She wasn’t sure if she was in a state of shock or if she was just relenting to get it all over with. There was no use in fighting, not when he had such a strong hold on her senses. She would be defenseless after this, even more so than before. Panic settled into the pit of her stomach at the thought, the power inside of her slowly weeding its way through her body.
“For how long?”
Everand smirked. “Long enough.”
“Wait,” she gasped. “Wait. There’s another way to do this.”
“To do what?” He hummed.
Nymiria wet her trembling lips, wide eyes searching the room. “A blood oath. We could do a blood oath so that I cannot betray you. Just—please, Everand. Don’t leave me without anything to protect myself.”
“You won’t need it.” His smile was too dazzling, his hands too soft as he caressed her cheek. “Because after this, you won’t be allowed to leave my sight.” He forced her mouth open, pouring the contents of the second vial into her mouth. She choked and sputtered against the metallic taste, and though she would have wished there hadn’t been enough to enter her body to render her powers useless, Nymiria could already feel her power slipping from her grasp. Everand dug the pad of his thumb between her brow. Nymiria fought the relaxing feeling that washed over her. She fought as hard as she could against that power, but there was nothing…
Absolutely nothing she could do.
Everything, inevitably, faded to a thick darkness that she could not escape.
Chapter 22
There were moments in between the black where she could catch glimpses of faces hovering over her body. She could hear muffled whispers of conversation, faces bleeding together, hands and fingers poking and prodding at her skin.
There was a moment in that darkness where she could hear them arguing.
“...should do it now when she is not able to fight. Just get it over with. It would be much more pleasurable for you to fuck her if she is not crying.”Nymiria recognized Auritsa’s voice. There was no mistaking it. Even in her state of dark delirium, she would know it.
“Mother, I may not have the greatest moral compass, but even that exceeds the bounds of mine.”Everand was walking towards her now, his eyes narrowed on her face.“On the other hand, she does look rather beautiful like this, doesn’t she?”
“That smart mouth of hers takes away from her beauty.”
“I can fix that.”He dug his thumb into her forehead again and the darkness returned.
Nymiria wasn’t sure how long she’d been sleeping. Though she was awake and could see the blur of people moving around her, feel them brushing and combing her hair, tugging her loose limbs into clothing, she couldn’t focus on any of it.
It was a dizzying sensation, being so present, but so disconnected from her body like this.
“Nymiria.”A voice whispered.“Nym, you have to be strong. You have to get your fight back.”
She flinched, sobering just enough to turn her head, staring past the woman who was smearing a white clay substance onto her face. Owen was standing there, his form fading and regaining shape.
“Owen?” She called.
He nodded, a servant passing straight through him.“You’ve defied greater odds than these. You can do it again.”He looked at her so lovingly that she couldn’t control the tears that spilled over her cheeks.“I’ve been looking for you for weeks. Aziel—”
“No.” She said weakly. The woman beside her stilled, her brow furrowing in confusion. “No. You can’t tell him. Everand will kill him. If you care about me at all, you will not tell him.”
The servant turned to another woman that lingered in the background, both of them utterly bewildered. “She’s insane.” The servant whispered.
“Most of the gods are.” Nymiria replied, turning to look down at the woman. “The one you serve is the worst of them all.”
With shaking hands and wavering eyes, the woman continued her work on Nymiria’s face. After an agonizing amount of time spent swaying on that vanity bench, she was finally lifted to her feet and escorted to the door.
Everand and his mother were waiting on the other side, both of their gazes traveling the length of her body before they gavesatisfied nods to the servants, dismissing them. Everand took her by one arm and Auritsa took the other. They walked her down the stairs, ignoring the fact that Nymiria was stumbling over her feet.
She couldn’t feel her arms or legs still. She couldn’t feel anything. Not pain, not fear. Not even confusion. She could think and assess her surroundings, but there was nothing beyond being aware.
“Fight it, Nymiria.”Owen said.“You can do it. You are stronger than him. There are tiers of power, even with the gods—he is beneath you.”
Beneath me?Nymiria looked up at the man to her right. He looked so proud. So golden. He looked like the image of royalty, just as her mother had. So beautiful and so evil.
