I didn’t bother to ask why she was here. I knew the guards had sent her. They kept close tabs on me. Made perfect sense. It wasn’t every day a Night Elf committed high treason.
My entire life, I’d been raised to believe it was my role to kill Galin, Prince of the High Elves. I was the North Star—destined to lead my people to freedom. And with every breath I’d taken, I believed our emancipation began with that bastard’s death. It was my job to make it happen.
But somehow, after a long-ass journey together, Galin had managed to convince me otherwise. According to his pretty stories, I had it all wrong; his death wouldn’t free my people. And the magical wall that had trapped us underground wasn’t the wall of a prison—oh no. It was there to keep us safe.
Or so he said.
When I’d left him, he’d promised to help me, that he was going to be our savior now. We’d had a deal, I thought. I’d helped him and he’d help me. He’d make it all right.
Except that was a giant crock of shit, because of course it was.
Never trust a High Elf. They feast on deceit, bathe in lies, and sleep on a bed of mendacity.
I gritted my teeth, shoveling the granite with an aggressive ferocity usually reserved for the insane.
Instead of coming to help me, as promised, Galin had personally seen to it that I was locked up, under the ground. Three weeks ago, he’d sent a letter to the Shadow Lords. He explained that I had lied to them. He said I was a traitor, and that we’d traveled together. He told them I had helped him escape the Citadel. It was information only Galin could know.
He expected me to die here, because that’s what people did in the mines. He’d ratted on me, knowing what the consequences would be. Because, apparently, I was an inconvenience. He had no intention of helping the Night Elves. He never had.
And as I sweated down here in the dark, shoveling granite, I started to realize he’d probably lied about everything. That story about how I didn’t need to kill him to free my people? Another crock of shit. Pretty lies, as pretty as his face.
And perhaps—just as I’d been taught my entire life—our freedom began with his death.
He thought I’d die down here, but I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. No, the Night Elves would fertilize our new lands with his blood.
After Galin’s treacherous letter, my punishment had been swift and brutal. No trial. No chance to defend myself. The Shadow Lords simply sent a contingent of guards to my house and seized all my belongings. They took everything: my iPod, my vergr crystal, even Skalei.
The guards dragged me into Sindri. I fought them, but there were too many. They pinned me down, and then the Lords used a magical spell to pull the runes from my forearms. I could shout for Skalei as much as I liked, but she wouldn’t come for me anymore. Trust me—I tried.
And finally, they banished me to the Audr Prison Mine.
No one had spelled it out yet, but once they’d used up my strength in the mines, once I’d been driven mad by the confinement, I imagined they planned to execute me. People tended to lose their minds down here.
Except I wasn’t growing weaker. Despite losing weight, I was getting strong with all this shoveling. And I knew I wouldn’t be down here forever.
“Ali, you’re slowing down.” crooned Hulda. “The guards will come if you don’t shovel fast enough. They’re still annoyed about what you did yesterday.”
Yesterday, a guard had smacked my ass. So I did what any assassin would do: I broke his wrist and his nose before they pulled me off him.
“Oh, that? It was an accident,” I lied. “I just fell into him.”
“Sure.”
Hulda skulked away, down the tunnel that led to the prisoners’ quarters. When I finished shoveling my pile of rocks, I could join her. Drink a little water, slurp down some gruel, then sleep. I’d let my body rest until tomorrow, when there’d be a fresh pile of rock to move. But this time wasn’t wasted. Every time I lifted that shovel, I was only growing stronger.
I hefted the shovel and bore down. Dust filled the air as I hurled chunks of granite into the mine cart. I was certain of only two things: I was going to escape, and I was going to kill Galin.