46. Rona
forty-six
Rona
*SHAYAN*
I let my fingers glide over the soft fur of the fox. The little thing looks at me through its huge eyes now and tilts its head. Most of the time, it hides away somewhere. Only when we are alone does it come forward to be around me. I furrow my brows. Something about it strikes me as odd, but maybe I’m getting paranoid.
I try to get up as early as possible every morning to prepare for the day. Never been a big sleeper. Fortunately, my roughed up appearance, the eye-patch, and the bionic arm seem to speak to Penelope’s baser instincts.
I appeal to her, and although it grosses me out that she seems to constantly undress me with her eyes, I play along. I’ve done a lot of missions for my former King Naseem, Azadeh’s father, and this isn't necessarily the most difficult one so far.
But it is certainly the most dangerous. I am in an unknown land with one of the most dangerous witches. I don’t need to understand witchcraft to know that Penelope is powerful. No one gains this kind of power and has everyone fear her for nothing.
On top of that, no one knows where we are. I can’t consult with Royan, who is with his mate most of the time, because Penelope thinks we are just acquaintances. Talking too much to each other would just make us look suspicious.
I have an overall bad feeling about this.
I notice some movement from the corner of my eyes, and the little fox has slipped down from the chair it was sitting on and has disappeared behind the curtains. I know what this means. I straighten my back, put on a pair of black pants, a black silk shirt, and an equally black coat.
Penelope likes black. She has provided me with a whole wardrobe of fine garments. The room itself is incredibly generous too. I don’t care for either of these, though. I just want to return to the Kingdom of Eternal Ice and see my Azadeh, the girl who is like a daughter to me.
And there is someone else I want to desperately see.
But this will have to wait, unfortunately.
When there is a knock at the door, I hurry to open it. “Madame Penelope,” I say earnestly.
“My...” She looks me up and smiles. “Looking handsome as always, Shay.”
I nod my head, not uttering a word. The silent, slightly gruff approach works the best with her. To my surprise, Rona is standing next to her. “And you are sure?” Penelope asks her.
Rona looks at me and nods. “They are just acquaintances. Royan made it clear.”
Penelope’s lips curl into a smirk when she gazes at me. “Good thing you didn’t disappoint me.” She takes a step closer and brushes with her finger over my bionic arm. “Or who knows what other limb I would have had to tear off your body.”
I frown at her words. “Did something happen?” I ask.
“Always so direct,” she chuckles. “Oh, if you only used that direct approach in other areas.”
“I have too much respect for you to do that,” I state, a hint of annoyance in my voice.
Surprise flashes in her eyes, and she smiles shortly. “As I said, you are never disappointing.”
I know she is trying to constantly seduce me but everything about her is cold and dark. Never have I found someone less alluring than her. It’s definitely not hard to resist her inexistent charm, even without the possibility of someone waiting for me at home.
She brushes with her finger over my collar now and then straightens it. “Come with us, Shay.”
“Us?” Rona stutters.
“Oh yes, my dear,” Penelope sneers. “What did you think?”
Something like fear and guilt flashes in Rona’s eyes. I’m used to seeing her around Penelope as she is her trainee and indebted to her, or something. Penelope never explained it properly, and frankly, I never asked Rona herself. I knew she would either have to lie or lie on her own will.
Now, however, it strikes me how weird it is to see her so early in the morning. And why were they talking about me?
She called him Royan, I realize.
Royan. Not Roy.
Oh fuck!
Dread settles inside me as I follow the two women downstairs to the rooms of the lower-ranking inhabitants of this god forsaken cult.
*ROYAN*
I groan when the light of the sun wakes me up. Shit, I slept too long. I was exhausted last night when I finally went to sleep. Rona was crying so much, and I felt distraught and desperate, wanting to help her… and I felt incredibly frustrated at not being strong enough to just save her.
I reach out my hand, trying to reach for Rona next to me, but to my surprise, she isn’t there. I force my eyes open, still feeling a bit groggy. “Rona?”
I sit up when I don’t hear any reply. Her scent still lingers in the room, but not as strong as before. She must have left a while ago. But why? Did something happen? Did Penelope summon her? I feel restless and nervous at the fact she isn’t here.
I feel annoyed at myself for feeling that way, but something just feels off.
Donovan seems restless, too. Where is mate? He asks.
I don’t know. I’m about to get up and look for her when the door bursts open and a bunch of men march in. I recognize them loosely as some of Penelope’s guards.
What the fuck?
Before I can even fathom what’s going on, a small arrow comes flying towards me and hits me right in my neck. I tug it off, growling at the sudden attack. To my shock, though, Donovan’s presence seems to get more and more dimmed.
Oh fuck them, they used wolfsbane on me.
A bunch of men come running towards me, basically tugging me out of my bed and trying to drag me out of the room. Even without my wolf, I’m strong though, and I’m certainly not going down without a fight. Dazed due to the wolfsbane and confused as to what’s going on, I try to struggle against them. My mind just takes so long to catch up with what’s happening. Prince Endellion and Beta Quinn always claim that we need to train more than just our brute strength.
Boy, were they right.
I’ve been relying on my muscles for the past. Now, with my wolf gone, I realize my error.
The men surround me, two of them grabbing my arms to hold me in place while punching me repeatedly. One of them targets my jaw, another my stomach. I spit out blood, struggling while trying to get free.
That’s when I see it.
Penelope is standing a bit further away, just watching me with a smirk curling her lips. Next to her there is Rona, and behind them Shayan. Rona looks away from my gaze, but Penelope grabs her face and forces her to look at me. “Don’t look away, sister,” she whispers. “You did so well. These are the fruits of your work.”
Her words hit me more than any of the punches the guards throw at me. “What!?” I breathe out.
“No!”
“But yes,” Penelope snickers. “Rona here is my sweet, younger sister. Not with a lot of potential, but so obedient.”
“You faked the mate bond?” I yell.
“No,” Penelope sneers. “That one you can blame on your pathetic Goddess.”
I look at Rona, my blood running cold in my veins. She is my mate, my mate… I was ready to burn the world down for her. I would have done everything to save her, yet from the first moment on, she was set on bringing me down.
She sold me out. She… she is my mate, yet she just played me.
My chest constricts so painfully I’m scared I might throw up. For a moment, I forget how to breathe, how to even think properly. And the worst part is that Donovan has been blocked out. If he were around, we at least could share the pain of betrayal.
My gaze shifts towards Shayan, and I can see the momentary shock in his eyes when he looks at the arm Penelope has put around Rona’s arm.
Never have I been so glad before that I kept him out of this shit. Maybe it was my subconscious, maybe it was a gut feeling—I don’t care for the whys. I’m just glad I didn’t reveal his identity. For a split second our eyes meet. I can see the fingers of his healthy hand twitching slightly.
Don’t , I think.
Don’t intervene now.
Fortunately, Shayan regains his control fast. When Penelope turns to look at him, he has his stoic face back on, his expression not giving anything away. “Do you have nothing to say?” she asks, looking at him like a snake that’s eyeing its prey.
Shayan remains unfazed. “No,” he says shortly.
“I thought you were friends,” she tries to lure him out further.
“We just met for a job,” he says shortly. “Do whatever you want with him.”
“So,” Penelope takes a knife into her hand and walks forward. I swear, this witch… I just want to rip her ugly head off. One of her guards grabs me by my hair and pulls my head back. She moves the tip of the knife over my cheek, leaving a trail of blood there, before pushing it past my lips. “If I cut his traitorous tongue out, you wouldn’t mind? Should I, my dear Shay?”
“No,” he says shortly.
Something in her eyes flashes. She turns to look at him. “Why’s that?”
“How can he talk if you take his tongue?”
“True,” she whispers. “Oh, so true.” She takes a step forward, moving her long fingernails over my cheek. “So, how about, instead, I take his eye?” I gasp in pain as she pushes her fingernails around my eye , tugging at it. I push my fear down, trying to focus on something, anything, that won’t let me succumb to my panic. I wasn’t trained for this, and fuck, I don’t know what to do, but she will not see me scared. “Wolves,” she chuckles, before she lets go. The sight in my left eye is blurry, but not utterly destroyed. “You are so much fun to play with. Where would be the fun if I go all in immediately?” She makes a dismissive gesture towards her guards. “Take him to the dungeons. Don’t give him anything to eat.”
There is no chance I can win against these assholes right now, so I decide to spare my strength while they drag me along. I keep my gaze on Rona meanwhile, noting how she looks flustered and slightly guilty.
I wait for them to toss me into a dark and cold cell and shut the door before silently breaking down. I… I just can’t believe it. It feels like a cold hand grips my heart and squeezes it until there is nothing left of it. I can taste blood in my mouth, and my body aches, but I couldn’t care less. Nothing compares to what I just felt when I looked into Rona’s eyes.
I clench my hand into a fist, before hitting the concrete floor over and over again. I can feel blood oozing from my knuckles, but at least the pain relieves me from the way my heart just keeps shattering.
Tears fill my eyes at the thought of how we were so close to each other, how I took her to bed, because I thought she wanted me the way I wanted her. But it’s a lie, it’s all been a lie. She has just been using me. She probably knew I couldn’t reject the mate bond, and that I would never reject her. She took advantage of me when I was vulnerable, and like the lovesick idiot I am, I just told her everything.
I’m so stupid, so stupid.
And the worst part, I almost sabotaged our mission. I almost outed Shayan, too. My king is relying on me, and I failed him and the land I swore to protect;, the princess I swore to protect.
I don’t know how much time has passed. I assume a few hours, when the guards come for me again. They drag me to an empty room, chain me up, before starting to beat me up. I try to block the pain from my mind. One of the men grabs a whip, starting to methodically strip my back of its skin.
Prince Endellion has always made sure we would train our minds as well as our bodies. His training was excruciating sometimes, and fuck, us warriors would hate it and sometimes even talk shit about his demands. It looked ridiculous to us to train our minds, to meditate, and strengthen our mental capabilities. All we wanted to do was actual training, to spar and fight. But I will be forever grateful for him and his intelligence now. I try to use his technique, the bits I remember from his training, and cling to a core memory I have with my friends. My mother had just died, and I was struck with grief. My friends tried to take my mind off my sorrow and pulled me into their shenanigans all the time. We were fifteen at that time and snuck away to have a small bonfire.
I live through this favorite memory of mine, trying to be the young teen again, who whispered with his friends and then sat around the bonfire. My father busted us, but instead of getting angry, he just sat with us and helped us barbecue some sausages and bread. He then resumed to tell us creepy horror stories about the lands and the forest.
I knew then that I wanted to be like him one day. I wanted to become the father he was to me, for my kids. When I find my mate…
I found my mate already.
The moment I think of Rona, it pulls me back into reality. Right at the moment, one of the men breaks the fingers of my left hand. I gasp in pain, barely able to stop a scream from leaving my lips.
You are a good kid, Royan, and you will grow into a wonderful adult, my father says after my friends left, and he and I cleaned up the remains of the bonfire. I force my mind to focus on this moment between us again.
I’m gullible, I say. I fall for every prank.
Being kind and believing in others isn’t a weakness, he says.
It is.
I wake up, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Did they stop torturing me? For a moment, I still feel like I’m dreaming, like I’m not really here. Then, however, my body reminds me of this being very real. I start to shiver in the cold. While the dungeons are surrounded by thick walls, there is no warmth in them. And I don’t have my wolf to warm me and to heal me. When I try to shift slightly, I groan in pain. My back is on fire, and my hand…
I shift my gaze, one of my eyes still blurry from when Penelope dug her fingers into it, but the other works just fine. Fuck, my fingers. The fingers of my left hand seem to stand in unnatural directions. I need to do something or they will heal crooked… or not at all.
“I… I can help.”
I look up at the familiar voice, unable to register that it’s really here. I can’t even remotely understand what she wants to do here, now. “Why are you here?” I say shortly. “To celebrate your victory?”
Rona takes a step closer, grabbing the bars. Her eyes widen in horror when she sees me. “What did they do to you?” she cries.
“What do you think they usually do to traitors?” I ask sharply. “Pat their heads and give them a cookie?”
“No, but-”
“They have only just begun,” I interrupt her. “So, what are you doing here?”
“It wasn’t a lie,” she insists.
“Of course it was,” I point out. “Or, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Not all of it was,” she says quietly. “I… I couldn’t take the pressure from Penelope anymore. It was too much everyday.” Tears fill her eyes.
I hate that her teary eyes affect me so much. I just want to reach out to her and touch her, and tell her everything will be alright, but with my wolf being dormant, the bond is too. And all that remains now is the feeling of betrayal, and the pain she left behind. “She told you to test me, didn’t she?”
“I…” Rona pauses, but the fact she doesn’t answer is enough for me.
Penelope is a dangerous witch. Those around her fear her for a reason, and Rona probably did too. I don’t think she lied when she said she abused her. I’ve seen the bruises on her body. But, she also made active choices. One of them was to sell me out.
“Leave,” I tell her.
“Please Royan,” she begs, reaching out through the bars and handing me a blanket. “At least take
this.”
I hate that I find my body automatically reacting to her offer and taking the blanket. It’s freezing cold. She gasps when I scoot closer, giving her a clearer view of my damaged body. She starts crying all over again.
“Please tell me how I can help you,” she begs. “Anything. I will do anything. I know Penelope is using me, and I know I allowed her to use me. I know I fucked up, and I know you don’t trust me. But I didn’t lie when I told you, you were my light. This place is forsaken, and you were the only hope here for me. I know I should have been stronger, and I know I’m weak.” She gets down on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. “Please don’t reject me. I will do anything to make it up to you.”
My heart aches at her words. I don’t know what she went through with Penelope. I don’t know how Penelope used her.
“You could tell someone from my pack,” I suggest. “But, it’s probably too dangerous.”
“No, I will do it! Where do I start looking?”
I look at her for a long while. “In the northern area, in the Silent Forest, there is a secret pack with my informant. In a hut there you will find a man named Seamus. Talk to him, and tell him it’s a code blizzard. He will understand.”
Rona nods and jumps up. “I will do it immediately,” she promises.
“Be careful.”