Page 68 of When Storms Awaken

“Stormvault?” I asked.

“It’s the name of this prison. I don’t think we are in Prins anymore…” Tess replied.

I had to agree. I remember waking in the carriage and not hearing the busy sounds of Prins outside. It had been quiet.Stormvault…did these soldiers, whoever they were, know I was a Stormshade? But how could they? I hadn’t used my magic in days. I hadn’t even so much as reached out to it or dipped into it since arriving in Istmere. Not to mention thereweren’tany Stormshades. Not anymore.

“Where are Nik and Puck?” I asked.

“No clue. I don’t know if they were captured, too. I haven’t heard them being mentioned by the guards, and they sure as hell aren’t down here.”

“It’s just us?” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes against the darkness.

“It’s just us,” Tess confirmed. I could hear the chains at her wrists jingle as she tried to shuffle closer to the edge of my cell. I used the wall for leverage and did the same. At the corner where our two cells met, I could finally see her face in the shadows. Her normally perfect hair was mussed and hanging over her shoulders, a mascara tear stained her cheek. I couldn’t imagine what I looked like after having a burlap sack placed over my head, for God only knew how many hours, and being dragged down here in the dirt.

“Do you know how far down we are?” I asked.

“About three flights down is my best guess. I didn’t see or hear anything that would suggest our location,” she replied.

“How the hell are we going to get out of here?” I racked my brain for ideas, but was coming up short. They needed to unbind us. Without magic, it seemed utterly impossible. Would they eventually take off our restraints? My fingers had gone numb, and it was becoming difficult to wiggle my toes.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Tess sighed, leaning her shoulder against mine through the bars. “I’m just happy you’re safe.”

“Me too. When I woke in the carriage and you weren’t there…I was so worried. I was alone.”

“I think they separated us on purpose,” Tess replied. I swallowed the lump in my throat and leaned into her. I could hear her stomach grumble and she let out a humorless laugh. “I never got my pancakes.”

Leave it to Tess to be upset about pancakes while we were being held captive in a prison somewhere in the witch realm.

“Once we make it out of here, I will make you a short stack that will knock your socks off,” I promised her.

“With chocolate chips?” she asked in a small voice.

“Of course.”

I could hear the sound of boots clapping against the stone corridor and I straightened, peering through the darkness. All I could see was the shape of the two soldiers as they approached our cells.

“Who are you?” I asked into the darkness as I heard the cell unlock with a click. “What do you want?” But the soldier did not respond. Instead, he moved towards me with a handkerchief held in his gloved fist. I shot a glance towards Tess, but in the darkness, I couldn’t see her anymore.

“Lights out, princess,” the soldier sneered before pressing the cloth to my mouth. I struggled and tried to kick out, but my legs were bound too tightly. I tried to roll over onto my stomach, but the soldier was stronger than I was, and he wrestled to keep the cloth over my mouth. It wasn’t long before the world went dark…again.

When I woke this time, it was with a start, shooting upright. My hands and feet were no longer bound, and I was lying on a cold marbled floor in a room lined with windows. The windows were draped with blood red curtains, a dais with a single throne on the far side of the room. To my right lay Tess, her limbs at odd angles, as if they had simply dropped her there. We were alone.

“Tess, wake up.” I crawled to my knees and put my hand on her shoulder to shake her. “Tess, I need you to wake up now.”

This would probably be our only chance at escape. I moved to the set of double doors behind me and when I pushed them, I could hear the sound of chains clinking together on the other side. The door was chained shut. Great. At least this room was full of windows.

I ran to the nearest window and peered out, my fingers clawing at the windowsill to pry it open. The wall of windows led out to a steep, shingled rooftop. When I glanced down, I could see we were at the top of a tower, in a castle made of stone. The roof dropped off to a terrace far below. Far too high to jump from and live to tell the tale. I would have to break the window and hope for the best if this was truly our only way out.

As far as the eye could see, there were buildings made of the same natural colored stone, set into the side of the snow-covered mountain. The only way down were the narrow roadways that switched back and forth down the mountainside, heavily guarded by uniformed soldiers. Of course…we were in The Stone City. We were in Akra. I had never seen it myself, but I had heard Nik talk about it. This was where he grew up. But what were we doinghere?

I knelt by Tess’ side again, shaking her with more fervor this time. My legs and arms were tired and sore from being bound for so long.

“Tess,” I hissed. “Tess, if you are planning on waking up, now would be a good time!”

The doors behind us burst open, and I fell to Tess’ side with a start. I hadn’t even heard anyone fumbling with the chained lock. In filed a set of six soldiers, three on each side of the door, their hands on their swords.

“I think there’s been some kind of mistake…” I started, but their faces were covered by their armored helmets. None of them turned at the sound of my voice. My eyes found the marble floor and I could feel tears welling in them. I couldn’t make a run for it, not without Tess. I wouldn’t make it far if I went out those windows, or with these armed soldiers here. Could I use my magic to get us out? I wasn’t bound anymore, and that meant I should have access to my storm magic. I blinked back the tears that had threatened to fall and swallowed, determination replacing the moment of despair.

As I started to search my core for that familiar energy, a heel stomped against the floor at the door’s entrance.

---