My body locks up, and the chains bite into my wrists as I sag forward.
Crack.
My vision bursts into black stars.
Crack.
Screaming tears open my throat again. Raw and shredded.
Crack.
I don’t know if I’m even upright anymore. I can’t keep up my count any longer. The post is the only thing that holds me up.
The post and the chains.
The pain drowns my thoughts. One whipping bleeds into the next and the next until they’re indistinguishable.
Gods, the pain.
The air shifts. He’s behind me. Beside me. In front of me. Everywhere. His voice pours in from every direction, dripping into my ear like sweet venom.
“You see how quickly things spiral when you ignore me? You did this to yourself. I warned you. I always warn you. I’ve always protected you. Why won’t you let me protect you anymore?”
“Please…stop.”
I weep.
The sound is broken and small, yet it tears my chest wide open.
It feels like the realm itself is ripping open. The ground shifts beneath me. The arena bleeds into shadows.
The moon only illuminates Mellcom kneeling inches away from me.
“You took everything from me, Thayla. You know that, right? Twenty years ago, you stood in the doorway of my house and ripped my life apart. You stole my dad, my freedom, my independence, my best friend, my food, for fuck’s sake. Admit it. You know it’s the truth. You know you deserved everything.”
“I know!”
My tender, unrestrained sob shakes the very existence around me.
“I know, Mellcom. I know.”
My head slumps against the post and my omission continues to pour through my lips. His gentle strokes keep the tears from slipping off my chin. His soft shushes wrap my heart in a loving, hate-filled hold.
“You tolerated everything. I think even sometimes you loved it. Didn’t you?”
“No.” My cry is weak and the shake of my head is a mere flinch.
“You couldn’t have hated it, or you wouldn’t have stayed. Why did you stay by my side, Thayla?”
I want to pull from the way he cups my cheek, but I can’t. My head lulls into his warm palm.
“Your dad welcomed me in like the daughter he never had. He cared for me, held me while I cried, taught me, clothed me, thenhe left us to help my parents. He placed me on your shoulders. You gave me a home, clothes, food, friends, everything. You provided everything for me. I had nowhere to go. I had no one and nothing but you.”
His face flickers and his green eyes glow for a breath.
Then he smiles.
“You see now. I gave and you took.”
