Page 12 of Shadows of Ruin (The Broken Prophecy #2)

Chapter 11

Ian

T he clanging chains reverberated down the long hall toward my cell.

Clink.

Thud.

Clink.

Thud.

It felt like days since I had seen anyone other than a Royal Guard shoving half-moldy food through the small bars. I didn’t know whether to be worried or mentally preparing for another round of torture from Andras. Chains could mean any number of things.

Things I didn’t want to think about anymore.

Lying in the corner of the cell, I left my back to the door, uninterested in seeing who stood before me. The metal tray scraped along the stone as it settled through the slot. Gentler than on any other occasion.

“Ian,” a soft, delicate voice whispered.

Her voice faltered and cracked as she said my name. Yet I didn’t move. I wanted to, but my limbs ached, the soreness of my body weighing me down.

“Ian, get up.” Her voice was a little stronger this time .

Groaning, I rolled to lay on my back as I twisted my head toward the cell door.

Kalliah.

Pulling every last ounce of strength from the Fates themselves, I forced myself onto my knees, gripping the wall like it would provide any sort of assistance.

“If you know what’s good for you,” Corbin spat, “you’ll walk over here and pick up this gracious meal.”

I flinched at the sound of the man I’d trusted with my life. With Lana’s life. What happened to one of my truest friends? How could he have turned so vile so fast?

Slowly, I pulled myself into a standing position and shuffled the short distance to the cell door, leaning on the wall the entire time. Panting, I waited for one of them to speak again.

A few moments later, Kalliah broke the silence. “Ian, you have to agree to work with Andras. It is the only way you stay alive. Lana is gone—vanished. Your loyalty to her and to the dead king will get you nowhere.”

“Be reasonable, friend ,” Corbin sneered, barely giving me a moment to process that Corbin wasn’t the only one who had given up on Lana. “Andras has taken over the palace. The dark ones answer to him. He is set to be the next ruler of Brookmere. The queen is locked in the eastern tower along with this traitor in chains.” He nudged Kalliah, and she banged into the cell. My hands clenched into fists at my side. “And if rumors serve true, the queen is refusing to speak. Andras will marry her, or he will have no choice but to find Lana and claim her as his.”

Everything turned red. My vision shifted, and fire boiled in my veins at Corbin speaking about Andras claiming Lana so casually.

I lurched for the cell bars. “You disgust me,” I spit at him. My body protested the sudden movement. I barely recognized my gravelly voice .

Laughs from the shadows sounded, and two additional guards came into view. “You’re right, Corbin. He’s so easily riled when she’s mentioned.”

Corbin grinned, but Kalliah said nothing. I noticed the chains around her ankles and wrists. Those were the sounds I’d heard. Not chains for me, but chains on her.

Yet she still insisted on siding with Andras?

“Kalliah, what happened?”

Her eyes widened ever so slightly before she shook her head.

This couldn’t be happening. After all we had been through. For everything we had set out to accomplish together and for the two of them to turn so quickly destroyed the hope I remained clinging to. A soul-crushing pain flared in my chest.

“He’ll never find her if she does not want to be found.” The sentence took far too long to speak with my still-healing ribs from last night’s “entertainment.”

Corbin snickered. “She has nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Without you or any of her other friends by her side, she will have no choice but to come crawling back. Begging to be saved.”

I shot my arm out, grabbing him through the bars, smashing his face against the cool metal. “How dare you speak about your princess that way. She called you a friend, and this is how you repay her kindness?”

My heart beat erratically, my cheeks flushed in anger. I could not believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“Ian,” Kalliah said sternly, “take your food and think about what I said.”

The guards grabbed her by the shoulder and started forcing her back down the hall.

I released my hold on Corbin. “Kalliah, it will be okay,” I tried to shout, but it came out as a wheeze. “Be strong for Lan. ”

“Shut up. I liked you better when you were unconscious.” Corbin sneered again. “Might I recommend the soup? One of your personal favorites. Perhaps that tongue of yours will burn so we won’t have to listen to your nonsense anymore. Perhaps it will help you to remember who our true leader is.”

Corbin turned on his heel and didn’t spare me a second glance as the footsteps receded down the hall.

With the temporary rush of adrenaline gone, my shoulders dropped. I stumbled and collapsed to the ground. How had things gotten to this point? Where the fuck was Lana?

Wallowing would do me no good. Rotting in this cell would not be the way I died. I needed my strength if I had any hope of fighting back. Even if it came in small packages like these pathetic excuses for meals, if one could even call them that.

I reached for the tray, holding a single cup of soup. The container released no steam, which made my stomach turn, thinking about eating it cold. The likelihood I could keep this down was a longshot.

Fates, there was nothing I hated more than vegetable soup. That asshole knew that too.

Vegetable soup.

I frowned, pausing.

Fucking. Vegetable. Soup.

Corbin knew I hated it more than life itself. Hell, we provided vegetable soup at all of the Hidden Henchman drops, just to try to get it out of the palace walls. Often joking about how we would rather battle a strox than eat another bite.

Without hesitation, I grabbed the bowl off the tray and sure enough, there was something underneath. A small slip of paper.

I immediately grabbed it and put it in my pocket, knowing I only had a few more minutes before the guards returned to collect the tray.

I gulped down the soup as fast as I could, holding my nose and reminding myself to be thankful for any sustenance. My healing magic worked faster after a meal.

Just as I finished chewing on the last chunk of potato, the guards returned and collected the tray. Laughing at the mess I had made down my shirt.

I didn’t care.

Once the final door slammed shut for the evening, I pulled the paper from my pocket.

My eyes widened as I read its contents.

“HH not here. Plans might not be our strong suit, but trust us. Be ready.”

I couldn’t help the smile teasing across my lips.

My friends hadn’t abandoned me. Or Lan.

I was going to escape. Then I’d bring Andras to his knees for ever daring to think he had power over us.

Sleep came easily that evening, knowing I needed as much rest as possible. An excited energy thrummed in my veins, like I’d so often felt when plotting Hidden Henchman drops. Purpose drove me forward in all things.

A whisper in the night pulled me from my slumber.

“Ian, darling.”

My eyes flew open at the voice that shouldn’t be down here. Fear and disbelief collided inside of me, my body instantly on high alert.

“Your Majesty?” I rose, finding movement less challenging than it had been earlier. Whether through my resolve or forcing that Fates-awful food down, my abilities were finally returning to their normal state.

I bowed as soon as I got to my feet .

“Stop that right away. Come here,” she beckoned, reaching her hand toward me through the bars.

Her cold touch surprised me, and I wrapped my other hand around hers to try to help warm the queen. “It’s not safe for you down here.” I kept my voice low, just as she had.

“Oh, Ian, you look… What have they done?—”

“Don’t worry about me, Your Majesty,” I interrupted, cutting off her concerns. She had enough on her plate without worrying about me. “Please tell me why you're here. You’ve put yourself in grave danger.”

“Do you know where she is?” The queen’s voice cracked. “Is she alive?”

I squeezed her hand between mine. “I have to believe we’d know if she wasn’t. Though I don’t know what happened or where she’d go.”

She nodded, and her body shook. “Losing them both—” She raised her other hand to her mouth, closing her eyes. “Well, there wouldn’t be much left for me if I lose them both.”

“Don’t say that. They’d want you to be strong. The king would want you to fight.”

She whimpered, then fell forward, letting go of my hands and clutching the bars.

“Your Majesty?” I asked, frantically trying to see if she had an injury I’d missed. I reached through, touching the cloak she wore.

“Ian, you must escape. You must find her.” The queen’s delicate fingers traced over the bars as her voice grew more distressed. “Illiana is the key to our kingdom’s survival. Alister insisted she return to Valeford should anything ever happen. He made me swear to it over and over. Especially in these last few months as his health deteriorated.”

Her lips trembled and she winced. I reached for her hand, needing to reassure her somehow. To do something. Anything, because right now, it appeared the queen was fighting an adversary I couldn’t see. And losing .

Her once brilliantly optimistic and kind eyes met mine. They’d deadened, and the sight of it hit me harder than I expected.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, Ian? Illiana must get to Valeford.”

“Why Valeford? What must she do? Does she know?” A thousand thoughts raced through my mind as Queen Roxana shivered again, violently.

She needed to get out of this dark, damp place. Lana couldn’t lose her mother too.

Queen Roxana shook her head. “I do not know. He couldn’t tell me specifics.” She cried out. “I just know there is something she must do, and it begins in Valeford.” She finished the sentence through gritted teeth.

Her body convulsed and a tiny amount of blood formed beneath her nostrils.

“Your Majesty! What’s happening?”

“Andras’s mind magic is strong.” Her voice came out barely a whisper. “Fighting it is getting harder. Too hard. I must go before I am caught out of my chambers. Remember, my sweet boy, she needs you. I need you. This kingdom needs Illiana. By royal decree, I order you to accompany Princess Illiana to Valeford, Captain Stronholm.”

Nodding and placing my hand over my heart, I swore, “With my dying breath, I will ensure Lana accomplishes what she needs to. We will save this kingdom, Your Majesty. We will save you.”

One last breath, one last look, was all she gave me, before she turned and fled into the darkness of the night. I listened to the whisper of her slippers on the stone floors until they disappeared up the stairs before I took my next breath.

She had given me a royal decree, and I would be damned if I didn’t follow it until my dying breath. Just as I’d sworn.

Lana would make it to Valeford if it was the last thing I did in this world.