"Mother's guards happened." I groan. "I tried to escape. They punished me for it."
"What are you talking about?"
"What are you not understanding, Thalia?" I hiss, frustration high. I tried to shove what happened into the back of my mind, not dwell on it.
"I want you to tell me the truth," she growls back. "What did they do to you?"
"Beat me with their fists," I snatch my arm from her. "They got a few kicks in if I'm remembering correctly, too."
There's confusion in her gaze. "Mother allowed them to hurt you?"
"She gave the order," I recount.
When they dragged me to their ship hiding off the western coast of Tronovia, I put up a good fight. I didn't go willingly andanyone who picked me up was met with my fists. Finally, they wizened up and tied my wrists and ankles and carried me like a rug draped over one of their shoulders. Once we were aboard, I was tossed into a cell and surrounded by three guards. My mother stood outside the cell, chin tilted upward.
"You've caused us nothing but trouble," she declared with a sing-song voice. "You've given me no choice but to have you punished." Mother nodded toward the guards and then all I felt was pain.
I couldn't fight back. I was still tied. Anytime I tried to use my magic, my mother snuffed it out with a flick of her wrist. Despite my screams and groans with each fist and boot connecting to my arms, back, and legs, no one from the upper deck came to investigate. My father and my oldest sister, if they could hear me, left me to my mother's devices. It felt like a small eternity passed before she snapped her fingers and her soldiers stopped.
"Do not test me again, Eris." Mother wasn't disturbed by my condition. In fact, it seemed to delight her to see me crumbled on the cold floor, tears flowing down my face. "Next time will be far worse." With her last warning, they ascended the steps, and no one came to visit me on the journey back to Hydra.
Thalia pales and plops down on my mattress clutching her stomach. "I can't believe she had them assault you." Her eyes narrow, snapping up to look at me. "Show me the bruises."
"I'd have to strip naked for you to – "
"Show me," she pleads.
I slip out of all my clothes, keeping my bralette and panties on, and she stills. I'm covered in bruises. Some are beginning to yellow, but most are still dark and angry from the relentless beating.
"I'm surprised they didn't break your bones," she rasps.
"They're skilled soldiers," I drawl. "Had the intention been to break my bones, they would have done so. I suppose it's Mother's way of being merciful."
Thalia reaches her hand toward me, silently asking permission to touch me. "I can heal you."
There's a part of me that wants to let her heal me. Erase all the bruises staining my skin and alleviate me of the aches and pains. But I know she's only here because my mother sent her. I can't be battered and bruised while standing trial – even if it is a complete sham. If she wants to parade me around her court and appease Crius' family, I won't play any part to it. They'll see what she had her soldiers do to me.
"Please," Thalia begs. There's fear in her blue eyes. Then it hits me.
"Did she threaten you?" I ask and she flinches.
"No," she forces a smile. "I don't want to see you suffer."
"If I say no to you healing me, what will happen to you?"
Her eyes widen, but she continues the charade. "What do you mean? Nothing is going to happen to me if you say no."
"You're a bad liar, Thalia. Always have been, always will be." I snatch her hand in mine and squeeze. "Talk to me. What's going on?"
The soft lines of her face suddenly harden as she narrows her eyes at me. "You shouldn't have run away, Eris. Things only got worse for us when you did."
My heart clenches in my chest. "What are you talking about?"
"When Crius' body was found and you were missing, all hell broke loose," she wrenches her arm free. "Mother was hellbent on finding you. She sent Hydrans all over the Six Kingdoms to find where you might have run off to. She questioned everyone. Servants, dock workers, dressmakers. Even us."
"By us, you mean – "
"Her own daughters!" Thalia whimpers, reliving horrific memories. "We weren't asked nicely. Mother suspected one of us helped you escape. But none of us knew where you had gone." She presses her hand to her face. "We were followed. I couldn't even take a shower without a servant being present. She didn't want to take any chances more of us would try to run. It was stifling, Eris." Her eyes flash up to meet mine. "Why did you do it? Surely you must have known she would punish us."
