Page 42 of Degradation (The Brethren Lords #3)

Pailtyn

“ I t is late.” Gunther says. “My wife and I will retire.”

It’s all I can do not to let my jaw drop in shock. Yes, he’s humiliated me, yes, he’s abused and shamed me, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve gotten off lightly.

Am I tempting fate by thinking that?

I let him lead me out. The only sound is all the footsteps, his, mine, and the dozen guards that follow.

When Gunther pulls me down a corridor instead of up the stairs all the fear turns to something uncontrollable.

“Where, where are we going?” I stammer.

His look silences me. His hands tighten, and he’s no longer leading me, now he’s dragging me.

My bare feet scrape against the tiles, my cries ring out as I’m pulled along.

The guards ahead open a door and a freezing cold winter breeze hits my naked skin. They’re taking me outside.

Where the fuck are we going?

We’re in a courtyard, not one I’ve been in before. It’s far larger than the garden I used to hide in. Every side is surrounded by high sweeping walls, and I can see movement, sentries, guards stood along, watching whatever this is.

A voice screams out. It’s a desperate, strangled sound and it puts the fear of God into me. I squint, seeing the figure, seeing the person kicking, fighting, doing everything they can to escape the clutches of the two guards holding them.

“Kor, Kora?” I stammer. What the fuck is this?

“You thought you could hide it from me, didn’t you?” Gunther says snatching at my hair now, using that to drag me closer. “You thought I wouldn’t notice.”

I shake my head so quickly, and the movement sends a sharp, stabbing pain through my scalp. “Notice what? What are you talking about?”

“The little herbs you’ve been having the maid slip into my food.”

My eyes widen. I’ve been careful, so careful, but not careful enough apparently.

Gunther’s grip tightens, his fingers digging into my flesh as he pulls me closer. “Did you think I was stupid, Paitlyn? That I wouldn’t notice?” His voice is a harsh whisper, laced with anger but also something more, a twisted amusement that sends a chill down my spine.

Before I can respond, he shoves me to the ground, the force of the impact jars my bones.

I land on my hands and knees in the dirt.

I open my mouth to argue, to defend myself, but Gunther’s hand lashes out, striking me across the face.

Pain explodes across my cheek, with the force of the blow snapping my head to the side.

The metallic tang of my blood fills my mouth as I fight back tears.

“You dare defy me?” Gunther growls, his eyes wild and dangerous. “You dare try to manipulate me?”

“Please.” I sob. “Please, I didn’t mean anything by it.” I say. “You wanted a child. I thought this would help, I thought…”

Another blow shuts up the last of my words.

“Put her on the pyre.” Gunther shouts.

“No,” I scream out, scrambling, crawling in the dirt.

He can’t be serious. He can’t be.

“That witch tried to drug me.” Gunther spits, aiming a boot at my side. “You’re lucky you’re not up there with her.”

I grab at his trousers, grab at his legs, pleading. “Please, please don’t do this. I’ll do anything. I’ll do whatever you want. Whatever you ask. Just please don’t hurt her. Please…”

Gunther leans down, grabbing my face, pinching my cheeks. “You’ll do that anyway, whore. I control you, remember? You don’t get autonomy. You don’t get shit unless I say so.”

I lose it then, I lash out, land a punch, then another, becoming just as mad, just as irrational as this husband of mine clearly is.

Gunther shoves me back and the guards are quick to immobilise me. He is quick to immobilise me.

His massive arms wrap around my body, and he presses me against him, using all the brutal strength he has to overcome me.

“Make her watch.” Gunther orders. “Ensure she sees every moment.”

I hold my breath, hating that I can’t do a damned thing as Kora is dragged up, as she’s tied to a pole right in the middle of the pyre, as they set fire to it.

The flames catch. They spark so quickly. And all the while Kora is screaming, screaming for me to save her, for me to do something.

I can smell the stench of her flesh burning, I can smell the stench of it cooking. The heat hits me, even from this distance and I can’t keep the vomit in. It erupts out of me, covering my chin, my chest.

Devin doesn’t react; doesn’t even act like he notices.

Her screams turn higher and high pitched as those flames cover, as they torch more of her.

Her beautiful skin turns to blisters, it literally roasts up and simmers as it boils under the immense heat. Her eyes explode with the pressure, and so much blood streams down her now twisted and mutilated face.

And when she falls silent, all we hear then is the sound of crackling wood, only now it sounds like bones snapping.

She’s dead. Kora is dead.

And it’s all my fault.

“I hate you.” I spit out. I don’t even know if it’s for him or for my husband. In truth, I hate them both.

Devin draws in a long deep breath, something that feels far too intimate for such an occasion. “Hate me all you want, Paitlyn, it makes no difference to me.”

I don’t understand what those words even mean. I don’t understand what he’s trying to say.

Gunther strides over to where the flames are now raging. His grotesque features are illuminated by the flickering, and it only makes him look more dangerous.

“Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.” He says.

Those words bore into me. They echo off the walls, the repeat over and over.

Only, Kora wasn’t a witch, she was my friend. One of my only friends in this cursed place.

I hang my head, letting my tears stream down. She’s dead. Dead because of me.

“Keep her there.” Gunther orders, pointing that finger at me, at my face. “Let her watch until the fire burns out. Then take her to the chapel. She needs to repent.”

Repent. Like I have any sins to repent. Like I have anything that even matches the evil of this man.

Devin inclines his head, tightening his grip just enough to prove a point.

But the point was already made, the point was made the moment Gunther put his hands around my throat the first time, in the Cathedral all those months ago.

He killed me then. He choked the last bit of life out of me. I’ve been existing since then as nothing more than a ghost. A thing.