Nor let my respect for her turn to anything more. She was strong and stunning, yes, but she and I… there could never be anything between us. I’d never allow another woman into my life, not unless she was willing to bow and scrape and worship me as a god. I needed full and utter control, or I wouldn’t trust them. And Izzy wasn’t one to submit like that.
Though, for an instant, my mind betrayed me. It imagined Izzy spread-eagle in a very different scenario, open to me, receptive, yielding. I crushed that thought, but not before it stirred a certain physical part of me.
Stone and Bone! Was I truly aroused by seeing a woman in pain? No, it hadn’t been her pain that had stimulated me, but her fight, and imagining her giving up that fight to me.
“Scream, damn you!” Saldrea shrieked, spittle flying from her lips. “I can’t do anymore to you without permanent damage and I’m not willing to do that till tomorrow. You have to look healthy enough for the crowd before I crush you!”
“Then… I guess… I win,” Izzy said with that same pained grin.
“No!” Saldrea turned to Hana. “Stop messing around with the angel and focus on Izzy. I want to know everything, all her secrets, every weakness!”
Hana sighed and shrugged. The angel went limp after having been tense, wracked with some imagined, horrible scenario playing out in his mind. The sylph turned to Izzy and seemed almost bored as she cleaned out the woman’s mind.
“Titania’s tits!” Hana gasped. That was pretty much the worse curse there was. A non-elf saying it could get them killed.
Saldrea went pale at Hana’s vile expletive. “What?”
“She’s a fucking royal!”
Well… yeah. I’d known that for a while now.
“No!” Saldrea gasped. I watched as it hit her, every clue sinking in. “No,” she breathed, horrified. “The lost princess?”
“You can bow now,” Izzy stammered through her pain.
It was the wrong thing to say. Saldrea had only been holding back against Izzy to keep the real pain for tomorrow, but Saldrea’s world had just been shaken. She snapped.
The false princess let out a wordless, hysterical scream. Stone reached out from the wall and wrapped around Izzy’s neck, forcing her head up at an odd angle as it squeezed back in, crushing her throat. Then more stone wrapped around the poor woman, constricting, breaking bones, compressing muscle, bursting open skin, blood flowed like a waterfall.
I didn’t know what prompted me to help her, except perhaps that I’d found someone worthy of my respect, and I didn’t wish to see her die like this. Using my own magic, I pulled the stone away from Izzy. As much as I hated to admit it, Saldrea was usually stronger than me, but she was in a fit, her power wild. I had control, fresh and unspent. I freed Izzy from the stone slowly killing her.
The woman fell limp to the floor, dying, far too much blood flowing out of her.
“Who?” It was a testament to how far gone Saldrea was, that she didn’t even think I could have done this. She turned to Golana and slapped her instead. “Why?”
“It wasn’t me,” Golana said, glaring in my direction and trying to fend off Saldrea.
Saldrea turned to me. “You? You dare go against me?”
“I only wish for you to have your day tomorrow, killing this wench in front of the world,” I lied.
Saldrea blinked.
“Oh… yes… of course. I just… I can’t… this little whore is the true princess? I… I…” Saldrea floundered, lost and disoriented. Not for the first time, I marveled at how broken and unbalanced Saldrea was. I hadn’t really expected my words to sway her. There was no good reason for Saldrea to keep Izzy alive, now that she knew Izzy was a royal. Any sane person — who was as evil as Saldrea — would have realized Izzy was an imminent threat and killed her here and now instead of waiting for tomorrow. But Saldrea was so unstable I’d been able to convince her to keep to her original course of action.
Time to see if I could use her madness against her again.
“Which means you need to heal her, before she dies.”
“What? Oh… yes… I suppose. Golana!” Saldrea was losing it, gaze unfocused, twitching. I couldn’t believe that had worked.
Golana huffed and got one of the guards to open the cell, then went in and tended to the dying Izzy.
“Don’t heal her too much,” Saldrea ranted. “She has to suffer, heal her only enough to live through the night.” She must have convinced herself her original plan was best. Perhaps it was ego, which Saldrea had in spades. She needed the world to see her kill Izzy. It was stupid, but for now, it was keeping this half-breed alive, which was what I needed, so her friends would free my sister.
“Yes, I know,” Golana hissed. “There.” She got up andleft the cell. Izzy hadn’t roused, but some of her wounds had closed. I had to hope it would be enough.
“I can’t believe…” Saldrea said shaking her head as she made to leave, clearly done here.
