A smile perched on her lips. “Get dressed.”
I brought my hand to my chest, torn between the desire to remove my blood-stained clothes I’d worn for days and worry that Jezebel might have an alternative motive.
“Don’t just stand there,” she scolded. “Dress, quickly, before I do it myself. And you won’t like it.”
The thought of her placing her hands on me made my stomach clench. A lump settled in my throat and my face burned as I undressed. Tears pricked my eyes as my tormentor stood across from me, smirking as I covered my nakedness with the green dress. It was soft and light against my skin, brushing against it like feathers. The dress fell to my ankles and the material rustled around my legs. I wondered if this was how royalty felt. At last, I was dressed not to hunt or fight, but for pleasure. Despite my predicament, it felt good, until I noticed how the dress left my shoulders exposed, and dipped much lower in the front than was modest. I brought my bound hands up to cover my chest, although it wasn’t much use.
“Good.” Jezebel nodded. “Follow me.”
She turned and moved under the gloomy arch into the dark tunnel without a backward glance. I followed, moving slowly on my sore feet, often reaching out to touch the wall for strength. I blinked and squinted as I followed, my eyes used to the bright glare of sunlight. The path was steep but it was smooth, allowing my bare feet to traverse the cool rock without fear of ripping the pads of my feet.
I had to admit it felt good to stretch my muscles. As we walked, a steady rhythm swelled and echoed off the walls. When the ground leveled out, I could make sense of the madness. Hands beat drums, feet pounded, and a low, eerie chant sent goosebumps up my arms. My eyes went to Jezebel. She walked like a queen with her head held high and shoulders back. Again, I flashed to the memory of her slitting my mother’s throat, and my fingers clenched into fists. When I was strong enough, I would come for Jezebel. She might set me free now, but it was a mistake, for once I learned how to hide my magic, I would destroy her. Although it would not be easy to kill a goddess.
The low chant grew and a growing sense of uneasiness filled me. Jezebel was going to set me free, wasn’t she? Blue light flickered at the edges of a tunnel and Jezebel led me under another archway into an enormous hollow. I assumed we were near the bottom of the cave, in the largest section of it, for in the domed room were dozens of creatures. Jezebel and I stood on a rise above them, before a set of rough, stone stairs leading down into the crowd.
Gnomes had gathered with other creatures that looked like trees morphed into humans. Their skin was the color of tree bark and they had long faces with green hair. Branch-like arms held up torches filled with blue fire, sending an eerie glow dancing across the walls. Jezebel raised her hands as she walked out and the creatures roared. “All hail Jezebel! All hail Jezebel!”
Jezebel strode into the halo of blue light looking every inch a goddess. I paused a few feet from her, my discomfort rising. Everything she’d said to me was a trick, I was sure of it, and beads of sweat dripped down my neck.
Light flared through her sheer gown as she pointed to me. When she opened her mouth, her teeth seemed to go sharp and her voice echoed through the cavern. “Today would not be a victory without the blood of Aofie Mor, bastard child of the gods and one of royal blood. It is with her sacrifice that my banishment has ended and I shall ascend to glory once again, taking back what is mine. And you—” She pointed to the gnomes and tree-creatures. “You walk by my side, and for that I shall reward you.”
The creatures gave a deafening roar while I shivered beside Jezebel. My eyes darted across the cavern, searching for escape. Every bone in my body screamed for me to flee, but when I looked back to the tunnel from whence we’d come, a few gnomes barred the way, weapons in hand. My breath came out in shallow gasps and I pressed my hands together to keep them from shaking. A sinking suspicion warned me that Jezebel was not done with me yet.
She swayed like a drunken dancer as the creatures shouted and chanted. Her fingers waved, sending gold sparks flickering off her fingertips. Rust-red vines slithered from the walls like shapes, undulating over the stones. I turned to run but they surrounded my feet, crept up my legs and back, making me shiver with disgust. I was dragged past Jezebel to the center of her self-made stage, where a stone column rose. The vines moved like hands, pulling me face first against the stone, forcing me to hug it with my arms. My wrists were secured on the other side and I bit my lip as the vines pressed against my wounds. Fighting would only make the vines tighten.
My breath hitched as I recalled how viciously I’d kicked Jezebel. Her claim to set me free had given me false hope, but now I understood she was not done punishing me. Bile rose in my throat and my knees sagged, but the vines held me upright.
Jezebel’s hand twisted through my knotted hair and yanked my head back. I cried out as pinpricks of pain danced on my head. She pulled until my chest pressed against the stone and my back arched back. Tears spilled down my cheeks as she brought her face close to mine. Her eyes had changed to a light nut brown, almost golden, and her grin was that of a feral wild cat. She licked her pointed teeth and her breath heated my face. She smelled like iron, and beneath it was the scent of decay.
“Aofie,” she purred. “Princess of the kingdom of men, are you not? And yet you came into my house and tried to destroy me. I will not do the same. I have your blood and your mother’s blood. It is enough. But I will wound you before I leave. After all, I have you to thank for returning my gift of fire.”
She held up her fingers and snapped. A flame ignited so close to my face my eyes smarted and watered. I pressed my hips against the stone in a futile attempt to widen the space between us. Would she burn me? Jezebel moved her hand away but her grip on my hair tightened. I gasped and moaned, my head throbbing, and then, suddenly, I was free.
Jezebel faced me and my mouth opened in horror as she held up the waves of my long red hair. She’d shorn it right off! I’d never cared about my hair until that moment, when it dangled in front of me. My long, luscious red hair was beautiful, but just one more thing for Jezebel to take away, and I hated her for it. It burned in the back of my throat all the way down to my belly, and my eyes narrowed. I opened my mouth to retort when Jezebel’s arm came up, smashing my head into the stone. Pain rippled across my skull and my vision went dizzy.
“Please,” I wailed. “No more.”
Jezebel tossed my hair away. “Begging is of no consequence, my pet; I’ve told you this before. When I am done with you, you can walk free and continue on your quest.”
My eyes went wide, and I blinked rapidly. I sensed my magic flare red, but now I knew the gods would not save me. Hatred surged through me, blinding me to the sensation of pain for mere moments. Despite my wrists, which had been reopened again and again, and the knot forming on my forehead, I gritted my teeth.
Bumps and bruises were a normal part of training with the centaurs, and I’d taken my fair share. But withstanding the art of torture was not something that was taught. I steeled myself as Jezebel’s hands turned to my body. This time she gathered the back of my dress in her hands and pulled. The thin dress gave with a loud tearing sound and I wailed in embarrassment. Cool air kissed my back, which was naked to the elements, all the way down to my waist. I lifted my head, taking huge, gulping breaths as she toyed with me, preying on me in my panic.
“You killed my mother,” I whispered. “Just when I was beginning to know her. You slayed my people and you took my blood. Isn’t it enough? You are free and you have your power. Let me go.”
“You might hunt me down, and I can’t have that,” Jezebel countered, pressing her nose against my face. “I will teach you a lesson so that you won’t come after me.”
She withdrew and the chant of the creatures increased in frenzy. Drums beat, feet stomped, and voices shouted. The air around me thickened and my head whirled. Even above the roar, something else whistled through the air, moments before it slammed into my bare skin.
All breath rushed out of my body and the cavern went silent. White-hot flames seared my back, forcing a cry to rise from the depths of my belly and burst out of my mouth. The sound was high and wild, like the cry of a wounded beast. The lash came again, digging into my back like the razor-sharp edges of a knife. My skin sizzled as though it were on fire and welts rose.
Lacing my fingers together, I tried not to cry out, not wanting to give Jezebel the satisfaction of my pain. But it was impossible not to moan and wail and thrash. The lash fell again and again, stripping my back, slapping into raw skin until my legs kicked and I struggled, but the vines held me tight, forcing me through the ordeal. If I’d thought the slashing of my wrists was painful, it was nothing to the brutality with which Jezebel carried out my punishment.
The chants soared, driving her on with a mad kind of frenzy, and the whip came again and again. Ragged screams tore out of my raw throat. I choked and heaved, but my stomach was empty. My breath came in great gasping sobs. Why couldn’t I faint? Why didn’t she stop?
When at last the vines released me, I crumbled to the ground, the cool rock a balm against my heated cheek. I lay still, trying to catch my breath as fire danced up and down my spine. A shadow fell over me and Jezebel’s foot slammed into my stomach. I shrieked as my muscles cramped. When I tried to bring my legs up to protect my side, the wounds on my back made me scream in agony.
Jezebel’s foot came down again and again, and when I put out my hands to block her, she kicked me so viciously I thought she’d broken my arm. Now I knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a brutal punishment. Sharp pain traveled up and down my side as the beating went on until I lay, sobbing and choking, in my own blood. I flinched when Jezebel grabbed me by my short hair and lifted my head. Blood dribbled out of my mouth and ran down my chin.
