Page 57 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

Tension crackles through the air, and irritated voices follow it. It should be a simple case of first come first served, but instead, people are fighting over who gets to crawl through first. I study them for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do, before deciding to simply wait for my turn.

“Why?” a voice suddenly asks from beside me.

I start in surprise and whirl towards the sound of the voice. To my utter shock, I find Isera standing there. She has been atthe very front this whole time. And she is strong enough to force people to let her use the tunnel first, if she wants to. There is absolutely no reason for her to still be here.

Because I’m so stunned to see her, I only manage to blink at her in surprise instead of actually replying.

She doesn’t seem bothered by it. As usual, her face is a mask of calm composure. She pushes her long black hair back behind her shoulder as she comes to a halt next to me. But her silver and blue eyes remain firmly on the tunnel entrance ahead of us.

“Why what?” I ask at last, when I’ve finally managed to gather my wits.

She casts a brief glance at me from the corner of her eye. “Why don’t you use your magic against everyone else?”

“Because I’m not Alistair.”

“I heard you made Tommen fall from the ice wall.”

“That was for revenge. He made me fall first.” I motion at the people around us. “These people haven’t done anything to me.”

“No, but you still need to win.” She twists her head, her eyes serious as they lock on mine. “Youcouldmake them claustrophobic enough that they won’t dare to go through the tunnel, couldn’t you?”

I hesitate before admitting, “Yes.”

She just continues holding my gaze. There is something dangerously intense about her eyes. She usually doesn’t say much, or bother to interact with people, but when she does speak, people listen. She has a sort of effortless power about her.

And because of that, I find myself starting to ramble.

“Yes, I could. But I won’t.” Pain squeezes my heart as I add, “People already distrust me enough as it is. This would only make them hate me and fear me more.”

“So?” Isera arches a dark brow at me. “Let them.”

I frown in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“If people fear you, use it as a shield. People will always seek to tear you down, because of one thing or another. Be it for how you look or how you behave or who your family is or what magic you have. There will always be people who will use any weakness against you so that they can feel better about their own pitiful lives.”

In all our time here, I have never heard Isera speak this many sentences consecutively, to the same person. And not only that, she’s being… comforting.

“The trick is to use your own weakness before they can.” She holds my gaze. “If you flaunt your insecurities, they can never be used to hurt you.”

Her words strike something deep in my heart, and I find myself rocking back slightly on my heels from the impact of it. Use my fears, my insecurities, so that no one else can use them against me. It’s a terrifying thought. Abrilliantthought.

But why in the world would Isera ever share that with me?

Studying her face, I furrow my brows in genuine confusion. “Why are you helping me?”

She breaks eye contact and instead goes back to watching the scene before us. She says nothing.

Now feeling even more confused, I stare at the side of her face. Then I flick a glance at the area before us where people are one by one crawling into the narrow tunnel.

Isera swallows. And for the first time ever, a flicker of dread pulses across her face.

Realization crashes over me. “You’re claustrophobic, aren’t you?”

She works her jaw and swallows again, but she doesn’t answer. With her eyes still fixed on the hole in the ground, she instead says, “I know that you can increase people’s fear. Is blocking out someone’s fear also within your capabilities?”

“Yes.”

Silence falls over us again. Isera’s chest rises and falls as she draws in what looks like highly controlled breaths.

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