‘Running out of time here, Rose,’ I say to myself, gritting my teeth against the pain I know is coming.
The crackle of flames is growing by the second, and they’re moving too fast. I brace myself to kick at the door, only to stop.
The window is open a couple of inches. I’ve found myself unable to sleep in the stifling heat of the dorms, compared to the icy chill of the slums, and got into a habit of leaving it ajar. But if I open the door now, the flames will barrel inside and likely engulf me. With the air in my lungs getting thicker by the second, I rush over and pull the window closed. Then I head back to the door and once again brace myself to strike.
This time, I make contact and the door crumbles beneath my foot, sending planks of blazing wood out in front of me and producing a small gap in the centre. It’s the best I’m going to get. A heartbeat later, I push myself through the flames. The heat is unbearable and the smoke scalds my lungs. It’s only a matter of feet – a few steps through to the other side – and yet it’s agony, the searing pain across my skin growing hotter and hotter. The roar of the blaze is so loud now that I can’t hear anything else, and there’s no air getting into my lungs.
It’s too big, I realise. There’s no way out of it. I’m going to burn to death, just like Zara hoped I would. Burn and suffocate in the smoke. A roasted runt.
‘Rose! Rose!’ Llinos’s voice is muffled and distant. She’s going to watch me die. She’s going to have to watch me die. That’s my last thought as I’m hit by a blast of air and tumble to the ground.
As I blinkmy eyes open, it’s hard to ignore how well-rested I feel. Not only that, but I’m comfy, too. Like I’m lying on a soft mattress with proper pillows – the type we used to have when we lived in the High Hold and not the crazily thin specimens of the barracks. But as I stretch out, I realise it’s not just the mattress and pillows that are different. It’s the entire bed. Not to mention the walls and the windows. Wide windows that flood the space with light.
The memory hits me like an axe. Zara. The fire. Llinos.
‘Thank the Gods, you’re awake.’
I push up onto my elbows. Jonas stands in the corner of the room, his face ashen.
‘Rose.’ He takes a seat on the edge of the bed. ‘Do you remember what happened? The fire, how did it start?’
‘Zara.’ My voice croaks like it’s not been used for days, though it’s probably from the effects of the smoke more than anything. ‘She got Mattieu to start it. They wanted to kill me.’
His face is thunderous.
‘I told you they’d try something like this. That you shouldn’t be sleeping on your own!’
If there’s ever been a worse time for an ‘I told you so,’ I don’t know it. If I had enough energy, I’d throw Jonas straight out of the room and tell him not to hurry back. But I don’t.
‘It’s a good job Loch heard something happening and Llinos’s powers were recovered. Otherwise it would have taken you a lot longer than a couple of days to recover. Assuming you recovered at all.’
I start to bask in gratitude for still being here, when Jonas’s words sink in.
‘A couple of days?’ I begin in a panic. ‘What do you mean, a couple of days?’ The ball. I missed the damned ball! And Kay! I slump back onto the bed, closing my eyes against the sudden hotness there. The thought of seeing Kay kept me going, and to have it ripped away like that …
‘It’s been five days, Rose. The healers did their best, but they were all pretty drained from fixing up wounds after the first trial. And it wasn’t just your bones. It was the smoke in your lungs. They worked as fast as they could, but it took time.’
I don’t doubt that the healers did everything in their power, but it doesn’t stop the tears that start to tumble. It’s stupid. I’m alive – that’s the thing I should be focusing on right now. I should be celebrating. But I can’t.
‘I missed the ball.’ My voice trembles as another tear leaks down my cheek. ‘I missed it. I missed my chance to see Kay.’
Chapter 32
‘You can’t let them get away with this.’ This time, when Llinos insisted that I stay in the islanders’ room, I didn’t object. ‘You have to do something. Fight back.’
‘I will,’ I tell her. ‘Trust me, she’s going to pay for making me miss seeing my sister. Did you see her? Talk to her?’ I ask hopefully.
Llin shakes her head. ‘No, I’m sorry, Rosey. We weren’t in much of a party mood, what with you half dead and all. We showed our faces, then came back here. But I think Jonas talked to her.’
Of course he did, which is why I’ve already asked him, yet the only reply he gave was that she was ‘well.’ Not exactly the most descriptive answer.
‘So what do you have planned for Zara? Anything you want my help with?’
I shake my head. ‘No, it’ll be fine. Just going to take a little time, that’s all.’
‘Dish best served cold,’ Llinos says with understanding. ‘Say no more.’
Since I came around in the healers’ room, revenge has been the only thought strong enough to push the anguish of not seeing Kay from my mind. My first instinct was to poison Zara. Poison them all. There’s certainly enough I could use in the satchel from Dinah to do that, but I still believe that killing our opponents outside of the trials isn’t going to win Etta’s favour, given she’s the Goddess ofLife.Thankfully, I think I’vefinally got an alternative plan I’m happy with. Which is why I’ve already made up my mind that I’m going to brew something nasty, but not deadly. Something that takes a few days to infuse. Days I plan on spending training so that someday soon, I’ll be able to kick Zara’s arse.
