Page 40 of The Lies of Lena (The Otacian Chronicles #1)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

S -sire, we—”

Two of the lower-level guards came from behind me, having finally heard the chaos emitting from this cell. They made no effort to stop me when I pulled Rurik off Lena and started beating the absolute living shit out of him. I only got in a few blows before I forced myself to stop.

First, Lena. Then, I will kill all of these fuckers.

“You keep these savages in this cell,” I snarled at the guards, my anger unsettling them. I hadn’t been this angry in a long fucking time. “I will deal with them shortly.”

I quickly turned my attention to Lena, realizing she wasn’t awake.

No.

I felt panic wash over me as I put my head on her chest, then sighed in relief .

Still breathing. Good.

“Get Elowen. We need her to heal—have Hendry bring her.”

When I was met with silence, I looked back at the guards, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. I knew what I had to say.

“She has information we need. Do I need to repeat myself?“ I asked coldly.

“N-no, sir.”

“Good,” I muttered. “Grab me something to cover her with.”

One of them rushed to fulfill the task, and when I scooped Lena up in my arms, I examined her face.

Fuck.

Two black eyes formed, and blood continued to drip out of her nose. It was most likely broken. The other guard and I left the cell, shutting in the new prisoners.

“Sire, where are you—”

“I am bringing her to my quarters,” I snapped. “Apparently, my damn prisons aren’t guarded well enough.”

The guard swallowed, realizing his error.

“Stay here. Do not engage. Or you will be in there with them.”

He stiffened, then nodded quickly.

After I was given a sheet to cover her with, I rushed away, making it back up those spiral steps and to my quarters.Erabella sprung up from the bed, my less-than-subtle entrance jolting her awake.

“Whoa, what is going on?” Erabella exclaimed as she fumbled out of bed, rubbing her eyes.

“Four of my men beat this prisoner and raped her,” I said, my voice shaking. “She’s out of it. I-I don’t know if she’ll be okay. ”

I gently laid Lena on the bed, fighting the urge to brush her hair out of her face in front of Era. My eyes trailed down to her neck. Because those bastards had ripped off her shirt, her neck was now bare.

And my eyes widened at the sight.

The necklace. My mother’s necklace.

All this time, and she still wore it. My eyes trailed to her hand, and a lump formed in my throat when I realized she still wore the ring I gave her on her right ring finger.

Just as I still wore the one she gave me.

“She’s going to get blood on the bed!” Era complained. “Why is she in here?”

I was flustered and angry. “Erabella! I do not need to justify my actions to you! You are to stay in the West Hall tonight.”

“But—”

“End of discussion!” I snapped.

Annoyed and confused, she rushed out of the room.

Once it was just the two of us, I finally brushed Lena’s hair back, examining all the marks and bruises on her face in the room’s light. Her eyes were even more swollen and dark than I’d noticed in the dim cell. Hickeys and bite marks covered her neck, and her arms were scattered with bruises.

“Dear Gods…” I breathed, trying to keep my body from shaking any harder from the rage I felt.

How dare they lay a hand on her. Violate her.

I couldn’t stop now; my whole body began vibrating, and my need to torture and kill was unavoidable.

She probably thinks I had something to do with this. Fuck!

I pulled back the sheet and tried not to let my eyes linger, but hell, her body was as beautiful as ever. It was stunning when we were younger, but now she looked even more like a woman. I pulled one of Era’s nightgowns out of our dresser and carefully slipped it on her. No one should see her naked body unless she wanted them to.

I chewed the inside of my cheek and found myself removing her cuffs. The helplessness she had to have felt…I wanted her to wake up and feel there was a way she could defend herself. A way to fight back. Not that I wished she would try.

After she was clothed and tucked under the comforter, I heard a knock on my door, and Hendry entered with the pink-haired Mage, whose blue-eyed gaze immediately shifted to Lena.

Her eyes widened, and tears began to form. “What did you do to her?!” she cried out.

“Please, it wasn’t me. I-I need her healed," I pleaded.

“I need Merrick,” she growled, her voice going unusually low. “I will not heal ANYONE until Merrick is brought to me.”

I didn’t understand. But I didn’t care. Lena needed to be healed.

“Hendry, go fetch this Merrick person,” I ordered. He nodded and headed off, leaving Elowen and me staring at Lena. We stood there for many moments in utter silence. I didn’t know how long. I just kept count of Lena’s shallow breaths.

I wiped my forehead, sweat beading at my hairline.

“Gods…” she finally whispered, breaking the silence. I glanced down at her as she shook her head. “After she saved Edmund and probably more of your people…you’d do this to her?” She turned to me. “Why? Are you truly that evil? ”

I stiffened at that comment. “I told you. I had nothing to do with this.” I looked at her with sincerity. “I swear.”

“We’ll see,” she muttered.

Moments later, Hendry reappeared with a tall, pale man in his grasp. Well, not as tall as Hendry or me, maybe a couple of inches shorter than us. He gave me a malicious glare that only further deepened after he noticed Lena on the bed. He shot his gaze back to me.

“What did you do to her?” he yelled, tugging away from Hendry briefly before he held him again.

“He claims he had nothing to do with it, Merrick. Tell me it’s the truth,” Elowen whispered.

He nodded, then looked at me. “I’ll need these off,” he said as he gestured to his wrists. His lip ring glinted off the light coming from the oil lamps as he gave me a dark smile that did not reach his eyes.

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded to Hendry, who reluctantly removed his cuffs. It was risky. I had no idea what powers this guy had. But I knew that even if he attacked Hendry and me, there was no way he would make it out of this place alive.

He paused as Hendry removed his cuffs, then brought his arms to his sides, rotating his wrists. Focusing his gaze on me, those ice-colored eyes of his began to turn to smoky charcoal, nearly black. It made me retreat a few steps.

That’s fucking creepy.

“Now, look at her,” he said coldly. “And just think. ”

I raised my brow but did as he said. I examined her once more, again counting her breaths. My mind kept flashing back to her cottage all those years ago…walking through the charred house and seeing a burnt corpse in her room. The love of my life…my best friend… gone.

I exhaled and decided to think of something happy. The first moment I saw her, our flirty banter, the first time we kissed, the first time we made love…and all the times after.

I thought of how her face lit up when she showed me the Outer Ring—her home. How she had the mouth of a sailor and didn't hesitate to give me her middle finger when I would tease her.

How much I had truly loved her.

I flicked my eyes back to his with a tightened jaw, and he looked at me like I had just grown new limbs. He then narrowed his eyes. “Did you have any involvement with what happened to Lena?”

“No,” I growled.

“Did you know it was going to happen?”

“No.”

“Do you wish to harm her?”

I paused and looked back at her bruised body. The anger I felt towards her was nothing more than a small flicker in the back of my mind. I still felt betrayed, confused, hurt. But no, I never wished to harm her. And I would kill anyone who tried to.

“No.”

Merrick blinked, and the dark in his eyes faded away, the icy color returning. He turned to Elowen.

“I…” He went to continue, but his mouth remained open, no words escaping. Then he snapped it shut, sighing. “He’s telling the truth. He doesn’t desire to harm her. His intentions are pure.”

Elowen blinked a few times, then nodded. “I need these off,” she said as she lifted her cuffs.

“Of course.” I locked Merrick’s again first, and he watched me with a glare that said he was envisioning every way he could kill me. Then I unlocked Elowen, and she ran to Lena at once.

“You may leave us,” I directed Hendry. I tilted my head towards Merrick. “Bring this one back.”

“Silas—”

“No questions,” I said sternly. I knew the idea of leaving me alone unnerved him.

Hendry’s mismatched eyes narrowed, and then he nodded. As they left, Elowen immediately started using healing magic on Lena, a warm golden glow emitting from her palms.

“What exactly happened to her?” she whispered while she examined her beaten body.

“Four of my men. Not my orders,” I said bluntly.

She let out a dry laugh. “But witches are the evil ones.”

The remark didn’t faze me.

‘Will she be alright?“ I asked softly.

“If Ravaiana is on our side, yes,” she said after a beat. I hoped the Goddess of Life was on our side. If she was even real. "But this will take a while. And Edmund still needs a healer, too. I’ll have to alternate between them.”

I took notice of her dark under eyes and how drained she appeared.It had been days of constant work for her, with very little sleep.

“I’m sorry you have not had a break,” I mumbled and pulled a chair for her to sit.

She just nodded, not meeting my eyes as she sat in the chair.

I continued to stare at Lena, soaking up every awful feeling it gave me. I needed fuel for what I was going to do.

I fished through my dresser to get clothes I didn’t care to soak in blood, then changed in my bathroom. I didn’t worry about Elowen—I think she cared more about Lena than making an escape. Plus, she wouldn’t make it very far.

As I exited the bathroom, Hendry sauntered back in, giving me an up-down. I grabbed my favorite dagger and headed for the door.

“Hendry, stay and make sure no other person is allowed in,” I ordered.

“Yes, Your Highness. Are you okay?” he asked cautiously.

“I will be.”