Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
SEBASTIAN
Each day, Beaumont delivered me double the strikes than the day prior. The beatings began with just the chain as my enemy, but now having been here for over a week, I fell victim to things much worse.
Being a soldier, I’d been punished and beaten before, but this was a whole other level of torture.
I had only been allowed to see a healer once, when the beating I received had almost been enough to kill me.
It was good to know that Beaumont actually planned to keep me alive, but the agony I felt was beginning to make me crave death instead.
I was pretty sure I’d fallen into some state of psychosis, because I was no longer fully aware of what was happening to me.
Which honestly, was for the best. If I made it out of here alive, I didn’t want to remember the things that had been done to me.
When I was in Craterra, I heard the Draemornians describe in vivid detail what they would do to Maeve if they found her. Turns out, they didn’t discriminate.
My ankles were tied together with rope and my hands were knotted the same way across my abdomen.
Cement soothed the burn of the hundreds of slits in my skin as I laid on the floor of my cell.
At first, I thought I’d be able to fight my way out of these bars, but there hadn’t been a single opportunity where I could have tried without granting myself an instant death sentence.
Beaumont never came to see me alone, and during the day, there were guards stationed every ten yards throughout the dungeon.
I could have tried at night when only one guard stood watch, but I had become so weak that I had no shot at being successful.
My only chance of getting out of here was my friends, and if saving my life meant risking Maeve’s, I prayed that they would just let me die.
I thought I was fucked in the head before, but if I made it out of here alive, I didn’t think I’d ever be the same.
My mind was stuck in the darkest of places, intruding on my every waking thought.
The one thing that kept me going was how thankful I was that this was happening to me and not to my friends, or to her.
Somewhere in my state of delirium, I heard the rattle and clang of metal.
“Good morning, Prince Hawthorne,” a bastardly voice sang into my cell.
Fuck.
“Or should I say, former Prince Hawthorne. Can you be a prince of a kingdom that no longer exists?” Cyprian Beaumont mocked, his voice worming into my ears like shitty music.
I scrambled to sit up, though maneuvering your broken body when your limbs were knotted together was no easy task.
With a click, the cell door unlocked and Beaumont slunk in, holding a glass of water and a lump of dry bread. He threw the meal to the ground in front of me, then one of his guards untied my wrists so I could eat the only sustenance I would be offered today.
Even knowing that the water was tainted with magic suppressant, I consumed every drop. A week of dirt and dust had left my esophagus raw, forcing me to gag when I swallowed the crumbling bits of bread.
When I finished devouring my meal, instead of securing my wrists again, one of the guards untied my ankles and pulled me to my feet. He grumbled when he realized he would have to support my full weight. I was far too weak to stand, and also pretty positive that my ankle was broken.
“Today, we're going to try something different to get you to talk,” Beaumont snarled, running a crooked finger along the bump of my throat.
Not gonna work.
“Can’t wait,” I hissed, using whatever energy I had left to vocalize the snide remark.
Beaumont clicked his freshly shaven jaw. “Walk with me.”
“I suppose I could use a change of scenery,” my throat rasped.
With each agonizing step, my ankle cracked. The bone bent and shifted in a way that sent a shock to my nerves and a radiating sting up my calf.
I didn’t let Bitchmont see the pain I was in. Instead, I fought my brain with each step, coercing it into allowing my body motion.
We climbed a set of stairs—which was absolutely fucking brutal—then entered a corridor that I didn’t recall taking when they had brought me to the dungeon.
I took note of my surroundings, searching for a way out should there ever be an opportunity to escape, though I doubted the chance would present itself.
The guard dragged me into a cramped, stone-walled room. It wasn’t much better than my cell, but this one at least had a bed and a toilet.
“This could be your new home, if you cooperate,” Beaumont gestured around the dim space as if it were a luxury inn.
That wouldn't happen. A bed could never be worth putting her in harm's way, so I’d be seeing my cell again soon enough.
In the middle of the room there was a chair messily welded to the floor. The guard shoved me down and used chains to restrain my wrists to the armrests. Seeing as the chains were coated in dried, cracking blood, I had a feeling these were the same ones that had been tearing my back open all week.
“Your friends haven’t tried to come for you yet, in case you were wondering.
” Beaumont marched back and forth in front of me.
“I thought for sure by now that they would have tried, but I haven’t heard so much as a peep out there.
Turns out, they killed the soldier I sent with them, too.
His rotting corpse was found in the woods just a mile from here.
” He shook his head and shrugged. “I should have known.”
The partially healed wound on my lip split back open with my smirk. I knew they would keep her safe over me. Good. I wouldn’t have to kick their asses when I got out of here.
I licked blood from the corner of my mouth. “You would have needed to send your entire army if you wanted to control them.”
Beaumont crouched in front of me with a wicked smirk. “I’ll be honest, your mental stability is greater than I anticipated. I expected to break you days ago, but here we are.”
“Here we are.” A forced smile masked my apprehension.
“Unfortunately for you, Sebastian, I have some news to deliver that you surely won't like.”
My pulse quickened, though my face remained entirely static.
“I know where she is,” he hissed, a cruel, slimy grin upturning the corners of his mouth. “I know where you have all been hiding and I have an army prepared to storm in if you don’t start cooperating.”
For a brief moment, I almost believed him. But I knew better. He was lying—there was no way he already knew of Lumosia. If he did, he wouldn't need me to cooperate, and I would already be dead.
“I think you're forgetting that I am one of the most gifted soldiers in the empire.” My response was hardly more than a snarl. “I have years of experience in interrogation and deception tactics. I can see right through your bullshit.”
Ignoring my claim, Beaumont straightened his knees. “Confirm my suspicions about where your friends are hiding, and I will allow you to stay in this room. Then, when I have Maeve under my control, I will allow you to see her once before I contain her.”
He was bluffing. He didn't know where they were. I just had to fight my own mind—disregard his claims and not give in.
They were just lies.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
“Okay, let’s sweeten the deal. I’ll even allow you to fuck her one more time before you never get to see her tits again.”
My brows sank so far into my eyes that I could hardly see. How dare he even think about her in that manner.
“I bet she’s a good fuck, isn’t she? With those curves and that ass.”
I wanted nothing more than to strangle him senseless and remove any thoughts of her bare body from his twisted mind, but I held on to my composure.
“You were a lucky man, Mr. Hawthorne.” Bitchmont waved a finger in my face.
“I can't wait to have my way with her body once she's here. She may be reluctant at first, but it won't be long before she can’t even remember how to scream your name—she’ll be much too busy with my cock stuffed between her lips.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I roared with a complete snap in my equanimity. The audacity of the prick to talk about my girl in that manner—I would fucking mutilate his body the second I got the chance.
“Struck a nerve, did I?”
Every ounce of my control went into controlling my breathing. If he ever laid a finger on her…
“Calm down. I said you’d get to have her once more before she’s mine, and I am a man of my word.”
“Shut your fucking mouth before I tear it open all the way up to your fucking ears,” I spat, my teeth barred so tight one cracked.
Beaumont chuckled then switched gears—thank the gods. “Remember our dear friend, Lucan?”
I scoffed. Of course I remembered that prick. I could vividly recall the boot mark I left in his skull.
“Such a shame that you killed him. He was such a great help while he lasted.” Beaumont clicked his tongue.
“But luckily, he wasn’t the only one I had in your land.
I had many assistants wandering the halls of your home.
Of your cities and towns. Of the continent.
They slipped through the cracks, silent aids to my rebellion. Bet you didn’t know that now, did you?”
My swollen eyelids widened as much as possible. Now that, I believed.
“Most of them were killed when your girlfriend tore down the castle, but a few from the smaller villages survived. One in particular, I think you might know. He goes by the name Jensen.”
Fuckkk.
I shook my head, supporting its heaviness upon an extremely weak neck. “Never heard of him.”
“Don’t bother lying, Hawthorne. I know he was with you when you came to see if I was still alive.”
My head cocked just enough for him to pick up on it.
“Yup, he told me about that. I knew you’d be back to try and kill me. I honestly wasn’t expecting it so soon, though. You certainly caught me by surprise.”
Godsdamnit. Jensen was in the same building as Maeve and my friends, just walking around like he was one of them.
Beaumont noticed my shock and patted my shoulder in comfort. “I'll allow you one question, choose your words wisely,” he purred.
One question, but I had too many. For starters, how long had Jensen been in Lumosia?
If he was living in Caelestis before the battle, he shouldn’t have gotten to Lumosia before we did.
And were Kade and Archer in on this? By their actions, I doubted it, but couldn't be sure. Also, how was Jensen communicating with Beaumont? If Cyprian truly did know where Lumosia was, why hadn’t he gone yet? Something didn’t add up.
Then it clicked.
More lies.
Clever tactic. I was almost delirious enough to fall for it, but I still had enough wits to piece together the truth.
Jensen wasn’t in on this. I bet the idiot just screwed up and told someone his real name when he was here. Moron.
Beaumont crafted this whole story to try and get me to cave. And I had to give it to him, I almost fell for it.
“Tick tock, Hawthorne. I know your brain is swollen and bleeding, but I’m not going to wait all day.” He checked the golden watch around his wrist.
One question. Just one. And I would use it to prove that my theory was correct.
“If you are so sure that you know where they are hiding, then where are they? If you answer correctly, I will tell you whatever else you may ask of me.”
Beaumont hesitated, and that was all the answer I needed.
“That’s what I thought,” I spat, rolling my eyes to the ceiling. “Let’s get this beating over with so I can get back to my cell.”