A sense of impending doom filled me with paralyzing dread. My hands began to slightly tremble. Going dark? Was that possible for me? I swallowed hard, trying not to succumb to the fear.
Then the woman laughed. “Oh Light, you’re serious? Arm this child with the knowledge to kill us all? Are you insane?”
The man gave an exasperated sigh. “No. Show this child compassion so that when the prophesied Nightling war begins, she will fight on our side.”
The Nightling war!My heart hammered in my chest at the way they made it sound like an inevitable thing. I’d only ever seen one Nightling, and so I assumed they were very rare. I couldn’t imagine an entire war with them.
“Like her mother did?” the woman asked. “Banes all go insane with dark magic. It eats at them until they let the magic control them, not the other way around. Youknowthis.”
The man sighed again. “Historically, yes.”
My whole body went rigid at the mention of going insane. Was my lineage full of people who had lost their mind? That thought horrified me.
“Clarke, what can you do differently with her that you didn’t do with Marissa? What assurance can you give me that you will create a warrior and not a weapon?” she pleaded. It seemed like for the first time since I had heard the woman speak, she wanted to save me.
Save me from myself? The thought was terrifying.
A warrior and not a weapon.Those words reverberated in my head. I swallowed hard, trying to calm my frantic heartbeat.
“My Queen, can you imagine for one moment never having been touched in your entire life without pain?” he asked her. I was so glued to this conversation, I prayed they wouldn’t realize I was awake and stop talking or walk away.
She sighed. “It would be awful, of course, but something had to be done about her kind.”
Shock after shock slammed into me at their words. Were they saying that they approved of whoever cursed me with the pain of touch? Something had to be done? I was an innocent child!
“Marissa hated people because they only ever disappointed her. She felt like a mistake and said so many times,” Clarke said. “Her mind was dark from a young age. I hear differently about Fallon. The people of her village gathered around her and fought your guards to keep her there. They loved her. She’s been loved, which is something Marissa didn’t have.”
She’s been loved. And my mother was not? I realized I might have misjudged the woman who’d left me in the basket at the gates of Isariah.
“Yes, I know, one of my guards is currently missing a hand!” the queen said in exasperation.
“Would you fight an armed royal guard with no magic of your own in order to protect a little girl who hated people and was rude from a young age?”
Silence.
“Your point?” the queen pressed him.
“I think she’s different. Whatever humble upbringing she’s had in Isa has primed her for good. Let me work with her at school, I will keep a very close eye on her and report to you if she’s going dark.”
Going dark.I swallowed hard. That meant my magic taking over and controlling me. I hadn’t even come to terms with having magic yet!
“Fine,” the queen said. “And in the meantime, I’ll build a cell that will hold her for the inevitable.”
Footfalls sounded and I knew the queen had walked away. My heart hammered in my chest as I processed everything that had just been said.
“You can stop pretending to be unconscious now,” the man said.
My eyes sprang open. He was crouched in front of the bars, looking down at me with curiosity.
He looked to be in his late thirties, with a dark brown, slicked-back, coif that matched his dark, thick beard. He had kind, brown eyes and was looking at me with absolute pity.
I sat up, trying to keep my composure, bottom lip shaking. “You knew I was listening?”
He nodded.
“But you said all that stuff?”
What seemed like private stuff.
