[Fantasy novel, completed ✓]
In a world filled with magic, dragons, witches, demons, deadly creatures and other magical beings, the life of the king's daughter Victorine changes with a single blow when her kingdom is attacked.
She loses not only he...
They may defeat you, burn you, insult you, injure you, and abandon you, but they will not, shall not, and cannot destroy you, for you, like Rome, were built on ashes, and you, like a phoenix, know how to resurrect. -Nikita Gill
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- Victorine -
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It took only a pathetically short time for me to sink to my knees.
Cephas had punched me in the face until my skin felt numb. Then he had continued with my stomach until I had spat blood. Finally, he had grabbed the dagger stuck in my thigh and twisted it further through the flesh until I simply could not stand.
As I squatted on the floor, the torture stopped for a moment. I knew this was because Cephas was feasting on the sight of me.
My insides ached. The place in my leg where the dagger was stuck felt like a thousand sharp pinpricks. I pressed the flat palms of my hands on the dirty stone floor. The chains around my wrists rattled. Bloody saliva ran from my mouth and dripped onto the floor between my hands.
Nevertheless, I forced myself to lift my head and look Cephas in the eye. The latter stared at me almost expressionlessly, while I signaled him unmistakably that I would not bend.
In the end, it was only pain in my body. My spirit he could not break.
"Please stop it, Cephas."
The voice I heard was not my own. It came from the woman who had suddenly stood in the entrance to the dungeon cell, seemingly silently approaching the scene. The red hem of her dress streaked across the stony floor. The beautiful, gentle face flickered in the light of a torch.
No matter what she had done. For a brief moment it did good to see her again. She was almost the only family I had left. And I loved Crescentia. I probably always would.
"Crescentia," Cephas said now, tilting his head a little as if respectfully acknowledging her presence. He took a long, elegant step aside so that my sister could see me better. She looked at me, her full, curved lips pressed together thoughtfully.
"It won't do any good like this, my love. My sister is strong where her body is concerned. If you want to inflict pain on her, you should try her weak mind."
I stared up at her in disbelief. Crescentia had not come to free me. She had come to inflict more suffering on me.
Without being able to stop it, I had to squirm under her cold gaze.
"Cres," I whispered in a harsh tone. "I know our parents didn't treat you right. But you mustn't forget: I'm not Mother. I didn't want to do all this to you. I was just a child after all. And I regret it so much."
