A loud creak cut through her dreamless sleep. Her stomach churned uncomfortably, and her head throbbed at the base. She ran her too-thick tongue around her dry mouth.

Once, when she was a child, she and Odella had sneaked a couple mugs of ale to find out what all the adults fussed about. She'd awoken the next day feeling similar to how she did now, but it hadn't made her bed feel so hard. Had she fallen on the floor?

The room almost felt like it swayed beneath her, and she groaned as it worsened the unease in her stomach.

"Odella?"

A familiar voice, quiet as if uncertain it wanted to rouse her. But it did, plunging into the murky water where her consciousness floated and pulling her upward. The closer to the surface she drew, the clearer her thoughts became.

Callum was the speaker. She'd last seen him unconscious on the sandy ground while a man forced strange herbs into her mouth. A strange man with animal-like ears and slit-pupil eyes. A man part of a group of attackers who had murdered Sanford and kidnapped both her and Callum.

She bolted upright, a soundless scream clogging her lungs, but it came out as a groan as the world swam. Slowly, everything righted itself, and her surroundings came into focus.

She was in a rectangular room made entirely of wood. Wooden floorboards, wooden walls, wooden staircase leading up to a wooden doorway. Light stones glowed from their holders in the walls, illuminating the room and making her dire situation very clear. An open hallway led from the staircase to the opposite wall, but the rest of the room was divided into four cells. Metal bars trapped whoever may inhabit their clutches from all sides, allowing full view of everything around them, but no hopes of escape. Aside from a bedroll and a bucket, the two cells across from her were empty.

Air a prisoner in her throat, Ash turned to the cell beside her. As she suspected, it held her fellow kidnappee in it.

Callum's hands curled around the bars separating them. Dark bruises spotted his face and dried blood still darkened his robes from where the man's strange, clawed fingers had pierced him. The injuries didn't look new, though, so he likely hadn't suffered more since the beach.

He leaned his head forward, resting his forehead against the steel, and gave a small, sad smile. It did nothing to clear the worry clouding his eyes. "I'm relieved to see you awake," he finally said. He slid down to his knees, putting him and her closer to eye level. "I was worried when you took so long to wake up that they may have done worse than drug you. I kept telling myself I could see your chest moving, but..."

Her heart broke at the hitch in his voice. She didn't want to imagine what it had been like to watch her, desperately searching for any twitch, listening for any sound, waiting for her to awake, just needing anything to prove she was alright. The light stones provided decent light, but she had been put in the far corner of the cell, allowing the deepest shadows to cling to her. It was as if they'd meant to torment him by making it harder to tell.

She crawled forward, putting herself right on the other side of the bars. Some of the tension left Callum's body. "How long have I been unconscious?" she asked.

He continued to gaze down at her as he shrugged. "I woke up perhaps an hour ago. I don't know how long we were here before that."

Here. She had a horrible feeling she already knew the answer with the sway beneath her and their surroundings, but she had to ask. Closing her eyes and bracing herself, she asked, "Do you know where here is?"

A moment passed, but finally he sighed. "I believe we've been kidnapped by pirates. We're currently on their ship."

It didn't matter that she'd already had a feeling or that she'd tried to be prepared. The words slammed into her gut and forced a sob out of her.

They were out at sea. Her fragile hopes crumbled around her. She'd held on to the idea that Roan would follow her just like he had so desperately looked for Odella, perhaps even bring the others with him this time, but how was he to find her here? Even Callum's Holy Guard couldn't track them.

Another traitorous thought flitted through her mind. One of a creature that often went over the ocean waters and wreaked havoc on the ships that sailed there. But it was blasphemy for her to even entertain having hope of seeing that thing.

She should be praying to the gods, not be wondering if the monstrous Tempest Serpent would wonder out to seek its priest.

She didn't realize she was still crying until Callum's hand extended through the bars to cradle her cheek, his thumb swiping away the tears on that side. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

She raised her eyes to his. "Why?"

"This is all my fault." His voice trembled, and the hand still at the bars shook with the strength of which he held it. "I don't know how they would... I'm sorry. I can't explain, but I'm so sorry. They wanted me, and they wouldn't have seen you there if..."

His words confused her. He spoke as if he had some secret to hide when she had been the one walking through his home, pretending to be someone else. Someone else who had also been harboring a secret that used him to get closer to what he wished to protect.

Maybe she should have pushed it, and maybe she would have if not for her own guilt when it came to lies. Or if not for the utter devastation scrawled across his face as he bore the weight of guilt from their current situation. Yes, she wanted to know what he meant, but while she had crumbled more than once, he had been there, always offering her a place to lean, even when she wouldn't talk.

Now it was her turn.

"You have nothing to apologize for," she said, placing her hand over the one on the bar. It relaxed under her touch, but only slightly. "You did not make those scum of men do this."

"But you wouldn't have even been there if I hadn't asked Sanford to—" He cut off, biting his lip so hard she wouldn't have been surprised to see blood. Tears misted his eyes as he surely saw the same memories as she did.

What had happened hurt, but his pain hardened something within her, and she shoved her own anguish down. "Unless you ordered those pirates to kidnap us, Callum, then this is not your fault."

His eyes flashed, pain and uncertainty battling for dominance. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, there was a shout from above.

They both turned to face the doorway leading to their cell room. Another shout, this time closer. She could make out words now.

"—said that we needed to take her—"

"I don't care what Yuru said. I told you to grab the boy and leave!"

The voice sliced into Ash in a way the pirates' never could have, even if they'd taken their blades to her. The familiarity of it was a prayer answered, but the uncharacteristic rage sent her heart racing. It couldn't be. The voices were similar, nothing more. Because it made no sense for him to be there, conversing rather than fighting his way to her.

"But she has magic. The captain would want that," the first voice argued.

"Oh, trust me," the first voice growled back. They were almost to the door now, two pairs of footsteps echoing against more wooden floors. "If it's who I think it is, I am very aware that she has magic."

No. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't. The thought became a mental plea that Ash directed toward the door as the footsteps stopped near it, as if that could bend reality and make this not be true.

But the door swung open, and there he stood. Not a vengeful force rescuing her in her darkest moments once again, but the very shadow that threw her into the abyss of despair.

Roan descended the stairs, his vivid green eyes not leaving hers.

Ash felt her chest expanding, could hear her rapid inhales, but it must have been some trick of the mind because she was sure she couldn't breathe as the world crashed down around her.

His slow steps echoed along with the deafening thuds of her heart. Someone followed behind him, but he was a blur in the background. All her focus narrowed in on the Scion as he stopped outside of her cell.

The Scion markings once again spilled over his face, his spell that hid them released. They somehow made his expression sharper and his eyes darker. This was not the man who had spoken Odella's name with tender care. Who had sworn to stand by Ash's side as the two of them saved her. Who had worried over her and comforted her as the strain of her sister's condition and their mission wore away at her being.

"Roan," she whispered. A broken prayer for him to put reason to this. For him to quiet the doubts and suspicions storming in her mind and heart.

Instead, he sighed and waved a hand toward the pirate who had followed him. "Out," he said.

"But—"

"I said to get out," Roan repeated. His eyes flashed with the magic trapped within them.

"Course. Sorry for questioning ye." The pirate scuttled off, and the door slammed shut behind him.

For a moment, only the sound of the ship's creak and the lapping waves cut through the tension in the room.

Although Ash couldn't tear her eyes away from Roan, she heard Callum stand. "Scion," he said, voice cold. "I don't know what you're planning, or what hold you have over Odella, but she shouldn't be here."

Roan's eyes flicked in Callum's direction. "On that, priest, you and I can agree." Without further explanation, he reached into his pocket and produced a set of keys. The warmth drained from Ash's face at the sight of them, especially when he inserted one into her cell door. Her only barrier between them would soon be gone.

"Stay away from her!" Callum roared, his hand banging against the steel bars.

Roan's lips curled into a sneer, but otherwise he ignored Callum and swung open the cell door. He stepped inside without bothering to close it. To him, she wasn't even at risk of trying to escape.

And as much as she hated it, he was right. A surge of anger and self-hate washed over her as she crawled backwards. She should stand up, charge at him, at least try to grab the keys to get her and Callum out of there. Ignore all the things that had gone wrong and still could go wrong and just attempt something.

Instead, she continued to scramble away from Roan until her back collided with the wall.

"Leave her alone!" Callum attempted again.

And again, Roan ignored him. He walked forward with slow, unworried steps until he was only a few inches away and then kneeled to one knee in front of her. With his head cocked to the side, he swept his eyes over her.

A heavy silence fell over the room. She could feel Callum's gaze on her, but fear and guilt refused to let her turn to him, even if the pain in her chest begged her to seek his support. She could only watch as Roan continued to take her in, his lips pulled down in a slight frown.

Something about his expression unsettled her far worse than anything else about this situation so far. It was only because she watched him studying her that she realized what it was: his eyes. Some truth should have shown through them, helped connect the scrambled pieces, but they made her blood run cold.

He was an intellectual creature and clearly aware, but his eyes were blank, entirely void of any thought or emotion. She could have been looking at a corpse rather than a living being.

She scraped through her memory, knowing she had seen various emotions pass through his eyes in the past. But had they ever been further than surface level? Or had she simply believed them to be because she wanted them to be?

Something did spark to life in his expression then, but it was only annoyance as he sent a quick glance back at the door. "I apologize for this," he said. "Those imbeciles took things into their own hands when they shouldn't have."

It took her two attempts to speak, but finally, she managed to get words out. "Roan... Roan, please tell me this is some sort of mistake. You're putting on a show, right?" Tears ran down her cheeks and choked her words, but she couldn't stop them as she just begged the world to make sense again. "They can't see. You can stop this."

He considered her, his lips pressed into a thin line. That nothing had returned to his gaze, sending insects crawling along Ash's skin.

"I could spin that lie, but it would do no good. You might feel comforted for a short time, but you'd be stuck in this cell, my plan would continue to unfold, and you'd just have to see the veil lifted once more. Pointless, honestly." He lifted a hand as if to cup her face, but before he could touch her, she flinched back, slamming hard against the wall.

"Don't touch her!" This time, Callum slammed his entire body against the bars, but his attempts achieved as little as before.

"Silence," Roan hissed. He threw the hand that had been close to Ash's face to the side, green energy bursting around it. "I would rather not force you to be."

"Do it, Scion," Callum shot back. "I'd love to see you try."

Magic lit up Roan's eyes once again, glinting dangerously. "There is more than one way to use my powers, human."

"Roan." Ash's voice carried more strength than she expected, and perhaps that or the clarity of which she finally spoke shocked Roan as well because he turned back to her, eyebrows raised. She gulped as the full force of his strange stare fell on her again. "Leave... Leave him alone."

Slight amusement touched the edge of his lip. "Humorous, isn't it? I asked you to do the same thing, and had you only listened to me, we wouldn't be in this situation." He shook his head and chuckled. "You and your sister have that in common, at least. No matter how hard I tried to steer you on the path in which you wouldn't get hurt, you just refused."

The world both stopped and spun too fast all at once. If she had not already been on the floor, Ash was sure she would have collapsed. Words left her lips, but she felt like someone somewhere else, listening in on the conversation, hearing another person speak. "Roan, you know what happened to Odella."

It wasn't a question. After everything that had happened, everything that had fallen apart, she couldn't believe this wouldn't as well. And she wasn't wrong.

Roan sighed. It could have sounded regretful if not for the frustrated edge to his frown. "I only hurried along what was already in place, but yes. I know what happened because I had to be the cause of it."

*****

Is anyone that shocked, or are they just feeling vidicated in their suspicions?  Honestly, now that you've seen this, I'd love for you to go read the Heart of Midnight prologue on the CWKnight profile (yes, that's a hyperlink, and yes, Wattpad is dumb for not making that as clear).  Now that you know for a fact, though, there are so many little hints sprinkled throughout that I would love to confirm or deny if you'd like to ask about it.  Also, we are now out at sea! :D Fun times, fun times.

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!