Page 85 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

Luther went deathly silent. I’d never been scared of him, but now?

Now my heart pounded in my eardrums and an icy chill shot down my spine.

We stood in the middle of one of Aurelia’s personal castles in Treave.

As expected, it practically screamed wealth, but none of that mattered.

Not when we had to return to Luther empty handed and with terrible news.

‘I’ll protect you,’ Kieran said through the bond.

‘You can’t. You won’t.’ Not if it contrasted against his goals.

Luther clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at Kieran. “Come here.”

‘We can run.’ I thought desperately at Kieran as he made his way toward Luther.

Like he had done last time, Kieran kept his chin high and his expression neutral.

In this moment, I forgot my anger. Because right now, it didn’t matter.

Not when Luther wanted a whipping boy to take his anger out on.

I had to fight the urge to grab his hand.

Alarm bells went off in my mind. I’d seen how Luther took his anger out on us, and now he had a legit reason to.

Because of us, Andova had the dragon eggs. The Mother help us .

‘He won’t kill us. He needs us to win the war.’

That wasn’t reassuring at all. I watched Kieran step toward his doom with my heart in my throat. Even though I was pissed, I didn’t want to leave him at Luther’s mercy.

Luther stood up from his throne, his expression perfectly blank as he stared down at Kieran. Crack! Kieran’s head whipped to the side. The sound echoed across the room.

‘Kieran!’

‘Don’t say anything.’ Kieran snapped. He didn’t touch his cheek, didn’t flinch, didn’t argue. Instead, he met Luther’s glare head on with a neutral expression.

I glanced around at the room. The guards scattered around the room watched with intentionally blank expressions. Luther’s nostrils flared with anger and Aurelia sat in her seat beside Luther, her face the picture of detached arrogance. But underneath both of their rage was a glimmer of fear.

“If we weren’t in the middle of godsdamn war, I’d have your head,” Luther hissed and grabbed Kieran’s arm.

Golden energy transferred between them. “There. You have all my energy. Shadow travel to Gareth. Have him heal you and fly to the border at once. I don’t care if you have to enter Andova to stop them.

You will get those eggs back or die trying. ” He shoved Kieran away.

‘Be careful,’ Kieran whispered in my mind.

Because of course he couldn’t stay. Because I would never be at the top of his priority list. Because he was a fucking liar who only saw me as a tool.

‘You’re not being fair. These eggs can—’

‘Destroy the country as we know it. Yes, I fucking know. Now go.’ The worst part was, I couldn’t bask in my anger. We needed to settle this first. My feelings came second. Shadows curled around Kieran, and he vanished.

“Aurelia, fly to the border.. Ben is holding them off, but he can’t outlast two dragons. Keep them at bay until reinforcements arrive.”

Aurelia’s jaw flexed. She inclined her head and stalked out of the castle.

Once she was gone, Luther looked at me and narrowed his eyes. That was the only warning I had before his fist collided against my cheek, sending me flying to the ground. I gasped for breath, blood spilling from my mouth. My cheek throbbed. Ow. I stared at my blood staining the marble floor. Prick.

“Get. Up.”

I inhaled through the pain. By the time I stood up and faced Luther, I cleared my face of all emotion. I wouldn’t give Luther the satisfaction of knowing how badly he hurt me.

“I told you there would be consequences for failing,” Luther purred. “Those eggs were worth more than your life. You knew this, and yet you still let them get away. A war is coming, Selena. A war bigger than you could possibly imagine. You’ve doomed us.”

Ice pooled in my stomach. The bond flared to life, Kieran’s worry practically shouting in my mind.

I got the sense he was trying to say something, but I couldn’t make out any words.

Either way, I couldn’t focus on that. Not when Luther hovered in front of me like a hunter staring down an injured deer.

“It’s time to suffer the consequences.” Luther bared his teeth in a smile and snapped his fingers.

The doors creaked open behind us. Luther’s delighted eyes never left mine, and for the first time since I stood on the execution slab, pure fear flooded my veins.

“No! No, you can’t!” Guards grabbed my shoulders and yanked me back. I tugged at the restraints, kicking and screaming, but it did no good. The guards forced me down to my knees, and I stared at the entrance hall. “You can’t!”

Luther laughed and walked over to where Wes and my sister stood.

He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“I told you not to fail. You got too comfortable, making those little demands. Acting as if you’re in charge.

You must’ve forgotten why you were fighting in the first place. So I’ll remind you.”

Clara looked at me with wide eyes. She trembled under Luther’s touch but didn’t dare move. Gods, she looked so small and helpless.

“No.” I yanked myself forward again, and the guard tightened his grip, digging his nails into my skin. “Don’t do this. She didn’t do anything.”

Luther laughed. “I don’t care. You need proper motivation.” He held out his hand, and another guard handed him a whip. “Ten lashes should suffice. ”

Clara paled. A sob left her lips, but she didn’t run. Not even when Luther released his grip. My heart squeezed in my chest. Every inhale burned. Clara’s hands trembled uselessly at her sides, and her fearful eyes met mine.

“Don’t you touch her,” I snarled. “Don’t you dare.”

Fear shot down the bond, and I had no clue whose it was. Was it Kieran responding to mine, or me projecting it to him? ‘Help me. Please.’ But he couldn’t hear me.

Clara yelped when a guard shoved her to the ground.

Red filled my vision, and I thrashed, only to be shoved face-first into the ground.

My ears rang, my hand burned from the stab wound, and my cheek throbbed.

But none of that mattered when one of my worst nightmares stood before me. I gritted my teeth and looked at Clara.

That same guard who shoved Clara grabbed the back of her dress and pulled.

The fabric tore easily, and Clara sobbed, clutching the front of her dress to protect her modesty.

Her panicked cry broke me, and I thrashed against the guard, only succeeding in getting pressed into the ground further.

Clara’s broken cries were muffled by her hair covering her face. She didn’t look up again.

“No!” I screamed.

Wes stepped forward. “My king, Lady Clara is frequently ill. It was only recently we stabilized her health. I’m her keeper. Let me take the punishment in her stead.”

“No.” My sister’s soft voice rang through the room. “ Please, my king, don’t punish him. Please.”

Luther arched a brow. “How interesting. And quite aggravating. Why is everyone forgetting who actually makes the rules here? You, my dear, will take the lashes or the punishment will be for nothing.” He tilted his head.

“But they are right on one thing. You’re weak.

I’d prefer you don’t die, so instead of the whip, we’ll use a cane. ”

A guard silently swapped the whip and handed Luther a cane, one clearly meant for punishment rather than walking assistance. Luther weighed it in his hands. “Unfortunately, a cane doesn’t leave nearly as much impact as a whip, so we’ll have to up the strikes to twenty.”

“You asshole.” I tried to move again. The guard lifted me up a few inches only to fling me back down. Pain blossomed across my ribs, but it had nothing on the ache in my heart.

Luther grinned at Wes. “And since everyone insists on challenging me, why don’t you deliver the strikes?”

Wes stumbled back. “I—I cannot, my king.”

Luther’s grin froze, and he strode forward, grabbing Wes’s forearm.

Golden light flared from his touch, and Wes gasped.

From where they touched, their veins lit up with gold, but this time, the energy was clearly going in Luther’s direction as Luther’s veins grew brighter and Wes’s dimmer.

As soon as Luther let go, Wes dropped face first to the ground.

Luther tsked. “It seems I’ll have to deliver forty strikes to you, Wesley. A shame. You’ve always been so obedient otherwise. ”

Clara whimpered. “Please don’t punish him, my king. Please.”

“Stay silent or I’ll add five more strikes for the both of you,” Luther growled.

My breath quickened. This couldn’t be happening. Clara wasn’t supposed to get hurt. “Luther, please. Don’t hurt her. Punish me instead.”

Luther smiled in my direction. “You caused this.” And then he brought down the cane.

Clara’s bloodcurdling scream echoed through the hall. I flinched, jerking forward, but it did no good. The guard was too strong, and Luther held all the power. I yelled again, my heart squeezing in my chest. “Stop hurting her! Stop it!”

Smack. The wood collided against her back once more, sending ripples through her whole body. Clara pressed her head against the ground and sobbed. Her hair covered her face, and her quick pants were impossibly loud in the near silent room.

Smack.

Smack.

Smack.

Clara sagged to the ground, too tired to keep screaming, but she let out pained gasps and choked cries. ‘Help her,’ I screamed through the bond. ‘Help her. If you love me, you’ll help her.’

‘What’s… Selena… me…’ came Kieran’s distant voice, so faint it was like he was shouting from across a field.

Tears pricked my eyes. My whole body trembled. Useless. Fire raged through me, tearing me apart from the inside out. A failure. Energy crackled, building under my skin, pulsing. I have to save her. “ Stop !” I screamed, looking straight at Luther.