The room spun again, and birds fluttered along the walls. Even they couldn’t stand the sight of such violence, abandoning me to the king’s torture in a flock of gold. I shut my eyes against theirdesertion. I would never be able to look at them and not recall this moment, if I even survived it.
Visions of the past filled my mind, and in the haze of pain, I could do nothing to stop them. Vacant eyes stared, unseeing. Warm red liquid coated my hands. Those final rattling breaths.
The flashbacks halted my poor attempts to fight back.
Terym released a grunt with his next hit, and something cracked in my chest. Sharp pain lanced my side, and I managed a small hiss.
The hits stopped and the king sat back, chest heaving. He stared down at me, a monster inspecting his prey. His pupils had swallowed blue irises, nothing but dark intent within them. I could barely make out anything else through the swelling of my own eyes, but that gaze would haunt me forever.
The king rose to his feet, straightening his jacket, then ran bloodied hands through his loose hair, streaking the blond strands pink.
“Remember this pain, my dear Adelia, because it will become your sister’s if you dare to defy me again. We will be married before the month’s end.”
Other than a few panted breaths, his voice held no hint of the pain he’d just inflicted. He spoke as he always had, a deep and calm cadence hiding the true depths of his depravity.
The king left without a backward glance.
I tried to move, to roll to the side and sit up, but the pain was excruciating, every inhale sending more stabs lancing my side. Giving up, I stared at the white rug beneath my cheek, the deep red of my blood soaking the once bright material as I lay in the beautiful room that had become my prison.
Haunting eyes stared back at me—the vicious pleasure Terym had displayed at the end of my punishment replaying in my trapped mind.
My mother should never have entrusted me to protect Eleanor. I couldn’t even protect myself, and she was in more danger now than ever before. I should have anticipated his plans and found a way out before it reached this point.
We couldn’t come back from this. Terym had threatened her, and he should never have thought it an option. I had given him that power when I foolishly bargained for her safety.
I deserved this pain. For my failure. For everything I had done. This was the Gods’ way of punishing me for the sin I committed. The worst kind. I couldn’t let Eleanor suffer as well; she didn’t deserve it.
I wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt her.
A gentle knock pulled me from a fitful sleep, and I opened hot swollen eyes. Streaks of light danced along the ceiling from the setting sun. The blood soaking the white rug had started to dry and crust.
I’d been asleep for a while.
Knocking sounded again, and I tried to move, releasing a groan at the throbbing that ensued.
Please don’t let it be Eleanor.
“Miss Adelia?” Wista’s muffled voice reached me, and I could have wept in relief had my body not been in too much pain to even cry.
“Here,” I croaked, throat dry and hoarse despite my lack of screaming. She must have heard me because the door opened, then padding feet echoed through the otherwise quiet room.
The pounding in my head grew, and my eyes fluttered shut against the pain. Her shocked gasp was close, then soft hands brushed away hair plastered to my face with sweat and blood.
“Adelia?” Emotion clogged my throat at her pained whisper. I opened my eyes again to find her crouching over me, brow furrowed and glassy eyes scanning me. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at me like that, with such sincere concern. Not since my father’s death, so more than eight years.
Eleanor cared for me. Loved me. But it was always me looking after her. She was so much younger when our parents died. I raised her, cared for her. No one had been that person for me since our parents’ deaths.
With Wista kneeling over me in genuine pain at my suffering, I longed for that care, a feeling so intensely heavy in my chest it outweighed the throbbing injuries.
“I’m okay,” I rasped out. A lie. I was definitelynotokay. “Can you help me up?”
“Wistari?” Her head snapped toward the door, and panic flooded me at the unknown voice. I could handle Wista seeing me like this.Vulnerable.I had grown to trust her. We were friends. Anyone else though? I couldn’t bear it. Especially not Eleanor. Anyone but her.
“I’m fine here, Zuri. Miss Adelia has fallen ill and needs rest. I’ll call you if I need.” Zuri let out a huff of annoyance but left, her footsteps retreating and the door closing behind her.
Wista placed her arm under my shoulders, and with her help, I was able to stand. She carried most of my weight as I hobbled to what I suspected was the attached bedchamber. Too captivated by the window, I’d missed it when I first arrived.
Like the rest of the suite, the room was beyond luxurious. The sight of it no longer awed me. Just a pretty package. A beautiful prison. A mockery of my life.
