Page 4 of Cages and Crowns
Despite the predicament we are all in, everyone here in Rakushia could have done more. Could have done more to stop this, more to protect Elaenor, more to reduce the number of deaths. Even Theo could have done more. He expressed his concerns about Tobias to me when we first met. I should have listened, and he should have done more to convince me.
Maybe none of this would have happened if wealldid more.
“I saw Enzo leave; does he have any news about Elaenor?” Laenie’s soft voice is the only thing keeping me from throwing something at Erik.
“No, he had nothing to say aboutElaenor.” I scoff.
“Have you seen his hair?” Erik asks, his voice quieter. I meet his gaze and nod. I still hold hope that maybe we are wrong, that maybe Kassius truly doesn’t know what the light hair means. “He said he can’t feel her anymore, whatever that means.”
“He’s said that for three months, Erik. Nothing has changed other than his hair. How do we even know if he is telling the truth? What if they really are the enemy? How have you both come to trust them already?” I question as irritation and nausea bloom in my belly, fighting for dominance. I run my fingers through my long hair, but they get caught in the tangles and I abandon it, throwing it back over my shoulder. I really should bathe; I can’t even remember the last time I changed clothes.
“They have been nothing but kind, Scarlett, how can you even say that?” It seems Laenie has taken that as a direct insult. I think out of all of us, she has fully become a subject of Rakushia in more than just name. She loves it here.
“We don’t know if what they say is true. What about what Tobias said and did? What about whatViktorsaid and did?”
“Wealwaysknew they weren’t good people, Scar.” Erik interjects.
“Doesn’t matter. We were still fooled. Tobias still killed Rhea, and Theo,andDonovan. He is still torturing Elaenor while we sit here and drink expensive wine and wear nice clothes.”
“No, that is whatyouare doing, Scarlett.” Laenie’s voice raises in volume, iciness replacing the usual warmth. I turn to face her to see her brows are furrowed and her jaw is clenched. “Youare the only one who is doing nothing to help. We are all trying to get Elaenor out of there. You are the one wasting away in here being nothing but analmost-royal pain in the ass.” My eyes widen in shock as she stands and heads to the door. “Get your shit together and do something or do us all a favor, and leave.” She steps around the table and Erik stands to follow her out.
“Laenie–” I start, but Erik raises his hand.
“She’s right, Scarlett. You’re going to lose her too if you don’t change.You’re going to lose everyone, and there aren’t many of us left.” His lips press into a thin line before he steps into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
I scream and throw a pillow at the spot in the doorway they just vacated, but it barely makes it across the table.
That’s twice now that someone has given me an ultimatum and I fucking hate it. There isn’t anything I can do. I am powerless, both figuratively and literally. I have nothing to offer. I have no skills, no strength and no stupid magic that everyone else seems to have. I have nothing. I blink away the tears filling my eyes as I lean back into the sofa.
Birds are chirping outside, the wind lightly whistling through the trees. It sounds peaceful, like what a normal life would entail. But that is not what I feel. I don’t feel peaceful and happy. I don’t feel content.
I feel lost.
Chapter Two
The Caged
One Month Ago
The cuffs dig into my wrists and ankles with every movement. The collar stabbing into my throat, cutting so deep it nearly hits my spine, but I don’t give him the satisfaction. I don’t let myself feel the burning, all-consuming pain encompassing my whole body. Even as I feel each flick of his wrist, each time the blade slices through skin and muscle. Each time he begs for me to scream, I don’t.
I haven’t in weeks.
I don’t whimper. I don’t beg. I don’t plead. I take it. He wants to see me in pain, but he won’t.
Not anymore.
I feel nothing. I don’t feel sorrow or anguish. I don’t feel the empty pit in my heart where Theo and Donovan’s corpses will always sit. I don’t feel the longing I used to feel. The longing for acceptance, for love. I feel absolutely nothing. I am numb.Ihaveto be numb. I won’t survive otherwise.
“I have to say, my love, your behavior is…surprising. Are you not afraid?” He asks, his voice filled with dark amusement as he picks up another instrument from his table of torture devices. The table that keeps growing and growing as the bladesmiths continuously construct some new contraption to inflict as much pain as possible. I wonder if they know it isn’t a criminal being subjected to their masterpieces, but instead their queen. The one they are sworn to protect with their life.
Tobias has kept me in the dungeon for a while, but I can’t be exactly sure how long. There are no windows, so the passage of time is an illusion. It could be minutes or days, it could have been months, and I wouldn’t know the difference. A year could have passed, and it would have felt just as long as a single day.
This is the same place he held Jeremiah all those months ago. The same place he holds all of the prisoners he wants something from.
But what does he want from me other than the satisfaction of seeing me bleed?
Of seeing me in pain?
