The Silver Pear by Michelle Diener Read Free Book Online

her.
    It was almost laughable, actually wanting to step inside a dungeon cell. Just a few hours ago, he’d have sworn nothing would induce him to ever consider such a thing, let alone to help a sorcerer.
    Eventually, the outside door closed, locking them both in, and he slid down the bars of the cell door, leaning back against them.
    They had lain Mirabelle close to the door, and he reached out through the bars and touched her, letting his hand rest in the crook of her elbow.
    And waited.

Chapter Six
    S he came awake slowly .
    The pain was gone, but her body felt as if it had been shaken by a giant dog, her every bone rattled and even her sense of touch scrambled.
    She was lying on a pallet that stank of old sweat—rank and musty. Unable to lie on it a moment longer, she tried to sit up, sliding off it and landing on cold flagstones.
    “Shh.”
    Her whole body jerked at the sound of someone with her, and she blinked, straining her eyes to make out who it was. She could see no-one.
    “Who’s there?” Her throat was so dry, she was barely able to croak the words.
    “Soren.”
    “Where are you?” She searched the darkness, suddenly fearful of having gone blind.
    “Oh. Sorry, I forgot.” One moment there was nothing, the next, he was right up against the bars on the other side of the cell, staring right at her.
    She jerked back with a cry. He was close enough to reach out and touch, his big body pressed up against the bars. “You were invisible?”
    “Wild magic.” He didn’t explain further, but reached out and touched her. His hand was warm, almost burning her she felt so cold. “Are you all right? You’ve been asleep for more than a day.”
    She gave a slow nod. “What are you doing here?”
    “I was waiting for you to come round, to help you escape.”
    He had stayed for her. For more than a day.
    She hadn’t expected it, and unsure how to react she curled up on herself, stretching the kinks out of her back. When she raised her head, his intense blue gaze was on her, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she rose to her feet.
    It was coming back to her; the scene in the courtyard, her duel with William’s sorcerer and his apprentice. She realized why she felt so lost. “Why am I still alive?”
    “They planned to strip you of your powers, they said, not kill you, but when everyone walked in this room, something . . . happened to the sorcerer.”
    “Hurt him, did it?” She couldn’t help the satisfaction that curled through her words.
    “He’s dead.” Soren’s words were neutral.
    “Dead?” Her legs nearly collapsed under her, and she grabbed for the bars. “That means . . .” She leaned forward, touching her forehead to the cold iron. She shouldn’t be shocked. Hadn’t she been surprised she was alive? “He was planning to kill me.”
    Soren said nothing.
    “The spell I set was a do-unto spell. Whatever someone planned to do when they walked into this room was what happened to them.”
    “But the sorcerer wasn’t the first person in the room.” Soren rubbed his arms.
    “The spell doesn’t work like that. It only affects negative emotion, feeding on itself until it uses itself up.”
    “I think it used itself up,” Soren said.
    He was right. She could feel nothing left of her construct. She sighed. “I set it when I thought William would be coming in here with his new sorcerer, wanting to use magic on one of you to get information. It would have given us time to get away, hurting them exactly as much as they planned to hurt you.”
    Soren turned his head, and looked at a spot on the floor near the outside door. “Instead,” he said, and there was a rough edge in his voice, “it saved your life.”
    Miri thought back to what he’d said. “William came in here with the sorcerer?”
    Soren nodded. “A moment or two before the sorcerer stepped in.”
    That did surprise her. “He wasn’t affected? I thought William meant me harm, too.”
    Soren made a humming noise at the