Dawn Carver (3)

4

Casimir

Killian and I exchange glances before we both look towards Ereon. A brief thought pops into my head, wondering if Killian already knew about what was down here. But I don't have to like the guy to read the expression on his face.

Shock. Horror. All the emotions racing through me display clear as day on his face as we stare at the shell of figures behind the King.

Metal chains secure the frail frame to the wall, chained around her neck, wrists and ankles. Rags hang from her bony frame, stringy hair covering the low hanging head. Behind her, another man in a similar state in front of the door frame leading down a dark hall.

Ice shoots through my veins, but I keep my face straight.

I'm no stranger to the concept of keeping prisoners. Growing up, Trina was harsh with punishment. One step out of line earnt any one of us a hiding, or worse, time in the cell. It took less than a day for most to repent for their wrong doing. I was lucky. Being an informant saved me from such a punishment, as my absence would be noted in the village.

And yet the condition of the prisoners behind Ereon makes nausea rise in my throat. Disgust overwhelms me, my hatred for the man burning my chest.

"I hardly believe you kept us alive solely to show us your sick dungeon room," Killian says eventually, voice steady. "What is it that you really want from us?"

Ereon nudges one of the figures--the woman--with his foot. She flinches.

"Where they have failed me, you may succeed."

"And their crime?" I ask, keeping my voice steady.

"I've always been disgusted by them," he says, not answering my question. "They are an abomination to our world. But they're resilient, I'll give them that."

"Jealousy is an ugly emotion, Ereon," Killian says.

I tense, expecting retaliation. But Ereon does not bite at his remark, narrowing his gaze only slightly.

I'd thought Ereon was talking about their humanity. But then, with a sudden surge of energy, the woman lurches forward, a fire blazing in her glowing blue eyes.

Kinjri.

I hadn't known of their existence until not long ago. And when it was revealed to me, I wasn't sure whether to believe it. It all seemed like an elaborate ruse to manipulate Freya to do what they wanted. But I could not deny the existence of the cloud, not after what it did to Cadence.

"What is that they failed to do?" I ask again, drawing his attention.

He waits several, painful beats before answering.

"You know, when I first caught you escaping on that ship, I'd thought you were foolishly running to Torinne, a country that would surely kill you faster than we would." He paces before us, steps slow and calm as he halts in front of the woman on the ground. "It was Elora who discovered the boy."

I cast a glance towards Killian, but his expression reveals nothing.

Ereon continues. "He was lurking through the tunnels, trying to find his way. My men would've killed him if it weren't his promise of vital information. He led us there, to that wretched country in the mountains. He made promises that you destroyed. We should've killed him when we found him in the tunnels."

My mind relays the scene in the mountains, eliciting a rush of terror through my body as I realise who he's talking about.

Elex.

I knew he was involved. My mind won't let me forget how it felt to have seen him emerging from the shadows of the crater, responding to Elora's call. His involvement became clear in Torinne, but I never really knew how. It seemed he was involved with both Elora and Hana, that Torinnian rebel.

I clear my throat. "We know nothing of that man."

"You lie," Ereon seethes. "He infiltrated the palace with you. He aided in the kidnapping of the cloud piercer. We never should've believed a word he said about the hyacerite. It was all a ruse."

"What did he say, exactly?" Killian presses.

Ereon's gaze is sharp as a knife. "You act as if you do not know." Killian doesn't rush to deny his claim. "Elora should've killed him in the tunnels when she had the chance."

"And is that what you did?" Killian asks. "Did you kill him?"

My breath catches in my throat as I await his answer. I shove the feeling deep down, the betrayal, the pain, way beneath the anger coursing through my veins.

"He took the cloud piercer from my possession. Somebody important. Once again." My shoulders tighten. "And you know where he is."

My relief at the news that Ereon' doesn't know where Elex is is overshadowed by a sense of doom in my stomach. Freya.

"You got the hyacerite," I say, "we were there up in the Saulun mountains. Elora said it herself—you no longer needed the cloud piercer."

Ereons lips tighten, but he does not respond. A beat of silence passes between us.

"It doesn't work," Killian says eventually. "The hyacerite doesn't do what you thought."

"It doesn't do what was promised! What you promised!" Ereon's tone rattles the icy room. "And neither do they."

The kinjri behind him do not react to his disgusted tone as he peers at them at his feet. I swallow the nausea rising in my throat as realization settles in my stomach.

Why he resorted to the Kinjri, why they failed, why he kept us alive. I think of the way that stone glowed up on the mountain as Freya held it, how it burst from her hand in an explosion of light, and a chill crawls down my spine.

"The hyacerite was not made up," Killian says.

When they first mentioned it, I didn't know if I believed in it. I still don't. All I knew was Ereon having it in his possession was not a good thing.

"I thought you might be familiar with it," Ereon comments. "It was your people, after all, that handed it over willingly." Killian's jaw clenches, but he does not deny his affiliations to the rebel Torinnian group. "Which is why I believe you know what they did to it. And you." He looks at me. "Where that deserter took the cloud piercer."

"If we help you," Killian says, "what do we get in return?"

"Help me and you won't be killed."

"You're not going to kill us," he says. "Not if you ever want to see the cloud piercer again."

My chest tightens. I glance at him from the corner of my eye, but his gaze remains fixed on the King.

"You're right about Elex," Killian continues. "He tricked you. He used the hyacerite as a tracker instead. It's tied to the cloud piercer, and can be used to locate her. But only we know how to restore the power into the hyacerite and locate the cloud piercer."

"You think I'd trust you to hand her over even if that were true?"

Killian shrugs, a nonchalant expression crossing over his face. He throws a look at me. "I'm not about to lose my life over some girl I don't care about. Believe us, don't believe us, it doesn't matter. If you kill us, you'll never find her."

I hold my breath.

Each beat of my hand resounds through the room as the King's face reddens, his expression remaining neutral even through the flares nostrils. Eventually, he lets out a long, controlled breath. "And what's your condition?"

"We need to work with the kinjri," he says. "They can reactivate it, they just don't know how. That's where I come in. And for that, they'll need some food. And perhaps not be treated like dogs."

"And why should I believe a word you say?"

Killian shrugs. "Do you have a better option?"

Ereon snarls. "You will be with the kinjri with a guard at all times. The clock is ticking. And if you are lying, you won't live to regret it."