Vérzavar Ház

Chapter 14: Dignity Forfeit

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains depictions of sexual assault. Once again, it is not long and graphic, but it is present. If you are not comfortable with reading it, you can stop at the '****' and start again at the next '****'

This chapter also contains depictions of violence... but it's against Pollux so we're cool with that, right?

He'd hurt her. Pollux had hurt her, again and again, and she'd voluntarily submitted so she could keep feeding the rebels intel. She'd endured a monster like Pollux for this.

"Maybe we'll put on a show for you before the end," Pollux said, and licked up the column of Lidia's neck, lapping up the blood splattered there.

-House of Sky and Breath, pg. 776

The only reason Ruhn even knew what day it was - how long it had been since he'd been thrown into this lovely little cell - was Agent Daybright.

Four months.

He had been chained and beaten for four months. Hadn't seen his sister or heard any word about where she might be, or if she was even alive.

But in two days they would be free - he refused to believe otherwise.

When he'd finally made contact with Flynn and Dec he'd been pleasantly surprised by how aligned they were with their plans. The Asteri would be in attendance at the annual summit further inland, a strictly ceremonial appearance since it was taking place in Pangera. His friends would 'borrow' one of the all-terrain vehicles that the dreadwolf legions used, accessing the keys via a code provided by Day. And then they would wait, on the outskirts of the olive grove, ready to speed away to the coast. There, they would board one of the Ocean Queen's city ships and make their way to the base at Ydra. The one he'd thought was destroyed, thanks to him and his strange band of rebels. But that assumption had only helped Ophion, and the resistance had reclaimed the base, burrowing and building keep in the earth. Ruhn had been begrudgingly impressed.

There had been so many unknowns, especially before he'd reacquired the comm crystal. And though the Valbaran prince was still well aware that there were any number of things that could go wrong, it had been a great relief that Declan and Flynn had largely been on the same page. Even if he hadn't been able to speak with them, they would have been there waiting, and that was quite amazing.

The door swung open with a loud bang, the metal bars clanging against the stone wall, interrupting his musings. When his focus turned to the entryway to his cell, the Hind had already been tossed to the floor. Ruhn only vaguely registered the scuffing of the Hammer's boots outside the bars as he stared down at her, golden eyes wide and shining with trepidation. His gut lurched and he was jerked toward the center of the room by his wrists, but it wasn't the movement that concerned him. It was that look in her eyes, the bruise blooming on her cheek, the lines bracketing her mouth.

Once he was secured, he could only watch as Pollux Antonius entered the room, cobalt glare gleaming with malice. He buried a broad hand in the hair at the shifter's nape and pulled her roughly to her feet, before thrusting her face-first into the bars.

"Hands," he growled, fishing a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and gripping each wrist, securing them together behind her back. "I've grown bored of our usual games, princeling," Pollux said casually. He gripped the back of her neck again, leading her until she was between the Hammer and the prince, facing Ruhn, though her eyes were fixed on the floor.

"But I promised you a show that day you were captured, and our little princess needs a little attitude adjustment," he continued. His mouth moved over the sensitive flesh below her ear and down her jaw, teeth scratching against the soft skin. "Why not make it a two-for-one special?"