Page 55 of Lady of the Lake

I tug at my magic, summoning my telepathy to sink it into her thoughts.

No…no…no, I can’t die like this. I can’t be dying. Someone needs to help me.

I ignore the pain, ignore her panicked last thoughts, and dive deeper into her memories, skimming through them for what I seek. I’m looking for something about Meriadec, about the mole who fed her more information, but I’m lost in her past, centuries ago, when she was only fifteen.

I’m locked in a room, in the dark. The air smells of melted wax and trampled rushes. Fear rings so loudly in my skull, I can hardly think. My wrists ache where they dragged me here, the guards’ metal gauntlets biting into my skin. One of them had taken his off, and his bare hands grabbed me everywhere before he threw me into this cell. Of course he wanted to grope a countess. The peasants’ rebellion caused all this.

I’m waiting here to die.

Outside the castle walls, Prince Talan is ripping the kingdom apart, searching for traitors.

They came to my father for names. He gave them two. Not his own, of course. But he knew they demanded blood, and Mother and I would serve as his sacrifices.

I was a filthy little liar, my father said. My mother and I were out there fornicating with peasants in the woods, conspiring in their rebellion against the crown. Now, Prince Talan wants to torture us to death.

Mother is out there now. On the execution block.

And I’ll be next.

They don’t usually kill nobles in public, but Auberon wants a spectacle. He’s making it slow and painful. Peasant deaths for those who sided with peasants. That’s what they say. It doesn’t matter if it’s all a lie.

I’ve heard the stories. Gut the traitors alive. Pry open their ribs. Let them watch their own entrails spill onto the stones before they die in agony, while the crowd screams and cheers.

Agonized shrieks tear through the walls. My stomach lurches. Is that her? Is that Mother screaming?

I clutch my arms, pressing myself against the cold stone wall. I’m breathing too quickly, but it isn’t enough—I feel like I’m suffocating. Maybe I should end it before they drag me out there. Can I kill myself by slamming my head into the stone?

The door creaks open.

I blink in the sudden light, my heart pounding hard. A man stands in the doorway, a tall, powerful man. With his dark hair and eyes, he is the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Regal, assured. He looks like no one can touch him. At first, I can’t place who he is, but then I see his sigil—the serpent eating itself. But the bearing, the quiet, unshaken confidence…even without the sigil, you can spot a prince.

He’s a monster. He’s the one behind all of this right now. His dragons are outside, burning people alive, igniting the accused.

“Are you the daughter of the marquis?” he asks.

I nod.

“I’m getting you out of here. I’m getting out anyone that I can.” He gestures at the hall. “Let’s go.”

I stare at him with awe. Maybe, in times like this, only a monster can keep me safe.

I force my way past these memories until I’m deeper in her thoughts. She’s only a little girl now.

I’m standing in my favorite dress before my father, hoping he’ll tell me how pretty I look. But his face is pale with fury. I’ve done something to upset him.

“You’ve embarrassed me again!” he roars, and grips my arm so tightly, I’m afraid he’ll break it. “Acting like a common girl? A peasant? I’ve been told you were playing with a servant girl. Do you mean to ruin our entire family’s reputation?”

I’m shaking now, my thoughts whirling with confusion. It’s always so dark in his rooms. He hates the light. “I’m sorry, Father.”

His lips press into a thin line. “The girl has been killed because of you. Because of your stupidity. We will not speak of this again.”

Heartbreak cracks open my chest, and tears spring to my eyes, but I’m not done here. Inside, she’s so chest-achingly lonely, so desperate for love and safety…

She spends hours lying in bed, staring at the wall. Thinking of Talan obsessively. He’s all she thinks about. He fucked her only once long ago. She never washed the sheets. When she lies in bed, she thinks of him.

I need something useful before she dies. I can’t spend too long in here, lost in her dark memories.

I find it at last—the moment she caught Meriadec, tricking him into meeting her one-on-one. She used her mole. She was able to overtake him with the iron she’d bought, and shesmashed it into his face, burning him. Weakening him. He’d become totally helpless.

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