Zaine has lost what is most important to him: the one and only girl who held his heart. After a year of searching for her and her Xelloren kidnappers with no luck, he closes off his heart and forces his hopes of ever seeing her again to die.
But one...
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The dungeons sat beneath the lava room and were just as sweltering. It stank and was absolutely miserable. But at least our arm and ankle shackles weren't attached to anything so it allowed for a little more movement.
I loosened the tie at the collar of my shirt as I paced the small room, knowing it would do little to cool me down but trying anyway. I'd take my shirt off completely if it weren't for the chains.
Meghan sat in the corner, withdrawn. I'd tried to reassure her that this wasn't her fault, that she didn't know that the bread crumbs would lead them to us. But she'd just pushed me away and ignored me. I didn't know what to do.
So I occupied myself by trying to come up with a solution to all of this. On how to get us out. Not just Meg and me, but Liberty too.
I stopped my pacing and closed my eyes. I still couldn't believe she was here, alive. I'd fully accepted the fact that she was as good as gone, so this was as shocking as if she'd crawled out of the grave. It'd been hours on end since we'd woken up in the dungeon, and I was even starting to question if it had really been Liberty at all. Had I just wanted it to be her? Had the connections in my mind made me hope to see her face when she walked through that door that I tricked myself into believing it was? Was the actual Pren saying she didn't know us because she didn't?
I ran my hands through my soaked-with-sweat hair, trying to stop the pounding of my thoughts in my head.
Two soldiers were stationed outside of our door, keeping guard in case we tried to escape. It was just another caveat I'd have to think about when planning. The chains. The door. The guards. The scaling of the rest of the fortress without being caught...
I'd come up with something.
The sound of the wind whistling through the grates of the inches tall window at the top of our cell pulled my eyes over. I stepped closer, trying to snatch onto the small draft of cool air, but the moment it hit my cheeks, it dissipated. What was the point of having a ventilator window if it barely moved any air?
But a couple moments later, not only was there the sound of the wind through the grates but a rustling. Furrowing my brows, I watched as two somethings were shoved through the bars and then running footsteps faded away.
I stared at the little pile of white material on the floor, cautious as to what it was. Could this be one of Serrosa's tests or tortures?
Eventually, I approached it and picked them up. Two little squares of rough off-white fabric were bundled together. I turned it over in my hands and my breath caught when there was a scrap of paper tucked into a fold. A note.
Put these over your mouths and noses. Don't remove them.
Even after all this time, I knew her handwriting. Small and loopy. Messy but perfectly fitting.
These were from Liberty.
So I hadn't imagined it after all. And she really did remember. I couldn't help but smile. Smile like I did before I lost her. Smile with hope.
