One Heart

30. Bait

Sorah visited Hannah the next morning, just as she promised. As she stepped into the cell, her prisoners tear stained cheeks tore at her heart. If only she could have intervened before things had escalated to such a point. 

"I brought you something," she said, placing a basket of fruit and chocolate on the stone platform. She knew vampires could survive without food —and therefore prisoners were not given the luxury—but that didn't mean they didn't enjoy it.

Hannah looked at the basket, then to Sorah. "Why?" Her face contorted in pain as she asked.

"Because I care," Sorah whispered. "Because... everyone makes mistakes, and mistakes don't occur in isolation. This could be the result of a whole chain of events that led you to this point." She sighed and rocked forward, then planted her feet firm on the stone floor. She could feel herself becoming attached. It seemed the pull her subjects felt toward her was reciprocated. "And because I'm aware that our mistakes do not define us."

Tears streamed down Hannah's cheeks. She let them fall and rocked back and forth in silence as she stared at the wall. When her eyes connected with Sorah's, her body shuddered with pained sobs. "He sold it so well, you know? He told us that you wanted to oppress us. He told us that you wanted us to serve you, that you didn't respect our power, and that you abused your own." Her words blended together as she cried. "What have I done? He lied... you're nothing like that at all."

Sorah closed the distance and held her, the mere act of compassion enough to cause Hannah to howl in pain. Sorah held her through it, through wave after shuddering wave, through the howls of pain and the guttural cries of anguish.

When the open sobs melted into silent tears, Hannah looked up at her queen, her olive cheeks reddened by the stress. "He's using her as bait." She turned to stare at the wall, refusing to look Sorah in the eye. "Your aunt. He's using her as bait to catch you. He has a magic wielder..."

The news didn't surprise her, yet Sorah felt her heart hammer in her chest all the same. "I expected Beth was bait, but I don't understand... doesn't he know that I'll send my soldiers to recover her?"

"It's the magic wielder. They've locked her within a magical barrier. The spell ensures no one can break it, other than you or your Ahein Rah... He's made it so you will send your soldiers to their deaths, until one of you walks into the trap."

Sorah closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. She cursed Kahahn. She cursed the magic wielder that was allied with him, and she cursed the fact that she would have to risk herself, or Kensie, in order to save Beth.

And most of all, she cursed herself for wondering whether the risk was worth it.

Within the stone cell, Sorah went through every detail of the plan with Hannah. She uncovered where Beth was being hidden, and what Kahahn intended to do when either herself or Kensie fell into the trap. Hannah informed her of the exact numbers of soldiers at the location, as well as their strengths and weaknesses as a team.

"Are there any others like you, here in the castle?"

Hannah shook her head. "I don't know. There could be, but I have no way of knowing who. It wouldn't surprise me though. Kahahn is smart, he usually has some kind of contingency plan up his sleeve."

"Right." Bile rose up in Sorah's throat at the thought that right now, there were only a few in her castle she could truly trust. As the conversation drew to a close, Sorah felt sick within her core. Her hand forced, she knew she couldn't revoke the sentence. "Hannah," she said in almost a whisper.

"I know, Your Majesty. Please don't feel bad. I'm not afraid," she said, her head held high. "I've lived a long life. Long enough. I've made a lot of bad choices, but I know in this moment I'll die having done the right thing. And I'm so glad I met you." Fresh tears merged with those that sat dry upon her cheeks. "I'm so, so glad I had the chance to see that the world isn't really as he said it is."