Chapter 17 #2
“You have reason to dislike me.” Narya cut her off sharply. “But you have no reason, or right, to disrespect me.”
èllia widened her eyes at that, taken aback by the remark. “Begging your pardon, Your Grace, but I never intended to disrespect—"
“You haven’t yet,” she cut in again, raising her hand. “I think it would be wise if we agreed to simply stay out of each other’s way. Wiser for us both.” She didn’t wait for èllia to reply; it was rhetorical, anyway. “Are those the steps to the archive?”
èllia moved aside as if jolted, holding her book tighter. “Yes, Your Grace. The archive is at the very top. Would you like me to…” èllia caught herself. Staying out of her way was exactly what she wanted. “Yes, Your Grace.”
Narya nodded, and climbed the steps without looking back.
Dangerous. One should always watch their back when in a den of vipers.
But it seemed Narya had grown some nerve in her after all. Maybe she would survive the Bloodstone court a day or two. Time would tell.
For now, èllia had to give her father the book that would see to the kingdom’s ruin. To èllia's surprise and subsequent disgust, the prospect no longer filled her with excitement like it once used to. Instead it filled her with an icy feeling of dread.
How…bothersome.
èllia turned quickly, tucking the book under her arm.
She was met with Izyák marching down one of the many corridors that filtered into the entry hall.
He stopped upon seeing her, and his usually sour-looking face soured greater at her presence.
èllia was in no mood to deal with him. She had to prepare the portal for her father which took a considerable amount of her energy.
And she had to attend court lest she roused suspicion.
She hadn’t the time to suffer the captain’s usual abuse.
Brushing a hand down the front of her dress, èllia lifted her chin and walked out from under the alcove, away from the captain. He shouted after her and the rage in his voice sent a shiver through her. He was angrier than usual. Positively livid.
“éllia!”
She kept on walking, teasing him, taunting.
The captain’s grip soon landed upon her arm, and he roughly spun her around. People stopped to look but èllia wasn’t looking at them. The fury twisting the captain’s features sent another shiver through her, one that landed between her thighs. Gods, he was terrifying when he was angry like this.
“Where did she go?” he growled, his fingers biting her skin.
èllia sighed as if bored. “Lost your ward already, Captain? My, my. How the king will be disappointed.”
Izyák slammed her against the black marble column, driving the air from her lungs.
“Where…is she?”
“Hmm. I do not know,” èllia drawled, admiring her nails.
His jaw ticked. “The king warned you’d be up to your tricks.” His fingers bruised her arm. èllia tried not to show how she liked that roughness. How it made her tingle. “What did you say to her, wench?”
Wench, whore, slut. Witch. Always with the insults.
Izyák was never particularly creative with his.
“Isn’t it a little early to be flattering me, Captain?” A smile danced over èllia's red lips. The captain looked at her mouth with dilated pupils, and a throat that jerked under his stubble. “Dangerous, how romantic you’re becoming. Though it suits you.”
Dark eyes cut up to her face.
The way his features tightened, his expression hardening, sent a thrill through éllia. Yes, that’s it, she thought. Hit me like the beast you are. Make me hurt.
Ever since the king had discarded her, Izyák had made no effort to restrain himself around éllia.
She had just been the king’s whore, he’d taunted when he came to relieve her of her duties.
The fact Daigen hadn’t bothered to tell her in person had wounded èllia in a way she would never admit.
That her duty now was to serve the bitch who had replaced her in the king’s bed…
It was unforgivable.
Growing ever fond of the brute king who had awakened desires in èllia she’d never known, èllia had delayed her mission for as long as possible. Now the delay was over.
While Izyák glared down at her, still gripping her arm, èllia ran her fingers down his red cuirass. He growled but did not move.
“What tricks did Daigen warn you of, hmm? There are many I know. Many the king himself taught me. Wicked, shameful things…” She brushed her fingers down over his breeches, pressing her palm against his bulge.
Hard, like she expected. She smirked at him.
“The king taught me tricks you wouldn’t survive, Captain.
Shall I whisper them against your skin?”
He grabbed her wrist with one hand, and moved his other to her throat, pressing calloused fingers hard into her trachea. Stars threatened her line of sight as darkness crept in. So wonderful.
“Save your whore tricks for the lords you crawl to," he growled at her. “I bet that whore cunt is already dripping with them.”
èllia's smirk remained—because Izyák wanted her.
Wanted her more than anything at that moment.
She could feel his lust radiating from his skin, see the desire barely contained in his narrowed eyes. Feel him growing larger against her. Now that the king had tossed èllia aside, she could use the captain to keep a closer eye on him.
There were only so many webs in which she could hide.
Pushing up to her tiptoes, she brought her lips to the captain’s ear. Her breath skimmed the burn marks that reached even there.
“Do you know what I think, Captain?” she purred, her lips brushing his scarred ear.
He didn’t move. Didn’t push her away or slam her harder against the column.
Didn’t strike her either. “I think you want to put your cock in my little whore cunt. I think you’ve wanted to do that for a very long time but never had the guts.
So here’s what I’m going to do…” She grazed the shell of his ear with her teeth.
He shuddered against her. “The next lord to fuck me, I’ll close my eyes and pretend it’s you. How hard and deep you could take me.”
His erection jolted against her palm, making her smile again.
“Will you think of me too when you fuck your little tavern whores?”
Izyák threw her back, and released her as though she were suddenly contaminated.
èllia merely stared up at him with a smile.
His own countenance was one of unchecked fury, clouded by an unwanted lust that tried to fight through the rage.
He looked like he was either going to hit her, or fuck her against that very column in front of people.
Her sex fluttered at the thought. Her father was right. She was twisted. Disgusting. Wrong.
“Her Grace went to visit the archive,” èllia said, once more clutching her book tightly to her chest. Should Izyák tear the cloth off it…
She had to get the book to her father quickly.
“I only encountered Her Grace on my way down the stairs, but fear not.” A sudden, derisive laugh burst out from her.
“I said little that His Majesty would deem…unfavorable.”
His glare sent a shiver through her. “You better hope not. He’s in no mood for your fucking games.”
èllia fought the smile that tried to win its way over her lips. They never liked her games because she played them so well, and almost always won. Almost always got what she wanted. Until now.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, deliberately drawing the captain’s attention to her mouth. Izyak’s eyes flicked down one last time before he whipped around and marched away from her dismissively. His boots pounded the alcove floor as he made for the archive stairs.
“I do hope you’ll pay me a visit again soon,” èllia said to his back. “I’m beginning to enjoy your little compliments.”
He paused, his steps hesitating a moment. Her smirk widened. She did not bother to hide it. She almost had him. Men like Izyák always broke eventually. èllia made sure of it.
“Get to court,” he spat as he climbed the stairs. “And keep that whore mouth shut.”
A shiver ran through èllia's body. He sounded just like Daigen.
“Now you are really going to make me swoon, Captain.”
This time he did not look back. She watched him climb the stairs to the archive until he was lost in the shadows.
Her smile cracked, fading to ash. Daigen’s face rose, hated and worshiped all at once, filling her with need that burned and rotted her in equal measure.
No matter the ruin he left inside her, the prophecy remained.
And èllia could delay it no longer: the Bloodstone King must die.