A Vow of Thorns (Blackest Gold Book 3)
Page 16
Molly glanced at the courtyard, seeing Lilith to the side with her ladies in waiting and a few men.
“I told her I needed more time and she agreed but—” She took in a sharp breath and stared at the men. “She has changed her mind. She desires me to present myself to them—to show them my neck.” Her hand gripped her neck, the scarf tightening.
Molly’s stomach tightened. “To show your neck?”
“It’s tradition—to make sure the woman is unmarked,” she told her, those doe brown eyes glistening with tears. “They’ll punish me—”
“Ladies,” Lilith’s smooth voice said, dripping of sweet poison.
Molly turned to face her, seeing Prim’s skin turn pale, and smiled. “Lady Lilith.”
Lilith cocked her head. “Is there a problem, Prim?”
Prim’s throat bobbed, and she shook her head, but she couldn’t meet Lilith’s eyes. “No, my lady.”
Lilith stepped closer, far too close for Molly’s liking, and lowered her mouth to Prim’s ear. “Do not keep me waiting.”
Prim’s shoulders shook, and again, she nodded.
“Good,” Lilith said, smiling pleasantly again. “Let us present you.” She gripped Prim’s arm, but Prim pulled back, her head shaking back and forth.
“I am not ready, my lady,” she said fast, her bottom lip trembling. “Give me time.”
“Either you take a husband of my choice, or you leave my court,” Lilith hissed lowly, her lips curling back in anger.
Molly wanted to speak, to say anything, but she didn’t know what would happen if she went against the queen.
Prim shook her head violently and stepped further back. “Please, my lady—”
Lilith yanked at her shoulder, her eyes pitch-black, and pulled off the scarf. She froze, her hand clenching tighter around the white fabric, gawking at Prim’s visible neck.
Prim rolled her shoulders, trying to escape the queen’s tight grip, but Lilith grabbed a fistful of her dark locks and dragged her forward.
“You whore,” Lilith seethed. “You selfish, little brat.” Lilith pulled so hard Prim cried out, falling to her knees. “Let us see what your king thinks of one of his ladies going against his wishes.”
Prim sobbed, begging between battered breaths, but Lilith continued to pull.
“Lilith,” Molly said, her voice a warning, and stepped closer, but she had no power here.
Lilith’s razor-sharp gaze sought hers and darkened. “Be this a lesson to you, daemon. Do not disobey the law of the king.”
THE COURT was in a fury of curiosity and rage, and it held a wave of seduction as the members bubbled with excitement.
Prim was dragged in front of the king and queen and the rest of the court.
The hum of talking disappeared as the king rose from his throne of gold and iron, a crown of ivory on his head, his shoes a rhythmic click, click, click.
A bullet to Molly’s thumping, wild heart.
Someone touched the small of her back, and she jerked to see Tensley behind her. His finger smoothed along her wrist bone, a reminder of protection.
Prim sat on her knees, her hair a chaotic mess of darkness, her entire torso bent to the floor, lowest as possible from the king.
“A lady of the court has been marked without my permission,” Fallen announced, but he didn’t speak to the crowd gathered in his dining hall, the walls lined with court members, curious to what was going to happen.
Shadows of the setting sun slipped across the drapery on the high walls of oak frames, hiding the legends woven into the fabric.
“Tell me the name of the man who disobeyed me,” Fallen hissed, pacing in front of Prim.
Silence.
Fallen paused, facing away from the crowd, and then spun, his features contorted in rage, and he yanked at Prim’s hair, a cry of pain piercing Molly’s eardrums and heart.
Molly clenched Tensley’s hand behind her back.
“Tell me who!” he roared, black eyes glowing in anger, his long fingers tangling deeper into her scalp. Each pull, she cried out, her face scrunched in pain.
She didn’t speak, she didn’t utter Seto’s name, and Molly glanced down the line of onlookers, setting her focus on the man who marked her.
Seto stood behind the queen, his hand wrapped around the handle of his large sword. His face held no emotion, but his fingers twitched, flexing and tightening, over and over as he watched the king shame Prim.
He wanted to strike, she could see that clearly in the way he curled and uncurled his fingers, attack the man who harmed his mate, but that man was his king. His court and crown.
“Who did this? Tell me now,” Fallen hissed, yanking her hair so far back that her back bent almost to her calves.
“Please,” Prim begged, tears flooding her flushed cheeks.
“Please?” Fallen let go and moved around her, his dark eyes scanning the crowd, tracing each man as a threat. “Who disobeyed me?”
“No!” Prim curled her body away, but he tugged harshly, and she stumbled back.
Silence.
And then heavy footsteps.
Fallen turned to see Seto stepping forward, his head held high, and his jaw clenched tight.
Fallen’s chest rose fast, staring, unmoving at his own guard.
“Fuck,” Tensley muttered under his breath.
Seto, a soldier, the king’s guard, had betrayed his oath to the court and to the crown. For Prim.
“I marked her, my lord,” Seto said lowly. “The beast took over during the Sonolios’ Hunt, and I claimed her.” His eyes—were bloodshot and they challenged his king’s stare. “I’ll take her punishment.”
“Claimed her?” Fallen chuckled, pacing back to Prim. “A soldier doesn’t have the right to claim a lady of the court. You disobey me for your own desires? I am above those. I am above your wants, hopes, and thirsts. I am your king! Your god, your sun, and your moon.” Fallen caught his breath, staring down at Prim bent over, her arms holding her middle. “I will not punish you, but I will punish her. That will serve you well.” Fallen gripped Prim’s dress and tore the back of it open, a shriek of shock and terror leaping from Prim’s mouth, clutching the dress tighter to her front. Her bare back was exposed to the court, her pronounced ribs and spine, her pure ivory skin.
Seto’s nostrils flared as Fallen angrily shook his fist, another guard handing him a long leather whip.
He wound it around his hand and tested the strength, grinning down at Prim.
“Please, please,” Prim chanted.
“No!” Seto rushed forward, but guards gripped his thick arms and held him back. “Punish me—punish me!” He shouted it, his voice broken and powerful, like a chant of repentance over and over.
“Seto,” Prim cried. “Seto, Seto, Seto.” Her voice repeated that single word, and Fallen’s features turned vicious.
He lashed the whip next to Prim’s head, causing her to jolt at the snap of sound. “I won’t be touching you yet, though. The traitor will be serving you your punishment.”
Fallen held out the whip, turning to face Seto. The guards anchored Seto from attacking their king.
One second, and then it clicked for every single person in the room. Molly’s throat swelled, and she fought back the tears.
“No,” Seto bit out. “No!”
“Unless you would enjoy me ripping out her heart right now,” Fallen mused. “That can be arranged.”
Seto’s eyes fell to Prim crying softly on the floor, curled into a tight ball. Seto curtly nodded, and soon, the guards let him go.
“Seto,” Prim cried, her head rising to meet his hollow gaze.
Seto looked at her once, his chest heaving, and then he looked away and took the whip.
“You wanted to mark the whore without my permission, there, I'll make sure the whore is well and truly marked by you,” Fallen said, smirking at the two of them.
Seto fisted the handle, his fingers flexing, and Molly could see the battle in his movements.
He bowed his head, took a deep breath and with Prim’s soft voice calling to him, he struck.
Molly jolted, jumping further into Tensley’s frame.
Prim bit back a cry, jolting forward.
“Harder!” Fallen screamed at Seto as he knew the demon was holding back from harming his love.
Seto gnashed his teeth, and his eyes grew more bloodshot. He struck again, harder.
Prim cried out, so loud, so heartbreakingly painful. Seto threw his head back, the veins in his neck straining as he screamed at the image of his mate’s beating. At his own hands.
“Harder!” Fallen screamed again.
Seto panted, his features drawn into remorse, into anger and pain.
And he struck again. Harder.
“Never disobey the court,” Fallen said.
Another lash. Tears fell from Seto’s bloodshot eyes.
Another piercing sob-cry-scream of agony. And the chilling hushed call to Seto.
“Seto, Seto, Seto.”
A prayer, a chant.
Seto’s chest heaved, his hands fisting to the point of white. He bit his wavering lip, choking on a silent cry.
“Never disobey the crown.”
Molly cupped her mouth, sucking down a cry at the sound of the flesh tearing, at the whip cracking skin.
At Prim’s red, blotchy back of fresh wounds.
No longer ivory.
No longer unmarked.
Molly felt like she was watching Tensley and herself—the consequences being played out.
It could easily be them.
“And never disobey your god.”
Seto stumbled back, his entire frame shaking, his head still bowed, unable to lift to see the damage he had done to his mate.
Tears streamed his features, and he choked on them, falling to his knees.
Fallen didn’t stop, though. He took the whip from Seto’s hand and struck. His strikes became more violent, more vicious, his hand raising higher, the gleam in his eyes growing darker.
Prim coughed out a sob, her arms giving out.
Seto growled, taking a daring step forward, but the guards held him back.
He thrashed, the way his body moved, and his teeth flashed. Molly knew the beast was taking over him. “Let her go!” he roared, the sound so deeply menacing even Molly shivered. “Prim!”
Fallen didn’t stop, even laughing as the whip shredded her back red with welts and blood.
Soon, Prim was barely screaming—only a mutter, only a whimper escaped her torn lips.
“Tensley,” Molly gasped, gawking at the horrifying scene before her. “He’s going to kill her.”
Tensley didn’t speak but pulled her closer. He knew it too.
Prim was a just a girl. A young girl who fell for a soldier unable to do anything to save her.
She didn’t deserve to die.
If that were her, if that were Molly on the ground, being punished for the pregnancy—
Molly stepped away from the crowd, her scalp tingling, the movement of energy expanding down her spine to her fingertips.
“Molly,” Tensley bit out, reaching for her.
She cast her eyes on Fallen, the ice-burn storming behind her eyes and they glowed.
Fallen paused, his hands limp, the whip lowering to the ground. He stared back at her, a brow raised. He bared his teeth.
A warning to her.
Tensley jerked her back into his chest, and she blinked away the glow, staring at Fallen, motionless.
Fallen cleared his throat and straightened. “Take her to the dungeon,” Fallen commanded, nodding at Prim’s lifeless body on the marble floor. Two guards grabbed Prim’s arms, lifting her limp body.
Blood dripped down her back and onto the white floors, a streak of red left.
Prim’s eyes were closed, and her head rolled back as they dragged her off.
“And him,” Fallen announced, directing his full attention to the grunting Seto. “To the hole. I want him to feel, see, and live in darkness until he returns to the beast he is. And then, I want to pay a visit to that beast, show it how I deal with disobedience.”
Seto growled, his body darting to attack, but the guards held him back and dragged him out of the dining hall.
Fallen clapped three times. “Return to your daily lives. We will feast tonight.”
Murmurs filled the hallway, and Molly watched Fallen move back to his wife, pausing to glance back at Molly.
He grinned.
“Molly,” Tensley whispered, pulling her with him.
She caught the sight of the pool of bright red blood where Prim had laid and gagged, clenching her stomach.
Tensley held her waist, walking fast through the hallways. He muttered soft words to her, but all she could think of was Prim and Seto—of the cries of agony, of Fallen’s cruel, vicious whips, and his crazed stare.
“Tensley,” Molly said, gripping his bicep in the empty hallway. He paused, frowning down at her. “We need to do something. Prim—”
“Is not our concern,” Tensley bit out and grabbed both of her arms, pulling her close. “We need to look out for us. We can’t risk putting us in more danger. They’re watching our every move, Molly. Waiting for us to make a wrong one, so they can eliminate us both.”
Molly blinked back tears. She knew he was right. How easily it could have been Molly on the ground, beaten and punished. Her hand went to her stomach, caressing lightly. “I know.”
The way his brows bent low, his dark eyes filled with a storm, she knew he was deep in thought. “I’m not waiting anymore. I need to speak to the court. About moving the wedding up. I’m not risking it any longer.”
She stared up at him and nodded.
With a soft kiss to her forehead, he left with a stride of determination and a glare of destruction.
TENSLEY STOOD stiffly in front of the king, his legs wide, his fisted hands behind his back. The king, completely nude, stood from his large bed of feathered pillows and silk red sheets, a naked man and woman still lounging in the bed.
The monster bare, exposed to his subject, but not fearing him.
Tensley uncurled his hands.
“Ah, you received my message, I see,” Fallen said, strolling leisurely over to his elegant oak wood dresser and throwing on a dark robe, tying the middle, so it slouched on his shoulders. “To discuss this business of a wedding, so my men say.”
Tensley squared his jaw. He had discussed with a court member yesterday after the shaming of Prim in front of the court to move the wedding date up. The court member had sneered and told him he’d have to discuss it with Fallen first.
He wasn’t surprised Fallen had called upon him. Now he just needed to convince him to agree to the change.
“I would like to discuss this in private,” Tensley insisted, his eyes darting to the two forms still in Fallen’s bed.
Fallen’s smile weakened. He stared, unmoving, his gaze trailing along Tensley’s rigid form—looking for a weak spot, a spot to tear open and feast on.
One hand snapped up, and he waved it, the two people in his bed raising, shrugging on their clothing, and leaving.
Then it was just the two of them.
“I was exhausted after the punishment yesterday. I needed to regain my strength,” Fallen explained, gesturing to the door where the two had left. He picked up a golden goblet, examined whatever liquid pooled inside, and downed it, smacking his lips. “A soldier knows pain—they know how to cope, how to survive with physical torture—but the pain of another, the pain of someone they cherish is beyond their threshold. Seto needed to bow, needed to learn from his mistakes, and punishing Prim was also punishing him. Fitting, isn’t it?” He laughed, tilting his head to the side. “The court must know I won’t tolerate disobedience, won’t tolerate them putting their thirsts above me.”
Fallen walked over to an uph
olstered chair by his large balcony and sat down, crossing one leg over the over. His thin fingers weren’t to be trusted. They were misleading—his smooth skin, his tall, lithe frame. He was a monster, a monster capable of destroying Tensley and his bride without a labored breath expelled.
Tensley needed to appease the monster, but not bow. Fallen wanted an equal, but a subject that kissed his unholy feet.
“Many let themselves slip—believe they can do as they please and that I will not hear of it,” Fallen said as he picked up a raspberry piled in an ivory bowl of fruit and chewed it, the redness staining his sharp teeth. “But I know of every single detail.” He licked his finger clean. “That girl bled out overnight.” He tsked, shaking his head. Tensley’s chest burned. He thought of Molly, torn apart by the guilt of not doing anything. Of him not doing anything to help as they watched the court beat her. But they were mere guests, mere peasants compared to Fallen. “Seto was too vicious on her. Lilith saw such potential in her. A humble girl, not like the rest of her ladies, but noble in name. Her family will be so ashamed.”
Tensley gritted his teeth, thinking of his own father. If he knew Molly was pregnant out of wedlock, how his son would bring another scandal, he’d be livid.
“But you did not come to see me to discuss court politics, did you now?” He smiled at Tensley as if he were a dear old friend. Tensley wanted to smash his face so hard his teeth cracked. “My men report to me that you were discussing your wedding. Not for another year since you’re not twenty-nine yet, correct?” Fallen tapped his index finger on the gold encrusted arm of the chair, over and over. A thump of a heartbeat. Fast and rushed. Panicked.
Tensley swallowed thickly and lifted his chin, staring him down.
“I would like to move the date of my wedding up,” he said, sternly.
Fallen’s brows lowered. “Why is that?”
“Because I want the daemon to be completely mine.”
“You’ve claimed her. The entire court can see her golden necklace tight around her neck,” he argued, flicking his hand lazily as his wrist rested on the chair. “How did it feel to sink your teeth into that ivory flesh, hm? A thirst satisfied?”
Tensley fought his beast back with a single toss of his head, so smoothly. “I want her claimed in wedlock,” Tensley said, his voice harsh.