Escape was not an option, at least not on my own. Everyone had enemies. I just needed to find Kane’s.
Wind rushed in. The cold, empty room suddenly made me feel barren.
Shivering, I gripped the scratchy blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
A numbness creeped into my thoughts. Into my muscles.
The door swung open, and a guard rushed in, followed by Liora.
“We heard a crash.” Her gaze went to the shattered glass.
I wouldn’t apologize for trying to escape. Instead, I looked away from her, tugging the blanket closer and pretending this stony tower wasn’t my new home.
“Get someone to clean the glass,” Liora said to the guard.
She gave more orders, but I became lost in my thoughts…
What went wrong?
Replaying the day’s events, I wondered what I could’ve done differently.
But I’d tried to stop the fighting.
Why didn’t Crispin listen?
I was so angry at him because he was gone when he didn’t have to be.
I dug my fingers into my palms.
Closing my eyes, I searched for that familiar tingle of life… Nothing.
Not having my magic turned the numbness into an aching grief. In one day, I’d lost my entire world, and I didn’t understand why.
Why now?
Kane hadyearsto claim me. Why had he waited until I was happy?
Why had he allowed me to believe that my life in the valley with Crispin was my future?
I hugged my knees to my chest as the icy wind blew into the room.
Liora stood by the window I’d broken, trying to adjust the tapestry one of the guards had hung to cover the incoming draft.
A wooden box sat on the table. I didn't need to ask my handmaiden what was in there. Kane’s threat from the previous night replayed over and over, and after breaking one of his pretty windows, I was sure that the collar was going to be my new permanent accessory.
Even though the temple had prepared me for the worst, to have my magic clamped down like some beast was unthinkable. I didn't even treat my animals this way. I glared at the box, knowing that if I wanted to enact my revenge, because I would never forgive him for what he did, that I would have to play nice, at least for a little bit.
Let him think he defeated me.Let him think that from now on I will be the subservient wife.
It's not as if he could read my mind and see my true thoughts.
How I fantasized about taking one of his black blades and shoving it in his blacker heart.
Liora went to the table, grabbing the tray of pastries. “When was the last time you ate something?”
I didn't want to think about the last time I didanything.
I grabbed one of the pastries. The flaky crumbs stuck to my fingers. Taking a small bite, I forced the food down.
