A Court of Song and Shadow

Chapter 8

I had been such a fool.

I let my guard down and underestimated my father--he is a High Lord and I thought I could outsmart him. He backhands me so hard I fall to the ground. My mother shouts in protests but my father orders to have her removed. The left half of my face is stinging so bad I can hardly open my eyes, but I manage to notice the group of people gathered in the main camp house where one of my fathers throne sits. 

"Who do you think you are?" My father roars. I do not answer him, and he makes me stand again by grabbing my hair and forcing me to stand up. I let out a whimper at the pain, and I could have sworn I saw Azriel step forward as if he were going to stop my father, but Cassian places an arm on his shoulder to stop him. My father throws me back down on the ground.

"You are a female, you have no right to hold a weapon, let alone train to fight!" He shouts again. I want to fight back, to argue and stick up for myself but I feel dizzy and can barely see straight.

"And you--" He points to Cassian, "How dare you allow her to do that!"

"He did not know." I manage to say, and my father does not even look at me.

"You need to be a taught a lesson, boy. Grab him--"

"No! He did not know!" I say louder, I will not allow them to harm Cassian for my mistakes, even if he did know about them.

"I will never believe another word that comes out of your disgusting mouth." My father snarls at me. Two guards step forward to grab Cassian and he does not even fight it.

No no no.

I look to my father and use all my power to focus inside of his head, I am met with just blackness, I cannot even tell where the shield is--

Search for it.

My shadows curl around me.

I push harder and find a small opening and then I burst through, I flinch at all the horrific thoughts flowing through his head, every part of me is telling me to get out and run the other way but I remember a small part from the book Bryaxis gave me I had begun to read--that I can influence someone else's thoughts.

Cassian did not know. Cassian is a loyal warrior to you and would never betray you. Cassian should not be punished, believe Velaris. Punish her instead.

It takes me a moment to realize I am back in my own mind, and as I observe my father's face--I realize he never even knew I entered his head. He orders the guards to stop and to let Cassian go, and I notice Rhysand looks at me then. He knows father never takes back any of his orders and must have figured out what I did.

"Tie her to the post out front and give her ten lashes." He orders the guards, and I stop myself from letting out a shout of protest, it would not be the first time this has happened, but it would be the first time in front of others.

"Father--"

"Be quiet, boy." My father cuts my brother off, but Rhys walks next to me.

"Give me the punishment instead, she is just a young girl who made a mistake--"

"That is why I am punishing her now so she will not do these foolish things later. How does this make me look as a high lord? Not even being able to control my own daughter, you made me appear weak!" He shouts at me. 

"You are." I say before I can stop myself, every person in the room goes silent at my words. I do not regret saying them because I meant it, with every ounce of my being, I meant those words.

"Twenty lashes." Is all he says. The guards move to take me, but Rhys stands in front of me. "Rhysand, your foolish heart will be the death of you." Our father says while shaking his head, I watch as Rhys is forced to the ground by an unseeable force and realize our father has entered his mind and is forcing him to kneel before him. The guards pick me up and I see Rhysand try, and fail, to look toward me and to escape the hold our father has on him.

The guards shove me up on the platform and tie my hands to the post. I notice a crowd has gathered, of both men, women, and even some children. A Camp Lord speaks behind me.

"Let this be a lesson to all! No matter who you are, if you disobey the High lord, there will be consequences!"

I laugh at that, nobody can see my face since it is facing the post, but I still laugh. I feel hands on the back of my dress as they rip the back off. I brace myself for the first lash, and although I have gone through this a handful of times, I am never prepared for the first.

The whip meets my back and I try my best to not let out a cry, but I cannot help it as pain fires throughout my entire body.

Then the second one hits--I flinch from the pain but contain my cries.

By the tenth lash, I feel numb as tears run down my cheeks.

By the twelfth lash, I felt myself fading.

By the fifteenth, blackness consumes me. My father must have somehow stopped me from going under because I was still fully awake for the last five lashes. My vision goes in and out as guards drag me to a tent and leave me there. I vaguely hear my mother and brother try to enter the tent but my father must have ordered them to not be allowed to see me.

I lay in the cold mud for what felt like days, but I know it must have been only hours. I squint my eyes open when light pours in as someone opens the tent. I cannot open my eyes enough to see who it is, but my shadows seem to perk up at them and not hide behind me, so no matter who it is--I know I am safe. A pair of strong arms lifts me up and I open my eyes as they begin walking out of the tent and see the guards lying in the mud, either knocked out or dead, I did not care which. I am soon set on a bed and shadows swarm me in comfort, and it takes me a moment to realize they are not my shadows comforting me.