I’d still be numb.
Oberi gave a snarl and charged toward my father. Leave him alone!
A yelp of pain reverberated off the walls, and Oberi fell to the ground beside me. I reached out to help him, but when I grabbed whatever had hurt him, I immediately recoiled as a sickness slammed into my gut. I recognized ropes, and realized with a sinking feeling that it was the inferichite net I’d had my Associates create for me. Eddie had given the inferichite net to my father, and hidden it from me. A short time ago, I would’ve considered him a traitor for it.
Now, I couldn’t muster the strength to blame him. Not for anything.
Oberi yelped and writhed. A few guards pushed me aside as they came forward, and I heard something metal snap around Oberi’s neck.
“As part of your punishment, your Familiar will be forced to wear an inferichite collar until further notice,” Cameron said. “He will not be allowed to shift forms, or exhibit his magic, as you have proven to be a danger in our society. He will still be able to communicate with you, though the bounds of his powers are restricted beyond that. When you have learned to behave, the collar can come off. If you or your friends attempt to remove it, whosoever takes this collar off will be executed immediately. This is your one and only warning.”
Oberi whimpered, and my hands trembled as they ran through his fur. The collar was thick and heavy. It made me sick to be near it, so I couldn’t imagine how Oberi felt.
“How could you do this?” I asked, and tears stung at the corners of my eyes. “You have a Familiar. You know how unfair this is, and how much it hurts my creature.”
“My Familiar would never conspire against the empire,” Cameron stated coldly.
“Oberi had nothing to do with this!” I bellowed.
“When are you going to get it through your head that you have no control here?” Cameron picked me up by my shirt collar, then tossed me down again roughly. “The consequences of your actions affect more than just you, as your former Associates have become well aware.”
Fear froze me in place. Were they already dead?
“Punish me, fine, but don’t hurt my team,” I begged. “They were following my orders.”
“Asa, Ares, Gavyn, Max and Elyx will keep their lives, but they have been stripped of their duties and cast out of the monarchy’s employment. They are no longer allowed on palace grounds, and must start over from nothing,” Cameron replied. “Of course, no one will hire them nor take them in, due to the disgrace they’ve caused the family, but they will manage to survive.”
“If they have any integrity at all they will take their own lives, to preserve what honor they have left,” another councilman replied.
“What about Eddie?” I demanded.
“Edwyrd is bonded to you, and even I cannot break that bond that ties the two of you together,” Cameron stated. “What you do with him is your business. He is the only remaining servant you will still have at your disposal, even if it displeases him to remain so.”
The intent was clear; Eddie had asked Cameron if he could leave my service, and Cameron told him no. Remaining my guard was punishment enough for Eddie’s crimes against the city.
“You will keep your title, as you need to in order to become Emperor after me, but you are stripped of all your privileges,” Cameron continued. “You will not be given Associates, nor will you be allowed into the city. You will still be able to roam the palace as you wish, but you will be followed at all times by the guards, so they can keep an eye on you and report back to me your every movement.”
“I’m not a child to be babysat.” My words were cutting. Even now, though there was nothing left in me, I couldn’t find it in me to not oppose my father. I’d given up my connection to Ava because of this, and I would be damned if that resulted in nothing, even if it only entailed gaining my father’s spite.
“No. You are a grown man, one who must learn his place,” Cameron snapped. “And you will learn the penalty for your disobedience.”
He motioned to one of his guards. I wasn’t aware of what was going on until it happened. A soldier grabbed my left hand, and I felt a dagger slicing through my left pinky. Blood spurted from the wound, and I screamed in indescribable agony as my finger was sliced off. Oberi whimpered as it fell to the floor, and I collapsed beside him, creating a puddle of blood on the marble beneath me.
I didn’t even care about my finger, honestly. I was just screaming because it hurt, out of a physical reaction. I heard myself cry out, but barely registered the actual pain. It was nothing compared to the turmoil inside of me, nothing when placed beside the loss of a piece of me, which was Ava.
I was barely here anymore. Cameron could take my finger, my heart, whatever else he wanted. I needed nothing anymore, not unless I had my bond with Ava… and I didn’t have that bond. I wouldn’t ever again.
“Stop whining,” Cameron scoffed at my cries. “It’s the finger you use the least, for the gods’ sake. I’m being nice. You hardly need it. Be glad I didn’t take more, and that the monarchy still needs heirs; otherwise, your balls would be sitting in a box in my quarters.”
Cassiel must’ve taken Cameron’s balls after he got back from messing around with my mom, then, because it’d explain why he was so worthless now. I tried to say that, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to make any words with my mouth, because the pain was all-encompassing.
Ava was right to mistrust you, Oberi hissed at my father, his words biting. And I will have my revenge on you, Cameron, son of Cassiel, if it is the final action I take before my breath leaves my body forever.
I was the only one who’d heard it, but even so, a shudder ran up my spine.
Oberi couldn’t heal my severed finger— he’d lost access to healing magic now that his phoenix form was gone, so I continued to bleed all over the room. Nobody went to help me, so I figured I’d probably bleed out.
That was fine. Let it happen.
