Page 87 of The Blade in the Ashes
And one for the darkness Hyrax now threw at me.
The sound echoed as I struggled back, away from that shadow and away from Hyrax. The long fabric of my skirt caught under my boot, and the world tilted. Hard ground rose to meet me as I crashed down, a loud snap sounding as I caught my weight on my wrist, and I was screaming again.
Screaming over and over and over.
So shrill and filled with utter agony that I could barely recognize it as my own voice.
“Hyrax!” Caldrius shouted, bending and gathering me into his arms without hesitation.
I didn’t dare glance away from the shadows that now retreated in a rush. Even as Hyrax crouched in front of me too, his face covered in pure horror, I stared at the shadows that dissipated around us.
Caldrius held me, murmuring soft words and reminding me to breathe as tremors shook through me, each wave sending fresh pain down the arm of my broken wrist.
“Let me see,” Caldrius urged, gently trying to pull my arm away from where I cradled it against my chest. “Fuck, I think it’s broken.”
“I— I’m sorry,” Hyrax’s voice cracked, regret and concern obvious on his features. “I didn’t know. I didn’t realize you were so affected. I wouldneverwant to hurt you.”
“Perhaps you should check on the men.” I’d never heard Caldrius speak so sharply to him before. His muttered ‘my liege’ was nothing morethan an afterthought.
Hyrax stared at me for a moment, before muttering another apology and standing.
“I am deeply sorry, Theadora.” He pushed a hand through his damp hair, bottom lip quivering. “This will not happen again. I— I love you.”
He was gone before the weight of his words registered.
He’d never said that before.
Caldrius and I both stared after him, until all at once he reached up and pulled the crown from my hair, tossing the heavy weight onto the ground so that he could twine his fingers in my hair.
“You’re okay,” he told me. Not a question, a command.
Rain fell, soaking everything around us, until we were sitting in a puddle of icy mud. The horses whined in protest, stomping their feet.
The sound rang in my ears.
“Thea, you need to go inside. Go inside and dry off.”
I nodded, my throat still too tight to speak.
He helped me stand, waiting until I was steady on my feet before he gave me a gentle push towards the staircase that led to the large door to the Manor entryway.
“I warned you not to test him,” he called to me as I retreated.
With my uninjured hand, I pushed the door to the Manor open and slammed it behind me, sliding down as sobs poured out of me endlessly. They heaved through the deepest parts of my soul and I didn't care who could hear.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Camilla
It came upon me in fragmented flashes of overly bright light and ringing sounds.
Icy water dripped against my skin.
Shadowy darkness pulsed in the corners of my mind.
Fear.
So much fear.
