Chapter30: Unexpected Visitors

*Maerilee* The journey on the ferry takes several hours, and they leave us bound on the deck, the bright sun beating down on us. My wrists ache from the tightness of the amethyst cuffs, and my mind feels even more constricted, trapped in a loop of disbelief and betrayal as I watch Permiton making friends with the soldiers. He’s sold us out. The thought circles over and over in my head, like a vulture picking at the remnants of a dead animal. I keep replaying the last few days in my head, remembering the moment Mother first introduced him to the court, when he cornered me and told me that we would need to connect for my power to fully be realized. I want to retch as I think of him touching me, of him inside me. Was he planning this even then? Perhaps he was even in on the plot to poison Mother. After all, he’s from Ambrosia. Surely, he knew Diereken. They’ve probably been in on this together, plotting our downfall from the moment they came to Altinna. I turn my gaze toward him, still si