Chapter 2
KALLIE
A single guard stood on duty outside the prison. Upon seeing Kallie, the woman immediately straightened and fisted the small throwing knife she had been previously spinning.
With the dagger pressing against her back, Kallie held up her hands. "I only wish to speak with one of them."
The guard snorted, her posture relaxing and amusement tipping up the corner of her lip. "Be my guest," she said, ushering Kallie forward before spinning the blade again.
Kallie’s brows shot up her forehead, surprised the guard didn’t argue further.
Fearing the guard might change her mind, Kallie thanked her and hurried down the steps.
But as she descended the stairs, Kallie wondered if there was a reason for the guard’s easy compliance.
Kallie quickly brushed the concern off, though.
She had come here for a reason, and she wouldn’t turn back now.
A couple of fading sconces hung at each end of the prison. She counted eight cells on each side. She wondered if this was simply a temporary holding place for prisoners. She had visited the castle’s dungeon in Ardentol many times, and it was at least five times the size of this one.
Kallie shuffled down the aisle, her head swiveling back and forth as she looked inside each cell. The closest cells were empty, but she halted at the second set, her breath catching.
Were her eyes playing tricks on her? It wasn’t humanly possible. There was no way—
"If you’re worried about us breaking out," a tired voice said, which Kallie quickly recognized belonging to the captain of Rian’s guard, "don’t bother. I already tried. It’s impossible—except for whoever or whatever broke apart those bars."
Indentations marked the bars, grooves that she bet would perfectly match Graeson’s fingers.
Hands that had touched her with such tenderness, such longing that it was hard to fathom they could cause this sort of destruction.
Kallie had heard rumblings about Graeson escaping a cell after they had first arrived.
She hadn’t given the rumors much heed, but seeing the curved bars with her own eyes sent a chill down her spine.
She thought she had seen every side of Graeson, but she was beginning to think she had merely scratched the surface.
A normal person would have been afraid. A normal person would have been concerned.
But Kallie had never once felt in danger in Graeson’s presence.
Instead, Kallie could only think about how scared he must have been in that moment.
Had he trembled later that night like he had when she found him in the woods?
Kallie shook the thoughts away. Now was not the time.
Refocusing on her reason for coming here, she forced her feet forward, but she didn’t make it far.
Laurince slammed his fist against the bars of his cell the moment Kallie came into view. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, rising to his feet.
Kallie held up her hands in acquiescence. "I didn’t come here to fight with you. I came here only for answers."
"We’ve already been questioned," he spat, the veins on the sides of his neck quickly becoming more predominant. "Or do they still doubt our intentions and have finally decided to use their little pet to see if we’re lying?"
"What are you—" Kallie choked on her words.
He knew. He knew what Kallie could do, which could only mean one thing: Myra told them.
Laurince smirked, the twitch of his mouth anything but kind. "You don’t feel so righteous now that we know your little parlor trick, huh?"
"Laurince."
Kallie went rigid at the sound of the Rian’s hollow voice.
None of this was going as planned. She had thought that they would all be asleep, that she would be in and out. But the captain and Rian were proving that was easier said than done.
"Rian, she—"
"Is not worth your time," Rian said, cutting off Laurince.
Rian’s words shouldn’t have hurt her, yet they were a punch to her gut.
Kallie peered into the cell across from the sneering captain.
Rian sat against the wall at the back of the cell.
His wine-red hair was longer and more unkempt than when they were in Frenzia together.
His shirt was covered in grime, and the collar was wrinkled and worn around his neck.
His brown skin was dull in the shadows of the cell.
Rian was the man she was supposed to make fall in love with her, the man whose crown she was supposed to steal. He had the right to be angry with her.
While Kallie might not have been locked inside a cell for the past few months, she knew what losing control felt like. She knew what it felt like to watch one’s world fall apart in the palm of one’s hand, unable to stop it from crumbling, no matter how hard one tried to keep it together.
Kallie exhaled a soft apology.
Rian didn’t move.
Maybe he hadn’t heard her? She cleared her throat and stepped closer. "Rian, I—"
"I heard you," Rian snapped.
"Oh," Kallie mumbled, the apology thick in her throat. She shifted on her feet, uncomfortable.
"Is that it, then?" Rian asked, head still hanging low.
Kallie blinked. "Pardon?"
Rian lifted his head, and Kallie barely stopped herself from retreating when his eyes locked onto hers.
The nearby sconce cast dark, heavy shadows beneath his eyes.
Even before today, there had been a sadness that lingered in the green hues from the grief of his father’s death.
While Kallie may not have recognized it months ago, there had once been a molecule of hope flickering in the sea of green.
Now, there wasn’t a single drop, and its absence surprisingly gutted her.
"Is that why you are here? To apologize?" Rian clarified, his tone colder than she had ever heard it. He didn’t just hate her; he loathed her.
"I—" Kallie spun her mother’s ring around her finger, the metal threatening to carve into her skin. Apologizing wasn’t the initial reason for the visit, but she couldn’t say that to him. Rian deserved an apology, and maybe she should have considered his anger before coming here tonight.
It was too late now, though.
Pressing his palms against his knees, Rian stood.
He strolled forward, every step filled with malice.
"What exactly are you apologizing for, Kalisandre?
" He didn’t give her a chance to respond, though, and barreled forward.
"Let me see if I can help jog your memory.
Are you apologizing for lying to me about the reason for our engagement?
Are you apologizing for pretending to have an interest in me when you were just using me for my crown and army? "
"Rian, I—"
But Rian wasn’t done. He tore her apart, word by word. "Or perhaps for cutting off our engagement and destroying my kingdom’s sacred temple in the process?"
"I didn’t mean—I didn’t know about the attack!" Kallie sputtered. It was as if she was being doused with buckets of water. She struggled to find the correct words—the words that would make it right—for none existed.
"No?" Rian released a bitter laugh. Shadows danced across his face as he stepped closer to the bars. "Or maybe you’re apologizing for my brother stealing my throne because of the mess you created?"
Each remark stung worse than the last. Sweat pooled at the back of Kallie’s neck as she held her breath. From the corner of her eye, she saw movement from the fourth set of cells.
"Or are you apologizing for manipulating me every second we were together?"
There were no words to explain everything she had done. Everything that came to mind felt like an excuse.
"Oh, my apologies, love. Was that harsh of me?" Rian asked, blinking down at her, his lashes brushing the tips of his brown cheeks.
"Not harsh enough if you ask me," Laurince interjected, leaning against the bars.
Hands shaking at her sides, Kallie took a jilted step away from the two cells. "I want to fix things."
Kallie winced when the men laughed.
"Fix things? Everything you touch turns to shit." Laurince slid down the wall and sat on the floor with a shake of his head, his arms falling lazily over his knees.
"I know," Kallie admitted, forcing herself to continue. "I know that this is my fault. I didn’t come here to deny that."
"You shouldn’t have bothered to come at all," Rian said.
This was going absolutely terribly. Maybe she was cursed. Maybe she had angered the gods or the Fates.
Still, she refused to back down.
"Rian, I know my word no longer holds any weight, but I am deeply sorry for lying to you, for betraying you, for all of it. But—"
"Of course there’s a fucking but," Laurince spat.
Kallie ignored the captain and continued. "As much as I wish I could, I cannot change the past. All I can do is hope to make the future better."
"And war is your solution?" Rian asked, his features painfully contorted.
Lifting her chin, Kallie clenched her fists at her sides to steady them. "That is why I’m here: to stop it," she said with as much conviction as she could gather.
"Ha! You and what army, Princess?" Laurince hissed.
Shaking his head, Rian returned to the back of his cell and plopped on the ground. "You’re too late, Kalisandre."
Kallie bit the inside of her cheek, the pain pinching. She had to believe there was still time to fix this. Because if there wasn’t, everyone’s sacrifices would have been for naught.
"War was always going to come," Kallie said, voice quiet yet steady. "Our absence—our supposed abduction—is simply the reasoning Domitius has gone with. But there is something else that has been bothering me since the three of you showed up."
"Which is?" Rian asked.
Kallie glanced at the bent bars of the destroyed cell before returning her attention to Rian. "How did you do it? How did you escape?"
Rubbing his bruised wrists, Rian glanced at Laurince.
"We fought our way out," Laurince explained, his head slumped back against the wall. "We almost didn’t make it. We shouldn’t have made it, but by the graces of the gods, we weren’t followed."