Chapter 1 #2
Another whip, this one harder. It shredded me, and I felt my back tear. But this time, I forced myself to meet Tennith’s eyes. They’d kneed him in the spine until rocks dug into his cheeks. I briefly sent a prayer up to Ovatar to spare him.
Hrothgir forced me to the ground by my hair again, a brief respite from the whip. My bodice soaked, and whatever remained of my sleeves grabbed at the raw skin, shredding me again. I fell to pieces and went into myself until the battle haze took over.
Hrothgir lifted his head from me and pointed at the other knights, instructing them to the nearest stall, where they threw out the proprietors, dumping them onto the street. “Take his skin already!”
My heart thundered against my sternum so violently it ached.
More dark clouds moved over the horizon, cloaking the sun and casting the world in a long shadow.
Everything turned muted grays as they carried a long-bellied pot of boiling water to the square and to Tennith.
My gut twisted. They couldn’t do this to him.
I grappled at the broken ground beneath me until I found a thick paver. As the guard raised the pot, I threw it as hard as I could at his head. The boastful bastards didn’t care to wear helmets.
The sound of it colliding with his skull echoed across the crowd. The guard’s hands slipped, and the pot spilled over the Knight holding down Tennith. His screams pierced the sky.
“Run, Tennith,” I screamed.
And he did. Water had splashed his broken arm, the skin hanging, but he scrambled up into the crowd, clutching it. My chest tightened as his form disappeared, and all eyes returned to me.
Rage boiled in Hrothgir's irises, his lips stretching into a cruel grimace. I'd deprived him of his favorite pastime—torture—and I knew I'd suffer for it. That knowledge closed my throat.
“His broken body was meant to go over the wall as a treat for the Ifrei,” Hrothgir screamed. “If he won’t go, then Lorelana will. Give her to the bloody ghouls!”
His words echoed in my mind as I stared at the crumbling barrier before me.
Give her to the ghouls. They were going to throw me over the wall. If the whipping wasn’t enough, that would certainly be a death sentence.
I could bite my tongue no more. Fear turned to a fire that raged across me until my fingertips turned scarlet. They wouldn't kill me quietly, I would not merely go.
I would drag him to the depths of the cursed Eltide forest with me, either by blade or tongue.
“You beast! You utter shite ass! I’ve heard the women leave your room at the castle,” I barked, all self-control gone as my death approached. “They groan of your small cock and their displeasure at seeing you naked. You brutal, horrible, disgusting man.”
The whip cracked against my face, the pain blistering across my cheeks.
But that couldn’t stop me. Nothing could stop me.
“Is that why you do this? Because you can’t please a woman?
” Blood dripped from my chin, but I felt nothing but the anger that spread across me like a wildfire. “You small-cocked—”
Another crack of the whip, but I smiled against the pain. My resolve was short-lived as my flesh opened.
Blood trickled down me like a waterfall, drip, drip, dripping onto the stone. The crimson stark against the dusty gray.
“Enough stalling, Eltide awaits you.” He pointed the whip at the monolithic barrier and its unstable magic. “There you can see the Ifrei’s demon king himself, where his dragons will shred you, limb from limb.”
The Knight moved toward me, and I crawled back toward Hrothgir.
But escape evaporated as he wrenched my ankle and dragged me toward the wall.
Fear spiked through me, raw. It ripped the insults straight from my throat when the reality of death descended upon me.
I thought I’d be brave facing it. I thought I’d stare it down and curse its name, but knowing what would happen to me was too much.
The fall wouldn’t kill me. No, I’d only break a leg and a few ribs. Their dragons were terrifying, the idea of the Ifrei ghouls flying on the serpent’s backs and feeding me to them. But the worst thought was the demon lord himself tearing out my heart while it still beat.
There were fates worse than death: the crown and the wall.
And I was a coward.
“Please, no!” I screamed as the knight dragged me across the square. I kicked and fought, but he wore full plate, and I doubt he felt it. If he did, he didn’t show it.
“Give Lorelana to the ghouls!” Hrothgir shouted, unsheathing his sword and stabbing the ashen sky.
His disgusting gaze slid back to me. “Perhaps their demon lord will be merciful and throw you on one of his winged beasts. Or perhaps he’ll just tear out your heart.
” He let out a horrific laugh, his spittle raining down on me.
I grappled at the ground, digging my fingers into the dirt and broken pavers. It shredded my nails, but it was nothing compared to the alternative. Death. Horrible death. Painful death.
Wall.
My fingers finally gripped a paver, tearing it from the caked ground. But more screams and cries broke from the crowd as we inched closer to the lone stone stairs near the gate. But one voice rose above the rest. One that resonated deep in my soul. Thelena.
“What on Ovatar’s Earth is this?” she screamed.
The knight dragging me paused to glance at Thelena.
“Take the fucking rock from her,” Hrothgir yelled.
I threw the paver as hard as I could at the knight’s head.
It knocked into his skull with a horrid crunch, and he released my ankle.
I scrambled to my feet, darting to her side, despite the pain.
Hrothgir reached out to stop me, but he wasn’t quick enough.
I could’ve kept going, but swallowed that.
If I made for the castle, they’d catch up. They always did.
“Go to the king,” I pleaded, my heart thundering like a loose horse. “They’re going to throw me over the wall. I need to get to the castle.” More blood dripped. I didn’t dare probe my wounds or look at my wet, slippery fingers.
“The wall?” Thelena’s voice peaked. “What are you thinking, Hrothgir? The King will hang you himself!”
Hrothgir pulled a gilt sword, which he pointed at Thelena. “He instructed me to punish her!”
“To murder her? He told you to murder the princess? You idiot!” she screamed. “Look at her face!”
“The king will have no mercy.” But something flickered in his features. Had he lied about my father sending him to punish me? I no longer knew. The throne had long since twisted his mind. A fate I refused to accept.
Thelena shoved me behind her back, letting the lines of age fall from her face for a moment. “He didn’t want her dead. Or have you forgotten the Queen’s wishes? You fool,” she sneered.
“Fine!” Hrothgir shouted. “Take her directly to the queen.”
Thelena didn’t wait for a response before she pushed me toward the climbing set of stairs. It ran through the entire kingdom and all four quarters, rising in a steady incline to the Castlequarter.
Hrothgir shouted at us as we turned a corner. “The coronation nears. The hour of fate turns and will find you, Lorelana.”
I brushed away the fear that crept along my skin.
“You should run,” Thelena whispered to me.
And so, I did. It was time for the coronation. Out of the caldron, so I could prepare for the coals.