So, he granted them a quick death. Smothered them with a pillow, then took their bodies to the Dellilian Castle. He stripped them down so that the world could see what their rules had done to his family.
“So if you hadn’t done anything… They’d be where you are now. Enduring this—fate.” The cold, clammy hands of despair grip my shoulders. Heprotectedthem from enduring this hell.
I glance back at the window and not only see Suseas’s confused giant eyes but also Meridei and a few other people I haven’t met yet.
Chekiss offers a tight smile. “I hope you were worth my silence and my truth. They won’t take this lightly.”
I start to stand up, then stop myself abruptly.“Wait,” I whisper.“There’s something else… Do you know what’s in the thirteenth room, at the end of the hallway?” His small, supportive smile is suddenly replaced with a slight fog of fear, which sifts its way into my chest.
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
“Please.”
He nods in defeat.“I’ve only heard rumors.”
I urge him to go on with my pleading eyes.
“I heard there is a patient in there. This patient is feared by the council. They’re the most dangerous person here.” I hear the voices outside grow in volume and quiver for him to talk a little faster.“There used to be a conformist here named Sern, and she was their primary. The rumor is, she was paralyzed from the neck down by the hands of her patient. Of course, healers could fix her, but her mind never recovered. She’s now in this building as a patient, not in our department, but somewhere lessintense.”
Chills fall over my back. If that rumor is real, I definitely want to know who sleeps in that room every night.
11. Judas’s Deal
Once word spread of Chekiss’sfirst words in twenty years—I was called into the office of one of the six council members of the asylum.
Judas.
His office is on the top floor, and after many stairs, I enter his cave-like dominion.
It’s dark, with only the dim flickering of candles on sconces illuminating paintings on the walls, landscapes of the forests surrounding us, just like Aurick’s cottage in the North Saphrine forest.
And in the soft shimmering glow of the room, I remember him. His jet-black hair, five o’clock shadow, and cleft chin. He was on the steps the morning of my interview.
“Please, have a seat.” He waves me in. Places his long hands on the dark cherrywood desk. “My name is Judas, and yours is Sky.”
Skylenna.
“A pleasure to meet you.” No, it isn’t.You permit the torture. You allow the evil.
“I won’t waste our time on pleasantries. I’m a man who favors bluntness.” He leans forward, holding eye contact. “Scarlett shared with me her vision. And you accomplished part of it only days after your training, that’s quite a feat.”
What?She told him her theory that compassion outweighs pain? Her dreams of tearing down the cruel treatments?
“After I heard she died in that fire—I was—well, I was saddened that her dream would die with her.” He leans back in his chair. Sighs. “I don’t suppose you’d like to make the same deal that I had offered her?”
“Deal?” She never told me. Why wouldn’t she tell me this exciting news?
“Each member of the council may implement a new practice of their choosing every year. Most usually choose a new method of—treatment. But I’d like to give you access to each patient room, in hopes you can make progress with them, by using Scarlett’s theory.”
Wait. I would be the only one allowed to do this?Iwould be a new method? A newtreatment?
“What would be in it for you? What’s the deal?” I ask cautiously—quietly.
He narrows his eyes. “I’d like to prove to the council that there is a new way. And if approved—I’d like you to work your way into the thirteenth room. That would be the most effective way to prove this point.”
Without hesitation—without even a breath to consider—the word tumbles out—“Deal.”
12. Stripped Bare
