The bucket was made of iron.
White hot rage shearing through her like lightning.
Fucking bastards.
Arii launched herself at the guard, her iron shackles looping over the man’s head before he could blink, yanking the chain against his neck as he choked out a sound of alarm. She leapt upon his back as they crashed to the floor and with what little strength she had left, Arii pulled the chain against the man’s windpipe, her face contorted in pure animal rage. The man rasped as his face turned blue, his legs kicking wildly as his hands scraped feebly against the iron links around his throat.
Suddenly hands seized her and she was screaming, limbs shooting out as two more soldiers swarmed her. Her foot connected with the gut of one man and he stumbled back, hitting the wall. The other soldier seized her waist and threw her to the floor so violently that the breath left her lungs and pain rocketed up her spine.
The man who had thrown her down loomed over her, his sword pressing against her neck as she gasped for breath. From beside her she heard the soldier she had nearly choked to death gasping and cursing with words so vile she would have blushed had she been a mere maiden.
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” she choked out, and the man’s boot connected with her face. Blood exploded from her lips, splattering across the dreary granite walls.
“You little Fae slut!” he roared and prepared to boot her again, but the second soldier halted him with a hand.
“No! Lord Valdis wants this one relatively unharmed-” he jerked his chin as the woman groaned on the floor “-unfortunately. She needs to be conscious for what he has planned.”
“Lucky me,” she spat as the soldiers hefted her up and out of the cell.
Arii slumped as they dragged her through the freezing cold halls of the fortress, the walls lit with flaming torches. There was not a flicker of royal extravagance here. The exposed stone with the raw flickering firelight created an eerie feel, the floors stained with what could only be dried blood.
As they passed lines of cells, Arii swore she could hear the sounds of others within, groaning and pleading to be released. A hand shot out from within one of the cells, reaching for them and clutching the air wildly as the thing inside moaned and screamed.
Arii was immediately reminded of Ingrid Polaris, her black eyes devoid of all humanity as she launched herself at them with no other intent but to kill.
Was that what they were doing here? Experimenting on people with the Nexus Crystals? What was the purpose of it, what had Valdis to gain by creating that… thing?
Ingrid had been consumed with the need to maim and kill, mindless; except when the girl had hesitated before Sybell. Had she had a flicker of remembrance for the Princess from her former life, like a flicker of sunlight through the darkness in her dead mind?
As they dragged her through another courtyard, Arii’s eyes widened in horror.
Kryverns, there were tens of them.
All were caged, some were awake and watching her with blood red eyes, some dozed against the bars. Some fought, crashing against their prisons and bellowing with animal rage. Iron lined the tables adjacent to them, iron shaped into claws and teeth. Littering the yard were piles of glimmering Nexus Crystals, in wooden crates and on tables. Some of the dormant crystals were tossed carelessly to the floor and swept into corners.
Where had they found so many crystals, powered with magic? Her mind flicked over possible magic wielders who could have lent their power to the crystals.
Apart from what few Fae still existed within the School of Fate, Arii could think of no one else.
Was someone working with Valdis to power up the stones? Or was the power being taken, and not given.
Nexus Crystals did not just flare to life of their own accord - someone had to charge them up, lending their magic to the stones.
Three men dressed in white cloth and splattered with blood worked on a sleeping beast, sawing off its claws to replace them with new iron ones. She saw bodies on tables as the same cream clothed men stabbed daggers into their chests, and some were in the process of shoving heart sized crystals within their splayed ribs.
She saw humans, and elves, and Nymphs. All milky white in death, all wide eyed and slack mouthed – gazes to the starry sky they would never see with living eyes again.
Arii jerked forward and vomited across the stones, much to the dismay of her escorts.
Her jailers soon threw her to the floor of a large room, her knees hitting the stone first, hands flying out to prevent her face from colliding with the floor. Arii jerked her head up to see Valdis, standing before an array of tables, his face set in the smirk she had seen earlier.
“Leave us,” he barked at the soldiers, who bowed and quickly swept from the room. Arii leaned back on her haunches, eyes tracking the man as he turned to one of the tables and began to mull over the instruments on top. From her place on the floor, she could not see what was up there, but she was not stupid.
He was choosing his device of torture.
“Why?” she said to his back, her voice stronger than she had expected it to be.
Valdis glanced over his shoulder, his copper hair tinged like fire in the flickering torchlight. His ugly scar stood out predominantly as he turned to face her.
“Why?” he echoed, as he lifted a nasty looking knife and held it to the lamplight. “That’s a good question. The feeling you have within you right now is the reason why.”
He stepped towards her and she felt panic bubble within her, acidic and powerful.
Fear.
She had not felt fear such as this in an awfully long time.
The man crouched down to her level, his eyes dark with intent. “Fear, helplessness… powerlessness. That very feeling you have within you at this moment without your precious magic is the reason why I do this.”
She still did not understand, her brows narrowing in confusion.
Then slowly it dawned upon her and Valdis watched her reaction. The way he spat the word magic had her piecing things together.
She remembered what Tikkani had said as they mucked the stalls, seemingly weeks ago. It was said that Valdis Kruel has been badly abused as a child, his father a powerful merchant who had not risen in the ranks by being a gentleman. He had been a sick bastard who had influenced his son to walk in his own twisted footsteps. A man who had hated magic and had been an instigator in the rebellion against the Fae.
“That feeling is what it is to be human, Miss Clearwater. Or shall I call you Miss Trillia?” he sneered. “Always in fear of those who with the flick of a wrist could snap our necks or stop our hearts with the clench of a fist. To be human is to be weak, and you have no idea what that is like.”
Arii swallowed, her throat working on nothing but dust.
Something told her that the burning hatred she could see in his dark blue eyes had not just manifested from his father’s influence, but from something more. Something had happened in his past that tipped him over an edge, and as much as Arii wished to know the details of that event – she also wished she never found out.
So, Valdis Kruel wanted to wipe out magic?
Such a thing was not possible.
“How does killing innocent people and tearing out their hearts help you conquer fear? Wiping out magic is impossible, and even that will not sever the divide between our races,” she rasped.
Valdis placed the tip of the blade against her neck, just below her chin. His eyes roved her face, before resting on her lips. The feeling of his assessing eyes had her choking down vomit once more.
“I do not wish to wipe out magic… No, I need it for what I have planned,” he paused. “The hosts are reacting as expected to their new hearts, but the magic awakening them from death makes them savage and unmanageable.” Valdis pressed the dagger tip deeper an
d Arii’s lips curled back. “Soon I will have enough to raise an army, the likes of which this land has never seen before. I just need a way to control them.” He clucked his tongue and tilted his head. “I feel close to a solution, so close I can taste it.”
“You allowed one of your experiments to run loose in the castle, and it was incredibly close to attacking your own daughter!”
“Ah, the handmaid. An unfortunate oversight on my part – I had not expected her to come back so quickly. I guess I have you and your friends to thank for bringing the success of her reanimation to my attention.”
“You are sick!” Arii barked in disgust.
Valdis’ lips spread in a sardonic smile in response.
She did not cower, did not flinch before him. White hot rage boiled in her gut, sizzling through her veins. Even without her magic, she was still a Fae.
She was a Fury.
She was The Violet Assassin.
With a swiftness Valdis was not expecting, Arii’s hands jerked up and using the shackles she swiped the blade away, the dagger leaving a small hot line of fire on her neck. Her head shot forward, connected with the man’s nose and causing a sickening crack. Valdis’s head snapped back and then Arii was leaping upon him, but not fast enough to prevent his leg flying up and booting her in the chest.
She flew back, hitting the ground a few feet away. Her jaw clacked together as the back of her skull smacked the floor.
Gods, if she did not have a concussion after this, she would be heavily surprised.
That was if she survived this place.
She was so weak, so sure now that she had just used the last of her reserves of strength.
Valdis’ hands were in her hair as he lifted her up by the strands. Pain shot down her spine as she cried out, then he threw her across the room so that she skidded along the stone floor only be stopped by a wall. She struggled to rise as the iron manacles clattered against the stone, then hands were upon the front of her filthy tunic as Valdis hauled her to a sitting position. Through the blur of her vison, she saw his face contorted in rage, blood tracking down from his nose and dripping down his chin.
“Oh, I am going to enjoy this, and all that is going to come as I tear down each and every scrap of this land. Nothing will stop me until everything is eliminated, and I am all that remains.” Madness glinted in his eyes, and Arii felt fear pierce her soul.
“I will take back what magic stole from me. You see, I am on the cusp of something extraordinary.” Valdis lifted the blade again, and she saw that on the end of the hilt, encrusted in the iron head was a glowing orb of Nexus Crystal.
Valdis levelled the knife at her chest, and Arii did not have time to brace.
The dagger of iron punched through her ribs and hot fiery pain unlike anything she had ever felt erupted from her flesh as the iron seared her skin, her insides. Magic flared, blue light erupting and lighting the stone, flashing across a despicable array of iron weapons hanging on the walls around them. She felt electricity surge across her skin, the sweet coat of magic shoved its way down her throat as she gagged, refusing to scream as Valdis continued his torture.
The blade twisted, and darkness speared around her vision.
Pain – pain unlike anything she had ever felt before, ignited her body in flames. Her mind was a whirlwind of pain, fury, fear and regret as the fire consumed her body, her mind, her soul.
Arii slammed her mouth shut and refused to scream, teeth biting into her bottom lip until she tasted her own blood. She refused to give him what he wanted, refused to lay bare what she had hidden for so long.
Weakness.
She could not allow him to have that satisfaction.
As the night drew on, she refused to scream.
She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her pain.
No matter the agony, never would she yield.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lorch had awoken with a smile, his hand sliding across the covers to seek warm skin. Instead, his fingertips grazed only cool sheets.
Empty.
Slowly he sat up and gazed around the room, before spearing his hand through his hair. He could still taste her on his lips.
Arii.
Where was she?
He gazed out the window and noticed a hint of morning blue sky.
“Of course, training,” he muttered to no-one in particular as he moved to get changed. He felt light, happy and dare he say sated – for now.
His night with her had been perhaps the best he had ever experienced. She was confident, stronger than he was used to, so sure of what she liked. Her eyes were purple fire, a shade he had never noticed before, and as he had kissed her scars, he had seen something unreadable flicker over her normally stoic features. The entire night he felt she had allowed a little of her walls to crumble, and he was sure he had seen the true Arii beneath.
Fiercely passionate, a woman who he was sure would die for those she loved. That love would be carefully earned, and he was sure once that it was - she would love hard.
Striding from his rooms, he was suddenly faced with Elijah. The man was standing a few feet from his door, hood lifted and mouth set in a frown.
Shit.
“Good morning Elijah,” Lorch said merrily and went to brush past him, but Elijah lifted a hand to stop him.
Oh yes, they had not made up after their little argument a few nights ago. Knowing Elijah, it was still a shadow on his mind. When the hooded man spoke, Lorch felt the warm happiness of his Winter Solstice night flush from his body like a cold sweat.
“Have you seen Miss Clearwater?”
Lorch stopped, brows rising. “What, she wasn’t at training?”
Elijah shook his head ever so slightly. Lorch felt his heart begin to pace.
“Erm,” he offered Elijah his trademark lopsided grin. “I have not seen her since last night.”
The air in the hall seemed to become thick.
“Perhaps she is in the kitchens?” offered Lorch gently.
He knew she would not be in the kitchens.
Where was she?
“If you see her, tell her that for not attending training she is expected to run the castle grounds ten times.”
Lorch made a face as Elijah spun and stalked from the hallway, his cloak flapping in his wake.
He could not help feeling that something was wrong, very wrong.
~~~
“Miss Rion, thank you for seeing me.”
Nem watched Elijah carefully, unsure as to why he had requested her presence. She could feel something radiating from him, his body seemed to hum with pent up energy as he paced the small room like a caged wolf. She felt he were holding a tight leash on himself, and that leash was close to snapping.
“Of course, how can I be of assistance?”
The bodyguard paused, lifting his hands to slowly pull back his hood. Nem looked up at him from the settee, silver hair brushing her cheek as she surveyed his newly unveiled features. Fingers curling around the handle of a cup of tea, Nem averted her eyes to the amber liquid as Elijah spoke.
“It’s Arii. I have not seen her in two days.”
Nem paused, the cup touching her lips. She lowered the cup to the saucer on the table before her.
“Arii?” she echoed.
Elijah paused and his arms folded across his chest. “She did not show for training yesterday, nor did she show this morning. I can…” Elijah grunted and glanced away, his jaw set as he ground out his next words as if they pained him.
“I can no longer… sense her.”
That had the woman’s silver brows shooting up high on her forehead.
Sense her?
Nem paused and allowed her magic to flare out carefully. She did not do it often for fear of being caught, but
now she sensed an array of bodies occupying the castle.
None of them were her best friend.
Nem stood then, her striking eyes fixed on the bodyguard.
“Where could she be?”
Elijah strode to the nearby window, gazing down at the courtyard below. His eyes tracked the castle servants as they scurried about, performing their daily tasks. When Arii had not arrived for training, and when Lorch had been alone when he had approached the King’s rooms, Elijah knew something was wrong. Seeking Nemesis out was not his first thought, but he had noticed the women spoke quite often, and after some time put the pieces together. They knew each other, and it was likely they were friends. His voice was low, careful, as if fearing them being overheard.
“A small party of carriages left the morning after the party, Valdis Kruel with them. They were bound for Bonemire.”
Nem’s body went rigid.
“And you think Ariiaya is with them?”
Elijah turned to her. His face showed no hint of expression, but he had noticed the slip from Nem’s tongue.
Arii’s true name.
He catalogued it for later. If the silver haired woman’s reaction had been different, he would have headed to Bonemire alone, whether she had agreed to come with him or not.
“Guests leaving after any festivities here in Viridya are thoroughly searched. None of the guards stationed around the castle exits report seeing her leave,” Elijah said
The woman nodded and folded her arms across her chest. “What would you have me do?” she asked, her expression morphing to steely resolve.
Elijah turned to face her fully as he said, “We must go there, under the cover of darkness. Tonight.”
~~~
The stone was cool beneath her cheek. Everywhere the floor touched her soothed her tired, aching muscles.
Love, Blood & Fury Page 35
