Page 28 of These Divided Shores
Was that what Elazar wanted—the entire world bowing at his feet, crying out for the Pious God? He had tried to force that on Grace Loray the first time. Did he think having permanent magic on Argrid’s side would be enough to change the outcome now?
Ben had had uncles besides Rodrigu whom he had never met. He had had a mother he couldn’t remember, a little sister he had never known, grandparents he could only name. He had known Elazar was evil, but he hadn’t—he had never thought—
Ben’s body felt bursting with muddy waters. He couldn’t get rid of the inescapable feeling of filth, inside and out.
Elazar would become the Pious God incarnate, if he wasn’t already.
The defensors pushed Ben and Gunnar back into the twisting, shifting halls of the prison. The moment the stones closed over them, trading the orange sunset for gray rock, Gunnar faltered. Ben moved to catch him, but Gunnar stumbled past. The pressure of these walls bore down on Ben’s soul too, leaving a metallic grittiness in his mouth.
Defensors pulled Gunnar back into his solitary cell and shoved Ben into the one with Lu. But this time, Gunnar was not chained to the ceiling—the defensors just tossed him to the floor and left.
Gunnar, braced on his knuckles, flicked his eyes blearily behind Ben. His posture changed from slumped to alert.
Ben whirled.
Lu hunched on the cot, hair across her face, head on the wall. She barely moved, her breathing stunted. Ben almost asked what was wrong when his stomach clenched.
Her black shirt acted as camouflage, but the torchlight caught it: blood coated her right arm up to her shoulder.
A hundred possibilities charged through Ben’s mind. A hundred horrible torments he knew the Church inflicted on sinners. He lived every one of them, staring down at Lu.
She found him from behind strands of her hair. “Lazonade... wearing off...”
She tapped her head against the wall with a gasp that sucked the life out of Ben. When she twisted, her arm movedfarther into the light—the fabric of her sleeve wasn’t sliced. Just her skin beneath, methodic cuts bleeding through, like tick marks carved into a cell wall.
The Lazonade—someone gave her Lazonade?—would let her numb body slowly, achingly feel the pain of so many wounds. Torture, twice.
Ben sat next to her and lifted a trembling hand. She recoiled and he pulled back, pulse humming in his ears as a tear rolled down her sunken face.
Watching the defensors whip Gunnar had bruised Ben’s soul. But knowing Lu had been tortured, alone—
He couldn’t find nobility in resistance, nothing he could form into a speech about strength. Whatever had happened... Elazar had found what would break Lu. Their future played out in knife cuts and whip cracks, village parades and death threats.
“I won’t leave you again,” Ben fumbled. “Lu, I promise—”
“Benat.” Gunnar’s warning came a heartbeat before another voice overpowered the hall.
“That is not for you to decide.”
Ben spun off the cot. Jakes, Ibarra, and Elazar stood in the hall.
Seeing Ibarra yanked a memory forward—in the captain’s office on theAstuto, Ibarra had recognized Lu. He’dhatedher.
The prison walls rippled at the edges of Ben’s vision. Ibarra had been the one to hurt her.
Ben couldn’t protect Lu. He couldn’t protect Gunnar. His country was committing these atrocities,and he couldn’t stop any of it.
A rush of blood resounded in his head, his shoulders heaving on furious breaths.
Elazar folded his arms. Here, Ben could see stains on the hem of his blue robe, a splattering of mud on Elazar’s left hip. His hair was still neatly styled, the oiled black and gray strands reflecting torchlight in stabbing flares.
“Lieutenant Ibarra,” Elazar said, his eyes on Ben. “I have long suspected evil would grip my son, and I prepared ways to save him. But I have kept you, despite your disappointments, because you assured me you can reach this girl. Was I wrong to trust you?”
“No, sire. You will be pleased.”
Elazar sighed. He looked at Lu, curled on the cot. “Sweet girl, are you ready to confess your sins and give yourself over to the Pious God’s plan?”
“No,” Ben said. His heart screamed,so he said it again. “No, you’ll have to kill us—”
