***
Commander Maxwell brought Brynna back to our cell that night, almost a full day after her confrontation with the Warden. I had been totally asleep, exhausted from a day of work and from my confrontation with Sylvie, because I was still so worried about how she would retaliate.
“She will do nothing.” Janna had told me firmly, “Brynna and I will not allow her to hurt you.”
I did not for a second believe that I was in their club. I did not believe that they had accepted me as one of their own. They would protect me because I was the lesser of two evils: they hated Sylvie, they merely disliked me. I thought that was the case, anyway.
Commander Maxwell laid her down in bed beside Janna, and through my half-opened eyes, I saw that she was almost totally healed, so either she had healed herself (which I knew only a few people were capable of doing), or the Warden had healed her. Just because the physical wounds were healed did not mean that the pain was gone, and when she laid down, I could see her wincing. Hastily, he threw the blanket onto her, and barked at her in harsh whisper, “Go to sleep.”
As he turned to walk away, though, she sat up and reached out to him abruptly. Her hand grasped his, and after a moment, her other hand came up to grasp it, too.
“James,” She whispered, and there in the dark, because we were all asleep, and because in the light of the moon, he could barely see it, she let a tear escape her eye. For a long moment, they looked at each other, and then, she whispered, “Please,” with so much pleading in her voice that it rattled me.
Truly, it broke my heart. A woman I believed had no heart at all was able to break mine with one word.
He turned to her, kneeled beside the bed, and continued to look at her with his cold, dead eyes. Then, he leaned forward, looking as though he were going to kiss her, and my heart was pounding as I watched, because suddenly, I wanted there to be something between them, I wanted him to remember, I wanted them to be alright again, even though I had not known them while they had been alright… But just before their lips touched, he pulled away.
“No.” He whispered emphatically, mocking how she had so emphatically said “please.” He was mocking her, when she was appealing to him so emotionally. “No.” Now he was saying it emphatically because he was angry. “You are nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing.”
He pulled his hand from her grasp and stormed away from her, leaving her alone in the dark. For a moment, she stared after him, at the closed door. But then, she sighed heavily, rolled her eyes, and shook her head, before cuddling up against Janna’s back. Perhaps she did not care, but even then, I knew that that wasn’t true. I think she knew I was awake, that she was being watched, so she rolled her eyes and brushed it off as part of her show.
I don’t think anyone, not even the great and powerful Brynna Elohimson, could care so little after being spurned by someone she loved so much. And she did still love him. For the first time, I saw just how much, and that broke my heart, too.