“What?”
Seraphina was simply outraged. She had been since Aria openly defied her days earlier. As punishment for her defiance, she’d been forced to walk for miles, the only reason that she hadn’t escaped was because she was tied to the sleigh. Forget that, Seraphina had ordered the horses away and had Aria pull it as punishment, and every time she slowed in pace, she was whipped by her sister’s goblin.
She’d admit that it wasn’t at all ideal. But she’d never let Seraphina get the satisfaction of seeing her weak. Though, her raged shout in the form of a question confused Aria who had no idea what it was about this time. The rope that held her to the sleigh was cut, causing the girl to fall to the ground.
She heard Seraphina’s angered steps and looked up.
“Did you know that the otherworlders were on their way to Omdrus?” Seraphina questioned. “Did you know or have you caused me further shame?”
“Or is it you who has caused me shame?” Aria countered as she pushed herself off the ground.
“So, you knew then?” Seraphina surmised though it came out as a question. As Seraphina’s said, the otherworlders arrived, which meant that Aria no longer had to put up with her sister’s nonsense. She was free to self-preserve.
“Define knowledge. Is it fact? Is it information? Hypothesis? Skill? Or is it a mere idea?” Aria spoke as she stood on her feet again. “Truly, I had no clue where they were going. Did I know that they were with the badger and the mouse? Yes, I did. Had I known all along that they were going to the wolf? Yes. But as far as I knew, it was a rouse for you to catch them.”
“Did you know that they were being taken to the wall of Caliburn?”
“Well, no. Again, as far as my knowledge of their location went was that they were going to Omdrus, the badger never gave a location. And as far as I knew, this wolf was a story told to children to make them behave.” Aria told her. “But it would be a lie if I said that I wanted you to catch them.”
“Tiat!” the older woman called. Tiat was half-orc and half-fae. He wasn’t all that different from a pure-blooded orc. But he had a face that could make the strongest stomach churn. He couldn’t speak either. Aria wasn’t sure if this was because Seraphina removed his tongue, or if it was genetics. “I want her punished and punished well. I understand that you’re a brute, do what brutes will.”
She walked off after that. And Tiat, with his green-tinged skin and vomit-inducing face, approached Aria. He hadn’t been expecting her to fight back due to her exhaustion. And she couldn’t, not really, not with her hands bound. She dodged as many of his attacks as she could. Until she couldn’t anymore.
He beat her. And he beat her bloody. She could taste the blood in her mouth. He tossed her around like a doll. And perhaps once the hitting stopped, she gave up trying to fight, as more joined in and kicked her. And perhaps the reason for her quitting was because she no longer had hope, nor needed survival.
At least, she didn’t until she saw a bloom by a thicket. Despite the pain that surged through her very body, she managed to feel a bit of joy, a bit of hope.
The otherworlders would save the realm. They would be the ones to put an end to her sister. And though, she knew that she wouldn’t be there to help, she couldn’t wait for her sister’s demise.
They stopped kicking her and they walked off, knowing she was too weak to do anything but lay there. She stared at the bloom, the first sign of spring in centuries.
After a moment, they came back and lifted her limp body, dragging her to a tree. There was no sign of Seraphina who should have been ashamed of what she had done to her sister. A rope was wrapped around her arms and torso, securing her to the tree. And she was bound twice over. Trapped against a tree, with her hands bound together and a gag over her mouth.
She was completely at their mercy. And they took advantage of that. The hyenas and her sister’s vile goblin. They harassed her, day after day. They cackled at her and jumped at her. The goblin got in her face and made taunts and threats.
It was all meant to break her. All of it.
But it didn’t make her feel anything. She never flinched, she only sat, with a hollow look in her eyes. And some thought she was dead because of this. This stillness, this silence, this lack of a fight.
But she was just waiting. And she would wait forever if she had to.
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