Deep Redemption

Harmony sucked in a sharp breath, but replied, “Rider . . . I am here for you.”

The twitch on my lip morphed into a small smile. I rolled awkwardly onto my back, to relieve the ache in my joints, to find a moment of reprieve from the uncomfortable position on the floor. As I did, I caught sight of the white tallies on my wall. My eyes dropped to the sharp rock that I had used to mark the stone. An idea came to my head.

I reached out and clutched the stone, its jagged edges rough in my palm. “Harmony, I’m going to try something.”

I brought the sharpest edge of the rock to the patchy cement that kept the brick below our gap in place. Using my uninjured hand, I began working the pointed tip along the crumbling crack. My heart raced when the cement began to fall away. Flickers of light beyond the stone began coming into view.

Light from Harmony’s cell.

“My tray of food is still in my room,” Harmony said. “There is a knife. It is blunt, but it may work.” I heard the sounds of Harmony’s feet on the floor, moving away then coming back, then the sound of scraping on the other side of the brick.

I smiled, and worked the cement harder. When the cement above the brick was eradicated, I caught a glimpse of blue beyond the wall. “Harmony,” I whispered, the heat of excitement building in my chest. She stilled, and I saw a flash of what looked like blond hair. “Work the sides,” I directed and began moving the tip of the rock against the broken cement on the right. Harmony worked on the left, and after several minutes warm, humid air passed freely between the gaps.

“What now?” Harmony said softly, eagerly.

“Hold on,” I said, shifting my hands to find purchase on the stone brick. It was only small and narrow, but if I could remove it from its place . . . I would see her some. Even if it was just a little, I would see her in the flesh.

Just as I was about to move the brick, a sudden fear hit me. I would see her. But she would also see me. At least she would see some of my face.

She had seen Judah . . .

My hands fell away from the brick and I closed my eyes, disappointment rushing through my blood. I dragged myself to my feet and staggered to the sanitary part of the cell. Above the old basin was a small cracked mirror. Placing my hands on the edge of the basin to keep steady, I looked up at my reflection. I had avoided it for weeks; I had no need to look at my face. In fact, I had purposely evaded it. When I looked at myself, I always saw my brother. Would forever see Judah glaring back at me.

But now I looked . . .

My brown eyes widened in shock when I saw the state that I was in. My face was blood-spattered and covered with dirt and grime. My beard was long and stuck into clumps. My hair was heavily matted and had gathered in long, scraggly chunks. Even my eyes were bloodshot, the surviving white base tinged with gray —evidence of the endless punishments I had endured.

I barely recognized the man staring back.

Yet I could only feel relief in it. There was little resemblance to the twin that had locked me away out of sight. Judah had gone . . . Hell, Rider had gone. Harmony would not see the mirror image of the pretender prophet. She would see a dirty, beaten man. A prisoner, just like her.

“Rider? Where are you?”

Harmony’s sweet voice came drifting across the cell. I slowly walked back to the wall. My legs tingled as the blood rushed through my starved muscles. Slumping to the floor, I pushed my fingers into the gaps around the brick and pulled on the stone. Dust clouded the air as the old stone began to pull away. The stone suddenly got stuck. I opened my mouth to tell Harmony to push from her side, but the rock moved before I could.

My heart swelled. She had done it without being asked—she wanted to see me too. I pulled on the brick with as much strength as I could muster.

“It is working,” Harmony said as the brick moved, millimeter by millimeter, painstakingly slowly. Finally, after minutes of working the jagged brick out of its home, it was freed into my hands.

I exhaled, breathless with exertion. But my tiredness was soon forgotten as I discarded the brick, hiding it in the darkest corner of the cell. I stared down at the hole in the wall. My heart slammed against my ribs and my pulse raced faster in my neck.

“Rider,” Harmony said breathlessly. “It worked.”

I let my eyes close momentarily. Her sweet soft voice sounded clearer to my ears, no longer muted by the thick wall. Warmth spread along my limbs when she added, “Let me see you. I want to see you.”

Making sure my hair was over more of my face than usual, I gradually lowered my body down to the floor, my chest to the ground, controlling my breathing as pain shot through me. When my body was still, I moved my head to the gap in the wall and peered through.

My entire body froze. Looking back at me were the most beautiful dark-brown eyes I had ever seen. Long black lashes fluttered as Harmony’s gaze clashed with my own. “Harmony,” I said in breathless admiration.

“Rider,” she replied, her voice just as awestruck. She moved her body up further so the rest of her face came into view. I frowned. A veil covered her from the top of her cheekbones down to her neck.

A deep red blush blossomed on the skin that was free from coverage. Harmony lifted her hand and ran it along the light-blue material. “The prophet ordered that I wear it at all times.”

My eyebrows pulled down. “Why?”

“Because I am the only chance left to fulfill the prophecy. He wants me to remain pure before our wedding day.” She touched the veil again. “This veil ensures that I tempt no man into taking my body before our wedding night. It is why I am being kept in this cell. I am to be revealed to the people when the time is called for. Not a moment before.”

Tension filled me, anger burned within me at the hurt in Harmony’s voice. Judah. This was all Judah again. To calm myself down, I focused on Harmony’s eyes. My lips hooked into an unexpected smile when I caught a flash of blond hair escaping from her headdress. “You have blond hair.”

“Yes,” she replied. Her cheeks moved, and I knew that underneath her veil she was smiling. Although I couldn’t see her lips, she was smiling with her eyes. “And you have brown hair and brown eyes.” I panicked under her scrutiny, praying she didn’t detect any resemblance to Judah. My nerves were soothed when she said, “But I cannot see most of you through the blood and dirt on your skin.” Her eyes glistened, and her voice faded to a whisper. “Rider . . . what has been done to you?”