Page 44 of Mastering their Maiden

Rober left with the soldier, vowing to return with a whip. A whip the masters in charge here had. He wouldn’t find it. They were miles away in the other village.

The door shut behind them when they left, but not all the way. There was a sliver of fading sunlight creeping through the crack, making an attempt to break up the oppressive silence slowly surrounding me. It caressed my skin, pressing in so tight that I could almost feel Esme’s arms around me again.

No. No, no, no.

I wasn’t going to go back there.

I’d lost my head for a moment in memories, and that’s how I ended up with my skirt pooled at my feet and chained to a wall.

I was stronger than that.

I was no longer that little girl clinging to her sister while a war raged outside. That wasn’t me. I was a fighter now. I’d taken down deer, elk, and other creatures. I’d killed Skepna. I was so much stronger than—

“Well, well.”

My head whipped toward the door, but instead of Rober or more Kavari soldiers, I saw Hoval. His husky silhouette blocked the light for a moment, then he stepped into the stone chamber and shut the door behind him with a soft but ominous thud.

“You thought yourself a savior, Aria, but look at you now. Helpless.”

I shoved away from the wall as much as I could, twisting my body to look at his face. Searing pain shot up my arm, running from my shoulder all the way to my fingertips. I involuntarily turned back, trying to ease the agony but it stayed, burning through my veins like fire.

Hoval laughed and set his cold hands on my waist, then twisted me to face him. My whole body jerked sideways, and I cried out before gritting my teeth and trying to turn away when he took my chin in his hand. He yanked me back, and there was an audible pop that was almost drowned out by the sound of my shocked, agonized cry. Oh, gods, my arm…

“Your mother was the same way you are, you know,” Hoval hissed. “Insolent. Hard-headed. Thought herself strong and clever. Your father indulged her, and they tried to circumvent our laws. And what happened? Their insolence got them both killed, and your sister’s refusal of me got her taken away by those beasts.”

I caught his words about Esme refusing him, and when I turned my head to look in his eyes, they were filled with wicked amusement. He licked his lips, then reached down and cupped my backside to pull me close to him.

“She could have stayed, Aria. I gave her a choice, and she denied me. She denied me, and walked willingly into that brute’s arms and left this village without a fight. Left you without a fight.”

He laughed when I scowled and tried to pull away, squeezing my thigh and pushing it open so he could press me bodily into the wall. “I wonder if she regretted that when she was tied to a bed being ravished over and over. Bred like an animal.”

He was goading me. I knew that. I also doubted it was true based on what I’d seen from the other Kavari. I also ached to reply that Esme was happy. I’d seen that in her letters, and in the way she held that baby in the one drawing. She was happy. I knew that.

And it devastated me.

“Do you think about that? How your sister left you? How everyone leaves you? Even when you beg them not to, they leave.”

Anger made me jerk away from him, which only put more strain on my arm. The pain in the joint intensified, bringing tears to my eyes, which made Hoval laugh.

“It’s unlikely you’ll see her again or meet that babe she bore those traitors. The king won’t want that blood existing in his city.” He smiled when I screamed and cursed at him with every ounce of strength I could muster, rage and horror fueling my moves even though tears streamed down my face. “I’d offer to take your cunt, but I’ll have much sweeter options in a few weeks when those Kavari bastards have been dealt with.”

Through my pain I managed to give Hoval a confused look, because I had no idea what he meant, but he squeezed my jaw tighter, adding a bruising ache to the searing pain making my fingers numb.

“I can’t wait to watch them fall. It’s retribution for the many years I’ve spent giving up women to those bastards and having nothing to show for it. King Ryne promised us rewards for our compromises, and year after year, we get nothing. I’m tired of it. Tired of them, and tired of you.”

He shoved me away, and my feet scraped at the floor trying to stop my body from swinging. “So no, I don’t think I’ll fuck you,” Hoval murmured, and the way he said it made it sound like he was doing me a great disservice. “The king can have you as a hole, or he can let the others have you. It’ll distract him while we reclaim our village, and with our new alliance no one will threaten our power ever again.”

Hoval moved toward the door, and I watched out of the corner of my eye when he paused, looking back toward me with a smirk. “That is, if you can distract him. You may not be as much fun to ride as I assume you’d be. Those traitors didn’t seem to think so, seeing as how they left you in our hands instead of keeping you in theirs.”

He smirked and turned away like I wasn’t worth the breath he’d wasted to insult me, and I hung there, arm and shoulder blazing. The pain was absolute agony, but I didn’t scream. I couldn’t. My voice was gone, so was the ache in my chest. All I felt was the pain in my arm. The throbbing let me know that even if I managed to escape, I couldn’t fight.

And even if I could, nothing would change. I would still be alone. Left behind.

Forgotten.

CHAPTER 16

Aria

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