Chapter 287 The bars

Chapter 287: Chapter 287 The bars

Talia’s POV

I pressed my face against the cold silver bars, and I felt the metal bite into my skin. My mother was right there, and so close. I could see the tears on her cheeks, the dirt on her face, and the holes that had form on her bones. I could see her breath rising in the cold air, and I could not reach her.

I tried again.

I wrapped my hands around the bars, and I pulled. I pulled with all my strength, with every muscle in my body, and with every ounce of desperation I had left. The bars did not move, and worse of all, they did not even creak.

"Talia," my mother said, her voice soft. "It is no use. The silver is too strong."

I shook my head, and I pulled harder. "I am not giving up."

"Talia..." She called again.

"Mother," I said, with my voice that was breaking, and tears blurring my eyes. "I am not leaving you."

I pulled again. The silver burned my palms, and I felt the heat searing through my skin, but i did not let go. I pulled until my arms shook and my vision blurred.

Kaelen’s voice came from behind me, weak and strained. "Talia, stop. You are hurting yourself."

I did not stop. I could not stop, because my mother was right there. I could see her hands reaching for me through the bars, and I could see the hope in her tired eyes.

But I could not reach her.

"Let me try," I said. "Let me try to use my magic."

I stepped back from the bars, and I took a breath. The silver was pressing in on me from all sides, suffocating me. But I forced myself to focus.

I opened my mouth, and I felt the magic rise in my chest. It was weak, and barely a flicker. But it was there.

"Break," I commanded.

The word came out thin and weak, barely more than a whisper. The bars did not move, and the silver did not crack. Nothing happened at all.

I tried again. "Break!"

The word was louder this time, but it had no power behind it. The silver was too strong, and too thick. It must have been forged to suppress Silvertongue magic, and it was working.

I fell to my knees, and the tears streamed down my face. "It is not working. My magic... it is too weak."

My mother pressed her palm against the bars. "Talia, listen to me."

I looked up at her.

"Your magic is weak because of the silver," she said. "But that does not mean it is gone. You just need to find another way."

I shook my head. "I have tried everything, Mother. I do not know what else to do."

She looked at me, and I saw the strength in her eyes. The same strength I remembered from when I was a child. The strength that had carried her through the fire.

I stared at her through the bars, and I felt the memories flooding back. I remembered the way she used to braid my hair in the mornings, with her fingers gentle and sure. I remembered the way she would sing to me at night, with her voice soft and sweet, carrying me into dreams. And, i remembered the way she held me when I was scared, with her arms that were always warm and safe around me.

And I remembered the fire.

I remembered the smoke filling my lungs, the heat of the flames on my skin, the way she pushed me toward the door and told me to run. I remembered the last words she ever said to me before she walked back into the fire.

"Wear this and they will not see you. Always wear this and they will not hurt you."

I had worn the glamour charm for fifteen years. I had hidden behind it, survived behind it, and waited behind it. And now, I was finally here, standing in front of her, and I could not reach her.

"Mother," I said, my voice breaking. "I have carried that memory with me every single day. The way you pushed me toward the door, the way you told me to run, and the way you walked back into the fire to save me."

Her eyes filled with tears again. "I would do it again, Talia. I would do it a hundred times."

I shook my head. "But I needed you, Mother. I needed you every single day. And you were gone."

She pressed her hand against the bars. "I was never gone, Talia. I was always with you. I was in your heart, in your memories, and I believed in the strength that I knew you would find so much."

I pressed my hand against hers through the bars. "I did find it, Mother. But I am still looking for you."

She smiled through her tears. "You found me, Talia. That is all that matters." She squeezed my hand. "You will find a way," she said. "I know you will."

I pressed my hand against the bars, and I felt the cold silver bite into my skin. I did not pull away. I held on.

"I will," I said. "I promise."

Kaelen stepped forward, with his voice weak but steady. "Talia, we need to think. There has to be another way."

I looked at him, and I saw the pain on his face. The silver was killing him slowly, and I could not let him die in this dungeon.

"Kaelen," I said. "You need to leave. The silver is too much for you."

He shook his head. "I am not leaving you."

"Kaelen..." I called, with a weak voice

"Talia," he said. "I am not leaving you."

I looked at him, and I saw the love in his eyes. I knew that he would not leave me. Instead, he would die before he left me.

I turned back to the bars, and I felt the determination settle in my chest.

"I will find a way," I said. "I will find a way to break these bars."

My mother smiled through the bars. "I know you will, Talia. I have always believed in you."

I held her hand through the bars, and I felt the warmth of her fingers against mine. She was alive, she was real, and I would not let her die in this cell.