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Rythos said little. I was the one who paced for hours. The one who wrung my hands, left my meals uneaten, and gulped for air—my chest so tight it felt as if I couldn’t get a full breath.

“You should try to eat something,” Rythos said when the next meal was delivered.

My stomach twisted, and I gazed at the bread, fruit, cheese, and sweet cakes that had been brought for us.

Royals.

Something told me Prisca hadn’t eaten like this when she’d been captured by Regner’s men.

Still, she’d at least been given chicken bones to aid her escape. Our cell lock could only be opened by a specific key, infused with magic. I knew because I’dquestioned Rythos relentlessly about potential escape routes.

He cleared his throat, and I whirled to find him gazing expectantly at me. He nodded toward the food.

I barely resisted the urge to throw it at him.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have stopped me from getting us out of here,” I snapped.

Rythos scowled at me. “The guard who stepped forward has a unique form of magic. He would have drained your strength until you were unable to walk properly.”

I shuddered at the thought.

Then I turned to pace some more.

“They could be dead,” I said conversationally. “All of them. They’ll die, waiting for us to arrive with Arslan ships. Their last thoughts will be wondering where we are—”

“Enough!” Rythos roared, jumping to his feet.

I swept up the cheese knife and held it tightly in my hand, refusing to allow that hand to shake. I might not be able to access my power, but I would—

Rythos’s lips twitched.

Disgusted, I threw the cheese knife back onto the table.

“What is your plan?”

“My brother is going to return,” Rythos said calmly. “And I will talk some sense into him. He’s a logical man.”

“That’s your plan?”Expecting his brother to be logical was the very reason we were in this cell.

He met my gaze, and fury burned in his eyes. “What would you like me to say, Madinia? I fucked up. Andeveryone we love is going to pay the price. Well, everyoneIlove. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

His words took the air from my lungs more effectively than a punch in the gut.

Rythos’s expression immediately turned contrite. “I’m sorry. That was out of line. And entirely untrue. I don’t even know why I said it.”

Ignoring him, I walked over to my bed and lay on my back, gazing up at the ceiling as I began to rebuild my defenses.

And if my eyes burned like they were on fire, that was no one’s business but my own.

ASINIA

Traveling through Eprotha sent chills along my skin.

The regiments that we’d been so careful to avoid…

They were no longer there.

Regner had moved his army. Likely, they were already marching south into Gromalia.