Bridging the Ancient ✓

Chapter 60

Renit's screaming is replaced by my own as a prickling burn shoots through my body, starting in my chest and blossoming out like branches underneath my skin. My head spins, my body swaying with uncertainty until I fall to my knees, screaming as my head pounds with an ache that can only mean death is on the other side.

I grip onto both sides of my head and scream as loud as I can to dull that pain. Everything else in the throne room is gone—the king, the princes, the crumbling rebel to my side barely able to breathe. None of that is there, and it's just me, fighting the battle underneath my skin. Even if I don't want to, the pain is enough to make me want to stop.

Growling through my teeth, I plead for the pain to stop as it numbs my legs, traveling up from my feet, then wraps around my abdomen like the tight coil of a snake and squeezes with all its might, brandishing my organs and snapping my ribs in two. But when I reach down to feel them, they're still intact. I scream through each false break and each lie of a sword slicing through my vital organs when in reality, it's just the potion claiming me as its first victim.

My ears are ringing so violently I wouldn't be able to hear Renit or what he might threaten his father with. Instead of focusing on what he might say, I grip tight onto my hair and scream until there's nothing left. I scream through every bone cracking, every muscle stretching, and every tendon snapping. It's all phantom pain, once this is over, I'll be as good as new.

With a dry throat that can barely register to make any more sounds, I sob. The throne room spins and I place my palms flat on the marble floors to keep from losing what sanity I might have left. Keep your eyes shut, I tell myself. Don't let the king think you're too weak.

I think of Celestine's smile and that one day when her power created an entire meadow of flowers with one wave of her hand. I had been so shocked to see the petals blossoming full and wide, their colors sprinkling across the land like rainbow drops of sunshine. Even that thought of happiness isn't enough to drive the pain away that begins to snake into my chest, gripping tight.

It becomes difficult to breathe, my lungs feel like they're on fire but I power through it, heaving wildly as a new wave of air fills my head. I'm losing too much air, I'll die soon if I have to keep going on like this. A small tether smelling of rain keeps me attached to the world outside of the potion finding its way into my body.

Slowly, I feel myself slipping. The potion is taking control and with one deep breath and a quick shut of my eyes; I allow it. The pain slows, stopping at my collarbones before swimming to my neck and choking the life out of me.

A heaviness like I've never felt before fills my skull and the air once suffocated with rain is now replaced with the familiar scent of Akeno's blood. He's watching me warily, studying the pool of vomit I must have emptied from my stomach at one point or the other. I don't remember.

Looking up with eyes aching, I find Renit where I last saw him—on his knees, panting with exhaustion from fighting. Just as I catch that sight of him, two leather boots laced to the knees stand in the way and block us from ever looking at each other again.

I'm alive. I survived through the potion.

"Rise."

The king's voice is cold, a leader to their servant, and without the thought registering in my mind, I'm moving to my feet on shaken knees. I don't have the strength to fight back; the potion has taken control and after the lack of fight I put up before, there isn't a chance of me standing up for myself now. Each word the king says is something I must obey. If he tells me to kill Renit, I'll have no choice but to do so.

I breathe heavy, spit dribbling down my chin as I force myself to stand up straight and face my king. All that hate disappears, and it's replaced by a certain respect and care for the man standing in front of me. I must worship him, I must do everything in my power to show him how much I care.