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Sitting there now, knowing nothing about him, I still did. There was something about him, something bright and warm and familiar that pulled me into him, that tethered me there. It was a line ran between us, a thread of light that I swore if I reached out I could grab it. Except there was nothing there.
“He was the one who sent me to help you. I know where he is.” He said simply, still leaning back, his bandaged hand on his lap reminding me of what had happened. “He is where your mother has hidden all of the Catalysts.”
“You know where they are?” I jerked forward, the carriage rocking over the dirt road as I shifted. “The Catalysts! Where are they?”
I was careful to hiss the question. I had been locked in this tiny prison for too long to think that we were not being watched. That someone wouldn’t overhear.
“In pack wagons, waiting for your mother to slaughter them.” He however, spoke far too loud.
“Shhh,” I hissed, jumping to his side of the carriage and sending everything rocking again. I would have grabbed his face if I didn’t think he would hurt me if I did.
Instead, I leaned in, hissing low enough that I would hope he would get the message.
“They are always listening. And that… my mother… she isn’t going to slaughter them.” I shook my head. My mother was vile, nasty, but then…
I sagged in the chair beside Caspyn, my gaze falling to the long scar down my arm that was once again coated with blood, the bandage at the end of the line that was absolutely soaked red.
Yes.
Yes, there was a way that she would do exactly that.
“She will.” Caspyn was still firm, and far too loud. “She is capable of that and more, but I believe you already know that.” His eyes followed mine to that line there, to the blood that was splattered everywhere.
“The assassins in the forest. You do realize who sent them,” he continued after a moment.
It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t give him an answer. I knew where they came from, but the more I accepted it, the more the reality of it smacked me in the face, the more that part of me slipped away.
That part that had fought so long for her acceptance, for her love.
Even when I stood up to her, even when I vowed to fight her it was always there. But as she chained me to the altar, and now as I sat there facing the harsh realities of what she had done, what she had always done, it slipped away completely.
My Uncle’s warning suddenly made sense. Don’t go into the forest, because he knew what was waiting for me there.
What was planned.
What she planned.
“How many other times has she hurt you?” Caspyn asked into the silence, the growl of his voice sending a shiver up my spine.
“Enough. Enough to be done.” I voice firm, but not in answer to how many times she had hurt me. No, that one word was a battle cry toward what was coming. I knew what he was going to ask before he said it. I didn’t know how I knew, but as I turned to him, my jaw set, my breathing even, I already knew what my answer was.
“Tell me, Elara,” he leaned closer as the carriage rocked again, the sound of horses outside loud for a moment. “What were you doing in the forest?”
“I was escaping. The Boy and I were going to run,” I answered, careful to keep my voice little above a whisper. He may be fine being overheard, but I wasn’t.
“That explains why they locked him up.” He mused, thankfully, this time he responded with little more than a hiss above a whisper.
The light color of eyes was almost hypnotizing, that knowing look boring right into me. I had sworn I had seen his eyes change before, that I had seen two different shades of azure, but now they were just a blue so pale they seemed to be glowing.
“And why they lock me up,” I said, and his focus drifted to the heavy fabric that covered the side windows, the thick folds splotched red.
“Do they often do this?” He tugged at the window covering nearest him. That one was somehow even more covered in red. You would think I had been murdered in there.
At least she had tried to.
“Lock me up?” I nodded, prompting her to continue. “I am her prisoner. The Boy and I, and more…” I stopped, not knowing how much I should say. About the snakes, about Da, about everything.
“Your mother has caused pain like yours in every corner of the kingdom,” Caspyn said, his voice as low as mine now and my head shot up.
