Page 5 of Queen of Vengeance

I was sure I could take him on in a fight, but I would have been foolish to do that with the legion of guards that also manned this prison. As much as I wanted to, I would be no freer than I was right now.

He finally managed to get the door open and stepped inside the cell, grabbing my arm tightly. So much so that I could feel my fingers going numb.

“It’s time for your shower.” He huffed into my face with his putrid breath.

I began to push away from him.

My spine tingled with anxiety, and my palms became sweaty.

My heart was pounding so loudly against my eardrums that I couldn’t hear anything else.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, but that didn’t faze him.

He dragged me out of the cell, and I knew that I couldn’t stop it.

Dineta clutched her chest in horror at the sight.

A few times, I had made such a fuss that they left me in the cell for another few weeks, but I couldn’t avoid it forever.

He led me to a brightly lit sanitation area in the prison.

After endless days in the darkness, one gets used to it, and the light becomes unbearable.

A group of guards grabbed hold of me and stripped the clothes off of my back. Then they held me under their boots as they sprayed me with scalding hot water through a powerful hose.

The water felt like it was ripping through my skin just from the sheer force.

I squirmed under their boots as if it would spare me.

“Stay still, worm!” One of them shouted before stomping down on my hand.

I bit my tongue, refusing to cry out. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. I chuckled weakly at them. “Is that all you got?”

Someone removed two boots from my back, allowing me to breathe fully.

A hand wove its way into my hair, yanking my head from the cold tile floor and forcing me to look at the person who knelt before me. It was Warden Achlys clutching a wire brush in her hand. Her piercing purple eyes always disarmed me. “Look who’s a tough one. I’ll wipe that smug grin off of your face.”

She dropped my head, and the wire brush started passing over my skin. “Maybe I’ll scrub this sigil off your back this time.”

I trembled, trying to contain myself.

“Come on. Scream. I want to hear it.” She goaded me, but I wouldn’t give in to her. “Scream!”

She scrubbed harder.

“Look who’s screaming.” I looked up weakly with a smirk on my face before I passed out from the pain. The last I heard was Warden Achlys ordering them to take me back to my cell.

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When I came to again, I was being dragged down the hallway by two guards.

My body was so tired that I didn’t feel any pain anymore.

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