Those accusing words keep echoing in my mind as I hurry through the corridors.
With each step I take down the narrow, winding staircase, my heart pounds harder and harder against my ribs.
Why would Asha know anything about what happened to Emerin? Asha seemed genuinely upset when she showed me that ominous letter in her tent.
I swallow against the lump forming in my throat. If Asha has any answers about Emerin, I must ask her. Otherwise, how can I ever rest not knowing the full truth of what happened to my sister?
Emerin should be safely back home in Bakva right now, happily spending time with Tahira.
I approach the same guard as the day before. “I would like to see my sister, Asha,” I say, trying to keep the quaver from my voice.
“Of course, My Lady.” The guard turns and leads me to Asha’s cell.
My heart drops to the floor as I peer inside. Asha lies slumped on the dirty mattress, her head lolled at an unnatural angle.
“Asha!” I cry out and shake the bars as dread rises within me.
She does not stir.
I shake the bar again, harder and harder. “Asha!”
Still, she doesn’t stir. Doesn’t wake up. Doesn’t look at me.
The hem of my surcoat lashes my legs as I whirl around to address the guard. “Open the door.”
He unlocks the door with fumbling haste.
I hurry inside and shout over my shoulder. “Send for the healer at once.”
He rushes off as I drop to my knees beside my sister and gather her into my arms. “Don’t leave me, Ash,” I whisper through trembling lips. “I need you.Please.”
I shake her, trying to get her to wake up, to open her eyes, but she doesn’t.
Grief wells up inside me, a howl of anguish straining against my ribs, my lungs, my throat.
No!
I shake her again and again, but she doesn’t open her eyes.
The healer appears and examines Asha, then she glances at me and shakes her head.
No! Asha cannot be dead.
She can’t.
“Please,” I beg the healer. “Just try.Pleasetry.”
“She’s dead.” The woman says in a tone devoid of any warmth and leaves the cell.
I let out a guttural cry and clutch Asha to my body. “You can’t leave me.”
Tears spill down my cheeks as I smooth back her hair with a trembling hand, remembering how she always kept it neatly plaited. Now the strands fall loose around her face.
We had our differences, but she was still my sister, the one who chased away my childhood nightmares and defended me from Grandfather and anyone else when they mocked my scars.
I hold her tighter, as if I could somehow will life back into her. But she remains limp and unresponsive in my arms.
How could this happen? She was under Jasce’s protection, and even though she was confined, she was alive when last I saw her.
