Thorn’s voice sliced through her spiraling thoughts. “He didn’t use you, huh? Funny.” His smile was razor thin. “He let another student take your punishments. Suffer foryou.You think he wouldn’t use you too.”
Symond.The truth landed heavily. Symondhadbeen taking her punishments. Tehvan hadlethim. Her mind clawed for excuses, for reasons, but there was nothing.
Thorn continued, “He sealed both of your fates. You had the potential to be an apprentice now, but because of him, you were always going to end up right here. Withme.”
“You... rigged my trials.” It slipped out, half accusation, half realization.
Thorn barked a laugh, startling her. “That’s the best part.” His grin widened. “I didn’t have to. You failed all on your own. Blame him for that. He raised you wrong.”
This was too much at once. The words, the memory. They swam around her head, unable to hold on to a single thought.
“I had plans for Flora.” His shoulders rose and fell with measured breaths, as though holding back the full storm of his fury required effort. “Big plans. She was meant to follow in my footsteps, to become something great, to become the next headmaster. And Tehvan took that away when he killed her with his carelessness.”
The chaotic thoughts in Elora’s mind came to a screeching halt.Killed her?She found it hard to accept what she was hearing. Tehvan, her protector, her mentor, couldn’t have hurt his own daughter.
“No,” she muttered. “Tehvan wouldn’t, he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t hurt her.”
“Wouldn’t he?” he asked softly, taunting her. “He tested his little experiments on her, you know. Harmless, he said. Healing draughts, small potions to improve her health. But that didn’t matter, did it?” His jaw clenched so tightly that the tendons in his neck stood out. “Because in the end, she’s dead. And Tehvan replaced her with you.”
Elora’s blood ran cold. She looked up at Thorn, but she barely saw him. His face warped and spun along with everything else in the room. Was it true? Had Tehvan really tested his experiments on his own daughter? No, she wouldn’t accept it. Tehvan had always protected her, cared for her. Thorn was lying. No doubt about it.
“I’ll use you just as Tehvan used her,” he said, with a sense of satisfaction like he had been longing forever to say those words. “But my experiments won’t be harmless.”
Beads of sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Fear was becoming a monster crawling up her spine and burrowing itself into her soul. She was unable to move, unable to speak. His steely gray eyes bore into her as if already imagining the things he would do. He probably had a detailed list somewhere on this desk. A carefully constructed index of all the ways he would use her to enact his revenge against his brother.
Thorn stepped back just enough to let her breathe again. “This is your fate now.”
Everything was unraveling too fast, Tehvan’s lies, Thorn’s threats, and now the promise of something far worse. She couldn’t stay silent any longer.
“Let me talk to him,” she demanded, channeling some of the strength she had always wielded against him. “I want to hear it from him.”
The words barely left her mouth before he slapped her. Her head twisted sharply to the side, pain blooming across her face. The crack of the slap echoed, and the room spun until she was able to shake off the residual aftershock.
“How dare you make demands of me,” Thorn hissed.
Elora’s hand flew to her cheek, her fingers trembling as she tried to steady herself. Her body felt weak, shaken, but the surge of angerkept her upright. She swallowed hard, forcing back the tears that threatened to spill.
“You will not speak to Tehvan,” Thorn threatened. “He is no longer a part of your life. You belong to me now. If I catch either of you within the vicinity of each other, you will both be punished.” He said, the cold promise of violence hanging in the space between them. “Do you understand?”
She didn’t dare speak again. The stinging pain on her face was a reminder of the consequences. She lowered her gaze, nodding. It wasn’t agreement. It wasn’t surrender. It was survival.
But Thorn’s words gnawed at her, burrowing deep within her.
You belong to me now.
No.No, she didn’t. Tehvan wouldn’t let this happen. He was going to fix this. He promised.
Her breath came shallow, her thoughts frantic, grasping for something solid.
There had to be a reason for all of this. A reason that made sense. Made it okay. He wouldn’t have lied. Not like Thorn said. Not about this. She just needed to talk to him. If she were able to see him—just once—he’d make sense of this.
She clenched her fists. Thorn was wrong. He had to be.
Chapter 19
Elora
Elora crouched low in the dirt, her fingers tugging halfheartedly at the stubborn weeds choking the garden beds. The morning air was cool against her skin and the sky above was heavy with gray clouds. It wasn’t raining yet, but the air carried the scent of it, wet stone and soil mixing with the faintest trace of salt from the distant sea and the acrid bite of coal smoke drifting from the forges.
