CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

Time is fluid.

It flowed of its own accord, forgetting it strung me along in the first place. It did not care that I remained stuck in a lone, silent darkness surrounded by shards of glass for hours on end. Another crinkling sound yawned as I shifted and turned on my feet. No matter how many times I turned, I could get numb to the pain that pricked the soles of my bleeding feet. It was maddening, trapped in the gnawing silence and darkness. I fed on my bloodied fingers and tried to drown the pained moans I believed came from my unguarded mind. Being alone left me to my thoughts; many of which I realized were true.

It cost me nothing if only I had remained obedient and never pursued my desires. I would have become a leader worthy of Arth, envied and feared by all. Here I was, lying in a pool of regret I created with my own hands.

Curse the gods! Curse the ties they spun between their children that they refer to as mating. Curse their deference to my calamity. How could they hear me