𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝟎𝟓

     Four hundred years ago, Arya woke up with a gasp, after her soul was yanked back from the grasp of the Death God with a whisper, "It's not yet you're time my sweet nightmare."

The King of Hybern stood above her as she came back from the dead. The King's spies in the Spring Court had gathered information about their murder plans for the princess and her mother. With the display of power from the princess during the war, the King had an idea of how he could turn her into his perfect little weapon.

What he didn't know was the power he witnessed from Arya wasn't anywhere near close to her full potential therefore he never gave the Illyrian princess enough fae bane to nullify all of her power.

And although Arya hated the idea of once again being a male's pawn, she knew that she'd have to play along once again.

Arya was tortured for information and the former princess decided to give the King a mix of half-truths and half-lies, she convinced him that she had never been informed of court dealings. She played the card of damsel in distress all her life and this time around was no different.

Though the King still saw the potential for Arya to be a ruthless killer, with the help of training and the quarter of magic she let him see was the perfect combination for him to turn her into his perfect assassin.

When the King brought his ideas to her, she gathered most of her magic and locked it deep within her, knowing that whatever the King had planned for her would threaten to unleash what lay in power. Using a quarter of her power will keep the rest of her at bay, she's done it all her life after all.

As she was tortured, brainwashed, and programmed to follow the King, she subconsciously thanked Amren for not only training her body but also her mind and soul. Her entire being was trained to hide most of what was in her if she was ever under someone else's control. Even to this day, Arya still doesn't fully understand how it worked but she never questioned it for too long.

"Longing."

"Wings."

"Assassin."

"Hybern."

"Are you ready to comply?"

"Ready to comply, my King."

The King only has to say those trigger words, in that order, three times in a row and she was a goner. Once she was ready to comply, her body no longer belonged to her. Her body only follows the King of Hybern's command. It took the King years to brainwash her in compliance when he wields it, but patience for a greater cruel outcome is his forte.

It was a prison, a torture cell, that Arya would never wish upon anyone. She'd rather be in Azriel's torture cell, being physically tortured than being brainwashed into compliance.

Most of her brain broke and compiled when those trigger words were said, but a tiny part of her was still awake in her brain, fighting against the commands. The longer she was kept in that state, the deeper she fell into becoming someone she was not. The King brings her out of that state when he feels she's tethering to death and the come back to reality gets harder and harder every single time.

When she was Arya the assassin, half her face was covered with a metal mask, covering her violet eyes to make sure no fae and no creature recognized who she truly was. To snap her out of the control, a strong surge of power needed to be slammed against her chest, though Arya was thankful for the King overlooking the defect in that.

Arya had been held at Hybern for the last four hundred years and the King was too confident that his little pet would never defy him, he's kept her as his subject for far too long to question her loyalty. And that oversight was all she needed to formulate a plan of escape.