My Villain, My Balance

Chapter 24: The Right to a Voice

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗

ⓌᕼETᕼEᖇ IT ᕼᗩᗪ been two hours or two days, I could not tell. The
dungeon's darkness was maddening in itself, but the silence was the worse part. Early on, I tried to contact Aleksander using the connection; however, he quickly blocked me out of his impenetrable mind. Although he was thwarting my way of communication, he made it clear that he did not completely abandon me. A wool blanket and pillow were sent down with a guard as well as a tray of food, a drawing pad, and a pencil.

Maybe he thought that if he supplied me with all the basic needs and distractions, I would leave him alone, but even after the commodities were sent, I sought out the invisible tether between us and pulled as hard as I could. I tried to break through the mental brick wall he had built. I did not succeed, but I knew I was affecting him one way or another. My head was pounding with a pulsing headache from trying for so long, and the connection worked both ways. My pain is his pain. I thought I was going to pass out or crack in half from the waves of misery radiating in my skull until finally, he answered.

"Alina, what is it? I'm busy."

"Oh, I'm sorry to bother you. That must be very inconvenient for you."

I couldn't feel anger or frustration cross the tether, only exhaustion. "I sent you everything you might need."

"And that's supposed to fix something?"

I could almost hear his weary sigh before he went on. "I don't expect you to understand why I do some of the things I do, but you cannot interfere, even if you are my queen."

"So what, you're just going to lock me in here forever?" I asked.

"No, just until I find the prince."

My patience was wearing thin. "Just let me out, and we can talk about this like normal people."

"No."

"If you are worried Nikolai will take the throne, don't be. I made a deal with him. He just wants his country to be safe—"

There was a twinge of guilt but also irritation from his end. Aleksander interrupted by saying, "Your word means nothing to him. He can take the throne whenever he pleases. All he has to do is tell someone his identity, and the rumor that the sobachka is back will spread like wildfire, which is why I have men looking for him. Now, stop using the tether, Alina."

"Wait!—"

The connection broke off.

I growled in frustration and uselessly bonked my head against the wall. Why did he have to be so stubborn? I could feel his guilt. Aleksander did not want to put me in here, but now he was doing it less to evade his emotions and more to prove a point: I was not to defy the King.

Eventually, I got bored of sulking and turned to drawing. I drew simplistic maps from memory, but my mind wandered to the Firebird, as it often did, and the stone arch. My dreams were all the same. The radiant bird of all Ravkan children's imaginations flew over an unknown arch made of stone, its eyes sharp and dangerous, mocking me, daring me to find it. It worried me that the Firebird was becoming an obsession. After a few hours, the fresh drawing pad was half-full of the amplifier and that stupid arch I had yet to determine the meaning of. I tried to deny it, but the longer I wore the second amplifier around my wrist, the more my hunger grew for the last amplifier. The connection between Morozova's amplifiers was undeniable, and they longed to be together. The Stag, the Sea Whip, and the Firebird were like magnets held close, almost to the point of touching. The pull was almost too much to bear; every second, it grew harder to resist. I was sure the Darkling felt the same way, but he was better about hiding it.