Within the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 36

When I wake again, the strange man is no longer there. But the blanket over my vision and mind has fallen away. Footsteps lumber down the hallway and someone shoves a key into the lock of my cell. I grind my teeth as the door creaks open. The Tranq peers down at me through the slits in his helmet like a vulture eyeing a carcass. I swallow the dryness in my mouth.

"The king has requested your release," the Tranq says, voice gruff. He grips the cell door, his indifferent gaze sliding over me.

I raise my brows and nurse a deep purple bruise on my forehead. "That must be a sick joke. Why now? I was about to rot away, and I wouldn't have been a problem for him anymore."

I decide to feign weakness and delirium, knowing they are not aware of the stranger who came into the dungeons. His armour clanks as he steps down the corridor. "You are welcome to stay here if you'd prefer."

I grumble and steel my dignity before prying myself to my feet. Despite the exhaustion still plaguing my muscles and eyelids, the injuries I sustained in the cell have shrivelled away. I am only left with poking-out bones and blood stains. My footsteps are heavy and unrhythmic as I follow the Tranq down the empty, echoing dungeon hallway and up the staircase at the end.

"Why has he requested my release?" I blurt out, curiosity driving the words into the hallway.

He glances over his shoulder. "Don't you have a wedding coming up in a week?"

I blink and try to gulp, but thirst still has me in its vice. "A week?"

As we emerge into the palace, sunlight drenches the halls through the arched windows. I hiss, throwing my hands up. My heart thumps and a shiver spiderwalks down my spine as a warmth sprawls over my body. Warmth. The general shuffle of servants going about their day around me grows around me as I open my eyes, adjusting to the blazing light. My lips part. I take a tentative step closer to the windows and my hands quiver. Frost no longer coats the gardens beyond the windows, and I spot a couple of butterflies flittering between the trees below. I lost track of time in the dungeons.

"It's spring," I say.

"Yes."

I allow myself to pause, indulging in the opportunity to bask in the warmth and light on my dirty, cold skin. Well, for only a couple of beats. I quickly fall back into step and keep moving. We round a corner, climb more flights of stairs, and arrive at a room I recognise at once. Larissa scurries from the wardrobe, her cheeks pallid and drawn. She doesn't even acknowledge the Tranq. "Oh, Elle," she says, voice cracking. "You look awful!"

She grasps my wrist and tugs me deeper into the room, slamming the door in the Tranq's face. Tears prickle my eyes as she draws me a bath and opens the window.

"You must be in desperate need of sunlight and air," she says, helping to peel the tacky, torn rags from my skin. "Let's get you cleaned, and you can sit in the sun for a while."

She helps me into the steaming tub and I almost purr as the hot water seeps into my aching flesh. After scrubbing every speck of dirt, blood, and pus from my skin, she hauls me out of the tub and into a robe, sitting me on a chair in front of the window. Sunlight gobbles my hair, transforming it into flames. I shiver as the light and warmth wash over my pale, bruise-speckled limbs and face, letting it draw colour to my skin for the first time in weeks.

"Do you want to talk about the prison?" Larissa says in a timid voice, pulling a chair up next to me.

I heave a sigh, thinking about it. "I think it can be summarised as a nice royal concoction of trauma and hallucinations." I notice the Tranq headquarters in the distance is being reconstructed. Dozens of Convex men saw chunks of wood and arrange them over the charred ground, creating new foundations.