I still tried, though, and struggling to sit, my arms wouldn’t move right. Trying to lift it again, a familiar sound of clinking metal ensued. Sin. I was chained to the bed. Falling back with a scoff, I ignored the pins and needles in my lungs and gulped for breath, that one simple movement sapping me of what little energy remained. How could she hate me so much?
The door creaked open, the swishing of skirts following.
“So, you’re finally awake,” a smug voice purred. Lilitha’s face floated into my vision, her eyes back to their normal blue and I cringed, unable to forget the bloody red they’d been the last time I’d seen her.
She smiled. “Did you enjoy that little show of power, dear? It’s nothing compared to what I have planned for you.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” I moaned, yanking the chains that held me down. “I’ve always been willing to go through with the Ascension, to give myself to you, to sacrifice my life for a greater cause, and I am willing still. Butonlyafter Ariadne has been set free and I have your blood oath that the second you’ve Ascended, you will heal my sister of the poison pumping through her veins.”
Lilitha’s lips tightened into a hard line. With my father’s earlier revelation about my mother’s failing health, I finally noticed the signs. The thick paint on her face, trying and failing to hide the gray shadows under her tired eyes. The way her shoulders sagged, and the slow way she walked, as if exhausted and in pain. “You don’t get to make demands of me. You should accept your place willingly and without question or demands.”
“But I’m not going to, and you're going to destroy your new body before you even get it.”
Lilitha’s lip curled, but she cleared her throat, forcing her face into indifference. “Any harm that comes to you, I can just heal.” She lifted her hand, beckoning someone else forward. A maid moved into view, holding out a wooden tray that carried a small pointed instrument.
“What’s that for?” I gulped, trying to scoot further away, but the chains bit into my wrists.
The empress picked up the tool and bared her teeth. “It’s your punishment,dear.”
My eyes widened, and I yanked on the chains again, struggling to get away as Lilitha swept toward me, a manic look on her face.
“Marshal, hold her still, please,” she snapped, her eyes never leaving mine.
My heart in my throat, I squeaked when Marshal appeared in my peripheral, a sympathetic look on his face. Regardless of my plight, his strong arms crushed my sensitive skin as he held me down and I thrashed against the bed.
“Stop! Please, you don’t have to do this!”
“I know.” Lilitha smirked, capturing my chin with her free hand. “But I want to. It’s time you learn your place, Princess.”
Too weak to rip out of her grasp, I winced as she wrenched my chin up, exposing my throat. I tried one last time to pull away, but it was no use. A sharp pressure entered my neck, and I gasped as a fire ignited, then went out. That was it?
“You can let her go now,” Lilitha instructed Marshal, staring down at me with a strange intensity. Marshal released me and bowed, but before he could return to his post, the empress' voice stopped him. “Oh, and you and your men are relieved from duty for the rest of the day. The golems will be enough protection, and I suggest you all leave if you don’t want to end up deaf.”
He furrowed his brows. “Why’s that, Your Majesty?”
She finally looked away from me, meeting Marshal’s confused stare with a malicious grin. “Because in a moment, she won’t be able to stop screaming until her voice is gone.”
Concern crossed Marshal’s face, and I stared at my mother, hoping she was just exaggerating. What could possibly be worse than what she’d done to me back in the dungeons? A slight tickle brushed my shoulder and my hand twitched, trying to get at it, but the chain pulled tight. I subconsciously glanced sideways and shrieked: a tiny amber scorpion perched there. “Lucifer, get it off!” I screamed as it didn’t budge, crawling closer to my face.
Marshal was by my side in a second, the empress' laughter ringing in my ears. “Hold still, Princess.” His eyes scanned over me as I continued flailing and screaming, and the nasty creature reached my neck, its pointed stinger drawing nearer and nearer. “What is it—”
“A scorpion on my neck, get it off!”
Marshal’s hand brushed over my neck, but against all logic, the thing didn’t budge. “There’s nothing there.”
Lilitha’s laughs increased, and he turned toward her. Her smile widened. “Exactly. This nightmare is all in her head.”
All in my head? Like sin it was. I could feel his nasty little claws digging into my skin. “Marshal—” I stuttered, forgetting all about the scorpion as he turned back. His left eye bulged in his head, and bile filled my throat. “M-marshal?” His face pinched in confusion, but his eye only continued to grow and warp at an alarming rate. “Marsh—” his eye exploded, bits of blood and gore splattering all over me. I retched through the sobs wracking my body, terror gripping my soul as I struggled to make sense of what was happening.
“Princess—”
“Leave Marshal,” the empress said. “This is the price for her disobedience and defiance.”
“What are you doing to me?” I cried, clenching my eyes shut against the horror. It didn’t help. Thousands of tiny claws pierced my skin, tearing screams from my throat. Wrenching my eyes open, the scorpion was no longer alone. Hundreds more swarmed over my body and the surrounding blankets, their stingers finding purchase in my pale flesh, drawing blood that ran in rivulets down my skin.
I fought to escape, to breathe, to even think straight as pain and fear overrode my brain. Thrashing in my chains, the empress' laughter accompanied my pain, and I jerked toward her, ready to beg for my life. She wasn’t there, or at least not the woman I’d known for the past seventeen years, but an embodiment of slithering, writhing snakes stood in the middle of the room, red eyes glowing.
The room titled around me and my head spun as the scorpions continued to torment me. Across the room, something shifted. Afraid to look, but afraid not too, my heart stopped. Ryker stood in a corner, his golden eyes molten lava, a pair of horns protruding from his forehead. His black lips lifted in a hideous grin, displaying rows of pointed teeth. He charged forward, wielding a massive ax. I jerked against my restraints, but unable to move, he brought the ax down, straight through my stomach. Pain and blood erupted, and while he threw back his head and laughed, I screamed and screamed and screamed.