Chapter 42

Mara's POV

The command came through the speaking stone, and the floor took Ronan from me.

He landed on one knee. Tamsin caught the table before she fell; Maeve was already down beside my mother. I felt the pressure around my own legs, a cold invitation to make obedience easier than standing, but it could not decide for me. I held Ronan's hand until my grip began to hurt us both.

“Let go if you need to,” he said.

“I don't.”

He could not get up. His thumb moved once against my fingers, a small human answer to a command that had made the room feel inhuman.

From somewhere inside the stone came another tap. Three uneven beats and a fourth after a pause. The boy was still there.

“Micah?” I asked. “Can you hear me?”