Blood Oath (The Darkest Drae Book 1)(36)

What made them grow?

Yesterday, I ate bread with these exact seeds on it. Today, the same seeds were full-grown.

I stood in the middle of my cell, spinning on the spot.

The moss yesterday. The patch hadn’t been that big the day before, not even a patch at all. Now I was sure of it, though I’d been puzzled when Tyr held it out to me. There was something wrong with this dungeon cell.

“Ryn?” Ty rasped, making me jump. “You still alive?”

“I’m here,” I answered, looking down at my shredded shift. “Are you al’right? You’ve been out for a long time.”

He coughed. “I’ll live. Jotun found out we’re sharing food.”

“He won’t move you away, will he?” I asked, holding my breath.

“I can’t say,” Ty answered. “I told him I wouldn’t share with you again.” He paused. “Do you have any food?”

I laughed under my breath. “Such rebellious tendencies.”

“It goes with my rugged, dark looks.”

“Is that what you look like?” I asked. “Dark hair, dark eyes, a beard?”

He was surprised. “Yes, how did you know?”

“I have powers you wouldn’t believe.” I glanced at the garden in my room.

Crossing to the chamber pot, I could just see the outline of the flagon of nectar.

I unplugged the cork and drank several gulps before forcing myself to stop. I found the oiled cloth behind the clay flask and unwrapped it and the burlap cloth beneath. The cheese was salty and dry, and the dense, nutty bread dissolved in my mouth, leaving several whole grains to grind with my teeth.

My gaze landed on the plants by my blanket as I chewed. Pumpkin. Barley. Kamut. Pursing my lips, I shook a few of the seeds from the loaf I held into a far corner, not touched by the current crop.

“Do you want some cheese and bread?” I asked Ty. “If you have an extra container, I can pour you some nectar.”

“Some what?”

“Nectar. The fruity drink we get. I don’t know what else to call it. It’s kind of like mead.” Dyter had never served anything like it, nor had Mum.

He chuckled. “No, but thank you. I have some of the drink left. Do you have enough?”

I sighed, looking at my dark cell. The phosphorus glow cast an eerie light, and the fronds and leaves looked sad and pathetic in the dark.

“Someone left more for me,” I answered. “A friend, I think.” It was as close as I’d come to telling him about Tyr.

Awareness of my situation struck me. Besides the obvious ongoing torture-and-death problems, I was in serious trouble right now.

As I crouched to pass the food to Ty, I said, “Hey, Ty? Have you ever had plants grow in your cell?”

He snorted. “What?”

“Like, you go to sleep and wake up with a sunflower by your head, that kinda thing?” I asked. “It’s just, how would they grow in here? It’s so dark and . . .”

Holy pancakes. I sounded crazy. And sounding crazy when I had several friends was okay but not when I just had one.

At least he was caged in and couldn’t run.

“What do you mean? You’re wanting to grow plants? Are you sure you’re al’right?”

I didn’t answer, just stared at the growth at my feet. “Um.”

“Ryn?”

I touched the tip of the sunflower with my toe. The leaves and stem were scratchy on my bare, sensitive skin. Regretting my next move because the sunflower was the first bit of beauty I’d seen in here, I bent the stalk to rip the flower head off.

“What are you doing?”

“Hold on,” I worked the stalk back and forth. Turned out, sunflowers had really thick stems.

“What—?”

“Nearly there,” I huffed. The flower ripped off after a full minute of bending and twisting, and I glared at it as I crossed to the bars. “I’m passing something to you. And . . . well, here.”

I stretched as I passed the sunflower head, shoving it through the gap in the bars. I felt the tug as he took the thick stem from me, and I listened as he pulled it into his cell.

Then nothing.

I raised my brows. “Ty?”

“W-where did you get this?”

I settled back against the stone. “Funny story, actually. Yesterday, I brushed sunflower seeds onto the floor, along with some other grains. Then, I wake up today and there’s this mossy oasis in my dungeon cell.”

It was true. I’d crossed the cell several times, only feeling spongy moss underfoot instead of sharp stones.

“Seeds,” Ty said.

I frowned. He wasn’t being very quick on the uptake. Shock, I realized, mentally hitting my forehead.

“I know it’s really strange,” I said. “That’s why I was wondering if it’s ever happened to you? Is there magic in this castle?” I knew nothing about such things.

There was a lengthy pause. “There must be. I have no other explanation for it.”

“To the library I’ll go,” I quipped.

Ty was still silent.

“What happens when Jotun comes and sees a garden in my room?” I asked. This was my real problem.

Ty cursed. “Ryn, you need to get rid of everything. Right now.”