“Don’t test me.”
The growling man grits his teeth. “Yes, sir.”
The dagger man pulls away. “Out,” he commands and the growling man leaves, stomping like a child.
The growling man will die first then. I decide, before zoning back into the conversation.
Dagger man and the other goon still stand next to Lace.
“Who is the other?” Dagger man asks lazily gesturing over to me.
“Not sure, but it seems he came around the same time as the girl. He seems to be some kind of commoner, but we are unsure from which lands.”
“Interesting, has he awoken yet?”
“No, sir. We have not heard anything from the room since we placed him here”
“Good let me know if there are any changes. Dismissed.”
The goon leaves. Dagger man walks back over to Lace and traces the cut on her face. I tense ready to cause a commotion if he tries to hurt her but when he lifts his finger her face is healed. Dropping his shoulders, Dagger man leaves the room, closing the prison door.
That was odd, what are their plans for her?On the bright side, I now know where she is and that, at the moment, she is unharmed. Unfortunately, her being here will make our escape much more complicated.No matter. I can’t let these assholes take her to their king.
Upon examination it seems I have slept off whatever exhaustion had overtaken me. I once again attempt to push through whatever is blocking my magick from reaching the soil and jolt as I break through. Growing a thin long vine, I have it wrap around the shackles and pick the lock on the cuffs until they release me. Being extra careful as to not make noise, I have the vine slowly lower the cuffs to the ground. I massage my shoulders and stretch my fingers.Let’s hope no one comes to check on us soon. They haven’t so far, but it is only a matter of time, especially with how hostile that guard was towards Lace.No chance he won’t come back as soon as he can to enact some sort of revenge.
I glance around the space to see if I can find any obvious listening devices. Spotting nothing brings me little comfort.I doubt they are smart enough to hide the devices but that must mean they have some other means of listening into this room, especially with no guards outside.It is not safe to move quite yet so I send a vine over to Lace and have it wrap around her feet to ease her weight off of her arms. Now all there is to do is wait for her to wake up.
Chapter nineteen
Prophecies
Alaceandra
Iam in pain.Opening my eyes to darkness, I try to blink the grogginess away. I either just had the worst fucking dream of my life or I am in a lot of danger. Taking a quick inventory of my body, it seems like it is doing okay. I am disoriented. It is not usually this dark when I wake up in the morning. Further, there seems to be something soft and tickly under my feet. More importantly, my shoulders are aching. I go to rub one, but myhands are shackled above me. Holding back impending panic, I blink in rapid succession to try to make my eyes adjust quicker to the darkness. Sorin comes into focus across the room. My eyes widen and I start to call out to him. A vine rushes up and covers my mouth. Sorin puts a finger to his lips and then mouths, “Not now. Stay still.” The feeling under my feet recedes causing the ache in my shoulders to increase.
Confused, I nod, trusting him but still very unsure of everything going on around me.
Once my body slackens against my restraints, the vine around my mouth releases me and recedes back into the soil beneath us. A large door swings open and in walks a guard.
“Oh, I see the little princess is awake?”
I cringe away from the intruder, my body swinging slightly. He keeps his eyes firmly on me as he stalks in my direction paying no mind to Sorin behind him. He is covered in a thin sheen of sweat and dirt and the look he gives me turns my stomach. I curse the chains holding me and glare at the man, struggling against them. He reaches up and rubs a bit of my hair between his fingers. I flinch at the contact.
“Oh, the murderess is afraid of me?” He chuckles and licks his lips then grabs a hold of my neck. An involuntary whimper escapes me. I only now recognize him as one of the men who had captured me earlier.Shit.“You should be. You killed my friend, you bitch,” he growls in my face, his grip tightening. A small, choked sound escapes me. “You will be repaying that debt with this body of yours. A body for a body, seems fair, no?” He smiles. “I do not give a fuck what Sydon says, I can’t let you get away with killing, now can I? Who would have known that dagger of yours had a slow acting poison, if we would have caught it…” His face screws up and he grits his teeth. “No matter, I have many potions around the corner that will make you willing should we need it. We can keep you relativelyunharmed for the kings use with those, but I won’t have to use any of them if you behave. You will, won’t you? Knowing what you have done? The king doesn’t even have to know about this little meeting, does he?” His voice is now filled with an unhinged excitement, and I feel his other hand tracing up my belly making its way to my breast. I try to struggle but his hand around my throat only tightens further. I try to gasp for air but nothing happens.My chest tightens painfully as fear takes hold.I cannot breathe.“Maybe the little commoner over there will wake up to enjoy the show before he dies. Wouldn’t that be nice?” I have the opportunity to flick my eyes over to the very much awake Sorin, his face red with fury, before the guard blocks my view, his body pressing closer to mine. I try not to gag as the stench of death and rot overwhelms my senses and my head goes light with lack of oxygen. I close my eyes against the sensations and try not to panic.Sorin! This would be a great time to help!My mind screams as I start to black out.Just when I feel the tip of the guard’s fingers reach my breast, I am suddenly released. A crunching noise fills the space, and I snap my eyes open and suck in air, coughing at the tickle in my throat each inhale summons.
A huge vine lays wrapped around the guard’s ankle. A guard who is now sprawled on the floor, his head canted at an unnatural angle. Sorin stands above him. We make eye contact. The vine snakes its way towards me and up to where my hands are chained above me. After a second the lock clicks softly and the tension is released. Dropping my shoulders I watch as the vine gently lays the cuffs to the ground before transforming into a bundle of grapes. I stare at Sorin, mouth agape.
“Did—” he shakes his head at me and puts a finger to his lips. On light feet Sorin makes his way over to me barely making a sound as he crosses the small room. His clothing is blood-stained, and he has little bruises dotting his skin. My browsfurrow when he gets close to me, and I reach towards a bruise on his face, but he catches my hand and shakes his head again. Giving my hand a gentle kiss, he rests his head against mine and takes a deep breath. I am shaking, my body still filled with adrenaline from the encounter with the now deceased man at our feet. Sorin lifts his head and traces his finger over the marks that are sure to be forming on my throat, his brow knit with worry.
Where is Sam?Pulling away from Sorin, I search the room, but do not spot him. I figured that if they captured both me and Sorin, they would have caught him too, but he is not here. I hope that means he was not captured like the two of us.I bite my lip.But…what other dangers does this land hold? What if he is meeting a worse fate than us? What if--?I cut my train of thought off.He must beokay;he has to be okay.
Sorin squeezes my hand once again and nods towards the door.Right. I will speak to him about this after we have escaped. I tilt my head at him in a “well now what?” move. He smiles once again, a cute dimple appearing on his face before he pulls me down into a crouch, his hand still holding mine. He scoops up the grapes placing them in his lap and popping one in his mouth before offering me one. I take it and eat it. Luckily, the remnants of Sorin’s magick have always proved tasty, but I cannot help but be a little annoyed with him at the moment.Why did he wait so long to save me?He shoves the rest of the grapes in his pocket and then leads me to the prison door. He pulls out a leaf which I assume was on the vine he made earlier, then looks outside the bars of the cell. Seeing no one he shoves his hand through the bars and expertly picks the lock with the leaf’s stem.
I stare at him again.First, the skill in which he killed that guard and now master lockpicking skills? Why-- How does Sorin know how to do all this?Biting my lip to keep thequestions from spewing out, I follow Sorin as he drags me out of the cell doors and around a corner before dipping us into another room. My jaw drops. The room is filled with different bottles and vials of liquids. Sorin, less amazed, sweeps his eyes across the room before grabbing a couple of vials and storing them in his pockets. He grabs my hand once again and pulls me from the room. My eyes are now the size of saucers, but I am trying my best to keep my shit together.
Shouts erupt from behind us.They probably found their guard.Sorin squeezes my hand and pushes forward at a pace I can barely keep up with.Stupid dress. I cannot wait to tear the bottom off as soon as we are out of here. We round another corner and find ourselves confronted with a huge door reading:
“Warning! Beware Those Who Enter. Once Truths Have Been Revealed, Fate Cannot Be Undone.”
