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The court pulses through me like a fever, mapping my veins with a liquid crystal that burns cold then hot. My heartbeat echoes back from the walls, floor, and ceiling, each thrum rippling through the chamber in waves of opalescent light.
Not my body, not anymore.
I flex my fingers, watching the walls flex with me, tiny fissures opening and sealing in perfect synchronization.
“Does it hurt?” Elionn asks, his throat rough from disuse.
“No.”
A lie. The court burrows deeper with every breath, rewriting me from the inside out. I had expected to be cocooned like Elionn, but maybe the court doesn’t feel the need since I agreed to be a willing participant. It can remake me just as easily from within its Opalwell.
He studies me with silver irises clear of the court’s influence, and his hand hovers near my arm. “You should never have come for me.”
“Yet here we are.” I pull myself to my feet, legs trembling beneath me.
Exhaustion weighs on my shoulders and drags at my limbs. My stomach growls, loud enough for both men to hear.
Kelaros paces along the perimeter, fingers tracing the flowing crystal patterns. “You should eat. Darkness knows how much of your energy the court is expending by…whatever it’s doing.”
My stomach cramps, and I fumble for the makeshift sling I fashioned from my skirt, only to find it gone, torn away during our flight or the fall.
“They’re gone.” I hold out my hand. “Give me some of yours.”
Kelaros reaches into his pocket and pulls out only dust. “Well, that’s not good.”
Elionn tries to stand but sinks back down, strength not yet returned. “You need sustenance. The court feeds on life energy.”
My hand goes to my wounded side, and pain flares beneath my touch. The injury hasn’t healed, and my magic is pouring everything into slowing the creep of Opal through my body.
Now, hunger claws at my insides. “How long before it drains me dry?”
Kelaros stops his circuit of our prison. “I’ll search for more crystal fragments. They reappear when the court reshapes itself. Maybe I’ll find a way out of this hellscape.”
“Nice of you to help me now.” I cross my arms over my chest. “After trying to trap me here in Elionn’s place.”
He runs a hand through his dark hair, disheveled from our battles. “There’s nothing to gain by letting you starve.” He gestures toward the walls that pulse with my heartbeat. “Besides, you’re the only thing holding this structure together now.”
“How comforting.”
“There should be corridors beyond.” He flattens his palm over a thinner section of the wall. “The court will let me pass if you command it.”
I blink, surprised. “Command it?”
“You’re its anchor now. Find the connection.”
Closing my eyes, I sense the vast network spreading from me in all directions, crystal veins carrying my influence throughout the court. I focus on the wall Kelaros touches, imagining it opening.
The crystal flows away from his hand, and a narrow doorway appears that leads into darkness.
Kelaros bows with a flourish, at odds with our desperate situation. “I’ll return with food, if any exists.”
“And if you find a way out instead?” I call after him.
He pauses in the doorway, silhouette framed by the faint glow of distant crystal veins. “I’ll still come back for you.”
The wall seals behind him, leaving me alone with Elionn in our breathing chamber.
The silence grows between us, broken only by the crystalline hum. I sink down beside him, our shoulders nearly touching. His warmth radiates through the tattered remains of his huntsman uniform, a contrast to the cold light surrounding us.
