Page 45

Chapter

Forty-Four

M errick stalked forward, and Lessia took a shaking step as well.

Frayson started toward a dark hallway where no light betrayed what lay at the end, but as she was about to follow him, Merrick by her side, a hand wrapped around her arm.

When Lessia turned her head over her shoulder, Loche stared at her with a wrinkle between his dark brows, eyes darting between hers.

“What is it?” she asked quietly, acutely aware the whole room watched them.

Loche’s nostrils flared, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.

Releasing her, he stepped to the side and approached a wary-looking Zaddock.

Brows pulling, she cast a final look his way, but Loche’s eyes remained on the ground, his shoulders tense and hands behind his back, so with a shrug, she followed Frayson and Merrick into the darkness.

Merrick grabbed a lantern off the wall, and he slowed his stride until she reached him a few steps into the hallway.

Casting him a grateful look, she kept Frayson’s slow pace until only their soft breaths and the sound of water dripping bounced off the curved walls.

After a while, the hallway opened to a murky chamber without windows, where a large wooden chair with chains wrapped around the arms and legs was placed in the middle. To her side, a large, corroded tub stood, and the smell of stale water hit her like a wave.

Guards lined the white walls, standing almost shoulder to shoulder, and large lanterns had been placed on either side of the opening.

Still, an ember of gratitude settled within her chest when Merrick placed the one he’d brought right by the chair, as little light reached the area.

Frayson cleared his throat, eyeing them both but avoiding Lessia’s gaze.

“Please know I take no pleasure in what comes next. We will ask you a number of questions, Lessia. They may not be easy ones, so forgive us for any pain they might bring. As we would in a normal interrogation, we will ask Merrick to give you…” Frayson winced.

“To give you a little encouragement to tell us the truth.”

Two guards stepped forward, each taking a place on one side of the chair, and tingles of unease shot down Lessia’s spine when they fixed their eyes on her face.

With a nod, Frayson continued. “These men are trained in detecting lies, the best in our armies. They’ve interrogated spies for years and will be the ones asking you questions. Please do not try to lie, Lessia. We see it every year, and it will make this more uncomfortable for everyone.”

She tried hard not to grimace.

Frayson meant well .

But the only one who would be uncomfortable soon was her.

Merrick wasn’t a stranger to torture; he’d done it before, and he’d do it again.

Based on the gilded shield-and-sword symbols on their black jackets, signifying high rank, the soldiers in the room must all have received similar training.

Straightening her spine, she offered Frayson a forced smile. “Shall we get on with it?”

Best to have it over with.

The anticipation of pain was almost equally torturous as receiving it.

Frayson waved toward the chair. “Merrick, please help secure her.”

She made her way over to it and sat down on the solid wood, keeping her face a mask of neutrality as Merrick pulled the clasps of the icy chains into place: one wrapped across her chest, one around each of her wrists, and two around her ankles, to ensure she could barely move an inch.

Before he stepped back, he checked the chain by her chest again and breathed, “I will do my best to make this as painless as possible. Remember that you’re stronger than you think.”

She eyed him as he backed up.

At least they weren’t at risk of being discovered because he wouldn’t meet her eyes. Everyone here believed she’d brought him as a trusted companion, and as such, it wasn’t strange that he shouldn’t want to look at her as he inflicted her pain.

As long as she told the truth as much as possible and lied convincingly when she had to, they would hopefully both get out of this in one piece.

Even if hers might be a bit more broken .

The two soldiers didn’t bother introducing themselves as they took their places on either side of Merrick. Both men wore dark hoods to veil their faces—probably to instill more fear—and while neither was as tall as Merrick, they were both massive.

Probably chosen for this very purpose, because they were intimidating enough, even without the theatrics.

The man on Merrick’s left pointed to her. “Break her finger.”

Merrick hesitated.

And Lessia could have kissed him for it.

When he slowly took the step needed to reach her, she lifted her chin, and the smile that spread across her face wasn’t forced.

Somehow, she and Merrick had formed a strange kind of truce.

Perhaps even the beginning of a friendship.

And while it wasn’t necessary, having him on her side might aid in the little progress she’d made in finding information for the king.

Unless the truce remained only while the king was back in Vastala.

She drew a deep breath when his hands gently wrapped around hers.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

The crack of her finger bending backward until it snapped echoed through the room.

Lessia hissed through clamped teeth at the pulsating pain, staring straight ahead.

Forcing her mind to think about her friends and the children she needed to protect kept her breathing.

In and out.

In and out .

“Good.”

She raised her eyes as the man who’d commanded Merrick spoke again.

Merrick remained by her side, his shoulders hunching as he stared at her hand, where the middle finger stood at an odd angle.

“Elessia Gyldenberg, we do not think you’ve joined this election purely for selfless reasons. Why are you truly here?”

She fixed her eyes on the hooded man. “I am here because I want to make Ellow a better place for everyone.”

“Punch her.”

A low growl escaped Merrick as he lifted his fist, but Lessia didn’t tense because she braced for impact. She tensed because hushed whispers reached her ears when Merrick’s magic roiled in anger, oily vibrations rolling off his large body.

“Do it now ,” the man ordered.

Merrick’s breathing became labored, and the whispers grew louder.

“I said now!”

“Merrick.” Lessia tried to reach out for him, but she couldn’t move her arms enough, the rattling chains restricting any movement.

Shifting so she could look up at him, she tried to make her voice soothing. “Merrick, it’s all right. You know why I am here; you know I want this.”

Another growl rumbled in his heaving chest.

“Merrick. Please,” she whispered as fear—not only of the guards and Frayson realizing who was amongst them but of what would happen if she was eliminated—danced over her skin.

“Fuck,” he snarled and finally reined in the magic that, judging from a glance behind him, it didn’t seem the others had noticed .

Then her head flew to the side, a spark of pain radiating through her cheek, down her neck.

Blinking, she tried to focus her eyes on the Fae, clenching her jaw as the dizziness from last night returned, only slivers of silver dancing before her eyes in the dark cellar.

“Elessia Gyldenberg, how did you get to Ellow? We have no records of your parents nor of your ancestry.”

She shook her head, trying to get her eyes to focus on the man approaching her and Merrick.

“Punch her again.”

She didn’t have time to close her eyes before her head snapped to the other side, her vision going entirely black for a moment.

“M—” Her voice cracked when a whimper escaped at the white-hot pain exploding in her head.

Bending her head forward, she forced out the words. “My mother was from Ellow.”

“We don’t believe you. Punch her again.”

Her head slammed into her shoulder this time, bile rising in her throat as stars continued to blaze before her eyes.

Lessia’s panting was in sync with Merrick’s, the barely controlled rage vibrating around him the only thing keeping her conscious.

“It’s all right,” she croaked when his hand squeezed hers. “I know… I know what you’re doing.”

He tried to aim his blows not to hit the same spot, to cause as little damage as possible, and he was definitely not using his full strength, barely that of a human man.

If he’d gone full Fae on her, the first blow would have already knocked her out.

“What was your mother’s name?” the man behind him screamed.

She wasn’t prepared for the emotional onslaught of pain, the chains clinking when her body slumped forward, trying to cave in on itself at the pain in her heart.

“You will look at us when we speak to you! Punch her stomach this time.”

Lessia was almost relieved when the pain from the blow in her gut made her lose her breath, forcing her mind to block out her mother’s golden-brown hair and kind blue eyes.

“Her name!”

“Miryn.” Lessia squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke her mother’s name for the first time in years, but she felt Merrick tense further beside her.

“Bring her to the water.”

Lessia’s eyes flew open as footsteps joined the buzzing in her ears, and guards left their posts by the wall to lift the chair she sat upon. She breathed heavily through her teeth when the movement as the men lifted the chair sent another wave of pain washing over her.

Merrick growled as the guards set her down and loosened the chains she was bound in.

Glancing from his blanched knuckles to the muddy water sloshing in the tub, she swallowed.

“What are you waiting for? She looks a little dry to me.”

The chair shook as Merrick’s wild scent filled the space, and she couldn’t help but let a small whimper escape before he pushed her face underwater.

She hadn’t had time to draw a breath, and she futilely tried to push back at the large hands gripping her shoulders. Bubbles boiled in the water when her eyes opened in panic, and she cried out when memories flooded her mind, like the water now filling her lungs.

“You stupid halfling bitch!” The Fae ripped a chunk of hair out of her scalp as he pulled her face out of the bucket. “Did you think you’d get away with killing him? ”

Before she had time to gasp for air, his fist slammed into the side of her head, and she must have lost consciousness because when she woke, she was strapped to the standing contraption this particular guard favored.

“Not so cocky now, are you?” he taunted as he dragged a table with tools across the floor.

He did it slowly, letting the metal legs scrape across the stone floor of her cell.

“Please,” she begged. “Just kill me!”

She wanted to die.

There was nothing left inside her that wanted to fight anymore.

He let out a low laugh, and the sound convulsed through her body, making her bones shake.

And when he pulled up a blindfold, her mouth opened, and she screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

Cold air struck her face, and a gentle hand tilted her face up when it lolled down to her chest.

“Breathe. Please, breathe,” Merrick whispered as she coughed up the dirty water.

“Back away from her!” someone yelled.

She couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t see.

Flashes of King Rioner’s cellar mixed with flickers of a dimly lit Fae, and she flinched when the Fae crouched down before her.

“I said get away from her!”

“Fuck you,” Merrick snarled as one of his hands cupped her chin, the other squeezing her shoulder.

“Lessia. You’re not there. You will never go back there. I won’t allow it,” Merrick urged.

Pinching her eyes closed, she focused on his deep voice as he repeated, “You will never go back there. ”

Her erratic heart slowed.

“You will never go back there.”

Air started traveling down her lungs.

“You will never go back there.”

She finally drew a full, shaking breath.

“She will be eliminated if you don’t comply, Merrick.”

Frayson’s voice sounded as if from far away.

As if only Merrick’s voice existed in this version of her world.

“Lessia, if you want to bow out, you only have to nod.”

A sharp pain snaking its way up her arm jarred her out of the daze.

“Merrick,” she pleaded.

“I know.” He tucked her wet hair behind her ears before he straightened. “She will continue, but no more water.”

Lifting her dripping face, she took in the room.

Despair lined Frayson’s wrinkled face as he ordered the guards to bring her back into the middle of the room.

The guards who once again lifted her chair showed no emotion, though.

Not one of them met her eyes as they dragged her chair back into place.

The two hooded men gestured for Merrick to take his place before her again.

He shook where he stood, muscles beneath his clothing locking and unlocking, and the guards took a step back from their spots beside him.

The one to her left brushed his hand over the hilt of his sword. “Are you conspiring with the Fae to take over Ellow?”

Her mouth fell open as she stared at the faceless men.

Merrick snarled softly as he also turned his head toward them.

“Answer me! ”

Lessia started shaking her head, but her blood chilled when the guard ordered, “Break her ribs.”

“Now!”

She blew out a choked breath.

Then she moved her arms so the snarling Merrick would have better access.

His hair hung in his face when he lifted his fist, and his canines drew blood from biting into his lip.

“It’s all right,” she whispered.

She couldn’t hold back a scream when a loud crack confirmed Merrick hit true.

Losing control over her body, she slumped down as much as the chains would allow, pain pulsating through every limb, and every breath she drew feeling as if a knife cut through her.

“Again!”

With a roar, Merrick spun around. “Give her time to breathe! You’re supposed to be doing this to ask questions, not for the enjoyment of hurting her!”

Drawing shallow breaths, Lessia gasped, “I am not conspiring to take over Ellow.”

“Why not? You’re half-Fae. Punch her again.”

“Perhaps we ought to give her a little more time,” Frayson cautioned.

“No! Do it now!”

She braced herself as much as she could, but Merrick didn’t approach her.

He stalked to tower over the two men. “What is wrong with you? One more, and she’ll be out. Look at her!”

“If you don’t do it, we will.”

Merrick leaned down to glare into the man’s face, and Lessia was almost relieved he couldn’t look into her eyes when the man immediately cowered, stumbling back several steps.

But the other guard slipped around him.

He sprinted toward her with a large wooden stick in his hand, and before she realized what was happening, the man slammed it into her chest.

Lessia let out another scream as more ribs cracked.

Her vision blurred, shadows creeping in.

The last thing she heard was a man’s groan before everything went dark.