Lilly V: Book Five

by Tiya Rayne

  “Bartus,”I say cheerfully. “You are a riot. I needed that laugh.” I tip my glass to him and take a sip.

  “You owe me what you promised. I can’t believe I’ve been betrayed for that bitch of a……”

  Before he could finish his sentence, I create a portal that takes me straight to him. I have the bastard by his neck and lifting him in the air. His men go for their weapons, but are quickly stripped of them by one wave of my hand. With a flick of a wrist their heads explode spraying blood, brain matter, and bone throughout the room. My men shout with excitement.

  “Damn it, my Lorde, I was going to eat this.” Ofilla says speaking of the buffet of food now ruined with bits of Southern Soldier.

  “Have you lost your damn mind?” I calmly ask Bartus. My anger coats my words in ice. “Your betrayal has clearly clouded your judgement. I…owe…you…nothing. You work for me. If I decide to end this fucking war today and walk away with Lilly I don’t have to explain a godsdamn thing to you.”

  “I’m…..I’m…..”

  “……And if you ever speak ill of my future queen again, I will shove your fucking head up your pretentious ass.”

  He tries to apologize again, but I did not care to hear it. I am done with the traitorous king. He is no longer useful to me. I toss his body onto the blood smeared floor. His eyes scan the room taking in the headless corpse of his few measly soldiers.

  “Take Bartus to the dungeons. I think our dear treacherous king needs some time to think about his actions.”

  “No!” Bartus pleads. “I was out of line. I can still be useful.”

  A troll grabs Bartus and lifts him up slinging him over his shoulder.

  “And Pascott.” I call out to the behemoth troll that turns its tusked head towards me. “Have some fun with him while you’re at it.” Pascott lets out a howl that sounds like a mix between a yell and a grunt. He hurries out of the room with a crying and pleading Bartus.

  “Bartus will never be able to sit down again.” I joke.

  “Your vow of not killing lasted five seconds.” Ofilla stands to her feet. “You will have to do better to win over your woman.”

  “Tomorrow is a new day, Ofilla. Besides, I have a plan.”

  Chapter Four

  My stomach growls loudly causing me to roll over again. My plan to starve myself instead of eat with Nevy is starting to sound really stupid, and it’s only been two days. However, I refuse to allow him to win.

  I am a prisoner. Though my cage is beautiful, it is still a cage. I cannot go outside of the castle, and after I refused to eat with him the last time, none of the servants will speak to me. I haven’t seen my friend Finwick since he delivered my message to Nevy. I am watched constantly. Even inside the castle I’m being followed by one of the Dark King’s hideous guards. They all look at me with a disgusting look in their eyes that make me want to peel the skin off my flesh. I cannot survive this way. I need fresh air. I need the sunlight and human interaction. I need Assassin!

  I stare at the drapes that cover my bed as I pinch my butterfly pendant between my fingers. Having the necklace here is almost the next best thing to having Assassin here. I swear I can feel his presence every now and again. A soft caress along my cheek, or the warmth of his arms surrounding me. That first day I know I heard his voice telling me to Stay Strong. Whenever I start to feel at my lowest, as if I can’t take another moment of being here, I can feel the soft press of his lips against mine. Whenever this happens, it sends a pulsing shock to my core and my sex clenches and releases on the memory of Assassin stroking inside me. God, I miss him. Not only him, but my boys too. Being without my boys, leaves a gaping wound in my heart. I feel as if I’ve lost a part of me. Not to mention the pain in my breasts. At first they felt like rocks were weighing them down, they were so heavy with milk. Now that the milk has started to dry up, they are constantly sore.

  The knock from my door comes exactly as expected. Every day at the same time some new maid or servant comes to my door to help me get dressed for a meal with the Dark King. And every day I send them back empty handed. I can always hear his angry roar from all the way up here.

  “Tell the Dark King nothing has changed. I’m not eating with him so he might as well stop asking.” I yell to my bedroom door without even looking up from my position on the bed.

  I don’t acknowledge the servant when they push open my door and walk in. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them have ignored my command and came in anyway.

  “You might as well leave,” I call to the intruder without looking at them. “I’m not coming out.”

  “So is this your well-thought out plan?”

  The voice throws me back to a haunted memory of a cramped cabinet. I spring up from the bed to come face to face with Medina. She is in her young woman form. That mahogany skin and those silvery gray eyes still as startling as they’ve always been. However, she doesn’t look like the well put together witch from before. Her eyes, once bright with evil intent, are dull. Her skin, which was once radiant and unmarred, looks gray and bruised. The heavy bags under her eyes looks like she hadn’t slept in years. Her dress seems to be made of some kind of heavy brown material that reminds me of old potato sacks. It hangs over her body like a garment bag covers a fine suit. Her mass of long jet black hair is covered in a colorful bright cloth fabric. She looks like she’s been through hell. Well it serves her right.

  “Medina?” I say her name like I’m questioning the reality of her being here.

  “The Dark King thought it would only be fitting if I became your own personal maid.” She shrugs and rolls her eyes as she places her hands over her narrow hips. “I’m supposed to be his ‘sorry I screwed up’ gift to you. Honestly, I don’t care. This is a reprieve from the hell I’ve been through.”

  “If you’re looking for sympathy from me, you won’t get it.”

  She smiles smugly. “I would think less of you if you did.”

  The room is silent for a moment, both of us summing up the other. This woman put me through two months of hell. I’m having a hard time accepting the fact that she is still living. And in her most coveted form.

  “You’re young again.” I state the obvious. “Are you using some other unsuspecting girl’s blood to keep your youth?”

  The words come out as bitterly as I wanted them to.

  She holds up her wrist side by side for me to see the silver cuff links. “The Dark King has remarkable power. He allows me to keep my beauty although he stripped away all of my powers.”

  “Lucky You.” I reply dryly.

  “It’s more for his men. They like when I look pretty when they rape me every night.”

  Her words hit me hard. As much as I despise Medina I would never want any woman to go through something like that. To have your body taken from you against your will. For someone to be inside you, to be that intimate with you, and you do not wish them to be. The thought of it breaks my heart.

  “Oh, don’t go get all sentimental on me now.” Medina says. She must have noticed my expression. “I’m a lot stronger than you think. It will take a lot more than a few unwanted dicks to break me. I do not need nor want your sympathy.”

  “Just my blood right?”

  Medina laughs as she takes a seat on the bench at the foot of my bed.

  “Why do you think I am your enemy?”

  “I don’t know, maybe the near three months of being beaten and nearly starved to death qualifies you.”

  “You’re not my enemy, Lilly. I’m probably one of the only allies you have in this place.”

  At this I laugh. I’ll admit, some of my hate for Medina burned out when she told me about the rape. Yet, I do not trust her. I would definitely never think of her as being on my team.

  “If your witch thing never works out, Medina, you should try standup comedian.” I say through my laughter.

  “What did I do that was so wrong?”

  “Are you serious? You beat me, used my blood as your very own youth
serum, you tried to sell my boys, and let’s not forget erasing my memory.”

  She waves off my words as if they are annoying flies. “I was the only one honest with you.”

  “Bullshit!!!”

  “OH!...... There she goes. There is the little fighter that I know.” She smiles proudly at me as if she had any input in me being a fighter. “Really, this little weak damsel in distress thing you’re doing by starving yourself is getting old.” She stands to her feet and smooths a hand down the front of her ugly brown dress.

  “I’m not weak.” A say with little conviction.

  “Are you?” She argues. “So you’ve been captured by the Dark King and forced to leave your poor precious babies behind.” Her voice turns into a whine towards the end of her sentence. “Honey you have no idea the power you will.”

  “Despite what my blood did, I am not powerful. I don’t have magic.”

  “Girlie, it isn’t magic the Dark King seeks. It is that thing between those tiny little thighs.”

  I stand to my feet and say vehemently. “He will never have me that way.”

  “And by the gods he shouldn’t. But, it doesn’t hurt to make him believe he can.”

  The room is silent as I size Medina up.

  “Why should I trust you?”

  She laughs. “You shouldn’t. I mean, let’s be honest, Lilly. Everyone is using you. Everyone is out to get something from you. The Dark King wants your body. The Elven Queen wants you to save the Locke. And yes, I wanted you to keep me young and youthful. At least I didn’t pretend to be something to you that I wasn’t. You are a very valuable pawn in a large game. Some people will try to sway you with kindness and friendship, and some will just tell you up front what they seek. Do you want the truth, Lilly?”

  “Yes.” I say folding my arms over my chest.

  “The truth is, I don’t give a shit about what happens to you or the Locke. I don’t even care about the impending war. All I care about is me. And right now, I want out of this hellhole.” She waves her hands about indicating the Dark King’s castle. “My best option for that it is to partner with you and I don’t like to lose. So I’m going to help you out to the best of my ability. First thing you need to learn, is that this is all a game. Right now everyone is playing except for you. You’re still at the starting line, Lilly. If you want to win this game, you have to catch up. In order to do that, you have to come out of this room and stop FUCKING STARVING YOURSELF.” She takes a deep breath regaining her composure. “Now, get up, get dressed, and join the game.”

  I hate to admit it, but Medina is right. I need to start playing this game. I know that this battle with the Dark King is going to be tough. He is an evil mastermind and good at manipulation. Just look how he fooled me into trusting Nevy. I came to the Northern Kingdom to allow Assassin and his army some time to prepare. They still need my help. That means I need to stall Nevy, and to do that I had to interact with him. And, if I am going to win the battle of the minds with him, I need to play at his level. Or, make him play on mine.

  A plan forms quickly in my head.

  “Alright, Medina, we have a deal.” I walk towards her and hold out my hand for her to shake. Right as she starts to grasp my hand I pull back my fist and sock her in the face. She falls to the floor clutching a hand over her bleeding nose. She looks up at me and there is a fire behind her eyes and a smile on her lips.

  I stand over her prone body.

  “Let’s get one thing straight, I don’t trust you. I know that if the opportunity arises for you to get your freedom you will betray me. But I want you to know,” I kneel down to her level. “This time, I will not rely on someone else to punish you. I will kill you myself.”

  She holds my eyes for a moment, weighing the seriousness of my words. I keep my eyes on hers so that she can see that I mean business. I am exactly what she wants me to be, I am no longer playing the weak victim.

  Her smile spreads slowly across her face. She reaches out a hand to shake mine and I finally grasp her hand in a firm shake. I know Medina will only be as faithful to me for long as she needs me. That’s ok, because now I’m seeing things differently. I was determined to win this game by any means necessary.

  I step away from her body as she climbs to her feet.

  “I need a dress.”

  “I have one here.” She points to the green fabric lying across my fainting couch.

  I shake my head at the thick long fabric. “No. I need a special kind of dress.”

  Medina’s eyes light up when my requests dawns on her. Let’s just hope I can pull off this plan.

  A short bald man announces my name before the doors to the dining hall is thrown open for me to walk through. With my head held high, I walk through the massive double doors. Right away I take in the enormous rectangular room. The ceiling is gorgeous with its intricate dark wood work forming rows of arches from the front to the back of the rectangular room. Dark stone walls lined with stainless glass windows surrounded by more of that intricate wood work. Its windows remind me of old cathedrals. I can picture a priest walking the long aisle with an incense burner swinging from his hands. The floors are dark gray marble. In every corner of the room large haunting sculptures of gargoyles sit on pedestals surrounding the room like guard dogs. At each end of the room, colossal fireplaces are ablaze with fires. The large rectangular table runs the length of the room and looks to sit over 100 people. Candle burning chandeliers hang above the table like decorative earrings. The entire scene is like some gothic fairytale. Right at the end of the table, standing to his feet in a black double breasted coat with long tails is the Dark King. Even I had to admit that he looked handsome in his all black attire. Black pants made out of some type of shiny material that reminds me of leather and even a black blouse with the frill at the collar. He fits well into the backdrop of the dark room. As my eyes scan up his body, admiring the way the pants hug his thick hard thighs, the way the material does nothing to hide the impressive imprint that seems to crawl endlessly down the front of his thigh. My eyes track further up to give recognition to the way his jacket fits snugly around his large biceps and broad shoulders and chest. When my eyes finally land on his, I take in a breath at the blazing heat behind his eyes. A heat so hot it drowns out the warmth coming from the large fireplaces in the room. A scorching fire hides behind those mix matched eyes. I can feel his gaze like a touch to my skin. I do not turn away from his gaze, instead I challenge him with my own. I knew the reaction I would get the moment I put on this dress. I was not expecting the intensity or the way his reaction would cause my lower belly to quiver. As much as I would like to blame the quivering on repulsion or nerves, it is not.

  With a voice so deep it rattles my chest with each syllable, he says. “You look……I do not think there is a word for it.”

  I knew this dress would be perfect. It is the perfect mixture of my world and the Locke. Blood red with black lace overlay that fits my curves like a glove. I had the dress put together while on my body to make sure the fit was perfect. Halter with a deep v front that drops down just above my navel. My perky swollen breasts only slightly contained behind the skin tight fabric. The bottom spreads out at my ankles in a mermaid style with a short train. It is sexy yet elegant. My usually curly hair has been straightened, thanks to some clever engineering. Heavy iron combs were placed over a fire then combed through my hair making all of my curls bone straight.

  I purposely wanted Nevy to find me beautiful, yet his words still cause the warmth from my belly to crawl its way up to my cheeks and turn my dark honey skin to a deep burgundy. I finally break contact with those eyes feeling the loss as soon as I glance to the table. Immediately I place a genuine smile on my face as I acknowledge the food. Pizzas, burgers, french fries, milk shakes, tacos, you name the food chain and it’s here. Golden arches, bells, red roofs, crowns, all of them are here lined up on this massive table.

  “I see somebody was busy in the human realm.”

  A low chuckl
e comes from the end of the table. I did not look up to acknowledge it. I am not a fan of how Nevy is making me feel at the moment. And hearing that low deep chuckle is affecting me in ways only Assassin should.

  “When you finally agreed to have dinner with me, I wanted it to be special. I hope some of your favorites are here somewhere.”

  “Thank You, Nevy.” I say honestly.

  The room fills with silence. I glance up from the table to his face and catch sight of his flared nostrils and clenched jaw. His body seems to be waging an internal war. Finally he opens his eyes to look at me and that burning is back in his stare.

  “Thank You!”

  “For what?” I ask confused.

  “For calling me by my name once again.”

  I hadn’t even realized I was doing it. I guess seeing him tonight and all the things he did to make this night special, is making me think of the man I met in my dreams. If only that man was real.

  “Allow me.” He says as he pulls out the chair to the right of his.

  I walk towards him and take my seat at the table. His hand grazes over my bare shoulder as he goes to push the chair in. His touch sends tingles throughout my body. Though warm and fuzzy, they are still nothing compared to the way Assassin makes me feel with only a glance. At least I can be assured about that.

  Nevy sits down in his seat and I take one of the slices of cheese pizzas out the box and place it on my nice expensive china. Nevy watches me as I slowly place the slice of pizza to my lips and take a slow bite. I close my eyes and moan around the cheesy goodness.

  “Sorry,” I say with a giggle as I look over at him.

  He’s doing that flaring nostril thing while his heated gaze stares at my lips. I cover my mouth as I say. “I guess I got a little carried away.” I give him another smile.

  He stutters over his words as he watches my tongue slowly draw across my bottom lip. I take a sip of my cup and it breaks the spell my lips have on him. He clears his throat and ask.