The Sovereign's Sacrifice ☆ EDITING ☆

Chapter Sixteen: Eliana

I opened my eyes to see Ivan staring at me, his hands still on my temples. I could see the hurt in his eyes as he realized the pain he'd put me through. He lowered his hands but held his gaze.

"It's okay, that was in the past. I've forgiven you. I understand it was the pressure you felt making you speak words you didn't mean. The wound just seems raw because it's the first time you're seeing it from my perspective," she spoke softly.

"What happened next?" he asked.

"I'm not sure you want the answer to that," I replied.

"I do," he spoke and I took his hands and placed them on my temples. The world twisted and turned as we reappeared in my memories.

It had been a week since I left the palace for training. I had been brought into the mountains to a place where elite warriors from different kingdoms came to train as equals. I was told to stay and train until I was acknowledged as a worthy adversary by their leader.

In the memory my past self was fighting against a man nearly three times my size. I dodged nearly every punch, dancing around him. We were sparring, but there were others watching. None of the officials were there. It was just a practice.

As I dodged, and blocked, assessing my opponent to find a weakness, a hand shot out into the ring and grabbed my leg from behind. The person threw me to the ground outside of the ring and several others began to beat and kick me. It only lasted about a minute, as my sparring partner hadn't quite realized what had happened.

The man I had fought in the ring roared "Enough."

"She's a woman, she doesn't belong here. She thinks she can take the pain of being a fighter, the let her," one of the men yelled back, kicking me in the stomach. I'd found my opening. I gripped his calf and swung him to the side, knocking the other men down on one swift move.

"There is nothing honorable or manly about men who gang up on someone because of their differences. You are here as representatives of your people, the people you have sworn to protect. Instead you're cowards, threatened by a woman in armor because you're insecure. If a woman can do the job of a man, what other reasons would have have to keep pathetic men like you around?" I sneered kicking the man who started it all in the ribs.

"In case you missed my name, I am Eliana Fairbain, child of two of the most feared and respected warriors of our time. Make no mistake, I will soon surpass my family, which means I have long surpassed the likes of you," I spoke walking toward the door. "Thank you, Eric, for being the only honorable one here," I called out as I made my way painfully out of the room, careful not to show any evidence of their assault on me.

I entered my room and removed my shirt to assess my wounds. New bruises covered what was left of the old. It seemed like this was my permanent state lately. I pulled my armored shirt back on and laid down to sleep.

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I awoke to my face being covered and my hands being tied behind my back. I kicked toward my assailant, hearing him groan in pain. He slapped my face "Bitch," he called out slapping me again.

"Ahhh, you must be the coward from earlier. That explains your need to tie me up as I slept instead of fighting me honorably," I jeered. He tossed me onto the ground and kicked me a couple times. I refused to give him a reaction. He then injected something in my arm forcing my body to go limp.

He hoisted me up over his shoulder and carried me out of the room. I focused all of my power, I knew I had it, I was a Fairbain after all. I used it to push the toxins back out through the injection wound. It was working, but it would take time.

I was working against my adrenaline, that was fighting to help spread the poison through my body.

We were outside and I could hear water rushing past us. He tossed me onto the ground and kicked me and punched me over and over. I ignored his assault and focused on channeling my power.

"Goodbye Elven Bitch," he sneered one last time as he rolled me off of the edge and into the water.