Slave to Sapphire
Chapter 21

“You smell fresh.” The man’s face was inches from hers, his breath smelled like he was rotting from the inside. Iris’ body locked up. This couldn’t be happening to her again. She was back in her sixteen-year-old body. The mines themselves were horrible but her true torment had come from those who were trapped with her. Many of the people who were forced to work in the mines only crime was poverty but there were also the worst types of criminals in the mines. Her mind had blocked out much of what had happened to her while in the mines. Until now.

The man held her against the wall, and buried memories began to bleed into her mind. He pressed himself against her body, yanked her scarf from her face and licked the side of her face. One of his hands clamped tightly around her throat and he used his other hand to yank her blouse from her pants. Something snapped in Iris, she lost control, she kicked and screamed, biting like a wild animal. She managed to push herself from the wall and they fell to the ground, the sharp rocks cutting her back. He pinned her to the ground and punched her with force, the orbit of her eye crunching beneath his fist. Iris fought to keep her consciousness. She sensed him pulling his hand back to punch her a second time and she turned her head. His knuckles slammed into the ground and Iris grabbed his wrist. She opened her senses feeling the flicker of life in his source stone. Iris latched onto it with her mind and ripped it from him. The man expelled an agonal breath and collapsed dead on top of her. Iris pushed the man’s corpse off her and rolled on to her hands and knees. She was dizzy, her face splintered with pain, the soreness of her throat causing her to cough with every inhale of the dusty air.

“I am strong, I am strong, I am strong,” She panted. She forced herself to open her senses a final time, she could feel that life in her source stone was slightly stronger than before, she willed the extra source to heal her injuries, being careful not to completely drain her life source. The shattered bones around her eye fused back together and the pain dissipated with each breath. She shut down her senses and stood, putting her left hand to the wall again and pulling the scarf up over her mouth and nose. Iris clamped down her emotions, she needed to hold it together until she was out of the tunnels. She focused on her mental map and continued to walk to the entrance. She wanted to cry with relief when she saw the faint glow of the lantern that she had left on the other side of the gate. She squeezed through the gap. Once she was on the ledge she dropped on her hands and knees and crawled to the edge of the ledge. She peered over the ledge, pulled the scarf from her mouth and vomited. When there was nothing left in her she crawled back to the wall and curled up on her side. Iris stayed like that until she heard the cable car ascending. She stood with difficulty and waited, holding the lantern. Iris couldn’t stop her hands from shaking and the light from the lantern danced wildly off the walls. The cable car screeched to a stop and the door swung open.

“Iris, are you okay?” Called out Ezekiel.

Iris wasn’t able to make herself move from where she stood. Ezekiel realized that she was frozen in place and stepped out of the cable car to retrieve her. Her whole body was shaking. Ezekiel pulled Iris into him, wrapping his arms around her. Iris’ nausea returned and she pushed Ezekiel away from her.

“Iris, it’s okay, it’s me.” Ezekiel’s voice was gentle; he took the lantern from her and took her hand in his. His grip on her hand was feather light. Iris let herself be led back in the cable car. Once she was in the cable car, she shuffled to the farthest corner away from Ezekiel and Brutus.

Brutus looked at her in disgust and sneered, Iris was trembling and reeked of vomit. “Looks like your girl will never truly be free of the mines.”

Ezekiel moved so that he was positioned between Brutus and Iris but still giving her space.

“I have seen enough, take us back to the surface.” Ezekiel’s voice was low and dangerous.

The ascent out of the mines was much slower than the descent. Iris felt like a vase spider webbing with cracks, the smallest push and she would shatter. There was no hope in her recovering what remained of herself until she was out of the mines. Iris had been right when she had made the call to let her source stone run out the night she had met Ezekiel. Being forced to work in the mines again would have broken her beyond repair.

Eventually the light from above was enough for them to see by and Brutus snuffed out the lanterns in the cable car. The car screeched to a stop at the wooden platform. Brutus opened the door and Iris didn’t need any coaxing. She darted past Ezekiel and Brutus and scrambled up the rope ladder. She let out a sob when she pulled herself over the edge and stood on the packed dirt. During their time in the mines the sun had crossed the sky and was now hanging low over the horizon. Iris stood with her face angled to the sun’s fading warmth and closed her eyes. She had done it; she was another step closer to saving Maddox and ending Lucious. Her hands were still shaking and her entire body ached but she would survive. She was strong and fear was not her master.

Ezekiel approached her and handed her, her crutch. Iris took it from him and headed back to the carriage. Her legs felt weak, she appreciated the solid support of the crutch. The groom was startled by her appearance and moved with efficiency to open the door for her. Iris climbed into the carriage and sank into the cushioned seat. Ezekiel followed closely behind, taking the seat across from her. The groom closed the door and the carriage rolled into motion.

A weighty silence settled between them. Concern radiated off of Ezekiel as he studied her.

“Iris, I am so sorry I let this happen to you. I swear to you, you will never have to go to the mines again.”

Iris raised her eyes to meet Ezekiel’s; her gaze haunted with what had just happened. The wound that the mines had left her with ten years ago had been torn open. It was raw and bleeding. Iris swallowed, her throat still slightly sore. “It’s not your fault, I thought I could handle it, but when you left me alone on the ledge I panicked.”

“I knew the mines were awful based on the number of fatalities but seeing them is different. I should have never asked you to come.”

“I will be fine,” Iris whispered; she was far from fine.

Ezekiel didn’t believe her, he slowly moved across the carriage to sit beside her. When Iris didn’t move away, he drew her into his lap. Iris turned her head into his chest, and Ezekiel ran a hand through her hair. The heat that his body gave off soaked into her. Iris should be distancing herself from Ezekiel but after what she had experienced in the mines, she couldn’t deny herself the comfort that she got in the safety of Ezekiel’s arms. Ezekiel held her for the entire ride back to the Palace. When they reached the Palace gates the sun had long since set and Iris was starting to feel more like herself again. The heaviness that clung to the Palace returned to her chest and she separated herself from Ezekiel.

“You must have lost all feeling in your legs by now,” She stated

Ezekiel relaxed beside her at her attempt of a lighthearted comment.

“Temporary loss of feeling in my legs is the least of my worries.” Ezekiel lifted his hand and cupped Iris’ chin with his fingers turning her to face him. “I feel that all I do around you is apologize.”

“Then stop apologizing.”

“Do you want to stay with me tonight?” Ezekiel tentatively asked.

Ezekiel would be a perfect gentleman if she stayed with him. But in her fragile state spending more time with Ezekiel would cause her to open to him further emotionally. Deepening her connection with Ezekiel and possibly ending up on his lap again would not help her accomplish what she had planned.

“No, I think I need to spend some time alone in my room.”

Ezekiel failed to hide the hurt on his face, but he didn’t want her to feel guilty for refusing her offer.

“I will see you tomorrow?”

Iris nodded. The carriage had reached the stables, she stepped out of the carriage and headed to the Palace. Iris was desperate to wash the stink of the mines from her. The baths wouldn’t be warm this time of night but she didn’t care. She stopped at her room on the way to grab a pair of clean clothes. She left her dagger and crutch in her room. The bath house was empty at this time of night. The water wasn’t heated but it wasn’t freezing. She disrobed and sank into the cool water. She vigorously scrubbed herself in an attempt to remove the events of the day and her memory of the year she had spent in the mines.

Iris cleaned her hair and she tried to distance herself from what had happened so she could reflect on it. Iris had killed a man by taking the source from his stone. Life source could be freely gifted to someone who was willing to accept it. When doing so both source stones had to be in contact with one another. Iris had been led to believe that the only people who could forcefully take life source were ministry officials. They were the ones responsible for placing everyone’s cuff when they turned fifteen. It was said that this ability came from how the cuffs that they wore were designed. Iris had avoided trying to understand what Lucious had done to her family, but the time she had spent thinking about it made her believe that Lucious had been a ministry official prior to being sent to the mines. Now Iris wondered, were ministry officials actually just conduits like her? Which meant Lucious, who had survived the mines and taken her family’s life source, was likely a conduit. If Lucious was a conduit that complicated things, not only could he take her life source from her, he could also heal himself from non-fatal injuries. Lucious always kept his cuff covered, so she didn’t know how full it was, but Iris assumed it was a dark purple. Iris was starting to shiver in the cool water. She stepped out of the water, dressed and headed back to her room. It would be another sleepless night.

Iris opened the door to her room and nearly tripped over Julian’s outstretched legs. Julian sat on her floor across from her small dresser with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him. Iris’ room was small, and Julian took up nearly the entire floor space. Samson was curled up and fast asleep on Julian’s lap. Julian idly played with the long tufts of fur on Samson’s ears. Iris stepped over Julian’s legs and sat down on her bed. She was too drained to deal with Julian right now.