Lover's Curse (Red Queen Awards Winner)

Chapter Twenty Eight - Jagged Hollows

                  Should I pretend that you didn't exist?                                       Should I act like you're somebody I miss?                                                                                    A velvet glove around an iron fist                                                                                               If you only survive, then ignorance is bliss                                                                                            - Emotional Machine by Marina

Mare

When I was a child, the Lakelanders terrified me. Their war tore into my life with brutal terror, claiming Dad, his leg, and eventually, my brothers. They appeared in posters as shadowy monsters, long-fanged and blue-eyed, blood of both colors dripping from their claws.

I was too young to understand the real enemy. The Silvers who glittered like gods in their palaces, who used reds as pawns in their struggles for power.

It was a simpler time.

Evergreens graze the Northern bank, the tallest among them boasting snow dusted tips. Others are so tiny, I want to wrap them in blankets and read them bedtime stories. Yet my eyes snag on the broken ones the most: the gnarled branches, the withered trunks, the jagged hollows.

Those trees get me.

"The dungeons." Cenra clucks her tongue. "I didn't plan on securing a prisoner, but where else are we to put her?"

We stand at the gates of the Lakeland palace, a limestone fortress reinforced with pine and steel. Cattails bow before it, and I kick dirt at them. Nature does not dictate my master.  "Where you found me."

Cenra looks at me, and I realize who Iris learned her terrifying composure from. "Curious. You assume your opinion matters."

"It's for your benefit, not mine. I'll be getting there either way, it's a question of whether you'll be slaughtered in the process."

"Hmm." She studies my face. "This is an interesting development. Tell me, how badly do you think he wants you? What do you think he'll do?"

"I--" My breath catches. "I suppose you'll find out."

"I will, will I?" She chuckles. "I hope you weren't attached."

"A Vide should hold her." Iris slides in front of me. "If we let her near the other prisoners, she might start a riot. Put her in the guest room. The one near my chambers."

"Is that wise?" Cenra tilts her head. "It would be easy to stage an attack."

Iris snorts. "I know how to handle Mare Barrow."

I flash my teeth.

"I'll increase your guard." Cenra strokes her daughter's hair, smiled creased with decades of Silver reign. "Don't be reckless."

"You're thinking of Tiora." Still, Iris can't suppress her grin. "I'll be fine."

I refrain from commenting.

Iris lingers as guards escort me to my new prison. Neither of us speak. If she insists on being impersonal, then so shall I.

"He'll burn you both."

Water weaves between her fingers. "I'd like to see him try."

"I certainly would."

"He's not coming for you." Her brow wrinkles. "You realize that, don't you? This is your life now. Let me help you adjust."