Page 15 of Madness

I fisted my hands inside my pockets until my knuckles became white. Light shone through the cracks between the boards that covered the broken windows in the halls beside her. The light framed her face and gave her an angelic hue, but her expression was anything but angelic. It was determined and savage. Part of my chest became tight with overwhelming joy at how much the look reminded me of the girl I fell in love with every night. This was really her.

“Because I saw the Day of Ruin coming. Because I still saved as many Nymphs as I could without being noticed, despite seeing every single one of them being taken into enslavement. And you know what?” I shrugged and nudged her with my elbow as we came to a stop outside a door.

“What?” she whispered.

“Nothing bad came of it.” I sighed, long and slow. “Until now.”

Ryker chewed her lip, an absentminded action that caught my eye. The white of her teeth dug into the pink flesh of her lip, raking over it slowly until her plump lip was untouched once more.My attention traveled back to her gaze, to find her watching me back, examining my face again. The slightest heat crept up my neck.

She swallowed. Her hand caught on the doorknob and she opened the door with a slight smile. “I know this isn’t the room you stayed in, someone already claimed it, but hopefully it will do.”

I tossed a half-hearted glance at the room. Medium sized with fluffy bedding, a bathroom, and a couple of broken windows. She could have shoved me into a broom closet and called it my bedroom and I would have happily cuddled with the hard end of the mop.

“It’s perfect. One question though,” I held up a finger. “Where is your room? You know if I need to find you to…ask more questions...or if I think of some other sort of important information?”

She hid a cough behind her fist as she cleared her throat and pointed with the other hand. I followed the imaginary line from her finger to the door she pointed at, just three doors down on the left.

“And Daethian is across the hall from me if you ever need him.”

Why would I need the boyfriend/not boyfriend?It was a battle not to roll my eyes. So instead, I took a step into my room.

“Rest, someone will be back with food for you. Hopefully a healer as well, if she isn’t too caught up with all the people already crammed in there. On second thought, I better go and check on her myself.” She bowed slightly, reaching for the door handle.

“Ryker?” I asked, stopping her in the doorway.

“Yes?”

“For what it’s worth, I tried to save you too. On more than one occasion I attempted to come to the Heathern Court and bring you back to the refuge, but my dad always managed to stop me.” I frowned, waiting to see what my confession might cause her to do.

My father had always dreamed about me. Every wrong was always reprimanded and corrected because of what he saw, and somehow he always saw himself stopping me from rescuing Ryker.

Part of me expected Ryker to be mad that I never saved her. She should have been angry about every year she lived in this hell hole, being punished day after day for the smallest of offenses.

But she chewed her lip, again.“You’ve already saved me, Dace,” she said quietly, flashing me a gentle grin before the door clicked shut behind her.

The halls of the castle were busier than ever. Nymphs took full advantage of every resource that this location could offer and every activity they had long been deprived of.Everyactivity.

Delicious food was being consumed at all hours as the kitchen was rarely closed. Training arenas were being built in the long valley to the side of the main courtyard.

And parties, lots of parties were being thrown. I had yet to attend, but I could still hear the music in passing, often catching glimpses of the small crowd of people that would gather in someone's bedroom as they danced in a small mob.

There was sex. Loud moaning surprised you when you turned the corner and found two, or more, people intertwined.

Everything had been so strict for so long that it seemed no one felt the need to abide by almost any rule. Not that I had set any, but you would think common decency would. Ever since I was a child, my parents had taught me about the seriousness of choosing your mate. Every intimate action with someone would leave their scent on your skin in some way, shape, or form. Like the bite the tamer had left on my neck but that was fading even now.

The scent of arousal and the heightened aura of consensual sex left the entire building reeking of sweat and orgies. These Nymphs didn’t care if they smelled like one, two, or three other lovers.

I saw the appeal, I really did. Sometimes I caught the perfume of lust that hung heavy like a morning fog in the air or heard someone cry out in pleasure, and it struck me low in my stomach. Mother, this place was quickly becoming some sort of brothel and I wanted to sell my virginity to the highest bidder.

But I wouldn’t. These people kept looking to me for guidance. I couldn’t be one to frolic around carelessly. My leadership was what was holding them steady. Freedom, with a dash of revenge.

Sometimes it was a welcome distraction. My mind still backtracked over everything that had happened in such a short time. Hattie was still missing. King Ganglin was still missing.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I walked by a room with the door cracked open, revealing two very eager bodies pressed together, on my way to my own private space. The shortsword that I’d found and claimed as my own bounced against my skin with every step. The potential for this weapon had grown on me; I clung to it even when I wasn’t out on the field trying to learn how to wield it, just so I could be sure that no one else could take it.

I hadn’t a clue who it had belonged to, or if it was King Ganglin himself who had owned it, but it was mine now. A large red jewel glittered on the bottom of the hilt, winking at me in the light. My hand often floated to my hip to rest against it, as I had seen Dace do on more than one occasion with his daggers.

My gaze traveled down to Dace’s door. I hadn’t seen him emerge from his room yet, though I was assured by the healer that he was doing well. At night I prayed that Mother Nature would bless Suzetta, our most gifted healer. She was a natural, even after all these years, and she had accepted the task of tending to all of the Nymphs from the refuge with grace. I sighed, turning as I heard a door open and my name called behind me.

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