“Halla.” My dagger was at her chin. “How did you—”
Her lips pulled back in a snarl. “There is no one you can trust, do you understand? Never. You are a fool to have not learned this lesson by now. My mother and Aleka are old diplomatic friends—all of this started long, long ago.”
I pushed my blade up and her chin rose. “Where is she?”
Defiance widened her eyes. “You swore to make me your wife. You gave your word—”
“And I would break my word again and again if it kept Imogen safe.”
Her lips parted in an angry smile. “You see? You are no better than the rest of us. You’ve lied from the first. From that first letter you sent to my mother.”
“No.” My words were ground low with anger. “I meant every word I wrote in that letter. I’d intended to take you as my true wife. I’d meant for you to be a Leucosian queen—”
She winced as if in pain. “But that bitch—”
“Youruined it, Halla. You and your Godsdamned mother, and Aleka who put all of this into motion long ago. Even if I’d never met Imogen, if I’d never fallen in love with her, your intention to use me—to gift our child to your fucking pet monster—would have been enough to destroy whatever trust or care that might have grown between us.”
She seemed stunned that I knew her plan so intimately. A silver line of tears filled her wide eyes, and she spoke in a high, broken voice. “So… I have failed, then.”
I searched her. “Failed at what? What did you want?”
“Tomatter.” She nearly screamed it. “Mother kept me from Eusia. Always. All my life, I was never allowed to ask for a miracle in person, never allowed to make a pilgrimage to Anthemoessa to meet her myself. Had I been born with Gods’ blood in my veins I could have beenboundto Eusia. At least Aleka believes I deserve to meet her.” Dark yearning filled her eyes. She pulled a breath into her chest. “But I have nothing to offer my mother or my people or my saint as I am. I have no way of making myself valuable or useful.”
I reared back, stunned by how effectively Nivala had done to Halla what Nemea had done to Imogen: twisted her mind and made her feel small. Made her see herself as powerless so that they might cling to their own power, uncontested.
“Your mother and Eusia are despicable and pitiless and cruel,” I said. “They have made you believe that your value rests solely on what you can provide them. They’ve constrained you for the entirety of your life. But you must understand: if you did not havesomepower, if you did not have the capacity to be a threat, they would not have worked so hard to keep you weak. Prove them wrong,” I begged. “Take me to Imogen.”
She was still for a long moment. Then her face creased with what looked like pain and turmoil, as if two opposing weights pulled ather, threatening to rip her in two. My stomach sank as I watched and realized that I could not decipher which side would win out.
I was about to leave her there and bolt down the corridor to search for Imogen myself, when a terrible, far-off cry bounded off the stones. A cry of horrific, time-altering pain.
Imogen.
Without thinking I began running toward the echo, but she sounded so far away, so buried by the walls of this expansive monstrosity of a keep, that my hope plummeted.
The corridor was straight and seemed to stretch on and on, dotted with old wooden doors. As I ran, I gave myself a single moment to look behind me to see if Halla followed.
But she was nowhere to be found.
35
Imogen
Blood no longer trickled from the hole in my back; it gushed.
Perhaps the pain was simply too much for my body to hold. Perhaps I’d slipped into shock. But everything seemed to steady—the vibration of panic, Aleka’s hissing breaths, the thunder of my own heart—all of it hushed and calmed.
I pressed my hands flat to the stones beneath me and went still. The slice and dig of the blade made me whimper as Aleka worked to finish removing my wing from my back.
I focused inward, and though I could feel the oily, hot swirl of my power in my middle, whatever she’d injected into me kept me from grabbing hold of it.
My vision dotted black. My breathing halted, yet I felt something else was trying to rise in me like a numbing tide. Something warm and bright.
But still, my silent lure wouldn’t fill my chest or warm my throat.
The weight around my spine changed, lightened, and through my dimming vision, I watched as my wing was tossed onto the damp stones before me with a whispering, wet thud.
I stared at it for a strangled moment, not breathing, not moving.I was going to faint. No, I was going to be forced into that pool and bound to Eusia.
