Page 35 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile
She screamed again.
“Brother…” Alarin pleaded. “Do not make me do this.”
“I need her broken,” Rioner snarled. “And you’ve all just informed me this is the best way. And… I won’t lie. The Death Whisperer believing she is already dead? He won’t survive it. Not after everything they’ve been through. It’ll give me some more time to figure out what to do with all of you.”
No.
Lessia lifted her head from the floor.
Ignoring the panicked looks from the three others chained to the wall, she made herself face her father.
“Please,” she begged him, her voice so small she wasn’t certain if he heard her.
But he couldn’t miss the agony she was sure warped her face.
“Please,” she whimpered again.
She couldn’t do this to Merrick.
Not yet.
Shewoulddie.
Probably soon.
But she’d promised him more than one night.
You had two.
She felt like screaming again at the voice reminding her of what she’d thought earlier.
It wasn’t enough.
Two nights weren’t enough.
“Do it,” the king ordered. “Now!”
“No!” Frelina screamed from where she struggled against her shackles. “Father, no!”
Her father’s eyes left hers to look at her sister, and his face crumpled as he stared back and forth between her and Frelina.
Lessia couldn’t breathe.
Scrambling up to sitting, she didn’t care about trying to shield her bare torso.
Instead, she started crawling toward her father.
Toward the king.
She… she needed to kill him now.
Because if she was actually broken…
If her father followed through…
She might not have the strength left.
She needed to fulfill the prophecy.
