Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery

by Ethington, Rebecca

  Thunk.

  I felt the ripple of movement before I heard the sound of footsteps on the staircase that led down to the jail cell. The heavy tread was followed by Cail’s loud voice as he sang happily while he made his way toward us. I moved away from Talon, ignoring his frantic grasping for me to stay, and shuffled across the floor to what I hoped was my original position.

  Cail’s voice grew louder as the light he brought with him brightened, his voice moving from song to speech as he stepped into the prison area.

  “I have great news, Ryland. We get—What the hell?” He stopped mid-sentence and everything inside of me turned to ice, my heart pounding loudly in my chest.

  I listened to his footsteps, to the iron grinding as the door opened, another loud exclamation from Cail and then silence.

  Silence.

  I waited and waited. I could hear Talon’s labored breathing behind me, the shallow breathing of those on the other side of the bars and then screaming.

  All three men hollered as they were pulled back to reality. Ryland screamed in agony, Sain in fear and Cail in anger. The sounds joined each other before the only scream left was Ryland’s, his scream morphing into wails of agony.

  “Where did you get the dagger?” Cail yelled, his voice loud and oppressive.

  “I didn’t…” Sain muttered as he frantically backed his way into the stone. “Ryland…” Sain’s voice cut off as his body hit the rock of the wall.

  “Don’t lie to me!” Cail roared. Ryland’s screams picked up at the increased volume of the room.

  All I could hear was Ryland’s screams, his mumbling pleas and the bang of his head against the bars. The sound loud, until it left, leaving us in silence.

  “Sit down, Ryland,” Cail commanded, and I stiffened.

  Cail had reattached himself to Ryland’s mind, turning him back into the black-eyed monster. I should be happy for the lack of screams, but I still remembered Ryland’s cold and aggressive behavior from when we had tried to rescue him. With that one action, Cail had placed another enemy in the prison, in the jail cell right next to me.

  Right next to Sain.

  “Now,” Cail continued, leaving a long silence and keeping his voice calm. “Who gave you the dagger?”

  “Ry… Ryland,” Sain panted, his voice tensed. I fought the urge to open my eyes. I really didn’t want to see this played out.

  “Don’t lie to me, Sain! I don’t like being lied to, and you have done it an awful lot recently.” Cail’s tongue clicked impatiently, the sound followed by the clang of a chain, the groan of defeat.

  “First, you lie to Ovailia and then to us about your first vision. Last, you lied about who your daughter was. Here I was thinking I was going to get to feed you today.”

  “No!” Sain begged. “Please, I need water.”

  “Then tell me who gave you the knife.”

  “Ryland,” Sain said before being cut off with a loud thunk as Cail pushed him into the stone wall at the back of his cell.

  “Ryland, you say?” he asked, his voice heavy in warning.

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting.” Cail’s voice echoed right outside of my jail cell, followed by the creak of metal as he leaned against the bars, causing them to jerk against their joints. “Very interesting.”

  Sain’s screams filled the darkness as Cail attacked him, but it was not an attack of physical blows. Cail was attacking Sain with magic. Sain’s body jolted in pain as Cail laughed, the dry sound mixing with Sain’s screams as it all echoed around the jail.

  I curled up in a ball and pushed my fists into my mouth, desperate to stop myself from yelling out. I needed to fight back, to save him, but I had nothing to fight back with. I did not know if I could survive another beating. I didn’t know if Sain could either. Everything tightened inside of me as guilt seeped into my heart, tense anger washing over me.

  I could save him, I should. I just couldn’t make my voice come. I stayed still, waiting for the screaming to stop, while dry tears seeped from my eyes. I waited for it all to end, my shoulders finally relaxing when it did.

  “Don’t lie to me, Sain, or I will do it again! Who gave you the knife?” Cail asked, his voice loud above Sain’s gasping breaths.

  “It was Ryland, I swear it,” Sain begged, his voice pained.

  “Then I hope Ryland can give you the water you need, Sain, because you won’t be getting any from me.” Cail laughed, the loud sound making me jump.

  “No!” Sain roared, the power behind his weak voice surprising. “I need water, Cail, please. It has been too long.”

  Sain was begging, and I knew at once that Cail had won. Cail knew it, too. I could feel the change in the electrical current that flowed through the air, the oppressive mood that Cail always brought lifting slightly. I tensed; I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t run. I could only lay there and listen to Sain as he whimpered my name into the damp air. I listened as Cail thanked him, his voice almost passing for genuine gratitude.

  I focused on breathing in and out evenly, keeping my chest from shaking, although I was sure that was impossible. Each of my ribs ached as they moved and my lungs were on fire as oxygen hit them with every breath. I listened to the methodical steps as Cail moved closer to me, the sound of the latch of my cell door unlocking, the squeak of the hinges and still I did not move. I was frozen in fear as I silently pleaded for mercy, pleaded that Talon would keep his mouth shut during whatever was to come.

  “I can’t say I’m surprised. It only makes sense that my pretty, little sister helped you.” Breathe even. Don’t rise to his baiting. Stay Still.

  “N… no,” Sain stuttered. I could hear the regret in his voice, the plea for forgiveness. I wanted to tell him it was all right, that I deserved it after not speaking up before, but I couldn’t find the words.

  I heard one tap of Cail’s foot near my head and then my body flew through the air, Cail magically lifting and restraining me against the wall. I screamed as I was slammed against the wall with such force that my vision went black. The movement of my body ignited every single new injury in a pressurized pain I couldn’t focus through.

  My eyes opened slowly, the bright light that Cail had cast on our prison illuminating everything. My eyes burned, and I tried to look away, but Cail’s magic kept me so perfectly restrained that there was no hope of moving. I stared at Cail as he came toward me, his arms folded as he sneered.

  “Hmmm, say, pretty, little sister, did you help them?”

  “I helped Joclyn.” I met his eyes, squared my jaw and locked my eyes with his, wishing he would back down as I fought the shiver of fear that wiggled its way up my spine.

  “It was Ryland,” Sain gasped uselessly from his cell, his guilt making him take a regrettable back step.

  Please don’t, Sain, don’t push him. I could see it in Cail’s eyes; he was going to take everything out on me.

  For one split second, his face softened, his hand moving up to cup my face. Then it was gone, the gentleness I had seen before leaving as the hand on my cheek turned into a slap.

  My arms flew above my head as his magic whipped through me, my shoulders stretched painfully as the shackles wrapped themselves around my wrists and the chains lifted until my feet left the ground. I felt my big toe release from the ground just as Cail’s magical restraints left me; leaving my shackled wrists to support my own weight. I refused to scream, even as my body weight pulled against my shoulders and the heavy metal cuffs cut into my wrists.

  “Leave her alone!” Talon’s weak voice echoed around the stone walls, making him sound much stronger than he actually was.

  “Talon. No.” My head snapped up at the sound of his voice, my eyes opening at him, pleading with him to just lie down and stay out of it, to save himself.

  I knew he wouldn’t.

  He was slowly attempting to pull himself up, but his arms gave up halfway, sending him down to the ground. Cail moved away from me to squat down in front of Talon,
the large, slimy bars of my cell the only thing between Cail and my husband.

  “I guess I need to teach you a lesson, too.” Cail didn’t even move; he stayed squatted with his hands hanging limply in front of him when Talon started to scream.

  “Leave him alone, Cail!” My back arched as I screamed and tried to fight my way toward him, sending my body bouncing against the stone wall, my screams changing to my own agony at each impact.

  Talon screamed as his body shifted on the ground, his weak muscles not giving him an option to fight back. Cail was hurting him without skin contact. I didn’t want to start thinking about what else he might be capable of. I knew it wasn’t his own magic he was using there—it was Edmund’s. And Edmund was capable of just about anything.

  Talon’s screams died, and Cail’s eyes widened.

  I froze, my eyes stuck on my husband and on the limited movement in his chest.

  “Talon?” I gasped, not caring about the consequences.

  I stared at his chest, at the stillness of it. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.

  “Talon!”

  “Shut up, sister!” Cail yelled as he pulled himself back to standing. “He’s only passed out. I wouldn’t kill a perfectly good body, not when there are so many other chances to torture him.”

  He looked at me and smiled. I tried to control my breathing, I tried to settle down and scowl at him. I wanted to show him that I wasn’t afraid, but I couldn’t. For the first time, I was scared.

  “Well, it looks like my work here is done,” Cail said as he strode out of my cell, leaving the door wide open.

  “I’ll go get your reward, shall I, Sain? Be right back.” He spoke like a friend, but his words were more of a warning than anything.

  I watched him as he left, leaving his light behind to brighten the disgusting prison we were trapped in. My shoulders were on fire, and my head was spinning slightly as my body attempted to give into the pain.

  Please let it give in soon.

  One Hundred Seven

  Joclyn

  I walked into the cave late the next day feeling clean and refreshed, if not a little awkward. In the last four months I had been trained to fight, lost a battle, chased by my boyfriend, beaten by my best friend's brother, and attacked by all of the above. So, when Ilyan had taken me to a nice hotel after our unfortunate encounter with Ovailia I had gone right to the shower. It had been amazing to have running water and cotton sheets, maybe almost normal. Almost. My life wasn’t normal anymore; it felt odd to have normal things.

  It had taken two hours to clean the obscene amount of dirt off of me, only to get out of the shower to a perfectly folded pile of clothes. I had breathed in the fresh smell and rubbed the cotton against my skin, thankful for something clean to wear. Who would have guessed that I would ever feel so much joy over a simple pair of khaki pants and a blue t-shirt?

  I put them on and ran out to thank Ilyan who then convinced me to let him braid my hair. He had done it so gently, his finger rubbing over my mark as he braided. Each time sent a jolt up my spine.

  So, when I walked into the cave, hair pulled away from my face, my mark revealed, and Ilyan’s hand was wrapped firmly around mine; I felt the cleanest, most awkward Drak in existence. We walked in to find Dramin holding two large mugs. He handed one to me and I grabbed it greedily, thankful for his preparedness.

  “You wouldn’t be so needy if you would go into your Tȍuha when you are supposed to.” Dramin said, his scold lost amongst his chuckle.

  “Don’t judge me, Uncle,” I growled between gulps.

  “Next time you take her anywhere, Ilyan, remember a mug. This poor girl is ravenous.”

  “It wasn’t worth the risk,” I said as I came up for air and refilled my mug. “I am sure Ovailia would have found out.” Another gulp. “And we don’t want that.”

  “Yes, starvation is always more preferable.”

  I moved the mug away from me to scowl at him, but Dramin only chuckled more while Ilyan smiled down at me before placing his arm around my waist and leading me right to the same squishy arm chair I had been using for the past few days.

  “Ah!” Thom yelled at us as he came around his bunk’s partition. “You’re back! And alone I see.”

  “Were you worried, Thom?” Ilyan asked as he covered me in several furs before turning to his brother and embracing him, fists pounding on backbones.

  “I was.”

  “Well,” Ilyan announced as he pulled away and moved to a large table laden with fruits and leaves. “You didn’t need to be. You were right.”

  Thom stopped in mid-sit, hovered for a second and fell onto his couch in shock.

  “So she is a traitor then?” Thom said excitedly.

  “Yes. Perhaps.” Ilyan said, causing Thom’s excited face to drop dramatically. “I am still not convinced about that.” I turned to him, Ilyan hadn’t said anything about this to me last night.

  “But you just said I was right.” Thom was already getting wound up. I rolled my eyes and went back to my mug. I was going to need more information about what Thom had against Ovailia, because this fight clearly wasn’t going anywhere.

  “And you were. She can’t be trusted. I am sure she is working with our father.” Ilyan’s voice was heavy, his heartbreak at the news still evident.

  “Yet, somehow not a traitor?” Dramin spoke, putting words to the confusion we all felt.

  I looked up at Ilyan, my eyebrows raised nervously; I had a feeling about where this was going, and I didn’t like it.

  “No,” Ilyan said, his eyes meeting mine with deeper sorrow. “Joclyn, you told me you saw my father with Talon in your first sight.”

  And I was on my feet. Screw the pain in my joints, I had a dog in this fight now, and I wasn’t going to back down.

  “She wasn’t telling the truth, Ilyan. She was lying to you to throw you off the trail.” I pleaded with Ilyan as he returned to the fire with a small stone plate covered with what I could only assume to be dandelion leaves.

  “I’m not so sure of that.” The regal tone was creeping into his voice, but I just balled my fists.

  “You have to be. Talon had nothing to do with this. He wouldn’t have done that to Wyn.”

  “Talon?” Dramin and Thom’s voices blended together in differing levels of alarm. I ignored them, still glaring down Ilyan.

  “There is no reason for him to side with Edmund, Ilyan.” I reached for his hand, plunging my magic into him. I wanted to believe he was blaming Talon to try and take the blame off of Ovailia, but I knew it was deeper than that.

  “The Silnỳ is right, Ilyan. Talon has no reason to double-cross you.” Dramin said, but I wasn’t sure Ilyan even heard him. His eyes never wavered a millimeter from my own.

  “The sight, Joclyn. Show me the sight.”

  I sighed before closing my eyes and pushing that portion of the vision into his mind again.

  Edmund held Talon against the wall, his hand tight around his throat. Talon’s face was bloodied and battered.

  “Give me what I need, Talon,” Edmund’s voice rang out like an echo in my ears just as it had last time, though this time it had a longer, tinny sound that signified a sight of the past.

  “You better make it look good, Edmund,” Talon let out a deep chuckle, which echoed around my head. I pulled the vision back, not wanting Ilyan to see too much. Ilyan’s face swam back into view, his jaw set hard.

  “I can’t be…” I couldn’t finish. I knew what it looked like; I had known from the beginning. I had always assumed that it was just Talon egging him on because it had seemed like something he would do. At least I thought it was.

  “I do.” The look of ultimate betrayal on Ilyan’s face mixed with furious anger in a way that terrified me.

  “Wait,” Thom said loudly, “Talon is the traitor?”

  Ilyan nodded once.

  “How is that even possible?” Dramin said. It was obvious no one except Ilyan believed this line of thinking.
r />   “I’m not sure, but I will figure it out,” Ilyan replied.

  “I can’t believe it; he wouldn’t do that to Wyn,” Thom began, his body leaning forward as his dreads shook. “Talon doesn’t make any sense. Ovailia, however, does.”

  “I will give you that, Thom. If it is not Talon, then it is Ovailia.”

  “Really?” Thom’s voice hit an octave that I wasn’t sure was possible for him.

  “Now you’re surprised. You were sure of her guilt forty-eight hours ago,” Ilyan laughed.

  “Oh, you misunderstand, Ilyan. I am not surprised she is a traitor. I am surprised that you are admitting it.”

  “Only partially,” Ilyan admitted and sunk into his chair.

  “So did she agree to it?” Dramin asked, heading off the bickering. “Is she bringing Ryland to us?”

  “She did,” Ilyan said confidently. “Not without revealing her true nature, but she agreed to do it.”

  “So, she’s a traitor,” Thom said happily. I was already sinking back into my chair. Nothing about this was sitting right with me.

  There was no way Talon could have betrayed Ilyan. Sure, I didn’t know him well, but I knew him enough. There had to have been something in the sight we were missing.

  “So she knows about Sain?” Dramin asked, leaning forward.

  “Without a doubt. If she is working for Edmund, then he has shown her. Especially if he is hoping it will fuel the fire of her anger against me.” Ilyan’s voice was firm.

  “Oh, she must hate you,” Thom taunted, his feet moving back and forth in joy.

  “And yet, you do not think she is the one who betrayed you?” Dramin asked, his eyebrow raising as he ignored Thom.

  “You have seen Joclyn’s sight, Dramin. You know what it looks like.” Ilyan’s voice was tight and strained. He leaned forward in the chair as he pleaded angrily.

  “I have.” Dramin said calmly as he sipped at his Black Water. “But sometimes things are not what they seem. You know this better than anyone. Do not discount one, simply because you hope for another.”