Ash

Peta watched me closely. “And what happened?”

I shrugged and pushed the chicken away from me. I was still hungry, but if I ate any more I’d lose it all. I leaned back against the cot and licked my fingers. “I think it had been three or four days from my last drop of water before they opened the oubliette. Sedge stood in front of me, and asked me what my trainer’s name was.”

“What did you tell him?”

I grinned. “Asshole.”

Peta flopped to her side laughing, kicking her feet out. I grinned at her. “He laughed, too, and promptly shut the oubliette on me.”

That stopped her laughter. She sat up, a frown etched into her brow. “He didn’t let you out?”

“No. Another day and he tried again. I gave the same answer. Went on for maybe four or five days. Then . . . I couldn’t answer anymore, or maybe more accurately, I don’t even recall what happened. Not really. They told me later.”

“They pulled you out then?”

I nodded slowly. “Yes, but I was raving by all accounts.”

We were quiet a moment. Peta padded over to me and sat at my side. She flicked one ear my way. “That is why when we found Lark in the oubliette after so long, you were so . . .”

I nodded again. “Yes, that’s why I was so careful with her when she came out of the oubliette. I remember the pain of being imprisoned all too well, even though it happened a long time ago. And my punishment was nothing to hers. She was in there for years; mine was only weeks.”

Secretly I wondered if Raven had somehow dug up my records, if he knew of the fear I had of being imprisoned, or if he’d just guessed.

Easy enough to guess I was claustrophobic when most elementals feared banishment or the dungeons as much or more than being killed. Being cut off from our power was akin to being confined to being human.

A fate worse than death.

Over the next few days, Peta continued to bring me large quantities of food, varying it so I received some of everything. Fruit, breads, cheese, bags of nuts, and of course, more meat. She even snagged me a bottle of wine, which we shared into the late hours.

That had ended the night quickly as she grew morose, speaking of Lark as tears trickled over her fur. As much as I missed Lark, and wished we were together, getting soppy wasn’t going to help her or me.

Peta’s efforts to fatten me up worked, faster than I could have hoped. Within a week, my belly was no longer concave, and my energy slowly began to rise. Though I slept a lot, and Peta stayed close, I knew it was just a matter of time. Something I had a lot of.

Her timing could not have been more perfect as, within a few days of her arrival, I was no longer being brought food or water. Without her, I would have wasted away in the most literal of senses. Peta saved me, as she’d saved Lark so many times.

Days swiftly turned into weeks, and through it all, I didn’t speak to Peta of my plan. Because I knew I would have to convince her to help me, and I knew I didn’t have the words quite right.

But I waited too long, and my chance to bend her ear to mine slipped from me.

It was the morning of the start of the third week that Peta had been with me and I was in the middle of a side plank. With my weight balanced on one hand and foot, I stretched the other hand as though I would touch the ceiling.

Peta, ever helpful that she was, had perched herself on the palm of my upraised hand.

“You’d better not drop me.”

“Never,” I breathed out as I worked to keep my body completely still, engaging every muscle to hold both Peta and me in place.

The sound of footsteps snapped both our heads around to the front of the cell. I spun and caught Peta in my arms as she dropped.

“Hide.” I let her go and she scooted under the bed. I sat on the edge of it so she could stay out of sight behind my legs. Not much of a hiding place, but it was all I had.

Dreg thumped down the stairs, not even bothering to be quiet. His eyes were on his key ring as he approached the door. “Damn waste killing you, if you ask me. Big damn waste.”

Shit.

“Who is trying to kill me?” I asked. Dreg’s head jerked up, his eyes flying open wide. He stumbled back from the cell, his one hand going to the sword at his side. That did not bode well for him. Because if he opened that door and drew his weapon on me, I was going to kill him without blinking. No longer were the Enders of the Rim on my side, and I had no qualms about finishing any of them off.

His hand wavered at his side. “How are you still alive, Ash?”

I shrugged. “Tougher than I look, I guess.”

Dreg scratched the back of his head. “Look, I respect you, always have, but I had no choice in what happened here. You know we have to go by the orders.”

“Spit it out,” I barked the words at him, and he complied.

“The king said to starve you, and if that didn’t work he’d bring you out and make an example of you. He’s going to pit you against all the remaining Enders.”

I nodded. “Good. Then let’s have at it.”

Dreg shook his head. “Even you aren’t strong enough to take us all. Not after being starved.”

I shrugged, wondering at Dreg’s intelligence, not for the first time. Was it not obvious to him that I had not been starved? That I had in fact been fed quite well for the last couple of weeks at least? Elementals weren’t like humans in that department. Starved, yes. But we bounced back like nothing else in the supernatural or elemental world. We were designed to survive.