Chapter Eight
Asher
D ay five.
Screams coated the air in agony, my throat alight with the same fire that scorched its way up my arms. Besides my every desire to remain quiet—to not give them that power over me—I continued to beg for respite. I almost wished they would torture me in my low level room so that they could not use their power on me. At least then I would feel less pathetic.
Abruptly, the burning stopped, Xavier pulling his hand away from my skin in favor of turning on the queen a mere two feet away. Mia stood silently as she watched the scene before her with open distaste.
Before I could so much as catch my breath, the match had begun.
“I cannot do this anymore. Mia, this is not the same as teaching her a lesson. We are going to kill her if we do not stop!” Xavier’s shouts were like knives being shoved into my ears. I wanted to tell him to at least shut the fuck up if I was going to be tortured for the rest of the day again. But my throat was raw, my gasping breaths sending shocks of pain throughout my body. So instead of sweet quiet, I was punished with Mia’s voice.
“You have always been so weak, just like my father! Last I checked, Xavier, this was our only option. She refuses to give up any information on Eoforhild, will not agree to resume her position as heir, and the last cohesive sentence she uttered was when she told Malcolm he looked like he was drawn by her right foot!” Despite myself, I chuckled at the recollection of my insult. Malcolm had stormed out of the room after that, though the pained look on his face said he likely would have left soon anyways.
Mia once more caught my attention as she pressed her hands into Xavier and shoved, the king momentarily losing his balance as he stumbled back. The queen pushed him again, the two of them nearing the threshold of my prison. Never had I seen them so much as yell at one another, let alone get in physical altercations. How lovely, a show of their so-called unity just before my funeral.
“It is not weak to not wish harm upon my daugh—“
“Do not call her your daughter. Asher is not yours , she is mine. She will always be mine, even if that means keeping her strapped to a table and bleeding for the remainder of her life!” If I could, I would have laughed at how ridiculous she sounded, but my charred arms and legs left me breathless. Or maybe it was the way they had cut my stomach and split me open like a book, as if trying to decipher the story of my life over the last year through the pages of my flesh. “Now get out before I kill you!”
Startled, Xavier just stared at Mia. His dark eyes were wide, terror resting in them like a stagnant pool of water—as if the normalcy of such fear brought him some sort of peace. The queen did not let his shock last long before she made true on her promise. I watched in confusion—and amusement—as she began crafting spikes of wood. Then, with a furious scream, she threw her hands forward, sending the sharpened pieces his way. Xavier barely had time to craft a shield of fire before Mia hit her mark. Each fizzled out and burned to dust, but the King had gotten the message. With one last look of what seemed like hopelessness my way, he turned and left, his golden clothes swishing as he did.
Slamming the door, Mia turned to face me once more, her hands falling to her sides. Flustered did not look good on her. Actually, neither did her dress. She was a disaster with her blood-soaked orange hair that had grown past her shoulders and her simple silk dress that clung to her like it was convinced it would get burned too for being ugly if it left her skin.
Silently, she began violently rubbing at her face, smearing the cosmetics that had been so perfectly placed on her. Black was running down her cheeks and red stained her chin. Eternity spare me, was she going insane?
As if she could hear my thoughts, her wide blue eyes met mine, a snarl leaving her lips. “Do not look at me as if you think me less than you! I raised you! I taught you to read when you refused to learn from the tutor. I showed you how to play pianoforte when you felt as if your head might explode from your magic and needed an escape. I held you when the world said you were a monster.” Suddenly she lurched forward, tears trailing down her pale cheeks and landing on my nose. “Whatever you wanted, I gave it to you, Asher! Do you know how many fae would kill to be in your shoes? How can you be so ungrateful, so disobedient?”
Rage clouded my vision, red seeping in from my peripherals. Words evaded me, my voice stolen from the agony of my injuries, but I could still plot—could still think up ways in which I would thank her for her cruelties one day. For now, all I could do was stare at her as I simmered in my fury. And perhaps that was best, because it only seemed to further anger her, too.
Good, let us both wallow in our faults and failures.
“Fine. If you choose silence, then let me choose violence. Theon!” she shouted, her head turning to face the door as it creaked open. Had he truly been lurking around the corner just waiting to be called upon? Pitiful.
I watched as the Shifter stalked forward, a cruel smile spreading across his face—his real one. With a sigh, I prepared for what was to come, knowing that it would be nothing new. Mia had chosen violence decades ago. The only thing that changed was that I realized life could be different.
“You have five minutes to get anything about those wretched creatures out of her before we give up for the day and send her back to her cell. Five minutes, Theon. At least attempt to not disappoint me,” Mia ordered with a tired wave of her hand, disdain coating her voice like honey in a hive. Without so much as another glance my way, she left.
Theon peered down at me through his thick lashes, eyes roaming over my body like a child given a new toy. Fitting, seeing as I had been treated as such my entire life.
Except for with Bellamy and my friends. Never with them.
“Well, Asher, it looks like we are finally in the positions in which we both belong. Me above you and you strapped down, waiting for me.” A growl involuntarily escaped me, my throat raw from so much screaming. A chuckle was his only answer before his fingers delicately traced my jaw, his mouth relaxing until it fell open in an ‘O’ as his thumb slid over my bottom lip. Because I was me, I did not think through my anger-fueled response.
Blood sprayed into my mouth as I took his thumb between my teeth and bit down with all my strength, hearing his shriek as a piece of the digit came loose and rolled down my tongue. Closing my throat just before I swallowed, I reared back and spit it at his face. Glee filled me when it hit his open eye and made him scream in further pain. Idiots always made it so very easy.
Tauntingly I bared my bloody teeth, the smile a sinister and wicked thing. Just as I was. No longer would I deny that I had become just as much of a villain as those around me, but I did not fear such a thing anymore. This villain would save the gods damned world no matter how many bodies fell within my wake. Or, at least, I once thought I would.
“How dare you! Each day you remind me more and more how lucky I was to not get stuck with you.” There was a bite to his tone as he spoke about getting “stuck” with me. What I would give to tell him that in his wildest dreams he would still never have me or anything more than an abysmal amount of power in comparison to my own.
Theon shouted curses and gripped his wrist, staring at the place where a nail once graced his thumb. Doubtful he had ever used it for any good, anyways. With all my remaining strength, I cleared my throat and spoke. “If your hands ever come near me again, it will be your throat I rip out with my teeth.”
Each word scratched at me like blades, the pain nothing compared to my other injuries but still enough to leave me breathless. Yet, the pain was worth it, because the anger that blazed within Theon’s eyes was positively delightful.
“You disgusting little wretch!” he bellowed, his hand whipping to the left to grab one of the knives.
As Theon pointed the blade towards me, my mind wandered to a memory of Wrathy, the deep and gravely sound of his chilling voice making my heart ache. “Pain is your friend, an old companion. It cannot win if you do not let it.”
I would not let this pain win. Not after so many, including Wrath, had died because of me. Not when remaining silent and refusing to help the royals was all I could offer now. Wincing at the ripping of my hair as Theon gripped it within his fist, I readied for the new onslaught of agony.
“Let us make the outside match the inside, shall we?” he inquired, smiling once more before he pulled my hair tighter and began sawing it off with the knife.
A rush of horror seemed to overtake my mind, the slicing sound of Theon’s knife merging with the soft clipping of Winona’s scissors. Despite that, I remained still, only a single tear sliding down my temple as I felt his blade hit my scalp at the crown of my head. When he finished, grunting in frustration at my lack of response, he threw the blade. I had only moments to prepare for the slap before his hand made contact with my cheek, my face flinging to the right. His fingers and bloody thumb gripped my jaw, forcing me to look his way again.
“You are worthless, Asher. Now you look it, too,” he hissed. For good measure, he reared back like I had and spit on me, the foul liquid hitting me square on the forehead. I wanted to scream that he knew nothing of my worth. Or better yet, to reach up and snap his neck. We both knew I could do nothing though, so it was really a matter of holding out the remainder of the five minutes Mia awarded him. Just like that, the door swung open.
A sigh of relief escaped my dry and cracked lips. Tish looked ragged, as if she were suffering just as I was. From what I understood, she had been healing a mortal from torture sessions for a year straight. That sort of power exertion was dangerous. Mortals did not help the process in the same way fae did. Now, she had to regularly deal with healing me while poison clouded my veins and a blocker confined my magic. I would feel sympathy if she had not played part in my torment for decades.
“Her Majesty says your time is up and that I am to heal Her Highness,” she said quietly but not softly. In fact, there was an air of authority to her tone.
Theon smiled brightly and stepped back to give the Healer room. Tish eyed him as she stepped up to the table I was strapped to, her stare not leaving the Shifter even as she reached out for my chest. Momentarily, my anguish was heightened, Tish’s power burning through my body like a flame caught on the wind in a forest. Soon though, I was sighing in relief.
Turning, I smiled at Theon. His answering growl sounded like a vengeful beast. If he was already that angry, there was no harm in making it just a bit worse, right?
“You look mangy in that outfit by the way. I now see why you had to masquerade as a mortal just to potentially get laid. Sadly, that personality of yours cannot be shifted. Pity, yes?” I queried, batting my eyelashes to feign innocence.
“That is enough Healing power!” Theon shouted, shoving Tish to the side just after she unlocked the chains upon the table. Unfortunately, there were still chains keeping my hands tightly secured to one another. His large hand grabbed the links, tugging me down until my body slipped off the edge. I toppled to the ground and was hit with a new flash of pain. Gods, how unnecessary.
Before I could gain my footing, Theon began pulling me, dragging me out the door and down the dark and damp path to my cell. Fighting, I tried and failed to gain the upper hand long enough to get my feet below me.
We reached my cell quickly, my shouts of protest startling Sterling into consciousness. The mortal prince jumped up, his eyes finding mine immediately. When he opened his mouth to defend me, I shook my head. They had not tortured him for information—or fun—since I arrived. If I could prevent any further harm upon him, I would.
Theon dropped the chain connecting my handcuffs and dug into his pocket to find the keys. After a few muttered curses, he recovered them and unlocked my cell. Then, he removed my shackles, picked me up, and threw me in. My right knee hit the stone so hard I screamed in surprise and agony. How many more times would he hurt me until he was satisfied?
“You are really making me mad, you beast of a fae. I would be careful not to infuriate me further unless you wish to meet a grizzly end,” I threatened, glaring up at him. A random breeze flew through the dungeons, my nearly bald head too exposed and causing a chill to run down my spine. Theon must have thought he caused it, because he merely smiled down at me, grabbing the bars of my cell door as he spoke.
“Actually, it is you who should be careful not to infuriate me. Eventually, we will break you, and you will regret not choosing me. Now and then.” His eyes glittered beneath the Fire power that blazed in the wall sconces, victory there in the depths of blue.
“You are truly that angry that I did not date you in Academy? That was so long ago. Get over it.” Adjusting to a more comfortable position with my back against the wall, I faced Theon, embarrassed for him at his crush turned vengeance.
“No, it is not simply that you looked over me. It is that you chose a lowly Healer over me. That you cared for a random nobody when I was the strongest Multiple the Academy had seen in decades!” I stilled at his shouted confession, my mind filling with Sipho. How did he know about him? “You look confused, Princess Asher. Perhaps I should enlighten you.”
With that, he flashed a final smile and pushed away from my cell. He paced loudly, Sterling catching my eye when he stood and approached his cell door. The two of us were on edge waiting for Theon to explain himself.
“You turned me down my fifth year, your third. Do you recall?” he asked. I remained silent, not completely remembering the moment. As if he could sense my answer, he scoffed, continuing his story with far more annoyance than he had before. “Well, not only did you take away my chances at having you, but you took away a crown that I deserved. Yes, I could wait for your eventual introductory ball, but none of us were sure when or how it would be held. So, I followed you. Studied you. Trying to gain your attention and discover what you liked. However, all I truly figured out was that you were rather private and did not care much for socializing.”
True. Not that the intense bullying and shunning helped any. Theon continued to pace, Sterling watching intently, just as I did.
“It was not until I came back to visit during your first year after Academy that I realized why you were so uninterested in the males around you.” He stopped midstep, turning his head my way and offering a wink. “You already had yourself a lover.”
“No,” I said breathlessly. It could not be. There was no way he knew all those years ago and said nothing to the royals. Sterling hit his bars, furious with the turn the story was taking. But I remained still, both ready and not to hear the rest of the story.
“Yes, Asher. I saw you and your precious Sipho. He whispered in your ear as he passed you one day.” Suddenly, the Shifter whipped around to face Sterling, his smile impossibly wider. “Let me fill you in, my little doppelganger of sorts. Sipho was a Healer that graduated the same year as Asher. His father had begun selling his produce at the market here in The Capital immediately after his son’s graduation, which meant Sipho was able to visit rather often. And where do you think he went when he disappeared from his father’s stall?”
Sterling answered with a defiant shout and another rather forceful smack of the bars before him. Theon, undeterred, nodded vehemently. Pointing to the mortal before him and then snapping, he faced me again.
“Exactly right, Prince Sterling. Sipho went to the woods behind the golden palace, where he met—you guessed it—The Manipulator herself. There, well, the details are a bit too graphic to share, though I will not lie and say that I did not have some fun watching such scandalous activities.” Theon groaned as he reached down and cupped himself between his legs, rolling his head as if fighting off a wave of lust. My body began to shake, the image of Theon pleasuring himself to Sipho and I having sex making me bloodthirsty.
“You know what I felt after, though? Fury. So much fury. Because the princess had told me once that she was not allowed to be with anyone until the royals chose her husband one day. But there she was, fucking a farmer’s son. Fucking s cum—”
I cut off Theon with a shrill scream, jumping to my feet and racing towards the bars. Slamming into them, I reached through the bars in an attempt to sink my claws into him. Theon merely laughed, taking a few steps back and eyeing me with glee.
“Oh, just you wait, Asher. The story gets so much better. I waited months to find the perfect time to share my knowledge with the king. I needed to get rid of the Multiple that was just above me in rank, as my scores landed me third in my subfaction,” he said nonchalantly, waving off the fact that he murdered his Warden like it was nothing. “But once she was dead, I was to be given the title of Warden, allowing me to rule over the Multiple Lands. Which, of course, meant a ceremony at The Capital.”
My head swam with the facts, timelines falling into place until dread overcame me, making my legs weak. Theon laughed so hard he doubled over, grabbing his stomach as if to contain the humor. Stumbling back, I tried to remember what I had done the night of that ceremony. Had I not met with Sipho? I could not recall exactly, but he had been safe with me. Right?
“It was all too easy for King Xavier to send the Healer and his father home before you could meet. Even easier for me to take Sipho’s form and meet you in the forest,” I watched as he licked his lips, his eyes traveling down my body slowly as if he knew it well.
No. Eternity, please no. Shaking my head, I muttered the word over and over again. “No.”
“Yes, Asher.” Then, right before my eyes, Theon shifted. A cry of agony left me hunched over as Sipho’s dazzling honey eyes and unruly black curls appeared in front of me. The Multiple had done far better with Sipho’s likeness than he had with Sterling’s. I thought then that such a hurt was far worse than any form of torture they could inflict upon me.
“Please, stop. Stop this,” I begged, choking on sobs. Theon merely smiled with Sipho’s beautifully brilliant white teeth and round cheeks before dragging a finger across his full lips.
“The way you ravished me with your lips that night was nothing short of magical. You did not even let me attempt to speak in his voice, which was great for me as I have always been poor at impressions. And oh, did you taste delicious.” With that, he leaned his head back and moaned loudly.
That was when the grief slowly began to simmer into rage.
“Sadly, King Xavier was watching, and I could not take you like I wished. So instead, he called to you. Do you remember, Asher? Do you recall that time you almost got caught with your lover? How you placed one more chaste kiss to my lips and mouthed ‘later’ before running off to your king?”
I shook with the anger within me, letting it bubble and straighten my spine. My hands balled into fists, something deep within my chest coming alive. I felt an odd sensation around my neck where my blocker was, as if the throbbing and never-ending agony it caused was beginning to fade.
“You know the rest, right? No more than a fortnight later, King Xavier and Queen Mia made false plans to visit Isle Element. Reckless as you were, you almost immediately ran to your Shifter and made plans. You even took the time to speak with his father, who had no idea that the princess before him would be the death of his beloved son—his only son.” A low sound rumbled its way up my throat, like a building threat. Theon did not care as he let the end of his tale be known. “You know, I touched myself many times upon that spot on your floor while you were gone. Pleasuring myself to the thought of that waste of space dying was more euphoric than your stretched out and used cunt could ever be. Too bad Sipho is not here to see your pathetic and hideous self now. I bet he would be so disappoint—”
The rage boiled over then, my piercing screams cutting off Theon’s monologue. This time, when I charged him, I did not hit the bars before me. One moment a cage separated me from the Shifter, and the next I was tackling him to the ground. I did not give myself time to think. Did not so much as take in a deep breath before I silenced my own screams by bringing my bared teeth to Theon’s throat and biting down. His cries were met by my jaw closing even tighter. And then, with enough force to rip the universe itself apart, I tore out Theon’s jugular. The taste of iron spilled into my throat like a vengeful river, and the beast below me—or perhaps I was the beast—convulsed. His screams became gurgles as his face returned to his own, but it was not enough.
Sterling’s shouts behind me were met with the fleshy thud of my fists raining the Underworld down upon Theon. Each time my knuckles collided with his face my battle cry grew louder, until nothing could be heard over it. Again and again I hit him, his head quickly becoming a bloody scene of gore and revenge.
Only when he was completely unrecognizable did I slow, coming to a stop and catching my breath.
Silence coated the death-tainted air. That was, until claps sounded from my right. My head swung towards the source. I caught sight of Mia just as she walked into the light, a new gown and fresh cosmetics making her look a queen once more.
“There is my daughter—my heir. Feral is the scorned, after all.” She chuckled, a dainty little laugh. I gasped, using the lifeless body below me to push myself back onto my feet. Briefly, I considered what it meant that I had moved through—past?—the bars of my cage. But I had no time to realize what I was before Mia spoke again. “He deserved it, Asher. He hurt you. He insulted you. He belittled you. No one who does that should live. You gave him the end he earned.”
Wobbling on my feet, I scoffed at her, bunching my aching fists once more in preparation for another fight. “Then perhaps you—who has hurt me worse than any other—deserve my wrath most of all.”
Slowly but surely, my magic invaded my veins once more, both Sterling’s shock and Mia’s pride faintly registering in the back of my mind. The Manipulator within me urged me to end her—to show her an even worse fate than Theon met.
“No, my flower, I have loved you,” she whispered, flicking her wrist. Suddenly, something hard hit the back of my head like a boulder. I collapsed to the ground in a heap of bloody limbs and pulsing magic. Just as my eyes closed, Mia’s haunting voice sounded once more. “Now we shall see that love mold you back into what you were always meant to be.”