Page 156 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

“Lessia. You need to come with us.” Zaddock gestured for her when she left the alcove.

And when he wouldn’t meet her eyes, his head remaining bent as he led the way into the cellars, dread stabbed at her chest, thrumming in rhythm with their soft steps as they descended the stone stairs.

Loche walked behind her, his eyes slamming into hers when she turned her head over her shoulder, and when he reached out to squeeze her hand, a wheezy breath finally made itsway into her lungs.

He wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen to her.

Loud voices echoed between the polished walls when they reached a part of the castle Lessia hadn’t been to before. While lanterns also lit this part, pressure laced her chest when she realized it was the dungeons.

Rows of cells lined the walls on both sides of her, and when a familiar sound of dripping water and the musty smell of wet stone and decay reached her, she stiffened, fighting the urge to sprint back the way she’d come.

“What… what are we doing here?” Her shaky voice barely carried over the shouting ahead.

Neither Loche nor Zaddock responded as they continued walking.

More light flickered ahead, and soon Frayson came into view.

He was surrounded by twenty or so guards, all standing before a brightly lit cell.

But it was the familiar blue eyes that locked on hers, the blonde hair reflecting the flames on the wall that had her gasp for air.

Amalise stood beside one of the guards, her face a mask of fury as she pulled at the arm he was holding on to.

“Get off me, you stupid bastard,” she screamed.

“Amalise!” Lessia rushed her steps, running up to her best friend. “Let her go!”

She shoved the guard so hard he took a stumbling step backward, but he still held on to her friend, nearly making her fall from the movement.

The guard glared at her. “She is no prisoner, but she has tried to fight every man in here. If you can get her to calm down, I’ll let her go.”

“I won’t stop until you let him go!” Amalise’s cheeks burned as she spat at the man.

“Amalise.” Lessia reached out for her, gripping her free hand. “We’ll figure this out. Please, just calm down.”

Amalise’s eyes burned into Lessia’s. “You don’t even know, do you? They just stormed into our house last night and took him! They’re mad!”

Tensing, Lessia searched her face. “Took who?”

Amalise jerked her head toward the cell behind them. “Look for yourself.”

Turning around, her pulse roaring in her ears, Lessia fixed her eyes on the cell.

A strangled noise escaped her when Ardow’s defiant brown eyes found hers.

Blood trickled down his temple. His face was beaten and bruised, and his body must have been, too, based on the way he leaned against the wall, keeping his weight on one foot.

On the dusty floor beside him, Venko lay unconscious, his pale hair spilled out over the dark stone.

When she took a step toward them, several guards stepped into her path.

“Get out of my way,” she snarled, her fear from earlier giving way to rage.

Lessia’s nostrils flared when the guards didn’t move, and her hands balled into fists, but as she lifted them to slam them right into their stupid faces, Loche leaped in between them.

With his back to her, he ordered the guards to get out of her way, pushing one aside when he didn’t move fast enough.

Stepping around him, she sprinted up to the metal bars and reached in through them. “Ard!”

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