Page 71 of The Broken Queen

“Couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut, could you?”

I sat up, placing my back against the brick wall, and looped my arms around my legs. “And you can’t seem to keep me out of here. Must really hate me to lock me up so much. Probably why you’re making me marry that monstrosity, huh? So you can get rid of me? Because you’re not gutsy enough to just fucking kill me. You want to find a way to torture me for the rest of my life. Well, Father, you’ve done it. Congratulate yourself, you’ve won the dick of the decade award.”

I didn’t know what my problem was, but my mouth just wouldn’t shut up. I was over the bullshit. Over the lies, and over dealing with him. Knowing that he wasn’t my real father, made me want to do my own torture.

Feeling even more proud of myself, I poked the bear further. “You know, I was wondering what happened. How could Mother love a cold-hearted asshole like you? Did you poison her with your words? Like you did your first wife? Oh, better yet, did you kill Mother like you killed Slade’s mother?”

His brows shot up, and I’d caught him in the fucking lie. “That’s right, Father. I know exactly who you are, and even better, I know who the real King is. So, when you make me marry Zeke on Saturday, it won’t help your case. Once the press finds out, you’re royally fucked.”

Even though I knew it wasn’t the right thing to say, even though I knew he would find some other way to fuck me over and hurt me, I did it anyway. Once I found out that he wasn’t my real father I wanted to find some way to hurt him. To put himthrough the same suffering he put me through. It didn’t phase him and he became the same monster he was when I was a kid...

A SCREAM ESCAPED MYlips when he tugged on my hair, pulling me to the chair where he would enact his torture upon me.How could I have let this man around my daughter? What kind ofperson was I to think he could ever be a good human being?

I was slammed against the chair, and my chest and arms were strapped down. Taking advantage of my legs being free, I kicked and screamed bloody fucking murder. I knew no one would be able to save me. They originally deposited me in the dungeon on the estate, but transported me to one of his other torture chambers off the grid.

Zeke was in the room and he helped restrain my legs. The fact that he was here, only meant Lars had something evil planned for me.

For the purpose of the wedding, they had to keep me alive...for now. All I had to do was make it to the wedding day, if I could do that, then I could go through with my initial plan.

Lars was quiet...too quiet. He was arranging tables around me, placing tools just so, and checked my straps. His malicious gaze met mine. “Are you comfortable?”

Comfortable? Are you fucking kidding me? He’d lost his Goddamned mind.

He’d reached a whole new level of crazy. “I know what you’re playing at. Trying to show me who’s boss?” My gaze switched to Zeke. His cruel eyes never left mine. An uncomfortable shiver went down my spine. This wasn’t going to end well for me.

It was now that I really missed Slade. He always made me feel at ease and safe. I could be myself around him, not somestupid Queen who didn’t have a backbone.I just wanted to go home.A tear escaped my eye.I can’t show them weakness.

Lars looked at Zeke, nodded and walked out of the room without a word.Fuck.Zekeenjoyedputting his hands on me any way he could. He came closer, and my heart raced. I didn’t want him to touch me. I didn’t want him near me.

My vision became blurry as if they’d given me some sort of anesthetic when I was knocked out. My breathing quickened, the room was dark and gloomy, with a small lightbulb above my head. A metallic taste entered my mouth and shortly after my tongue went numb.

Zeke chuckled, “You should start feeling the effects of that drug entering your system. I had to make you compliant this time. The first time, you fought me too much”

Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped. I tried lifting my fingers but couldn’t. My arms and legs were restrained, but I tried my hardest to move. He placed a blindfold over my face, and something in my mouth. I tried to scream but nothing came out.

“Don’t worryRaven,I’m going to take my time with you, and then once I’m done, yourfatherwill have his time with you. On our wedding day you won’t be able to fight. You’ll be a Broken Queen begging for release. You won’t get it. You’re going to be chained to me for the rest of your life. That man of yours won’t want anything to do with you once we’re done.”

All hope that I’d had in the past vanished. I was completely and utterly hopeless.

Over two days I seemed to be in and out of consciousness, slowly drifting in and out of reality. Nightmares of past trauma surfaced, reminding me how fragile I was. The things done to me by Lars and Zeke during my lucid moments were atrocities I didn’t wish on my worst enemies. Thoughts of Julianna and Slade, the thought offreedomkept me from giving up.

A gasp escaped my lips and I was awoken with a start when ice cold water was thrown on top of me. I lifted my head off the ground as goosebumps broke out on my arms, and the tattered clothes melded to my body. Cold shivers raced down my spine and my teeth began to chatter.

“Time to wake up, Queen. You have a wedding to get to.”

I laid my head back down, dreading the day ahead, not sure I would survive it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Raven

After Training...Twelve Years Old

Slade kept an arm around me as I leaned into him. I was limping, and weak. The threshold of exhaustion was weighing down on me, and all I wanted to do was pass out in my bed and not wake up.

The long, narrow, and dark hallway led us to the library in a bookshelf that I never realized had a door hidden inside. I winced when the bright lights hit my face. It’d been too long since I had been around to remember what they felt like.

“Where is your bedroom?” His voice was merely above a whisper, but I was grateful to him for it. I was not feeling good, and I think it was due to lack of hydration, and starvation on my part, not to mention the pain I was put through.

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