Arwick (A Light Of Roria Sequel)

Chapter Fifty

Staci

"So you estimate a hundred and fifty fairies and a dozen or so elves travel with Queen Priscilla, but what of King Moses? What kind of forces are at his disposal?" Kane asked me.

"I left before they were going to Ethina, so I don't know," I answered. I'd given him a lot of "I don't knows" since he started questioning me, and I could see it was starting to tick him off.

"Jehoram, please escort Staci and Ahaz to our best rooms. There will be no cost to either of them if they wish to use our torture rooms and find slaves to fit their liking."

I didn't bother trying to hide my disgust. "I won't need one of those rooms, thanks."

"Then return here with Menassah." He didn't even acknowledge my word. "We must prepare our men for the greatest ensnarement ever seen."

Jehoram was instantly on the move, waving for us to follow, but I couldn't help it. I had to hear him tell me my friends wouldn't get hurt. "But not the people I said, right?"

Kane smirked. He walked up to me and annoyingly patted my face. "The moment you identify your friends to my men, they will not perish. I give you my word." His eyes went cold after that and caused me to stiffen up. "Now leave. I do not require you to speak any further."

That same cold chill he'd caused kept me still, like I was almost too afraid to turn my back on him, thinking I might end up with a knife between my shoulder blades, but Ahaz grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward the door, where Jehoram was waiting for us.

Exiting the throne room, we headed back the way we came, passing the torture rooms, where I had to endure the sound of agonizing screams all over again. I thought maybe since I knew what was coming, it might be easier, but it wasn't. It was just as awful the second time. Approaching a round door I hadn't noticed just left to the entrance, Jehoram held it open for us. A woman who was sitting on the floor instantly pressed her face against the stone floor. "My master," she said, shaking like a tiny chihuahua. The girl was so terrified I wondered if she'd had a chance to experience another emotion outside fear.

"The water for bathing had better be warm, you cur. Or I shall beat you worse than yesterday." He stepped on her hand as he passed, and I was ready to knock in his teeth, but Ahaz drove his elbow into my side. He sneered at me and shook his head, and I glared right back. "Food and wine shall arrive shortly," Jehoram told us as he opened a door to the room I'd apparently be sharing with Ahaz. "Remain here until you are summoned." His eyes fell on me, like I was the most likely to disobey, and I crossed my arms.

"I heard you, okay?" I looked around the room, feeling worse with every second of being there. "Like I'd wanna wander around this twisted place anyway."

When Jehoram shut the door, I groaned, throwing myself on the surprisingly comfy bed, burying my face, and wishing I could count to ten, open my eyes, and be back in my old bedroom. I formed a blade in my hand, letting my magic relieve as much tension as it could, but the guilt felt like an elephant on my back that refused to get off. Screaming in my pillow, I refused to let myself cry, disguising my shame with anger. I felt Ahaz sit at the edge of the bed but never looked up. I just stayed there with my face smashed against the pillow in a mess of emotions.

"The bath is warm. Perhaps it will relieve your anger," he suggested. "Or you could try to release your rage on a helpless victim."

"Just shut up, Ahaz!" I yelled, jerking to face him. "I don't need your stupid comments to feel any worse than I already do!"

"Do not blame me for your childish resistance," Ahaz started, staring me down like I was utterly pathetic. "Your magic enjoys the dark, and yet you keep pretending you're of the light. Moreover, I grow tired of your unnecessary anguish. He already stated your friends would survive and has granted you passage to your home. You fret over nothing."

My laugh came out like a bark. "Oh yes, because it's totally not a big deal that I'm stuck in a kingdom with torture rooms and a guy who plans to kill the one thing my sister came here to find! I'm basically going to be hated forever, and there's nothing I can do to change that!"

"You could not have stopped Kane from completing his plan, dark fairy. It has always been Selah's destiny to die. It may be true that your sister will be angry that you assisted her enemy, but that is simply because she has chosen the wrong side. She fights for a meaningless cause. Eventually she will see this and surrender to dark magic, as will all Divinity users." He scooted closer toward me with a scheming smile. "And when the day comes for dark users to rule, you and your dragon will defeat all in your path, and I will be the mightiest of queen's most loyal advisers."

I didn't bother arguing with him. I'd already explained I wouldn't be the queen he thought, and if he wasn't letting it go, he'd just have to see it for himself. Looking for a new distraction, I faced the bath. "I want to take a bath, but you are going to face the wall."

"I have seen many naked women. I am certain the body of a fairy is the same." He lay across the bed with his hands behind his head.

I held the blade toward him. "I said you're looking the other way. So turn around, or I'll show you some of that dark fairy wrath right now."

He side-grinned before turning the other way like I asked. "If it affects you that much, I will turn around, but only because I cannot resist the command of my future queen."

Ignoring him, I stripped off my clothes quicker than I'd ever done before almost leaping into the warm water. Despite how relaxing it was to finally scrub off a few layers of stench, the queasy feeling in my stomach wouldn't wear off. Because I knew the truth. Divinity was going to lose, and I was partly to blame.