Page 8 of The Chains You Defy

I cried out when the only response I got was a punch in my already injured ribs, and I crumpled onto my cot. I coughed hard, and as I examined my hands afterward, I spotted blood.

Not good at all.

“Whenever you’re ready to sing, Miss Ortha, alert the nearest guard.” With those words, the King of Merchants exited my cell, and the door locked with a deafening sound of finality.

A pathetic whimper spilled from my lips as I curled up into a ball and, as so often in the last few days, escaped my gruesome reality through sleep.

The dark void I floated in was oddly comforting, and it took me some time to realize I was inside a dreamscape. It had been a while since I’d had one of those weird luciddreams where I knew exactly that nothing I experienced was real.

Typically, a place like this, one of utter darkness, should have scared me more than my surroundings actually did. Because I was acquainted with this void. I’d been here before, when I’d been taken to Amalach. Contrary to now, though, I’d been carried through the darkness at a dizzying speed and had been convinced I’d lose every meal I’d ever eaten.

But within this specter, I was weightlessly suspended. All around me was this peculiar dark non-space, and instead of being afraid, I was surprisingly safe and content. For once, my pain wasn’t bothering me. There was only warmth and a feeling of—home. I sensed at an intrinsic level that there was no need to be anxious. The darkness enveloped me and gave me comfort. Smiling in complete bliss, I closed my eyes and drifted.

“Come to me.”

The annoyingly familiar voice, which I tried my best to ignore, disturbed my tranquility, and I worked hard to will the disruptor away. My life during the last week had been horrible enough without confronting certain memories. Slightly agitated, I attempted to find my peace once more.

“Nayana, come to me.”

A muscle in my cheek ticked, and I clenched my teeth. Was it too much to ask that I wanted to enjoy the void without dealing with a certain someone who’d hurled me through this place not that long ago?

I took a deep breath, tried to relax, and pushed the thoughts of the insufferable lying bastard back to where they belonged—far away from me.

“Nayana. Talk to me.”

Of course, even in my dreams, this persistent creature wouldn’t give up.

Gods, the only saving grace I had when imagining finding my end in Perran Feroy’s prison was that I’d never have to deal with my broken promise again, nor with my self-proclaimed protector, also known as my bound Wielder, or more accurately, the lying piece of shit fae princeling.

Lazily, I opened one of my eyes in defeat and shifted my position so I wasn’t floating anymore but hovering upright in the inky nothingness.

“Can’t I have my peace from you, at least in my dreams?”

“No. I’m here, and I won’t go away.”

“I heard that and feared so.”

I sighed and opened the second eye as well, just in time to witness Dion materialize in front of me. His appearance was the same as I remembered him from our travels—stormy eyes, raven hair, feline grace, and so much stupid attractiveness. “Hiding behind your magic again?”

“It’s called Glamour. But that’s not relevant now. We don’t have much time, and you already wasted a lot on floating around and pretending to ignore me.”

Funnily, he didn’t sound angry or impatient. No, there was a particular fondness mixed with desperation in his voice, and I didn’t want to analyze why my brain had conjured him like that into my dream.

“Then what’s important, princeling?”

Dion growled in displeasure. “Don’t call me that.”

“You’re in my dream, and I address you how I want to in here.”

“We’ll discuss your choice of nicknames at a later date.”

“Sure. If I’m still around then.”

“Fuck, Naya. Did he hurt you that badly?”

Being acquainted with the dangerous edge in his voice too well, I willed my uninjured mirage-me to change so I’d show my real appearance—wounds, bruises, and all—as I tried my best not to fall for Dion’s worried tone. “See for yourself.”

“Fucking shit, Nayana. I’ll kill him. He’s already a dead man walking for not only touching you but also for…all this. Tell me, where are you?”