Chapter 3 Serena
SERENA
“Again,” Kylian chimes from his gilded throne.
I sit on the floor at his side, the blood ore shackles around my wrists bolted to the smooth tile beneath me.
The sea breeze rolls through the open archways lining the throne room, rippling the sheer red and gold curtains. I shiver, naked aside from my tattered, see-through shift and the dazzling ruby collar around my neck.
A gift and reminder of my master.
Of the male on the throne who now owns me.
The sound of a fist smashing into flesh has my head snapping up.
Kai’s face is unrecognizable. Purple welts decorate his once-perfect skin. His left eye is swollen shut, his lips cracked and caked with blood. The straight slope of his nose is now separated into two sharp angles, forcing ragged, labored breaths from him.
He teeters on his knees, dancing on the edge of consciousness as his eyes roll back in his head. Just before his face smacks the tile, Mal’s fist shoots out to yank him back, baring his blood-streaked throat to me.
I don’t scream. I don’t thrash. I just stare.
I have no voice left to scream.
I have no strength left to thrash.
I have no will left to fight.
So I stare.
Seeing Kai like this never gets easier, despite being forced to bear witness to his beatings on a daily basis. Kylian thought the quickest way to break me would be to turn my friend into his personal whipping boy. His own brother. He is beating and brutalizing his own brother to get me to comply.
I ripped this world open for you, he had boasted.
As if it were some grand romantic gesture that he hijacked the one portal in Solterre and is now using it to amass an army of undead creatures to aid him in world domination. As if I should ingratiate myself to him by becoming his bride and giving up my dragon’s location.
Yeah. Over my dead body.
Today’s show consists of Mal, wearing a handful of ruby rings, repeatedly punching Kai until he passes out. When his face is a cut-up, broken, bloody slab of flesh, the healer standing off to the side comes forward and gives Mal a fresh, blank canvas to work with.
It’s the same shit, different day. Yesterday, they waterboarded him, drowning him over and over while I watched. I’ve tried to retaliate, but these chains have rendered me useless.
Powerless.
After the first night Kylian had Kai beat in front of me, a crumpled-up strip of parchment floated into my cell.
He will use everything at his disposal to break you. Do not give him what he wants. Promise me. Destroy this.
I ripped the note into the tiniest pieces I could manage and let it dissolve under my tongue where no one would find it.
The notes have continued to appear since that day, letting me know he still lives.
Stay strong.
I am with you.
Do not break.
Fight.
I have torn and devoured each one, proof of Kai’s strength consecrated inside of me.
But the sound of his screams and cries haunt my dreams. The smell of his sweat, blood, and piss have calcified in me, hardening a piece of my heart that I fear will never soften again.
I am becoming numb, cold, and immune. Like stone.
Movement catches my eye from the far end of the throne room as Queen Ilspeth breezes in, each perfect feature sharp and prowling.
Mal turns, her bloodied second son dangling from his ruthless grasp.
She pauses to wipe a splash of blood off Mal’s cheek, not even deigning to spare Kai a single glance.
Then she drifts up the dais and takes a seat on the empty throne at Kylian’s side.
I want to vomit.
Sick, sick bastards. All of them.
She has not spoken more than ten words to me, yet she is the reason for all of this suffering.
I will kill her first. Then I will kill Kylian. Then Mal.
The healer steps forward, and within seconds Kai’s injuries are reversed, and he looks like himself again. For a split second, his glassy eyes land on mine and become alert.
Then Mal’s ruby-studded fist connects with his jaw in a punch that sends Kai sliding across the blood-slicked tile, a few teeth flying out in the process.
I wince internally, still as a statue on the outside. I won’t allow Kylian the pleasure of my cries. I won’t allow him the satisfaction of my tears. Not anymore.
“Enough,” Ilspeth says, sounding bored. “Kylian, there are other matters that require your attention at present.”
He waves a hand, and a nearby guard peels Kai off the floor and drags him from the hall with the healer in tow.
Mal steps up to the dais, eyes glued to the queen as he pulls a cloth from his pristine black pants and begins wiping Kai’s blood off his fistful of rings.
I jump when a hand lands on the top of my head. Kylian is gazing down at me like one would look at a beloved pet, smoothing my hair in a gesture meant to be caring.
“You barely flinched that time. You’re even more ruthless than I gave you credit for, my love.”
I duck my head, but his fist tightens in my hair. I let out a hiss as he leans in close, amusement coloring his face. “Is your answer still no?”
I glower up at him with all the hatred I can muster. A slow smile spreads across his cruel, beautiful mouth.
“We’ll resume tomorrow,” he says, shoving my head away and standing in one smooth motion.
I think I hear him humming as he jogs down the steps of the dais.
Fucking psychopath.
“Get creative, Mal.” His dark voice echoes off the arches as he disappears around the corner. “I want to be entertained.”