37. Vane

Vane

T he cell was cold, dark, and silent except for the distant drip of water echoing through the stone corridors. I couldn't see Saoirse, couldn't hear her, our cells completely separated, and the uncertainty gnawed at me.

Each second I was here felt like a lifetime, and my mind raced with scenarios of what might have happened to her. The iron bars and stone walls seemed to mock my situation. The bars were coated in a shimmering light, which did a fantastic job of preventing me from using my shadows, which lay like dormant ink against my skin.

The door to the dungeon creaked open, heavy footsteps echoing down the corridor. My heart pounded as I strained to see who was coming. The flickering torchlight cast long shadows on the walls, and soon, King Erwin stepped into view .

My blood ran cold at the sight of him, his hands and clothes smeared with blood.

"Saoirse?" I rasped, my voice raw with desperation. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"

He smiled, a cold, calculating smile that reeked of cruelty. "You should be more concerned with your own fate, Darkwing. Saoirse has paid the price for her betrayal."

Rage surged through me, the walls closing in as I lunged at the bars, the touch of them beneath my hand searing like a lit flame. "You bastard! If you've hurt her—"

"Oh, I've done more than hurt her," he said, his tone dripping with sadistic pleasure. He admired the crimson that decorated his fine clothes. "I just did what I should have done years ago."

My heart shattered at his words, the image of Saoirse suffering burned into my mind. All the healed scars on her back, all the pain she had endured—it was all coming back to her because of me. The thought of her lifeless body, her eyes void of the spark that drove me wild, was too much to bear.

I should have taken her and run.

"You're lying!" I roared at him, drilling a hole into his head with my glare. "You couldn't have killed her."

He laughed, a cold, heartless sound that bounced around the prison of my mind like a taunt. "Believe what you want, Darkwing. You'll have your own fate to worry about soon enough."

I sank to my knees, no longer caring what he had to say. If Saoirse was gone, then I never wanted to hear him speak again.

My mother's eyes flashed in my mind, and I staunched the grief that was threatening to pour over me. Not only had I lost Saoirse, but I was going to lose my mother, too. She'd wonder where I had gone; every day she would dwell on it, wondering why I never came back to visit again. She would know I had failed, and soon enough, she would die .

"You'll be put on trial in three days," King Erwin continued, his voice taking on a more formal tone. "The Lightlace royal council will judge you for the murder of King Nerilin and see you for the murderer that you are. I knew when we found Jephyr's body one of you had slipped beyond my walls."

"I didn't kill King Nerilin!" I shouted, my voice echoing off the stone walls. "I had nothing to do with that!"

King Erwin stepped closer to the bars, his eyes narrowing. "We saw you shoot that arrow at him."

"That..." I trailed off, thinking hard. "I don't know who that was, but it wasn't me." I said futilely. He'd seen my shadow powers, seen what I could do, and it'd looked eerily similar to the powers demonstrated by the masked assassin. "All we wanted to do was steal the staff, to save Amaris from the decay. We know you're aware of it."

"Lies," he spat, his face contorting with anger. "You and your kind are nothing but liars and thieves. You come into my kingdom, try to ruin my alliance? Let me worry about my kingdom. I will very much enjoy watching your death sentence. If it was up to me, I would have you killed already, but public murder demands public justice."

He turned to leave, but not before casting one last look over his shoulder. "Three days, Darkwing. Enjoy your last moments of life."

When the door creaked open again, I made no move to see who it was. It didn't matter, not if Saoirse was no longer breathing, the shard completely back in the hands of the queen and king who would do nothing with it .

I wasn't sure how long I'd been laying on the dusty stone floor, but if I had to guess, it would have been at least a day. There was no food or water, just a small puddle in the corner from a leak in the ceiling. I hadn't yet been desperate enough to drink out of it, but the time would come soon if they kept this up.

"Vane?" Xan's timid voice had me lurching to a seated position, my eyes wide as the princess strode in. A guard was with her, but he was young, and watched her ass as she strode toward me. "Five minutes," he told her, eyes still glued to her backside as he left.

"I must be quick. I'm not supposed to be in here," she said, easily gripping the bars that I couldn't touch without getting burned. "How are you?"

I barked a laugh, devoid of all humor, as I gestured around. "Just peachy , thank you for asking." My eyes narrowed at her face, taking in the swollen eyes and tear-stained face. "The king said..." I couldn't make the words come out, couldn't tell her what I had learned, not without losing my sanity altogether.

"She's dead," Xan said, fresh tears welling in her eyes as they spilled over, her voice cracking as she said the words. "I checked with all the guards. She's not in any cell here."

Her words struck me like a physical blow, and I felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room.

Saoirse was gone.

My mind refused to accept it, but the reality was there on Xan's tortured face, crushing and undeniable. An anguished roar built up inside me, and I slammed my fists against the stone floor, the pain a welcome distraction from the agony in my heart. My vision blurred with my own tears as I struggled to breathe, the weight of my failure crushing down on me.

"Vane," Xan whispered, her own tears flowing freely. " I'm so sorry."

"This wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to leave and never come back to this hellhole!" I shouted at her, pounding the floor again, the skin on my knuckles splitting, but I didn't care. It was nothing compared to the torment inside of me.

Xan reached through the bars, trying to touch my hand. "It's not over, we can still do something. We can get the shard and—"

"Get someone else," I snapped, my voice hollow. "You know where the shard is. You don't need me." I slumped back against the wall, the fight draining out of me. I was tired. "Just promise me one thing. When you get the shard, go to Umbra. Look for the tallest rock. Ask for Reena. She'll know what to do from there."

"Vane, please," Xan begged, but I couldn't muster the strength to care. Her ability to push this away, to look past the loss of her sister astounded and disgusted me, and I no longer wanted to be in her presence, her blue eyes a mirror image to the one who I'd lost.

"Go," I said, turning my face away from her. "Just go. They'll kill you if you help me out of here. I'll be dead soon enough."

Xan's sobs were the last thing I heard before she left, the door clanging shut behind her. I was alone again, alone with my grief and my rage, and only the memory of flaming red hair to keep me company.