The Deathsinger: Book 1

Ch. 13: What Now

The trek through the tunnel was long and silent. Astreia and I were both slower than usual, and Tievel didn't hide his irritation whenever we stopped to catch our breath. The guilt I felt over my secrets faded a little more with every huff and toe tap, but the part of me that loved him reminded me he was likely more worried than he was impatient. It didn't make me want to punch him in the nose any less.

"Stop," he said when we saw the first pearlescent slivers of moonlight ahead.

"We're almost out of here," Astreia whined, the light in her skin nearly extinguished. "And you just fussed over us stopping not long ago."

I swatted at a root dangling in front of my face. The tunnel's stone walls crumbled the farther away from the castle we traveled until only a few smooth pavers remained beneath our feet. The walls and ceilings were all damp earth and stringy roots. Every so often I spied bits of bleached white bones protruding from the dirt, and I wondered how many more were swallowed in the earth.

"By all means," the prince said with a sneer, "Rush ahead and see if there is an army lying in wait. I don't fancy becoming a pin cushion for arrows."

"For once, the princeling speaks sense," Astreia conceded, shuffling deeper into the tunnel.

"I suppose you want me to stick my head out there first," I said hoarsely, my vivid imagination all too capable of conjuring an army lying in wait.

"And make all of this pointless? I'll go," he snapped.

Twisting his long hair into a knot at the nape of his neck, he secured it before drawing his sword. The edges of his skin shimmered before he disappeared altogether. Astreia leaned against the wall and snorted.

"Ass."

"It's handy though."

"True... Morana–"

"Astreia–"

We giggled awkwardly, and then I rushed to speak before she could say anything else. "I'm so sorry. I should have told you."

"Why?" my friend demanded, her beautiful, broad features twisted in incredulity. "You're viewed as the kingdom's number one enemy. You were wise not to trust anyone with your secret."

I wrung my hands to keep from reaching for my throat. The phantom weight of the collar grew every time my thoughts strayed to it. Without a doubt, if they captured me again, they would place it on me until they removed my head from my body. "I wasn't even sure that's what I was. Not until recently. And look at how you reacted–"

She held up a finger. "Sharing secrets is selfish. We share them so we don't carry the burden alone. If you'd told me, I would have been in as much danger as you. I'm glad you did not tell me."

"I don't understand why you don't hate me or fear me."

"Oh, Morana," she sighed and touched the swollen skin around her eyes gently. "There is so much you don't know."

Angry, I turned away from her and struck the earth with a fisted hand. Bits of dirt crumbled and dropped to the floor, and for a second, I wished it would all come down on our heads. The things I did not know cursed my entire life.

"Everyone keeps telling me how ignorant I am, yet no one is enlightening me. Come on, Tievel. I can see you."

The prince appeared at my side, making Astreia jump. Folding his arms over his chest, he studied me. "Is that a banshee ability? How do you always know where I am when I'm invisible?"

"It's a being perceptive ability," I snapped, omitting that it was also because I was so ridiculously aware of him at all times. "And don't call me that. I'm not a banshee. Is the coast clear?"