“Leave those.” Iywan’s voice is cold.
Briony balks. “With all due respect, Master Iywan, we’re not going to get much out of her if she’s in pain.”
MasterIywan?
“Quite the contrary, Briony,” he says. “This oneonlyresponds to pain.”
This time, my solitude is short. I try to focus on anything other than the sense of foreboding and the pain, but the situation is hopeless. Finally, everyone files back into the room. First, Iywan, Eefa, and Briony. Then Cadet Aela and Lieutenant Bronn enter, dragging a tall man between them, his hands behind his back and chained, judging from the sound of the metallic jangle. I take in the brawny figure beneath the maroon livery of the Queen’s Guards, but there’s no black sash, meaning he’s…
Myguard.
No no no. Not Callum. My heart skips a beat, panic rushing through my blood as I meet his uneven, tormented, bloodshot gaze.
He winces as he attempts to stand fully, but his knees buckle, wrenching his shoulders as the guards hold him up. Blood mats his ashy blond hair and smears his grimy face. His right eye is swollen shut, but his good eye holds such intensity.
“Princess,” he chokes out, and the soldiers yank on his shackles, overarching his back. Callum grits his teeth, breathing harshly, but he doesn’t cry out. “Don’t tell them anything,” he says. His voice is gravelly, nearly unrecognizable.
I sit up straighter, my chest too tight, my stomach sour. Callum is hardly able to stand on his own. There must be so much damage hidden beneath his uniform. What have they done to him? Whatwillthey do to him? The heavy rasp of his breathing fills the space, and with each intake of breath, pain crosses his face.
I tug hard against my bonds.
“Are you ready to cooperate now, Princess?” Iywan asks.
If I don’t cooperate, they’re going to hurt Callum. Or worse.
Iywan glances at Eefa and she steps toward Callum, her dagger at the ready. I yank against my bonds again silently, as if I can jump from this chair and whisk Callum away.
“Don’t touch him.” My voice is a mere whisper, my eyes stinging. I tear my gaze away from Eefa and Callum, forcing myself to focus on Iywan again.
He isn’t even recognizable to me anymore. The coldness, the hatred—how could this be the same man who’d once been like a father to me?
“What does the prophecy say?” he asks. “Thefullprophecy, in the common tongue.”
My chest tightens more, but I know I have to saysomethingto give Callum a chance.Maybe a half truth. “It says that the daughter of Agryna and Ehlach will restore balance to the realm.” I leave out the part where the entire prophecy is inThe Song of Moonlight.
“AgrynaandEhlach?” Iywan asks.
I nod. “Yes, now let him go.”
“Is that the whole prophecy?”
I nod again. “Yes. And everything you’ve already said. The Heirs. The Daughters. Let Callum go. He doesn’t know anything.”
Iywan glances over his shoulder, and Iknowwhat will happen before it even does. Eefa sets the knife against Callum’s throat, and he strains to get as far away from her as possible.
“Don’t!” I blurt. My breaths come in quick bursts, my pulse hammering behind my eyes, my vision turning wavery. “The prophecy inThe Book of Agrynais incomplete.” My mouth waters as I speak, and I swallow, afraid I’ll be sick. “The rest of the prophecy is in another book.”
Iywan straightens, his brows arched. Briony and Eefa appear equally intrigued. “Which book?” Iywan asks.
I can’t tell them. I can’t… “I don’t know.”
Iywan lifts his hand, and as I draw in a breath to protest, Eefa presses the blade against Callum’s throat, the soldiers holding him tighter. I yank so hard against my bonds that my arse leaves the seat. “Eefa, please!”
She sneers. “Oh,nowyou beg?”
Callum’s full attention is on me, his broad chest rising and falling rapidly with each shallow intake of breath. A single tear rolls down his cheek, carving a path through the blood and grime.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice breaking as I fight the urge to spill the truth. To spare Callum’s life.
