Page 114 of Oaths & Vengeance
Everyone’s attention was on me as I clutched the sheet tightly to my chest, intimidated by their stares. It was clear that I wasn’t getting out of this until I gave them an answer, and I might as well get it over with so we could be done with it. “Lord Morgunn and his son, Ulmar.”
Audible gasps and curses sounded.
Darrow clenched his fists. “Why?”
“Breaking his rules, defying him, and especially anytime I tried to prevent him from attacking your villages and killing innocent people.” I let out an ironic laugh. “You have no idea the price I paid to get him to stop slaughtering Veronnian villagers for all those years.”
Jax cursed under his breath, probably remembering what he’d said to me at dinner last night. It wasn’t as if he could have known, though. While it wasn’t uncommon for fae to punish their offspring or charges like me, they usually didn’t resort to the type of violence that I endured with my uncle.
Bogdan took a step into the room, frowning at me. “Whip injuries typically heal without a scar, but yours didn’t. Why?”
“They kept an iron cuff on me,” I said, shrugging. “Years ago, I fought back with my wind powers, and they decided to avoid that happening again and make me suffer longer afterward.”
Darrow stepped closer to me and lifted my chin to meet his gaze. “When was the last time they did this to you?”
I pressed my lips together, but the look in his eyes said he wouldn’t let go until I answered him. “The night I met your mother when they couldn’t find me in time to attack Veronna,” I admitted, taking a deep breath. “I was still healing when you saw me at the ball, but my glamour covered up the marks.”
He stared up at the ceiling for a minute as if asking for patience from the gods. “Why didn’t you tell me back then when we were alone?”
“It’s not as if you could have done anything about it, and maybe…” My voice trailed off.
Darrow let go of my chin, but his focus remained on my face. “Maybe what?”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t care what happened. I was in a bad place and couldn’t handle it if that was the case,” I replied, giving him the truth.
Darrow rubbed his forehead. “I’ve told you time and again that you matter to me.”
“Yes, but why? Is it because I can open portals for you that no one else can? For most of my life, that’s all that has mattered to most people—my usefulness.” I gestured toward his sister and friends. “Isn’t that the only reason they tolerate me?”
Faina opened and closed her mouth before looking away.
Loden stepped forward. “Maybe it was in the beginning, but you’re more than that to us now, Aella.”
“Why?” I asked, gripping my sheet tighter. “What changed? You all barely know me beyond what your spies have dug up for you. Don’t feel sorry for me over a few scars on my back because that isn’t why you should suddenly give a damn about someone.”
“We know there’s more to you than that, whether the information comes from spies or our interactions with you, Aella,” Darrow said, frustration written all over his face as he ran a hand through his loose hair. “That must be the other reason Lord Morgunn placed the curse on you, so you can’t escape his abuse.”
“Which is why this conversation is pointless becauseyoucan’t save me. My sister searched for a way around it, and so did my cousin Tadeus. He hates his father as much as I do,” I said, glancing at the others. “That’s the reason I avoid discussing it, since there’s nothing anyone can do. My uncle could beat me to death, and no one person in the realm can stop him.”
The air in the room thickened even more as the others gave each other long looks.
“We’ll find a way to free you,” Darrow vowed, shoulders tight and rage reflecting in his gray eyes.
Faina nodded. “Yes, we will. He has no right to treat you that way, especially when you came into his care because you lost your parents. It’s his duty to protect you, not hurt you.”
She truly looked enraged on my behalf when she’d always been standoffish before.
I shook my head. “I think my father knew what kind of man Lord Morgunn was and never left me alone with him,” I admitted, recalling those early days when my abilities first appeared. “There were a couple of times that my uncle tried to force me to develop my powers faster, but Dad intervened. I had no one left to protect me after he was killed.”
There wasn’t anything they could say to that, considering it was Darrow and Faina’s sire who murdered mine. On the other hand, my father had taken down their grandfather. We had so much violent history between us that I couldn’t fathom why they cared about my scars. They were so insignificant compared to the lives lost over the centuries in a feud that I wasn’t sure how it had truly started. I’d yet to find time to investigate the matter further.
Darrow cleared his throat. “I need everyone to leave the room…now.”
No one protested, and within a minute, Faina pulled the door shut behind her.
“I should take another bath,” I said, heading for the washroom.
“Aella,” Darrow said just before I reached it.
