Soren imprisoned Thessa and me. Help.
I kept trying, kept pushing, kept hoping, even though I might be screaming into a void.
“Riley?” Thessa’s voice was worried. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to reach Caelan. Through the bond.”
“Can you do that?”
“I don’t know.” I opened my eyes. “But I have to try.”
Hours passed. Maybe more. The darkness made it impossible to track time.
I kept sending through the bond until my head ached and my thoughts blurred together. Whether Caelan was receiving any of it, whether I was wasting my energy on the impossible, I couldn’t tell.
But I wouldn’t give up.
“We need another plan,” Thessa said eventually. “One that doesn’t rely on rescue.”
“I’m open to suggestions.”
Thessa went quiet, thinking. Then her eyes lit up.
“I’m more valuable than you.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“No, listen.” Thessa shifted closer, lowering her voice even though there was no one around to hear. “Soren said it himself. I’m a bargaining chip. A hostage. He won’t let anything happen to me, not yet. But you? You’re just a loose end he wants to tie up.”
“So your plan is you get hurt and I get what, exactly? A front-row seat to your acting skills?”
“If I were injured, badly injured, they’d have to check on me. Open the cell. Make sure their precious hostage isn’t dying.” Thessa’s eyes were bright with desperate hope. “And when they do...”
“We attack,” I finished.
“We attack.”
It was risky. Stupid, probably. But it was all we had.
We worked out the details in whispers. Thessa would pretend to be unconscious, hit her head maybe, or collapsed from stress. I would scream for the guard, demand help, make enough noise that someone came to investigate. And when the cell door opened...
We waited for our moment.
A guard came eventually, a bored-looking man who brought water and stale bread. He slid them through a slot in the bars, barely glancing at the prisoners.
“Wait,” I said as he turned to leave. “She’s not moving.”
The guard paused. Looked at Thessa, who was slumped against the wall, eyes closed, body limp.
“She hit her head when we fell. She hasn’t moved in hours. Please, she’s the princess. If she dies...”
The guard hesitated. I could see the calculation in his eyes, the fear of what Soren would do if the valuable hostage was damaged.
“Please,” I said again. “Just check on her. I can’t do anything with these cuffs.”
Another hesitation. Then the guard reached for his keys. The cell door opened. He stepped inside, crouching beside Thessa, reaching to check her pulse.
Thessa’s eyes snapped open.
