The Beauty in Pain | Book One of In Pain Trilogy *EDITING*

12. Dungeon

The pain was too intense. Not a physical pain, but the crippling ache of loss, the image of her father dying before her very eyes flashing again and again in her mind's eye. Tears ran like waterfalls down Mynera's face, her eyes rimmed red and puffy. She didn't care, though. It didn't matter if she looked terrible. Why would it when she was grieving?

"Father..." Her knees gave way and she fell to the ground. Mynera clutched them to her chest, resting her back on the cool stone wall behind her.

"Mynera," came a soft voice said above her. She didn't look up. Her head remained firmly buried between her knees, tears running and blazing a ticklish path down the side of her leg. She didn't even feel self-conscious and bare anymore with her torn dress anymore. The king was dead, her father was dead, and now here she was hiding in an underground dungeon with red enemies above them trying to find their way in. It didn't matter to her that she was wearing less than a lady should anymore.

"Mynera, come. We need to leave this place as quickly as we can."

Mynera finally looked up, staring past the tears blurring her eyes. It was Hale. His beautiful face hovered over her, his hand stretched outwards.

"My Father..." she sobbed.

His eyes fell. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry, but if we don't get out of here now the queen, future king, and the future queen will die. They would have died in vain." He gestured to her again. "Now, come. Please."

"Would you please at least pretend you are a queen?" Queen Madeline said, her voice filled with disgust. Mynera shifted her gaze over to her. There was no sadness in the queen's voice, no remorse, no pain. Just disgust. She stood on the other side of the dungeon, her back straight and her head held high. Even surrounded by rats and dripping water, she still looked every bit the queen. It made Mynera hate her even more.

Slowly, Mynera took Hale's hand, allowing him to help her to her feet. She kept her eyes trained on the queen. "How can you say that so calmly?" she asked her. "Your husband ... the king ... he's dead."

Queen Madeline tilted her head to the side, her eyes cold. "So he is. The world is not coming to an end."

"W-what?" Mynera jerked in shock, frowning. Surely she'd heard that wrong. Surely what she was hearing was just the queen trying to stay strong in such a time like this instead of the coldness that she felt was the queen's actual emotion. The king was dead and ... this was her reaction?

"The king's dead," the queen said again, this time turning to face her. Her eyes locked unto Mynera's. "But the prince is not. Now instead of wasting all this precious time sobbing in a corner, we should be getting out of here and to safety."

"She's right, Mynera," Hale agreed. Mynera frowned at him. "We can't waste any more time here. We need to go."

That was their plan? It was easy for them to say. They hadn't just watch their father be murdered before their very eyes. They didn't have the overwhelming urge to run back into the battle ensuing above them, wielding a sword, and cut down everyone they could see. They weren't the ones fighting the urge to fall to the ground again in another fit of tears. In fact, if it hadn't been for the queen's obviously low opinion of her, she probably would have.

"Mynera, they're right."

Her head swung around. Saenar stood there looking at her solemnly. Him too?

Saenar picked up his axe from the ground and turned his back to her. It was a good thing that he did. That way, he didn't see the glare she burned into his back, his betrayal a stab to the back. Of them all, he should at least understand what she was feeling. Her father wasn't the only one who had died.