Page 5 of A Broken Promise (the Freckled Fate #1)

5

I didn’t speak with Brita for the rest of the night. She left shortly after dressing me, locking the door after her.

Everything suddenly seemed so mortal and vain. My brain drowned in boiling anger and rage. I sat motionless on the round, wooden stool by the tiny vanity. I hadn’t seen my reflection in well over a year and I looked more hideous than ever. My constantly sunburned skin was covered in large freckles and sunspots. My overgrown eyebrows that were now perfectly waxed, looked out of place on my worn-out face. My cheekbones poked out noticeably. Previously full cheeks were sunken, making my round face look deformed. Even with Brita giving me the balm for my lips, they were still cracked, and that one new large freckle on my bottom lip made them look diseased. I ran my thumb down the smile lines. I had aged so much, I realized, as the small wrinkles were now permanently embedded on my cheeks and my forehead. I might have been only twenty-two, but I looked far older than that.

Life had a way of leaving its mark.

I harshly smiled. A worn-out shell for a broken soul. A fitting union.

My eyes trailed to the distorted-looking moon in the small window .

Guards. Dimitrii. Destroyer General. Children. Viyak.

Was the Moon Goddess ever aware of the sheer hell this world has become? Were any of the gods aware? Or did they just not care anymore?

The guards and I would have the keys, Brita mentioned before she left.

Dimitrii had the key.

My thoughts clattered against each other, a panicking, uncontrollable crowd. I pushed through them all. I wouldn’t give in. I wouldn’t let my mind snare me into overwhelming panic.

First, survive the night, I commanded myself. Deal with Dimitrii.

Then, we will deal with tomorrow.

One problem at a time.

It dawned on me that I was on borrowed time. The last candle barely flickered in the dark. The room was small, and the windows even smaller. I knew escape was not an option, yet naively, I still jerked the handle. It didn’t give. Locked tight in place.

Fight, it is then.

I analyzed each part of the bedroom for something I could use as a weapon. The room was simple; bunk beds by the door, vanity across from it with the bucket to the right. So far, my best option was to hit him with a wooden toy horse. “Better than anything else,” I whispered to myself, grabbing the toy.

I climbed to the upper bunk; that way, he’d have to drag me down and I’d have the upper hand. He was strong enough to do it, but it would be more difficult for him.

I sat on top of the bunk bed with the thoughts still racing through my head. Breathe , I willed myself. Breathe . I could risk breaking a window to use a piece of glass. But then if he didn’t show up, they’d assume I was trying to escape and shackle me again. And I really enjoyed even this ounce of freedom.

I thought about ripping my nightgown and creating a strip long enough to choke him, but I saw a man being choked to death once. It required significantly more strength than I had, especially against a large, well-fed Royal guard. A mirror shard was the most lethal available option to me at the moment but shattering a mirror would be loud and obvious.

I threw scenarios at myself, one after another after another. Again and again, what if that, what if this. All of them landed at the same conclusion.

I was a sheep about to be slaughtered.

I sat still in my upper bunk, holding tight to the smooth, carved toy. The bed was so soft and nice compared to the barren caves I was used to sleeping in. And yet, I would gladly trade it for the stone walls if it meant that I could listen to Viyak’s heartbeat against his chest as he cradled me.

Please live, I’ll find my way back to you. I promise .

I.

Promise.

I cringed as those words swung across my thoughts.

How selfish!

How utterly selfish of me to ask him to live, to wait for me, while I would never make it back to him. For him to spend his days enduring each for me. Foolish. So, so foolish.

“Screw it,” I said out loud as I climbed down my bed and shattered the mirror with the wooden horse. It was loud and took more tries than I had hoped.

But victoriously, I picked the sharpest piece and ripped a strip off my long night gown to wrap around it. I hadn’t even finished wrapping it all up as a loud click sounded straight behind my back and a second later, my door soundlessly opened.

As if operating on some ancient instinct, I silently moved behind the door. My candle was already out, and the room was filled with a pure moonlight glimmer. A tall figure appeared in the frame.

“Wakey-wakey, little bitch, your Lord is here,” Dimitrii whispered. I didn’t see his face but felt the bile in his words. He was still dressed in the same leathers from earlier. I clenched my jaw as my heart pounded. Shit. This was going to be much harder to break through with my makeshift knife. Eyes it is, then.

I watched him check the bottom bed first and then the top. Just when he realized I wasn’t there, he rapidly turned back to the door. I lunged at him as fast as I could, a long shard of glass aimed at his eyes.

“You bitch!” he shrieked as I stabbed and sliced his cheek wide. Not. Fast. Enough.

So close to the eye, yet I missed. Too quickly, he punched my eye so hard I trembled down to the ground. Still holding on to my only weapon, I stabbed his foot.

He squealed. Pissed off, he kicked me hard with his other foot.

Get up. Damn it. Get up! I screamed at myself; at my limp, frozen limbs.

No, the fight was already over. Dimitrii kicked me hard a few more times until the shard of the mirror scattered across the room from me. I felt the oh so familiar feeling of heat spilling inside my body—broken ribs—but the kicking didn’t stop. He kicked me again and again. I tensed my body, shielding my head as much as I could.

Maybe if I piss him off enough, he’d just beat me to death. I smirked at the thought of that as I took another hit.

Useless human filth. Get up and fight. Do something!!! I smiled at the angry voice of my elf-maid sounding in my head. For a second I was back in the bushes, barely seven years old, being beaten up by the village kids for having an elf as my family.

Dimitrii stopped kicking me, taking a breath for himself. Then he grabbed my short hair and painfully pulled my head until our eyes met. My lips stretched in a bloody smile.

“You little cunt,” he sneered as he spit in my face. I just stared at his bloodied-up, fileted cheek. He would have a scar.

No matter what happened to me, he would forever have a scar. I smiled wider at him, taking a small, agonizing breath.

And then I screamed.

I screamed as loud as I ever screamed, as loud as I could, ignoring the excruciating pain in my lungs.

“ FIRE!!! FIRE!!! FIRE!!!!”

Even Dimitrii startled and turned around just to double check.

“You dumb bitch!” he roared in my face as the realization came through. But it was too late. I heard the rushing steps already loud in the hall.

Dimitrii froze. They were so close but with my door shut… His hand covered my mouth, choking me. I listened as the rushing steps went by my door.

I bit his hand, taking off a chunk of his calluses. He gasped, letting go of me just long enough for me to scream again, spitting flesh and blood out of my mouth, gagging as I screamed.

“ FIRE in here!!! FIRE! ”

He pushed his bloody hand harder against my lips, his blood choking me. But my heart eased as my door suddenly opened wide and a guard stormed in.

“What the FUCK Dimitrii?!” he shouted as he saw us, his torch lighting up the room. “Are you out of your mind??? She is for him !!!!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, you fucked up Dimitrii…you fucking fucked up.” The guard took another look at the room, at the broken mirror, at the ripped nightgown, and my broken body.

Dimitrii threw me to the ground. His face seemed to clear up from rage to regret, but not regret of coming here. No, he would do it again. His regret was only of being caught. “Relax, Nhey, I’ll keep her face clean. The rest they don’t need to know. For all we know, she came from the Rock Quarries like that. Plus, nothing that I am doing right now is anything he wouldn’t do, so I am just preparing the bitch for him. He will probably thank me for it.” Dimitrii wiped the dripping blood, a smug look filling his face as he saw the other guard considering.

I raised my eyes to Nhey, pleading with everything I had.

“You can fuck around when it’s your shift, but I am not putting my neck on the line for you to get your dick wet. She is for him and him only. You know what he did the last time we didn’t follow that. So go and clean up,” Nhey ordered. Dimitrii hesitated, growling as he looked at me. But Nhey repeated, “Leave Dimitrii,” as he motioned for him to go.

I watched Dimitrii angrily storm off. As soon as his tall figure disappeared in the dark hall, my body began shaking. Uncontrollably shaking. And then I sobbed.

I didn’t care that the other guard was still there. I didn’t care that each cry hurt. I wept.

“Go to sleep, girl. I’ll stand watch nearby,” was all Nhey said as he closed the door, leaving me alone with the darkness.

I was lost in the storm, emotions flooding my mind until I drowned in my own tears. Until finally, my swollen eyes closed shut surrendering to a deep sleep.