Page 8 of Lady of Ashes (Lady of Darkness #3)
CHAPTER 7
SCARLETT
T here was warm water being brushed down her arms, along her neck, her face. Her head pounded as she tried to blink her eyes open. It took a few tries, but Scarlett ?nally managed to pry them open and blinked against the light. It wasn’t overly bright in the dungeon study, but her head hurt so much that the light from the braziers was enough to cause her to grimace.
Before her was a woman who had to be in her late forties. She wore a cream-colored dress, and her light brown hair was tied back in a knot at the nape of her neck, while she continued to gently clean Scarlett’s skin. Scarlett tried to jerk back, but her arms were still shackled above her head to the wall so all she could do was pull her knees to her chest, the chains scraping along the ?oor. The woman paused and pulled her hands back, glancing over her shoulder.
“Relax, Wraith,” came the Assassin Lord’s voice. He was seated at his desk and didn’t bother to look up as he spoke to her. “This is Inez. She is simply helping you clean up.”
“One could let me have a bath,” Scarlett retorted hoarsely. “That would surely be a better alternative.”
Alaric chuckled softly from beneath his hood. “It likely would be, but we have not discussed what such a privilege would require yet.”
Privilege. Everything always had to be earned with the Assassin Lord.
What would be required of her to take a godsdamn bath?
Scarlett leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes while Inez ?nished her sponge bath. The woman also ?nger combed her hair for her before braiding it into a loose plait over one of her shoulders. As she was ?nishing, there was a knock on the door and another servant pushed a cart into the room. The cart contained covered dishes.
Food.
She hadn’t eaten since she’d arrived here. Alaric had only given her water. She pulled her knees back to her chest to sti?e the ache in her stomach. What would be required of her to get food?
“Thank you, Inez,” Alaric said in dismissal, as he stood at the arrival of the food. “That will be all.”
Inez bowed slightly before following the other servant out of the room, the door clicking shut behind them.
“Are you hungry, Death’s Maiden?” he asked, rounding his desk. Once the door was securely closed, he pulled his hood back, allowing Scarlett to once again see his face. He pulled one of the silver covers off one of the platters, and the smell wafted over to her. He tilted the plate slightly to show her the contents— toast, eggs, and a ration of bacon. “Well? Are you hungry?”
Scarlett gritted her teeth as he stood waiting for her reply. A trace of a smile ghosted over his lips, his cold black eyes boring into hers. “Yes,” she ?nally answered.
The Assassin Lord slowly made his way to her and crouched before her. Using a fork, he cut off a piece of toast and stabbed italong with some egg and bacon. He brought the bite to her mouth, and Scarlett had to sti?e the moan that crept up her throat at the taste.
Then her heart sank as he set the plate aside and sat, propping one leg up and resting his arm on it. “Let’s discuss what shall berequired to earn the rest of that food and any future meals, shallwe?”
“It doesn’t appear I have much of a choice, does it?” she retorted.
“On the contrary, my dear. You always get a choice. You know this,” he answered.
Scarlett snorted. Oh yes, she was sure there would be a choice. Do what he wanted or choose a punishment for disobedience. The Assassin Lord picked up a piece of bacon and ate it while he studied her. She held his gaze, not moving an inch. “Always so stubborn,” he murmured, wiping bacon grease from his ?ngers on a napkin. Then he reached out to stroke his knuckles down her cheek, but she turned her head, jerking away from him. Alaric sighed as he gripped her chin, turning her back to face him once more. “My dear Scarlett, in your time away you seem to have forgotten whose you are.” His voice had turned icy and cold. A voice she was all too familiar with. “Who do you belong to, Scarlett?”
I am yours, and you are mine .
The words drifted through her mind. What a fool she had been. The idea that she could ever possibly be someone else’s. The idea that she could ever choose to give herself to another so completely. Of course Alaric would always own some part of her.
As if he could sense where her thoughts had gone, a hiss escaped from the Assassin Lord’s lips. “You are not his .” Scarlett swallowed hard as his grip on her chin tightened. “We will address that later, but ?rst, your choices today.”
He stood once more, leaving the plate of food on the ?oor out of her reach. She tried her hardest, but she glanced at it anyway, and he didn’t miss it. A faint, cruel smile graced his lips. “Hunger can sometimes cause us to see things so clearly, but it is so much worse when your power reserves are empty, isn’t it?” He strode back to the cart and picked up another plate, extending it out, and for the ?rst time, Scarlett realized there was someone else in the room. Tarek took the plate from Alaric with a slight nod of his head and a smirk at Scarlett.
Had he been here this whole time?
Alaric took the ?nal plate to his desk, where he leaned against the front of it, taking a bite of egg and toast while watching her carefully. She was used to all of this. Used to his games. Used to his power plays.
Used to submission in the end, even if that submission took a year to achieve.
He took a few more bites before he ?nally set his plate aside and braced his hands on the desk behind him. “You can ?nish that plate of food beside you after you have made your choice.”
“And my options are?” Scarlett asked through gritted teeth.
“Tell me where you have hidden Prince Callan.”
Scarlett couldn’t mask her blink of surprise. “I didn’t hide Prince Callan anywhere.”
“Semantics,” Alaric sneered. “You may not have hidden him away, but you know where he is. I know you, Death’s Maiden. You care too much for him to not make sure he is safe and protected.”
“What do you want with Callan?”
“Lady Veda misses him so,” Alaric said with mock sympathy.
“That is not what I asked,” Scarlett replied. “What do you want with Callan?”
“What does it matter to you? It appears you have given yourself to another, have you not? You seem to think you belong to someone else.” He gave a pointed glance at her left hand.
Could he see the Mark? “And my second option?”
“Ah. The second option is the one I would prefer you choose,” he answered, arms folding across his chest. “Swear loyalty to me and the other Maraan Lords. I will release you. Allow your powers to refuel to their full strength. Teach you the depths you have yetto fully embrace. All it takes is submission on the deepest levels, my Wraith.”
“How would you ensure such a thing?”
The slight smile on the Assassin Lord’s face widened. “You are right, Death’s Maiden. I would not trust your word. However, there is a way to make sure your end of the agreement is upheld.” He gestured to Tarek, and the Fae held up his right hand. In the center of his palm stood a Blood Mark, stark against his dark, golden skin.
“What did you do?” she whispered in horror to the Fae. Tarek smiled. “It’s a Blood Bond, your Majesty .”
“Similar to the vow your Guardian took to you,” Alaric cut in. “The Blood Bond is a promise of submission … with a magical guarantee.”
“You mean it is magical enslavement,” Scarlett countered.
The Assassin Lord shrugged nonchalantly. “Or merely a symbol of loyalty. It is all about perception, I suppose.”
“This is hardly a choice,” Scarlett spat. “If I choose option two, you shall simply require option one from me once I have accepted the Blood Bond. Either way, you get Callan’s whereabouts from me.”
Alaric said nothing. He just stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to make her choice, apparently. After several minutes of silence, he sighed. “I will give you some time to decide, Scarlett. But should you not make a choice by the time I return, there will be a consequence.”
He bent down and scooped the plate of food from the ?oor, tossing it back onto the cart with a clatter. Raising his hood and motioning for Tarek to follow, he strode out of the study, closing the door behind them.
Scarlett was left alone in complete silence. She rotated her wrists. She was numb to the constant bite of the shirastone by now, and hardly noticed the stinging on her skin. Her shoulders ached from her arms being suspended above her head for hours, and her tailbone was sore from sitting on the stone ?oor.
She really didn’t know how long she had been down here, drifting in and out of sleep. With no windows and no clock, she also didn’t know what time of the day it was. Based on the food selection, one would venture to guess it was morning and that was breakfast, but Alaric enjoyed his games. Part of his control was trying to control your reality. He decided if it was morning, noon, or night in her world right now. Not some piece of mechanics or even the godsdamned sun. He controlled it all.
Scarlett rested her head back against the wall and tried to mentally prepare herself for whatever consequence the Assassin Lord was going to see ?t to bestow upon her when he returned. She would rather die than choose either of those two options. Alaric surely knew that, and whatever hell he had thought up was going to be designed to break her on the basest of levels.
The smell of the forgotten food on the tray wafted over to her, and she tried to think of anything to distract her from the ache in her stomach. She’d survived longer without food. At least, she thought she had. Without knowing exactly how long she had been down here, she couldn’t really say for sure.
She tried not to let it, but her mind drifted to Sorin. Her husband. Her mate. Her twin ?ame. She closed her eyes at the memories, picturing his face in her mind.
She had been happy. Not right away. When she had ?rst arrived in the Fire Court, she had walked about in a daze, going through the motions and trying not to drown on dry land. But walking the path back to wanting to live had been beautiful in the end, with him by her side, and she had truly been happy. Her heart had been full, and she had felt loved for who she was. No masks. No demands placed on her for affection and acceptance.
She wondered if she’d ever see him again. She had known she would block their twin ?ame bond when she’d enacted that Blood Mark. She’d watched him cross that border knowing it could very well be the last time she’d lay eyes on him.
Scarlett, I love you like the stars love the night. All the way through the darkness.
His words floated back to her, and she fought the tears that burned at the back of her eyes. She could do this. She could make this sacrifice to ensure that Sorin and Cyrus and Eliza and Rayner and everyone she loved wouldn’t have to live through the darkness the Maraan Lords would surely rain down upon them. She would do whatever was necessary to make sure they didn’t find the keys and make their way into Avonleya. Her family was safe. That was all that mattered. Sorin would come for her. He promised he would always find her, and even if he didn’t, as long as he was safe, the sacrifice was worth it. He was worth it.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before footsteps sounded outside the door, and the Assassin Lord came back into his dungeon study. He had a covered platter in his hands and when his eyes met hers, he pulled the lid back, revealing the chunk of roast meat smothered in gravy with potatoes, bread, and glazed carrots. Her stomach growled as the smell accosted her.
“As soon as you tell me your decision, this is yours, my dear.” He dragged a piece of meat through the potatoes and brought the forkful with him as he crouched before her, holding it in the air, poised at her lips. “Well?”
“I will take your consequences before I see harm come to Callan or any of the other people I love,” she sneered, her face a snide mask of cruelty.
Alaric heaved a sigh of disappointment. “I cannot say I am surprised. I was, of course, expecting some resistance, especially after how you held out the year after Juliette’s death.”
“Do not speak her name,” Scarlett spat, jerking against her restraints in an attempt to get to him. The action drew his attention to her wrists, though, and his eyes narrowed in annoyance at her left hand.
The Assassin Lord pursed his lips. “I was not planning on addressing that issue until tomorrow, but it appears it needs to be discussed now.” He stood, tossing the fork on the plate forcefully before he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “You do not belong to him, Death’s Maiden. I am the one who trained you. I am the one who raised you. I am the one who made sure you were fed and well and cared for. I did not invest all of that time and interest in you just to have you think you can give yourself to a fucking Fae Prince.”
“I am not some investment for you to order around and dictate,” she snarled in reply, holding his stare. “I have always resisted your cages, and I always will.”
“That’s where you are wrong, my dear,” he said, too quietly, as he rounded his desk. He sat and grabbed a quill, writing something onto a piece of parchment. He pulled his hood into place before summoning a servant into the room and sending him off with the paper.
When the servant had gone, he removed the hood once more, clearly no longer feeling the need to keep his face hidden from her, and poured himself a glass of liquor. He came to her again and raised the glass to her lips. Scarlett pressed them ?rmly together, refusing to let a drop of the liquid onto her tongue.
“Come now, my dear. I know you are thirsty,” he chided, taking a sip himself.
“For water, you ass. Not for liquor.”
The sting from the slap across her face was sharp, and she tasted blood in her mouth where she’d bitten the inside of her cheek at the impact.
“That godsdamn mouth,” Alaric muttered, sipping at his drink again. He reached out and gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him once more. “I do not know how to make things any clearer to you, Scarlett. You are mine . You have been mine since I took you in after Eliné was killed; before that even. I decide your future. I decide what you eat. I decide what you wear. I decide who you bed. I decide who’s future children you will grow in your womb. I decide who you will serve.”
“No,” she bit back through clenched teeth. “I am not a piece of property that you own.”
The ?ngers gripping her chin squeezed tight enough to bruise. “You are my property, Scarlett Monrhoe. I own you. No one else, and certainly not some Fae piece of shit. I do not care if he is your twin ?ame. I do not care if you have married him, as I suspect you have. None of that matters. You are still mine to do with as I please.” He shoved her head back against the wall as he pushed himself to his feet, knocking back the entire glass of remaining alcohol. “I was lenient with you after Juliette died. I let you get away with more than I should have, but I let you mourn. I let you throw your tantrum like a child.”
“You let her be murdered! You invested just as much in her,” Scarlett cried. It didn’t matter that she knew Juliette still lived. It didn’t matter that she knew she had a higher purpose and was now ful?lling it. That year had been utter hell. The things she had endured because of that death would haunt her for the rest of her immortal life.
Alaric snorted in disgust. “Juliette and Nuri were trained to make sure you were kept safe. You were never told. An enchantment was used to ensure they never breathed a word of it to you. Everyone I brought into your life was for the sole purpose of making sure you survived.”
“You lie,” Scarlett seethed, but even as she said it, she knew he wasn’t lying. Everything he’d said made sense and was like puzzle pieces slotting into place. She’d been kept hidden and locked away from the world for nearly ten years. Only Cassius, Juliette, Nuri, and their personal guards interacted with her and knew who she was. Alaric had orchestrated it all. Almost everything in her life, he had planned as if he truly did decide her future. But if that were true …
Her eyes ?ew to his. “ You . You arranged for my mother’s— For Eliné’s death.”
A cruel and cunning smile tilted up on his lips, and he cocked his head as he looked down at her. “She needed to be eliminated to keep you safe. I had thought the Fae princes had long since given up on her, but I was wrong. When I received word that the Fire Prince and his Court had tried to come for her, I knew it was only a matter of time before they got close enough to ?nd you. So, yes. I hired Dracon to kill her. In fact, I was in the alley with him when he did it. I later learned she was planning to take the three of you to the Fae lands when your magic became too much for your tonic. So really, it was something that would have had to be done eventually,” he said with a shrug.
“You fucking asshole,” Scarlett cried, a few tears running down her cheeks as he talked about her mother so cavalierly. She knew Eliné wasn’t her blood mother, but she was the woman who had raised her and cared for her. She was the woman who had loved her like a mother. She was someone else the Assassin Lord had taken from her so brutally.
There was a knock on the door, and Alaric crossed the room to answer it. When he pushed the door open, Mikale Lairwood walked in, a smug grin on his face. The Assassin Lord turned and came back to her. Crouching before her, he said, “I will do whatever is necessary to break you, Scarlett Monrhoe. I will do whatever it takes for you to learn that you are, in fact, my property. I own you. Every hair on your head and every drop of Avonleyan blood in your veins. And if I need to keep you in a cage to keep you under control, I will do so.”
Alaric stood and took a key from his pocket, unlocking the padlock that secured the chains of her wrist shackles to the bar above her head. Despite herself, Scarlett grimaced at the ache in her shoulders as he allowed her to lower her arms, keeping the chain ?rm in his grip. He tugged her to her feet by the chain, and when her legs gave out from being stationary for so long, he steadied her, looping his arm around her waist and holding her up.
Scarlett tried to jerk from his hold, but she was too weak from the sitting and lack of food and water to do much. “Don’t be idiotic,” Alaric scolded.
“What do you care?” she bit back, slowly rotating her ankles to get used to bearing her weight again.
“I care about my investments and take care of my property,” he said softly into her ear. “You are both, and while I need your spirit broken, I need your physical body intact.” He passed the chain over to Mikale before handing her body over to him as well. “Should you make a decision before morning, let Mikale know, and he will immediately bring you to me.”
Alaric turned his back on them and took a seat behind his desk, pulling some paperwork towards himself and beginning to read it over and make notes in the margins.
“Come, my pet,” Mikale purred, tucking her into his side and tightening his arm around her waist.
Scarlett said nothing as he pulled her to the door. But before they exited the room, Alaric spoke again.
“Oh, and Mikale?”
Mikale paused, looking over his shoulder.
“Do not let her out of your sight,” Alaric said, his tone low and dangerous. “Should you lose her again, you can consider your claim on her relinquished.”
Fury ?itted across Mikale’s face at the words. “You cannot do that,” he hissed. “I have already fucked her. I have already claimed her. You cannot rescind a claim that has been consecrated. That is the law of our people.” Alaric leaned back in his chair, his hands coming to rest on the armrests. “You may have claimed her, but you forget it is I who gave her to you in the ?rst place. Do not make the mistake of thinking she is now yours, Mikale. Balam has had to secure her for you twice now. Should it be required a third time, I shall make sure the claim is indeed relinquished by whatever means necessary, which in this case, would be your death.”
Scarlett’s pulse increased at that nugget of information. She may not be able to get free of Alaric, but if she could escape Mikale, Alaric would take care of him for her. Of course, she had to be able to fucking walk on her own ?rst, but that was beside the point.
Mikale was seething in anger at the Assassin Lord’s words. “I will have her back in the morning as you ordered,” he replied through clenched teeth.
“That would be wise,” Alaric answered darkly, leaning over his papers once more.
Mikale tugged her roughly out of the study, slamming the door behind them. He didn’t say anything as he dragged her down the hall to the stairwell. Scarlett knew where they were. She had walked these halls more times than she could count. She stumbled up the stairs to the private wing of the Fellowship, struggling to keep up, to Mikale’s utter annoyance.
“One would think if he valued you so much, he would keep you better nourished,” he muttered under his breath, scooping her up to carry her up the stairs. They passed Nuri’s room, then her own, with Cassius’s across from it. To her horror, he came to a stop in front of Juliette’s room and placed her on her feet. Her legs almost gave out for a completely different reason.
“No,” she whispered, swallowing thickly. She didn’t care if Juliette still lived in the Witch Kingdoms as an Oracle. Too much trauma lurked beyond that door.
Mikale paused, unlocking the door and looked over his shoulder. “Have you made a choice then, my pet? Do I need to return you to the Assassin Lord so soon?”
“I can stay in another room,” she ground out, ?nding her voice.
“You are right. We can.” He turned to fully face her. “Once you have accepted that Blood Bond, you can come home with me where you will reside for the time being. This can all be remedied immediately.” Scarlett stood silent, unable to fully comprehend she was back in this situation, back to having no choices whatsoever, throwing herself pointlessly against the bars of a cage. “What will it be, my pet?”
“Unlock the door,” she whispered, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she heard the lock click.
Mikale jerked the chain to beckon her forward and into the room. She and Nuri had personally cleared all of Juliette’s personal effects from it, as punishment for allowing Juliette’s death. It was just a standard bedroom suite now, but memories lurked here. Memories of the three of them sprawled across her enormous bed, going through job requests or reading books. Memories of late night talks and laughter. Memories of fears spoken and dreams shared.
When Mikale started towing her towards the bathing room, she dug in her heels. “What are you doing?”
“You may be the Assassin Lord’s property, but you will be my wife. Pretty Fae marriage customs mean nothing to us. You are still to be mine, and I like my pets in their best health possible; which includes not smelling like last week’s garbage,” Mikale answered, leaning over the tub and turning the cold tap on. “However, I have been instructed to keep you … uncomfortable until you begin making better choices.”
Scarlett was silent as the tub ?lled with cold water, Mikale keeping a ?rm grasp on the chain of her wrist shackles as he began unbuckling the witch-leathers that still adorned her body. When the tub was almost full, a servant appeared with various soaps and towels. She then came forward with a pair of shears.
Scarlett jerked back. “Absolutely not,” she said, backing directly into Mikale’s chest.
The servant paused with her eyes lowered to the ground, waiting for instruction from Mikale. He leaned down to speak into Scarlett’s ear, the hand not holding the chain wrapping around her front, pressing her ass into his crotch. “My pet, I will not be removing these chains from your wrists or ankles so there is no other way to remove … whatever it is you are wearing. You can either let her remove it, or I can take you back out to the bedroom and ?nd much more creative ways to take it off your body.”
Scarlett growled but stepped forward to the servant once more. “As it appears you are not in fact needed for this, you can shut the door on your way out,” she sneered while the servant began to cut apart her precious witch-suit. It was slow going as the material was designed to withstand sword and dagger slices, so a pair of shears wasn’t making much headway.
Mikale snorted. “Were you not listening when the Assassin Lord said I was not to let you out of my sight? I will not make that mistake again.” His tone turned dark and foreboding as he said that, and Scarlett glanced over her shoulder to see the ire in his dark eyes.
“Poor little lordling,” she crooned. “Did someone get in trouble for my escape?”
Mikale stared back with disdain. “Careful, my pet. I decide how uncomfortable your night shall be.”
Silence ?lled the bathing room as the servant continued to slowly cut the witch-suit from her body. After several long minutes, the ?nal cut was made, and she stood bare before them, trying to cover herself as much as possible. Mikale stepped forward, scooping her into his arms to lower her into the tub. With the ankle shackles, she wouldn’t have been able to lift her leg over the side of the tub herself. She immediately began shivering in the freezing water as the servant began to wash her body. The metal of the shirastone against her skin added another freezing bite. Her teeth were chattering when she came back up from submerging her head to rinse the soap from her hair.
The servant stood to make way for Mikale to lift her from the tub and set her on her feet, then she toweled her off, squeezing the water from her hair. She was forced to stand naked while the servant proceeded to brush her long hair out before braiding it down her back.
“What exactly is the plan here, then? How will I get clothes back on?” Scarlett managed to get out between her chattering teeth.
“The Assassin Lord thought of that,” Mikale said with a nod towards a folded black garment that had been resting beneath the stack of towels. “As much as I would prefer to take you to bed like that, I have been told I am not allowed to fuck you again until you have accepted the Blood Bond.” Scarlett smirked at that information. “Do not look so smug, my pet. Touching was not deemed offlimits.”
The smug grin fell from her lips as the servant grabbed the black garment and unfolded it. Mikale held her steady, and she stepped into the black fabric. The servant pulled it up her body where it tied at her shoulders, creating two straps. The gown hung nearly to the ?oor, and the straps created a neckline that showed ample amounts of her chest. The fabric itself was thin and partially sheer.
She would have preferred to remain dirty and smelling atrocious in her witch-suit.
When she ?nished, the servant gave a small bow to Mikale before leaving the bathing room. Mikale tugged her chain to pull her out to Juliette’s bedroom and led her to a small table near the window. She looked out at the familiar view. Their rooms had faced the front of the Fellowship overlooking one of the main streets of the Syndicate. Despite it apparently being the middle of the night, the street was still busy. Sin and wickedness thrived inthe dark after all.
Her attention was drawn back to Mikale as he poured a small glass of water and held it out to her. She reached for it tentatively, glaring at him suspiciously.
“It is just water, my pet. As the Assassin Lord has told you, we do not want your magic suppressed. We never did.”
She kept her eyes locked on his as she greedily drank the water down, already aching for more. The water pitcher was still practically full, and Mikale smiled mockingly, noticing when she glanced at it. “You know what you need to do to get more.”
She scowled, handing the cup back to him in clear refusal, her hand shaking from the cold. There was a small ?re burning in the hearth, but it wasn’t nearly large enough to heat the space.
Mikale sighed in disappointment. “You will not win, my pet. He always wins.”
“I will die before he wins,” she spat back.
“No, you will not. Because he wants you alive,” Mikale said simply, leading her to the bed.
He pulled the covers back and motioned for her to get in. She almost groaned at the soft mattress beneath her ass. She pulled her legs up and laid back, savoring the feel of the pillow beneath her head. After sitting on a stone ?oor for who knew how many days, this was pure bliss.
Until Mikale climbed over top of her to lie beside her, that damn chain still ?rmly in his grasp.
“No,” she barked in horror. “I’m not sharing a bed with you.”
“You do not get a choice in the matter,” Mikale replied, pulling the covers up.
She wanted to argue, but the warmth of the blankets quelled her tongue. And when Mikale wrapped an arm around her and tugged her into the cradle of his hips to tuck her in close, she couldn’t bring herself to pull away from his warmth either.
She knew this for what it was. The Assassin Lord excelled at making you so miserable that you started giving in on little things. You began making small concessions and tiny exceptions so that when the big request came, you’d already given up so many things that the last leap didn’t seem so big any more. He was a master at manipulation.
But he had also trained her in that manipulation, so now it would come down to a battle of wills. And as her limbs soaked in the warmth surrounding her, she vowed she would win and kill him before the end. For now, though, she closed her eyes and welcomed the darkness where she could see the stars.