Page 22 of Tortured Royals

There’s more moaning, and it’s obvious things are starting to heat up again.“I’m simply trying to understand you,”the female says between kisses.“I’m going to miss you. Are you sure you must leave?”

The guy groans and there are more wet kissing sounds.“If I had a choice, I’d stay here forever,”he says.

“Then stay,”the female pleads.“I love you. You’re my… my Ahalian Touizda.”

Prince Callan mutters a curse. “Stop,” he growls under his breath.

“What did you just say, my precious?”the male in the recording continues.

“I’ve never felt for another, what I feel for you,”the female replies, and even I can hear the waver in her voice. Thelie.But the male in the recording doesn’t detect it.

There’s the sound of more kissing, and then the male says,“I promise this will be the last time my love. But I must go to Rostof tonight. When I return, we can start to build our family. We can go into the country like you’ve always wanted. We can get away from all of this and find a place that’s secluded before they even get here.”

There’s a sharp intake of breath.“Before who gets here?”

“Don’t worry, my love, they will not harm you. They’re only after the queen. And when I give them the plans which detail the layout of the palace, my part will be over.”

“Oh,Uriel,”the female’s voice cracks, and despite earlier when I felt like I could tell she was acting, true sadness coats her words.

The recording ends, and the massive cloud in the center of the room starts to dissipate, the whisps of white smoke simply evaporating until a naked male is revealed. His back is arched, and he remains crouched, his hands and ankles bound in thick chains that shackle him to the floor. Wounds cover his entire body, and his broken wings hang to either side of him, his feathers covered in blood.

Something tells me I know exactly who the male is.Uriel.

“Please,” Uriel begs, barely able to see through two swollen eyes. “I-I won’t take the plans anywhere. I was a fool, brainwashed by the enemy. P-please. I didn’t realize what would happen. I didn’t know what they would do.”

Queen Vespera sneers before her lips twist into a cruel smile. “Oh, I know you won’t take them anywhere, traitor. My daughter has seen to that.”

Daughter?I look to where a figure stands not far from the queen. Soft golden curls hang down to her waist, and golden sparks shine in her pale blue eyes. Strange golden markings cover her entire body, including her face, and she stands tall, her shoulders pulled back.

“Hang on, that would make her Prince Callan’s sister, right?”Shade comments.

The beautiful girl looks young, maybe only eighteen, and her gaze fixes on Prince Callan.

My brows lower.“Yes, it would.”

Prince Callan doesn’t say anything, but he stares back at her, not taking his gaze from her face.

“Wait. Do you think she’s the female from the recording?”Shade says uneasily.

Queen Vespera glares down at the prisoner. “Uriel, for high treason against your queen, you are hereby sentenced to a true death. May your last moments be long and full of agony, and may your memory be forever tarnished.”

Chapter

Nine

~ Princess Blake ~

“Well, that was dramatic,”Shade comments, and she liftsone wing, shielding her face.“Tell me when it’s over, because I’d rather not see skewered angel right now.”

“Queen Vespera might be cruel to use her daughter to extract the truth from him in that way, but she’s not wrong to punish him. He was plotting against her. If it were one of the demons, I’d have to use them to send a message as well.”

“Yes, but you heard her, right? May your last moments be long and full of agony? I’m not sure I want to know what an angel torture and execution looks like.”

Queen Vespera turns to her daughter, and there aren’t any words exchanged. The queen simply stares at her expectantly, and her daughter steps to the end of the dais, her face expressionless.

“No, Mirelle, don’t,” Prince Callan mutters under his breath, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

I figure that must be his sister’s name.Mirelle.I try to recall the lessons I received regarding angel royalty, but I can only remember being schooled about Queen Vespera’s sons. There was never any mention of a daughter.

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