Page 22 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
“I bet you want nothing more than to wash off all this filth and eat a nice warm home-cooked meal. Probably sick of all this gruel, right?”
There’s a twitch, just the smallest twitch of the man’s face, and Lochlan smiles. He looks up at us.
“See? They’re still just men. Still craving the same comforts as us.” He turns back slowly to the prisoners. “But that doesn’t make them innocent. Does it?”
The one in the corner stops rocking.
They’re all watching and listening to him now. But still, none of them speak.
Noble shakes his head. “They’re not going to talk. We’re wasting time.”
Lochlan gives a frustrated sigh and stands up, wiping his knees. “Then we need to make them.” He turns to me, his voice lowering. “This is your chance. Just do what you did at the market. Touch the bars and let it flow through you. Don’t hold it back.”
I look at the prisoners again—at all their terrified, starved faces—my stomach heaving. They said they wanted me to help get them answers, but what if I go too far? I mean, I didn’tmeanto freeze the market. I didn’t even know I could do it. What if I can’t control my power? Lochlan touches my shoulder gently.
“You can do this, Lena. I know you can.”
I blink into soft brown eyes that always looked so warm in the light.
They don’t look warm anymore. Not down here. They look cold, hardened by whatever he’s gone through. Has he really changed so much since the convent?
“You can do this,” he adds in a whisper.
I nod and step forward, reaching for the nearest bar.
Even if nothing happens, I have to try…
If I could just help him, maybe it will bring back the Lochlan I remember.
I wrap my fingers around the metal and close my eyes. The magic comes quickly, too quickly, like the metal is drinking in my fear. The cold rushes down my arms into my hands, turning my fingertips numb again. When I open my eyes, icy tendrils shoot across the bar like frosted spider webs, moving outward until they reach the ceiling and floor.
And then the frost spreads further, clawing its way to the prisoners.
They shrink back as far as they can, but my eyes are locked on the one who refused to give his name. If I can just get him to speak, maybe this will end, and I won’t need to hurt the others.
He stands still, his breath fogging with each exhale. His eyes widen as they lock with mine, and silent, choked-back sobs tear from his throat. His skin turns a deep blueish-grey. I want to pull back, to let go of the bar, but I can’t stop. I can’t even move, I’m?—
“You’re doing it, Lena,” Lochlan says beside me. “Keep going, keep searching for where your magic begins and ends. Once you find it, grab it tight and do not let go. Focus, breathe it in, and let your magic take you.”
My hand shakes on the bar. I don’twantto let it all out or let it control me. I want to stop the pain I’m causing, but I can’t control it. It flows out of me until the air itself seems to freeze around the prisoner. He falls to the ground, gasping and clawing at his throat, all the veins in his body visibly pulsing and writhing like they’ve been filled with bright blue magic.
“That’s enough,” Noble’s voice carries to me. It sounds distant, like I’m dreaming. “She’s going to kill him.”
I don’t want to kill him. I don’t want to kill any of them!
“No, she’s making him talk.”
I try to pull away, but my hand stays frozen to the bar.
The prisoner screams. Begs for mercy I want to give him but can’t.
“Show them what you can do,” Lochlan commands like he’s my master, like I should listen to him, but something deep down, buried in my blood and soul, tells me to stop. Tells me I do not take orders from anyone becauseIam a queen.
“I said that’s enough!” Noble’s voice sharpens, threaded with desperation. “He won’t be able to talk if he’s dead.”
“The others will,” comes Lochlan’s cool reply. “We have plenty of them.”
What? No! This isn’t Lochlan. This isn’t the boy who bandaged my wounds at the convent and whispered stories to me so I could fall asleep. This isn’t the Lochlan who promised a life together once we were free.
