Kingdom of Ash

in which the mines were carved were little
more than shadows. The great wall that
surrounded the death camp was nothing but a
stain of blackness.
The gates had been left open, one broken
on its hinges. Perhaps the freed slaves had
tried to rip it down on their way out.
Aelin’s fingers tightened on Rowan’s as
they passed beneath the archway and entered
the open grounds of the mines. There, in the
center—there stood the wooden posts where
she had been whipped. On her first day, on so
many days.
And there, in the mountain to her left—that
was where the pits were. The lightless pits
they’d shoved her into.
The buildings of the mines’ overseers were
dark. Husks.
It took all her self-control to keep from
looking at her wrists, where the shackle scars