The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Mother's Touch

Blinking wearily, I groaned at the throbbing pain that seemed to be my whole body. With one eye swollen shut and the bones in my left shin shattered, I didn't have the energy to lift my head. Staring down at my body, the sight and smell of my own burnt flesh was enough to twist my stomach into knots. The contents of my stomach which had been a piece of plain toast, a scoop of dry oats and half a glass of water lay splatter against the floor below me.

Fearghas had been working me over for what felt like around six hours with all the different elements. He started with earth, battering me with rock after rock before finally slamming one repeatedly against my shin. Next were animals, where I received the delightful experience of being bitten by every kind of animal he could find in the Alaskan mountains. After that was metal and then finally fire, where he turned up the heat in the room until I was dehydrated before burning me.

The one thing he hadn't done yet was use water or wind, probably because the mother fucker wasn't that imaginative. Or at least that's what I liked to think because he sure as hell didn't like it when I mentioned it. Fearghas had stormed out saying he'd be back with something special for me. Although, how much more special our time together could get? I wouldn't know. Pictures of balloons and cake that said 'Kill You Later' caused me to wheeze out a low laugh.

Pain rickochet through my lungs and ribs like a ping pong ball making it harder to breathe. My arms had long since gone numb from being pulled high above my head in opposite directions. I barely twitched at the sound of the only door in the room screeching open followed by the sound of sharp clicks. With my one good eye, I tried to squint through the curtain my hair had created to see what Fearghas had brought. But my hair was too long and I was too weak to lift my head in curiosity.

The clicks got closer followed by what I now recognized as cloth dragging over stone. A pair of deep purple heels stopped inches from my vomit and the pale feet that wore them made me want to vomit all over again. My tiny exhales became visible as the temperature in the chamber dropped drastically. Chills raised the unburnt flesh of my body but the heat of my rage kept me from shivering. Wrapping my hands firmly around the chains, I took a deep breath and pushed away everything but the rage I felt.

With a new resource of energy, I lifted my head with a grin, "Queen Cunt of the Unseelie, what a pleasure."

Hard purple eyes narrowed as she looked me over with distaste plainly on her face, "Five hundred years and you still haven't learned any manners."

"Spend most of your life in a prison and you find out pretty quick that aggression gets you everywhere." I replied, forcing a casual shrug.

"I should've killed you the moment you took your first breath. Froze you like the little weed you are."

Rocking forward, I whispered, "Or maybe you should've just kept your legs closed."

The crack of her hand against my cheek had my head snapping in line with my left shoulder. A dull throb started up from the hit as I turned back to her with a laugh, "Divines. Put your back into. You even hit like a bitch."

Mab's red lips twisted into a cruel smile,"Why are you still fighting? The people hate you, your so-called subjects hate you. No one is coming to save you."

"Then it's a good thing I wasn't hoping for a rescue."

"You're a speck in the history books. You have no loved ones." She continued, purple eyes calculating. "Your abilities are laughable. A loveless, useless Bastard that never amounted to anything more than a punching bag."