Page 330 of Evil Hearts

I haven’t given up despite my spent body, but death would be a welcome reprieve from this hell. Today’s special brand of interrogation seems to be talking. They’ve bragged incessantly the last two days about how they got one over on Xaug and how they’ll kill me before he returns citing it as an accident before revealing the truth to him once he’s been poisoned. The only reprieve I take from this is knowing that Xaug is still alive and out of their reach. He may have damned me but he thinks I damned him first. He’s been played as a fool and has no idea.

“Are you done babbling over your plan to take over the world? I’d like to get things started,” I growl, tired of Urzog’s self-righteous monologue.

“I will be finished whenever I please, girl. You are my prisoner and if I want to brag about beating down the daughter of Lilith while simultaneously taking down the savage Orc King, I will and you’ll shut the fuck up,” Urzog snaps, glaring at me like I shit on his hand. I would if I had to shit.

“Since when am I quiet? I have yet to follow any of your commands. You aren’t king and you never will be. Xaug will realize who you are and what you’ve done and then you’ll be the prisoner forced to endure weeks of the cruelness you’ve imposed on me the last two days.”

He pales at my words, quickly trying to conceal his fear over being found out but not being able to fully hide the shake of his limbs. The king’s brother comes by once a day to check their progress, always right before dusk. He left shortly before Urzog began bragging just as every day, his arrogance growing worse the longer he believes he has fooled everyone.

Arietta takes me from my cage and leads me to the chair in the center of the room, the chains on my wrists are meant for power binding, but since I don’t have any powers they are just another pretty decoration for them to tote about. She pushes me into the chair but before she can strap me down, the door shatters, Urzog and her flying in separate directions as the healing witch I have come to know as Meritan rushes in, slapping the same cuffs on both of them, the king’s brother closely behind him.

“What is the meaning of this bullshit? Gets these fucking cuffs off of me right now, Xates!” Urzog thrashes in the chains, spittle flying from his mouth and landing inches from my face.

“You imbeciles aren’t exactly quiet with your proclamations of fooling the King and planning to usurp his throne. I’ve spent the last two days gathering every shred of evidence I need to make this arrest and help my brother see the truth. He will be here shortly to dole out your punishments.”

Conflicting emotions war within me at the thought of my betrothed. My heart aches at the thought of Xaug returning. Fear that he may still not believe me but heartbreak over him killing a guard he’s known his whole life while the rat responsible for his heartbreak went free. What will happen when he returns?

My chains are removed as Urzog and Arietta are pushed into their own cells and locked away and I am escorted back to my room by the king’s brother.

“I am sorry for the mistreatment you have suffered at the hands of Urzog and Arietta at the hands of my brother. He is beside himself knowing that he hurt you. I can assure you that you will be given your freedom when he arrives.”

The king’s brother leaves, closing the door behind him and as I try to open the door, I find I’m locked in again. That seems to be a theme here, always a prisoner of some form. I look around for my belongings and find that they are all just as I left them and opening my bag, I pull my great great grandmother’s necklace from my bag, reading the inscription on the back.

Olanmantra is but a role, encompass it and you shall have power.

Clasping it around my neck as its power heals my wounds and gives me some of my energy back. She gave this to me just before she died and made me promise to wear it every day.

Said it would grant me the power I need to be who I’m meant to become. I don’t know what the fuck she meant but I stopped wearing it after one of my hunts had nearly beheaded me by grabbing the damn near indestructible thing. She was a cooky old witch and succubus but she was kind and compassionate. I loved spending my summers with her on a small farm about a day’s ride from here. My mother always said the necklace looked like a tacky teen friendship necklace and made me hide it during royal events.

My door bursts open and a frantic-looking Xaug rushes in, his hair a mess and his appearance frazzled and dirty as his eyes seek me out. Upon finding me, he rushes to me, a manic look in his eyes as he drops to his knees before me.

“Kyliana, I can’t even begin to describe how sorry I am for not believing you. I shouldn’t have let them touch a single hair on your head and I failed you as your mate and betrothed.”

I stand before him, shocked at his submission as my words flee me and leave me speechless. Xaug remains on his knees, his head bowed to me like I’m a goddess as his shoulders shake. I raise his chin so that I can see his face and am taken aback when I see silent tears trailing down his face. My heart softens for the man I have fallen madly in love with over the last few weeks and I find that his advisor and witches’ cruel actions have not dampened them even a bit. The pull of our bonds attempting to weld us together and my heart trying to pull itself back together as I offer it to the man who shattered it.

My great great grandmother’s words ring through my head.

For love is not meant to be hidden away. It is meant to be gifted at every possible moment and shared with the one who holds the other half of your soul. Grudges are weakness and hatred will spoil your mind and heart. Love and forgiveness will free you from the depths of any tragedy.

I now know what she meant when she said this necklace will give me the power I need as it thrums lightly against my skin.

I take my Orc King’s hand and pull him to stand before me.

“You asked me about the Olanmantra. Why?”

His eyes round in shock but he recovers quickly.

“She holds a trinket that will give me the power I need to rule my kingdom and prevent any war. She is my only hope to survive the coming wars as the other kingdoms become more greedy. Do you know of her?” Hope fills his gaze and I nod.

“My great great grandmother was the Olanmantra though I never called her that. To me, she was Avia. I believe this necklace is what you seek though it can not give you anything but courage and amplification of any powers you hold. She passed it on to me before she died a few years ago. It can not be worn by another without my blessing.”

He steps forward, lightly touching the charm on the necklace, hope and determination filling his eyes.

“I know that I turned my back on you and I know that it was I who betrayed you. Can you find it in yourself to still love me and become my queen? To rule beside me and keep my people safe.”

“Your question was never one that needed to be asked. I don’t know how we will move forward or how we will rebuild the trust that was lost, but I know that we are meant to do it together. The only thing you should know is that if you ever turn your back on me again, I will be ready and I will cut your testicles from your body and wear them as earrings. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Kyliana. I won’t betray your love or your trust. I will see to it that you are well cared for and never sleep alone unless you wish it.”

Placing my hand in his, I pull him to the door.

“We have some treasonous members of your staff to attend to and then we will finish planning our wedding.” He follows me down the hall, our hands interlocked and our strides matching as we make our way to the prisoner cells beneath the castle. I look forward to weeks of inflicting every pain upon them that they did to me and at the end of those weeks, I will suck out their souls and dance on their corpses.

This is happily ever after… for now. More to come in the future so stay tuned!

---