Mercy & Fire

37. Unlikely Allies

Rovan

(!) Warning: Cannibalism, Gore, and Nudity

Rain splattered all over the glass surrounding the grand meeting hall, falling in layers down the expanse of the palace. The sky was a calming gray and crowded with clouds as the waves continued to wash over the sand, leaving foam in its wake.

Restlessness was setting itself inside my body, and I couldn't help but grow paranoid. I'd scoured the entire palace for those damn contracts, and they seemed nowhere to be found. I even looked under the damn throne cushions out of pure desperation, and nothing. Not a slip of paper.

If that wasn't enough to push me over the edge, I had to sit through this idiotic meeting about the dinner menu at their precious revelry they'd scheduled in two day's time.

Apparently, they had invited foreigners who were in town for the "delicacies" of Dhernon. They were men and women who enjoyed the debauchery that went on day and night here.

They liked to come for the auctions where they could buy anything and anyone. I could submit an order to have one of the mages in this very room as a slave, and if I offered enough money, anyone crazy or desperate enough would find a way to get them for me.

As if sensing my thoughts, they began speaking about how many children, women, and men they should bring to the after party.

My fist clenched as they began to list off servants they would force to attend, and their plans to take a trip to the academies and slavers.

Some of them glanced at me nervously, knowing exactly what they'd put me through my first year as Commander.

When I wasn't on the battlefield, I was back at the palace, deep down in its depths, being forced to watch unspeakable things. Things that made me vomit and puke until I grew hardened by it.

It was my punishment for refusing to participate. The queen would pin me down with her magic and force my eyes open until I grew desensitized. Even then, I only made it stop when I agreed to using sacrificial blood on the battlefield. All the kills I made would be offered to my familiars, and she monitored me closely. Any time I tried to get away with not making a sacrifice, she would threaten my mother and sister.

I was seen as a weakling for not enjoying their sick past-times. Yet, here I was, sitting at their table, forced to act as if nothing had happened.

As frustrating as it was, I was biding my time. They weren't the ones busting their ass out on the battlefield alongside my men. They weren't the ones trying to shield my men from the debauchery of the palace.

I was. And my men knew that. That was the only thing I was counting on right now.

If only I could find the contracts to begin with...

When the meeting was over, I exited the room to find Roselena leaning against the wall, staring out at the rainy skies just as I had been.

She looked haunting and absent, as if she weren't real for a moment. Almost like she'd slip away with a slight wind.

Clearing my throat, I stepped in front of her and tried to get her attention. "Come, we have work to do."

She looked at me mutely and blinked her thoughts away as she followed closely behind.

She wasn't overly angry anymore. Not as she had been before our last argument, but she still seemed a bit resigned. Sometimes though, she'd tug at her fingers like she did when she was nervous or worried, and then she'd shift from foot to foot like she was on a time constraint.