Chapter 373: One way or another 1
ALDRIC
The sentinels moved in the mont the gavel ca down.
Two of them flanked
on either side. Their hands closed around my arms with enough pressure to make it clear they were not taking chances. A third positioned himself behind Ronan and did the sa.
We were walked out through the side door while the hall continued to erupt behind us. I could still hear the voices. The shocked exclamations. The argunts breaking out between people who had been sitting quietly monts before.
They thought they had .
They thought Madeline’s little performance and that bastard Cian’s strategic reveal had sealed my fate.
They were wrong.
The corridor outside the hall was cooler. Quieter. The stone walls absorbed sound in a way that made every footstep echo. I kept my face neutral and my breathing even. The sentinels did not need to see anything that resembled panic.
Panic was for people who had run out of options.
I still had options. Plenty.
We reached the stairwell that led down to the holding cells. The descent was steep and the air grew colder with each step. Damp crept in from sowhere below. The kind of damp that settled into your bones if you stayed down here long enough.
Ronan walked ahead of . His shoulders were tight. His head was down. He had not said a word even before Madeline dropped that bomb in the middle of the trial.
I wanted to reach for him. To say sothing that would pull him back from whatever edge he was standing on. This was afterall Teagan’s fault.
But the sentinels were too close. And the walls had ears.
We reached the cell and the door was already open. One of the sentinels shoved
inside. Not hard enough to make
stumble but hard enough to make a point. That they longer had an iota of respect for .
Ronan followed without resistance.
The door slamd shut behind us.
The key turned in the lock with a heavy tallic click that seed to settle into the silence like punctuation.
One of the sentinels looked at
through the bars.
"One hour," he said. "Then you’re back up there."
I nodded once. Because I added him to ntal list of bastards I intead to either gut or behead.
They turned and walked away. Their boots echoed down the corridor until the sound faded completely.
Then it was just the two of us. Oh. I forgot Teagan. Three of us.
Ronan moved to the far wall and pressed his back against it. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up and his head resting against the stone.
I watched him for a mont.
Then I walked to the bench and sat down.
My hands were still in chains. The iron was cold against my wrists. I flexed my fingers and felt the bite of the tal when I moved too far in any direction.
One hour.
That was all the ti they needed to confirm what everyone in that room already believed now.
The DNA test would co back positive. The voice ssages would be verified as authentic. And when the trial resud, I would be standing in front of a room full of people who would have to get it in their thick skull if they had not already that I was guilty.
I needed to move first.
I looked toward the bars and counted the seconds in my head.
Thirty.
Forty.
Fifty.
Then I heard them.
Footsteps coming down the corridor. Multiple sets. Deliberate and asured.
I stood slowly and moved toward the bars.
Three figures ca into view.
Elder Thorne walked in front. He was carrying a small leather case in one hand. The kind healers used to transport dical supplies. Behind him ca Elder Pryce. His face was composed but I could see the tension in the way he held his shoulders.
A guard followed both of them. Young. Nervous. His hand rested on the hilt of his weapon like he was expecting trouble.
Thorne stopped in front of the cell and set the case down on the ground. He opened it carefully and pulled out a vial and a thin needle.
"Beta Ronan," he said. His voice was calm and professional. "I need you to bring your hands out slowly so I can draw blood."
Ronan looked up from where he was sitting.
For a mont he did not move.
Then he pushed himself to his feet and crossed the cell. He stopped at the bars and extended both hands through the gap.
His mother was agaisnt it.
"What for?" She demanded. "What could his blood be needed for?"
No one paid her rabid mouth any mind.
Thorne worked quickly. He tied a strip of cloth around Ronan’s upper arm and tapped the vein in the crook of his elbow until it rose to the surface. Then he slid the needle in with practiced precision.
Blood filled the vial in a steady stream.
I watched the whole process and then shifted my attention to Pryce.
He was standing slightly behind Thorne. Close enough to observe but far enough back that it did not look deliberate.
Our eyes t.
I moved closer to the bars. Close enough that my hands could rest against the cold iron.
Then I started tapping.
My fingers moved in a rhythm that looked casual. Random. Like I was just drumming them against the tal because I had nothing better to do.
But it was not random.
Pryce’s eyes flicked down to my hands. Then back to my face.
He understood.
I tapped again.
Three short. Three long. Three short.
Then I spelled it out slowly.
C. A. L. L. U. M.
I paused and tapped again.
L. O. Y. A. L. T. Y.
Pryce shifted his weight slightly. His hand moved to the edge of his coat. He brushed the fabric with his fingers in a way that looked absentminded.
But it was not.
He was tapping back.
C. A. R. E. F. U. L.
I kept my face still and waited.
He tapped again. Slower this ti.
I. F. F. O. U. N. D. A. L. L. Y. H. E. L. L. B. R. E. A. K. S.
I understood what he was saying.
Callum was playing it safe. He was hedging his bets. If he ca out too strongly in my favor and the trial turned against , he would go down with . And Callum had not survived two decades in the elder’s circle by making reckless choices.
I tapped back.
S. A. O. I. R. S. E.
Pryce’s fingers moved against his coat again.
W. I. N. N. E. R. S.
I felt my jaw tighten.
Of course.
Saoirse always backed the winning side. She had built her entire career on reading rooms and aligning herself with whoever ca out on top. Right now she was watching. Waiting to see which way the wind blew before she committed. Even if
going down, she lost a lot financially.
Which ant I had two votes I could count on. Maybe.
And one more that I would only get if I looked like I was winning.
That was not enough.
Thorne finished drawing blood and pulled the needle free. He pressed a small piece of cloth against the puncture wound and tied it off quickly.
"Done," he said.
Ronan pulled his hands back through the bars and returned to the far wall without a word. His mother quickly rushed to hound him in the na of being worried. But he simply ignored her presence. Not that it did much to deter her.
Thorne capped the vial and placed it carefully back into the case. Then he stood and looked at the guard.
"We should get this to the lab imdiately."
The guard nodded.
Thorne picked up the case and turned toward the corridor.
I moved my hands again. Faster this ti.
N. E. X. T. T. R. I. A. L. E. X. P. O. S. E. S. M. E.
Pryce’s eyes stayed on .
I kept going.
B. E. F. O. R. E. J. U. D. G. M. E. N. T. E. N. E. M. I. E. S. D. E. A. D.
Pryce went very still.
His hand stopped moving against his coat.
For a long mont he just looked at . Then his fingers started again.
C. O. U. P.
He paused.
S. E. R. I. O. U. S.
I tapped back imdiately.
Y. E. S.
There was another pause.
Then I added.
W. I. T. H. M. E.
Pryce’s jaw worked. I could see him thinking. Calculating. Weighing the risk against the reward.
Finally his hand moved again.
K. N. O. W. W. H. A. T. D. O. I. N. G.
I tapped once more.
Y. E. S.
Thorne’s voice cut through the silence.
"Elder Pryce. We need to go."
Pryce turned his head slightly but his eyes stayed on mine for just a fraction of a second longer.
Then he looked away and moved toward the corridor.
"Of course," he said. "Let’s get this done. We are ti bound."
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