A Court of Games and Fate

Twenty Lashings

          "Is there a reason you've been so absent as of late?" Eris asked an exhausted Andromeda the next afternoon during a walk he had pushed for Andromeda into joining him on before the evening entertainment.

          After her unexpected run-in with Lucien the previous night, Andromeda was unable to sleep due to the rushing energy flowing through her core. Her body wanted to run back to the auburn-hair male, consequences be damned, but her mind would not let her. Her logic ruled out over her cursed heart. Her father had mentally reached out this morning, asking why her mind felt so restless, but their conversation was brief. It seems both didn't want to reveal what was actually plaguing their minds. It was fine, Andromeda had reminded herself. Of course, she would not be privy to his every thought, nor would he be to hers.

          It was all just fine.

          "Just overwhelmed, I guess," Andromeda finally responded. Not a full lie. "I don't remember the last time the court had this much excitement. Much less the last time I was involved in it."

          Eris hummed in agreement. In their moments alone, the Vanserra heir was also looking a bit more on the exhausted side. The walk was longer than Andromeda had anticipated as if he was dragging them as slowly as possible through the halls. She couldn't blame him for not caring about missing the festivities. The human girl was still down in the dungeons, but her mother had certainly been in the mood for violence as of late.

          "What about you?" she questioned, before mentally adding, "Is it your father?"

          "Oh, you already know about my little family reunion. It's awful. My brothers are in a special mood."

          Andromeda released a chuckle at his words. She never bothered to be acquainted with the rest of the Vanserra brood. Her tolerance for buffoonish men was only so high.

          "I imagine they're having a time with your youngest brother." She found herself pressing for more details before thinking. Eris didn't notice. He merely shook his head, annoyance evident on his features.

          "Lucien is smart enough to weasel himself away from them for the most part, but they certainly keep finding a way."

          Resisting the urge to demand what he meant exactly, Andromeda nodded. The pair continued their walk through the corridors, heading toward the main hall once again this week. As silence loomed over the duo, Andromeda attempted to reach out to her father to see if he was already in the hall. Once again, she was met with walls black as night. She suppressed a huff of annoyance, something she was becoming so used to doing.

          Before Eris could lead them on another circle around the corridors, Andromeda felt a stirring in her gut. Something telling her that she needed to be in the main hall now. Pushing down the rising panic over the plethora of things that could be wrong, the princess guided the couple toward the main audience hall. Eris did not stop her.

          The hall was already boisterous and buzzing with energy by the time the two made it to the entrance of the cavernous room. One step in, though, had Andromeda freezing in her tracks.

          Before her, was her mother, resting on her throne with an angry, spiteful sneer gracing her done-up face. In front of her stood Tamlin, face hard as stone, holding a whip tight in his grasp. Andromeda had feared that the human girl would be cowering on the floor, but the reality of the situation was so, so much worse. In a wave of panic that almost forced her to her knees, Andromeda saw a shirtless and tense Lucien being roughly held between two of his awful brothers, his back exposed to Tamlin and her mother. The brothers' sneers were evident even from across the room as their fingers pressed violently into the youngest Vanserra's arms. Lucien gave no emotion away though. No panic, no fear. He matched Tamlin's stone with his own set determination.