Page 108 of Severed Heir

I didn’t know what giving ‘stars’ entailed, or how he expected to collect them. But the way he said it… Lasar knew more than he let on. And right now, I needed those berries more than I needed answers.

“Fine,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek. “Give me the damn berries.”

Lasar reached into his coat and withdrew two bulbous red fruits, glossy as blood-polished rubies. “Take them just before crossing the prison ward,” he said softly. “They’ll hold long enough to get you through undetected.”

I didn’t thank him. I just curled my fingers around the fruit, then shoved them into my pocket. When Archer returned… he’d owe this man some stars.

Chapter Twenty

Not a single shadow marred the landscape. Light shattered in prisms across the courtyard of the prison sector. Terror had never looked so beautiful.

Cully pointed toward the building—a hulking structure of white brick, weathered and veined with ivy that clung like old scars. A silent moat wrapped around the estate, its surface still and gray, reflecting the eternal daylight in warped, uneasy glimmers.

A narrow tower jutted from one corner, the clock face cracked and weather-worn, its hands forever frozen. Above, crows circled without cawing, as if even sound feared the place. Iron latticework gripped the windows, and the light within seemed even brighter.

The guards didn’t move. They stood in perfect formation, skin pale, eyes hollow, like the building had stripped them of humanity and left only husks behind the armor.

“You spent three years here?” I asked.

“Two,” he corrected. “Hard to sleep with the constant light. But Valscribe’s only a country away, so we got a few hours ofdarkness to rest.”

I reached into my vest, pulling out the two berries. “You should go first. Distract the guards. I’ll climb the tower to find a way in.”

“No.” His voice sharpened. “The brick’s laced with poison. One touch and you’re dead.”

My fingers froze. “Then how do I get in?”

Cully eyed the guards. “Two options. First—pretend to be a journalist. But only one rotates through every six hours, and we’ve got about an hour before the next one arrives. I’d have to stay behind. And frankly, you’d make a terrible me.”

“What’s the second?”

“It’s... riskier. Possibly mad.”

“Cully, without you I’d already be poisoned. So let’s hear the mad one.”

“We break in. The moat has a submerged tunnel. Swim beneath. There’s a silcane barrier—it muffles prisoner screams. But it also breeds... things. Beasts and horrors.”

“Let me guess. False doors, illusion magic, and traps?”

He nodded grimly. “Wards meant to keep nightmares in and dreams out. Once you’re in the water, you’ll need to stay focused.”

“So... death by poison or death by fear?”

“I never said breaking into the most secure estate in Verdonia would be easy. Honestly, this plan won’t work, but if you can get in and find Archer, then perhaps you can plead your case to the warden.”

“When I get in, then what?”

“Wait for me,” he said. “Voices will lie. Doors will move. But whatever happens, don’t leave the room.”

“I got it.”

Cully wrapped an arm around my neck. “You are impossibly our mother’s daughter, Sev.”

“Some may say that’s a curse,” I whispered into his sleeve.

Cully went first, eyes down, hurrying toward the guards. I hid behind a tree, chewing the last bit of a tangy berry stuck between my molars. My breath was heavy, heart thudding in my chest as I hurried toward the moat.

A grayish slime skimmed the surface. The muck reeked, sucking at my boots with every step. I dipped one foot in, then the other. The water climbed fast, up my thighs, my waist—like it meant to drag me under.

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