“Please, let me know if you find him.” Alizadeh nods at Cain’s words and I can feel the surprise that spreads through the room. It’s not like Cain to ask for anything, or anyone. “Come Adelaide.” My brows go up in surprise but Cain doesn’t seem to notice or care. He walks away from the group and after exchanging a brief glance with Safira, I follow him. Cain walks through this place like he knows where everything is. His steps are sure and purposeful and soon we walk through an archway that leads into a garden I didn't know existed. My words are half surprised, half amused as I ask. “You’ve been here before haven’t you?” Cain turns his head and nods. “Just once, when I attempted to run away from Lyros.” What?“You did that?” The surprise in my tone must be heavily evident because Cain chuckles and nods. “I was sixteen at the time. I felt Alizadeh was a better option than Lyros. Rafie didn’t pay me any attention then so I didn’t consider him. I escaped here for a while and tri

The first thing that gives away the magic surrounding me is the fact that Lyros melts away. I can always feel the heat from his body when we rest together and more often than not, his presence is always a tangible feeling at the base of my neck. It isn’t now. I slip into the trance the way I would slip into new pants, with ease. The beach appears once more. The wind caresses my face. She stands there, just at the shore, and she waits for me. Diane, wife of Ashryn the great and once queen of the city of light, extends her hand to me and I take it. When she leads me into the water, panic threatens to make me back out. But this is a dream, right? Physical pain doesn’t exist in dreams. The water chokes my lungs regardless ***********************************************************Diane’s pov “This is madness Ashryn!” My husband turns away from me and something shatters in my heart. His features are twisted in rage and the face I adore refuses to look at me now. It’s enough t

She gets up with a start.Adelaide lurches from the bed like someone who’s been spooked beyond measure and it takes her some time to hear Cain’s screams. I raise a hand when she realizes it. The guard pressing the branding iron onto Cain’s back takes it off and he stops screaming, he whimpers instead. His brows lined with sweat and the pain making his body tremble.The guard is a fireworker. He’s been using his power to heat the iron continuously as he holds it in place on Cain’s skin. You see, I know him.I know placing it and taking it off just to place it back again won’t be as effective as heating the iron to higher degrees as it rests on his skin.Two of Rafie’s guards have vomited and the smell of burnt flesh has permeated the air for an hour now.Cain lands on the floor with a thud as he’s released and Adelaide’s eyes finally focus, or rather her brain does.She pukes.The reaction is instantaneous and it hurts me to know she’s vomiting because of the smell I'm responsible fo

Adelaide stares at me with eyes full of anger and disappointment and I can't help the way my body responds. I go slack in her arms. I want to say something. I want to do something, but I don't think it’s worth it. I can see her anger in the way she heaves while speaking. It’s potent in the way her eyes lock onto mine with fury. I want to feel disappointed at her reaction. She isn’t the one who has a sear permanently on their back. She isn’t the one who will forever remember the burning smell of their own flesh. I was branded like a slave, and at some point, that is what we both are. Adelaide seems to have lost sight of the fact that I was with Lyros before her. I was the one who took his beatings and impossible tasks. He can be violent without stopping when he wants to be. The only difference with her is that he doesn’t seek to hurt her directly, he wants to preserve her beauty, he doesn’t want her marked. A chuckle escapes my lips as I look at Adelaide and the fury in her eyes

Safira almost bites the healer’s head off. Cain asked for her and a guard helped us go find her. By the time she got here a healer was already working on Cain’s back. According to the healer, Lyros had touched her. Not in a sexual way but it was intimate all the same. She walked in with ethereal light surrounding her. Every step she took shuddered with a primordial force and I felt awed by it. She said Lyros poured power into her. If she didn’t use it the way he wished, he would cause the energies to revolve and kill her. She looked excited and scared out of her wits at the same time. Safira arrived looking colder than the northern Kingdoms. “I said the skin over that part isn’t mended well!” The healer shudders yet again and Cain sucks in a breath. I summon the courage to do something I have never done before. I walk over to Safira, take her by the arm gently, and I pull with as much firm force as I can. When she turns to glare at me it’s a fearsome thing to behold, but I've