Notes From a Dragon Queen

Chapter 13

Xavier couldn't see. Half of his field of vision was completely black. Zephrine's face blurred in and out of focus. All he could tell was that she was crying.

"Did Vana-" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Yes." Xavier finally spoke.

After he was stripped down and frozen, Vana had tied him to a table, then she tortured him. She whipped him and scratched him, cut him with burning swords and freezing knives until his voice had been ripped as raw as his chest from his screaming.

Then Vana screamed. Yelling at him so forcefully, in his head, he was curled up in a ball and crying. She eventually got fed up with his quietness, so she brought out the man who brought Xavier in, who was after all, a sorcerer.

She would make the man take his breath away, suffocate him until everything became fuzzy, then let him drown in the air she had stolen from him. It pressed down on his chest with a pressure equal to a stone pillar. She made him feel like he was burning alive, like he was being ripped in half.

"We're done for today." She stopped, leaving Xavier dazed and fatigued. "Alansor, go bring in the girl."

"NO!" He shouted, taking up most of his remaining energy. "Don't touch her. I swear, if you touch her, I'll..." He trailed off.

"You'll what?"

When Xavier wouldn't answer, he was about to pass out, Vana took him by the hair and ripped his head upwards.

"What will you do? ANSWER ME!"

He couldn't.

She took his eyesight. Just in the left eye. It was excruciating, like no pain he'd felt prior. It was almost as if she was trying to shove the eye into his brain and through his nose by using a full sword.

"Why not both eyes?" He finally managed to let the words fall out.

"I want to watch your face when I drive a sword through Zephrine's heart. I want you to witness each drop of life drain from her body, just before I cut your miserable little head off." Vana's laugh was the worst sound in the world. "Long live the King." She sing-songed as she left. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't hurt Zephrine. I'm already torturing her."

Once he finished telling her all of this, Zephrine opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it.

"You're still beautiful. I can't see very well right now, but I know you are."

Zephrine took his outstretched hand. "We've got to go. I'll help you find some clothes."