Chapter Ninety Two
ALIYA’S POV
“I should have known; gods forgive me for being so stupid. Of course, you will fall in love with him; of course, you will break every rule and destroy everything we’ve spent years building just for one man.” Empress Julia said to me, her eyes filled with clear disgust and disappointment.
I was in her chambers, naked and on my knees, awaiting my punishment.
I had never seen her look so furious before, but I couldn’t even bring myself to care about how she or the other Empresses and High Regents felt.
“You let him into your bed, didn’t you? I imagine he must have been quite the man.” I said, and her whip lashed across my skin; it took every will in me to hold back the cry threatening to escape my lips.
“I wasn’t the one the gods chose; she chose you, and now you’ve shamed her.
Did he defy you?”
“What I did with him is none of your business, Julià.” I sneered at her.
The whip landed against my chest this time, harder than before. “Oh, I will find out; I will dig my hands into you and discover if you are still pure.”
He had used his fingers and his tongue. If he had… disvirgined me, then there was supposed to be blood. Still, I didn’t feel very pure anymore, and I liked it.
“No, he didn’t.” I said. That wasn’t the truth, but it also wasn’t exactly a lie.
“Good.” She whispered, seemingly satisfied by my answer.
“What would happen to him… what will happen to Trian?” asked.
“He could have been executed immediately, but I chose that he spend the rest of his days down in the dark dungeons. That was mercy.”
I’d heard of the dark dungeons before–I knew that anyone thrown in there never makes it out. It wasn’t like any dungeon in a werewolf pack. They called it The Pit for a reason. The castle had an underground pit designed for the worst offenders, a place of torment and…finality.
No one escaped the pit. Many had tried to climb its walls, only to fall to their deaths before reaching even a quarter of the way up. Some had been mutilated before they were placed in the pit, their bodies broken beyond repair. After a while, most people run mad. The stench of rotting corpses clung to the air, the pit reeked of death.
I couldn’t even imagine Trian in a place like that.
“You don’t know the meaning of mercy.” I said to her, “You sentenced a man to death, all because he took me outside the castle; you didn’t even give him a trial. He saved me – eaters that would have ripped me apart.”
did you know that? He saved me from the flesh
–
“Flesh eaters? It is impossible; they only exist outside our walls.”
“Maybe they’ve found a way in. I fought two of them, and if it hadn’t been for him, they would have torn me to shreds.”
“They’ve never been this close,” she said, trying to mask the panic in her eyes. She lowered herself to my level.” Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”
+25 BONUS
Chapter Ninety Two
“And why should I keep it a secret? They have to be aware and prepared.” I say partly to spite her.
“Listen to me. We would go out there and kill any who had managed to get it.”
“Or maybe they will get to you first; maybe they will tear you to pieces, and I will be lucky enough to watch.” She slapped me so hard I fell to the ground.
“You will pay for your crimes; you are not as bold as you try to make it seem. I know you, and I know the scared little girl you’ve always been. Nothing has changed.”
Thirty strokes. That’s how many times she whipped me. I flinched when the sponge met another open wound.
After her punishment, she had returned me back to my room and locked me in. I was left to tend to my injuries. After I was done bathing, I rose from the tub and walked to the mirror. I couldn’t recognize the girl standing before me; she looked broken, with marks all over her body, her lips busted, and one eye completely black. I let out a sob. I should never have roped Trian into my miserable life.
Chapter Eighty Three
Chapter Eighty Three
