Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 5

"Do you think my mines are a joke?" the Overseer snarled, stepping forward and snatching Cole by the back of her neck. Cole gagged as the woman hauled her up into the air and slammed her into the hard rocks behind her. "You've missed five hours of work."

Cole's eyes grew wide. "F-Five?" She struggled to speak around the woman's meaty fingers clasped tightly around her throat. "I didn't mean to. I wasn't able to-"

"You've just cost us the weekly quota," the Overseer said, her face so close to Cole's that spittle flecked over Cole's skin. "Do you know what happens when we aren't able to meet the royal quotas? Do you know what will happen to me?" She slammed Cole again into the stones, smashing the back of Cole's skull and causing the girl's vision to blur and slide.

"I can explain," Cole managed to gasp out, but the Overseer released her grip on Cole's throat by tossing her to one side.

Cole landed on her stomach, her face in the dirt, but she still hungrily gasped for air. Grit mixed on her tongue and she tasted the familiar burn of the Sparkstone dust in her throat. But she was breathing and the Overseer didn't seem to be coming with any further physical attacks.

Cole slowly pushed herself to her knees, swiping at the trickle of blood that spilled from her nose and down her chin.

"You're done, Glassad," the Overseer said, wrenching Cole's pickaxe and lantern from her.

"What? You can't!" Cole said, pushing herself to her feet as panic fizzed in her blood. "I need this job!"

"You cost me more than you make me," came the reply. "You're through. Leave now or else I'll make you go down into the mines and never let you come up again."

Cole bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as tears pricked her eyes. Without the mines, it would leave her precious little options to earn coins in Soma. No one wanted a girl with shaved hair and hard muscles to sell their goods, and her education had been cut off before she could learn the skills she needed for genteel jobs such as embroidery or manuscript making. And being the daughter of a man who conned and owed money to every gang that lurked in the gambling dens ruled out even the black market jobs done in the secrecy of night.

Without the mines, Cole was left with nothing. No way to repay her father's sins, and no way to make herself useful to the only remaining family she had. Without the mines they'd be on the streets, and even Helene's dreams for Drew would be dashed and broken.

"Please. I'll do anything," Cole said, gripping the Overseer's arm. Her hands shook, but she had to make the woman understand that the mines were the only thing connecting her and her stepfamily to life.

The Overseer snapped Cole's arm back, and then brandished the pickaxe. "Get off my land before I crush your skull."

Realizing that she would get nowhere with the Overseer, Cole slowly raised her hands and started to back toward the path that led into the fields and toward the city. The Overseer stalked after her, holding the pickaxe menacingly between them, until Cole was well outside the circle of torch light. Then, with a gob of spit and a curse, the Overseer washed her hands of Cole and marched back into the camp.

Heat rushed through Cole as she stood in the dry grass, staring at the mines and the life she had known only a few seconds ago. She shouldn't be out here. She should be deep below the earth, digging into the rock and sweating through her tunic. Yet, here she was, unemployed and facing returning home to tell her family that they were all going to be on the streets in a matter of a few days.

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. If she had just run from that faerie, this wouldn't have happened. She shouldn't have listened to his words and let him spin her into a place where she was unaware of what was going on outside. Trusting a faerie was the stupidest thing a person could do, and Cole had fallen for his tricks. Her mother may not even be alive, and Cole had just thrown away everything for smoke and mirrors.