Page 98 of Synodic

“I hit her, my queen,” he said, not even batting an eyelash. “She struggled and tried to fight back, that’s when a silver beam shot from her hand, and the skin upon her flesh glowed like the stars.”

“It sounds absolutely fascinating. Show me,” she said with a flick of her slender wrist.

And there it was, the releasing command of her hound.

Caeryn’s vindicated smile and charging gait had my legs begging to run, but I was completely surrounded, not only by Aliphoura’s play crowd too terrorized to act out, but by her armed sentinels as well. I’d be lucky to make it more than a few steps.

If I could just give her a taste of what she wanted, maybe that would appease her enough for the night, and I could spend whatever time I’d earned figuring a way out of here.

I wanted to be afraid, but something much greater consumed me. There was no room for fear, only survival.

I extended out my hand and implored for my power to come. I needed to light a spark before Caeryn got to me, the smallest bit of glowing silver could grant me precious hours. But not even an ember sparked from my fingertips, my head still swimming from the trauma of last night.

Caeryn lunged, and though his fist came flying at me, I didn’t cower. I was too preoccupied fighting for the glow that would emanate at any moment. I didn’t even try to dodge him, believing up until the last second that I could save myself. Which made the swift punch to the stomach that much worse. I doubled over in pain, clutching my middle, wheezing.

Please come, please light.

I kept trying but my body remained as it was, pale and unglowing. Aside from Caeryn’s little blast, I’d only really seen it in the crevice with Maddock, pushing him out of me like a cosmic blast through the night.

I knew the power I could wield, as trapped as it was behind my concussion.

Another of Caeryn’s fists came at me, this one landing on my cheek. It was too much, and I fell to the ground, my lip split open again. I was vaguely aware of the crowd cheering and hollering as though we were battling in a colosseum.

Caeryn hovered over me, and just like I knew he would, he kicked me while I was down. The point of his boot connected with my ribs, and I felt something inside me crack as I screamed out in imploding pain.

He walked over my crumpled body. I was too tired, starved, and broken to fight back in any meaningful way, but still, I tried. I kept imploring my gift to make itself known, but it was as dormant as a dead star.

Rowen. I had never told him I loved him. I let his face fill my mind as Caeryn grabbed my hair in his hands. I wouldn’t survive another blow.

“Enough!” Aliphoura yelled through the clamoring crowd and noise. “It seems our little star has forgotten how to shine. Let’s give her the night to remember, shall we?”

Much to Caeryn’s disappointment, he shoved me to the ground.

“We will simply have to try again tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, until our sweet little bird remembers how to fly.”

Caeryn vowed he would torture me for days, and here it was, the start of his fulfilling promise.

Aliphoura gracefully rose from her throne and sauntered towards my suffering body. I could only raise my head to her, my teeth bared and breathing heavy.

She bent down in front of me and ran a soft hand across my cheek, gentle and lovingly. “I ended up being led to quite a pathetic creature. Although I can’t say I’m entirely shocked, I’m not an easy act to follow.”

I spit a wad of blood on her exquisite dress as a royal fuck you.

Her chest heaved a disappointed sigh before she snapped to no one specifically, “Take her to the crypts.”

* * *

Somehow I was still fighting and squirming as arms lifted me from the ground and carried me through narrow tunnel after narrow tunnel. It darkened considerably outside the throne room, but a twinkling of mica minerals always remained, lighting the way.

It wasn’t long before skulls began lining the tunneled earth, and I saw firsthand how the Crystal Crypts earned their name. This place was built on the bones of the dead.

Dread muddied my senses, and it felt like I was perceiving my life through a foggy television screen. The nondescript characters in this particular horror dumped me in a small damp chamber, leaving me alone and injured with nothing but an empty bucket.

Crouched over in pain, I explored every inch of my cell, studying it, looking for weak points or possible exits, but the only way in or out was through the heavy metal door slotted perfectly within the stone. I was trapped deep in the belly of the earth, imprisoned by the same hard glistening rock of the throne room.

Shivering from the cold condensation leaking through the walls, I found the driest bit of ground I could and rested, with thoughts of clawing my way to the sun.

After who knew how long, my cell door began to creep open.

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