Page 101 of Joy Guardian
Twenty-Three
KURAI
For a prosperous city like Teneris, I expected a much better dungeon. The place was so deep underground, it ceased being habitable. Sulfur reeking water seeped from the walls, staining their black stone with rusty yellow. The only light came from smears of mold in the cracks of the rock that my cell had been carved in many millennia ago.
The ceiling was too low to stand up, and the floor seemed too filthy to lay down. The door crackled with magic of wards when I touched it, keeping me inside the cell more securely than any lock. Since my bag had been taken away, I couldn’t even try any of the Joy Guardians’ magic to break out of here. Though, I suspected, it would’ve failed anyway. The royal wards were unbreakable.
I sat with my legs under me and my skirt spread wide so that no part of my body would accidentally touch the grimy floor.
Born in poverty and raised as a Joy Guardian, I was used to owning nothing and making do with little. But I feared that this place could break even the most enduring spirit.
One thought brought me comfort. Ciana was safe. Prince Rha would let no harm come to her, even as he would likelyexecute me. I’d taken the risk coming to Teneris. The word of the Watchers and our identifying tattoos had come out, and not one of us was safe.
It wasn’t supposed to matter. We’d thought our mission would be complete by now. The humans would be gone, and those of us who would’ve survived were prepared to answer for our part at their deaths and disappearances.
What we weren’t prepared for was how devastatingly attractive some humans would turn out to be, how impossible it would prove to harm them, and how easy it’d be to fall in love with them.
Master Arter died because Prince Rha came after his favorite Joy Vessel and brought his army with him. And I couldn’t annihilate the queen’ssaraibecause that would’ve killed Ciana. I failed my mission, and I didn’t regret it.
At the thought of Ciana, warmth spread through my body even in this cold, destitute place. A shiver of tingles rushed me head to toe, skittering down my spine. It rose up my thighs to my groin and further still to the pit of my stomach, then finally to my heart.
Blood pulsed in my skull with the sound that seemed to echo between the slimy walls.
The ancient magic of those who had guarded the Joy all their lives whispered to me through the door. The moldy wood shimmered with gold, forming a circle. It widened, spreading to the edges of the wood as the wards retreated to let someone in.
The door opened, and Oria slipped through it and into my cell.
“Oria!” My heart lifted at the sight of her.
I climbed to my feet, keeping my head down so as not to bump it against the ceiling.
Oria and I held opposite views on humans, but we’d spent decades side by side, carrying out our duty to serve the Joy. It was hard for me not to think about Oria as a sister Joy Guardian and a friend.
“Kurai.” She nodded briefly ingreeting.
“Have you come to free me?” I blurted out.
It was naive of me to expect Oria to rescue me after the way we had parted. But why else would she be here?
She shook her head, unpinning the top layer of her garment from her hair.
“The wards are to keep prisoners in the cells, not to stop them from coming in.” she explained. “Now that I’m here, neither you nor I can leave here.”
“Why would you do this then? Why come in here?”
It served no purpose for her to be imprisoned along with me.
With a soft sigh, she dropped her shoulders.
“Because I can’t let you leave here, Kurai. I can’t allow you to talk to Prince Rha, either. You know all about us. If you betray us, our mission will fail.”
“The mission is over, Oria. The portal is closed, and there will be no other.”
She pinned me with her stare, filled with determination.
“As long as there’s even a single human in the kingdom, our mission isn’t finished. And as long as it continues, no one can know what you know about us.” She reached in the faults of her skirt.
I retreated all the way to the back wall as she slowly drew a dagger out—slowly, because she knew I was unarmed. There was no need to hurry or hide her intentions.
