The Crown cannot Help You

Chapter 33: The New Scar

Audelia didn't look back. She scrambled down the hallway as fast as she could until she stopped to scramble through a door that was splayed open. The room seemed to be an old kitchen, but the thick dust that coated everything made it difficult to tell.

A thick boot then slammed into Audelia's back. Lily had already caught up with her, and Audelia still hadn't had a second to think.

The kick sent Audelia flying towards the wall. The kick had happened so suddenly that Audelia didn't have time to place her hands out, causing her chin to collide directly with the thick concrete. The wall caused her chin to split it open, and immediately blood poured out.

"F*ck." Audelia whispered to herself as blood dropped onto the floor.

"That's a nasty mouth you've got for someone who has royal blood running through her veins." Lily sneered as she slammed the side of Audelia's face back into the wall.

Audelia's hand flew up as she tried to stop her head from being hit against the wall again, but Lily changed her move and instead chose to wrap her fist in Audelia's hair.

Audelia yelped as Lily used her hair to yank her head backwards, the force of the move giving Audelia slight whiplash.

Audelia tried to slap Lily's hands off of her, but Lily held on tightly, pulling Audelia face down so she could stare into Audelia's face. Audelia's felt the blood from her cut chin dripping down her neck and slipping under her shirt. She cringed at the feeling.

"You're going to die, Princess." Lily hissed into her face.

But Audelia wasn't entirely listening, and she sent a mindless smirked back. She should be present in the moment, being that her life rested in the balance, but instead, she found herself remembering a time when a different assassin decided to call her out on her language.

Lily's mouth twitched upon seeing Audelia smile up at her. She used her grip upon her hair to pull Audelia to the tiled ground and then kicked her in the same place she had previously punched her.

Audelia let out an unwilling shout, rolling onto her side as she attempted to catch her breath. Her whole ribcage hissing at her as she did. She swore she could feel her broken ribs moving inside of her, floating deeper into her body, and causing havoc upon her organs.

"I assumed you'd put up more of a fight." Lily teased, kicking her again. "All that time they spent hiding you and training you. They gave up so much because they believed in you and look at you now. You're nothing."

Lily dropped down to her knees beside her, cracking her metal fist across Audelia's face as she did.

The hit completely disorientated Audelia. She fluttered her eyelids, attempting to refocus her eyes and make sense of what was happening.

"I bet you aren't even grateful for everything they both did for you," Lily whispered, leaning close to Audelia's face. "They betrayed Max and me, their only family, for you."

Audelia felt the bottom of her shirt being pulled up, the cold tile pressing against her now bare back. "Get—get off," Audelia murmured, trying to grab at her shirt and pull it back down to cover her stomach again.

"I bet you don't even know everything they did," Lily growled, slapping Audelia's hands away.

Audelia tried to squirm away from her, but everything in her head was so foggy, she could hardly tell what was, what.

"I mean, not only did Flynn spare your life that night, but he also spent the next year killing off all of his friends." Lily continued, no longer looking Audelia in the eye but instead concentrating on her stomach. "All the other assassins that went after the big bounty on your head, he killed them all."