29. Scotlind
TWENTY-NINE
SCOTLIND
I tried not to cry. I tried to look anywhere but at the dead servant that was left lifeless next to me. His blood had poured down his neck and made its way to where I was chained to the floor. I could still smell his urine that dripped down my back. I still heard his screams, still felt the sting of his nails digging into my shoulder…
“Where did you go?” Kole asked. I looked up and found him already staring at me.
“You can’t honestly think I’m stupid enough to answer you. I’m not telling you anything.”
“You’d be smart to,” he said after a long pause. “They’re only going to make this a lot worse for you. You’re going to tell them everything anyway, so take my advice and do it sooner.”
“There’s nothing they can do to get me to talk.”
“You’re wrong. They have—” He was cut off by the sound of footsteps. The Lux King pushed his bedroom door open and halted once he saw me chained to the floor. Kole rose from his chair and bowed his head. I didn’t move, not that I could even if I wanted to.
He smiled. “Bring her to the monitor room. ”
“She can’t be compelled,” Athler’s voice rang out, and I flinched. I didn’t see him standing behind the King until he spoke. “She won’t give up any information that way.”
The King flexed his neck in irritation. “Why?” He asked it calmly, but his expression was anything but.
“We don’t know,” the eldest prince cut in. “The Vir Alluse works. Athler was able to use his abilities on her.” The King turned his attention toward Kole, who surprisingly held his ground. “And it’s not him. He’s still able to compel other Advenians.”
“Fine. There are other ways to get her to talk.”
“I don’t think torture will work on her,” Arcane added. “It didn’t before when she was questioned regarding Sie Noren.”
The King looked from me to the dead servant. “Then, we won’t torture her .” Kole’s jaw ticked as the King turned to him. “Unchain her.”
I was familiar with where they were taking me. The long, winding stairway, the deserted halls. I was going to the dungeons. My body revolted thinking about the days I had spent crammed into a small cage. Then again as I thought of the room Tezya was forced to stab himself in.
My fists were clenched, hiding the thicker, newer scar from my blood bond with him. I looked down at my forearm. The twenty-seven tallies were now tiny, barely visible, thin white lines. Both scars from this place. One good. One bad.
“Scottie?” That voice. I’d recognize it anywhere, even though it had been months since I heard it. My heart broke in pieces, and my vision blurred as tears instantly welled in my eyes. “Scottie, is that you?”
A slap resonated off the stone wall and sobbing followed that echoed mine. I blinked away my tears to see my best friend holding a palm against her now pink cheek. Vallie. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying around me. Her bright red hair was caked in dirt, the curls limp around her face. Her normally red lips were cracked and dry. Her skin was bare, only a few moles were scattered across her pale cheeks. She was still gorgeous, even with layers of mud and dirt covering her, but to see her treated like this…
I stiffened as the King noticed her too. “This is her friend?” he asked Kole.
“They both are.” Kole’s jaw was clenched. It was the only indication he didn’t like this as he nodded toward the next cell, and my heart split in half all over again. Miles. He was chained against the wall, a gag in his mouth preventing him from speaking. His hair was straggly and long against his shoulders, and he looked even thinner than his abnormally lean frame. They were both starved… Tears pooled down my face faster as I imagined how long they’d been down here. “If you want her to cooperate, you can use him too.”
I lunged, wrapping the loose ends of my chains around Kole’s neck. His face turned red as horrific choking sounds came from him. Kole grabbed at my arms, attempting to yank me off him, but I didn’t budge.
It was one thing to hurt me but to hurt Vallie… Vallie who was too sweet and pure for this world. Vallie who wouldn’t hurt a fly. She didn’t deserve to be tangled in this mess purely because she knew me. I didn’t want her to be exposed to this kind of treatment. I’d prayed every day she was living peacefully with Miles, far away from all of this. That she was happy and safe and free. It was the only thing that made our time apart from each other tolerable.
But she was here, in the Luxian dungeons, and chained.
The King’s laugh blended in with the sound of Kole’s choking. I was only ripped off of him when his face started to turn purple.
“B...it…ch…” Kole gasped as he bent over, clutching his throat .
The King motioned the soldiers behind me. “She needs different chains.”
They obeyed immediately. The moment my current shackles were unlocked, my arms were yanked behind my back. New chains clamped over my wrists from behind, but they didn’t stop there. They placed chains over my ankles as I desperately kicked and shoved and screamed to get to Vallie. Then they connected the links from my wrists to ankles so I could barely move without toppling over.
“This’ll be fun.” The King smiled as he took a possessive step toward Vallie. She backed away from him, but it only caused her to slam against the soldier holding her down. “Wash her up and take her to see Semander. He’ll know what I want done to her.”
“No,” I screamed as Vallie was dragged away from me, her own wails mirroring mine. I tried to lunge toward her but the movement caused me to lose my balance and fall. With my hands tied behind me, I couldn’t brace myself as my head slammed onto the stone with a crack. Someone pulled me up by the middle links in the chain, causing my knees to bend. My vision blurred, and my right eye burned as blood dripped into it, but I couldn’t wipe it away.
Miles’ chains were rattling as he pulled against them. Mumbled protests were slipping through his gag. His eyes were wide and pleading with me as we were both forced to watch them drag Vallie away.
“Bring her to the underbelly,” the King ordered. The soldiers looked nervously at one another before shoving me forward.
I could do nothing as I was pulled away from Miles and forced to walk further into the dungeons. It grew colder and darker. Larger cells changed to smaller ones until we reached a section that was nothing but cages. But they were different from the cages I was kept in, and I realized there had to be different entrances and sections down here .
These were dark, no lights illuminating the damp area, not even small taunting windows paved the pathway for us. The only reason we could see anything at all was because a fire user had a floating ball of flames hovering over us as we walked. I tried not to stare at the poor Advenians who were forced into a fetal position in order to fit inside the rusty bars. I could still feel the cramp in my neck and the stiffness in my legs from being stuck like that for days. My only liberation was when they questioned me about Sie.
The King removed a pin from his shirt as we reached a dead end and pricked his finger. He smeared a small drop of blood onto the empty stone wall ahead of us and a door materialized, swinging open on a gust of air magic.
I was half dragged, half carried down a steep flight of steps. Only seeing out of my one eye now, I was forced to squint. The lights were brighter here, illuminating the marbled floors and alabaster walls. Everything looked too pristine, too shiny, to be considered part of the dungeons. Instead of a rustic metallic gray coating the cells, it was a sparkling silver.
I was standing in between two rows of cages. And inside were Advenians chained to the walls by their necks. There were hundreds and hundreds of them from what I could glimpse. Most shuddered at the sight of the King, others gave him death glares. Some were so far gone they could barely muster the strength to lift their heads.
Only their chains kept them from being able to touch one another. Holes were dug in the floor under them, and I assumed it was so they could relieve themselves.
The King didn’t pay them any attention.
“King Arcane.” A healer bowed. “You’ve already visited today for your dose. Do you require another?”
That’s when I noticed the Advenians’ skin. They looked more like husks than actual people. The long rectangular cell to the left housed Advenians with varying cuts scattered all over their naked bodies. The ones on the right had a tube sticking out of their veins that poured their blood into buckets.
“Just here for a tour. Get back to work,” he remarked.
The King pointed toward the right. “These are Alluse users. We drain and replace their blood continuously. Arcane is able to make serums and now vapors out of the blood we collect.” Healers were scattered throughout the cages, working on some of the ones who were too pale to be considered normal. “And this side,” he gestured toward the left cage, the one with all the cuts marring their bodies, “is for my personal use.”
I was pushed forward as we walked down the narrowed hall of chained Advenians. “You see, I can take whatever I want. All these people had an ability I once desired.” He stopped walking and turned to face me. “And now their abilities are mine .” He smiled as my eyes widened. “My power is unique. All I have to do is drink the blood of a Luxian, and I’m free to use their abilities. One small drop and it becomes mine.”
A ball of flames burst from his palm so close to me I could feel the heat radiating from it. I leaned back, my head slamming into one of the soldiers holding me upright. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot. You don’t like fire. It’s what killed your parents.” Then the ball of fire turned to water, dousing the flame. The King reached forward, pressing his hand against my chest. I screamed as my body revolted, an agonizing shock shooting through me. It only lasted a second, but it was enough that if I wasn’t being held up, I would have fallen over. “Electricity.”
The King vanished, but I felt his fingers slide up my arm as he whispered, “Air and invisibility.” A burning agony flooded my stomach, and I screamed.
I glanced down and blinked as I saw blood seeping through my shirt. The King materialized with a dagger. He stabbed my stomach before he replaced the blade with his hand and a blue glow radiated from it. “Healing.” He smiled after releasing me. “ I possess any ability from Lux I want. All I need is a small drop of blood every day, and it’s all mine.”
“Why are you showing me this?” I whispered, my voice was barely audible. A mix of horror and repulsion were crashing into me. How long had all these people been trapped down here?
“I’m showing you this because once I’m through with you, this is where you’re going to end up. Arcane is working on a way to alter your blood so that when I drink from you, I become stronger. When he does, you’ll live out your remaining days down here. But for now,” his hand possessively trailed down my cheek, “I have other needs for you.”
The King turned toward Kole who’d been following behind the soldiers. He was as pale as the Advenians drained of blood. “Chain her back up in my chambers.”