Page 73 of War of Her Heart

“Oh, I’m not worried about Calum. I have no doubt he will fall in love with his fiancée and realize all that he wasted on you. I’d been planning this since that dinner he said ‘he was in love with you.’ You are finally going to be punished for the crime of treason.”

“Treason? What are you talking about?”

“Calum was always going to marry the daughter of a Sovereign. You throwing yourself at Calum, causing him to lose sight of his duty as Sovereign is treason.”

Celine raised a hand to motion someone to come forward from the wall she walked through.

Just then a fae with a horned mask walked through the wall and stood next to Celine.

The mask was so frightening that I shifted my eyes down.

I really wish I hadn’t.

Because what was in his hand was so much worse than the mask. It was a whip covered in spikes.

“Fifty-two years,” Celine began to speak, causing me to look at her again, “you’ve been living in our castle corrupting my son for fifty-two years. So, I can’t think of a better punishment than one whip for every year.”

I felt like I was going to throw up. This had to be a nightmare. I was going to wake up any second, back in Calum’s arms and realize this wasn’t real.

“Take off her clothes.”

The masked fae walked over to me and ripped off my dress. When he got close to me, I realized he wasn’t wearing a mask. It was his face.

I was so shocked that I couldn’t move. Only fae look like humans. Our servants are other types of faeries and creatures. Some made of stone, some covered in fur, and some that could hide in a flower garden and you would never know they were there.

But this . . . thing was different. He had the face of a wild beast with black horns, but the body of a human. I’d lived in the Mountain Realm for as long as I could remember and I’d never seen anything like this creature before.

I was so taken aback by this creature that I didn’t even realize I was completely naked until Celine spoke again. “Turn around and put your hands on the wall.”

I had wrapped my arms around my body. I’d never felt so vulnerable and scared in my life.

Calum was the only one who had ever seen me naked before. But here I was, living in a nightmare.

“Now!” Celine screamed.

I knew there was nothing I could do. Even if I could fight, which I couldn’t because my father had never taught me anything in fear that my heart couldn’t take it, there was no way out.

A witch had allowed Celine and this creature to walk through a concrete wall. I was trapped.

I turned around and did as she said. Maybe if I was obedient, this would be over quickly and she would let me go.

Crack! I let out a scream as the whip hit my back. I felt a warm liquid inch down my back.

“Oh! You were right. The spikes ripped right through her skin. That’s so much better than a basic whip,” Celine said to the thing that hit me.

“Again!”

Crack! I screamed again. This time it hit a different part of my back, but it had the same effect. I could feel the blood running down my back.

“Again. Again. Again. Again.” Celine said it every time. She was enjoying it too much.

I could feel myself getting light headed but I fought through it. I just kept telling myself that it would be over soon and when Calum was back, he would punish her.

“Again!” Crack!

My knees buckled at that last hit. I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them close to hide my face. I couldn’t look at her.

Celine let out a laugh before I heard her walk away. I looked up and saw that I was alone in the concrete box again. I couldn’t stop the tears from coming. That was the most painful thing I’d ever felt.

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