Page 57 of The Nightmare Queen

She points her narrow finger in my direction. ““IT WAS YOU! YOU KILLED HIM. IT WAS YOU!” Rorin pushes up from the bench hurriedly and braces an arm in front of me. He signals his soldiers, several of them getting up to apprehend her. “YOU TOOK HIM YOU MISERABLE BITCH!”

I stand up slowly behind his arm, and slowly move it out of my way. “I’m going to need you to be more specific, dear.” I call out. “I’ve killed a lot of men in my years.” Stepping up, on, and over the table again I place myself in front of her. When I get too close to the distressed woman she spits directly in my face.

Ooo so we want to play tough girl do we?“Tsk tsk tsk. That wasn’t very nice.”

Her lip curls, “YOU TOOK BARON FROM ME.”

Ah, there it is.“So the little traitor had a little whore.” I croon, egging her anger on. “How sweet.” She’s struggling against the soldiers’ grip on her biceps. “Oh it’s fruitless to fight against them. Funny they hold you back, one of their own, instead of me. How the tides have turned.” She lets out a snarl, saliva foaming and collecting at the corners of her mouth. She’s winding up to spit in my face again but before she can I let one of my tendrils snap around her head sealing her mouth closed. “I wouldn’t do that a second time if I were you.”

Her eyes widen in shock at my magic. “What should we do with her, General?” The men detaining her look over my head and to Rorin.

“I’ll take her, gentlemen.” I say. They don’t respond, the wariness in their expressions deepens. I crane my neck around to see Rorin nod his approval and allow another tendril of my magic to slip out from my skin and bind her wrists together. “There. Much better.” The guards shoot Rorin one more look before passing her over to me.

“You’re really going to letherhandle this?” Mousy’s voice shrill and loud enough for the entire room to hear. I stop in my tracks, waiting for the prince’s answer.

“She has a method, who am I to stop her?” He says disinterested. A small smile tries to slip across my face as I push the woman further out into the hall. Leaning in close, my breath brushes the shell of her ear.

“Hear that? I have a method. Of course, Baron didn’t seem to like my methods too much. Let’s see if you do.”

I brought her back to the same cell I held Baron in. Her blood and snot have created a grotesque pool underneath her hung head, dripping on top of the stain her lover left behind. We've spent most of our time together with her fighting to push out my Wield, to block me from accessing her fears. She didn't do a very good job because it wasn't long when I figured out that abandonment is her biggest one. Little did I know last night I brought that one to life.

She’s now gone quiet. Her whimpers matching the drip of her blood. I tune in every so often to see if her fears are changing. If she has anything interesting about her at all, only thing that I found was the memory of her welp of a father leaving her mother and her to rot on the streets, followed by her mother whoring herself out. I applaud the entrepreneurship her mother had, if only she hadn’t taken a turn for the worse hanging around a little too long with the cretins that crawl about brothels. From there the little snotty wench grew up and met a little traitor. Only he abandoned her too. Albeit at my behest but still.

Poor poor little traitor’s lover.

I’d feel worse if the man she so bravely defended hadn’t sold out all our men with the intention of getting us ripped apart by Hadar’s Guards. I’d stay out of their court business but the one she’s devoted too is the reason I was flayed open on a field. And that is not how I plan to go.

My Wield pulls back just enough for her to catch her breath, maybe give me something other than sniveling. “Are you ready to talk now?” I hum. “I’ll admit, you’ve held out longer than most. You must have reallyloved him.” I purse my lips together considering her. Her rosy hair is drenched in sweat and hangs limply around her face.

“You r-really are as c-cruel as they warned.” She says, her words slurring together.

“That just might be the most interesting thing you’ve said so far, dear.” Her whole body shudders as I slink closer. “Not that I’m expecting a heart to heart or anything. But woman to woman? It’s not my fault I am this way. But I’ll take full responsibility for the fact thatI like being this way.” My finger slides under her chin forcing her to keep holding my stare. “Now sweetheart, answer me this and I’ll make it all stop.”

“I’m n-not telling y-you anything,somnia maga.”Dream witch.

I give her a disapproving look. “Oh dear. Name calling and the wrong answer. How unsurprising.” A tendril spears right through her, her scream loud enough it rattles the rickety metal bars around us.

“Haven’t you had enough?! Just put her out of her misery already.”

I snap the tendril back into me at the intruding voice. “Sir Mousy Buzzkill, everyone.” I throw my arms out to the sides. Unfortunately, he doesn’t take the bait. “Fine.” I concede, dropping my arms back down. “She was getting boring anyways.”

He stares at me dumbfounded. “You’re just going to leave her there? Not even end her life with whatever respect she has left?”

My head jerks towards him, “she lost her respect when she sidled up with a traitor.”

“News flash, Your Highness. We’re all traitors. What makes them so different?” He shouts. There’s a glint in the corner of the dank hall outside the bars, and a pair of green and gold eyes flash my way.

I jerk my chin towards the prince. “She knows information, but she refuses to give it despite my efforts.” My head turns towards Mousy again, “you want to put her out of her misery? Be my guest; I’ll leaveyou to it.” He pales at the suggestion, yanking open the cell door and stomping past me to unlock her chains. Her body thuds into the pool of mucus and blood on the cement.

Her weak voice barely carries her last hiss in my direction, “Somnia maga morieris a malo in ossibus tuis.” Dream witch you will die from the evil in your bones.

Lovely.I send a little wave in their direction while calling out over my shoulder passing up the prince on my way out.

The chaise up in the apartment has been calling to me for the past hour and once I'm finally out of the cells and face to face with it, I collapse. My eyelids fall heavy the minute my head hits the plush velvet. I’d drift off to sleep if not for the incessantly noisy thoughts filtering in from Rorin’s head. “Your mind is very loud.”I send down the seal.

“Then ignore it.”He snaps.

“If it were that easy I wouldn’t be talking to you. Believe me, I don’t like you enough to voluntarily have a conversation.”I snap back at him, and just as everything starts to numb and drift again, the scent of bourbon and citrus fills the room. I crack an eye open to see a scowling princeling standing over me. “You’re staring.” I note while trying to close my eyes again.

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