Chapter 45 Bayn
BAYN
“You can’t do this! You promised you wouldn’t hurt her!” the ineffectual little angel protested from the cell next to Izzy’s.
Everyone was here, Saldrea had brought her whole gang, plus a few guards, and me. One of the guards locked the angel in his cell as Saldrea responded to him,
“I never made any promises. Hana promised one of you could come along to ensure the half-breed wouldn’t be mistreated, but she never actually promised we’d not hurt her. And you’re here, so… go ahead, try to ensure Izzy isn’t mistreated, I dare you.”
“You filthy, lying, bi—” He only got that far, raising his hands to attack with his light powers, before Hana took hold of his mind. The angel fell back with a wide-eyed gaze, trapped in some vision.
Hana chuckled. “I really love torturing seraphim. Their spirits are so strong, but their minds are so weak.”
I almost felt bad for the man, but he should have known Saldrea would betray him. She never kept her word.
But then… why did I expect her to keep her word?
Because she had so far. My sister was “safe,” and unharmed most of the time.
Saldrea hadn’t killed her… yet. But I realized then, she would.
Saldrea would kill my sister and laugh at me while she did it, call me weak and helpless.
It was in her nature. Once I was no longer needed, she’d dig her dirty little fingers into my largest wound and squeeze my pain.
Which only reaffirmed that I’d done the right thing by agreeing to help those others. They’d free my sister and I’d do what I could to help them.
After my talk with them, I had considered taking my sister and fleeing once she was free, not helping them.
But a man was nothing without his word, his character.
It might get me killed, but I didn’t much care for my life anymore.
If Wensuria was free, I’d gladly face down Saldrea and die knowing my sister would live.
I’d done the right thing, but I still had to play the part of Saldrea’s lackey until my sister was free.
Thankfully, Hana was preoccupied with tormenting the angel and wouldn’t have overheard those thoughts. I stilled my mind and put all of that away for now, going hard once more, enduring what I must, until I was free to act as I wished.
“Now, Bayn,” Saldrea said. “I want you to pay attention. I see how you look at me. I’ve tried to beat it out of you.
I’ve tried to beat it out of your sister, but you haven’t changed.
So… consider this an object lesson. This is what I do to people who go against me.
” She smiled, a twinkle in her eyes. She was happiest when inflicting pain on others.
I nodded, not sure why she thought hurting someone else would change my mind. Though the fact that she knew how I felt was worrying. I’d need to calm my emotions even more for the next few hours; after that… with luck, Wensuria would be free and I could repay Saldrea a debt of pain.
Saldrea turned to Izzy. I gave my attention to the half-breed woman as well.
She had been sleeping when we arrived, but a warning from her angel had roused her.
She stood, arms crossed, boldly facing us down.
Her eyes darted toward the angel, showing her concern for him.
I found that fascinating. She was about to be tortured and was worried for another.
I didn’t think any elf could be that compassionate.
And her defiance in the face of Saldrea’s impending torment was admirable.
I had to respect the woman’s strength.
I’d seen so many others fall apart at the mere mention of Saldrea’s torture.
Izzy didn’t flinch.
Which only angered Saldrea even more.
“Resist all you like,” Saldrea hissed, “but I swear I’ll make you scream.
I won’t kill you. That honor I’ll save for tomorrow, but I’ll make sure you’re in so much agony from now till then that you can’t rest, can’t sleep.
I’ll heal you… mostly… before the fight tomorrow, so it looks like a fair fight, but it won’t be.
You’ll be an exhausted mess, still suffering on the inside while I slowly kill you. ”
Saldrea’s words had no effect. Izzy stood there, resolute. In fact, a small smile crept onto the woman’s face.
“You’ve made a mistake,” Izzy said.
“Have I? Tell me?” Saldrea was quickly losing her shit.
“No.” Izzy said simply. “I know, and that is enough.”
“Gah!” Saldrea screamed. If this had been a contest of which woman could make the other scream first, Izzy had won. But I doubted Izzy would like what came next.
Stone rose up from the floor to encompass Izzy’s feet.
At the same time, two arms of stone reached out from the wall behind her to grab her shoulders, restraining her.
Then the earth at her feet moved her back while the arms dragged her toward the back wall.
There was a bed in the way, but Saldrea paid it no mind forcing Izzy’s body back even as her legs hit the small cot.
Izzy grimaced, eyes wide with pain, but managed to restrain any scream as her body and the bed fought against each other.
Izzy’s body won… mostly… The metal frame of the bed was crushed sideways as the bones in Izzy’s legs broke.
It was a testament to elven durability that the bed had collapsed before Izzy’s legs had been torn apart.
Any unenhanced race would have two bloody stumps below the knee right now.
Saldrea laughed, a gleeful noise, clapping her hands together.
“Wonderful! Oh, look at your face. I’ll make you scream, I promise.”
The stone around Izzy shifted and moved, a band at her hips kept her pressed to the wall while her arms were pried away from her chest by grasping tendrils of rock.
Her arms and legs were pulled out to the sides, till she was spread-eagle against the wall.
This caused more of the bed to collapse and more pain to Izzy’s already injured legs.
Izzy gave a gasp of pain, but that was it.
Tough woman.
I couldn’t see what Saldrea did next, but I felt it with my earth powers, and saw its effect on Izzy.
The half-breed’s eyes went wide, and her entire body went rigid, she bared her teeth, hissing, eyes watering at the pain…
as a dozen thin spikes of stone were — very slowly — driven through her body from back to front.
Two pierced her upper arms, two penetrated the soft spot inside of each shoulder, below the collarbone.
Four sprouted from her stomach and two more bored their way through the soft portions of her hips, finding the gaps in her hip bones to come out close together low on her abdomen, probably just missing her reproductive organs.
The last two slid through her thighs. Saldrea’s placement was perfect, inflicting maximum pain with little to no damage to any vital organs.
Izzy let out strangled little noises, but no scream. She drew in a shuddering breath then gave a hard, teeth-gritting smile.
“Nice… try,” Izzy muttered, clearly in pain, still fighting Saldrea.
For the first time in what seemed like ages, something stirred deep within me.
Seeing this woman fight with nothing but her willpower sparked a passion I’d thought long gone.
I’d been dead emotionally ever since Osserime’s betrayal, feeling little more than rage and emptiness.
I’d never expected to feel much ever again.
My grand plan was to get my sister back, make sure she was safe, then take her away from the horrors the elves — and our own family — had inflicted on us.
Beyond that I’d expected nothing for myself, no joy, except insomuch as I got from seeing my sister free to live her life.
What I felt now wasn’t joy. If I experienced such an emotion while watching someone in pain, I’d be a monster.
I’d be Saldrea. No, this was a feeling of interest, of curiosity tinged with awe, maybe a little pride.
I couldn’t fight Saldrea the way I wished.
Currently, I fought by doing as little as possible for her, but this woman — Izzy — she fought with everything she had, all the time.
I respected the hell out of that.
It had been a long time since I’d admired anyone for showing such strength of character and determination.
Izzy shone with pure defiance, rebelling against everything this world stood for.
A part of me found that fascinating. It made me want to see her live, see what she could do if she had a chance. Hell, if she became queen of the elves…
No, best not to think about that.
Nor let my respect for her turn to anything more.
She was strong and stunning, yes, but she and I…
there could never be anything between us.
I’d never allow another woman into my life, not unless she was willing to bow and scrape and worship me as a god.
I needed full and utter control, or I wouldn’t trust them.
And Izzy wasn’t one to submit like that.
Though, for an instant, my mind betrayed me. It imagined Izzy spread-eagle in a very different scenario, open to me, receptive, yielding. I crushed that thought, but not before it stirred a certain physical part of me.
Stone and Bone! Was I truly aroused by seeing a woman in pain? No, it hadn’t been her pain that had stimulated me, but her fight, and imagining her giving up that fight to me.
“Scream, damn you!” Saldrea shrieked, spittle flying from her lips. “I can’t do anymore to you without permanent damage and I’m not willing to do that till tomorrow. You have to look healthy enough for the crowd before I crush you!”
“Then… I guess… I win,” Izzy said with that same pained grin.
“No!” Saldrea turned to Hana. “Stop messing around with the angel and focus on Izzy. I want to know everything, all her secrets, every weakness!”
Hana sighed and shrugged. The angel went limp after having been tense, wracked with some imagined, horrible scenario playing out in his mind. The sylph turned to Izzy and seemed almost bored as she cleaned out the woman’s mind.
“Titania’s tits!” Hana gasped. That was pretty much the worse curse there was. A non-elf saying it could get them killed.
Saldrea went pale at Hana’s vile expletive. “What?”
“She’s a fucking royal!”
Well… yeah. I’d known that for a while now.
“No!” Saldrea gasped. I watched as it hit her, every clue sinking in. “No,” she breathed, horrified. “The lost princess?”
“You can bow now,” Izzy stammered through her pain.
It was the wrong thing to say. Saldrea had only been holding back against Izzy to keep the real pain for tomorrow, but Saldrea’s world had just been shaken. She snapped.
The false princess let out a wordless, hysterical scream.
Stone reached out from the wall and wrapped around Izzy’s neck, forcing her head up at an odd angle as it squeezed back in, crushing her throat.
Then more stone wrapped around the poor woman, constricting, breaking bones, compressing muscle, bursting open skin, blood flowed like a waterfall.
I didn’t know what prompted me to help her, except perhaps that I’d found someone worthy of my respect, and I didn’t wish to see her die like this.
Using my own magic, I pulled the stone away from Izzy.
As much as I hated to admit it, Saldrea was usually stronger than me, but she was in a fit, her power wild.
I had control, fresh and unspent. I freed Izzy from the stone slowly killing her.
The woman fell limp to the floor, dying, far too much blood flowing out of her.
“Who?” It was a testament to how far gone Saldrea was, that she didn’t even think I could have done this. She turned to Golana and slapped her instead. “Why?”
“It wasn’t me,” Golana said, glaring in my direction and trying to fend off Saldrea.
Saldrea turned to me. “You? You dare go against me?”
“I only wish for you to have your day tomorrow, killing this wench in front of the world,” I lied.
Saldrea blinked.
“Oh… yes… of course. I just… I can’t… this little whore is the true princess?
I… I…” Saldrea floundered, lost and disoriented.
Not for the first time, I marveled at how broken and unbalanced Saldrea was.
I hadn’t really expected my words to sway her.
There was no good reason for Saldrea to keep Izzy alive, now that she knew Izzy was a royal.
Any sane person — who was as evil as Saldrea — would have realized Izzy was an imminent threat and killed her here and now instead of waiting for tomorrow.
But Saldrea was so unstable I’d been able to convince her to keep to her original course of action.
Time to see if I could use her madness against her again.
“Which means you need to heal her, before she dies.”
“What? Oh… yes… I suppose. Golana!” Saldrea was losing it, gaze unfocused, twitching. I couldn’t believe that had worked.
Golana huffed and got one of the guards to open the cell, then went in and tended to the dying Izzy.
“Don’t heal her too much,” Saldrea ranted.
“She has to suffer, heal her only enough to live through the night.” She must have convinced herself her original plan was best. Perhaps it was ego, which Saldrea had in spades.
She needed the world to see her kill Izzy.
It was stupid, but for now, it was keeping this half-breed alive, which was what I needed, so her friends would free my sister.
“Yes, I know,” Golana hissed. “There.” She got up and left the cell. Izzy hadn’t roused, but some of her wounds had closed. I had to hope it would be enough.
“I can’t believe…” Saldrea said shaking her head as she made to leave, clearly done here.
I followed, but a part of me wanted to go back and check on Izzy.
I wasn’t sure why I needed her to live. Except…
she was unlike any woman I’d ever known, strong and resilient and fierce, but without the usual arrogance which went with those traits.
Perhaps it was an act, but I had a feeling what I’d seen today was Izzy’s true nature.
It was hard to put on airs when you were being tortured.
And once again, I couldn’t help but wonder how different this world might be if Izzy was queen. A world of acceptance, restraint, moderation, and equality? A world where my sister and I would be safe.
It seemed preposterous.
Impossible.
But as long as Izzy lived… there was hope, however faint. Maybe, once my sister was safe, I’d do more than free Izzy and her shifter. If her goal was to overthrow Saldrea and Valnea… I just might help.