Page 27 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

S anos felt every blow as if it landed on his own skin.

He was used to beatings. Used to watching as his brothers received theirs. But he’d never been forced to endure this.

He watched as this impossible woman took his punishment.

No one had ever done such a thing before.

And she barely knew him. She had no cause to do this.

Surely the effort of taking herself a new husband was more appealing than this.

So then why? Why subject herself to such pain and humiliation in front of a room of people who decided whether she would be the next ruler of her country?

What hidden motive did she have?

She took the beating silently. She took it admirably, rising each time she was struck to the floor. Until she no longer had the strength to stand. Until she could no longer keep her eyes open.

All for him.

The relief he felt when the queen’s guard finally dragged Glenaerys away from Olerra could not be described with words.

The princess was a mottled mess of blood and broken skin, but she was breathing.

Ydra was already approaching her with physicians in tow. They loaded her onto a mat that they hoisted up into the air. To his eunuch guards, Ydra said, “Bring him.”

Ydra bowed before the queen. “I will take her to my estate to recover safely.”

The queen nodded. Whether words failed her or she was a woman of very few, Sanos didn’t know. They removed his chains and made him follow.

For once, Sanos didn’t fight.

Ydra’s estate was quite large. Sanos admired the marble columns and beautiful exterior gardens for all of a second before he was ushered inside and locked within a bedroom.

He was not bound, for which he was grateful. He was, however, left with nothing but his thoughts.

It didn’t matter that Olerra was a general and a warrior. He hated seeing her hurt, and he hated that he hated it. He didn’t want to feel like he owed her. It was her fault that he was in this mess in the first place. He should not have had to deal with any of this, and yet, there he was.

He paced the room.

Why had she done it?

In his country, if a man saved another’s life, he was owed a life debt.

The debt could only be repaid in one way.

The one who had been saved spent their life in servitude to the one who had spared them until such a day came that the spared was able to save their savior’s life in return.

These rules did not, exactly, extend to the royal family—because royals could not be expected to serve in such a capacity.

But still, Sanos felt honor bound to this woman.

He growled aloud. She’d taken his life away first! She’d stolen him. And now she’d saved him. If anything, they were even. Except that he was still trapped and forced to do her bidding.

Sanos continued pacing until his last image of her sprang to mind. She had lain so still on the floor, her blood pooling onto the red obsidian tiles.

Damn her!

He would still escape at the first opportunity. He would be rid of her and this place, but his conscience needled at him, and he hated her for it.

When the door opened, Ydra was there alone.

“You fucking idiot,” she seethed.

“How is she?” he asked, meeting her gaze.

“Four fractured ribs. A broken nose. Bruises on every inch of skin. She’ll be recovering for weeks. Maybe longer.”

“I didn’t ask her to do that,” he said, getting defensive at her tone.

“Of course she did it!” Ydra was shouting at him now. “She is an honorable woman, the best I’ve ever known. You are hers, and that means she will always protect you. No matter what that entails. How could you be so stupid as to strike Glenaerys?!”

“It was an accident. She set me up.”

“Obviously, but you played right into her plans! She wanted you dead to weaken Olerra’s claim to the throne, but now she’s gotten something even better. She made Olerra look weak when she stepped in to save you . You’ve set us back.”

“Her generosity made her look weak?”

“ Saving you made her look weak. You’re a man.

And not even an Amarran. The nobles whose favor we did garner might be lost after this.

And it doesn’t help that Glen got to show strength by beating the shit out of her.

” Ydra rubbed her temples. Her tone was absolutely livid as she said, “She is a better woman than you deserve.”

“I never asked to be here!” he thundered.

“Well, you’re here now! So get your shit together, Brute.

Screw up this badly again, and I will kill you myself!

I’d do it now except that would render her sacrifice useless, and I love her too much for that.

There are guards everywhere in the house in case Glen tries anything while Olerra is weakened.

So don’t you try anything. Now stay out of trouble for one godsdamned moment. ”

She slammed the door behind her.

It did not, however, lock this time.

He was free to roam her home, it would seem, which was why she’d bothered to mention the guards.

The first night, shame and anger kept him in the room.

The next day, he decided to explore to keep his thoughts off Olerra.

Ydra’s home was rather large. There were many wings to the manor and so much staff. Ydra must be wealthy. Since he knew she worked in the army, like Olerra, he assumed the wealth was inherited. He suspected, then, that her parents were no longer around.

He found the library quickly and located many books on Amarran history and politics. He pulled them from the shelves to make a stack to read later, since he didn’t know how long he would be there.

The floors were decorated with exotic fur pelts. Some wildcat and bear varieties. He wondered if Ydra was the huntress or if it had been someone else in her family.

Sanos continued his perusal. As he reached higher levels of the manor, he heard noises. There were soldiers along the hallway, but they didn’t prevent him from entering the room where the most sound emanated.

Inside he found five boys talking animatedly over some kind of game board.

“It’s my move. Give me the dice!” The first boy rolled, and everyone cackled at whatever number he received. “No,” he groaned.

There was a guard in the room, who eyed Sanos carefully.

Then the boys noticed his appearance.

“Who are you?” one boy asked. Then, seeing his armband, he said, “You’re Olerra’s!”

“We love Olerra,” another boy said. “She plays games with us.”

They were all in their younger teen years. So young, yet far too old to be Ydra’s children.

“Are you… Ydra’s cousins?” Sanos guessed.

The first boy scoffed. He pointed to the armband that Sanos had initially overlooked.

It was made of pure gold and had a rectangular emerald within.

“I don’t understand,” Sanos said.

“We’re part of Ydra’s harem,” another boy said, this one even more youthful-looking than the last.

“She—you—” Sanos felt as though he wanted to throw up.

The final boy, seeing his struggle, rolled his eyes. “It’s not like that. She took us off the streets. She takes care of us so no one else takes advantage of us. She has tutors for us so we can join the workforce when we’re ready. I’m training to be a cloth merchant.”

One of the other boys elbowed him. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone that we’re not really part of Ydra’s harem.”

“But he’s Olerra’s. Olerra knows, so why shouldn’t he?”

Ydra… was helping them. She didn’t bed them. She kept them safe.

Just as Olerra had done with him.

He wasn’t sure if he liked this new information. He wanted no reasons not to murder Ydra along with Olerra when he got the chance. Gods, he hated this place.

Sanos cleared his throat. “What game are you playing?”

“Corgo. You want to join us?”

It took him a week to get up the courage to ask to speak to Olerra. And at first, he was denied.

“She’s not fit for visitors,” Ydra insisted.

“She doesn’t have to do or say anything. I just want to see her.”

“No.”

He asked again the next day.

“No.”

And the next.

“Absolutely not.”

It was another week before he insisted, “Will you just ask her? Tell her at least that I want to speak to her. Surely she wants to make her own decisions about such things.”

It worked. The next day, Ydra led him up the stairs. She did not look happy about it. Sanos was wise enough not to say anything to her, and he kept his smugness to himself.

Ydra entered the room first, Sanos trailing behind.

Olerra was sitting up in bed at least. Her face was mottled with yellowing bruises.

Her nose was still lightly swollen, and bandages were tightly wrapped around her upper waist. He could see the gauze poking out through the sleeveless nightdress she wore.

Sanos tried to approach the bed, but Ydra halted him. “That’s close enough.”

He glared at her. “Are you going to stand there the whole time?”

“You’re damned right I am. I don’t trust you.”

“Ydra,” Olerra admonished.

“I’m not going anywhere. This is my home, and if you want to see him, you can do it with me standing here or not at all.”

Olerra rolled her eyes but didn’t protest further. She adjusted a pillow behind her back and set aside a book she had been reading. She looked at him expectantly.

Right, he’d called this meeting. He should say something.

“You look to be healing well,” he started.

“I am. The doctors say I can start walking again soon, but we will remain here until I am back to full strength.”

“Because your cousin might try something?”

“Among other people,” Ydra said under her breath. With the way she was looking at him, he realized she meant him . As if he would hurt Olerra after what she’d done for him.

Well, he might. He still wasn’t sure about that. It depended on his mood. Right now, taking in her injuries and wrapped bandages, he couldn’t muster the proper anger.

“Yes,” Olerra answered.

There was an awkward silence. Sanos began to wonder why he’d thought this was a good idea. He’d just wanted to see her with his own eyes. Make sure she wasn’t dying.

He should leave now. She was clearly healing.

Just turn around and leave.