Part One:
Flicker of light
Chapter One
My name is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. I cannot be broken.
My name is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. I will not be broken.
My name is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. I will fight this.
An earthquake of pain resonated throughout Aelin's body, numbness followed like the aftershock. A sense of nausea overwhelmed her senses and the heavy iron mask strapped over her face suffocated her. She was pinned to the coffin thoroughly and no amount of Arobynn Hamel's training seemed to have been of much use to her. Wicked as she may have been, Maeve left no stone unturned in capturing Aelin. And as it turned out, Maeve also had succeeded in making Aelin feel like an absolute living corpse.
Endovier seemed like heaven next to this coffin alone, Aelin felt a chill down her wounded spine barely thinking about what lay ahead. But she had survived Endovier and Arobynn's endless torture of a training and she would survive this too. She had to survive this. Or she would die trying. But Endovier had been one thing, the overseer had been a mere human being-pathetic, but human. But Cain and his immortal fae strength was another thing-a much worse fate it seemed. And it would get worse, once Maeve came to realize that she had been deceived right under her nose. Aelin tried not to think of the wrath she might then have to endure. She prayed to god Rowan was in Terrasen, and that Gavin and the Silent Assassins along with Rolfe's armies were by his side. She wished Rowan would act like the king he'd just become and lead Terrasen to victory. She hoped with all her heart that saving her would come only after that. She would wait for him, however long it took him, she would wait for her mate, her husband and her king.
Her head banged against the floor of the coffin, sending waves of pain throughout her body. They had dropped the coffin and clearly had not been very subtle about it. The blood once again trickled down her body like a young river and Aelin bit her lip to hold in a cry. Celeana Sardothien had survived Endovier being human, and Aelin had to do the same.
The coffin's lid remained intact for a few minutes, before she felt it being pushed open. It didn't make a difference anyway, the iron mask had done it's job well, for darkness still surrounded her. No sooner was her body hauled out of the coffin by two very firm hands and made to kneel once again. The mask remained strapped to her face, and the weight of it prevented her from keeping her chin held high. Her neck was aching, and she felt like it might as well dislocate from her body considering how she couldn't keep it from lolling around.
"Aah, such a pleasant scene. I've waited for this too long... like they say, patience is the key. Funny how it's also the key to the wyrdkeys. Fenrys! Retrieve the word keys from the prisoner!" Maeve ordered Fenrys, who had been so close to vomiting his guts out. Fenrys couldn't restrain himself and surrendered to her command, like a puppet he searched Aelin for the wyrdkeys. After throughly searching her, his face grew paler than it already was, Aelin, it seemed had outsmarted them once again. She did not have the wyrdeys. "Fenrys! What's the matter?" Maeve snapped, her tone no longer sickly sweet. "I'm afraid she does not have the key, your highness." Fenrys said, refusing to make eye contact with the queen.
"You useless tool! Cain! Search her, I don't care if you have to skin her to do so but she has to have the wyrdkeys!" Maeve said, her anger laced with pure fury. Of course! Of course the fire breathing bitch had outsmarted her! How could she have forgotten Doranelle? Of course Aelin knew that her sole focus would be on capturing her and in doing so the wyrdkeys were safely sneaked away.
Cain had not been as gentle as Fenrys when it came to searching her and a tear slipped down Aelin's face before she knew it. For once she was grateful of the mask to cover her weakness.
"Your highness, I'm afraid she does not have the keys." Cain said finally. Maeve clenched her jaw. "Well then, why don't we continue with the whipping once again Cain? How about till she blurts out the goddamned answer!" Maeve said, her tone a lethal sort of calm.
Fenrys couldn't hold it in anymore. One look at Cain's face, who looked like a child on his birthday, and Fenrys vomited. Maeve scrunched her face in disgust-she wanted to send him away but couldn't resist the urge to see his expression when his beloved Whitethorn's mate was whipped to insanity.
"Now Aelin, you can stop the pain and have some healing in fact if you tell me, right now, where you hid the wyrdkeys." Maeve bargained. Aelin mustered up her signature grin. "Never in a million years, bitch." Aelin spat-the whipping almost simultaneous with her words. Aelin couldn't help but cry out as the whip made contact with her already jarred skin.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Aelin lost count after the fifth whipping and within seconds, true darkness engulfed her body. They didn't notice, the mask prevented that. Cain went on and on and on and began panting, yet a single cry of pain did not emerge from Aelin's lips.
"Enough." Fenrys whimpered.
Fenrys' heart stopped dead in his chest when he realized Aelin had stopped responding at all.
"Enough." He said louder this time.
"Cain." Maeve ordered, indicating him to stop. "She done for the day. No use whipping if the person can't feel it at all." She murmured under her breath. "Lock her back in the coffin. You know what to do." She said before dismissing them.
Fenrys had never seen such torture in all his years. His whole body was sick and Aelin-he knew it was selfish of him to even pray for her to be alive, for at this point he knew, death would be far peaceful to Aelin than what Cain had in store for her. The whipping had only been the beginning.