A Crown Of Blades(ARTK, Book 3)

Chapter 66-67

  Jono 6th, 3330 A.G

  Avelyn dropped her dress by the bath and sighed. The warm water would only help her muscles so much, but if she wanted to stand half a chance in battle.....

She couldn't just be good with a sword. It'd get her killed; as were evident by what happened to her sister. She'd have to become better than good and fast, and a part of that were being able to move her body however she wished without pain. She'd always thought she were good at that but if these past weeks proved anything, it were how wrong she was.

So as she sunk into the water, she pictured every one of the ways a battle could go wrong- if it were to occur right now. There were distant footsteps down some hallway; perhaps they were from someone coming to inform her a battle had begun. That Helywyse decided to get ahead of things and brought her army to Ebon, so they would not have the element of surprise.

How considerate of her, Avelyn thought. That'd only make it easier to drive arrows through her face. One only needed half decent aim to hit a target. It weren't too different with a person, she were told- long as you weren't trying to hit a specific organ. And enough arrows would kill anyone.

She could climb unto the roof and perch, stay there whether the battle went in their favor or not- and once Helywyse were approaching the main home (as a victor or in chains) she could simply unleash those arrows. But perhaps..... perhaps she'd hold off. Or she'd aim for the legs so she couldn't run, couldn't think of escaping when she started tortured Anna's sister.

There were thousands of methods accumulated over thousands of years.... but she wouldn't use those. She'd add her own to the list, experiment on Helywyse for months until the method were flawless. Then she'd set about actually testing the complete method.......

If Avelyn could see how wide she were smiling, even she would be concerned. She had a passing thought that after this torture method were done with, she'd finally put the bitch out of her misery.

That thought left just as quickly as it came, and she shook her head. No- she would find some book with each and every torture method known to mankind listed. She'd go through that list one by one until she grew bored, then she'd pass the task off to someone else. Only once it were completed would she allow Helywyse some relief, but her execution would be far from painless. She'd go with the classic rat bucket or stretching- maybe even a combination of both.

As she tried to imagine what those screams would be like, the footsteps grew louder and closer. She could hear the anger in them, the 'i don't care what you're doing in there, I need to talk to you.'- and she had but a few moments to rise and throw on the clean sleep dress. It did little good, however- as the garmet were white and quickly soaked.

Lynette did not seem to notice as she barged in, but Loys allowed himself a half moment glance before refocusing on her eyes. And though he shared the same opinion as Avelyn's aunt, he would wait until she spoke to voice his own concerns.

"You always managed to surprise me." Lynette said, a small, sarcastic smile spreading. "You surprised everyone, really- as you have always done the opposite of what were expected of you. But even I can say you have gone too far."

Avelyn stood up straighter, gulped- then raised an eyebrow. At least they'd waited to argue until they were in private chambers but-

"You know I would never.... Deem to question you in front of people but Avelyn... you cannot be serious." Loys crossed his arms, blinking far more than usual. "You mean to enlist the woman who killed your father and sister. Who managed to make the Valian army even smaller. And gods, I am not an educated man- but even I know the stories from the Great and long Wars. Allying with an enemy has never gone well."