Redemption of Thieves (Book 4) by C.Greenwood

dust away the foolish feeling that had overtaken me.
    I tugged at the bars along the wall, feeling for a loose one. The whole of our party stirred at this faint show of hope and followed my lead, searching for a weak point or another way out. Terrac worked alongside me and for the first time I was glad of the shadows, knowing they concealed the high color in my cheeks.
    We all worked in silence except for the scuffing sounds of feet across the dirt floor and occasional grunts of discouragement when an idea was tested and proved fruitless. I was painfully aware of the time slipping by. Through the bars I could make out the shadowy figures of our savage guards standing by and although it was too dark to make out their faces over the distance, their heads often turned in our direction. It seemed to me they observed our failed efforts with amusement.
    I slowly realized we were wasting our last hours on a doomed attempt. If there was a way to get us out of these cages, away from the Skeltai forest and back home, this wasn’t it. I said nothing to the others but let them hold out hope while they could. I stumbled wearily into that same dark corner Terrac and I had shared earlier and sank to the floor, my face resting on my clenched hands. I needed to think. Two possibilities kept repeating themselves in my mind.
    One, was it time to reconsider my answer to the shaman? Should I give up the bow? The other question… I pushed it to the back of my mind, doubting I was even capable of carrying out such a feat. Despite Hadrian’s tutoring, there was too much about my magic I didn’t understand. I could only guess at the risks of what I contemplated being attempted by a novice. But the shaman’s offer: our freedom for the bow. It seemed foolish not to trade a simple object of wood and string for my life. Had it been my decision to refuse or was it the bow refusing to release me? I wanted to believe the choice was mine. But in my heart that claim rung hollow. This was about my mind having become so deeply ensnared by the enchantment of the weapon I could no longer call my will my own.
    Terrac came to join me. I was very aware of him sitting close beside me, his shoulder touching mine, his knee against my knee. Soothing warmth flooded me and I couldn’t tell if the sensation was only physical or the result of his comforting presence washing over me.
    I cleared my throat and said, “I need your advice.”
    “Really? Since when do you seek my counsel?” he teased gently.
    “Since I can’t trust my own. A decision needs to be made and there’s something holding me back. I can’t be sure of myself.”
    It was difficult to admit that, even to him. Especially to him.
    “I’m listening,” he said.
    “It’s about my bow. It’s enchanted.”
    He was silent a moment but looked unsurprised. “I’ve noted the changes in you since you took up that weapon,” he admitted. “But I said nothing because my suspicions seemed foolish.”
    “Don’t be so quick to doubt your instincts,” I answered. “This bow holds a life and a magic all its own. I’ve carried it with me long enough to know. It slips into your mind, guiding thoughts and decisions until you can no longer be sure where you end and it begins.”
    And then I told him. I opened the gates and poured out everything from the night I found the bow right up to this one, admitting all the strange choices I had made, the brave decisions that had been so unlike me. I confessed my doubts as to whether it had been the real Ilan at all who had been responsible for her actions of late. I’d never shared these thoughts with another person. I had been alone inside myself with only the bow for company for too long. Sharing felt good and yet even as I did it, a tiny voice inside my head whispered recriminations.
    Traitor! Betrayer of secrets! We do not need this man who fights with the long, steel claw. He is a threat to us!
    I gritted my teeth.
    Get out of my mind! I want to make my own