that had just been passed.
They were going to kill me.
Today.
I slowly turned toward the throne, hoping-despite everything-that the king would intervene, that he would see the truth in my eyes, or that some trace of the father I remembered would break through whatever had happened to him.
He only continued staring at me.
There was no recognition in his expression.
No hesitation.
Only the same cold contempt.
I wanted to ask him why. I wanted to tell him that he was being deceived and demand that someone investigate what had actually happened. I wanted to fight the accusations with every piece of evidence I could find.
But before I could speak, a searing pain suddenly exploded inside my skull.
I cried out and clutched my head.
The courtroom disappeared.
For an instant, I was back inside the Heartforge, surrounded by blood, screaming, death, and faces I couldn't recognize. Rhaevan's bloodied face appeared before me, followed by the memory of his arms around me and the feel of his trembling body as he fought to keep me safe.
The visions collided with one another until I could no longer tell what belonged to memory and what was happening around me.
I screamed.
The guards immediately seized my arms.
"Hold her!"
"I can't-"
My knees buckled, but they dragged me upright as the pain intensified until it felt as though my skull were splitting apart.
Voices shouted around me, yet they sounded impossibly distant, as though I were trapped beneath deep water.
Then someone stepped into my blurred field of vision.
The minister.
He approached slowly, and as he came closer, I saw the expression on his face.
He was smiling.
It wasn't the polite smile he had worn when I first met him. This one was quiet and satisfied, filled with a spite that made my stomach turn.
He stopped directly in front of me and caught my chin, forcing my face upward.
The courtroom continued murmuring around us, but when he spoke, he lowered his voice until only I could hear him.
"You have been very useful, you filthy Ardentian."
My breathing stopped.
His fingers tightened around my jaw.
"Now that we no longer need you, you can prepare for your last breath. Nobody will come to your rescue."
His smile widened as he leaned closer.
"And that pathetic, overprotective mage of yours?"
My heart seemed to stop.
"He's dead too."
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
The pain in my head disappeared beneath a far greater kind of agony.
Rhaevan.
Dead?
No.
My mind refused to accept the words.
I tried to pull away, but the guards held me firmly in place.
The minister released my face with a shove.
"Take her."
The guards dragged me away.
I twisted around, desperately trying to look back at the throne, but the king remained exactly where he was, watching me in silence.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to tell someone that this was a lie, that Rhaevan couldn't be dead, that none of these accusations were true.
But the pain in my head surged again, drowning out every thought.
The courtroom blurred around me as my legs finally stopped cooperating. I could feel the guards dragging me across the floor, but even that sensation was beginning to fade as darkness closed over my vision.
The last thing I could think of was Rhaevan.
If he was truly dead, then the world I had fought so hard to survive had taken the one person I had finally allowed myself to love.
And if he wasn't dead, I had no idea where he was or whether I would ever see him again.
That uncertainty was the last thing I carried with me as consciousness slipped away.
Then everything went dark.