Page 91 of The Heart of Nym (The Twisted Roots Duology #1)

“Don’t give me that look,” Nymiria scoffed, shoving the bread further out the crack in the window.

The crow blinked its eyes at her, tilting its head from one side to the other.

“I’m trying to be nice to you. You’re supposed to eat it.

” The crow clicked its beak, giving a small flutter of its wings before squawking loudly.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me, but if we are friends, you will take this bread from my hand right now. Take it—“

The crow plucked the food from her hand, giving her what she swore was a look of indignance as it gulped it down.

Nymiria smiled triumphantly and inched her fingers closer to scratch it’s neck, but the bird let out another loud cry and banged its beak against the glass.

She jerked her hand back and released a long sigh.

“Alright, fine. But you can’t say that I didn’t try to befriend you.

” She brushed her hand off on her shift before swinging her legs off of the window seat and standing upright.

Aziel had disappeared again, but not before telling her that he was going to take his patrol rounds early.

She stayed in his rooms most of the morning and afternoon, but it was nearing the evening and she knew that she would need to make an appearance at some time or other in order to make her performance believable.

She’d decided that morning that she was finally going to leave Yaar.

Watching Aziel dress himself from the comfort of his bed, she had a random burst of bravery that had lasted throughout the day.

Because she realized that she didn’t want either of them to be faced with Camalia’s or Dorid’s commands.

Whatever power they held over her and Aziel was strong.

But if they could not find them, they could not command them to do anything.

She wanted to leave before Dorid’s social gathering even began, escaping into the shadows and leaving this world behind once and for all.

But many factors came into play when planning her escape.

One being that she wanted to take Phyona, Dieve, and Desi with her.

Two… she needed to tell Aziel that she wanted to go.

She needed to tell him about Dorid’s command. She needed to find him. Immediately.

She walked over to where her dress and corset laid across the end of Aziel’s bed, her finger tapping her chin as she stared down at it. The crow at the window tapped its beak against the glass once more and she spared it a glance, smiling softly.

“When I leave here, I will never wear a corset again.” She said.

“I liked wearing Aziel’s clothes. There is something very freeing about wearing breeches and tunics.

You can run faster.” She blew a tendril of white hair out of her face before begrudgingly dressing herself.

Once every inch of skin was stuffed into that god-awful monstrosity of a dress, she took one look at herself in the mirror and winced before heading towards the door.

As she reached for the handle, the crow at the window went wild.

It flapped its wings and knocked at the window, squawking louder and clicking at her in a way that made the hair on her arms raise.

Her senses heightened, a dampness forming at the back of her neck as she looked between the bird and the door.

Something was coming.

She didn’t know what, but by the uneasy feeling that came with the bird’s warning, she couldn’t deny that something was amiss.

Nymiria.

Her body went rigid, hands trembling when she heard the voice of her ghost.

Nym, you need to go. Now.

She did need to go.

Stomach in knots, Nymiria twisted the knob of the door and jerked it open. She prepared herself to run, that sinking feeling in her gut only heightening when she heard someone clear their throat at the end of the hall.

“I knew it.” Dorid sighed. Nymiria’s palms started to sweat, twitching into fists at her sides as he took long, languid steps in her direction.

Predator and prey. “And the fact that you had poor Oran trying to help you conceal what I already suspected to be true…” he clicked his tongue in disapproval, shaking his head.

“If you’d told the truth, Oran would probably still be here.

But, you see, I cannot have liars standing at my side.

It is the one thing I detest the most in this world.

Lying and scheming. And you’ve done quite a bit of that, haven’t you? ”

Nymiria shook her head, chin quivering and eyes burning when he started to circle her. “Your majesty, I don’t—I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” She stammered.

“Enough of that.” He droned. “Do you believe me to be a fool? You’re fucking Aziel, Nymiria.

People seem to forget about the fae blood that I carry in my veins, but one thing it allows me to do is scent people.

I can tell who they’ve fucked, where they came from, and who they have been around just by the smell of their skin.

And that gods-awful smell of arousal and sex is one I cannot mistake. ”

“I haven’t—"

Dorid gripped the back of her neck so suddenly and with such force that she nearly lost her footing.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tears shamefully streaming down her face.

“Stop lying. I know what I know and there is nothing you can do to save yourself.” He growled it against her ear, applying more pressure to her neck.

“I should have kept you for myself, kept you as my pet and fucked you well enough that you wouldn’t have even dared seek the comfort of others.

I should have known that you would betray me.

After all the freedom I gave you, I was such a fool to believe that it would change anything.

All you fae are the same, aren’t you? Only good for fucking and fighting—hardly any of you are loyal to anything but yourselves and your own selfish desires. ”

“I should have plumped you up with my seed. Made you bear me a litter of half-breed bastards. He wouldn’t have even thought of touching you.

” He laughed. “It’s not too late to start, though.

” Everything in her screamed at her to run—to fight.

To do something. But just as she had all those years ago when those men in Nym found her, Nymiria cowered.

She could already feel herself shrinking as Dorid’s hands began moving over her shoulders, trailing to the curve of her waist.

“Yes.” He whispered. “I think I might just do that.”

“Dorid, please—"

His fist struck the back of her head. Nymiria fell forward, catching herself in one hand as the other came up to guard herself, but it was no use.

His fingers were already gripping the back of her head and pulling, guiding her across the floor, back into the room that she’d just left.

She let out a loud sob, a plea, as she reached for the hand still tangled in her hair.

But Dorid was far too consumed with rage to realize she’d even spoken.

It never mattered before, it certainly wouldn’t matter now.

Nymiria did her best to fight him off as he threw her onto the bed. Even though she was strong and skilled in combat, Dorid had more experience and more weight on him than she could handle. She kicked and thrashed when he lifted her skirts, striking her once more in the face as she screamed.

His weight was suddenly crushing her, stilling her movements, but there was no mistaking what he was doing when he reached between them to fumble with the front of his breeches.

This couldn’t happen again.

It didn’t matter what she’d done in the past. It didn’t matter. She didn’t deserve this. No one deserved this.

Help me. She called to her Grace, inwardly tugging at it, pulling and screaming as she tried to bring it to the surface. Please. Don't let this happen again. Come to me. Come to me, please. Let me fight back.

WAKE UP.

With a visceral and blood curdling scream that sounded throughout the entire palace, Nymiria unleashed herself upon him. That seed of power that’d been twitching and wriggling in her core to work itself free finally bloomed, its closed shell unfurling.

Power pulsed through her body, her skin radiant and muscles contracting as the flowers and vines along her arms started to come to life.

But that wasn’t what took Dorid’s attention.

It was the thorned vines ripping from the palms of her hands that had him stumbling away from her, flaccid cock dangling in front of him.

Vines cut through the air in his direction, but Dorid was quick enough to dodge the blow.

His most futile efforts only lessened the impact, the vines ripping and cutting at his skin until he was stumbling for the door with his pants still undone.

Even with him gone, Nymiria did not relent. She stood in the center of the room, vines twitching all around her, eyes homed in on the door. It felt like hours had passed, but perhaps it was only her thoughts—her fear that made time drag on. As if time, itself, wanted to torture her too.

She wouldn’t go without a fight.

Her hearing was gone, replaced by a constant whirring sound that made it impossible for her to realize that someone was calling her name.

Begging with her, pleading for her to put the thorns away so that they could help.

It wasn’t until Desi cupped her cheeks and whispered a soft assurance of safety to her that Nymiria finally let go of her power.

She deflated almost immediately, falling into Desi’s arms with a quiet whimper before closing her eyes.

The first sign that something bad had happened was that incessant ache in his chest. It was with a sense of impending doom that Aziel bound up the stairs to the tower, pulse hammering as he skidded to a stop in front of his door.

He could hear her heartbeat. He could feel her fear—her anger and her sadness. He could feel it all.