Page 6 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
“Garris, no.” Bella used her soft, soothing voice. “If the crown wants her, they’re going to want her in good shape. If that was magic, then they’ll pay you plenty of royals for her, but they’ll want her fresh. It’s not every day someone uses magic to save a whole city.”
Did I? Did I use magic? It sounded so insane. And that thing on my neck. What the hell was that?
My fingers glided up my neck, feeling for anything there, but there was nothing.
He suddenly hurled the club all the way across the room, tumbling end over end through the air, slamming into the rock wall beside me. It startled the shit out of me, but I swallowed my nerves, barely flinching.
Garris was as awful as anyone I knew, but he was strong as an ox, even if dim as one too. Always best to let him get his wicked energy out on his own.
The two men shuffled out of the room behind me. They knew Garris well enough to know talking with him in that state was like trying to reason with a wild boar.
“My life is gonna be so much better when your worthless little hide is gone. Let the crown buy you. Let the Blaze Queen torture you to death for all I care!” He rushed out of the room, leaving Bella and me in the quiet.
She rushed to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I stood breathless. My fingers slid down the wall to my pockets. My heart pounded. My whole world was changing so fast. I did want to leave the rotten city. I did want a life I could never dream of. But I couldn’t leave Bella. She was my only friend, and as she squeezed me, I knew she felt the same way.
She released me and stood back. “What the hell are we going to do, Ash? We are really in a predicament this time. I don’t know how we’re going to survive this one. Where did that come from?” Her hands flung out wide, shaking as if demanding answers I didn’t have. “Why didn’t you tell me you could use magic? That was amazing! Like, the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. We would’ve been dead if it wasn’t for that gold that shot out of you!”
“I—I didn’t know. You know I didn’t know. I would’ve told you if I’d known. I couldn’t keep a secret like that from you.”
“Well, I believe you.” She scratched my bare shoulder with hernails. “I still can’t believe it. You of all people, and here, of all places!” Her hands dropped and her shoulders slumped. “How are we going to get out of this mess?”
“I think I’m going to the capital… they’re going to take me away to Emberveil.”
Bella wanted to refute, but bit her lip instead. Her glacier-blue eyes and kind smile reminded me of a fresh fear.
I can’t leave her. I’ll never see her again if they take me. She’s the only person who cares about me in this rotten world. My stomach dropped, and an emptiness consumed me. I’m going to be alone. I’m going to be all alone again…
“I’m worried, Ash. I’m scared what’s going to happen to you if they take you. Everything I hear about the Blaze Queen terrifies me. This civil war has driven her mad. And her dragon makes the prince’s look like a puppy. I saw her once, did I tell you? I saw the queen riding Brigodon, Lord of the Dragons. She was far away, flying over the mountains, but it still brought tears to my eyes. It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen… If you go to Emberveil, I’m worried you’ll never return, and I’ll never see you again…”
Again, she wrapped me in her arms, and I embraced her back.
“We’ve got until tomorrow to think of something,” she said, rubbing her tears away behind me.
But she won’t. She can’t. She’s a slave. She’s a slave just like me. I spun and sighed into her neck. It’s going to be up to me. I’ve got to get myself out of this mess somehow.
I want a new life. I had always dreamed of one, but being taken to the capital wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Escape may be my only option. But I’d need to get out of these fucking shackles. There’s no way I could run with these on. They’d find me in no time. There’s got to be a way.
I heard Garris staggering back long before he barreled back into the room, shoving the door in with his fist as it slammed into the rock wall.
Bella didn’t back away as he strode toward us, wild rage in his eyes, and strong spirits stinking from his breath.
“Garris,” Bella muttered as he easily shoved her aside, sending her falling onto her side.
My pulse sped and my heartbeat thumped like a drum as I gritted my teeth. “Don’t touch her, you rotten bastard!” My throat scratched and vibrated as the words rushed out, inches from his disgusting face.
He was so overwhelming in strength and anger when he entered that I didn’t notice the new shackles in his hands until he dropped to a knee, placing the second pair above the old ones. He bound them and locked them so tight it took my breath away.
He rose with a groan, glaring at me like I was less than human. “You’re not going anywhere until I figure out what to do with ya.” Spit from his lips hit my cheek. “If this war doesn’t kill us all, and if the queen doesn’t kill you, then I’d take pleasure in making that rebellious glint in your eyes fade. I’d enjoy wiping that smirk off your face, once and for all…”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit him so hard his head spun backward, if for nothing else, for the way he knocked Bella to the floor. But I held it in. Sometimes the best way to fight back was to save it for another day. I knew that look in his eyes, the savage, bitter predator that was begging to get let out.
So, I said nothing, bowed my head, and he eventually staggered back out of the room.
Bella held out her hands, and I helped her up. She brushed the soot off her clothes and bent down to try to alleviate the tightness of my fresh shackles.
If they took me to the capital, I was dead. If they caught me trying to escape, I was dead. My mind raced to figure out a solution where it didn’t end up with dying, but they all escaped me.
The only thing that soothed me was having a friend like her in this wretched world.
