Page 39 of Scourged
But that rage was doused when Anniliese halted in the hallway, visceral shock, surprise, and horror flowing across her features. A flush crept into her cheeks as she took in Mariah’s starved frame, the limp drapery of her hair, the obnoxious doll-pink dress.
“What …” Anniliese swallowed, looking back at Ellis. “What are you doing with our … guest?”
“That does not concern you, Lady Anniliese,” Ellis said gruffly. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Anniliese did not seem satisfied with Ellis’s response. Her brow twisted, gathering her skirts in her hands. “She is not supposed to leave her cell. Lord Shawth commanded it.”
“Lord Shawth demanded that she join the other lords for their cocktail hour this evening. I suggest you stand aside, Lady Anniliese. This does not concern you.”
Anniliese’s honey-brown stare lingered on Mariah. Beneath the heavy weight of the drug, Mariah struggled—she fought for something to reach her eyes, for her lips to twitch, for her brows to contract. Something to show the other girl this was evil, to beg her to help. Anything.
She doubted Anniliese would do anything, even if she knew, but Mariah had to try. If for no other reason than to extend a plea between two women.
And for a moment, she thought it had worked. Anniliese opened her mouth, brow still twisted.
“Don’t do something stupid, girl. Your father can only protect you for so long.” Anniliese blanched, her blush leaking from her face, as Ellis grinned. “Now, excuse us. Lord Shawth doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” With a rough-handed grip, Ellis dragged Mariah forward.
Mariah latched onto the terrified pity in Anniliese’s honey-brown eyes, if for no other reason than to remind her that at least one person in this castle hadn’t yet lost their humanity.
Rounding a corner, Ellis released Mariah’s arm. “Keep moving.”
And she did.
They approached a familiar set of doors at the end of the hallway, and everything in Mariah screamed to fight back, to run away, to not cross that threshold.
It was useless, of course.
Ellis pushed open the doors, and a cacophony of drunkenness and boredom greeted Mariah.
A deadly combination for a woman without her power.
“Ah, there she is!” A familiar, slimy voice rose above the rest.
The room quieted, many faces and eyes swinging to her. To soak her in, to take everything she didn’t want to give, to reduce her to nothing more than ashes and dust.
Mariah withdrew fully inside herself, hiding amongst the ruins of her soul and the scraps of her magic that she could just barely touch, just barely reach if she stretched her fingers past that black and gold wall. The silver and gold brushed against her, no more than a whisper, not enough to act but enough to lend the strength of the goddesses they’d once belonged to.
We are here. You are not alone. You can withstand this.
You will not break.
Mariah was not so sure, but she let herself sink into those thoughts.
Shawth rose from his seat, glass of wine nearly overflowing. His eyes held a dark merriment as they swept down her ridiculous clothing and the body it did nothing to hide.
“Our little whore queen, come to join us for drinks.” Chuckles echoed off the walls. Shawth sipped his wine, the red staining his lips like blood. “And finally dressed appropriately. Maybe she’ll be able to offer arealservice to her kingdom tonight.”
Somewhere, deep inside the hiding place in her soul, Mariah felt a small swell of nauseousness. She clenched tighter to the wall where her magic was held captive, dropping further into numbing darkness.
Shawth set his wine glass down on the table before stepping out from his chair.
“Come here,” he said, voice low.
Mariah’s feet moved. One slow, barefoot step after the other. She walked around the table of lords, their hands grazing her exposed skin just as their eyes ripped her apart. They were a pack of wolves, and she was nothing more than a fawn, wounded and helpless as they barked and yipped and bit. Soon, she stood before Shawth, his face wearing that same hungry look she’d quickly come to know as something to be feared.
She wasn’t familiar with fear. At least, she hadn’t been before this place, when a family who meant more to her than her own happiness had sheltered and nurtured her.
Now, it was an old companion, holding her close against the true evilness of her world.