Page 16 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
Mia once more caught my attention as she pressed her hands into Xavier and shoved, the king momentarily losing his balance as he stumbled back. The queen pushed him again, the two of them nearing the threshold of my prison. Never had I seen them so much as yell at one another, let alone get in physical altercations. How lovely, a show of their so-called unity just before my funeral.
“It is not weak to not wish harm upon my daugh—“
“Donotcall her your daughter. Asher is notyours, she ismine.She will always be mine, even if that means keeping her strapped to a table and bleeding for the remainder of her life!” If I could, I would have laughed at how ridiculous she sounded, but my charred arms and legs left me breathless. Or maybe it was the way they had cut my stomach and split me open like a book, as iftrying to decipher the story of my life over the last year through the pages of my flesh. “Now get out before I kill you!”
Startled, Xavier just stared at Mia. His dark eyes were wide, terror resting in them like a stagnant pool of water—as if the normalcy of such fear brought him some sort of peace. The queen did not let his shock last long before she made true on her promise. I watched in confusion—and amusement—as she began crafting spikes of wood. Then, with a furious scream, she threw her hands forward, sending the sharpened pieces his way. Xavier barely had time to craft a shield of fire before Mia hit her mark. Each fizzled out and burned to dust, but the King had gotten the message. With one last look of what seemed like hopelessness my way, he turned and left, his golden clothes swishing as he did.
Slamming the door, Mia turned to face me once more, her hands falling to her sides. Flustered did not look good on her. Actually, neither did her dress. She was a disaster with her blood-soaked orange hair that had grown past her shoulders and her simple silk dress that clung to her like it was convinced it would get burned too for being ugly if it left her skin.
Silently, she began violently rubbing at her face, smearing the cosmetics that had been so perfectly placed on her. Black was running down her cheeks and red stained her chin. Eternity spare me, was she going insane?
As if she could hear my thoughts, her wide blue eyes met mine, a snarl leaving her lips. “Do not look at me as if you think me less than you! Iraisedyou! I taught you to read when you refused to learn from the tutor. I showed you how to play pianoforte when you felt as if your head might explode from your magic and needed an escape. I held you when the world said you were a monster.” Suddenly she lurched forward, tears trailing down her pale cheeks and landing on my nose. “Whatever you wanted, I gave it to you, Asher! Do you know how many faewould kill to be in your shoes? How can you be so ungrateful, so disobedient?”
Rage clouded my vision, red seeping in from my peripherals. Words evaded me, my voice stolen from the agony of my injuries, but I could still plot—could still think up ways in which I would thank her for her cruelties one day. For now, all I could do was stare at her as I simmered in my fury. And perhaps that was best, because it only seemed to further anger her, too.
Good, let us both wallow in our faults and failures.
“Fine. If you choose silence, then let me choose violence. Theon!” she shouted, her head turning to face the door as it creaked open. Had he truly been lurking around the corner just waiting to be called upon? Pitiful.
I watched as the Shifter stalked forward, a cruel smile spreading across his face—his real one. With a sigh, I prepared for what was to come, knowing that it would be nothing new. Mia had chosen violence decades ago. The only thing that changed was that I realized life could be different.
“You have five minutes to get anything about those wretched creatures out of her before we give up for the day and send her back to her cell.Five minutes,Theon. At least attempt to not disappoint me,” Mia ordered with a tired wave of her hand, disdain coating her voice like honey in a hive. Without so much as another glance my way, she left.
Theon peered down at me through his thick lashes, eyes roaming over my body like a child given a new toy. Fitting, seeing as I had been treated as such my entire life.
Except for with Bellamy and my friends. Never with them.
“Well, Asher, it looks like we are finally in the positions in which we both belong. Me above you and you strapped down, waiting for me.” A growl involuntarily escaped me, my throat raw from so much screaming. A chuckle was his only answer before his fingers delicately traced my jaw, his mouth relaxinguntil it fell open in an ‘O’ as his thumb slid over my bottom lip. Because I was me, I did not think through my anger-fueled response.
Blood sprayed into my mouth as I took his thumb between my teeth and bit down with all my strength, hearing his shriek as a piece of the digit came loose and rolled down my tongue. Closing my throat just before I swallowed, I reared back and spit it at his face. Glee filled me when it hit his open eye and made him scream in further pain. Idiots always made it so very easy.
Tauntingly I bared my bloody teeth, the smile a sinister and wicked thing. Just as I was. No longer would I deny that I had become just as much of a villain as those around me, but I did not fear such a thing anymore. This villain would save the gods damned world no matter how many bodies fell within my wake. Or, at least, I once thought I would.
“How dare you! Each day you remind me more and more how lucky I was to not get stuck with you.” There was a bite to his tone as he spoke about getting “stuck” with me. What I would give to tell him that in his wildest dreams he would still never have me or anything more than an abysmal amount of power in comparison to my own.
Theon shouted curses and gripped his wrist, staring at the place where a nail once graced his thumb. Doubtful he had ever used it for any good, anyways. With all my remaining strength, I cleared my throat and spoke. “If your hands ever come near me again, it will be your throat I rip out with my teeth.”
Each word scratched at me like blades, the pain nothing compared to my other injuries but still enough to leave me breathless. Yet, the pain was worth it, because the anger that blazed within Theon’s eyes was positively delightful.
“You disgusting little wretch!” he bellowed, his hand whipping to the left to grab one of the knives.
As Theon pointed the blade towards me, my mind wandered to a memory of Wrathy, the deep and gravely sound of his chilling voice making my heart ache.“Pain is your friend, an old companion. It cannot win if you do not let it.”
I would not let this pain win. Not after so many, including Wrath, had died because of me. Not when remaining silent and refusing to help the royals was all I could offer now. Wincing at the ripping of my hair as Theon gripped it within his fist, I readied for the new onslaught of agony.
“Let us make the outside match the inside, shall we?” he inquired, smiling once more before he pulled my hair tighter and began sawing it off with the knife.
A rush of horror seemed to overtake my mind, the slicing sound of Theon’s knife merging with the soft clipping of Winona’s scissors. Despite that, I remained still, only a single tear sliding down my temple as I felt his blade hit my scalp at the crown of my head. When he finished, grunting in frustration at my lack of response, he threw the blade. I had only moments to prepare for the slap before his hand made contact with my cheek, my face flinging to the right. His fingers and bloody thumb gripped my jaw, forcing me to look his way again.
“You are worthless, Asher. Now you look it, too,” he hissed. For good measure, he reared back like I had and spit on me, the foul liquid hitting me square on the forehead. I wanted to scream that he knew nothing of my worth. Or better yet, to reach up and snap his neck. We both knew I could do nothing though, so it was really a matter of holding out the remainder of the five minutes Mia awarded him. Just like that, the door swung open.
A sigh of relief escaped my dry and cracked lips. Tish looked ragged, as if she were suffering just as I was. From what I understood, she had been healing a mortal from torture sessions for a year straight. That sort of power exertion was dangerous. Mortals did not help the process in the same way fae did.Now, she had to regularly deal with healing me while poison clouded my veins and a blocker confined my magic. I would feel sympathy if she had not played part in my torment for decades.
“Her Majesty says your time is up and that I am to heal Her Highness,” she said quietly but not softly. In fact, there was an air of authority to her tone.
Theon smiled brightly and stepped back to give the Healer room. Tish eyed him as she stepped up to the table I was strapped to, her stare not leaving the Shifter even as she reached out for my chest. Momentarily, my anguish was heightened, Tish’s power burning through my body like a flame caught on the wind in a forest. Soon though, I was sighing in relief.
Turning, I smiled at Theon. His answering growl sounded like a vengeful beast. If he was already that angry, there was no harm in making it just a bit worse, right?
