Page 18 of A Dawn So Dark

Blinding pain. I had always thought I understood pain to a degree. But I had never quite grasped what lied beyond a certain threshold. A strangled cry escaped me as Thane struck me with the blunt instrument again, the chains securing me to the support beam of the tarnished tent rattling as my legs fell out from beneath me.

I spit the blood pooling in my mouth in an attempt to suck in a deep, desperate breath. My lungs burned, likely a few broken ribs coaxing a wheeze from my throat.

“I ask you again, Aurora. Where did they keep you? If you show us a way in, I may show you mercy in our marital bed.” Thanes blood covered hand grips my chin, forcing me to look up at his disgraceful features. Sweat glistened across his brow and dripped past his features.

I swallow past the pressure of his grip, pushing myself up as best as I can to meet him eye to eye. “I toldyou.” I rasped, fighting the urge to use what strength I had left to headbutt Thane. “I was kept in a subterranean cell. Do you know what the word subterranean means? It means underground.” Pain blistered across my forehead as my head snapped to the side with aggressive force, Thaneshand driving the blow. I hissed, tears stinging my eyes. “I was a prisoner, Thane.” I insisted, trying to catch my breath. “They didn't know who I was.” The lies left a foul taste on my tongue. Any chance of my survival and avoiding a full blown war relied on what I divulged.

A dark, amused laugh escaped Thane’s thin lips. His dead eyes tracked me, taking in what I was sure a sight to behold. “Stupid girl. Those vile creatures knew exactly who you were. I am going to behead each and every one of them and mount their heads on spikes in our bedroom.” The thought of the heads of those I had come to know, to cherish, mounted on spikes made me ill. Alys, Willa, Tomas-ArdenandDaemon.

“I am not marrying you.” I insisted, praying to the goddesses that bringing up my disdain towards our union would avert his questioning from Darkspire. Hestruck me in the stomach with the large wooden rod. I spilled my dinner all over his shoes, my eyes burning from the pain. Thane grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks my head to I meet his cold gaze “Youwillwed me. But don't you worry, pet. After you bear me a son, I shall free you. You can join your monstrous friends on spikes after you secure me a direct line to the throne.”The throne. That was all this was about. The throne. I was the only living heir, the only descendant.

Before I could protest, spit in his face, or headbutt him, Percival entered the tent. “The King requests the Princesses' presence.” My blood ran cold. I had yet to face my father since being turned over by Arden and Noa. Bile burned in my throat at the thought of their complete betrayal. I had grown to trust them both, even consider them friends. When Noa struck me down, it felt as if everything fell out from beneath me. I had been used, lied too, and manipulated. I was theirmate.

In the history books I read during my time in Darkspire, it namedKings and Queens and described that they were mates, fated by the goddesses to share adeep bond until death. Our bond must have been paper-fucking-thin.

Percival unlatched my chains from the top of the tent, my shoulders screaming in pain as he pulled me towards the exit. Daemon had been summoned to meet my father to discuss my release, now that he had me, what did my father want with Darkspire? Thane kicks my feet out from under me, cackling as I hit the hard ground. I swallowed my cry of pain, biting my lip so hard it bled. Percival dragged me across the forest floor. As I watched my once beautiful dress tarnish, I realized that this was never going to end. I would forever be trapped in Camelot's cycle of torment.

I reared against the chains, kicking at Thane as Percival dragged me through camp. Camelot soldiers watched and snickered as I was marched to meet what was likely a more than undesirable fate. A face in the crowd caught me by surprise. My mother. Guinevere stood among a few of fathers most trusted guards, Davin being among them. I spat in her direction, wanting her to feel every ounce of my anger, hatred. Thane kicked my side, my chains rattling as Iwhimpered in pain. I forced my mother to the back of my mind, using the anger to fuel me.

Percival dragged me past the final few tents into a clearing where soldiers from both Camelot and Darkspire lined the field. Arthur sat under the canopy of the tent, Merlin perched near his shoulder with a sneer plastered to his lips. I fought against the chains yet again, knowing it was no use and that I had nowhere to run. I was fucked. Well and truly fucked.

Percival came to a halt and I was dumped right before my fathers feet. My fingers gripped the dirt below me, giving me a moment to gather my strength to push myself up to my knees. A boot met my stomach before I could stabilize myself. Blood mingled with the soil between my fingers, my ears ringing from the pain.

“You thought that you could steal my daughter away and there would not be a price to pay?” Father bellowed above me. I forced myself to look up at him, to see the rage planted on his face and to know I was the reason he had to crawl from his sacred castle. When I looked up, his gaze was not fixed on me, but out into the field before him.Daemon. Daemon had to be here.Before I could turn and look for him, my father reached down and grabbed a fist full of my hair and I felt a hot steel meet my throat. Power hummed around me, burning the skin it met.Excalibur…Father had not pulled Excalibur from the vault since the war had ended when I was a babe. He meant to rage war no matter the outcome today.

“I trespassed on his land, Father.” I pleaded. “I-I was overcome with confusion after my betrothal and got lost. I will marry the Duke and end this m-mess." The heat of the blade had me shaking, knowing that one wrong move would end my life. Father cackled, pushing the blade firmly against my skin. “You thought you could spit in the face of Camelot and walk away free?”

My head was wretched to the side and my heart stopped in my chest. Daemon stood several dozen yards ahead of me, the very depiction of a King. His armor, black like Ardens, glinted in the sunlight. The rubies planted in his obsidian crown looked as if they had been pulled from the hearth of a roaring fire. His eyes met mine, the intense storm of grays leaving me feeling more exposed than the most powerful weapon in therealm did. Daemon seemed calm and collected on the outside but his eyes, his intoxicating gaze gave him away. He was terrified. He knew Arthur was unhinged and would be ready to tempt fate by risking his only heir to the throne.

“That's where you are wrong, old friend.” Daemon drawled, his eyes darkening with every word that fell from his graceful lips. “Your daughter now belongs to Darkspire.” A sob fell from my lips, Excalibur faltering at Daemon's words. I shook my head, urging him to go, to let me go. He was going to get us all killed. Excalibur held the power to slay any monster, it could take my head off with little effort.

My father threw me to the dirt, stepping over me as if I was nothing as he angrily marched a few feet forward in a rage “She belongs to Camelot.” He growled, spit spraying from between his teeth. With Excalibur no longer at my throat, I shifted from my knees onto the balls of my feet.

“I would listen tomyKing, Artie.” A painfully familiar voice chimed in. “We have had twenty years toplan your demise.” My heart crackedopen in my chest.Arden.

Chapter 33

Arden

Seeing that wretched blade against her throat had made me want to rip Arthurs head from his body. I was playing a dangerous game. When I had come across Noa holding my mate at knifepoint I was ready to kill everyone in that clearing. With Lancelot holding a blade to her neck, I couldn't risk slaughtering them all. Now, Excalibur, the realm's most powerful weapon, crafted to slay monsters, sat perched against Aurora's perfect neck.

I had nearly ripped Noas head from her body when Camelot's forces faded out of sight, taking my beating heart with them.

*

“Arden, I knew you couldn't take a human for a mate.” Noa cried, grabbing my arm in an attempt to pull me close to her. I turned, a growl ripping from my throat as I threw her against a tree with such immense force, the wood shuttered. Her cry of pain elicited a sliver of contentment from me. Her suffering would be insurmountable when I wasgiven time to draw it out. “You conniving bitch.” I spat as I picked her up by the hair, just as she had with Aurora, aggressive and unrelenting. “Ard, you're hurting me.” She whined, pulling at my hand. My rage increased tenfold. Goddesses, was she goingto suffer.

I heaved her up, pinning her to the tree, a dagger at her neck “This is not even the start of the pain you will be enduring at my hand. Tell me where they have taken her and perhaps I will show you mercy.” Noa gasped beneath my grip, attempting to thrash her way free. But my rage overpowered her. “She was our doom! She's human! We needed her gone and you two were too wrapped up in her to see that!” Red clouded my vision as I slammed her into the tree yet again. “She is our mate! Yourfuture Queen! You saw what he had done to her and handed her over anyway! You have betrayed your kingdom… and you have betrayed me.”

Noa laughed, she laughed. I could not recall a time I ever felt this much hatred towards a person. Perhaps it was the mate bond that was calling for me to go after Aurora driving me to madness. To kill anyone who had touched her and ravish her in their spilled blood. “I saved you. You werenot meant to be fated to a human, you were meant for me, Arden!”

I stilled, everything suddenly becoming crystal clear. All these years of friendship, she had lied to me. “You…. you didn't hear of Arthur from your spies… you alerted Camelot yourself. You wanted Aurora to return to the Duke. You wanted her gone.”

Noa smiled wickedly, proudly. “And now we are free to be together.” I dragged her to my horse, pulling Astyrn steel cuffs from my saddle bag. I secure Noas' wrists and throw her on my horse with little care for her comfort. “You will never know freedom again.” I drag her back to the castle and toss her in the very same cell I had put Aurora in when she arrived. Seeing my mate in there had done something primal to me, watching her so ready to fight. Seeing Noa pout in the mud filled me with such an intense rage I could wipe out an army in one fell swoop.

“All this over a human is quite a lot, you have to admit.” Noa huffed, attempting to pull herself up from the mud. I ignored her goading. “When I get our mate back I am going to let her exact her vengeance on you, then I willhave my turn. And I will fuck her next to your bloodied, heartless corpse.”

*

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