We kept talking about other things, but I couldn't think of any other questions that Varna could help me with. We kept one another company, and I began to consider her a new friend by the time the door to my cell slammed open against the wall.
I shot to my feet as quickly as I could with the chains still in place. There was no way that I could escape, not without a plan in place, but I wouldn’t let them kick me while I was down.
"Was the slamming door necessary?" I sneered, but the guards barely even spared me a glance.
Panic surged through me as the guards clamped onto Varna's arms, yanking her up from the ground. I pulled against my restraints, trying to reach out and help her, feeling my magic stirring inside me. It took all of my willpower to keep it contained within me.
"Leave her alone!" I shouted.
As they forcibly dragged Varna away, she frantically reached out towards me. Despite our efforts, the chains that bound us kept us inches apart, denying us even the slightest touch.
The guards paid no mind to my pleas and continued their merciless march, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
My heart ached as Varna disappeared into the darkness, slipping away like a distant memory. I hated being parted from the only friend I might have in this place.
"Please!" she yelled.
Her chains clattered on the hard stone as she returned to her cell, and the only comfort in this situation was that she was still close. Only a cell away.
Guards yanked the chains that bound me taut once again, cutting into my wrists and ankles with a painful reminder of my captivity. With a surge of anger and desperation, I lashed out at the guards with my feet, not daring to use my magic for fear of further punishment.
One of them stumbled back, clutching a bloody nose, and I couldn't help but feel a grim sense of satisfaction in seeing him suffer, even just a little. They might have held all the power in this place, but I was determined to make them regret it every chance I got.
Just as I kicked another guard within my reach, a hushed voice came from the door. “Leave!”
The sound of their boots scraping against the stone floor echoed as they reluctantly obeyed, leaving me alone once again in my cold cell.
"Legacy?" I mumbled, squinting at the figure standing in the doorway.
I couldn't shake off the feeling of familiarity with the voice, one that resounded through my memories, but I couldn't quite place it. As the figure stepped forward, their features slowly coming into focus, I realized that it wasn't Legacy standing before me. Instead, it was someone I knew all too well. Someone from my past.
Goose bumps formed on my skin as I tried to make sense of their sudden appearance. My mind raced with questions and possibilities, each one more unsettling than the last.
The air around us felt heavy with tension as our eyes met, and my heart began to race.
“What do you want?” I spat.
I had seen him before, but not enough to know exactly who he was or what he wanted. I had a vague memory of him speaking to Ehuna, but that made no sense. Someone who could hold Ehuna’s limited attention shouldn’t be here in an enemy camp. He was certainly no prisoner like I was.
The man's brows lifted, emphasizing the sharp angles of his face. His pale blond hair, nearly white in the dim light, fell in tousled waves around his face. A single, gleaming gauntlet adorned his wrist, an unusual sight compared to the soldiers on the front lines who wore two distinct gauntlets—one for attack and one for defense. My gaze lingered on the lone gauntlet, wondering which purpose it served for this mysterious man.
"I'm surprised you don't remember me. I'm Tannin, Ehuna's superior."
My brows lifted. I did remember him, but that only left me with more questions. If he was Ehuna's commander, he should not be here. Not unless...
I sucked in a breath. "You're a traitor."
He shrugged as if it didn't matter at all. "Traitor toyourcause, yes. Mine, no. You're not in any position to understand, so I don't feel the need to explain it to you."
I gritted my teeth. He was belittling me, but I was less concerned about that than I was about the fact that he was a traitor. When I got out of here, I needed to know more about him so that I could take that information back to Ehuna.
Rumor had it that he descended from the original Caputo family, which was one half of the reason this war had started hundreds of years ago in the first place. The Caputo kingdom blamed the Montrose kingdom for harvesting magic from their land. The Montroses blamed the Caputos for the same thing, and thus the bitter feud began.
“If you don’t feel the need to explain yourself to me, then why are you here? To gloat?” I asked Tannin.
That would be just my luck, but he shook his head.
"No. A little bird told me that there was a prisoner here who can smell magic. That she sniffed out a whole warehouse of it before it exploded. I wanted to see for myself, as you will be very useful for our experiments. Imagine my surprise when I found Ehuna's pet here."
