Page 4 of When Storms Ruin

Annelise bit back a cry as she called a midwife forth, and the girl came sprinting down the hallway. She passed Diana to the woman as she hastily packed a bag with only the bare necessities. She changed out of her bloody nightgown and donned a thick woolen cape, strapping the pack and her weapons across her back.

“Where will you go, your majesty?” the midwife asked, bowing her head as Annelise moved forwards. She took Diana into her arms, wrapping her tightly in another warm bundle of linens.

“I’m not sure,” Annelise answered honestly, wrapping Diana firmly into her arms. “Will you do me a favor, Odette?”

“Of course, your majesty,” the maid answered immediately, her eyes wide.

“Tell no one of the child. Not your closest friend. Not your family. No one. And tell the other midwives and maids the same.”

“Of course, your majesty. We will keep the child a secret.”

“Thank you, Odette. You have been a loyal friend.” Annelise gave the nursemaid a soft smile before starting down the darkened corridor of the castle.

She made her way to the first floor of the palace unnoticed and slipped out a side door that led to a steep set of stairs. Annelise descended the stairs with great care, cautious not to jostle the newborn fastened to her chest.

There was only one place Annelise could think to go. To the white cottage in the countryside of Siraleth. The one with the tree swing that hung from the old willow out back.

To Zion and Donika.

Annelise reached the bottom of the steps and started across the dark field, hurriedly rushing towards the tree line before she was spotted by the guards or the archers.

Her strawberry blonde hair billowed out behind her as she fled The Stone Palace, Diana wrapped in a bundle, pressed tightly to her chest.

This night would be her secret to keep.

Akra, Istmere

Present Day

Time is a funny thing…it passes in fits and starts, or sometimes, it passes all at once. For me, time felt infinite. How many days had passed? How many weeks or months had been eaten away by the passing of time since I had been locked in the Stormvault? Time was intangible, but it was also reliable in its passing. No matter how many times I scraped my dirty fingernails against the packed dirt floor of this cell, or paced the iron bars back and forth, time would pass.

The sound of the rats chewing away at the stale scraps of bread had me turning my head in the dim light of the cell, searching the darkness for Tess. I was faintly able to make out her sleeping form slumped against the cold concrete wall.

She was weak.

Too weak to bring the stale bread to her mouth to keep her strength up. Her clothes hung limply from her frame, her natural curves reduced to the hard angles of skin and bone.

I stalked towards the back of the cell, shooing the rats away and gathering the bread back onto the tray at Tess’ feet. The hollows in my own skin were more prominent than I’d ever thought possible, but I was not broken.

Not yet.

Each day I ate the stale and rotten food the Nightshade guards of Donika’s army brought us, and each day my anger and determination grew. The sensation of my magic swelling up inside of me was all but a forgotten memory at this point. I couldn’t remember the last time I had even been able to touch it. To sense its warmth under my skin.

But I was ready to call on it when the time came.

Because the timewouldcome.

I had no idea how long we had been held captive in the Stormvault, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say it may have only been weeks. Long enough for our clothes to fit loosely on our frames and for our skin to degrade to a lifeless pallor. Long enough for the dirt to cake under my fingernails thickly enough that it was merely second nature. Long enough to mourn the loss of my magic behind these iron bars. To forget what the sun felt like against my pale skin.

But not long enough to break me.

Tess stirred in her sleep, and I joined her on the floor of the cell, winding my arm through hers to hold her while she slept. To keep her warm. Nights in the Stormvault withoutwindows and only concrete to surround us were cold and endless.

The rat scurried away now that I had removed the bread from its grasp. I felt—not for the first time—envious that it could crawl right through the space between the iron bars. If our food source continued to become more and more scarce, the thought might truly become a possibility for us. It had been a long time since Puck had been able to sneak down and bring us anything. We had to settle for whatever generosity Donika felt to bestow upon us.

I hadn’t seen Nik since that first day. The day I had seen him kissing Donika, and he had crawled down to the Stormvault to beg for my forgiveness. To profess he would doanythingto gain my trust back. That everything he felt was real.

He hadn’t fooled me.

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