Page 81 of Their Chosen

That was someone I could respect. Someone I could serve. Someone who could change the course of our world for the better. Because a queen shouldn't be any better than those she served. At the end of the day, her job was to ensure the people came first.

And yet, despite the bravery she had shown, making me want to help her in any way I could, I was still hesitant. The Queen was just too powerful and conniving. I couldn't see how she'd relinquish her power after the trials selected a new queen. She had something else up her sleeves, and we couldn't see it.

There was no way, even as a team of five, that we would be able to topple the Queen's empire. Even I knew, deep down, that all my years of service to the Queen were hopeless. I had simply been keeping myself going, trying not to succumb to the hopelessness of it all with false reassurances and promises to myself.

I knew that I would never gain freedom for my people, but I could keep the Queen's wrath from them by offering up myself for her amusements. Now that I was no longer in that position, I feared what would happen. Were my people going to experience her torture now? Had I made the right decision to accept my role as Consort? Or had I simply rushed along their doom?

Lennox burst through the door, breathless, halting next to me and pulling me from my maudlin thoughts. He sank to his knees next to the bed, grabbing one of Rhowyn's hands in his.

“Is Master Jude on his way?” Arryn asked calmly.

Not bothering to look at him, Lennox replied, “He was right behind me. He'd already received word of what happened and was packing up supplies to bring with him.”

“Does he know what we need of him? To complete the bonding ceremony?” Baer asked, concern in his voice.

“Yes. He knew of the order not to heal Rhowyn but was determined to do so anyway. Until I mentioned that we had another way to get around the order. I didn't want to say more until we were in a secure location, but he got my meaning,” Lennox explained, lowering his head to touch his forehead to their entwined hands.

At one time, I had known Lennox better than anyone. We had been fast friends until my parents decided to overthrow his mother. Since my imprisonment, he shunned any relationship we'd had. Of course, I wasn't too concerned over that in my grief. I could only see his mother and what she'd done when I looked at him.

But now, I was starting to see behind the mask he'd put on for the Court. I could see the boy that I had once called my best friend. He'd always been more sensitive than I had, using his brain more than his brawn. My opposite in almost every way, except for the values we had both held.

I thought he'd lost those over the years, that he was more like his ice-cold mother than I had thought. That his friendship had simply been an act to keep me close or to gain information for his mother.

Now, I was starting to see that he'd never changed. He'd simply found a way to hide those values from his mother, who would have done everything in her power to crush him beneath her heel, especially because he was her son. He'd learned to play the part for the Court, never letting his mask slip in public.

That was until Rhowyn showed up. In a matter of days, she'd managed to get that mask to slip, just enough that we could see just how much he cared.

Seeing him watch Rhowyn with no emotion while his mother whipped her in front of the entire Court and everyone who mattered had only cemented this for me. He'd acted disinterested, almost bored. Unless you knew him, like I had, you'd never see the pain it actually caused him. And now, I could see the guilt eating him alive. He felt responsible for his mother's cruelty.

A knock sounded on the suite door, and Arryn rushed to answer it. I could hear them talking as Master Jude rushed into the bedroom and the quick inhale at the sight of Rhowyn's ravaged flesh. “Dear, Avalonia,” he whispered to himself.

Regaining his composure, he set his bag on the floor, pushing me and Lennox out of his way to get a better look. “Baer, get me some rags and warm water. We need to clean these wounds,” he instructed, Bear rushing off to do as he was told.

Jude gently pulled the dress open wider, ensuring there were no threads sticking in the wounds and inspecting the extent of the damage. I could see white streaks where the lash had cut down to the muscle fibers in her shoulders. Even with her fae healing, she would be scarred.

“Are those old scars?” Lennox growled in question, pointing to small scars, little circles all around her lower back. Being a fire fae, I knew burn marks when I saw them. Someone had burned her repeatedly at some point.

“Those are burns,” I growled in response, confirming what we were already seeing. That she had indeed known this kind of pain before, the evidence of the abuse irrefutable.

Baer returned with the supplies, handing them off to Jude. Jude whispered a spell, before explaining. “I want her to sleep through this. It will be painful.” We nodded as he began to slowly clean the wounds, all of us feeling useless in this instance, unable to help Rhowyn in any way.

“Are those scars?” Baer asked us as we watched Jude work.

“Yes,” we all growled. “Burn marks,” I clarified.

“Fuck!” He voiced our thoughts. “What kind of life did she lead before we showed up? That someone could do that to her?”

“I suspected she had been hurt before. I think we all did, but I didn't realize just how badly,” Arryn said in his succinct manner.

“She doesn't deserve this. Just like she didn't deserve the whipping tonight!” Baer exclaimed. “That bitch of a queen...” he trailed off, as if realizing her son was in the room.

It was easy to forget he was related to her. Especially now, when his mask wasn't in place. “Don't worry. I feel exactly the same way,” Lennox grumbled.

“She's getting more irrational and becoming more unstable,” I voiced, knowing that I had been the closest to her. “It’s only gotten worse since Rhowyn arrived.”

“I'm willing to bet that Rhowyn is a threat to whatever she has planned. Mother can sense her strength and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Rhowyn from winning,” Lennox stated.

“I agree,” Arryn chimed in.

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