I felt immeasurable guilt that Ty was still in the dungeons while I was in daylight. There was no way to know if he still lived without taking a risk and asking Irrik.
Tyr hadn’t been in touch since the dungeon, and I’d been left wondering if he was okay and whether he’d reached Dyter with a message. I missed him—a lot—and a growing part of me hoped he missed me, too. I’d never felt anything for a man before, not even Arnik, but there was something with my hooded protector, the tendrils of beginning.
Until I was free of this toxic place though, I shouldn’t contemplate anything like that. Not while King Irdelron could use the relationship against me. Because there was no doubt he would.
Irrik tightened his grip and brought my attention back to their conversation.
“Where are you taking her today?” the king asked, looking at me as if I were something to eat instead of being the source of his food.
“Wherever you’d like, my liege.”
My skin crawled with Irdelron’s attention and I inched closer to the Drae, but his grip kept me rooted at his determined distance.
“My wine cellar is dreadfully bare. Let’s have her visit the vineyards.” His gaze met mine with calculated intensity. “I believe that’s your old Harvest Zone, my dear.”
Irrik’s expression was blank stone. The only indication of the emotion humming in his body was his gloved grip on my elbow.
“Take her by her mother’s house. There’s nothing quite like a trip down memory lane.”
I flinched at the thought but kept my mouth shut.
The Drae inclined his head. Still holding my arm, he turned to leave.
“Irrik,” the king called, halting our retreat. “Those commands are not up for interpretation. I expect you to respect your oath.”
I glanced at the Drae and saw he was battling to keep his form. Black scales appeared on his skin, and his nails dug into the soft skin on the inside of my elbow. I grimaced, clenching my teeth.
His black talons pierced my skin, and blood seeped from the wounds.
As soon as we stepped out of the hall and into the morning light, I whispered, “Please let go. You’re hurting me.”
One talon tore through my flesh as he released my arm, and I sucked in a breath as I clenched my inner elbow.
“I’m sorry,” he growled in a barely audible voice.
He trembled beside me, trying to hold his human form, and I released my arm grabbing his, instead. I hissed, “Don’t you dare shift.”
I had no idea what was going on, but I knew if Irdelron detected anything odd between Irrik and me, he’d exploit it or send Jotun to guard me instead. My words were only meant as a warning, but as soon as our skin touched, electricity pulsed between us, and Lord Irrik’s thoughts were in my head.
I will fail.
He brushed my hand away and snapped, “Don’t touch me. I don’t answer to you.”
Had I really been considering a reversal of my hate for this turd-twat?
I followed him around the Market Circuit road. We walked through Zone Nine, and then Zone Eight. When we neared Zone Seven, my inner monologue of hate toward the Drae was ripped to a screeching stop.
Words failed me.
Harvest Zone Seven was gone.
Standing in the middle of the surviving road facing outward from the castle, I could see where the rows of buildings of the Money Coil should have begun, but the normally clear definition between the Money Coil, the start and end of the Inbetween, and the narrow housing rows in the Wheel where I’d lived were gone. There was nothing. For as far as I could see, there was nothing except the charred land.
Behind me, the Quota Fields remained untouched.
The air was clean and crisp, and the blackened soil damp from last night’s rain. I leaned over, pulled off my shoes and socks, and stepped across the invisible line onto the blackened ground.
Shock rendered me speechless, so I said nothing as I traced the now nonexistent paths of my childhood. I went through the Money Coil, trying to remember where the House of Tal had been and wondered if they’d known what was coming. They’d ruled this Harvest Zone on behalf of the king. He hadn’t spared anyone.
Was anyone alive? Arnik? Dyter?
Was everyone I knew dead now?
I kicked at the piles of ash and wondered if it was better to be burned alive because it was faster than Jotun’s torture. I had no idea when I crossed from the Money Coil to the Inbetween and into the area where I’d lived with Mum and the other peasants. My landmarks were gone. Everything was gone.
Eventually, the shock waned enough for me to feel the ache of loss. This zone had been my home. These people had been my family. I wandered through the streets, not even sure if I was standing on what used to be a street or a house.
There was only one creature capable of destroying an entire Harvest Zone with fire. How long had Irrik breathed his fire on my zone? How long had it taken to destroy everything? I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“When?” I choked on the word and had to ask again.
Irrik stared over the horizon at something only his Drae eyes could see. He didn’t answer.
I bent down, grabbed a handful of ash, and threw it at him, screaming, “When? When did you do this?” I shoved him, pushing his rock-solid body uselessly as I continued my tirade. “Why would you do this?” I pounded his chest. “These were good people. You . . .”
My voice broke, and I covered my eyes with my hands. I fought to keep my emotions in check, knowing the king had forced Irrik to bring me here, but my emotions only registered the pain I felt. The pain I’d caused my friends and family by being so careless and stupid.
Lord Irrik put his hand on my shoulder. “The king likes to remind his subjects of his supremacy, Phaetyn, all of his subjects. Never forget it, and don’t waste your tears here. Save your powers for the vineyards.”
I snapped my head up, glaring daggers at the insensitive Drae, but his wide eyes stopped my retort. He rolled his eyes to the side and cocked his head the same way. My gaze followed to where Jotun and several guards stood, silently watching. The chief torturer met my gaze, and his lips curled in a wicked grin that chilled the blood in my veins.
“What are they doing here?” I whispered, my heart pounding in terror of the visible, immediate threat. They were watching us? Would they report this back to the king? Tell him all about how I broke down in response to his power play?
He had Irrik burn down an entire Harvest Zone to show me I was nothing.
I couldn’t understand the depravity that required.
Irrik shook his head. “You still have work to do, Phaetyn. I’m done watching you sob all over the place.” He grabbed my arm, much higher than where his talons punctured my skin minutes, or was it hours, ago. Even as his fingers circled my bicep, his grip remained as light as a feather. “Let’s go.”