𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑂𝐶𝐸𝑁𝐶𝐸 𝐿𝑂𝑆𝑇 // 𝐴. 𝐷𝐸 𝑅𝑈𝑁𝐸

𝑋𝑋𝐼𝐼𝐼

| XXIII. Father, Why Have You Forsaken Me? |

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TW: mention of SA/aftermath of SA

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The Bastion was dark. The halls were dimly lit by candles on the wall, but the dungeon was worse. The cell she was thrown in was pitch black, there was a candle further down the corridor... it was too far away to bring any light into her cell. To say she was scared was an understatement– Marion felt like she was going to die in this place.

She sat in the back corner, fingers picked red and raw, blood practically dripping down her chin from biting her lips. She played with a strand of her hair that fell just below her jaw, twirling it around her finger, and cringing at the slight burn whenever the hair came into contact with her raw cuticle.

The sound of heavy footsteps made her freeze– Nicholas was back. One of the guards outside her door unlocked her cell, and allowed the Lord to enter. It was quiet between them, the silence tense and thick. He still wore the mask.

"Where are they going?" Lord Nicholas asked, though Marion knew it was an order.

"Who?" She asked back, and Nicholas scoffed.

"Don't play dumb with me, girl! Where is Amicia De Rune taking the boy?" Nicholas barked, and when she gave him no answer, he gripped her by the hair, and put a dagger that he seemingly pulled out of nowhere to her throat.

The blade dug into her skin, a small amount of blood emerged from the cut, falling down her collarbone, and into the neckline of her cotehardie. Marion's eyes welled with tears, staring into the little cross of his mask. She could just barely see his eyes through the slit– unlike her brown, they were a stony gray.

She had her mothers eyes.

Marion swore she could see his eyes soften for a split second, before he threw her head aside, and pulled back the dagger. She let out a quiet grunt as she hit the dirty floor, immediately sitting up and clutching the small wound with her hand. Lord Nicholas had scoffed and turned away from her, moving to leave the cell.

"Sale gosse stupide et inutile!" Nicholas spat, as he left the cell.

He thrusted the dagger into one of the guards hands, and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Do as you wish with the useless bitch, I can't stand to be in her presence any longer!" He ordered, leaving the cell at a pace Marion didn't know he had.

Why didn't he just slit her throat when he had the chance?

The guard with the dagger looked sick, his eyes flickered from Marion, to the other guard. The other guard... he hadn't taken his eyes off of Marion. She wanted to sink into her own skin, her body slowly finding itself back in the far corner of the cell. He entered the cell, and closed the barred door behind him– Nicholas hadn't bothered to close the door when he left.

"Bastien..." The other guard called out quietly, his eyes flickering to Marion.

"What? Lord Nicholas said to do as we please... who are we to deny our superior." 'Bastien' said, a wolfish chuckle leaving his lips.