“Your loyalty?” he asked, with a snarl.
His question sent a frosty chill scurrying down my spine.Was he going back on his word?Did he realize how much I wanted to destroy him?Rage boiled up inside me.
He shrugged again, touching his fingertips together, patiently waiting for my response.I was trapped here again. Worse than that, I wouldn’t be able to help anyone. Not my poor mother who’d been trapped here this whole time, and not Mathias, whose only sin it seemed was having an evil douchecanoe for a father.
I started shaking, instantly sick to my stomach. “You are nothing more than a vile, disgusting snake,” I said, baring my teeth.
“Please, do explain where you’ve proven your fealty for me.” He stopped talking for a moment and stared hard at me, so heavy a look I felt the weight of it pressing down on my shoulders. “You won’t even kneel before me. That shows rebellion, not loyalty.”
His words tightened my stomach into a gut-wrenching ball. If I knelt before him, would that be enough? Doubtful.There had to be another way. I remained standing, heat flushing through my body.
Behind me, the onlookers began to murmur; gasps of surprise and hungry whispers broke through the silent room.
The king’s eyes narrowed.
“Where is my mother?” I asked again, curtly.
“Guards,” the king said, his voice so low I barely heard it.
Like bolts of lightning, guards appeared, grabbing my arms and legs, locking me in grips so tight I had no room to struggle. I tried to thrash and kick out, but their fingers were like steel bands, their limbs made of stone.
“Punish the human,” the king said softly. “Start with ten lashes.”
What? Ten lashes?
What the hell were ten lashes?
One of the guards tore at the strings of my corset, until it hung loosely around my waist, baring my back to all who were watching. “W-what are you doing?” I stammered, trying to yank my arms back to break free.
The king’s features darkened, shadows blurring over his skin, shifting it like the darkness was seeping out of his pores from somewhere deep within. “Mortal emotions are so entertaining,” he said, chuckling deeply, “which makes it such fun to watch while they are punished.”
At the edge of my vision I noticed Mathias go utterly still. His rigid stance a warning sign I didn’t yet understand.
Not until I heard the crack and felt the quick rush of wind.
A brilliant explosion of pain erupted across the middle of my back. It spread over my skin, ripping agony up my spine. I jerked forward, only to be held in place by the iron grasp of the dead men holding me still.
I clenched my teeth and swallowed back a choked gasp of curses.That was a lash? I had nine more of those coming?I turned my head toward Mathias, but all I could see were his fisted hands, and his leather gloves stretched white over his knuckles.
“You cannot defy me and get away without retribution.” The king’s tone was sharp and loud. The next crack of the whip snapped out, and a trail of fire ran over the exact same place the first lash had landed. The flames of an inferno—a goddamn wild fire—bit like sharp teeth into my flesh.
Another loud crack and another burst of white-hot agony ripped over my back. It landed exactly where the first and second did and I felt the sting so deep it cut into my bones. My knees buckled. I could no longer feel my feet or legs, my arms or hands. I became the pinpoint of acute unadulterated pain, my spine the epicenter.
Seven more lashes were going to come?
No, I couldn’t live through this pain. They were going to kill me.
I don’t want to die like this.
I tried to fight back, struggling in vain.Please, please God, no.
Another strike and I screamed out in agony until hot bile soared up my throat, and the contents of my stomach spewed out of my mouth. My eyes blurred with tears, and flames coated my tongue and spine until all I became was pain and fire.
Someone was crying out, “Please, please, stop.” Over and over again.
I think it was me.
My vision blackened around the edges, and fireworks snapped like electricity slicing into my skin. In the far distance I heard Mathias shouting over my sobs.Was he trying to save me? Was he trying to make them stop?
