Bound by Sword and Spirit by Andrea Robertson

Author:Andrea Robertson [Robertson, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

14

The guards had to drag Teth back to his cell. It was humiliating, but he couldn’t help it. His body shook uncontrollably. He was unable to make his legs move, to put one foot in front of the other and walk. The guards swore as they hauled him up the spiral stairs and shoved him into the small room he shared with Eamon.

Teth didn’t bother to crawl to the cot. He simply rolled onto his side, curling in on himself, trembling, as sickening wave after wave of emotions rolled through him.

“Teth.” Eamon dropped to his knees beside his friend. “Teth, what happened?”

When Teth didn’t respond, Eamon left him, returning a moment later, and Teth felt a cool, damp cloth press against his forehead. Then his jaw, easing the muscles there, which Teth hadn’t realized were clenched tight.

Eamon murmured soothing words that pierced through the horrors ruling Teth’s mind and memory. He could hear the fear in Eamon’s voice even as the prince tried to comfort him, unable to understand what had provoked Teth’s reaction. After all, Eamon had witnessed the same monstrosity as Teth, but was still upright, in control of his faculties.

But Eamon didn’t know what Teth knew.

He lay there, shaking, while Eamon continued his kind ministrations with endless patience. After what could have been minutes or hours—any sense of time had abandoned Teth—the shaking subsided. His mind slowly cleared.

“Can you sit up now?” Eamon asked, helping him move until his back was supported by the wall. “Yes, that’s it. Nava’s mercy, Teth, that was frightening.”

Teth rubbed his eyes, his temples. “I’m sorry. It couldn’t be helped.” He took a long breath, another. “I don’t think it will happen again.”

“Do you understand what happened?” Eamon asked with a frown.

Teth lifted his face to meet Eamon’s searching gaze. “Yes. I remembered.”

“Remembered,” Eamon repeated. “I don’t understand.”

Teth looked away, gazing at the wall of the cell but seeing into the past. He knew what to expect now and could shield himself against it. His memories still wouldn’t be pleasant, but they wouldn’t consume him the way they had in that chamber.

“Before today, my earliest memories were of begging and stealing in Hunter’s Rest,” Teth said.

“The Fjerian capital.” Eamon nodded. “Where Lucket found you?”

“That’s right,” Teth replied. “But ever since I was captured, I’ve been having these visions, flashes of what I realize now are memories. Memories of what happened to me before Lucket brought me into the Below.”

Teth closed his eyes, gave his head a shake. It was hard not to sink into that fear again. Despite their distance, the memories were so visceral.

“I was like those children in the dungeon,” Teth said, looking once more at Eamon. The compassion in the other boy’s gaze steadied him. “After the conquest, I was one of those taken in the Embrace.”

Eamon swallowed hard. “You escaped.”

“Yes. I don’t remember being taken,” Teth said quietly. “Only the rough road. How every crevice and bump shook the wagon. It creaked and groaned like it would fall to pieces at any moment, but no matter how much you wished it would, it didn’t.

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