"What exactly is your plan here? If you haven't noticed, there are two sets of iron bars and a stretch of about two feet of distance separating us from her."
The second voice had my pained efforts pausing as I panted into the dirt. I could feel its cold temperature seeping through my clothing to chill my fevered skin. Aside from the shiver it triggered, the cooling sensation was welcomed. At first.
My eyes which had shut to block out the worst of my agony opened to take a closer look at the man on the right. Squinting, my heart thrashed in my chest as memories of his touch filled my head and ghosted over my body, unexpectedly having a soothing effect that had me relaxing as best I could against the dirt.
Rowan.
"To do something," the man on the left said- Silas, I forced the name out of my cotton-filled head. He turned toward Rowan. "If she reaches through, I can try to heal her-"
"With what skills? From what I heard, you didn't even know you could heal until recently, blinded by a gift you convinced yourself was a curse. What I've seen isn't doing you any favors either. It's clear you lack control, not just over magic that's new to you, but over magic you've always had. What makes you think you can heal her if she can even get close enough for you to touch?"
"Then you do it!" Silas shouted, lifting a foot to give one of the bars in front of him a kick. The bottom of his bare and filthy foot hit the metal with a hiss that had him pulling it back with a curse. "Despite your Ma's... drastic efforts to hide it, everyone already knows the truth. No one's going to be surprised that you can heal her."
"Have you seen her?" Rowan snapped back agitated. "Even if I can reach her, a touch isn't going to be enough-"
"It wouldn't if you didn't have that fucking mark on your shoulder you dense motherfucker!" He seethed in a thin voice. "Now's a great time to test out that power you traded your soul for." He added in a whisper.
A quick and sharp hush sounded. "And you think they wouldn't be suspicious if it worked," he asked in a lowered voice that barely reached my ears.
"You have royal blood, that should suffice as enough of an explanation."
"Not the right royal blood.
The two looked at one another through bars spaced so close they could barely pass a hand through if they wanted.
"Greysi, move to the bars," Rowan commanded after a tense moment of silence passed. His voice deepened with a newfound determination.
A whimper I didn't mean to release escaped with a disappointed breath.
A part of me just wanted to lie there and wait for unconsciousness to return and erase the pain, but then a mental flash of Ash's hollow cheeks and ice-blue eyes reminded me why my pain meant nothing.
I had to find him. What if they had taken him too?
Holding back a cry, an embarrassing grunt left my aching chest as I resumed the painful journey from the middle of the dirt cell to the bars. It had to be approximately ten foot by ten foot, meaning I had five or so I needed to struggle my way across. At least I wasn't lying at the back of the cell that seemed to be made of cold stone.
The jagged rocks extended on either side to separate my cell from its neighboring ones. But, before reaching the bars on the other end that looked out at matching staggered cells that allowed both Rowan and Silas a look into mine, the stone turned into matching bars that were spaced far closer together than the ones looking out across the space. They allowed me to glimpse into the cells beside me, fortunately finding them empty.
