Page 77 of The Hidden Falling
“Rhea caused the deaths of six Elite trainees when we were in The Deadlands searching for Sarah. She admits to their murder, but she also had Sarah hidden in her home where we went to get our injured Elites healed. We asked her and showed a sketch of Sarah. She and others stated she had no idea who she was and told us she was probably dead if she ventured into The Deadlands. They clearly lied as we found her healing from injuries in a room in a cabin. Her pack also didn’t tell the truth when we went around and asked them about her. They are all guilty of that crime, and hiding that they had created a pack.
“More lies and manipulations,” Lord Higher Charles murmurs as the rest of the Highers mumble their agreements.
Darius walks closer to the steps at the bottom of the dais, and I watch his every move as he pulls out the crystal he held in Eridian. “This crystal was given to me by Higher Aldus.”
That has to be the man that was in Eridian, that caused all of this with that crystal. How did a Higher get there? I scan the Highers in their seats, but none of them speak.
“Yes, you said as much when we briefly spoke. Unfortunately, Higher Aldus had to attend an urgent meeting that cannot be missed so he had to be absent today. He did confirm he handed the memory crystal to you after he traveled to meet with Maize to check on the progress of your search for Sarah,” Lord Higher Charles states. Maize informed a Higher where we were living? Fury runs through me. “He also confirmed he found it in the place where these traitors were living.”
A memory crystal? Found where we were living?
“The memory crystal showed me Rhea performing some sort of ritual,” Darius continues, his eyes coming to mine as I shake my head. “That ritual cursed Vrohkaria and brought the rogures to cause havoc across the lands, slaughtering and tearing villages and towns apart,” he tells the room, turning the crystal over in his hands.
Shouts echo around me as my wide eyes look from Darius to the crystal, and then back again. “That’s impossible. It’s not true,” I shout at him, my chest heaving at the thought. My words are ignored as people curse at me, letting me hear their words of how I should pay for my treason. Hanged, stoned and whipped over something I didn’t do. My panicked eyes turn to Josh, his mouth moving, but no sound reaches me. They’ve blocked sound from escaping the barriers, not letting us be heard until they want us to be.
Darius passes the crystal to Lord Higher whose eyes go dull as he holds it, sparks coming from the object. “What Darius has stated is the truth. This is a grave crime you have committed against Vrohkaria. You have committed treason against us all, against your own kind.” Charles passes the crystal to the other Highers, waiting until they have all seen this apparent memory of me bring the rogures upon us as I shake my head. “You are a disgrace to our kind. Tell me.” He leans forward in his seat, dark eyes penetrating mine. “Why did you cause the lands to be plagued?”
“I didn’t,” I grind out, and Darius shakes scoffs at me, his anger penetrating through the barrier.
“The evidence is damning,” Lord Higher Charles barks, the sound sharp enough to rattle my bones, making me feel like a little girl again. Defenseless. Weak. “You cannot deny what we have seen with our very own eyes!”
“Can you deny what I’ve seen withmyown eyes? What had been done to me?!“ I scream back at him, my chains rattling as I bring them up and bang on the barrier. His eyes turn hard as pain rattles through me again, a warning to not say any more. I grit my teeth as he keeps a neutral expression on his face. A perfected facade.
“Why would the Highers and I take anything that you say as true? Why would anyone?” he says, and I grind my teeth. “You have lied and manipulated. You ran away from your pack,stolea child and blocked his memories. You killed Elite trainees and took a person of interest, kept them hidden whilst also failing to inform us that you had formed a pack. On top of all that, you have performed a ritual and brought savage creatures to Vrohkaria that slaughter and kill anyone they come across,“ he spits. The Highers murmur in agreement as more shouts from the people around the hall lash out at me while the Elites growl, glaring down at me.
“I didn’t perform any fucking ritual. I have no idea what you are talking about!” I glare at Darius. “What you saw is wrong. What you all saw is wrong.”
“Memory crystals cannot be changed,” Darius tells me. “They cannot be tampered with.”
“That is a lie because it obviously has been,” I grind out, my body shaking at the implication of what they are saying, but I didn’t do it. “I didn’t do it.”
I would never do such a thing, even if I knew how.
“You’re lying again, Rhea,” Darius snarls. “Your sins are put out before you, and you don’t even have the decency to tell the truth.”
“I am telling the truth,” I shout. “I know nothing of a ritual. Know nothing about how the rogures came to be! They kill everything and anything. What reason would I have to do that when we are all in danger from them?!”
“That’s what you’re going to tell us,” Lord Higher Charles says, and I scream. My body feels like it’s being hit with raw electricity as my back arches from the pain coursing through me. I fall to my knees, chained hands on the floor as I feel blood trickle out of my nose. “Tell us why you cursed the lands and how we can stop it.” I stay quiet, panting through the lingering pain when it hits me again.
I fall on to my side, my whole body shaking, and I bite my lip on a cry as my blurry eyes find Kade. He’s finally looking at me again, finally giving me his blue eyes that I have seen every emotion in. Except hate. That’s how he’s looking at me right now. His eyes are full of hate, and a strangled sob escapes me at the sight, but I quickly quiet as the violet glow fades from the barrier and the pain slowly subsides.
“Thirty lashes, maybe that will loosen her tongue,” a different Higher says, and the crowd all cheers and shouts their approval. I stumble to my feet, my hands clenching as I glare at them all while my body aches.
I bring my hands up and wipe the blood from under my nose when the chain attached to the one linking my wrists together suddenly pulls me downward. I’m thrown to the ground, my knees hitting the floor, and I hiss. I pull at my hands, but they are locked in place on the floor, I’m immobile. I can’t stand, I can only stay on my knees as the barrier around me blinks out.
I lift my head, watching as Maize approaches the Highers with a whip in her hands. She bends at the waist, presenting it to them. Lord Higher Charles tilts his head, looking over at me before he turns, his gaze landing on Darius with a sadistic smile on his face. “As Alpha of the Elites and with Rhea extending your search, therefore keeping you from protecting our lands, I think you should do the honors.”
Forty One
Rhea
Hewouldn’t,wouldhe?
Darius looks at Charles while the other Elites look around the room in silence. Charles continues to stare at Darius, his smirk never wavering. “I’m sure this will quell the rage within you at her deceit for a little while. This can be my gift to you, for all that you have done for Vrohkaria and all that you will continue to do,” he tells him. When Darius doesn’t move, Charles tilts his head at him.
Darius reaches a hand out toward Maize and grabs the whip by its black, worn handle. I swallow roughly. He pulls back slowly, letting the leather strips of the whip fall, the pieces nearly touching the floor. I swallow, looking it over from where I’m restrained, hands clenching. I pant through my nose, and I see Josh beside me, banging on his barrier the best he can, veins straining against his neck as he shouts, but I hear nothing. I just see the panic in his eyes. I look over at Kade, seeing his eyes widen slightly at what Darius holds, but he quickly clears his expression and looks down.
Is he still in there? Does he feel anything for what’s about to happen to me? Does he not care anymore?
