One True Queen: A Wings of Fire fanfiction

44.

Content warning: bribery, imprisonment (it's not quite solitary confinement because they can tap out messages back and forth, and sharp-eyes does pop in to talk with them every now and then--but it's definitely bordering on it),  also darkstalker and clearsight are really sappy and married in this one, so be warned

Darkstalker

I am getting so fed up of silence.

I've been trying to count out the seconds, to keep track of how much time we've been in here. But they added up really fast, and once I was in the ten-thousands, I tried to do the math in my head for how many seconds in an hour, but by the time I'd figured it out, I'd lost track of my number. So I tried breathing on the mirror and then writing my count down, for lack of better methods, but the steam only stays for a moment, and the glass refuses to smudge.

So I'm starting over, tallying up my minutes and hours before it gets out of hand.

Ten hours, twenty-two seconds.

Ten hours, twenty-three seconds.

I remember—our wedding. Clearsight looked so nervous at first. Mother wouldn't stop fussing over me. What song did we dance to? I can't remember.

Ten hours, twenty-four seconds.

I remember the night Shadowhunter hatched. How small she was, how I couldn't believe she was really there in front of me.

Ten hours, twenty-five seconds.

I stare at my face in the mirror. I don't know what I'm expecting to find—other than a sad, ordinary dragon, who looks... really old. And tired.

Are you still there? I tap out on the wall.

Still there, Clearsight says back.

Ten hours, twenty-six seconds.

***

Thirty hours, five minutes, six seconds. I think I forgot one of the hours. But I'm telling myself it's this number, because as long as I can keep counting, I can envision an end to this. Right?

I tap out a rhythm on the floor, humming along to a tune I can't quite place. Roll my eyes. What does that translate to in the secret language? I'm not sure.

I groan, rubbing my eyes. I can feel my brain turning to mush without something to focus on.

Are you okay? Clearsight asks. She asks that a lot.

Bored, I say back. This is going to kill me.

She doesn't seem to know what to say to that.

***

Eighty hours, 34 minutes, 45 seconds. I lost count for a few minutes, so that's definitely not how long it's been, but whatever. I just need to keep counting.

I try to cast my mind back--somewhere, please, by the moons, anywhere but here.

Clearsight's graduation night. I smile halfheartedly, tracing my talon along the mirror. Clearsight looked so happy. We wandered around the school for hours, trading memories, and she said she loved me, didn't she? In the art room, looking over those little clay pots the first years had just finished making.

Or was that another school event--the dance a few months earlier? I'm not sure.

I growl, resisting the urge to punch the wall again. I need to move--I need to do something--I need to get out of here.