The Blood of Darkness

Chapter 43

Kye

I wake up hunched over in a chair, bound at my ankles and wrists by Lychnus chains that send waves of agony rolling over my skin. The last thing I remember is being overpowered by spies on the balcony and debating whether or not I should have gambled between life and death by flinging myself over the railing. Before I was able to make a decision though, I guess that someone knocked me out, for my head aches as if I recently took a hard blow.

At least I'm still alive. I wonder why, because the spies previously wanted me dead.

I begin to scan my surroundings, and my gaze immediately settles on the only source of light: the small fire in the hearth that is quickly dwindling down to coals. The chair I'm chained in is one of the few pieces of furniture in the room. Against the wall is a bed covered with a rough-spun blanket, and a small pine chest sits beside it. With open rafters above me, I decide that this is an attic room, maybe a servant's quarters. A small window high on the wall where the pitched roof meets is black with night now. My hands are chained to the arms of the chair, and my ankles to the legs. I'm not going anywhere, that's for sure.

My gut quickly twists as I realize the situation I'm in. I'm chained in a small, dark room. Alone. At the hands of the enemy. The room seems to close in on me. Shadows dance on the walls. The inn is deathly quiet. Not even timbers or floors creak. The fire doesn't crackle. There's only its glowing burn.

I hear the slow tick of a clock in my head. Time running out. I have to get out of here. I start to pull at the chains on my wrists and ankles, then abruptly stop, remembering that they're forged from Lychnus. If they cut into my skin, I'll be dead within minutes.

Everything sinks inside me, dry and lifeless. Whatever is in store for me, it's going to feel like hell.

How could everything have gone so wrong? I should have just stayed with Val like I wanted. I should have listened to Ignus's warnings.

Hopefully, Neve is safe. I don't want to think about Lake; it hurts too much.

My friends will come for me. Val will come for me. Neve, Zyair, and Quinn will, too. Everything will work out.

But sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes even the people that should care the most about you betray you. Like my father. I'm sure he's the one who put me in this position, either directly or indirectly. And gods, it hurts. I shouldn't have expected any more from him, but part of me still did. Part of me believed that he would at least try to protect his only son. Part of me thought that he loved me, just a little, in some twisted way of his. But no. That part of me was wrong. And now with Lake....my best friend for so many years, the only person that made me feel less alone when I was growing up, the person that made my days better, the person who I always looked forward to seeing....he betrayed me. He betrayed Neve. He could have lied to the spies, at least done something. Hell, if he had attacked the spies when he came with them to the room where Neve and I were this morning, all three of us might have made it out of the inn. But he didn't.

Maybe my friends are better off without me. Maybe they have another, better plan to destroy the spy network. Rescuing me would be extremely risky. Unnecessarily risky. Am I really as important as I'd like to think I am?

Yes, Kye. You're important to your friends. They'll come for you. Of course they will.

Of course they will. I'd do the same for them, after all. They'll come for me. I know that. In a day or two, I'll be with them again, and everything will be fine. Val might be pissed at me for getting myself into such a situation, but I wouldn't mind. Not at all. Because that would mean that she cares.