Page 6 of A Bond of Fire and Roses

Keeping my voice as hollow and motionless as I possibly can takes work, but I’ve mastered it. It doesn’t matter to her, anyway. She will hurt me either way; this is just a farce for her to pretend she has good reason to punish me in front of these witnesses. She huffs like she doesn’t believe me and internally I wince. It’s going to hurt tonight. It’s her last chance to break me—or cleanse me— as she calls it.

Priestess Gabriella walks around me, her voice low and echoing. “There is a part of me that is happy you are finally leaving us tomorrow. Your very existence is but a stain of the past we all wish to… erase.”

Well, tough luck, bitch. You can’t kill me. I’m already dead inside.

I bite my tongue. If I can just get through this, I’ll be free.

“All those years ago…” Her voice carries to me again. “I was a young acolyte myself when our glorious king first arrived here. He told us that we were worshipping the right gods, and that we weren’t fools. Not like your parents had us believe.” My heart jumps at the mention of them. “Your parents mocked our religion. They claimed dragons were not real, and we were made poor and destitute just from the shame of it. We had nothing. Nothing! Our temple was in mere ruins! But then he appeared, with you near dead in his arms, and as he carried you through the courtyard to us, talking to you, even when you could not hear him, I remember the look he gave you. Even all these years later, I remember the look.” Her lips tilt into a sadistic smile. “I had never seen such hatred before. It radiates from him. Do you remember what he said to you?”

I did hear him, and I do remember, but I will never tell her.

His voice still echoes my nightmares. His words carried with them.

“This courtyard was in ruins from the war. We didn’t live in this part of the castle. It was your parents’ summer home. I was merely a slave to them when they decided to grace us with their presence. I wasn’t even aware anyone knew about us, about how we still studied the religion in secret. But he knew. We swore to protect you, to bring you up to be a proper princess, one that he will need to unite these lands. There are still fools out there that believe your parents’ rule was the rightful one, and that he is an imposter.” That’s because he is. “They believe that you are the rightful ruler because you are the last living heir to the royal line of Dyminien.”

The cold brush of a whip caresses my exposed back and I clench my fingers, digging my nails into the wood where there are already grooves from my hands. I hold on, readying for the first whip. It always stings the worst. A cry escapes my lips, even though I beg it not to, as the leather rips through my skin with a sickening noise. The priestess rarely whips me while she talks, her attention usually fixed on one task at hand. But of course, she’d go all out this time since it could be her last.

“We were given so much gold, everything within these castle walls, and I will not have you take that away from us!” The whip slashes across my shoulder blades, and I bite my lips to smother my screams. “You will be the perfect queen I promised you will be! You will not be defiant, sullen, or ungrateful!” Another whip, another piece of leather tearing through my flesh, and blood trickles down my back. “You will be obedient and do everything the king asks of you and more, and should I hear that you are even remotely rebellious to our king — should you do anything to embarrass me —” She whips three times in a row, and this time my screams leave me, unable to be held back. “Then this will look like child’s play compared to what I will do to you, Princess.”

Her hot breath blows on my ear and my skin crawls while tears stream down my face. “Do not forget that the royal palace is full of our priestesses. You will not escape me there. I will always have eyes on you.” She claws her nails down the wounds on my back, just for her enjoyment, before breathlessly backing away. I arch my back, sobbing. It takes several moments for her to catch her breath while I tremble in the chair, choking back my sobs. “See to her, then return her to her room. The princess needs her beauty sleep if she is to be ready for tomorrow.”

Healing pads are draped over my back, sticking to my torn open skin, and I gag at the smell of them. Chamomile mixed with my own blood. The priestess learned years ago that if she leaves the wounds on my back to scar like she did when I was a child, no amount of healing pads can erase them. She’s cruel, but not stupid.

They unbind me and lift me off the chair. I sway on my feet, my legs giving in underneath me. The sisters help support me as they drag me back to my room and drop me down onto my stomach. They make sure the pads are secured and working before they leave, locking the door behind them. Silence wraps around me while the embers flicker to their deaths in the fireplace beside me, and I sob into my pillow.

It’s over. It’s finally over.

I repeat the words until I’ve no tears left to cry, and exhaustion pulls me into a deep sleep where pain can no longer reach me. I have to believe I’ll escape from this place tomorrow because if I don’t, and the Dragon King takes me with him, I’m going to jump out of the highest window.

CHAPTER THREE

It’s unnervingly quiet as the sun tips slowly over the horizon, its rays flashing beams of red and yellow softly across my sheets. They match the blood that soaked them overnight from my back from the punishment. I climb out of bed carefully and roll my aching shoulders. The healing pads slide off me and fall to the floor.

Gods above, I’m sore, but it’s manageable at least. Just.

I dress quickly in the clothes Lochlan hid under my bed for me earlier in the week. His dark leather pants and short black shirt cling to my tender bones. I tuck my hair into his black hat, clipping my locks in place so not even a single strand of rose gold can fall out. It feels a little weird to wear his clothes, but no one will recognise me, and I have to admit it’s comforting to have clothes on that are a mark of freedom and not chains.

Lastly, I pull his very worn gold cloak around my shoulders. It smells just like him. Peppermint, like the teas he makes for the priestesses every morning and night. I then grab the daggers my uncle gave me years ago to protect me. He told me to always hide them from the priestesses and use them if anyone tried to kill me and he wasn’t around. The irony is that I was never able to use them. I knew if I did, the priestess would just make my life even more unbearable. Sometimes it was easier to sleep in my cage than fight it.

I pull the daggers out from inside the mattress, a slit I cut and stitched back together so that no one would ever see it. Glancing at the two red blades, my parents’ seal still decorates the handle, the gold moon shrouded in a haze of ruby. It is illegal to hold anything with my parents’ crest in the kingdom since anything to do with my parents’ reign was hunted down and burned. I heard the king offered gold for anyone who bought in traitors or black-market vendors harbouring weapons with their seal.

Tears sting my eyes and I grip the dagger tighter. The king erased everything to do with my parents. Everything except for me. And for these daggers, it seems. I always thought it was a little part of my uncle rebelling when he gave me these. Some echo of him still saying that he remembers my parents. He is still loyal to them and their rule. I need that hope. I feel like I’m the only one that even remembers them these days.

I sheath the daggers in my cloak, placing them into the hidden pockets with the hilt turned upright. That will make it easy for me to grab them quickly if need be. Loch taught me how to fight with daggers, bows, swords and even an axe when we went out hunting. He even claimed I was better than him at times. Blowing out a breath, I look around the room I’ve lived in for so many years. It’s not a room. It’s only ever been my prison. Punishments and monthly torture sessions included.

I clench my hands, my body filling with rage. “Good-fucking-bye.”

Without looking back, I rush to the wardrobe and to the secret opening. A girl stands there waiting for me when I push the dresses to the side, leaning on the wall. She’s exactly the same height as me and I’ve seen her around, mostly tending to the gardens. She’s not a priestess in training, but rather one of the servants. The girl Loch told me about. Aki, I think her name was. She nods once at me, her dark blonde hair bouncing.

“May Hekai be with you, princess. Some of our families still remember who you are, who your parents were, and support you. We pray for you and your rule. Forever the moon queen.”

My heart swells and I can only nod in response as I admire her moment of rebellion. These are words that no one has dared utter to me in fear of being killed. To utter them now… it raises a fire within me. People still remember. I place a hand gently on her shoulder and smile at her before I slide through the secret exit. She’s risking her life to help get me out of here. I will not forget it.

I hurry down the old stone corridors, my footsteps silent from years of perfecting my hunting skills. The priestesses usually leave me to ‘reflect’ after my punishments, so Aki, will have at least a day or two to give us a head start. I smile to myself. This could work. This could actually work. I keep running down the dusty, cobweb hallways that always seem like they go on forever.

A breeze guides my way through the darkness, my footsteps echoing through every puddle that eventually leads me to the way out. I turn the corner and step out into the light. Fresh air blows over me, carrying the smell of freshly cut grass from the other side of the tunnel. The tunnel is old and forgotten, smothered in ivy and moss, and cobwebs that stick to my arms as I rush to the other side. The light hurts my eyes as I pause at the end of the tunnel and search around the courtyard, my heart racing. Loch waits for me in the shadows beneath a ruined archway only a few feet away, his dark cloak making him almost invisible. He turns when he spots me and opens his arms, a smile stretching over his lips. I glance around, making sure no one is here, before my feet take off. Running to Lochlan feels like running home. He pulls me into a hug and wraps his arms tightly around my shoulders. For a moment, I just enjoy our embrace, our closeness.

“We’re really doing this!” I’m so excited that it’s hard to keep my voice quiet.

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