Heart of Fire

Chapter Thirty Five

The worst thing about being held captive in a cell is not the fact that it is uncomfortable, but rather the fact that I have nothing else to do but get caught up in my own thoughts. Every memory, every thought I've tried to push down and distract myself from thinking about comes rushing to the surface. There's no way to stop it, I can only let it take over and consume me, destroying me completely.

Everything happened so quickly. One moment I was with Kenton completely happy and the next Bastian was ruining my life.

"Adira?" A weak voice says from the cell across from mine. I already know it's Zehra, I saw her cell when they threw me in here a few hours ago.

"Yes?" I respond, my own voice raspy from screaming.

I hear her shuffling before I see her across from me, the bars of our cells separating us. She looks even worse than when Kenton and I came down here. My guess is Bastian talked to her because of the bruises and dried blood on her face and clothes.

"Why are you down here?" She asks.

I roll my eyes. "Why do you care?"

She laughs, but it quickly turns into a coughing fit. If I had to guess, she has about a week before she's dead, either from lack of medical care or lack of nutrition.

I choose to focus on something other than her, the echo of water dripping from the ceiling, my own breathing, anything. I'm cold, hungry, and overall miserable.

"You know, your abilities are actually kind of amazing." She says, looking over at me.

I chuckle, "Thanks."

"I used to read stories about the mystical people who obtained abilities, I never believed it. Until I met you, saw what you could do, that's when I believed those stories." She says.

I look over at her, into her bloodshot eyes that probably haven't slept in weeks. "I read the stories too, but as a kid I used to think I wanted to be like them. Now, I am one of them and all I want is to be rid of this...curse." I admit, leaning my head against the dirty wall behind me.

"Why?"

I sigh, "Because I'm treated like a puppet, almost. When someone gets a hold of me, they use me as a weapon, like an object rather than a person. I want to live my life freely, without having to worry about who wants to capture and keep me."

"I'm so sorry Adira, truly. If I had any say in what they did to you in my kingdom, I swear I would have stopped it." She says, shaking her head.

"I know." I say, because I really do believe her. She's like me in a way, never having a say in anything, only watching what happens in front of her.

It's silent for a while, the only sound being our breathing. I sit up from the wall, crossing my legs in front of the bars to face Zehra. She looks over at me and smiles softly, sadly.

"I'm down here because I'm getting married in two days. When I told Bastian no, he threw me down here." I say, answering her question. She sits up as well, her eyes wide.

"Married? To whom?" She asks, now interested.

I laugh, "I don't even know his name. Some prince from Terenth." I wave my hand in the air aimlessly.

She bursts out in laughter, and even though this is the farthest thing from humor, I laugh as well. We laugh until tears form in our eyes, until we roll on the floor because our stomachs hurt. This is so odd, but I can't stop it.

"Can I ask you something?" She says after we calm down. I nod my head, not trusting myself to speak without laughing again.

"If you got to choose who you married, who would it be? Or do you even want to get married at all?" She asks.