Page 99 of The Cerulean Sister
"No, thank you," I say.
"Go on," he urges.
The small tug against my throat reminds me how easily he can squeeze it again. My arm closest to the platter loosens, my hand free to serve myself.
"My pet loves sweets,onlyeats sweets." He smiles and continues his game now with a more dangerous audience.
The static in the room feels charged by 99's anger, his armor almost vibrating, not pressing against Lord Hollis's gifts but fighting to stay perfectly still.
I lift my hand and press a bouncy roll between my fingers, the sugary grit no longer bringing me joy, only reminding me how sore my teeth and empty my stomach will feel no matter how many I eat.
99 can see the disgusted look on my face, his head tilted like he knows what is happening. Like this type of torture is well known and Lord Hollis is performing it to show him just how in control of me he has been.
"Every day, she eats them until she is full and bursting. I send the kitchen requests to make triple." Lord Hollis huffs to himself. "Go on, eat up."
I place it on my plate, needing a minute to breathe before eating, the bile in my stomach already threatening to come up. I bring the pastry to my lips and take a small bite, some of the sugar grains sticking to my teeth immediately.
As I place it down again, 99's helmet slants like he is following my hand.
His black visor stays fixed there for a long moment. At first, I can not figure out the sudden fascination until I realize he is examining the wounds on the top of my knuckles and wrist where Lord Hollis struck me.
His helmet rises to meet my eyes as if asking how they got there. And if he hasn't assumed their origin, my almost involuntary flicking glance to see if Lord Hollis noticed the sudden switch in the room reveals who is to blame.
With that confirmation, 99 slowly turns his head towards our dinner host.
My eyes fall to my hand still holding onto the piece of sugar bread. I cannot pinpoint the exact emotion that comes up as Lord Hollis begins speaking again, spinning something, more exhausting gibberish.
It's not shame, maybe embarrassment that I let him do this to me. That in some way he did break me, at least splintered me a little, affected me in some way, reminding me that I am still weak and vulnerable when the right environment is set.
My hand feels a little warm, like something has spilled on it.
When I refocus from my daze, there are deep red droplets all over the bitten piece of sugar bread, as if the raspberry tarts have contaminated it.
A few more droplets hit my hand, turning into more of an odd, misty spray, and I pull back.
An unnerving gargling draws my attention upward, the sound of someone choking.
Lord Hollis stares straight ahead, a long blade driven right above his collarbone. The blood comes out in a rhythmic spit, leaking from the wound, then pouring out down his front.
The blade is Viathan in shape, but 99 has not moved, only watches the slow struggle.
I notice a piece of his forearm cuff missing and realize from the moment he was restrained on the chair with me and his gun placed out of reach, he was working on moving his thumb enough to discharge whatever is in Lord Hollis’s neck.
I am frozen in place, not able to move a single muscle as I watch him choke on his own blood, as if I was not forced to sit here. Even now, his grip on me is loosening, fading like my limbs are being set free one thread at a time.
His skin pales as he attempts to stand, his instinct to flee from 99 in his last moments.
99 breaks free of Lord Hollis's control and pushes him back down in his seat to continue to bleed onto his plate.
He finally slumps forward, face falling right into the discarded bones he feasted on. And with his passing, my lungs feel like they can finally take in a full breath, free of the tightness holding them prisoner.
Lord Hollis could neutralize the most gifted priestesses; he had the power to take First Mother’s gifts from anyone with divinity.
But the 99th Commander is not divine.
It does not matter if Lord Hollis could take all the divine gifts in all the three worlds. He was no match for 99 and his brutal rage.
99 stands next to the chair where his kill lies slumped and lifeless, watching me, waiting for me to recover from the sudden shock.
