I couldn’t help but show my surprise at that.
“You didn’t know,” she surmised. “Unsurprising. TheGeistnever execute their own kind openly. Doing so would admit they can be killed. Of course, you already know they can,don’t you? You were there, in the sands, when one of your gods died on that ill-fated scouting mission. Did your precious Captain tell you how odd it was for three riders to be found in formation waiting in the desert? Did anyone admit it was strange that a simple scouting mission should be attacked with such force? Did you ever wonder who the true target of such an attack might be?”
She was watching me, curiosity plain in her expression, in a way that reminded me much of howKleioalways looked at me when he was waiting for me to figure something out. I blinked, slowly realizing what she was trying to get me to see.
“I was the target,” I said after a moment. “You came for me that day.”
“I didn’t,” she clarified. “Some of our finest riders did. We weren’t expecting aGeistin your group. They never leave their city. But they must have known we would make an attempt. As always, their vanity caused them to believe one low-levelGeistwould be enough to defend against us. They were wrong. But you hadValinas well, didn’t you? And you proved to be quite the fighter yourself. Apparently, Sanctuary is training Champions better in the physical arts than before. That’s good to know.”
I was hardly listening after she’d reinforced my fears. Those riders had come for me. Those young recruits, just boys, had died because of me. I slumped against my bonds.
“They went to great effort to conceal your arrival inPavos, you know,” she continued. “They assigned you to the care of one of their finest, most ancient warriors. They sent one of their own into the sands for you. Tell me why,Verdunn. Tell me why you’re so important to them.”
I didn’t answer her.
“I know what you did,” she said then, her voice taking on a more wicked edge. Switching interrogation tactics, then. I’dseenCosmodo the same enough to recognize it. That didn’t help ease the sting of her words as she continued. “There’s only one way aVerdunnleaves Sanctuary to enterPavos.”
Jaw clenched, I tried to turn away from her, but she just walked around until she was in my line of sight again.
“Who was she?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She didn’t need to be any louder. The guilt stabbed into me like a knife even in the quiet. “Someone you trained with your whole life? A friend? Someone you didn’t even know before?”
I said nothing, biting my tongue so hard it started to bleed. But I didn’t stop.
“Very well,Verdunn,” she said with a sigh. “Keep your secrets. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll return. Know that I have much more to tell you than you have to tell me. It's in your best interest, I believe, to hear my side of the story your worthless gods have fed you.”
With that, she turned away from me, hips swishing side to side as she made her way back to the door. From the corner, red eyes blinked at me in the darkness. It set me on edge, which was likely the intention, but I fought to keep my gaze on my interrogator as she wrenched open the door and stepped into the empty hall beyond.
I considered telling her right then. That I already knew the truth. That I'd never been all that devout in my worship of the gods. That I'd already seen hypocrisy at the highest level, had lived with it my whole life. But I didn't. Even though it would have been easier. Even though it might have gained me some measure of freedom, giving them what they wanted, every part of me rebelled at the idea of giving in, of letting my kidnappers succeed.
“Valinwill come for me,” I cried out at the last minute, a desperate threat I had no idea whether it was true or not. Iwasn’t even sureValinwould know where I was, much less that he would risk coming for me if he did.
To my surprise, that only made the woman smile as she turned back to face me, eyes glinting in the light.
“He wouldn’t dare crossPrimaagain,” she said. “Not after what happened last time.”
She tapped her eye pointedly before slamming the door behind her on the way out. I gaped at where she'd been moments before, understanding dawning upon me.Primahad been the one who tookValin’seye. They'd faced each other in the desert and she'd injured him grievously enough he couldn't heal from it. Which meantValinknew she was out there. And ifValinknewPrimawas out there…thenValinknew everything.
And he’d lied to me.
Chapter Twenty
Adrian
“Even if they should come to us and offer a reprieve, it will do us no good to accept. These people have never suffered a day in their life. They have no idea what a reprieve looks like.”
– A Statement Made by Rhett Anderson, a Member of the Resistance; Overheard and Recorded in a Private Journal belonging to Third Ringer Skylar Segal
Iwas drifting through shadows. Curls of black smoke wrapped around my body and carried me through the night sky. Stars I hadn’t seen since I’d left Sanctuary twinkled above me. I reached for them and grasped one in my hand, glimmering silver and burning hot in my palm. I closed my fingers around it and held on.
I could hear a voice but from a distance. It wasn’t familiar. It was low, drawling, and undeniably male. There was something about it, a smooth velvet undertone that eased my aching soul, that chased away the cold, cruel darkness of my heart. I reached for it but couldn't find it. Frustrated, I plunged through the night, searching for that voice. I could reach the stars, could fly across the sky, but I couldn't find that male. No matter how farI went, across worlds and vast expanses of sand and snow, lush green grasses that licked up my calves, rough wheat that scraped my palms, mountains that soared up to meet me. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere. And yet, he was everywhere.
Come back,he whispered against my subconscious.
But I didn’t know how. I didn’t know where to go back to. I couldn’t find him, couldn’t tell where he was. Phantom fingers brushed against the back of my hand and I turned to find a pinprick of light in the endless darkness.
Come back to us.
I reached for the light and it seemed to burn a little brighter. I turned away from it, blinking away the pain in my eyes.
