Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles Trilogy #1)(62)

Altan could never know the truth. It was impossible to say much about his relationship with Rosa, or whether he’d even known the trainees’ names, but surely his honor demanded harsh retribution.

I pulled Aaru closer to me. After so long with a wall between us, I’d wanted to see more of him than just fragments in the dark. I’d wanted to do more than just hold his hand. But not like this. If I’d known that Altan would use Aaru against me . . .

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Aaru.”

He started to tap something in the quiet code, but his hand trembled too badly. I seized his icy fingers and pulled them to the hollow of my throat.

“Don’t try to speak yet.” The chill in his skin made my own feel hotter. “Can you get up? Run?” The words were just for him, barely perceptible even to my own ears.

He shook his head.

No. Of course not. He’d just been tortured. And with crystals still digging into my back, I wasn’t in the best condition to run, either. Where did I think I’d go? With what food? With what knowledge of the Pit?

Tirta had access to food. To the rest of the Pit. She was third level, with more leniency.

My gaze cut to the warrior blocking the only exit.

I’d never be able to get both of us past him.

“Could it have been the girl?” one of the warriors asked. “Maybe she used her Daminan powers on the noorestone.”

“You think she charmed it into exploding?” Altan gave a sharp laugh as he stood, the bodies of Rosa and the trainees at his feet. In the eerie blue light, the bodies were like paintings: lifelike, but clearly lifeless. “No, it was someone else, so stop speculating and find them. And get these prisoners out of here.”

I pulled Aaru closer to me, like I could protect him, but it was futile. From behind, a warrior grabbed me under the arms and hauled me to my feet.

Aaru collapsed to the floor, and for the first time I noticed the bloody shreds of his feet. It had been the noorestones in the basins that had exploded, killing three people.

A dark part of me celebrated. They’d deserved it.





PART THREE


EQUALITY IN SHADOWS





CHAPTER NINETEEN




I AWAKENED IN THE DIM INFIRMARY, ALL BUT ONE noorestone covered for the night. A deep stillness filled the room.

Fragmented memories surfaced: medicine that numbed my pain and my thoughts, doctors removing crystal shards from my back, and scattered conversation about what they’d do with the boy’s feet.

Which meant—though Aaru had been tortured—they’d treated me first. Why? Because I was Mira Minkoba? That name shouldn’t make a difference, especially not here. Aaru had barely been alive when I’d dragged him off the chair; he should have been given priority.

Gerel had once told me that warriors weren’t allowed to murder prisoners; it was against their code of honor. But sometimes there were “accidents,” which accounted for the suspiciously low population of the Fallen Isles’ most infamous prison.

My back ached as I pushed myself into a sitting position and surveyed the infirmary. It was the same one as before—the only one in the Heart of the Great Warrior that accepted inmates—and I knew from experience there would be several uninterrupted hours of peace.

In the deep-blue gloom, I found one other bed occupied.

With a strangled groan, I slid off my bed and tiptoed to his. Aaru was asleep, a gray sheet pulled across his body. He looked better, at least. Not what I’d call healthy, but his skin had been scrubbed clean and the cadence of his breath was long and even. Bandages covered his feet and ankles, so at least a day had gone by; it would have taken several hours to remove all the crystal shards from both my back and Aaru’s feet, clean the wounds, and stitch them shut. Plus, the medication they’d used to numb me was mere dregs now, and I’d felt like I’d been sleeping awhile.

“It’s my fault,” I whispered. The night made my words seem insubstantial. I started to take his hand, like I might convey my regret through physical contact, but hesitated. After what happened, he probably didn’t want me to touch him. So I knelt next to his bed and bent my head in repentance. “What happened to you is my fault.”

His breathing didn’t alter, but his presence shifted from asleep to awake; I’d felt that change often enough as we lay together at night, a wall in between our bodies. But now nothing separated us except a bubble of propriety and uncertainty.

“I thought Altan would do something else to me. Before, when I refused him, he threatened to isolate me again. Worse, though. And I thought . . .” My ragged fingernails dug into my palms. “It never occurred to me that he might hurt you.”

Aaru’s fingers twitched, then slowly moved into the quiet code. ::You’re a kind person. Cruelty does not occur to you.::

My jaw trembled. “How can you forgive so easily?”

Slowly, he turned his head to look at me. Noorestone light limned the curve of his cheek and jaw with pale blue, and the urge to touch that space where illumination met skin overwhelmed me. I pressed my fingers against the mattress instead, feeling the soft vibrations of his tapping. ::Forgiveness is easy when there’s nothing to forgive. He did this. Not you.::

I couldn’t imagine being so clearheaded and merciful if our positions had been reversed.