Chapter 106: The Nun
>>Seraphina
I pushed at the door with all the strength I could muster, my palms slamming against the heavy door until they stung. "Let me go back!" I hissed, panic rising like bile in my throat.
But Ariston was a wall—unmoving, impassive. He held the door shut with one hand and reached back with the other, grabbing me roughly by the arm. Before I could protest further, he began dragging me down the corridor.
"What are you doing?!" I shrieked, yanking against his hold which was pretty much useless since the difference in our strengths was massive. The sounds from the other side of the door—the roar of that monster, the eerie silence that had followed the battle cries—filled me with dread. "She’s still in there! Aelin is still inside!"
"I have to keep you safe," Ariston said calmly, his grip like iron. "You are the king’s mother."
"So what?!" I shouted, twisting in his hold, slamming a fist against his shoulder. "So we leave a child to die in there?! With monsters from the darkness?! Are you out of your mind?!"
His steps didn’t falter. His voice remained maddeningly steady. "Desperation is a force that will take her to success." There was no hint of doubt on his face as he said those words.
I stopped struggling only to stare at him in horror. "She’s a human! She’s not like you or me! She’s not made for this kind of fight!"
He hesitated then. Stopping, Just for a moment.
His gaze dropped to my face. Something flickered in those eyes of his. A calculation. A suspicion.
"You can tell?" he asked.