Episode 4: A Prison Disguised As A Kingdom
Back to: A Mirror of Shadows
At Slate’s command, the Sentinels dragged me down the stairs, my boots slipping on blood-slick stone. The noise of the crowd above still thundered through the floors. Jeers, laughter, the echo of my humiliation.
This time they didn’t stop at the dungeon where I’d spent the last night. Instead, they kept going, taking me deeper underground. Iron bars lined the corridor, each cell holding some broken thing that may or may not have once been human. A few raised their heads as I passed, eyes gleaming faintly in the dark.
Unlike the dungeon upstairs, these creatures didn’t make a sound.
Which, honestly, was much more terrifying.
They shoved me inside an empty cell toward the end of the row and slammed the gate, the clang echoing like a final verdict. I stumbled but caught myself on the damp wall, breathing hard.
What exactly were they going to do to me? And why hadn’t I been able to keep my mouth shut? I knew better than to provoke Slate. Especially in front of the entire arena of spectators and survivors.
It was a miracle he’d let me live, and I had to question why he’d even bothered when he could have easily killed me on the spot and chosen someone much stronger for his team. He had to have some ulterior motive, but what?
I waited for the Sentinels to threaten me, but instead they just turned and walked away. Footsteps faded, and in mere moments, I was wrapped in complete, horrifying silence.
I pressed a hand to my arm where the sword had sliced my skin. From the looks of it, the wounds I’d taken on the battlefield were fully healed, but deep inside, it still ached.
Why had Lavender given me that potion in the first place? As far as I had seen, she hadn’t passed around other potions to be used in battle. She was there to heal, not protect in future battles, too.
So, why me?
Which was exactly what I was asking about Slate’s behavior, too. I was relieved to be on a team with Calli, but in what universe did I belong on the top team? It was obvious to everyone out there that he’d made a huge mistake.
And I wanted to know why.
Footsteps again. Slower. Heavier.
Slate.
I felt him before I actually saw him. As if his energy preceded him in some way.
But when he finally appeared, shrouded in shadow from the dim, almost non-existent light down this deep, my entire body tightened in fear.
I was determined to seem strong, but inside, I wanted to cry and fall to the floor in exhaustion. Instead, I was going to have to learn how to be stronger than ever. And fast.
He stopped just outside the bars. Even in the half-light, the silver in his eyes caught the orb’s faint fire.
I lifted my chin. “If this is where you plan to make an example of me, you might want to find a bigger audience.”
Something flickered in his expression. Amusement, maybe. Or disbelief.
“You’re lucky I need you alive.”
His voice was calm and steady as he unlocked the gate and stepped inside. The door clanged shut behind him. With every step closer, my chest tightened until it became difficult to breathe.
“Why choose me for your team in the first place?” I asked, angry that my voice betrayed the absolute terror coursing through my veins. “I won’t be much good to you broken.”
“You think I’d waste my time breaking you?” He studied me for a long moment, then lowered his voice. “Besides, I doubt Sabine sent you here to die.”
The name stole the air from my lungs, and I raised my hand to the amethyst dragonfly pendant. This had to be the connection. The woman who’d opened the portal.
“Sabine,” I repeated, wanting to be sure I remembered her name.
Slate’s gaze sharpened. “So you do know her.”
“No, I don’t—”
“Whatever game she’s playing this time,” he said, cutting me off. “It ends with both of us dead if anyone suspects the truth. Which puts me in a very awkward position, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out.”
He was acting as if I knew something I didn’t. As if I’d come here as some mastermind, determined to manipulate him. I opened my mouth to insist that I knew nothing. That I didn’t know anyone named Sabine. But then I thought better of it.
If he believed I had some secret upper hand, or that I was sent here by someone more powerful than either of us, that might be the only reason I was still alive.
He said we’d both die if anyone found out, which gave me a small point of power over him. It also locked us together in ways that made my insides flip.
He moved several steps closer, and goosebumps erupted across my skin, even as my body trembled. My heart raced, and I pressed my back to the wall.
He stopped abruptly, his hands curling into fists at his side.
Could he feel it, too? The energy pulsing between us?
It was more than just anger or fear. It was a visceral reaction, completely uncontrollable. I could hardly catch my breath as he stared at me.
He reached into his pocket and set a small vial on the floor between us, the contents shimmering faintly purple.
“Use that when I leave here,” he said. “It’ll fake bruising and pain well enough to keep the Sentinels quiet.”
I stared at him, completely confused. My heart was racing so fast I could barely form the questions clawing through my mind. It was almost painful to have to keep them inside.
He turned toward the door.
“This afternoon,” he said, pausing at the threshold, “you’ll walk into the light, and it will look as though you’ve been punished for your disrespect. You’ll say nothing. To anyone.”
His tone left no room for argument, but something else lingered beneath it. An unspoken warning.
He would not spare me like this again.
When he left, the silence pressed in hard. I picked up the vial and brought it back to the far wall with me as I sat down. The potion was warm in my hand, pulsing faintly, like something alive.
It was always possible he’d lied and this potion would be the death of me, but what choice did I have now but to trust him? If I refused to drink this and the Sentinels found me unharmed, it would undermine Slate’s authority with the entire Shard.
He might not spare my life at that point, anyway.
After a few minutes of debate, I finally uncorked the small vial and downed it, nearly choking as the heat of it seared its way down my throat.
For the rest of the day, no one came. No food was brought in. No one checked on me. I couldn’t be sure what time it was, but hours later, when the Sentinels came for me, dark bruises had bloomed convincingly across my arms and neck. The potion’s fire still lingered under my skin, but it was better than suffering an actual beating.
I pretended to wince when they touched me, faking injuries and doing my best to make it believable. On the second floor, I joined a group of survivors being escorted out of the lower dungeon. I could see Calli and Brim further up in the line, so I knew I’d rejoined the Condemned who’d won the scarf trial.
When anyone noticed me, their eyes dipped to the colorful bruises on my skin. Some gazes lingered on me a bit too long, filled with hatred that I could only imagine was due to my new position on Slate’s top team.
I wanted to tell them that I’d gladly trade places if I could.
I would much rather have been assigned to one of the duties given to those who’d been disqualified. But if Calli was right and winning the Shadow Games was a potential way to earn your freedom, then I would give this everything I had.
Even if I died trying.
I kept my head down as the group was marched, single file, through tunnels of thick amethyst that wound upward. Despite the impending doom of the Games, I was anxious to see the world beyond the blood-soaked pits and the dungeons below.
Up ahead, light spilled through transparent stone. So bright, I had to squint my eyes as we emerged out of the tunnels and into the Shard.
I gasped, overwhelmed at the absolute beauty and magnitude of it.
Bridges of amethyst arched between cliffs that glittered with veins of silver. Water flowed through channels cut into the stone, glowing faintly from within. Towers rose at impossible angles, their reflections bending on every surface so that the city seemed to stretch on forever, repeating itself in endless copies.
For a heartbeat, I forgot to breathe. The Shard was breathtaking with its vast bridges of crystal, waterfalls of light, towers rising into a mirrored sky.
People moved along the streets below. Vendors shouting over steaming cauldrons, Smiths hammering sparks from blades that shone too bright to be mortal steel. Children chasing each other past Sentinels in violet armor.
I hadn’t expected such a thriving community.
Then I noticed the amethyst strands at everyone’s throats.
Beauty turned to horror in a single breath.
Collars.
I’d seen something like it when I’d done a few jobs for the Amethyst Priestess. She had these warrior women who were basically her personal guards. She dressed them in black cat suits, thick amethyst collars choked around their necks.
The ones the people wore here were much thinner. Almost dainty. But even with their beauty, I knew what they were.
A mark of ownership.
Which meant this entire place was nothing more than a prison disguised as a kingdom.
“This is the Amethyst Shard,” one Sentinel said, almost reverent. “Your new home.”
The word scraped across my skin.
I’d never really had a home. My mother had moved us around so much when we were little, I had no memories of a home with her and my sister. And afterward?
Well, Peakwood was more like this place. A prison that intended to use me more than it ever intended to nurture or care for me.
I’d once dreamed of home. Of a place to call my own. A place filled with love like the kind you read about in books or saw when you visited with friends after school. But that dream was taken from me the minute I stepped into the Hall of Doorways yesterday. And now that I was here, I had a feeling I might never know life outside of this world.
But that didn’t make it a home.
“Keep it moving.”
A Sentinel shoved me forward, out of the shadows and into the light. I lifted my face to see if I could feel the sun on my skin, but I quickly realized the sky wasn’t sky at all. No blue. No clouds. No warm sun.
Instead, it was a mirrored dome of light, shifting with hues of violet and gold as though the world itself was encased in glass. I wasn’t sure what it meant or how that was even possible, but it made me feel as though we were always being watched. Like a display inside a giant snowglobe.
As we walked, my reflection followed on every surface. Dozens of me, trapped in glass, each one just as helpless to escape.
I couldn’t help but wonder about the thirty or so Condemned who’d been eliminated this morning but allowed to live. Would they be given jobs down below? Strands of dainty amethysts placed around their necks?
Would they spend the rest of their lives down there, trying to pretend they weren’t prisoners?
I still had so much to learn about the Shard and how things worked here, but it didn’t exactly seem like the Sentinels were anxious to give us answers. Instead, I studied the landscape in every direction, taking in as much of the city as I could.
The path wound above the streets for what felt like miles. In the far distance, massive cliffs made of Amethyst rose up like a boundary line. The end of the Shard, maybe?
I also noticed that the Amethyst Shard seemed to widen as we walked. Behind us, the city grew narrow, converging in a bright dome that seemed central to the entire Shard. The widest part of the Amethyst city seemed to be those cliffs at the far end.
To my right, I could see faint hues of blue in the distance. To the left, I saw a deep golden yellow.
Inside the Order of Shadows, there were five major Priestesses, each with an affinity to a specific gemstone. If we were in the Amethyst Shard, I wondered if that meant there were five total? Sapphire. Ruby. Emerald. Citrine. Amethyst.
Did they each have their own kingdom here in the Shard?
We turned a corner, and I brought a hand to my mouth, gasping.
A fortress made of amethyst and obsidian rose against the violet cliffs, carved straight from the crystal itself. This had to be the castle Calli had mentioned, but I never in a million years imagined something like this.
I’d imagined grey stones and dark corridors, but this was like something out of a fairy tale.
The Amethyst Castle shimmered like a living gem, its towers spearing into the false sky, its walls translucent enough that I could see veins of light pulsing through them. The glow wasn’t just reflection, either. The castle itself was alive, breathing magic as shadows and light danced through the hallways and rooms.
Wide bridges of violet glass connected its towers, guarded by Sentinels in armor the color of lilacs. It was more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen.
And I hated it.
Because no matter how dazzling it looked, it was still a cage.
Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a horn echoed between the shards, low and mournful. It mirrored how I felt in my heart. Trapped in a world of both beauty and horror.
We were led across one of the bridges, its surface glowing faintly underfoot. One look down, and I realized we were crossing over an endless abyss cloaked in violet mist. Something about it made my stomach turn.
I tried not to look down, but the translucent glass made it impossible to forget the drop below. Every step felt like walking through a dream that could turn to a nightmare at any moment.
Safely across the bridge, the Sentinels marched us through a series of open courtyards until we reached a long terrace carved directly into the side of the amethyst cliffs. Beyond it, small apartments lined the edge in neat, glittering rows, each building made of the same crystal, glowing faintly from within like captured starlight.
“Teams will be marked before entering your quarters,” one of the Sentinels barked. “Step forward when your Warden calls your name.”
Slate stood at the front of our group, hands clasped behind his back. I tried to avoid looking at him, but his presence filled the entire terrace. Calm. Controlled. Dangerous.
The air hummed as he lifted his hand, and my pulse kicked. I stepped forward with the others on my new team, refusing to show fear even as every nerve screamed at me to run.
He didn’t touch us. Not exactly.
The air between us trembled for a moment, and then a mark burned into being just beneathmy collarbone. A curved, violet sigil like a crescent moon that shimmered for an instant before fading beneath my skin.
Slate’s voice carried easily. “You are mine now. Under my command. Disobey, and the mark will remind you who you serve.”
Technically, he was speaking to us all, but he made a particular effort to meet my gaze.
“The Sentinels will assign you to your quarters. Wash. Eat. Get sized for your uniforms. Explore a bit in this area if you want. But be sure to get some rest. Training begins at first light, and with this team, we have our work cut out for us.”
Another jab at my presence, even though he was the one who’d chosen me, but I didn’t dare say a word or glance his way.
The Sentinels led us down the row of barracks. Each door was marked with a faint shimmer of runes that matched the marks embedded in our skin. I was assigned to the fifth one down, right next to Elara.
I was surprised to hear that we wouldn’t be locked inside like prisoners. That we’d have some level of privacy and autonomy, earned by our survival in the first game this morning.
Calli made a joke about needing to wash off the stench of the dungeon.
“Meet me out here in a little bit so we can grab some dinner?”
I nodded, my stomach growling. I needed food, but first, I was anxious to be truly alone for the first time since I’d run through that mirror.
Inside, the room was small but clean. No chains. No blood. A cot. A wash basin. A narrow window cut into the crystal wall that looked out over the endless violet mist below.
When the door closed behind me, silence settled so thick it felt like being plunged under water.
I sank onto the edge of the bed and stared at my hands. They were shaking. Every bruise, every ache, every memory from the last forty-eight hours pressed down all at once.
For the first time since entering this cursed realm, I let my guard down and began to cry. Quiet, ragged sobs that echoed in the small space.
I cried for Maggie. For the way she’d betrayed me after all those years of friendship. For the way she’d died right before my eyes.
I cried for myself. For my lost family, my lost freedom, and the absolute unfairness of how difficult my life had always been.
I cried for my fear. For my need to be strong when I wasn’t sure I had anything left to give.
I cried until there were no tears left inside me.
When I finally lifted my head, I stood and walked to the small mirror on the wall. The faint shimmer of my new mark caught the light, and I ran my hand across the slightly upraised rune permanently etched into my skin.
This was not the future I had dreamed of for myself, but I would do what I had always done. I would find a way to survive. And now that I had emptied myself of sorrow, I would fill myself up with strength for all the difficult things yet to come.