Page 132 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
Myra had thoughtshe was done with dungeons, but when she awoke, she once again found herself locked in a cage.
Somewhere in the dimly lit cell, droplets of water plunked, hitting the cold stone ground. The air was thick with moisture and clung to her skin. The smell of mildew and decay made her nose itch, the scent turning her stomach.
She summoned her gift, needing to find the familiar threads of her friends. Her power was limp in her palm as if it too had been knocked out and was slow to wake. All she could sense was a deep hopelessness that soaked the walls.
With trembling arms, Myra pushed herself off the floor and crept toward the front of the small cell in search of Laurince and Rian. Her knees scraped against the rough pavement, the coarse stone tugging at her trousers. When she grabbed the bars to pull herself up, a rod hit her fingers, and she yanked her hand away with a yelp.
"It’s always the pretty ones who seem to waste their lives, isn’t it?" The guard tilted his head to the side, his gaze skimming down the length of her. His hand curled around the bars, and he eyed the metal, his fingers dancing across it. "All it would take is for me to snap these bars like a twig, and then you would?—"
"Get away from her!"
Myra nearly collapsed at the sound of Laurince’s voice.
The guard snickered as he turned to the cell next to Myra’s. Myra eyed his brown wings. One was bent more than the other. A bit of pride blossomed in her chest for at least harming him. At least she wasn’t completely useless.
"What will you do if I don’t,captain?" he asked, spitting Laurince’s title at him.
Before Laurince could respond, someone called the guard.
"Enough, Tomlin. The king wishes to see you."
A retort was on Tomlin’s tongue, his gaze slipping back to Myra, but the other guard called out again. With a groan, Tomlin left.
Once his footsteps faded into the distance, Laurince whispered, "Haze, are you hurt?"
Myra’s throat seized up. The back of her head throbbed, but she was alive and so was Laurince. And as images of Laurince’s limp body surfaced, that was all she could hold on to.
"I’m fine. Are you?" she asked, moving closer to the wall they shared.
"I’ve been worse."
Instinctively, she sought the thread of his emotions, and her stomach churned upon contact. Agony rippled across the thread, coating it in a sickening red hue that twisted at her insides and made her keel over. Her power was still sluggish, but she tightened her hold and pushed away Laurince’s agony.
Laurince exhaled a shaky breath, and she heard a faintthumpas if he had rested his head against the wall that separated them.
"You didn’t need to do that. You should save your strength."
"It’s the least I can do." Myra leaned her head against the wall, wishing she could offer him more than a temporary bandage.
Movement flashed in the corner of her eye, and she nearly jumped in fright. But when she recognized Laurince’s hand, she exhaled a breath in relief. She reached out, and the tips of their fingers brushed, the distance too great to weave them together.
"Where’s Rian?" she asked.
"Still knocked out, I think."
Myra chewed on her lip and hoped he was all right.
"This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have trusted Ferencia. I’m so sorry. I never wanted this."
"You couldn’t have known she was helping Sebastian," Myra said.
"I should have, though. She’s always strived for more. I often thought she was only with me because she couldn’t be with Rian. I should have been more careful. And now…" His words drifted off, and she didn’t feel the need to push him.
No matter what she said, Laurince would still blame himself for their fate.
Chapter 52
KALLIE
