A Court of Shadows and Pain

Twenty-seven

Drip, drip, drip...

It was the only sound she heard while flowing in and out of consciousness.

She could now finally open her eyes entirely, so that was a start. The last fight had messed her up pretty badly.

It had only been a few hours since being thrown back into the place she was now forced to call home. Three years. It had been three years since she had last seen the sun and the beautiful night sky. The only thing she saw these days were shadows. And obviously a lot of blood and pain.

Amarantha had been throwing her into the pit more often. Normally it would be a once a month thing, but it was becoming weekly now. She had just managed to heal from the last fight this morning before being thrown back in.

Four Fae males had been standing in front of her. She had managed to kill all of them. Barely.

Her shadows didn't come to her aid. They only seemed to show up when they felt like it. It wasn't like before. She didn't command them anymore.

Amarantha had promised her something; if she won this fight, she would be getting time away from the pit.  How generous of her to give her some much needed vacation.

She wanted to see Rhys. To hear his voice in real life instead of in her head.

It wasn't much later that her cell door opened. Two of Amarantha's guards came walking in. Valery could have sworn she had seen fear in their eyes as they walked in. She only glared at them, if she was even looking at them. She couldn't see straight.

They removed the shackles from the wall, pulling her with them without any words. Valery obeyed. She had found out that it would be better to obey, or the consequences might just kill her.

It wasn't long before they entered a hallway full of doors. She was thrown into the third room with so much force that she stumbled forward. Valery winced as her knees hit the floor, swallowing back a scream.

"Heal her." one of the guards behind her ordered. They left the room and closed the door.

Valery tried to stand, but the feeling of strong hands were already pulling her up. "Can you stand?" a male voice asked. It wasn't Rhys.

Valery nodded slowly as she drew in a hard breath. The world started spinning again. She couldn't see anything.

"Okay, let's get you sat down." the voice said.

She was forced to sit down in a chair, her eyes still closed. She was too tired to look who was sitting in front of her.

"You look pretty bad." he said. "But you did put up an amazing fight."

Valery cracked a fake smile, causing her split lip to open up again. "Thanks."

When she didn't say anything else and kept her eyes closed, the male started working on her. She could feel the warm feeling of healing magic sliding over her body. Valery sighed with relief as the pain disappeared, only the ache remaining.

She finally managed to open her eyes and see something. She was sitting in a large room with a bed, desk and other stuff, but everything was still fuzzy.

She turned her head around to find amber eyes staring into hers. Valery's eyes widened slightly. "What the fuck?" she said. "Helion?" she said.

His lips curled upward slightly. "Hello, Valery." the male answered.

"Why are you helping me?" she said, still confused.

Helion shifted on his feet. "Because your High Lord is a... friend. And you are very important to him." he said.