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LOCKED IN DARKNESS that surroundedto distract me from my memories Vivid recollections waited to ambush me whenever my mind wandered
Encompassed by the blackness, I rehsharply into ht The fire had pulled away just before blisteringsince been singed off
“Put the flah voice had ordered I blew at the blaze through cracked lips Dried by fire and fear, the one and my teeth radiated heat as if they had been baked in an oven
“Idiot,” he cursed “Not with your mouth Use your mind Put the flames out with your mind”
Closingthe inferno disappear I illing to do anything, no matter how irrational, to persuade the man to stop
“Try harder” Once again the heat swung nearme in spite of my closed eyelids
“Set her hair on fire,” a different voice instructed He sounded younger and e her Here, Father, let me”
My body jerked with intense fear as I recognized the voice I twisted to loosen the bonds that heldnoise had echoed frorew louder until it had pervaded the room and quenched the flames
The loud htht sliced the darkness, then traveled along the stone wall as the heavy cell door opened Caught in the lantern’s glow, htness I squeezed them shut as I cowered in the corner
“Move it, rat, or we’ll get the whip!” Two dungeon guards attached a chain to the metal collar on my neck and hauledaround uards efficiently chained my hands behind me and manacled my feet
I averted ht as they led eon Thick rancid air puffed in h puddles of unidentifiable muck
Ignoring the calls and uards never missed a step, but my heart lurched with every word
“Ho, ho, ho…so”
“Snap! Crack! Then your last s!”
“One less rat to feed”
“Take me! Take me! I wanna die too!”
We stopped Through squinted eyes I saw a staircase In an effort to get my foot onto the first step, I tripped over the chains and fell The guards draggedinto s After being pulled through two sets of thick ht stabbed between ht as tears spilled down ht in seasons
This is it, I thought, starting to panic But the knowledge that eon calmed me
Yanked to uards blindly My body itched fro on dirty straw I stunk of rat Given only a small ration of water, I didn’t waste it on baths
Once ht, I looked around The walls were bare, without the fabled gold sconces and elaborate tapestries I had been told once decorated the castle’s main hallways The cold stone floor orn s the hidden corridors used solely by the servants and guards As we passed two open s, I glanced out with a hunger that no food could satisfy
The bright erass made my eyes ache Trees wore cloaks of leaves Flo
wers laced the footpaths and overflowed from barrels The fresh breeze smelled like an expensive perfume, and I breathed deeply After the acidic smells of excre a fine wine War touch coeon
I guessed it was the beginning of the hot season, which meant that I had been locked in the cell for five seasons, one season shy of a full year It see time for someone scheduled for execution
Winded fro with my feet chained, I was led into a spacious office Maps of the Territory of Ixia and the lands beyond covered the walls Piles of books on the floor ht line difficult Candles in various stages of use littered the roootten too close to the candle’s flaed by half a dozen chairs, occupied the center of the room At the back of the office a aped open, perth hair
I shuddered, causing the chains to clatter From the whispered conversations between prison cells, I had determined that condemned prisoners were taken to an official to confess their cried
Wearing black pants and a black shirt with two red diamonds stitched on the collar, the man at the desk wore the uniform of an adviser to the Commander His pallid face held no expression As his sapphire-blue eyes scanned me, they widened in surprise
Suddenly conscious of own and dirty bare feet roughened with yellow calluses Dirt-streaked skin showed through the rips in the thin fabric My long black hair hung in greasy cluht of the chains
“A woman? The next prisoner to be executed is a wo the word executed aloud The cal to the floor if the guards weren’t with uards tormented anyone who showed any weakness
The lets of his hair “I should have taken the tiuards away “You’re dismissed”
When they were gone, he motioned ed as I perched on the edge
He opened a folder on his desk and scanned the pages “Yelena, today may be your lucky day,” he said
I sed a sarcastic reply An ieon stay was never to talk back I bowedeye contact
The man was quiet for a while “Well-behaved and respectful You’re starting to look like a good candidate”
Despite the clutter of the room, the desk was neat In addition toimplements, the only other ite with streaks of silver—a set of panthers carved to lifelike perfection
“You’ve been tried and found guilty ofGeneral Brazell’s only son, Reyad” He paused, stroking his teers “That explains why Brazell’s here this week, and why he has been unusually interested in the execution schedule” The man spoke more to himself than to me