Subterranean water dripped incessantly in that horrible cavern, which was somehow smaller than Ru remembered since the last demonstration. Or maybe the earth was closing in on her, slowly, an inevitable burial, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“I know what you’re capable of, Delara.” Hugon’s voice was hardened by the storm of emotion that raged behind his eyes. He seemed miles away, as if living his own torturous demonstration somewhere else entirely. “I’ve seen you do it. Did your promise mean nothing? I can still fetch your brother…”
“I can’t,” Ru said, her voice cracking. They had been in that wet cavern for what felt like a lifetime, though it couldn’t have been more than two hours since Simon’s party. There were no Children with them, no blank stares to seep into Ru’s psyche like the festering of a wound, but Hugon himself proved to be monstrous enough.
“You’re holding back,” Hugon said.
“I’m not,” she lied.
Blood crusted her nose and upper lip, evidence enough of Ru’s internal struggle. But not for Hugon D’Luc. Her skull wason fire, and her body wouldn’t stop shaking. Shehadtried, delicately, gently.
But her fear had awoken the artifact, and its sudden presence, loud at the corners of her thoughts, threatened to overwhelm her.
Unlike her demonstrations at the Tower, now the artifact was eager, aggressive in its assault against the walls of her mind. The more she held back, resisting the artifact’s mental and emotional overwhelm, the more of a toll it took on her body. And all the while, she was trying to suppress her fear, her pain, her rage. She was afraid to lose control.
In the depth of her pain, as a rebellious rage crackled to a steady roar in her chest, part of Ru almostwantedto let go and coax the heart to life. To destroy Hugon and the kingdom out of spite.
“Try,” Hugon spat. “I have seen you draw power from the artifact. I’ve seen the stone in your hands, wreathed in darkness. There is nothing left of the Shattered City dig site. That was your doing.”
“Well, it isn’t working now,” Ru croaked. “If you keep pushing me, I’ll destroy us all by accident.”
She caught his eye then and was shocked to see a strange eagerness in his gaze.No,she thought.I’m not putting you out of your misery yet. Push me to breaking, and I’ll make sure we break together.
Ru clenched her fingers where they were braced on the simple wooden table, bowing her head. Loose tendrils of hair hung raggedly over her shoulders. In this position, she couldn’t see Lord D’Luc where he stood across from her. She could see only the artifact, black as night, once a cherished object and now an inevitability, as precious as a soul but just as easily turned to darkness.
So when she spoke a thought to it, a simple word —please— she felt the presence in her grow searingly taut, as if the artifact were sayingYes, I’m here. And the force of that connection, the artifact responding to her so vividly and with such clear intent, nearly made Ru pass out.
Listen to me, she thought, gritting her teeth as she swayed.Do what I say. I’ll let you out if you just control yourself,she begged then, pushing harder, even as her vision began to blur, and her skull screamed in agony as she resisted the crushing darkness she knew was there, waiting for her to let it out.Just a little,she thought.Just a little tendril of darkness is all I need. Let me control you.
The artifact showed no sign of listening, of allowing Ru’s thoughts to curb its wildness, its vast, consuming dark. Instead, it pushed, prodded, looked for cracks in her psyche.
A thick droplet of red dappled the wood table. Ru rubbed her nose, smearing blood across the back of her hand. Hugon watched her without expression.
“I’m running myself against a stone wall,” she said shakily. “I don’t know how to control it. The artifact is all or nothing — either we all die now, or there’s no darkness. That’s it.”
“Think back to the Shattered City,” he prompted, eyes narrowed. “How were you feeling? What did you do?”
“I touched it,” Ru said. “You know that.”
“So touch it again, for the love of god.” Hugon’s lips curled in a patronizing sneer. “Don’t play stupid with me. Maybe Iwillcall for Simon after all. Your brother might enjoy watching, might prompt a stronger reaction…”
Ru caught and held the lord’s gaze. He was clearly desperate, frightened. What would he do if cornered here? What if she presented him with no choice but to hurt her in the worst possible way?
“Fine,” she said. “Bring Simon. Do whatever you need to do to push me to the breaking point. But I’m done for the day.”
Hugon’s eyes narrowed for a breath, and he seemed momentarily lost for words. Then he said, “You don’t know what I’m capable of, Delara.”
She raised her chin. “I think I do, Hugon. Why did you take my deal at the party? I could have been lying. And you could have taken Simon, done whatever you liked with him, andstill, I’d be in this cavern with you, nose bleeding. I have no leverage. So why?”
Though he stood stock still, Ru could see a slight tremble in the lord’s jaw; he was clenching his teeth, hard. “The minstrel would be more trouble than he’s worth,” the lord said at last, each word bit out as if through pain.
“Interesting,” Ru said, spitting red onto the floor. Her head was screaming in pain, but she had to get through to him. Sheknewshe was widening the cracks, about to shatter his mask once and for all. “Tell me, why did you stop the demonstrations back at the Tower?”
Lord D’Luc bared his teeth. “The danger was too great. You would have lost control—”
“Then why,” she interrupted, “would Lady Bellenet resume them? Surely, she knows something I don’t. Is it safer here, in the palace?”
He jerked his chin, staring down at the floor where tiny pools of water collected near his feet. “I did not cease demonstrations by her orders.”
