14

I gritted my teeth, and braced myself for the damage my mom would take when I refused to speak. I flinched just as bad as she did when the whip came down. Neither one of us had been allowed to sleep longer then an hour in the last week, and the queen was running out of patience. From the way she was acting she now knew about the thousands of slaves that Wyatt had spirited away. Our entire operation had been here for almost a year now.

Acting as it pleased with no repercussions. I bet that really stung. We'd been doing basically whatever we wanted for a very long time now, and almost completely unnoticed. The fact that I wouldn't tell them about the dragon seemed to frustrate them more then anything else. My mom didn't beg me to tell them despite how much pain she was in.

She was far too proud for that. She also knew they wouldn't kill her because they hadn't gotten what they wanted from me. At least they wouldn't kill her on purpose. I didn't know what to do about all of this. My mother was covered in more blood then sweat at the moment, and if I gave away my last bit of information they wouldn't hesitate to kill us both.

The queens patience wouldn't hold out much longer. She probably planned to execute us soon. The real question was how much longer. Surprisingly I actually found myself missing Wyatt's presence. He'd done a great job of keeping me safe.

He'd kept his word at every turn. I fully believed that he would set me free when this was all over. That single thought was enough for me to hold onto my hope, and my hope allowed me to keep silent despite the pain I was in. The physical, and mental torture would have broken me otherwise. I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore my mothers screams as she was lashed again.

My eyes dulled as I disconnected myself from what was happening in front of me. It wasn't a healthy way of doing things, but it kept my mind intact. I would probably feel the echoes of this torture long past the last bit of pain I'd been dealt. I didn't want to think about it. Now was not the time to think about it.

My dull expression, and lack of reaction seemed to piss off my torturer. I would have smirked if I didn't fear the way he would react if he saw me smirking. I didn't want my mother to be punished for an unimportant bit of joy at his expense. I felt a pang of guilt at the thought of feeling joy in our condition. I guess joy wasn't the right word.

I guess satisfaction was more accurate. I was satisfied that I'd been able to piss off my torturer. I kept myself from reacting at all even when my mother was whipped again. I had to give my mom credit. She hadn't cried out even once.

I kind of regretted my new clear complexion. My skin wasn't hardened from multiple lashings. Wyatt had completely restored me. My mother's lack of reaction seemed to piss off our torturer once again. This time he lashed out at me.

He'd broken the barrier over an hour ago. It hadn't had time to recharge yet. The whip ripped my flesh from my bones. Sending pain through my whole body in waves as another line of searing heat was drawn in my flesh. Just as one lash began to stop burning he'd dig another one into my flesh.

They'd stopped their torture only three times to heal us so that we wouldn't die. That was literally the only reason they stopped the torture. They even brought in multiple torturers to make sure we were tortured around the clock. It wasn't fun, and I doubted I was in much better condition then my mother, but that was to be expected. I looked up, and found myself looking into the eyes of the queen when I got a moment of peace.

"I've had enough of your silence," she walked toward me with purpose in her step, "If you refuse to speak then we'll just have to bring the dragon out of the shadows with your death."

"It won't work," I frowned at her, "He won't come."

The sound of a bell ringing rang out the first time since I'd been brought to this torture chamber. My eyes widened as realization dawned upon me. I didn't believe the words I'd just spoken to be true. The realization that I believed Wyatt would come to get me surprised me more then anything. Did I actually trust him?

I hadn't trusted anyone in a very long time. I thought that my mother was the last person in this world that I trusted. Now I found that I was mistaken. Trust wasn't something I built casually. The confusion I felt now had frozen my mind.

The queen gripped my chin. Bringing my eyes up to meet hers.

"That's exactly what I'm counting on," she smirked.

Down here she didn't need to be the perfect powerful queen. She didn't need to hide the dark twisted smile on her face. A smile that sent shivers down my spine. It was almost as if a monstrosity created from pure evil had poured itself into her body. There was no doubt in my mind anymore.

This wasn't some descendant of the original queen. This was her. The powerful elf that took over this planet centuries ago. Her power was beyond what I could even sense. There were no nice ways to extend your lifespan in such a way.

How many had she killed to remain young, and beautiful? Even if it was only in appearance. How many had she sacrificed? There was no way she could rely on the lives of slaves alone. Perhaps she was the creature from her planets own ghost story.