Of Embers by Amily Cabelaris
Author:Amily Cabelaris
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9798635482773
Published: 2020-04-20T04:00:00+00:00
Chapter 21
Scarlet Gown
Ilvaraâs gut twists when she sees those first rays of dawn. They begin slowly. First, pale blue light lifts the shadow. Then, orange and yellow mix together to brighten the room. The sky shifts to a violent shade of crimson, streaked with bright pink. It heralds a coming storm, as does the heaviness in the air. How appropriate for a storm to break on this day.
Ilvaraâs bare skin is chilled despite the breeze blowing in from the window, damp and warm from the Pond. She has given up jerking at the manacles, shouting for help, praying for deliverance. There is no escape.
Footsteps clomp up the ladder. The trap door creaks open. Tight knots of dread uncoil slightly at the sight of Goldie.
âGood morning,â she says. âI am to ask what youâve decided.â
âEvelyn Brightwater,â Ilvara says.
Goldieâs mask of professionalism crumples. âPardon me?â
âThatâs her last name. Brightwater. Evelyn Brightwater. Iâve never known.â
Goldie wriggles nervously. âIâ¦I am to ask whether you choose execution orâ¦orââ
âYou are her mother, arenât you? And you knew that she lived. You must have heard that she joined the army. Everyone in the region knows. There arenât many golden-haired women joining armies around here. So why didnât you come to see her? She has lived her entire life thinking you were dead.â
Goldie looks away. âThey will be expecting me downstairs. Have you made your choice?â
âI found her on the road, you know. She was naked and beaten until her bones broke. Sheâs covered in scars from what those bandits did. Sheâll never have children.â
âNone of that was my fault,â Goldie says quietly.
Her own fate is a distant thought. Ilvara can feel her stomach contort, burning with anger. âYou knew she was there?â she shouts. âYou knew they were raping your daughter, and you did nothing? What kind of demon are you? From what pit of Hades did you crawl out? Evelyn is a beautiful person. She did nothing to deserve those years of torture.â
âI will inform Lord Krassis youâve decided to be executed,â Goldie says, then slams the door.
Ilvara tries to catch her breath. Her head pounds. She picks up her head to scream, âI raised that girl! I raised her, and she wanted to give her life to fight for me.â
After a stretch of silence, the door opens again. Itâs Sylvia.
âI chose marriage, actually,â Ilvara gets out, shaking, but not with fear. âThat snake wants me dead because Iâm telling her the truth. She threw her own daughter to the wolves.â
âNone of that matters to me,â Sylvia says. âI finally get to kill you.â
Ilvara eyes her without moving her head. A long blade glistens in Sylviaâs hand.
âNow, what shall I cut off first? Your fingers or your toes?â A smile stretches across Sylviaâs freckled face.
The trap door slams open. An unfamiliar guard climbs into the room.
âLord Krassis said yesterday that I could carry out the execution,â Sylvia tells him, voice suddenly small.
âLord Krassis told me to take Ilvara to him to explain herself,â says the guard. He unlocks the cage door and the manacles, then grabs Ilvara firmly by the wrists.
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