Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
The unbearable contrast
blythe
It was louder in the Oscuro palace than I remembered. Or perhaps I’d just grown accustomed to the peacefulness of Lucius.
The sounds of women moaning and men grunting drowned the soft click of my flats as I passed their open and closed doors lining the hall. Usually I ignored commotion like that, it was background noise. But I’d had a taste of the quiet and now everything was too loud.
Thorns flanked either side of me. Their rough hands wrapped around my arms as they marched me to the throne room.
There’d been no point in fighting them as they dragged me through a tear in the Oscuro Veil.
Where could I run to that no one would find me?
It was only a matter of time before my fate caught up.
It approached like a dark, unwanted companion that had overstayed its welcome.
To think I’d escaped it was tragic. Pathetic.
My heart hammered harder with every step towards the doors . . . towards Snake waiting on the other side. I kept my head low, focused on my shoes. Play the part, I told myself. Be Sapphire, The Night Jewel. Put on a show.
Perhaps then, like Kavish, the punishment would be lesser.
But truth be told . . . I couldn’t. There was nothing left.
It didn’t matter now anyway. He could have what was left of my soul. All the tattered pieces fraying at the edges. I’d given Nik the last shard that felt whole.
The onyx doors—twice the size of a man—groaned open. I didn’t bother to look up as the Thorns shoved me forwards. And I didn’t bother to cry out when they kicked the back of my legs, smashing my knees into the cold, stone floor as I knelt before the king.
“There you are.” His voice slithered towards me. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I refused to let the chill of his voice show as it shuddered down my spine. I didn’t want to give him Sapphire right now. She gave up when I was dragged back to this light forsaken place. And Blythe would never be his. For now, I’d give him nothing.
His black ink robes brushed against the floor as he stood.
He slowly made his way down the dais, and everything around me fell into silence, save for the deafening sound of his walking.
His steps were louder than anything I’d ever heard before.
Each one a nail in the lid of the empty coffin hovering over my head.
He stopped in front of me, not saying a word. Then he reached out his gloved hand, and lifted my chin until I met his cold, grey stare. “I told you not to run away.”
I swallowed down the fear clawing at my throat. He looked at me, the corner of his mouth ticking up on one side. A grin more sinister than True Death itself. My gaze stayed locked on his, but I didn’t utter a sound.
He let go of my chin, and sauntered behind me.
I heard the squeak of his leather boots before I felt the warmth of his breath on my ear.
“Have you been playing pretend in a world where someone like you—a stain—doesn’t belong?
Did you think I wouldn’t find out that you were the only other soul offered a way out of here apart from that sad creature we used to call the prince? ”
Still, I wired my jaw shut.
“Do you know what happens to those who disobey me?” he whispered, his words turning my stomach sour.
Tears stung the back of my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I didn’t want to give him anything. Not even the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten under my skin. But I couldn’t stop the cry that tore from my lips as he took a fistful of my hair and yanked it back.
“Answer me, and I promise to be gentle,” he hissed.
I gritted my teeth fighting back the tremors that had begun to consume my body. “Does it matter if I answer or not? You’ll do what you want anyway.”
Snake let go of my hair and straightened. This time his steps were almost silent as he came to stand in front of me again. I looked at him, but I was barely breathing. Too afraid the sound of it quivering would delight him.
A low, manic chuckle left his lips and I didn’t have time to register as his hand shot out and cracked me across the cheek. My head snapped to the side and hot pain erupted along my jaw, sending stars dancing through my vision.
Snake’s hand shot out again and snatched my face between his gloved fingers.
He lowered his face until it was nearly touching mine.
I could smell the wine on his breath and it took everything in me not to gag.
Everything about him screamed death, pain, destruction.
“You don’t leave me, Sapphire. Not again. ”
My cheek throbbed, but I didn’t dare push his patience by not responding. I nodded. “Yes, Snake.”
He dragged his empty gaze over my body, assessing me. I didn’t even care. I knew what he’d expect from me the moment I was brought into the palace. It’s all he’d ever want me for. It's all anyone wanted me for.
“I know you were with them,” he spat.
The way he said it sent a chill through me. I didn’t know how it was possible that he knew who I was with, but it also didn’t surprise me. Nothing did anymore.
The room turned warmer as he stood and walked back up the dais to sit on his throne, or perhaps the heat came from the way he moved with the confidence only a man with power could.
My eyes followed him, but my mind was back in Lucius, in the different kind of warmth it offered.
Perhaps if I stayed in that daydream, I’d never suffer a day again.
“He touched you didn’t he?”
How he knew, I had no idea, and I refused to answer. I wouldn’t share the sacred moments I’d shared with Nik. Not ever.
“You know, Nikolas tried to kill me over a year ago,” Snake murmured, his hand mindlessly massaging a spot on his chest.
I hated that my body responded before I could hide it. I sat up straighter, eyes focussed on Snake’s lips as he talked.
“I should have made sure he, and Matthias—that waste of a prince—was put in the ground. It’s an inconvenience having to deal with them now,” he muttered.
A sweat broke over me. I’d never asked Matthias or Nik about their history with Oscuro, and perhaps I should have. Knowledge was power, and right now Snake held all of it.
He stretched out his ungloved hand, admiring the glittering stone, as red as blood, on his middle finger. Then his eyes found mine again. “They will come for you, and when they do . . . I’ll be ready.”
I wanted to empty the contents of my stomach onto the stone floor. The thought of either Nik or Matthias getting caught in the crossfire of my actions sickened me. All I could hope was that Nik would read my note and do as I asked.
If he listened. He’d be safe.
~~~~~
Long hours turned into endless days. If I wasn’t being fucked by the king, I was sitting by his bedroom window, looking out at the despair below.
I wasn’t allowed outside of the palace, he’d bound my wings and placed extra guards outside the bedroom doors but I could wander the halls if a Thorn escorted me.
However, it didn't take long for me to tire of the endless stares, followed by snickering hidden behind hands that pointed at my every move within the decay that was Oscuro.
Snake had banquets almost every night. He forced me to wear barely anything, and sit upon his lap like some kind of prize.
Those were the nights that never ended. He’d drink until the rest of his guests were under the table.
And yet, somehow, he always managed to stay sober enough to stick his cock in me at the end of the evening.
Over the weeks, Sapphire came back. She had to if I wanted to survive. I’d learnt to keep my eyes down. To laugh when he wanted me to. To flatter and fawn over him when others watched, and to smile like I was enjoying myself. It had been Sapphire’s best act yet.
But inside I was deader than dead.
I was True Dead.
I didn’t cry anymore. Not when Snake shoved his manhood down my throat. Not when he demanded I dance for him until my feet didn’t work.
He liked it when I pretended to want it.
A shudder rushed through me.
The stone against my back was unusually warm as I curled myself up on the window ledge. My arms wrapped around my knees, and I tucked my feet under the black nightgown. I bit the inside of my cheek so I could feel something.
Down below the city moved like leeches through a swamp. Part of me wished I could find a way back to the Painted Lady, to Victoria. Or better yet . . . to Abby.
Anything had to be better than being here.
I leaned the side of my head against the glass windowpane, counting down the hours until Snake returned. His last words when he left me here still rang in my ears. “They will come for you Sapphire, and when they do, I’m going to snap their pretty little wings.”
A heavy sigh escaped my lips. “Never come here, Nik. You deserve better than me . . . better than what is waiting for you in this place.”
~~~~~
Time stopped meaning anything to me. The days bled one into the other. I no longer knew when the sun was up or down. I slept most of the day away if I wasn’t spread wide open for the king. His hunger for pleasure never dimmed. If anything it grew ever more voracious each day.
At least Nik never came for me.
My body ached from being used, and it bruised more slowly now. Snake forced me to eat so I’d have the strength to do his bidding. The food always tasted rotten. I’d been spoiled by Lucius, and I didn’t think I would ever lose the taste of Adalia’s cooking from my tongue.
It was my fault, after all. I’d been the one to leave the Light Kingdom behind—even if it had always been inevitable.