𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕆𝕗 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 ¦ 𝔽𝕖𝕟𝕣𝕪𝕤 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕞

To Ignite the Kingdom of Ash

She had spent the better part of almost a month being tortured alongside Aelin, Chained to a wall alongside a lethargic Vera held up in the room along with Fenrys.

The veil of sanity was slipping, she knew this was the payback. Ever lashing, burning, knife against her skin, broken bone. The only difference she wasn't being healed the way Aelin was. Those wounds lay open and exposed.

And the worse thing about it all, Brielle could see Fenrys struggling through everything, but with each time Cairn turned his attention to her, she felt the power shift in Fenrys. Her mate was inches from her, yet she couldn't reach him.

Brielle could only hold out against the pain, hiding her suffering to minimise his own, and to not get himself killed by doing something reckless. The physical torment she could deal with, but the psychological. . .

Her blessing, she could speak freely. As could Vera, but they kept their voices hushed to anyone passing outside could't hear them and inflict more suffering on them all.

Vera was left physically unharmed for now, she had just lost a lot of weight, dropping to almost half her healthy size. The sight seized the Lionesses' heart every time. The protective side of the Brielle wanting to lash at Cairn every time he stepped into the room.

It had taken Brielle almost two weeks to heal from the dagger Isaiah stabbed her with, her muscles still twitched painfully if she turned awkwardly or too suddenly. Most of her body ached now from the scars littering her body. 

The ground was cold beneath her, she often rested with her eyes closed, listening to Vera sing softly, a comfort they had all come to depend on. 

There was jangle of keys outside the door, her eyes snapped open in alert, the wolf in the corner propped his head up from where it had rested atop his paw.

He shifted not but an inch in her direction, the only comfort they could share to each other beyond the blinking, Brielle had taught it to Vera and Aelin. For when words couldn't be spoken they could stay connected.

The door spun open, Cairn stood there, expression sour, missing its usual devilish grin. Looked right in her direction, She wanted to curl further into the wall, to shy from him. But her muscle were too stiff from sitting still to move.

He stormed his way in, passed Vera and Fenrys, passed his table set up with an array of tools. He reached for the locks chaining her to the wall. Pulling them off with a rattle he moved back towards the door, 

Brielle tried to rise to her feet quickly, she stumbled and Cairn yanked on the chains, her knees clattered painfully on the stone. Fenrys growled low, Brielle cut him a look. They couldn't afford any sort of defiance, Brielle couldn't risk it.

"I'm okay." she whispered, his ear twitched, the only indication he had heard her words.

Cairn puller her up, Brielle didn't resist when they continued out, and began to assent up a curling set of stairs, The door was sealed behind her, she couldn't get the chance to look back.

Cairn continue to drag her by the chains up the stairs. Until they emerged into light. It was blinding after spending so long in the dark, She tried to blink, if to bring her vison back somehow.

"You know the price for defiance." Cairn was so close to her, she felt his words against her skin. She jerked her head back, skin crawling from the wrongness of him near her mating mark. 

The chains were unclasped from her wrists. Felt the warmth of her magic pooling back into her blood, healing the blemish's on her skin.

Cairn casted his gaze down as some of the disappeared, a sneer replacing his expression, in anger. He had not been able to display his work on Aelin, but on her skin. She was a canvas for his work. Not anymore, Cairn continued to scowl at her, gathering up the chains,