‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
"You stupid girl," Sable said, shoving me down the hall. I struggled against him, my breathing heavy as he led me down the candle-lit corridors. "I told you not to do this."
"I saw an opportunity," I said, that only made him hold me tighter. He was practically seething behind me. His shadows were wrapped tightly around us, keeping us half-hidden from view.
"You know what I have to do now, don't you?" Sable said, bending low to speak in my ear. Nobility and servants were coming out of their chambers to see what was going on. My cheeks were flushed blue as he pushed me forward.
When I didn't answer he growled. "I have to take deserters to the king." Fear colder than my own power swirled deep in my belly. I felt a shudder go down my spine and my shoulders bumped into Sable's chest.
"Why?" I gasped. I dug my heels into the carpet, trying to stop our journey onwards but, much like the first time, it did nothing but force Sable to push me harder. I growled as he tightened his grip until it was near bruising.
"Did you forget you're technically one of the king's soldiers?" he said. His smell of leather and embers wafted into my nose from how close he was standing next to me. I grit my teeth against the way my mouth watered. What an awful thing to think about at a time like this... "Running away is desertion, Eira."
"I wasn't-"
"You were," he said, his voice sharp as razors. "You stupid girl, you were trying to escape. You're lucky I found you before those soldiers sent iron arrows flying at you."
"I...Iron arrows?" I spat out. The word sent another tremble through my body. I hadn't forgotten those iron cuffs they had clapped onto my wrists when I first got here. They reduced my powers and weakened me. Not to mention they had burned like hell. Iron was a fae's natural enemy, everyone knew that.
"Haven't heard of them?" Sable asked, his mouth turned up cruelly. "Well, I can assure you those would have been more appeasing than whatever punishment is about to be delivered."
"What do you mean punishment?" I asked. Those two servants from before, the women in the hall, glared at me as I passed. I offered them a grin in return.
"Did you think you'd get away with a slap on the wrist?"
"I have wishful thinking," I muttered. Sable sighed sharply. I saw those two silver doors looming up before us at the end of the hall and I felt my stomach grow sour. My legs turned leaden and I felt like vomiting. In fact, a little bit did come up, I did my best to swallow it down.
Sable threw out a hand and a tendril of darkness shot out faster than a striking viper. It wrapped around the handle and pulled against it, I felt his hard muscles tense against me. He felt like iron himself.
The door was pulled open and Sable pushed us through. I was immediately greeted by a terrible force wrapping itself around my body and pulling me away from Sable. I felt his hand grip onto my arm before being forced to release me. I couldn't help the scream that was ripped from my lips as I flew through the air and slammed into something hard. Correction, my neck slammed into something hard. A hand. A hand was wrapped around my neck, and was squeezing...hard.
"I heard you've had quite the enjoyable evening, Eira," King Gabriel said, his fingers tightening around my throat. I choked at the feeling of my oxygen stopping in the middle of my wind pipe. Gabriel was a tall man, and as he held me by the neck, my feet couldn't touch the ground. I kicked my legs but they did nothing but stir up air.
"You've been here for only two months, yes?" Gabriel said. I didn't bother responding. My head was pounding harder than a hammer on an anvil. Blood was rushing in my ears and I could feel the blood pooling in my face. My vision was blurring and going dark at the edges.
"Well, I would say I was surprised at your act of defiance, but I knew something like this would happen, though the others waited till at least three months. An early bloomer, aren't you?" Others? What did he mean? I pushed at Gabriel's hands, which were like thick bands of metal around my delicate neck. I. Couldn't. Breathe. My lungs were on fire. Did I ever mention how much I fucking hated fire?
"Well, like I said to the others, all dogs in training need to be disciplined at one point. But don't get me wrong, your act of rebellion was admirable. The fact that you thought you could get away with it amuses me. I heard you got quite far before my killer caught up with you." My hearing was going fuzzy now and I could feel my head lolling to the side. Unconsciousness urged me into its awaiting arms.
"My lord," a voice came through the fuzziness. Sable's voice. He sounded concerned. I had never heard him sound concerned before. "You're killing her."
Gabriel glared down at me, his eyes scanned my face, and I saw something stir in them. It was as if he was contemplating seeing how long I would last. He gave me throat one last squeeze before giving a disgusted scoff and throwing me away from him.
I flew through the air before slamming into something hard. I felt two thick arms wrap themselves around me. Someone was holding me. I kept my eyes closed as I forced air through my throat. My lungs were screaming for oxygen and I sucked it in greedily. When I finally found the strength to open my eyes, it was to the sight of two gray orbs hovering above me. Sable's face came into focus. He looked...worried? Maybe I had died.
"Sable, strap her on," Gabriel said. I snapped my head up to see that a structure had been set up in the middle of the throne room. It was a tall, wooden pole, with two circular cuffs attached to the sides. A whipping post.
"No," I whispered, my throat ached too much to speak.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Sable whispered in my ear. He carried me over to the post while I stayed struggling in his arms. A group of nobility had gathered into the throne room, all speaking in excited, hushed tones. It looked like they were waiting for a show. It struck me then that they were. I was the show. Gods above...
"Sable, please," I whispered, struggling as he let me go and my feet hit the ground. He pushed me down to the ground, my knees slammed into marble.
"Quickly, Sable." The King said. I glanced up to see him reclined in his throne, a goblet of wine hung precariously from his fingers. He was waiting for the show too. I felt tears stir in my eyes as I faced the whipping post. Iron cuffs were drilled into it. Another thing to weaken me.
Sable's fingers tugged at the ties of my billowy white shirt. I slapped his hands away. "Eira-"
"Rip it off. She doesn't deserve any shred of dignity, does she?" I looked up to see he was talking to the crowd. They all gave cheered their agreement, raising their glasses in a shared answer. Horror struck a chord deep within me. Everyone in this room was a monster.
"No, don't-" My words were cut off by the sound of fabric ripping. I watched as Sable tore the shirt off of my back and flung it to the floor. He then ripped the breast wrap off of me as well. Quick and Harsh. He didn't touch my skin. He grabbed my wrists before I could raise my hands to cover my now completely exposed torso. He forced my hands into the cuffs above my head and I winced as my skin touched the iron.
"The whip," Sable commanded, his voice gruff. A guard in armor stepped forward and handed him a dark black whip with a brown handle. I swallowed at the sight, beginning to tremble. Goosebumps erupted over my bare skin, my nipples hardened and I heard others chuckle at the sight. I was too distracted to blush.
I was facing the king now, whose eyes were steady on me. He kept his gaze on my face, not on my chest, that was how I knew the whipping was much more interesting to him than my breasts. He truly was a monster.
"Twenty lashes," Gabriel said, taking a long sip out of his goblet. "For how many minutes it took my killer to reach you." I felt my stomach turn leaden and my eyes fill with tears. I had never been whipped before, not even by my fathers belt. My parents didn't believe in physical punishment.
My heart was a nervous flutter in my chest and I felt my power stir desperately inside me. The cuffs blocked any from coming out though. Gods damn. I heard Sable shuffle behind me, and the sound of leather groaned. I didn't close my eyes as I waited, I wasn't going to look like a coward in front of the king. I wouldn't show him how much this terrified me.
"One," Sable said. And then there was a whistle and a blade dragged itself across my back. For my credit, I did not scream the first time. I didn't make any noise, my jaw was clenched too tightly to do so. I simply flinched forward into the wooden post, trembling harder than a candle in a breeze.
"Two." The whip came down again. Fire spread itself across my back and I pressed my forehead into the post. I would not scream. I would not cry. I was a warrior. I was ice.
"Three." Another whistle, then fire. I had to keep my eyes pinched closed now as the fire erupted, blazing even hotter over my skin. I didn't like fire, I was made of ice, fire was a foreign enemy to me. I had been forged in frost, not fire.
"Four." The whip came down again, slicing from me from my shoulder to my hip. I jolted forward, pressing my forehead so hard into the post that I was surprised the wood didn't crack. I fought against my iron restraints but that only made my wrists burn tenfold. There was no escape from this torture.
"Quiet as a mouse," Gabriel said, after Sable had given the eighth lash. I was sweating now, and trembling harder than I ever had before. My knees were bonking together and my jaw ached from clenching my teeth so tightly. "You have to give the girl credit. Lets see how long she lasts." Laughter erupted across the room and I sighed sharply, feeling a tear work its way down my cheek and drip down to the ground. It left a patch of ice where it landed.
"Twelve more," Sable whispered to me. Twelve more. It sounded like an eternity. I simply adjusted my stance, keeping my back arched away from him. The pain had increased to a terrible agony now. I could barely keep myself from gasping from it.
"Ten," Sable said, after delivering the ninth. On the tenth blow, I felt my skin split and cold blood seeped down into the waistband of my pants. This time...I did scream. I couldn't keep it in. The scream was a little thing, breaking off in a sob. Ten more, ten more, ten more. I couldn't last. I wouldn't be able to do it.
The next five blows were the worst. The fire had blazed to a great inferno, and I couldn't handle it. Everytime the whip landed on me, I screamed. Each time louder than before. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I was begging Sable to stop. I didn't care how desperate I sounded, I just wanted him to stop. Anything to make it stop.
After the seventeenth blow, my body crumpled, my legs giving out. The cuffs were the only thing keeping me standing. I had somehow moved past the pain at that point, floating above it all. I knew I was balancing on the cusp of consciousness. The edges of my vision were darkening and I begged for sleep.
Another blow landed and a small part of me heard myself scream, heard myself sobbing, but I didn't register it. Then, the strangest thing happened. Something warm and soft brushed my arm and shoulder, and then worked its way up to my face. It felt like a caress, comforting and reassuring. I leaned my head into it, letting it soak up the tears on my cheeks. It felt oddly nostalgic. And then, that softness slipped under my nose and darkness crowded into my vision.