I startle awake with a sudden crash. Sitting up, I instinctively draw my dagger. Oak sits on the makeshift desk, staring at me with her beady black eyes.
“Damnit Oak, you scared me,” the whisper tears from my throat.
I sheath my dagger as my other hand grabs my chest. Beneath my palm my heart slams against my ribcage.
She simply lets out a low chittering sound and cocks her head.
Scooching to the edge of the bed and setting my feet on the cool stone floor, I nearly gasp when I see that sunrise has passed. The sky is a pale yellow of dawn, too bright for the sun to have just risen.
Gods we’re late.
I groan as I see a tiny folded piece of parchment attached to Oak’s leg. Removing it quickly, I try my best to unravel the note without ripping it.
Two words are scribbled hastily, the writing so obscure it’s obvious it was written in a panic.
Get out.
The world tilts and I reach for the bed to stop me from swaying. The note drops from my hand and it floats to the floor.
“Oak,uireyvre!”Fly home.
My yell slices through the air, sending her skittering out the window in a hurry just as heavy footfalls quicken down the hallway. There’s multiple people from the sounds of the rushed steps.
I groan and whip my head around the room, looking for an escape other than through the door that exits to the hallway.
Scanning the small space makes my heart flap like a frail bird in my chest. There’s nothing but the dresser, the bed, a tapestry of woven trees, and the window my ass is too small to fit out of.
Drawing my dagger again as the footfalls echo louder I move towards the door. They’re not going to ambush me.
A thought pelts my brain as I’m postured to attack.
Myiludreermight save me yet. If I could channel my magic into a mask, perhaps I could make myself appear to blend into the surroundings.
“Fuck it,” I whisper. Anything is better than being a sitting target.
Closing my eyes, I focus on my breathing and try to conjure up any image of hope I can. Leeson and Caym being bonded, a life where Hanin would grow old, Kassiel embracing me in an intense kiss…but nothing works. Not a flicker of essence against my skin.
Frustration writhes against my soul, the familiar feelings of inadequacy etching their way into my marrow.
Fucking perfect timing.
I groan again and rock my forehead against the cool door.
I drum the fingers of my freehand on the wooded barrier in an effort to think.
My mind races between possibilities before settling on one. The tapestry. Maybe the gods will favor me and there will be a servant’s entrance behind the damned thing.
Pushing off the door with all my might, I spin on my heel and race to the large hanging.
With a huff I rip the fabric away from the wall, tearing a strip of fabric in the process.
The tapestry is so large that I can’t see anything that may be behind it. Desperation fuels my urgency as I run my fingers along the stone wall, hoping to find the traces of a hidden door. I stretch my arm as far as I can and curse the gods for being so short that I have to sneak behind the musty weighted fabric.
I’m enveloped in darkness, pressed against the rough stone wall as I continue to search for an escape as pounding slams against the locked door. It would be an act of gods to save me now.
A muffled yell bellows behind me, “In the name of the king, open this door!”
More fists hammer against the wooded entryway.
