Memenion helped me walk back along the ridge. It was slow work, my legs wanting to give way with every step I took. I idly thought about asking Memenion to take Hazel back to his castle and keep her safe, but I quickly dismissed the idea. I didn’t trust anyone to protect her other than myself, and she would not go if I asked it anyway.
Soon, Lithan and Qentos came into view. I could practically see the panic that was running through Qentos, and I rolled my eyes, ready for his pointless clucking and fearful questions.
“Highness! Your Highness!” he squealed, wringing his hands.
“Enough,” I barked out. “Silence—just ready the bird. We need to get back to the castle.”
“But your highness, the Impartial Ministers are better equipped to heal—”
“The Impartial Ministers have done enough,” I cut in. “We return to Hellswan.”
I had left Hazel alone too long already.
Ruby
I was pacing again. Three steps forward, three steps backward. There was no room to do anything else, and the only way I could get rid of some of my pent-up fury was by moving about as best I could. Already I had pictured Queen Trina’s death a million different ways—and when I’d run out of scenarios, I’d felt nothing but an impotent, hopeless rage.
I will get even, I vowed.
I repeated it out loud, muttering the words to myself over and over again until my throat felt too dry to continue. I hadn’t shed a single tear since the queen had locked the cell. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction—whether or not she was watching.
Kicking the stones, I let a small growl of frustration escape my throat.
It wasn’t just Queen Trina I was angry with. I was angry with Ash for never believing me or listening when I’d warned him away from the Seraq kingdom. I was angry with Varga for not exposing the queen for who she really was—as soon as I got out of here I was going to give him a piece of my mind. I was angry with Hazel even, for not magically appearing at the door to rescue me. She had known how dangerous the queen was…if she hadn’t heard from me, why hadn’t she come looking?
Because Benedict and Julian are missing too—idiot.
I sighed. I felt like I had a list of resentments a mile long and nowhere to vent them except to myself.
I kicked a stone into the barrier that was just visible between the iron bars. It shimmered lightly, the faint blue light casting a glow in the darkness.
Stupid barrier.
Stupid me.
I should never have come back here.
As I glared at the barrier, the glow seemed to become more intense. I thought it was my imagination, and blinked a few times, then turned my head away, and then back again. It was definitely glowing brighter.
I inhaled sharply, hardly daring to hope…
The barrier was changing! Suddenly it flashed, and a tearing sound echoed across the cell. I ran over, jamming my hand out between the bars. It had gone.
Oh!
I couldn’t believe my luck. Was she dead? Had her powers failed her? Or was this just a cruel trick she was playing on me to get my hopes up?
I didn’t have time to speculate. I needed to take the chance I’d been given while I could. With every bit of energy I could muster, I flung my mind outward, just as I had done in the trials when Ash was trying to find me. The key difference now was that he wouldn’t be listening for me—so the communication channel was entirely one-sided…and I wasn’t sure that it was going to work this way.
Ash! Ash—please hear me!
Nothing. I felt the impossibility of the task weighing down on me.
Don’t give up! I scolded myself. Taking a deep breath, I sat down on the floor. I closed my eyes and tried to picture him, somewhere within the palace, wandering down an empty hallway.
Ash! Ash, can you hear me? It’s Ruby!
Still nothing.
I tried again, focusing on the image of Ash, picturing him as clearly as I could in my mind. It wasn’t hard. Hey, shortie, I imagined him saying, what are you doing here? I smiled at the thought, sending out images of gold light with my mind—imagining it traveling to reach him, wherever he was.
Then I got a reply.
It was tentative at first, like a slight breeze of energy whispering about me. But then I felt him: Ash entering my mind—fighting through the physical distance between us.
Ruby?
I heard his voice echo through my mind. I still couldn’t see him, but I could feel him and hear him. It was enough.
Ash, I’m locked in a dungeon, in Queen Trina’s palace—please come get me!
I pictured the cell, the bars on the door and the dank stone. I sent it outward, trying to strengthen our connection with visual memories and images. Soon I could feel rage travel back toward me—it was his rage, mixed with shame and self-loathing for not listening to me.