Within the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 6

I stare at him, afraid to blink. A shiver rakes my spine as a frigid draft oozes into the prison from the open door at the end of the hall.

"You must also be the girl who grows illegal crops in the southern forest," he says, as his green eyes glint like a hunter sizing up his snared prey.

"What is it to you?" I stammer, gripping the cell bars. My eyes flicker to Lyra, who presses herself flat against the furthest wall of her cell, her cheeks white as bone, eyes wide.

"It is treason to grow your own crops. A crime that the king will not take lightly. The Convex have their farms." He shifts his weight, angling his head. "Don't they?"

I bare my teeth. "Don't act stupid. You know about the blight," I seethe, and he raises his thick brows lazily as if we were merely discussing the weather. "Our crops are nothing but rotten mush. The Convex Sector is starving."

"Oh? That would explain why all you Convex people are falling like flies." His voice is hewn from stone but a muscle ripples in his jaw, and his eyes flash with a hint of... guilt. Knowing.

"Pig," I snap, slamming my hand into the bar, flinching as the crash rings in my ears and Lyra squeaks.

He blows air through his nose, smirking. As he prowls back and forth with feline smoothness, I glare at him. His pale skin glints in the candlelight and a dark essence oozes from his clinking armour. Shrouded in shadows and eyes flecked with light, he is dripping with the night itself. As if he carries the darkness, the moon, and the stars.

"Are you actually going to uphold this innocent façade?" he growls, examining the dainty point of his spear with his gloved finger.

"Word spreads fast, does it?" I say, swallowing my rising panic.

Where have I seen this man before?

He lets out a low laugh that slithers along my bones. "I didn't have to hear about what you did through mere gossip. I was there, Elle."

"What do you mean?" The words fall from my mouth too quickly. I swear he can hear my hammering heart by the unkind smirk on his face.

He clicks his tongue, taking his time to respond. "You killed my friend in the forest."

Lyra gasps and tears dribble down her cheeks. She backs into the stone wall, her watery gaze meeting mine and the guilt threatens to yank me into its storm. How could I do this to her? I promised to protect her. The Tranq throws her a nasty glare.

"You killed my friend, and then you tried to kill me." He pulls down the shoulder of his linen tunic, revealing a deep, red gash.

My head rings as weakness seeps into my muscles, making me want to melt into the cracks of the stones. "You were there," I say, trembling like an idiot.

"Sure was," he says, pulling the fabric back over the wound with a cat-like scowl. "I must say it took me by surprise. A girl from the Convex Sector hurled a knife at the king's Tranq. You have a skill... and apparently enormous, stupid balls. But that skill needs to be honed since you failed to hit my heart."

I chew my lip, any counter-response dying on my tongue. He lived. The Tranq lived. The air vanishes from the dungeon, and I struggle to breathe.

"Such a cold, hateful creature." He flings the insult like food scraps.

"I didn't do it on purpose," I finally snap, coals smouldering within me. His eyes meet mine, dancing in the darkness and it makes me want to scream. "You both attacked me. The first Tranq's death was an accident."

"He is still dead." His voice drips with creeping fury, but his chiselled face remains carved from granite. "Besides, I think we both know the second attempt on me wasn't by mistake."