Page 12 of Cursed By Malignant Magic
She waved behind her, a simple flick of the wrist, and the door to my cell creaked open. I tensed, my arms once again burning with pain, but while guards entered, there was also something else. Well, someone else, rather.
A girl, dragged into the room between two burly guards. She was chained just as I was, although her wrists and ankles were bound together. The guards looped the chains through a metal ring on the floor as they dragged her closer.
"Who is she?" I asked warily. Realizing how rude that sounded, I flushed and addressed the girl instead. "My apologies. I mean, who areyou?"
Before the girl could answer, one of the guards spoke up. "How strange. You've been half feral with my guards, biting and kicking, and yet you sound like some highborn lady when talking to a piece of trash like this."
He kicked at the girl chained at his feet, although there was no real fire in it. Still, my magic surged under my skin, enough to make me feel as if I was about to vomit from the strain.
The longer I went without using my magic, the more out of control I felt, but I hadn't eaten or drunk anything significant in who knew how long. If things kept going as they were, there was no telling how my body would react when I did finally use magic. I had a bad feeling that if I wasn't careful with how much magic I used at once, I might not survive the attempt at all.
"Enough," I snapped at the guard, my chains rattling as I yanked myself out of my thoughts.
I—and this girl—needed me to be here, present in this moment. Neither of us would be served well if the guardsdecided they didn't like my tone, and perhaps I could protect this new girl merely by being the target of their rage. I had yet to take a beating, only never-ending questions, and by the looks of her, she had been here for far longer than I had. It was only fair.
The guard snorted, but Legacy motioned again, and the two guards drew close enough to me to loosen the chains holding my wrists to the walls. They were attached to a massive wheel at the edge of the room, and the second there was the slightest bit of slack on the chains, my legs gave out beneath me, too weak to hold my weight.
My shoulders and back burned like fire, my entire body shivering as I forced myself into a seated position on the floor. My chains pooled around me, but neither the guards nor the woman made a move to get near me. The chains would not be removed, then, but at least they didn’t seem willing to get close enough to hurt me. Perhaps that was a win as well.
"Enjoy one another's company," Legacy said, and the guards snorted as they retreated to the door.
Part of me was tempted to lash out at them now that I had enough slack to do so, but I was too weak to do much damage, and the last thing I wanted was for them to string me back up immediately. Better to wait, even if it wasn't as entertaining.
Shivering, I looked once more at the girl.
"Who are you?" I repeated.
She cleared her throat. "My name is Varna. I am a prisoner too."
Her voice was halting and slow, a quiet rasp, like she hadn't used it in a long time.
My heart ached for her, and once again my magic rippled just beneath the surface, sharply enough that I struggled to keep it beneath my skin. Sometimes it reacted this way to certain people, but I had no way of telling why. Perhaps it was just thestate I was in right now. It felt like the magic would burst from my skin at any moment from sheer pain and fear.
Whatever the reason for my magic's insistence on protecting her, I didn't need her words to realize that she was a prisoner. Firstly, the fact that she was here, but also just the way she looked.
Dark shadows underscored her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days, or perhaps even longer. Her lips were dry and chapped, the lower one split open just as mine was from my earlier slap today. No doubt something similar had happened to her, although she didn't look like the sort of person who would have spit on a guard to deserve that.
Why I'd done it, I wasn't entirely sure, other than just being frustrated about the whole situation. If nothing else, I could make the enemy guards as miserable as I was, and perhaps one of them would let something useful slip that I could take back with me if I escaped.
Not if, but when.WhenI escaped.
Her hair looked as black as my own, but it was so tangled and greasy that it was hard to tell. Not that mine was much better, considering the blood and dirt matted in it. Her eyes, ringed by those dark shadows, were a dark brown, looking back at me as I studied her curiously.
She was bruised and cut up, but I could see no signs of any serious torture, not that I would have known what to look for beyond the obvious.
Another thing I didn't see—a reason for them to bring her here in the first place. Why risk bringing two prisoners together when it could invite an escape attempt or something similar?
"Do you know why we're here?" I asked.
She opened and closed her mouth for a moment then finally nodded. "Because I'm like you."
Chapter
Eight
Istared at Varna in shock, unsure of how to respond to that.
What could she possibly mean? As far as I knew, I was the only other one with natural magic, not mined magic, and if she did have magic, why was she here? Perhaps it was the same reason I was…
