[THIS STORY WILL BE TAKEN DOWN ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2024]
He had hunted me, captured me, and locked me in a tower.
Season 3 'Of Crows and Thorns'
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While in RISING, Tabitha discovers something peculiar that may assist Nelle in her plan to escape the...
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Brangwene had been Zrenyth's warlord and the Houses were bound to him as an extension of his savagery, a weapon to be used in the same way he wielded his warhammer. Brangwene was a great beast with a passion for violence. The warlord was humanoid in appearance but for the reptilian skin and leathery wings and his titanic size. What we held in our treasury, Brangwene's Hjarte, was the heart of our god. His actual heart, that blackened thumping organ, had indeed been infused magically with his Hjarte.
The Hjarte being his warhammer.
The great weapon was housed in my family's treasure trove and was passed from Great House to Great House. Light carved itself through the darkness of the trove with the radiating life coursing through the warhammer, the pulse of Brangwene's heart beating steadily, th-thump, th-thump, th-thump.
Great House possessed the Hjarte as a reminder to all that we were the Horned Gods' warlords in Brangwene's stead, and it was passed to a new family if the current one had been obliterated by machinations of the Houses or by the Horned Gods themselves.
Panic ensnared me, tightening the air in my lungs. If the Horned Gods discovered that Brangwene's Hjarte was gone, that my father no longer possessed it, it would bring an instant death sentence. "You can't," I begged Jett.
Jett shrugged once more as if he didn't care. "That's what we require in exchange for you remaining untouched."
My arms tensed and my fingers fisted. What did it matter if I was going to be whored out for the next two weeks? Or even the next few months? I could survive that length of time, enduring pain at the whim of a man if it meant my family would be safe.
Jett continued with a cunning smile. "Your father will do it to save you."
My father couldn't though. He couldn't risk saving me because he'd put my sisters, my mother, and everyone within our family, even those who served us at risk.
And then astonishment punched through every nerve ending like an electrified shock.
Above Jett's head, I saw someone enter the Emporium.
Someone I dearly loved.
Someone I wasn't sure I'd ever see again.
Yet right here, right this moment, I truly wished I hadn't.
My father strode hastily into the Emporium, flanked by bodyguards with severe expressions. He came to an abrupt halt, his gaze was fraught with anxiety and tempered with ire as he swept the crowd of Houses, searching, searching, searching, until he met mine. Blue eyes widened and then clouded with deep emotion rapidly playing across his finely lined features—utter relief to see me. Dismay. Sorrow. Then anger.
It was the first time I'd seen my father since my sister's engagement celebrations and I'd destroyed his office when he'd revealed the true nature of the Alverac and why the Crowthers sought revenge. Cupping my mouth, I stifled a choking sound of distress that wracked my chest, tears stinging my eyes.
