Page 105 of Black Crown
Of course it was. “Umm, any chance there’s a prisoner named Dyter here?”
Ash shook her head again. “Is he Phaetyn or Drae?”
“Neither. Human.”
Her lavender gaze darkened. “The only humans the emperor tolerates are the ones willing to work for him. If this Dyter is human and against the emperor, Draedyn wouldn’t have him here. If he found him, he’d kill him.”
“He doesn’t keep human prisoners?” I asked, my voice catching. “Ever?
She pursed her lips. “Not in the seventy-five years I’ve been here.”
Drak.
“Let me have your knife,” she said, pointing to the Druman’s blade.
“It’s not mine. I pulled it off a Druman.”
She waved at me to give it to her.
“Just don’t cut yourself,” I cautioned. “It might have Drae blood on it.”
This time it was Ash who rolled her eyes. “He wouldn’t waste his blood, and the mules’ blood isn’t strong enough to hurt us.”
I handed over the blade though my skin crawled at the wide-eyed excitement on her face. I gulped in horror as Ash buried the blade into her belly, all the way to the hilt.
“What the hay!” I shouted.
“Don’t,” she snapped, hitting my hands away as I reached through the bars to heal her. “If I’m lucky enough to die, it would be a release from this place, a blessing from the stars.”
She wrenched the blade from her body and then held the hilt out to me, shaking the dripping knife when I didn’t take it right away.
“What are you doing? What do you want me to do with it?” I asked, my voice hoarse with shock.
“Stab him. At some point you’ll be close enough, and I would love to have my blood help poison the emperor.”
We’d been talking just seconds ago. I’d given her the blade to protect herself. Shaking, I accepted the weapon, holding the gruesome knife between my thumb and forefinger. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t need her sacrifice, that I had everything I needed inside. “I’ll do my best—”
Ash reached through the bars and yanked me to her, hissing in pain with the movement. “Don’t do your best. Your best won’t be good enough. You need to stab him in the chest, right near his black heart. Kill him for all of us. Avenge us.”
Ryn! Tyrrik bellowed.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling away from her desperate clawing, trembling as my eyes took in the silvery blood covering the ground.
“Go now and do it,” she shrieked.
I backed away, my eyes wide.
“In the heart,” she screamed after me, followed by a wet cough.
Gasping for air, I sprinted out of the dungeons, up to the bath chamber, and up the stairs to the main hallways of Draedyn’s castle. The castle seemed eerily empty; everyone was probably asleep. The moon’s silvery light seeped in through the windows, highlighting the blood on my fingers and the knife.
Retracing my steps to my room, I asked Tyrrik,Is everything okay?What’s happened?
He didn’t respond, but I could feel his urgency through our bond.
Not that I needed the extra motivation. The walls became hazy as I released my Drae power to aid my speed. I burst through the door, and Tyrrik blurred as he leapt from the bed to meet me.
I dropped the knife just before he crashed into me, the force throwing us several feet back. He cradled the back of my head, preventing it from crashing into the stone as he pressed into me.