Page 167 of A Touch of Poison
I knew what I would find before my gaze trailed down to my wrists.
Iron manacles.
Unless it was alloyed and thus rendered safe, iron was technically illegal in Elfhame and hard to get hold of, but I owned a similar pair of cuffs. I hated using them, but it was the only way to deal with prisoners whose magic made them dangerous.
They’d been wrapped in felt so they wouldn’t burn my skin, but their poison still radiated into my body, killing my magic and slowly killing me.
Be smart, Bastian.
Survive a little longer so you can take revenge for her. Then join her.
One breath, two, I gathered myself and gradually became aware of something other than my own body and the horror of what had happened. Rows of beds. An armoured woman with silver hair stationed at the end of my bed. Gilded constellations clustered around a grand chandelier.
An infirmary inside a ballroom.
At my side, a man in a bloodied apron watched me with narrowed eyes before holding out his hand for the bowl.
So long as I had these manacles around my wrists, I wasn’t strong enough to kill anyone with the bowl, so I returned it.
He gave me water and a piece of hard cheese. There was no point in worrying about consuming poison—they already had the stuff wrapped around my wrists.
“Get up,” the guard bit out once I’d forced the food down.
Standing felt like lifting three Faoláns. My thighs didn’t burn like I’d worked them hard, they just strained as though they’d never had any strength to begin with.
I was a boy again. Weak and helpless.
Iwould notremain that way.
Following the guard and flanked by two more with a fourth behind, I pulled on the manacles, but in this state I had no chance of breaking them.
Kat was… She was gone. I’d been an idiot, thinking we had more time—all the time in the world.
Butmemento mori, like she’d said. And like a fool, I’d forgotten. Forgotten how delicate life could be, how short it was for humans.I thought we’d have more time.
We passed through a long corridor. Its rich decoration and sleek furniture matched my earlier assessment of the infirmary. This was a grand manor house, though cracks marred the walls and windows.
It was nothing compared to what was missing inside me.
“The woman—the human woman I was with. Where is she?”
The silver-haired guard didn’t turn to me. “I was just ordered to bring you.”
“To bring me where?”
She didn’t reply.
Dimly, I noted the turnings we took and the ones we didn’t and counted the doors until we reached a large set of double doors with guards stationed on either side.
I frowned at their deepest blue uniform—the same colour as the armour Dusk’s guards wore. And on their chests…
Red, outlined with gold—a hydra.
Fuck. The iron was making me stupid. And Kat’s…absencehad occupied the thoughts I had left. I hadn’t even considered who had attacked us.
Hydra Ascendant. And they had the Night Queen’s Shadow as their captive. Either I was on my way to my execution or they were going to torturethenexecute me.
I was still staring at the insignia when a tight knot of guards reached us and one stepped aside revealing—
