Two full days had passed since the capture of Eldran and Zephyra, while Zephyra still lay in a deep sleep.

  The King, followed by two guards, approached the cage where she was being held, the camp still set on the plain of the village of Solva?l.

  “Wake her up, this has gone on long enough.

  We’re not going to spend our lives in this filth,” the King ordered.

  The two guards exchanged troubled looks.

  “How?

  How do you want us to wake her?

  She’s been sleeping like this for two days,” one of them replied.

  “I don’t know, deal with it, damn it.

  What do I pay you for exactly?

  Do I have to babysit useless idiots myself?” the King growled.

  The other guard, who had stepped away in the meantime, returned with a bucket of water, ordering the first to open the door.

  With a metallic sound, he unlocked it, and the man holding the bucket went in, throwing its contents over Zephyra.

  Zephyra immediately began to cough and tremble under the cold that ran through her entire body.

  “You see when you want to.

  Now get out, I need to speak with her and I don’t need incompetents for what comes next,” the King said firmly.

  The two guards quickly left, sensing it was better not to question the orders they had received.

  The King then took a stool standing beside the cell, carried it inside, and sat down facing Zephyra.

  She slowly opened her eyes, feeling discomfort and pain in her wrists.

  Her hands, bound to the bars by thick chains, hindered any movement.

  Outside, calm reigned, no sound to be heard as she slowly gathered her thoughts, still weakened.

  “Well, well, well.

  Glad to see you again, my dear Zephyra.

  It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?

  Almost ten years since that night,” the King said.

  “Vaelric, go to hell, you filthy monster.

  What a piece of trash you are,” Zephyra replied weakly.

  Vaelric burst out laughing at her words.

  “Oh, you always make me laugh just as much.

  That’s what I like about you, that steel character that doesn’t bend even in such a situation,” he went on.

  “What do you want from me?

  Don’t you think you’ve done enough harm?

  You had to come back for your own pleasure,” Zephyra snarled, her voice returning.

  “Pleasure?

  Oh, my poor girl, you still haven’t understood?

  Your mind isn’t as sharp as it used to be, it seems,” Vaelric sneered.

  “Then what?

  What could justify such barbarity?

  Those people had done nothing to you, they didn’t deserve what happened to them,” Zephyra said coldly, outraged.

  Vaelric stood up, pushing the stool aside, and positioned himself in front of Zephyra.

  His gaze was cold, and his words left no room for remorse.

  “What I want, and what deserves such a massacre?

  What I want is what you brought into this world, the one you gave birth to,” he replied coldly.

  At those words, Zephyra’s heart began to race.

  She had never spoken of Nerya to anyone outside the village, not even the Church could have drawn any link to the King.

  “I… I don’t see what you’re talking about.

  I never gave birth to a child,” she said, her gaze firm.

  Vaelric clenched his fists, his muscles tightening beneath his skin.

  He turned and kicked the stool hard, sending it smashing into pieces against the bars.

  “Don’t take me for a fool, I know everything.

  That you fled after that night, that you refused to become my mistress is one thing.

  But that you kept that thing you call your daughter, that filthy bastard your so-called husband dared to protect, I will not accept,” Vaelric roared, his gaze burning.

  “Leave her alone, she’s done nothing to you.

  Why do you want her, she means nothing to you.

  If it’s me you want, I’m here, so leave her out of all this,” Zephyra replied, pleading.

  “Wasn’t it enough to force yourself on me that night?

  Now you want to come and play the role of father?”

  “Do not test my patience, Zephyra, tell me where she is and everything can stop there.

  I am willing to spare you, as long as that mistake is erased from this world,” Vaelric explained, still cold.

  Zephyra tried to focus mana into her hands to free herself, but no sensation came, as if her body refused to respond.

  “Don’t bother trying to use your magic, the collar around your neck blocks any flow of mana.

  You really thought I wouldn’t take precautions?” he went on.

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  Zephyra resigned herself, closing her eyes in the face of her powerlessness.

  “Do whatever you want, I will never tell you where she is.

  You speak of a mistake, but it was you who committed the mistake that night for her to come into this world.

  Stop pretending to be a good King, we both know you are nothing but a monster,” Zephyra replied coldly.

  She knew deep down that her words would not ease the tension.

  She also knew all too well that arguing with him was pointless.

  Vaelric stepped closer, placing his hand against her neck.

  “You think playing tough will save you?

  I will end up getting my hands on her one day or another, and believe me, she will suffer a sentence you will savor even in the other world,” Vaelric retorted.

  “By the time you find her, she will have had time to grow up, filthy pig.

  And that day, when you meet her gaze, it will be your last sight.

  After what you did to all those innocents, you think I will cooperate with you?” she said with contempt.

  “There is truly something about you that fascinates me, I swear.

  Even at my mercy you have never bent, and today you still persist.

  But I will say it again, Zephyra, my patience has limits.

  You should never have kept that child, none of this would ever have happened.

  You could have lived your life in peace, but you had to mock me,” Vaelric said in a calmer tone.

  “You’re going in circles, Vaelric, and my answer will remain the same.

  If you didn’t want that ‘mistake,’ as you call it, to happen, you should have restrained your urges.

  She has no reason to pay for your swine-like whims, and Eldran took care of her in ways you never could,” Zephyra replied dryly.

  Vaelric let out a long sigh as Zephyra discreetly tried to free herself from her bonds, but she had to resign herself once more to the fact that she had no escape.

  “Eldran, you say.

  He will pay for having taken care of that child, I can assure you of that.

  I think you do not fully grasp your situation, I am the one who sets the rules, no one will contradict me,” he went on in a complacent voice.

  “Look, proof once again.

  What King would allow his own villages to be put to the torch and the sword?

  We asked nothing of you all these years, and you decide to destroy everything for… why exactly?” Zephyra asked.

  “Why, you say?

  If someone learned that a child was born outside the royal bloodline, what do you think would happen?

  People obey because I give them hope, they are so dependent that they listen blindly.

  I will not take the risk of all this being destroyed by an illegitimate child.

  She must disappear,” he replied, looking at Zephyra.

  He stepped closer and placed a hand on her cheek, Vaelric’s cold skin making her shiver.

  “Since you refuse to speak, I will force it out of you.

  I can guarantee you one thing, my pretty one, what you lived through that night with me will seem very gentle compared to what comes next.

  If you do not know the hells, you will understand that I can unleash them with a snap of my fingers,” he went on in an icy calm.

  He then turned toward the exit and passed through the door, closing it and casting one last look at Zephyra.

  “I’ll give you a few more hours to think.

  When the guards bring you to me, be certain of your answer,” he added before leaving.

  He walked away and headed toward the lights shimmering in the distance, the gray sky accompanying Zephyra’s thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, Eldran, all of this is happening because of me,” she said in a low voice as she looked at the sky.

  Vaelric then reached the camp, the guards rising and bowing as he passed before them.

  Pitchers of wine littered the ground, while several women were locked in cages, begging to be freed.

  He moved toward one of the tents where the canvas was in a pitiful state, pushed the fabric aside and stepped inside with a firm stride.

  Once inside, he set his gaze on Eldran.

  He was bound to wooden posts by iron chains identical to those restraining Zephyra.

  “Well, it’s just the two of us now, my brave little soldier.

  I suppose you still don’t want to tell me where Zephyra’s daughter is?” Vaelric asked calmly.

  Eldran did not answer, lowering his head so as not to look at Vaelric.

  “It’s remarkable how well you go together, the same strength of character.

  It’s truly a shame that you chose her side, men like you would adorn my army,” he went on.

  “As if I would ever agree to join your army, killing innocents on a simple order.

  What kind of army attacks those it swore to protect?” Eldran replied coldly.

  Vaelric burst out laughing, poured himself a cup of wine, and went to sit at the nearby table.

  “An army that obeys and hides nothing from its King, people loyal to my word.

  They obey, and in return they get to amuse themselves with those women.

  Their little reward that lets me keep them on a leash,” Vaelric explained.

  “A reward?

  So life has no value to you?

  What kind of monster are you, seriously?” Eldran said, indignant.

  “A monster?

  You are gravely mistaken, my dear.

  I do nothing at all.

  I give orders and they carry them out, that’s all, but I am not the one who spilled the blood.

  Unlike you, who sacrificed so many people by refusing to hand over the girl,” Vaelric replied.

  “And I would do it again if necessary.

  Don’t try to make me believe you would have spared all those people even if we had handed her over.

  If you hadn’t thrown them bones like dogs, as you say, they wouldn’t have been so docile.

  So you would have let them raze everything anyway,” Eldran said firmly.

  Vaelric set his glass down and straightened up, fixing Eldran with a steady gaze.

  “Perhaps.

  After all, who would have stopped me, hm?

  Even you were incapable of it in the end, so what exactly stops me from doing whatever I want?” Vaelric replied.

  He leaned back again in the chair, placing his feet on the table as he smiled.

  He picked up his glass and swallowed a long gulp.

  “But enough talk about me, I would like to avoid dragging this out longer than necessary.

  Will you finally decide to tell me where that girl is?” Vaelric asked again.

  “I would rather die than answer you, you will never know where she is,” Eldran replied.

  Vaelric stood up and set his glass aside, heading for the exit before stopping and turning back toward Eldran.

  “So be it, I gave you the choice.

  You cannot say I am a monster when you refuse.

  Now, just as I told Zephyra, I will make you taste a hell you cannot even imagine,” he said coldly.

  He then left the tent, stretching as he drew in the air.

  He looked toward the guards.

  “Prepare everything and bring her now.

  I want sixty men in formation as quickly as possible, and please, take those who are still standing,” Vaelric ordered.

  The soldiers immediately set to work, carrying out the orders without question as agreed.

  Vaelric smiled as he looked at the sky, his gaze showing his determination to obtain the answers he desired.