Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(16)

"I didn't make you do anything, Ryland," Cail taunted, his voice heavy with malice. "Did you hurt her?"

"You made me hurt her!" Ryland yelled, his body pushing against the chains that bound him so tightly. What little relaxation my shoulders had found left as I tensed away from the anger in Ryland's voice.

“Made me hurt…made me hurt…” he repeated, his voice clicking through the mechanic repetition.

"Now, now," Cail taunted, his voice calm and condescending. "I did nothing of the sort. I didn't wrap my hands around her neck. Did you?"

Ryland's voice broke for only a moment before he answered in a hiss, "Yes…yes."

"Did I break her arm?" Cail asked, his back arching as he lowered himself to Ryland's eye level.

"No." Ryland repeated over and over again. His voice had weakened in desperation, his body now only barely fighting against the chains.

"Did she try to kill me? Did I try to kill her?" I froze, my breathing catching at Cail's words. I knew what they were talking about, but it didn't make any sense. Joclyn tried to kill Ryland? She hadn't said anything about this.

"No." Ryland's voice was soft.

"Did you?" Cail taunted. It was not a question.

"Yes."

"Will you do it again?" Cail spoke to him like a psychiatrist, his words soothing, and yet the intention behind them was heavy and as clear as day. “Will you hurt her?”

“Hurt her…hurt her…hurt her,” Ryland repeated as he began to rock, the rocking stopping suddenly as he switched over again, his voice loud.

"No!" Ryland roared, his desperation coming back quickly. "No." Ryland yelled and screamed as he fought against the chains, pulling at the heavy link that bound him to the rock wall.

"Really?" Cail taunted, his back straightening as he stood. "But she hurts you in your dreams doesn't she?"

"No. Nonono…"

"What about when she kissed me, when her hands were all over me," Cail paused, “that hurt, didn’t it?”

Ryland said nothing but looked around frantically, his eyes darting all over the dungeon as his breathing picked up, his fingers curling as he moaned a deep lament filled with agony.

Watching him was traumatizing. I found myself torn between pity, an insane desire to help him, and fear over the explosive nature of his moods. I tried to catch his eyes, hoping that maybe getting him to see me would calm him, but he didn't seem to notice anyone other than Cail. Sain, however, was staring into me with his bright green eyes, seemingly oblivious to the exchange going on mere inches from him.

I returned Sain's stare, not knowing where else to look, not wanting to see Cail torment Ryland anymore. I looked at him, silently hoping that the strong gaze of the old man's eyes would fill in the gaps I was so obviously missing.

"Or what about when she tried to snap your neck?" Cail asked.

"It wasn't her."

"But you just saw her, on the roof top of that little farmhouse, clinging to Ilyan," Cail taunted, his lips turned in a sneer. Timothy chuckled wickedly at the look on Ryland's face.

“Nonononono,” Ryland moaned, his fingers curling again as he rocked back and forth, his head hitting against the bars several times.

"Do you think he's kissed her?" Cail whispered, the harshness of his voice hissing through the damp prison.

"No." Ryland's voice was strong, but forced, his belief in his words wavering, his body still rocking as he fought whatever demons had been placed in his head.

"I saw Ilyan kiss Joclyn. I looked into the window of Sain's mind and saw her kiss him. Her hands wrapped through that hair of his as he touched her, loved her, and kissed her."

Cail spoke softly as if to a lover, but the tone of his voice only triggered Ryland’s violence. His voice cracked and broke as he cried out at Cail’s words, and he pulled at his hair and clawed at the shackles around his ankles. I moved myself away from him as if his pain would infect me. His voice opened again into that same mournful whine, the deep hollow noise of it the sound of heartbreak and betrayal. I jerked as the loud noise broke the silence of our prison, my sharp intake catching my father's attention. He glared at me in warning before returning to Ryland's fit.

"And she kissed him back." Cail barely got the words out before Ryland lunged at the door to his prison, his hands shooting through the narrow space between the bars as he reached for my brother. Ryland's fingers moved and flexed, intent on clawing out Cail's eyes, but he couldn’t reach far enough, the chains that bound him to the wall and to Sain were too restrictive. I heard my father laugh and was sure that Cail was sneering, but I couldn't look away from Ryland.

He snarled like an animal as he continued to attack Cail. His eyes were feral, his growl deep and menacing. I moved away until my shoulder could move no more, the desperate violence in his eyes scaring me.

"She loves him, Ryland. Joclyn loves Ilyan more than she loves you. What are you going to do about it?"

“Kill…kill…kill,” Ryland repeated over and over, his body rocking again.

“What. Are. You. Going. To. Do?” Cail asked, each word stronger than the last.

"I'm going to kill him!" Ryland pushed and tugged against the bars, his voice deep through his clenched teeth.