Page 39 of Marked By the Enemy
He turned his head to study me.
“Why show me this?”
“Because you keep searching for the moment I broke. It was here. And I chose it.”
“I have something to tell you,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s about your friend who came with you when you tried to murder me during the new moon ritual at the Moon Court.”
“Priestess Jinth?”
“Yes.” He touched his temple and grimaced. “I told you the interrogator killed her, but now I’m uncertain. My memories are scrambled.”
“So what else do you think could have happened?”
“I have a memory of letting her go before ordering my spies to follow her, so we could find the rebel organisation you both worked for.”
I heaved a sigh. “She wasn’t my friend.”
“She was your foe?”
“No. Just someone to help get me get in to the Moon Court.”
Chapter twelve
The Fifth
The rain had driven us indoors the night before. We’d taken shelter in the old forge’s southern wing—what remained of a roofed chamber with soot-stained walls and a hearth long since gone cold. Darian and I had spread our bedrolls on the stone floor, the air damp with the scent of ash and moss.
I woke to a scratching sound inside the walls. Darian stirred beside me, hand reaching instinctively for his blade. I sat up, heart pounding, the bond within me pulsing in time with the noise.
The eastern wall of the chamber had changed. Symbols were etched into the stone, fresh and glistening. Four circles, and beneath them, a fifth—only half-drawn. Below that, a narrow slit had appeared, dark and deep. A door.
“That wasn’t here last night,” Darian mumbled.
“No. The bond made it.”
“Why now?”
“Because it’s ready. Or I am.”
I approached the wall, pressing my palm to the incomplete fifth circle. The slit widened silently, revealing a staircase winding downward into darkness. A faint silver glow emanated from below, the bond’s magic lighting the way.
“I’m coming with you,” Darian said, stepping forward.
The bond crackled between us, sharp and sudden.
He staggered back, clutching his chest. “It won’t let me.”
“It only opened for one.”
“How far will you go?”
“As far as it takes.”
Without waiting to put on my boots, I descended. The stone steps were cool beneath my feet, the air growing colder with each step. The walls were lined with carvings—ancient symbols, fusion marks, names long forgotten. The bond pulsed with recognition. At the base of the stairs, I entered a circular chamber. The floor had a smooth texture. In the center lay a shallow pool, its surface shimmering with silver light.
