Page 63 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

“But if I can save him?—”

“Do you really think that monster will hold up his side of any bargain? Not on your life. Besides, it’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings.”

I didn’t know what lady she was talking about, but I was sure she was trying to say we shouldn’t count the men out just yet.

29

SUCH SWEET SORROW

This time, when I woke to clanging and slamming doors, I didn’t mistake my surroundings for anything other than my cell. We’d begged the guard to tell us if it was day or night, but he ignored us. We only knew that Ciro had promised Griffon would lose his wings in the morning, but how far we were from morning we couldn’t guess.

I’d finally fallen asleep, and in the strained silence, I’d slept for a long while.

Now, I moved to the door and pressed my ear against the crack just in time to hear Griffon bellow,“Lennon!”

“I’m here, Griffon! I’m here!”They’d both remained silent and stoic until then.

“Listen to me!”More scuffling.“Lennon, listen! We didn’t need forever to find perfection, do you hear me?”

“I hear you!”

Men’s shouts were followed by a scream of pain. The whooshing of wings came nearer and nearer.“Lennon, remember, I love you.”

“I love you too. Can you get away? Do whatever it takes. Just go! Go to the palace. Bring help!”

“If I can get past the dome?—”

A jumble of footsteps was followed by hissing, then the heavy thumps of a large body falling to the ground.

“Don’t you dare touch him!”Lennon screamed, followed by some unmistakable profanities in any language. The hissing repeated, and a second thump against wood, then nothing.

I beat on my door. “You’ve killed them!”

“Just asleep,”a man grumbled.“They won’t be any more trouble.”

Asleep. Asleep was good. If Griffon was doomed to lose his wings, hopefully he would stay unconscious through the worst.

Hopefully, he would wake up from it…

* * *

Long,tortured hours passed before Minkin and I could get a response from Lennon. Her answers were low and slow. Either she was groggy or she’d been weeping in silence. But she completely fell to pieces when the moaning began from somewhere above us, and my heart broke for them both.

Tears dripped steadily down my face. I found myself breathing along with Griffon and could feel each howl as my breath left my body. It went on for half an hour before it suddenly stopped. And I realized the silence was much worse. It left my imagination to run wild.

The way Lennon cursed and beat against her door made it clear that Ciro and his minions would be foolish to ever, ever open that door again. And I was infinitely grateful that Tearloch didn’t have anything Ciro envied—something akin to Griffon’s wings.

It was impossible to keep track of time in the dark. I was still saving my glow stone for an emergency. And the only time light was allowed into my cell was when the door opened and I was given food and a bucket. That had only happened once.

Lennon's emotional state came and went. She'd been quiet for a long time. I hoped she was sleeping.

We hadn't heard anymore from Griffon either. There was little chance that the moaning—that pitiful, pleading moaning—had come from anyone but him. Sound was too muffled to make out any words, but I don't think he'd said anything. Just a wretched, wordless complaint that he would never have made had he been fully conscious.

A muffled exchange of voices brought me to the door. It sounded like two men speaking softly. I strained to hear every word, but they’d stopped. A faint series of footsteps moved away and I concluded they had just changed the guard, and one had gone up the stairs.

Was Ciro really foolish enough to leave a single man to guard all eleven of us? Ten without Griffon.

I heard the now familiar scrape of a chair. Whoever was out there chose to linger at our end of the corridor, and that gave me hope. It meant the men were a little freer to speak and plan and plot.

---