Page 29 of Forged in Fading

She was no better than the human who had taken his life.

Chapter Eleven

Alvara sat in her cell in the dungeons, thankfully alone. Imprisonment had begun to gain a certain appeal. At least here she could avoid small talk and maiming innocent bystanders.

Gods, what had she done? It had all happened so fast. Kat was only trying to help her, and Alvara had hurt her. Maybe King Einar hadn’t been wrong for locking her up—maybe it was the only way to contain her darkness.

Boots scuffed down the hall. “It’s her decision.”

“She attacked her!” The Malvan elf, the one who had tried and almost succeeded in suffocating her. Part of her wished he had.

“By all means, do speak with the king about it, Rav.”

Boden stood in front of the door, while the dark-haired elf hovered behind him like a lethal shadow. The deep gray of his eyes reminded her of the dark storm clouds that gathered before a dalvi blizzard, a warning to hide from the danger that approached.

“The council agreed to allow Kat to have the final decision,” Boden said, apparently unconcerned that his friend wanted to eradicate her from the face of the earth.

Kat would decide her fate which meant… “She’s alive?”

“It will require a few days of intensive healing, but she is free from any danger of fading. Kat would like to give you another chance. If you are able to master your magic enough to satisfy the council”—wind ruffled Boden’s hair, and he covered his face with his palm—“and Rav, in the next two days before I leave for Tasírath, you will be allowed to stay.”

Kat had survived. The pressure driving Alvara into the ground relented, but it didn’t change what she had done. And though she couldn’t imagine why, Kat wanted her to stay. She was offering Alvara a chance. A chance to be better—and she wouldn’t waste it.

“Thank you,” was all she could manage as she rested her head against the cold stones. She had to do it this time. Wrangle her powers and face another day, for her family.

“Enjoy the dungeon. I will collect you for training tomorrow.” Boden rolled his eyes as the Malvan elf whispered something in his ear. “Rav, not this again. We can’t starve her, no matter how justified you may believe it to be. I swear if you bring it up one more time…” He tossed a hard object into Alvara’s lap, and she jumped.

A hunk of cheese wrapped in brown paper, with a handful of words scrawled across it. Eat. You’ll need it.

The clanging of metal practically tore Alvara’s eyelids from her face, and her hand flew to her hip, only to find an empty sheath. Of course they had taken her dagger. Who would leave a would-be murderer with a dangerous weapon?

Boden tapped a metal cup against the bars and lifted a plate of steaming bread and sliced cheese with his other hand. “I come bearing food. Not poisoned by Rav, I confirmed.” Alvara leaned to the side and searched for the Malvan elf’s imposing form, and Boden looked down the hall behind him. “Ah. He won’t be joining us as long as I am able to help it. He won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Doubtful. Boden probably had no way to stop Ravanel from draining the breath from her lungs.

The door creaked open, and she shoveled the meal into her mouth without tasting a single bite as she hurried after him toward the promise of sunlight and fresh air.

“We have two days. You either learn to control your magic, or they will toss you out in the snow. Which, seeing as you’re from Dalvi”—he looked her up and down over his shoulder—“you might genuinely enjoy that, but I’m hoping to avoid that outcome.”

A swig of water soothed her parched throat. “Why are you helping me? Why aren’t you shunning me like everyone else?”

“I am not thrilled with you and what you’ve done, but I have taken part in enough terrible situations to know the difference between someone who enjoys hurting others for their own pleasure and those who will tear themselves apart before ever forgiving themselves for pain they never wanted to cause. I find it hard to believe you’re the former.”

Alvara waited for the quip, the joke that would overshadow Boden’s words, but it didn’t come. Somehow, that was almost more unsettling. “What kind of terrible things are we talking about?”

“Murder, petty theft, the usual.”

She huffed in response, and they walked the rest of the way in silence, eventually entering a clearing at the city’s edge.

Boden tilted his head as he watched her, like someone assessing a rare object on display. His voice dropped lower as he spoke. “Eloisa wasn’t much use to us, you know. Seems a pity she sacrificed her life for a cause she did so little to help.”

“Excuse me?” What in Dalviri’s name was wrong with this male? He had just handed her breakfast and immediately jumped to disparaging her family’s memories. Alvara forced an inhale through her nose, but the cold air did nothing to calm the heat building under her skin.

“You wouldn’t know, it sounds like she never told you anything. Though you don’t seem much better off than her, barely able to summon a snowflake.” The earth rippled under her feet, knocking her to the ground. Alvara’s rage rumbled and begged to be let free, but she smothered it until only embers remained. She needed to stay calm.

“Were your parents cowards like you? Or would they be horribly disappointed in seeing what you’ve⁠—”

A thin gag of ice stretched over Boden’s mouth, just as Alvara’s powers shackled his feet to the ground. “Don’t you dare speak about my family like that.”