As she drifted away she worried that perhaps Noah wasn’t going to give in after all. This led to another disquieted rest which she was roused from what seemed like moments later by a gentle shake. It was mere moments after evening now, and the room was beginning to darken. Noah was kneeling next to the bed and in his hand was more freshly baked bread.
“Wake up, Penny. Now.” He sounded stern, and once she was more aware, he helped her into a sitting position. “You’ve had long enough to pout, now it’s time to eat this.”
“No. I don’t want anything from you. I just want to leave. Please Noah, just let me leave. My friends need me, I want to help them. I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to stay with you. I don’t know how clear I have to make it. You’re keeping me prisoner against my will.” She wanted to shout, but could barely rasp out the words.
Noah’s face reddened, and his lips grew thin. “I’ve had it, Penny. Open your mouth. Right now.”
“Don’t touch me!” Penny wailed, throwing up her hands to no avail. Brutally, he grabbed her by the jaw and forced her mouth open as she lashed back at him. They wrestled for a while, but after pinching her nose closed, he overcame her. As she gasped for air, Noah force-fed her the bread with paralyzing dominance.
“Chew. Go on.”
Penny complied reluctantly, tears falling down her face and soaking the bread.
“Now swallow.”
Penny glared at him through her streaming eyes, hating him so deeply that she could not obey. With defiance blazing in her eyes, Penny spit the food onto the floor. Something snapped in Noah.
He grabbed her by the throat and threw her off the bed onto the ground.
“How dare you?” His voice boomed as she crawled away from him. “How dare you treat me this way? Do you have any idea of what I’ve done for you?”
Penny got to her feet and ran for the door, but the cord held her fast.
“Stay away!” she shrieked, turning her back to the wall as she faced the oncoming danger.
“I’ve destroyed my reputation, sacrificed my people’s respect! I’ve given you everything you could possibly need or want—I let this city burn for you! I gave you my heart, Penny. You told me you would consider my feelings. You gave me hope! Why would you have done that if you didn’t actually care for me? I just wanted you love me. I gave you everything, and yet you still won’t love me.”
“You wouldn’t let me say no!”
“You brought my kingdom crashing to the ground. I’ve lost control of everything. I tried to do this all by myself―I tried to make a good world out of what my father left me with, but I can’t. And you. You’re the cause of this. You selfish, selfish girl.”
“Noah,” Penny whispered, “I never wanted this to happen.”
Noah stopped in his tracks and his face pinched into an expression of exquisite misery. Penny’s chest felt hollow as she watched him double over and moan into his hands. She stared at him in frozen shock for a minute, then empathy slowly ached in her chest and with caution she crept closer to him. With shaking fingers she lightly touched his shoulder in an attempt to console him. Noah grew very still, then let his hands drop to his side, revealing a masked expression.
“I swore on the day that I was crowned that I would never let things fall out of my grasp. I refuse to let my dominion fall to ruin. I refuse to be weak. I will settle for nothing less than exactly what I want.”
His eyes were hard and cold as he looked toward her. “You will stay in here, you will be well-behaved, you will obey me, and in time you will learn to respect me,” he hissed.
In a moment of insane rebellion, Penny summoned all her remaining strength and struck him in the face. Her fist glanced off his jaw, and he caught her shivering hand in his own and squeezed until Penny screamed out in pain.
“Stop! It hurts!” Penny cried, trying to pry his fingers off. Noah bared his teeth in something that was halfway between a vicious grin and a snarl.
“Doesn’t it?” he tossed her hand aside, and before she had time to recuperate from the pain, Noah flung the back of his hand across Penny’s face, knocking her to the ground. Her head smashed against the wall as she fell. Darkness clouded her vision and her ears roared.
Through a haze, Penny saw Noah clutch his stomach and gasp, as if the reality of what he had done had just dawned on him. He backed away from her, turned and fled the room. Penny had no strength left to follow.
Footsteps in the hall brought Penny back to reality.
He’s back. Oh God, no, he’s back… Penny thought, her eyes opening wide. She had missed her chance. Her body refused to move.
The footsteps stopped, then picked up their pace until she felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder. Penny saw the shape of a man leaning over her, but she could not see his face for all the darkness.
“Thank Heaven―you’re okay,” he said in a choked voice, and Penny recognized Flynn. “Hang on, kid. I’m going to pick you up.”
She braced herself as Flynn lifted her carefully off the ground and brought her over to the bed. He set her down and turned away, cursing the King as he brought out a flask of water. Flynn turned back and offered it to her. Her whole body ached as she swallowed. With deft moves Flynn cut the cord binding her, inspected her carefully, and wet a cloth to wipe blood from her face.
“Here, now. Eat some of this. Just try.” He gave her a small, sweet biscuit which she accepted. It didn’t matter whose side he was on to her. She had no energy left to give. “It looks like you’re going to be fine, but I’m no expert.” He took another breath as he searched for words. “If I had known that he was keeping you locked up in here I would’ve done something much sooner. I knew something strange was going on when he wouldn’t allow anyone up here, but I never thought he’d even dream of doing something like this.”
Relief flooded her. “It’s no fault of yours.”
“Yes, it is. Partially. I should’ve been there for him. If I hadn’t been so angry at him and ignored him all this time, I might’ve seen something was wrong and been able to prevent it. Everything’s a huge damn mess right now, but you’ll be okay. He’s not going to hurt you anymore, I promise.” Flynn’s expression looked pained as their gazes met, and then he looked away. “I’m going to get you out of here, now.”
She tried to sit up. “How? The streets are swarming with Rhea’s followers and I’m―”
“Stay still,” Flynn reprimanded, then reached into his apron pocket and produced a beautiful glass vial filled with something that looked like water. “You’re going to use this.”
“What is that?”
“Whirlwind Water,” Flynn said as if it were obvious. When he saw no light of recognition, he sighed. “Just pour it on the ground around you in a spiral and it’ll take you to wherever you feel your home is.”
“Home? But my home is―it’s worlds away,” Penny objected and Flynn raised an eyebrow.
“Rhea is going to break into the castle in less than a week’s time and when she finds you, it’ll be all over. ‘Worlds away’ sounds better than that, if you ask me.” Flynn shrugged and the sides of Penny’s mouth twitched upward a tad. “This stuff is incredibly rare and unimaginably expensive, so don’t screw up.”
“Why are you helping me, Flynn?” she asked abruptly, skepticism in her tone. “You’ve always hated me. I can’t see why you’d go out of your way to make sure I’m safe.”
Flynn grimaced and crossed his arms. “I don’t hate you. I just―I hate everything that’s happened after you came into Noah’s life. I hate watching what he’s become. And maybe I’m a little anxious that some pipsqueak of a girl who barely knows which way is up is balancing the fate of our world on her fingertip. Now, get your ass out of here and get some proper help.”
Penny couldn’t help but give a dry, sarcastic laugh at his response, but wobbled to her feet, grabbed her bag from the corner and stood in center of the room, the Whirlwind Water poised in her hand.
“Thank you, Flynn. I’l
l never forget this.”
Flynn nodded, and she took the glass stopper out and prepared to spread it around her. She hesitated a moment longer, daunted by where she may end up, but knowing she had no other choice, she tipped over the vial and let it fall in a spiral around her. When the ground exploded in a miniature hurricane, Penny felt her feet leave the stone floor and the world around her begin to spin. Then the wind and water were wiped away and replaced by thick blackness.
Penny stood in a field of darkness with her heart pounding. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she saw she was in a quaint little bedroom. She blinked around in bewilderment, moved to the curtains and drew them to allow a bit of moonlight in. She didn’t recognize the place. The gas lamps suggested she was still in Elydria, but if she didn’t recognize it, Penny wondered how it could be her home.
She felt a shock when she noticed someone sleeping in the bed at the end of the room, and hated to imagine what might happen if this stranger was to wake and see an unfamiliar person standing beside their bed. Penny rushed from the room, then halted at the sound of two voices arguing.
“I don’t know how many different ways I can say I’m sorry,” one voice said bitterly.
“Try saying it like you mean it, maybe that’ll work,” the other responded, sounding vicious, and the first voice gave an exasperated groan.
“Why would I even bother with this unless I meant it? And by the way you haven’t apologized to me yet for everything you’ve done. I haven’t forgotten about that, Annette.”
Penny’s heart skipped a beat and she flew down the hall, her footsteps pounding on creaky wooden floors. She burst into a homey little kitchen with a glowing hearth and a table laden with country food. All around the table were friendly faces: Annette, Argent, Simon, Mia, Noct, Gavin, and Armonie. In the corner of the room, Lydia was standing by herself, her eyes wide as she took in Penny.
“I don’t believe it,” Argent choked out when he saw Penny. Suddenly, Penny’s name was being called out in joyous confusion, arms were being thrown around her and she was crying with happiness and pain.
Questions were pouring in from everywhere. “How did you find us here? How did you get in?”
“I thought you wanted to stay at the castle? Noah told us that’s what you wanted. He told us that you couldn’t stand to say goodbye, but that you wanted us to go where it was safe and send a letter when we arrived.”
“Who did this to you?” Simon interrupted with a trembling voice, touching Penny’s bruised face. She looked away so that her hair would hide the mark, feeling ashamed. What will Hector think?
“Wait, where’s Hector?” Penny demanded, her heart filling with dread.
“He’s fine, dear, just resting. Tell us what happened and how you got here, please,” Gavin urged.
“I used Whirlwind Water to find you. I’m still not sure how it worked,” she began timidly. Gingerly at first, but with increasing emotion as the memories came pouring back, Penny recounted her ordeal.
“I swear to God if I ever see that―that―agh, I’ll tear him apart!” Simon yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.
Armonie went to work on Penny’s injuries and Annette brought her cold pofflin meat and buttered rolls as the others cursed Noah and fumed. Argent was dangerously silent.
“Is Aunt Wendy resting too?” Penny asked, looking around for Gavin’s mother. Gavin’s brow furrowed and he sighed.
“Stubborn old thing refused to leave Iverton,” he said, unable to feign nonchalance. Annette and he shared a concerned glance. “She went to stay with her friends on the other end of town. She thinks she’ll be safe there, but I’m still not comfortable with it. Wouldn’t budge, no matter how we begged.”
Gavin fell silent, and Argent took the opportunity to tell Penny what they had done in her absence.
“We’ve been on the road for a while now. We’re about a day from Lindenvale―this is a lodging-house that we crossed on the way. Things are getting pretty serious, Penny. There’ve been rumors of even more wraiths terrorizing the countryside and we met with a few terrible sights on the way here,” he told her, his eyes unfocused. “Maybe you’d better get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Um,” Penny interjected, feeling nervous as she anticipated the answer of what she was about to ask, “Which room is Hector in? I want to see him.”
“He’s asleep,” Annette answered. “But I’m sure he won’t mind being woken up to see you. The room at the very end of the hall.”
“Ah, I see,” Penny replied stiffly, but felt a great rush of relief as she got up to find him.
“You should be feeling a lot better by morning, big sister―that was some of the best medicine I’ve ever made,” Armonie told her kindly.
Penny bid a very emotional goodnight to them all, while inwardly thanking every deity she could remember the name of that she was back among them. She crept down the hall and opened the door, recognizing the room as the one the Whirlwind Water had brought her to. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she moved inside.
This is where I was brought to―not to the kitchen where all my friends were.
Penny looked toward the bed where Hector was breathing shallowly. She dropped weakly into the chair beside the bed, thoughts swirling through her mind. Hector.
The broken rectangle of gray moonlight shone on his features, and Penny’s heart alternated aching and fluttering as she watched him sleep. It seemed as though a storm had begun to rage inside of her, a storm that blew her thoughts and emotions into an unintelligible mass of disorder. It was as if gale-force winds of raw joy and jagged pain took turns buffeting her heart and Penny could do nothing but let it happen. Urges to laugh or to burst into tears occurred to her, and finally she dropped her eyes to Hector’s hand that lay motionless atop of the coverlet. Compelled, she laid her hand upon his and a sense of calm quieted the cacophony in her mind.
It felt then as if she had been dropped into the rocking waters of an ocean and was slowly floating away from the turmoil inside of her. All the senses of entrapment, of forced submission, and of pain that Noah had subjugated her to were washed away by these invisible waves, and Penny’s shoulders slumped forward as understanding dawned on her.
I’m safe here. It does feel like I’m home…and all because I’m with you again, Hector.
The sensation of breaking out of the water and taking her first breath of air was so loud in Penny’s head, her fingers involuntarily tightened around Hector’s hand.
Simon was right. She blinked several times, letting the words repeat in her mind. Of course he was right. I’ve been so afraid of admitting it to myself, but I’ve always felt this way, haven’t I? I’ve always―
Penny felt Hector’s hand twitch beneath her grip, and his eyes fluttered open. It was enough to cause Penny to become paralyzed with fear in the face of what she had just realized, and she found she could not speak as Hector sat up and pulled his hand away.
“Who’s there?” he murmured sleepily.
“It―it’s me.” Penny could barely produce a whisper for all the fright, wonder, and beautiful contentment that seemed to be overflowing in her heart. Hector clumsily fumbled for his glasses on the table beside the bed.
“Penny? How can it be?” he spouted, reaching for her arm through the darkness and finding her wrist. Her arm felt charged with electricity where he touched her, and Penny was very glad for the darkness as she felt her face grow uncomfortably hot. “What are you doing here?”
In a moment of madness she mistook his surprise for rage, and it was enough to send tears spilling over onto her cheeks.
“Hector, please don’t be mad,” she cried, wrenching her wrist away and covering her face. “I’ve been trying so hard to think of way to make you believe how sorry I am, or make you forget about everything I’ve done, but I just can’t. It’s all my fault―everything’s ruined because of me, because I haven’t had the courage to be honest with myself, or with Noah, or with anyone. He never
would’ve locked me in there or hurt me if I’d just been brave enough to tell him my true feelings.”
“What are you talking about?” Hector cried. “Noah did what?”
“I’ve made so many mistakes up until now, but I think I still have time to fix them. I’ll never break my promise again, Hector, just please don’t hate me, please.” She threw herself at Hector and clung to him until he made a choking noise.
“Penny,” he stammered, smoothing her hair and sighing, “you must know that I’m not cross with you. I only… I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes, daring to believe his words. Hector laughed gently and returned her embrace, and though it caused Penny pain to be held so tightly, it did not bother her at all.
ANNETTE TUGGED ON Serafee’s reins as she looked behind her. “Right, Penny? Penny!”
“Wha―? Oh yeah, definitely,” Penny nodded, not really knowing what she was agreeing to and Annette gave her an exasperated look. It was midday, and they rode together on the anteloo’s back because Annette refused to sit with Argent.
“You’re so distracted today. Are you sure you’re feeling better? Maybe we should’ve rested a day longer.” Annette put her palm to Penny’s forehead.
“I’m fine, really.”
“That’s enough chatter, girls. We’ve got a long way to go if we want to reach the Sanctuary by sundown,” Hector called back to them, then kicked at Humphrey’s sides so that the happy anteloo bounded off. Annette had sworn to Penny that morning that Humphrey had not possessed half that enthusiasm in her absence.
Hector had been acting fractious and uptight since morning. Last night, when Penny told him what Noah had done to her, his face had paled and his attitude had become distant and pensive.
They had been riding all day toward Lindenvale, and Penny expected the pristine city would be a lovely, comforting sight once it finally appeared. They all received a shock, however, when they burst through the field of lavender wildflowers and looked upon the glistening rivers and white towers at last, only to find them wreathed in smoke.
Eden Undone (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 2) Page 28
