Chapter12
Ember
The mid-morning sun is high in the sky, bathing the grass below my window in bright light. Snow-capped mountains in the distance are so similar to my world that it hurts my heart. If given the chance, I’d leave here and return to my death bed in the blink of an eye.
And isn’t that saying something. Right after Conary escorted me here, he received a summons to see Taranus, so I’m really hoping Petal was bought more time—perhaps all the time she needs to realize that this place isn’t worth what she’s going through.
No amount of gold is worth the exchange of her body. Her soul.
I haven’t seen Flora, though there was a fresh dress waiting for me when I arrived back into the room. I’ve been waiting for her, hoping to pump her for information on Rafferty’s mate.
His mate.Why the hell didn’t he tell me about her? We talked all night—about mates even—and he didn’t even think to mention it? Is he embarrassed about what she did? Ashamed of the hand he had in her punishment?
A knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts, and I turn, running both palms down the stark white dress I’d changed into. It’s exactly like the one I took off, but I suppose that doesn’t really matter as long as it’s not green.
“Come in,” I call out.
The door pushes open, and a woman in white steps in. “Good morning, Ember.” With her dark raven hair up in a tight bun, she looks like an evil headmistress at a boarding school you’d see in a cartoon.
“Lloren.”
She pushes the door open all the way and moves into my room. “I’m happy to see you’re wearing the king’s colors.”
“What do you want?”
“Were you perhaps expecting someone else?” she asks, with eyebrows drawn together.
I instinctively take a step toward the bed, wanting to put some distance between us. “Yes. Flora. I thought she would come to show me around.”
“Flora is otherwise indisposed at the moment,” she replies. Her tone, though, gives more away than I want to hear.
I stiffen as alarm bells go off in my head. “Where is she?”
“You’ll see her soon enough.” She clasps her hands together. “In fact, how about we go see her now?”
“What did you do to her?”
“Why would I do anything to her?” Lloren clicks her tongue. “Come, I’ll take you to her.” She holds out a hand and gestures toward the doorway. Slowly, I move toward it, my need to make sure Flora is okay overriding my own self-preservation.
Lloren guides me down the stairway at the end of the hall then leads me toward what I now know is the entrance to Rafferty’s prison. We move past it, and I can’t help myself. Sparing the darkened hallway a glance, I swallow hard, imagining him down there, in pain, alone.
“Right this way.” She approaches the throne room door, and two guards flanking either side shove the doors open.
Taranus stands in the center of the room, his eyes hard, lip drawn up in disgust. Conary stands beside him, and directly in front of them is a woman on her knees. “Flora!” I scream her name as I rush inside and fall to my knees beside the bloodied woman. Her face is crusted in crimson, and her bare back is covered in lash marks, both fresh and partially healed, though based on the amount of blood— “What the hell did you do?” I roar at the king while hot tears sting my eyes.
He stares down at me, eyes hard. “You did this to her, Ember,” he says softly, as he gets to his feet.
“What?” I reach for her head and pull it into my lap.
“Run,” Flora whispers as she falls to her side, no longer strong enough to keep herself up. “You have to run.”
I look down at her broken face and run a hand over her cheek. I’ve been here for a day. One damn day, and the first kind person I meet ends up bloodied and half-dead on the floor. Why is this happening to me?
“Yes, Ember. Please, try to run,” the king says. “I will continue to do this to anyone you offer even the slightest smile to. I noticed you took quite a liking to Petal, Annie, and Bonny, too. Shall they be next?”
“No. Please, no. Leave them all alone!”
“You will understand something.” He kneels before me. “Your future is here. With me.”