Page 41 of Dynasty of the Wicked

Two soldiers towed Feng Mian a few feet away from them, each holding one of his arms, with their swords drawn in their free hands. He struggled against them, but there was little he could do when they shoved him down on his knees and pressed their blades against his neck.

Wyer stooped down until he was at Zhi Ruo’s level. There was a manic light in his eyes as he spoke next. “You and I will marry right now,” he said, nearly purring out the words. He gripped her face tightly with his hands, his nails digging into her cheeks. “And I’ll fuck you in front of your lover. Maybe I’ll even kill him afterwards. How does that sound?”

All the color drained from her face.

“You finally seem to be understanding,” Wyer said with a laugh, shoving her away from him as he straightened. He wiped his hands together, as if he had touched filth, and peered down at her in disgust. “I would have preferred to wait until we arrived at a different location, but it seems you’re eager to marry and fucksomething. You would stoop so low as to lovethat?” He gestured to Feng Mian, who had gone awfully still, his expression betraying the rage he must have felt. “That is the best you could do? A blind, hideous, cursed thing like him?”

Zhi Ruo pushed herself to her feet, her body swaying. “S-Stop! I won’t marry you. I’ll never?—”

He struck her across the face and she crashed to the ground in a heartbeat. Feng Mian shouted something, and she blinked at the snow. She could feel Wyer kicking her again, her body instinctively curling in on itself, but her thoughts strayed elsewhere—somewhere where this wasn’t happening.

She was reminded of when she was a child. Her mother had died, and instead of comforting her, she had been all alone. Waiting for someone to come to her. Waiting for someone to love her. Waiting … waiting, and waiting.

No one ever came.

No one rescued her.

No one told her it would be okay.

And here she was in the same situation. Dying inside, miserable, stuck somewhere she didn’t want to be. Would she wait for Feng Mian to do something? But she knew, deep down, that there was nothing he could do. How could he help her when he was starved, emaciated, exhausted, mentally drained, and his magic and body bound? There was nothing he could do for her.

Something swirled in the depths of her body, warming her flesh and singeing her bones. Ready to burst, to wreak havoc.

An anger she had never felt before surged to the surface.

Every hit, every kick, every insult thrown at her fueled her rage.

She was reminded of her time in Father’s vicious court. The looks everyone gave her. The sneers. The laughs behind her backs. The eye rolls whenever she spoke.

Like she was nothing—and they’d made her believe it too.

All her pent up emotions rose within her. She grabbed Wyer’s foot before it could connect to her face and shoved it back. “Get away from me!” she screamed, blood and spittle dappling across the snow in front of her. He reeled back, his balance lost and his face wracked with anger. She pushed herself to her feet in that single moment of surprise. “I will never marry you!Never!”

“I have bestowed upon you so many rights that most men would never give you, particularly as a prisoner of war,” he snarled, his hand glowing green once more. “I could have had my entire army rape you! I could have done so much worse to you, you Huo whore. Are you not grateful? Are you not pleased?!”

“You are a monster,” Zhi Ruo snapped, blood dribbling down her cheek as she spoke. She was aware of the dull throbbing throughout her whole body. Her ribs, stomach, legs, face—everything hurt from Wyer’s kicks and jabs and magic attacks.More proof that he was a villain. “You wish for me to be grateful toward my tormentor? You, who keeps me imprisoned? You are a fool to think I would harbor any positive emotions for you!”

He flicked his wrist and a wave of green magic blasted her way. She dove to the side, barely missing the attack as it crashed into a pile of snow and exploded in a mass of greenish energy. Wyer ran to her, and she scrambled up to her feet, flinging snow at him as she did.

“Get away!” Her voice came out shrill as he clamped his hand on her bicep. She struggled against him while he slapped her again. “Get away!”

He slapped her across the face, hard, and magic burned its way through her flesh, tiny welts forming along her skin in seconds. The pain and shock sent her stumbling on wobbly legs. She bucked forward, but Wyer snatched her across the waist roughly.

Just then, Feng Mian roared and broke through the soldiers holding onto him. He managed to disarm one of the soldiers in a split second, jam his sword into the other’s neck, and kill the second in one fluid motion.

“Get him!” Wyer shouted, holding Zhi Ruo tightly. He yanked her hair back until her head slammed into his chest, and held her body against his. He leaned forward, seething into her ear. “I will kill your lover right here, but first I’ll let him watch as I marry you, then fu?—”

Zhi Ruo stopped listening to his threats and could barely feel his rough hands on her, not even when he shoved her to the ground, yanking her head back so she could hear him hiss cruel words at her. Her mind drew a blank as she watched soldiers fill the space, as they tackled Feng Mian, as his blood splattered across the snow and he was beaten.

He shouted for her, desperate and full of rage—he wanted her free, for them to stop hurting her, for Wyer to go to hell. He keptcursing them all. But she could barely hear any of it, as if there was a barrier between her and the rest of the world. She didn’t even notice when Wyer slapped her, when she crashed to the ground, and when he was on top of her.

Something dark rippled in the back of her mind, whirling within her like a pool of black. Rippling further, surging, and freezing her flesh. It was the only thing she could focus on, the dark depths of evil that began to fester within her, growing bigger, and darker, and morelethal.

All at once, she screamed. Loud, guttural,feral—all of her pent up emotions released in her scream. Her frustration, her animosity, her weakness, her uselessness, her complacency, and most of all, and worst of all, her rage that had been building her whole life. It broke through her flesh, and bones, and skin, erupting into the world in a sea of black.

She continued to scream, shoving Wyer away from her. He flew back as purple shadows ripped from her skin, attacking everyone nearby. A whirlwind of black and violet magic escaped from her body, whipping around her like a whirlwind. She yelled, striking a nearby soldier, his neck snapping with a sickening crack.

She didn’t care. She raised her hand and more shadows erupted from the ground. Cracks formed along the earth and vines of evil shadows and magic lashed out, belting the soldiers and yanking them down.

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