Shadows That Bind Us by Amber L. Werner

Author:Amber L. Werner [Werner, Amber L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Movement outside the window caught Kayda’s eye. A hawk landed on the sill, folding broad, brown and white checkered wings into its sides. It swiveled its head to stare inside the glass.

She imagined what the bird must be seeing. A plain, freckled girl, sitting on the cold stone floor in a crumpled red dress. Her long red hair spilling wild down her back, darkness encircling her tired, brown eyes.

An old man, his pale skin yellow and sickly. The strength he’d always exuded slowly ebbing as he lay unmoving on a cot, wrapped in the multi-colored blankets of his subjects.

The hawk looked in for a moment, then turned its head and flew away.

Kayda sighed. If only it were that easy for her to leave.

A full day and night had passed since she’d been brought to the tower and locked inside one of the top floor’s bare stone rooms. She spun away from the window and clenched her hands together in her lap. She was going to go mad in this place if she didn’t escape soon.

The tower was home to the castle guard. They lived and worked in the bottom levels of the converted prison. Those floors had been full of noise and life as they led her inside. Several men paused their activities to peek at her as she traversed the building, trailing along behind the soldiers who carried the unconscious king.

From what she’d glimpsed during their hurried passage through the halls, they’d renovated the space into something much warmer and more welcoming than the old prison had been. Weapons and armor of all kinds festooned the walls, with detailed scenes of battles painted in the common areas.

But the tower’s top floors had been unoccupied for countless years. Despite the thorough cleaning she’d insisted on when they arrived, their room still felt barren and cold, no matter how hot the hearth in the corner blazed.

The room they were in belonged to the former warden. While technically not a prison cell, it was serving the same purpose for her and the king. The door remained locked, and no matter how much she begged and cajoled the men who brought food and drink every few hours, she could convince no one to listen to her pleas for release. They were all steadfast in their commitment to keeping them safe and following Tarquin’s orders.

Tarquin…

She shuddered, remembering his treachery. There was no doubt in her mind he’d been involved. Every moment that passed without him appearing to check on her grandfather’s condition made her even more positive about his betrayal. She should be out there, finding the proof she needed to implicate him in the king’s assassination, not forced into hiding.

Kayda’s shoulders drooped. Proving her brother’s involvement seemed impossible when she couldn’t even convince the guards to let her leave a single room. Why would they listen to her, a mere girl, rather than the prince who’d trained with them daily, year after year?

She scratched her thigh. At the least, they could send her a change of clothes.

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