I longed for the seclusion of my engagement to Necros. At least I didn’t have to face anyone and could hide away reading or enjoying time with Zaya.
But she would be gone soon, leaving me alone to my fate. To be raped by men I didn’t know. To serve a king I loathed. To perhaps die in this wretched place.
How had I never noticed his true intentions?
Because I’d been hidden away. All this time, I thought it was to protect my virginity, but now I saw the truth. Necros had kept me sheltered from my future, knowing no woman in her right mind would accept such a course.
I hated him even more in that moment, longing to burn this palace to the ground and all the men who resided inside it.
Except maybe Prince Adrik.
I frowned. He hadn’t taken me at all but had provided me with foreign pleasure and a unique sleep. Why?
Could he be a friend?
I barely know him.
But maybe?
Lavios brought me out of my reflection when he opened his bedroom door and threw me inside like a doll. I landed on the floor, and my cheek slammed against the cold hardness of the stone. My head swam, painting my vision in black.
Ice hit my face, smothering me in a cool liquid that left me shaking in confusion.
“Get up, you lazy bitch. You won’t sleep through this. I want you to feel every moment.”
What? He must have knocked me out.
Lavios didn’t give me a moment to process, his fingers digging into my shoulders as he lifted me from the ground and tossed me onto the bed. Every part of his countenance terrified me, from the sneer on his lips to the sadistic hunger radiating in his hazel eyes. The light glistened ominously over his bald head, providing him with a false halo where horns should lie.
I’m going to die here, I realized. This man… I’m just a toy for him, a slave to accept his whims.
Why would Necros do this to me? A queen? The female he chose to give him heirs? He accused me of being barren. Was it true? Did I hold no value beyond that of my womb?
“How should I fuck you first?” Lavios sucked air into his mouth, making a clicking sound as he mulled over the possibilities. Then he circled me as a predator would its prey, studying me from different angles, his lustful intentions painting his features into an expression that would haunt my nightmares for years to come.
Assuming I survived.
“Do you know what we do to soldiers who don’t do as they’re told?” he asked silkily.
I kept my mouth shut, fear holding my tongue hostage. I’d heard rumors of this man on the battlefield. He was ruthless, his men ruled out of terror rather than respect. He didn’t just kill his opponents; he annihilated them.
My blood went cold as a memory stirred, one where I witnessed Lavios’s particular brand of punishment. He’d boiled a demon alive before the entire court for trying to poison King Necros. But due to our immortality, the demon remained alive through the entire demonstration, then writhed on the banquet hall floor while everyone enjoyed a feast around him. Lavios had dined on the male’s arm, claiming the demon meat to be tender, if a little crispy.
And finally, after hours of agony, he’d put the man out of his misery. But not in a kind way. No, Lavios did not do kind.
“I asked you a question, slut.” The crack across my cheek sent my vision spiraling once more, the world dimming, only to be stirred again by more of the icy substance. “Necros was right. You’re insolent and spoiled and untamed. You don’t deserve to be our queen. There’s no grace, decorum, or dignity with you. You’re nothing more than a whore, and there’s only one way to treat them.”
His belt slipped from his pants, the hiss of it a taunt to my ears. “You are a lower rank than I,” I whispered, trying to find my grounding. He couldn’t do this to me. I was his queen. He had a duty to protect me from this insanity, not—
The leather sliced across my cheek, just below my eye. “Whores don’t outrank lieutenants, bitch.” I raised my palm to my tender skin, only to find my wrist caught in his hand and twisted at an angle that forced me onto my stomach.
His belt met my back, the lash harsher than the one to my face. I lay stunned, unable to make a sound, unable to move, unable to fight.
He’s whipping me…
That was unheard of. Unlawful. Punishable by death. Yet this man was the one destined to carry out the sentence.
Did my parents know what fate they’d subjected me to when leaving me here? Would they even care if I told them?