Page 47 of Oaths & Vengeance (Realm of Zadrya #1)

Aella

I t was nearly three in the morning when I returned to Tradain, stepping through the portal onto the dark formation field.

Darrow’s kisses had left my lips swollen, and his hands had made a mess of my hair.

He seemed to have a newfound fascination with running his fingers through it.

The ache between my legs throbbed, my body hating me for not giving in to him all the way.

What kind of game was my husband playing? Did he truly want more for our marriage, or was it something else? How was I supposed to resist him when the moment he touched me, I lost my senses and reasoning? The one thing I did know was I needed to find some control.

Darrow had so many secrets, and I was only beginning to realize how much.

Meeting his mother tonight had been an enormous surprise.

I’d desperately wanted to ask why she’d betrayed Darrow’s father all those years ago, but they’d revealed so much startling news during the short meeting that I didn’t have a chance.

I needed time to make sense of everything they told me, so hopefully, I could prepare myself better the next time I saw Darrow.

“Where have you been, Aella?” My uncle's angry voice came from behind me.

I jumped and spun around, having been so lost in thought that I’d missed him and Ulmar standing behind the ring. They’d waited where they knew I wouldn’t see them right away. My mind skittered with possible excuses.

“I went to see a lover,” I replied, which was truthful enough not to come out as a lie .

He looked me up and down disdainfully. “Clearly, but I thought you had one here.”

“We ended things a couple of months ago,” I said, slowly maneuvering around the ring to face him and my cousin.

Every part of my body was strung taut. Something in the two men’s demeanor told me they were especially furious tonight, and I’d missed something important if they’d been looking for me. I’d been with Darrow, so I felt reasonably certain Veronna couldn’t have attacked.

Ulmar narrowed his gaze on me. “There are hundreds of available men here, yet you chose to find one that required a portal? At a time when you should be focusing on your betrothal?”

“Not to mention we needed her here tonight,” my uncle growled. He took a menacing step toward me. “We woke the entire village searching for you tonight while our troops waited for your assistance to transport them. Do you know how embarrassing it was when we failed to produce or locate you?”

My heart skipped a beat. Everyone in Tradain would know I’d snuck away, and the army would expect Lord Morgunn to punish me accordingly.

They’d been unable to go forward with their campaign.

The only reason they couldn’t was if he’d finally planned to retaliate against Veronna for destroying Petosty.

Had Darrow’s spies figured that out? Was that why he’d chosen tonight to summon me?

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind, none of them good.

The tension in the air was palpable. “I’m sorry, uncle. I didn’t know you needed me tonight.”

“You shouldn’t have left for any reason without consulting me first.” He moved closer like a dark cloud about to release its stormy wrath.

“I am beginning to question your loyalty, Aella. The king denied your first betrothal, which I find suspicious. Our last raid on Veronna was a disaster, with them arriving too quickly and capturing you, forcing terrible concessions from me. Then, their forces led a masterful attack that destroyed one of the border villages. We had no word of it until hours after it was over. Now, tonight, you were nowhere to be found when we were ready to retaliate. ”

I gulped. “If you’d told me, I swear I would have…”

Slap! Pain burst in my cheek, and blood filled my mouth.

“The only thing I want to hear is your lover's name and where you went,” he said, grabbing my arms forcefully. “That is the only way you can save yourself.”

There was no way to lie with Ulmar standing there, so I went with blatant defiance. It was my only option despite the consequences it would bring. “Who I sleep with is my business.”

He slapped me hard again. My ears rang, and stars danced in front of my eyes.

So badly, I wanted to use my magic to protect myself, but I couldn’t fight them both without exhausting what remained of my powers after channeling.

Not to mention, they made me pay heavily the last time I fought. They would again if I resisted.

“Tell me,” he said, gripping me hard.

I hung my head. “I promised I wouldn’t.”

Lord Morgunn dragged me to the front of the ring.

“Here’s a little test. If you can open a portal back to the castle, then you didn’t go far.

If you can’t, I’ll assume you were in Veronna—likely spilling our secrets to them.

I assume you must have some spare holmium if you can sneak away without my assistance. ”

I gulped, glad I’d grown stronger in recent months. “Okay.”

He swept an arm out toward the ring. “Do it.”

Ulmar had followed us to the other side of the ring with his arms crossed. The gleam in his eyes told me he couldn’t wait to exact revenge after our last duel. I’d suspected I’d pay for defeating him a month ago, but I’d hoped he wouldn’t find an opportunity before I escaped this place.

Pulling a small bag from my pocket, I pinched some holmium in my fingers. Lord Morgunn swiped the rest from my grasp. At least it wasn’t my whole supply since I’d broken up Darrow's generous allotment into multiple pouches and hidden them in different places.

I concentrated hard, pulling as much power as I could muster, and sent the energy to hit each of the runes in the sequence I’d known for much of my life.

All the while, I chanted low to direct the magic.

It didn’t come as easily as usual. My abused cheeks throbbed, and my hands shook as I tried to concentrate, knowing what I’d face at Ivory Castle.

Just when I thought I wouldn’t manage it, the air popped, and a blue light shone within the ring.

Chest tightening, I gestured toward the portal. “Done.”

My uncle ordered Ulmar to go first, and then he gripped my arm and pulled me along with him.

I wished I knew of a ring in a remote location because I would have been sorely tempted to send them to it if I thought I could escape before entering.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any I knew about that would work, and I’d barely had the strength to channel a ring close to us.

When we reached the other side, Lord Morgunn marched me past the barracks and armory to the outer entrance of the dungeon.

It was an unassuming black metal door on the southwest side of the castle.

Dread filled me. The last time I came here was years ago, and I’d done my best to avoid returning until now.

Lord Morgunn shoved me inside, and I had to grab the side wall to avoid falling down the steep stairs. It was dark, with only one torch midway to lighten the gloomy atmosphere. Before he could push me again, I hurried to the bottom.

My uncle handed me off to Ulmar while he went into a side room.

A few moments later, he returned with an iron armband he clasped on my bicep.

What little power I had faded away. I trembled and wanted to cry, but I refused to give either of the men the satisfaction.

They’d enjoy it too much. Instead, I did my best to hold myself together.

My cousin dragged me down the corridor, passing half a dozen closed doors on either side that were dungeon cells. As far as I knew, we had no prisoners at the moment. I’d spent time in them before and prayed I wouldn’t go in one tonight.

We reached the end of the passageway, which opened to a wide space with metal shackles hanging from the ceiling.

Ulmar shoved me toward them, forcing my wrists into the magically enhanced manacles that tightened to my size.

Lord Morgunn stood at the corner with a chain in hand.

As he pulled it, my arms yanked upward until I could barely touch the floor with my feet.

He fastened the chain to a hook so it would hold .

My cousin tossed my hair over my shoulder, pulled out his dagger, and cut the back of my tunic straight down. I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming when his blade nicked the skin near my spine in the process. Once finished, he’d bared me from shoulders to waist.

“Father, may I be the one to whip her?” Ulmar asked, giving me a malicious smile. His opportunity for revenge had come, and he’d have no mercy.

My knees shook despite my desperate attempts to calm myself and hide my fear.

Footsteps sounded as Lord Morgunn came around to face me with cold cruelty lining his features. “Yes. Don’t stop until Aella confesses where she’s been, or I tell you it’s enough.”

My cousin chuckled as he moved back behind me. “Luckily for me, her stubbornness should hold out for a long time.”

I clenched my eyes shut, wanting to plead with them, but it would make no difference. Neither of them had a heart. I’d interrupted their important plans to kill innocent people and wouldn’t explain where I’d gone, so there would be no escape from this punishment.

The sound of the whip cracking the air came a split second before an explosion of pain struck across the middle of my back.

Ulmar waited a moment, pausing to see if I’d scream.

I didn’t because I always held out as long as possible, but it wouldn’t take him long to push me past my tolerance.

He’d strike harder and harder until I gave him the desired response.

He whipped me a second time in the same location, and I yelped as my skin broke. I counted to five before the third came, crisscrossing the other two. Blood trailed down my back now as he lashed me two more times with brutal intensity.

Lord Morgunn held up a hand. “Ready to talk?”

If I told them the truth, they’d either kill me or keep me in the dungeon for years.

“No,” I said in a pained whisper.

Ulmar came around so I could see him with his whip coiled in his hand. “Why are you protecting your lover? It can’t be worth it.”

I pressed my lips shut, refusing to respond .

“Very well.” He moved back to his previous position. “Don’t say we didn’t give you a chance to end this sooner.”

My cousin began to whip me in earnest. The lashes came so hard and fast that I was screaming before long.

He only paused his strikes to use his powers to send blinding pain into my head.

Back and forth, he switched until all I knew was pure agony.

By the time my uncle called it off, I was sagging in the manacles with my blood pooling on the floor at my feet and badly blurred vision.

Ulmar grabbed hold of my waist while his father released me from the bindings.

I whimpered from the pain of his arm pressing against the lash wounds.

My cousin carried me roughly, eliciting more pained moans from me as he climbed a different set of steps to the inner castle.

In a journey that seemed to take forever, he finally brought me to my room and dropped me on my bed.

I quickly rolled onto my side and caught Lord Morgunn standing at the doorway as a blurry figure.

There was nothing except coldness in his voice, “I’ll send Briauna in shortly to clean and bandage you, but for now, you’re confined to this room until I decide otherwise.

Ulmar will bring you one meal a day unless you decide you remember your lover's name and the location where you met.”

With that, they left me bleeding with an iron cuff that would slow down my ability to heal.

The outer lock to my door slid into place, ensuring I wouldn’t escape that way.

Tears filled my eyes. I wondered if it would bother Darrow to know what he cost me for tonight’s visit and the pleasure I gave him.

Probably not, since I was little more than a tool to him—the same as my uncle.