Scarlet Rogue (Book One)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Double-Crossed

Kaelynn

The water burns scalding my skin, making me flinch slightly. My strength begins to deteriorate rapidly but I hold my pose with all my remaining power until the torturers finish. Not everyone will survive long with the silver infused water, I need to protect the rest of the cell by staying in the front where the impact is the greatest.

Hearing the deafening screams confirms the torturers have moved on to the next cell causing me to collapse. I close my eyes bracing myself for the torment ahead before I recover. It's been the same story for the past two days, every morning the mixture is thrown at us as a torture mechanism.

The cruellest type of torture; prisoners die before our very eyes, their rotting corpses left for days. Those who survive, relive the torture every day until their bodies can no longer take it. Who would commission something so cruel? It's inhumane, derogatory, insane.

Worst of all, I led Kurt to this. He told me this was a bad idea and I didn't listen, I didn't even stop him from coming with me. We walked right into the prisoner's trap following her as she had us ambushed and locked away. Her cold empty eyes at that moment now a permanent memory.

Unsure if Kurt is even alive at this point or still being tortured as we are, my eyes tear up but nothing comes out. The dehydration too deep to allow anything out. Kurt won't survive the way I barely have. I need to get out of here and save him, not just him, everyone here. How many of them are innocent like Kurt?

Maybe Ayden has come for Kurt and already rescued him. He will be concerned about Kurt being missing for two whole days, he'll save him. Trying to convince myself, I repeat the words in my head but the reality is the land is highly secured and getting through the defences is an impossible ask.

"She's coming around," I hear a murmur unsure of who said it.

My strength is barely back but I try to open my eyes anyway. Knowing I need longer to regenerate, I fight back my weakness making out three frames in front of me causing me to shut my eyes again relieved my cellmates are all alive for now.

"How are you holding up?" The voice I recognise as Imelda asks.

I nod not having the energy to speak yet. Imelda has been in the prison for seven years; she was one of the first imprisoned under the new rule. She knows every nuance about this place from the workers' shifts to the many potential escape routes out of here. My best chance of saving Kurt is her and if that means taking the brunt of the torture, I won't think twice about it.

Finding myself drift in and out of consciousness, I let my body recover slightly before fighting through. My eyes slamming open as I swiftly try to sit up before my body fails me. Imelda rushes over to help when she detects movement, propping me up against the metal rails for support.

Her soft features addressing concern, the all too familiar emotion I see from her. Her wrinkles evident across her face causing her to look her age, early 50s I'd say. It's unusual for a werewolf to age much beyond their 20s but spending time in a torture chamber would age anyone.

"Forty minutes to recovery, that's an improvement from yesterday," she says hesitantly. "How is it that you recover so quickly, Kaelynn?"

There's no hiding it anymore, I answer honestly, "I have Alpha blood."

"Will that make your mate a Luna?" Mavis asks from the side, making shapes in the wet mud beneath us to entertain herself.

"Mavis, that's silly. A man can't be a Luna," Hannah argues with her.

My two young cellmates continue arguing about the topic. If the conversation was heard by people unaware of the cells, they would assume it was siblings arguing in their home. The reality is they only met a week ago when they were both captured for trivial reasons, most likely.

"How often do kids get imprisoned here?" I ask Imelda once I regain more strength, worrying about how young Mavis and Hannah are.

Mavis must be as old as Kiara and Hannah talks about her sixteenth birthday being next week so often that it's not possible to forget it, no matter how hard one might try. Thinking about her birthday is the only thing keeping her sane, she has every detail about it memorised.

"Too often," Imelda replies, whispering the next part. "Children are too weak for the torture; they die after the first bucket is thrown at them."

Deep down I already knew the answer but I had hoped I was wrong. It still seems surreal that all this could be happening in the kingdom. Kids being treated like this; it's taking it too far.

"There's five left, we need to change tactic."

Imelda's words ring in my ears. The pills are running out, we've been giving them to the kids but soon there won't be enough to save them. Nobody will make it out of here alive if we don't think of something.

"Did you have a sixteenth birthday party?" Hannah asks Imelda, now bored of her argument with Mavis.

"I did indeed, my father called all the suitable bachelors over and turned it into a 'find your mate' party." Hannah swoons at the thought and Imelda laughs before continuing, "I was so angry at the time, or I was until the most perfect specimen walked through the doors and with that my heart was forever his."

"I thought you find your mate at eighteen," a confused Mavis says.

"Normally you do, but I shifted early so I got to meet him early."

That explains so much, Imelda survived so long because she has a strong wolf. Glancing around my cell, I see three happy cellmates laughing and conversing as though danger is not imminent. It's moments like these that keep us sane, that keep us from falling apart. Not every cell around us has that luxury.

Now zoning out from their conversation, the smell in the air of rotting flesh becomes pungent, even more so when I look around to see the actual number of dead bodies. Ten in my view at least, possibly more that I've missed. The wet mud on the floor mixed in with blood, vomit and faeces only making the smell worse.

Somehow with all of this, I hear another laugh from my cellmates. The positive energy radiating off them, maybe it's the effect of kids. So pure and innocent believing the world is their oyster, and that all situations can have a fairy-tale end. Little do they know the reality of the world is often vicious and ruthless.

Soon after, the fires keeping the place mildly lit burn out sending Mavis straight to sleep on my lap, followed by Hannah against the wall a few moments after. As I observe Imelda looking out into the emptiness, I'm convinced she never sleeps. The bags under her eyes will confirm it.

"They don't deserve this," I say, moving Mavis's hair out of her face.

"None of them do, but under Erisa's reign of terror everyone suffers."

That catches me unexpectedly, Mother would never let this happen. If she knew what was going on, she'd stop it. I know she would. She watched Father rule in a just, fair way for decades and saw how it bought the kingdom together in harmony. In his honour, there would be no other way to rule.

"If she knew what was going on, she would stop it," I say defending Mother.

"Believe me, she knows. In fact, she orders it. Anyway, what can you expect from the woman who killed her husband," Imelda scoffs in disgust at the words.

What crazy things is Imelda saying? She's mistaken, Mother would never murder her own mate. She's incapable of that. Imelda is just frustrated; she has been stuck here for seven years and that can give a person some delusional thoughts.

"The king was killed by his daughter," I mumble out not wanting to tarnish Mother's image and it's the truth. No matter how much I run from it, the truth can't be changed.

"Did you see her killing him?"

Imelda's abruptness has me pausing a long minute. Did I see myself kill Father? No, I didn't but that doesn't change that I did it.

Before I can respond, Imelda continues, "No you didn't, so stop spreading rumours."

Her mood now soured by the conversation; I decide it's best to say no more. A plan on how to save all our asses is our priority and that should be at the centre of every thought right now.