Bloodguard

chapter 50

Leith

Slice.

That’s seventeen.

Slice.

Eighteen.

Eighteen lashes. And six more to go.

I kept my feet for the first twelve. Managed to remain on my knees for the next five.

The eighteenth, though. That…that was a killer.

This might be a new record of overall shittiness for me.

And here I thought I won.

Won the perfect woman.

Won the right to fight in the finals.

Won another chance to bring my family here.

Lies.

They were all lies.

Slice.

My wrist cracks as my muscles fail and my weight pulls mercilessly against the rope that binds my hands above my head. Yeah. New record for sure. I think I could have gone without breaking it. In fact, I could have gone without a lot of things today.

The arena and all the hell I went through definitely lands on the list. Finding out my family is dead—yeah, right at the top.

And the woman who fooled me into falling in love with her despite caring so little about me as to keep secret the most important information in the fucking world…the one who neglected to tell me that tiny tidbit regarding my dead family…yeah, she ruined my day. No, my life .

Slice .

Dahlia… She was supposed to play all day in the woods with Gunther, chasing each other, getting dirty, climbing trees before we called them in for supper and filled their empty stomachs.

Mother…who gave me her food, going hungry so my sisters and I would get even a little bit more. She, for once in her life, would have had her fill, too.

And Rose, who held the one book she ever had like a treasure, even though she couldn’t read all the words. I would have sent her to the best school in Arrow and built her a library if that was what she wanted.

Rose, Mother, Dahlia…I would have given them everything .

They’re dead .

They’re all dead.

And Maeve didn’t tell me.

Slice .

I slump down, at an angle, I think. It’s hard to tell where the worst pain is coming from. It’s everywhere and in places I never knew could hurt this bad. Maeve, the cottage, and those hours beside our lake—was all of that just a dream? Was I just always here, in these filthy pens and cold barracks?

Shit, nothing makes sense in my head. All I know is pain and tragedy.

The ropes binding me to the post pull at my arms, my own weight working against me. It won’t be long until I pull tendons, muscles, maybe both. Hell, I may even dislocate a shoulder all on my own.

Slice .

Nine…nineteen.

Was that nineteen?

“Oi!” Ned calls. “Is that a way to treat the next Bloodguard?”

The guards laugh. “If the future king willed it, he’d already be dead.”

A few of the gladiators spit in their direction, muttering and demanding they release me. Some taunt the guards, itching for a fight.

“Arseholes!” Ned shouts. “That’s all the lot of ya will eva be!”

He was already struck for cursing them. Pega, Rye, Ioni, and Luther, too. Some others I don’t know joined in as well.

Rye whistles so he can drop his pants and slap his ass at them when they turn.

The gladiators are trying to distract the guards in hopes their strikes won’t be as potent.

It’s an interesting strategy. I wish I could lift my head and tell them it’s absolutely not working. The guards keep switching off so everyone can take a turn at the gladiator with the broken heart.

Maeve… She was real. She is real.

But I can no longer stand the thought of her name.

She swore that she would do anything to become queen. Was I foolish enough to think she only meant it with me sitting on the throne beside her? All along, she meant to meet her own needs, and I damn well fell for it. It’s why she motioned for me not to interfere. She didn’t want me to ruin the big announcement.

About her .

And her maggot of a future husband.

Slice .

“Fuckin’ animals!”

“Son of a whore!”

“Bastards!”

“Hang in there, boy,” Ioni tells me. “They almost be done.”

Slice .

Twenty, I think. Maybe more. The guards have never been good at counting. Or maybe they’re just pretending they’ve lost count so I don’t spoil their fun.

“He’s had enough, ya filthy pigs!”

That might have been Pega. I don’t know anymore.

My head drops farther than seems possible. The sound of shackles across the stony walk has me looking off to the side. It’s nightfall. The gladiators should have been hauled back to the barracks long before this. But my punishment is an opportunity to show what happens when a dog threatens a king.

My back is on fire from the lashes and the injuries I received in the arena. Something bit me or stung my arms and belly. Or not. It’s hard to tell.

Except nothing compares to the agony in the center of my chest. Where my heart is, or was, until Maeve destroyed it. I was an imbecile for trusting her.

Slice .

Sixteen? Are we back to sixteen?

“What are ya doing?” Ned demands. “He’s had enough. Let ’im go.”

I sustained more injuries than expected from my clash with the guards. I did quite a bit of damage before they were able to get me under control.

I laugh.

Control.

That’s a funny word.

I thought I’d finally taken control of my life. I chose a cause. I chose my lover. I chose to keep going. And here I am, suffering despite all my supposed good choices.

Pink drool slides from my mouth. My hair is drenched in sweat and blood.

“Enough. His time is up. This man is free.”

Caelen? Is that you, friend?

Nah. I watch the tip of the bloody whip withdraw as the guard readies for another strike.

Except then there’s a loud crash, and a thump, and the guard’s unblinking face staring at me in shock.

Well. Would you look at that? Caelen indeed has arrived.

A ruckus ensues. Someone demands for me to be freed. It’s strange, but I don’t hear the guards. There’s only silence.

My body falls as I’m cut free, and Caelen catches me with my face only inches from the muddy ground.

“Leith. Leith ,” Giselle says. “I’m so, so sorry. We weren’t allowed near you until now.”

I start to fall asleep.

“Leith, can you hear us?” Caelen urges.

“Holy shitting dragon balls,” Giselle says. “I can see his bones.”

“I know,” Caelen agrees. “He’s in bad shape.”

“Is that supposed to be there—”

I jerk when something pokes me, half conscious and hoping to be none.

“Giselle,” Caelen says. “Ask him when conscious.” And then, “ Giselle , stop touching it…”

I fade into sweet oblivion.

Until I bolt up.

I’m drowning in ice.

Ice .

My body erupts in pain, then something else—something vaguely akin to relief.

My hands grip the edges of the tub. The room I’m in is small, dark, lit only by the moonlight trailing in through the high window.

I swipe at my face and hair, pausing when I see Caelen in a chair, watching me closely. Giselle is here, too, kneeling beside the tub. She tries to smile, but her face is swollen and bruised.

“He lives!” she says.

“Where am I?” I ask.

“New Arrow. That’s what they call it,” Caelen says, his features solemn. He looks down. “Jakeb put all his heart into it.”

When he finishes, his lips press tightly together as if he’s done speaking and won’t ever do it again. If there’s any doubt, he stands, turning in the direction of the door.

Giselle rises, moving quickly before Caelen can exit. She hugs him tightly, as if she’s afraid she will lose him.

Caelen appears surprised by the contact. He curls into her small body, taking a moment all their own.

“Thank you,” Giselle whispers. “For everything.”

Caelen kisses the top of her head. “Always,” he tells her.

Giselle watches him leave, wiping her face before turning around. She pulls out the chair Caelen was in and sits beside me.

“You need to get all the way back in,” she says, motioning to the tub. “I can’t see your bones anymore, but your back still looks like something the butcher would try to sell me, and I’d respond by slapping him hard enough to make his uncle twice removed bleed.” She shrugs. “You’ve seen better days, Leith.”

“How did you do it?” I ask. “Fix me, I mean.”

“I didn’t,” she admits. “Your friend, the giant, motioned me over and passed me an envelope. It’s one of Maeve’s most potent remedies. I think it was meant for at least seven gladiators. Given how you’re seven times worse than I’ve ever seen you, I dumped the whole thing in.”

I nod.

“We thought you might need more. We left you with Uni and returned to the manor, but…there was nothing there.”

Again, I nod. It’s all I seem able to do.

“You won’t heal completely, even with everything you’re swimming in,” Giselle says. “I don’t possess healing knowledge, but it’s already helped a lot, and it should keep you from infection.” She sighs. “Whatever she made will serve you well, no matter what happens next.”

Giselle knows Soro won’t let me get off so easy. I settle back into the water, shuddering. It’s almost as if Giselle laid a slab of ice in the tub and threw me on top to melt it.

I don’t really care. My body—it’s healing. It’s getting better. As Giselle said, it won’t be as good without…without someone else. But it may be enough. “It’s cold,” I say.

“It is,” Giselle agrees. Her voice quiets. “Hot water is a luxury only whole, wealthy families have. We’re neither anymore.”

There’s more wrong than I know. “Where is everyone?” I ask. “Where’s Neela?”

Neela runs the house and takes care of everything and everyone. She should be here grouching over the mess we’re making.

Giselle’s face crumples with grief. This tough petite woman is seconds from falling apart. “Neela’s dead,” she says.

“ What? Jakeb would never—”

“Allow anything to hurt her?” she offers.

I have trouble finding my voice. “Yes.”

“No, he wouldn’t. Except Father’s dead, too,” Giselle replies, and now she’s weeping outright. “Pasha, Musy, Sonu…oh, and the estrellas. You know, those precious little fuzzballs of joy who bounced along all day just happy to be alive? They’re all dead, too… Leith, everyone is gone.”

I stare ahead, to the crooked fissure in the plaster. It’s the only way I can ground myself, seeing as I’m about to explode.

Slowly, I turn my head in Giselle’s direction. She’s sobbing silently, if it’s even possible, but holding nothing back.

“Tell me what happened,” I growl.

“The royal guards invaded the manor and the grounds.” She rubs her eyes with the sleeve of her cherry robe. “Caelen thinks they ambushed the guard station and went after my family as soon as you left. They must have already been in place, possibly on a neighboring farm. Father… I should have known something was wrong when I couldn’t find him at the arena. Had I known, Caelen and I would have rushed to help. I don’t know if it would have made a difference. Caelen is only one man, and I can’t swing a sword worth a damn. But we all should have been there, standing as one like we have all our lives.”

“You weren’t there?” I ask.

“No,” she admits.

“What…” I can’t speak. My voice is becoming more primal. I don’t want to ask it—don’t want to even think her name—but I can’t stop myself. “What happened to Maeve?”

Giselle takes a moment, trying to calm. “Oh, her? She’s stuck with that murdering asshole Soro for eternity.” She rubs more tears away. “But at least you’re a free man.”

My heart is trying to escape my ribcage. Hope rises like smoke in my chest, but I try to push it away.

“Because of Maeve?” I ask.

“Yes. It was part of the oath she made with Soro,” she says. “The note from the courier said it was a wedding gift to his bride.” She practically swallows the air with every breath, like she’s desperately holding back screams. “You don’t have to fight anymore. You’re free, you’re pardoned, whatever the hell you want to call it. She made sure of it.”

The hope, the admiration, the love—they all come crashing back into my body in a massive tidal wave, knocking the air from my lungs. She didn’t just throw me away to be queen. My fears, my doubts…they were all wrong. Maeve was and is the queen I know her to be.

She didn’t tell me about my family, but I can’t even touch that right now without fucking falling apart. I need Maeve to tell me why. And to do that, I need to find her. Now.

“What about Vitor? He had a role in all of this—”

“One would think,” Giselle says. “Still… It might be trivial, but I can’t imagine him letting Ugeen lay a hand on Maeve, let alone announce her engagement before the court.”

“What happened to her?” I ask again.

“With Soro and Ugeen?” Giselle appears sick. “Nothing good.”

I launch myself out of the tub, yanking my destroyed and bloody clothes from the floor. Giselle presses her back against the door when I barely have one foot in my pants.

“Giselle, move. No way in hell are they hurting Maeve.”

She shakes her head. “No. We didn’t come this far for you to screw it up, Leith.”

“Get out of my way,” I snarl.

Her eyes change from honey to a swirl of bright colors as magic she isn’t supposed to possess seethes like the start of an inferno. “I said no .”

There’s silence.

Unexpectedly, it’s exactly what we need.

We let it linger until I can’t stand it any longer and I’m certain I’m tearing apart from the inside out.

The honey color returns to her eyes. She points to the bed. Aside from the chair and the tub, that’s all that’s here. I didn’t notice the fresh set of clothes laid on it before. I didn’t notice that I’m completely butt fucking naked in front of Maeve’s sister, either. Not that either of us gives a rat’s ass about something so trivial right now. Still, I turn around and dress myself promptly.

I sit, and it hurts. Despite the herbal remedies, everything fucking hurts.

Giselle sits beside me, smoothing her skirts with her leather-gloved palms. “The manor and stables were burned to the ground.” I look at her, stunned, and she continues, “But not before they were looted. I guess you’re not real scum unless you loot first and burn later.”

I bury my face in my hands. “What of the cottage?”

“That was destroyed sometime after the manor. Hence why there weren’t more potions to bring you.” She shakes her head. “Maeve put up a fight no one expected. I always admired her, you know? When I was little, I was real little . The queen thought I was too little . So she gave me books because, and I quote, ‘You’re a little shit anyone could squash. Pick up a book. And then another. If you don’t learn a thing, use them to throw at anyone trying to squash you.’ Charming woman, the queen. But Maeve had it all—brains, brawn, kindness. It was a joy merely standing in her company. She was fearless and brave and everything I always wanted to be.”

She’s right. Maeve is all those things and much, much more.

“Giselle,” I say. “How do you know what happened? The specifics about Maeve fighting.”

“Let’s just say riches buy a lot, Leith. And I’ve paid a great deal.”

I curse, then curse again. “Who did you pay? Can you trust them?”

Giselle stares at the wall. “I have sources and favors owed. They’re effective but limited. Most refuse to associate with me.” She looks in my direction. “Father was the High Guard of Arrow—a royal guard, not a royal. I was born before Father and Papa met. Papa gave us our titles, and I was so proud, but I quickly learned that if you’re not of royal lineage or married to said lineage with heirs to prove it, you don’t count. It’s why I was bullied a lot. I just never imagined my family would endure more than I did.” Misery floods her features all over again. “They didn’t deserve to hurt or suffer or die. And they did all of it.”

“No. They didn’t deserve that. Just as you didn’t. Your only sin was not taking anyone’s shit.” I place a brotherly hand on her shoulder. This is Giselle. Someone snubbed all her life, like me, and someone who was fucking precious from the start. “Tell me what happened to you.”

I think she’ll cry again, but then, like Maeve, she just doesn’t. “What do you think?” she responds. “I can’t fight. My tongue is my only weapon.”

“Is it?” I ask. “That’s not what I saw in Tunder.”

A long, heavy breath leaves her small body, and she holds up her gloved hands. “My tongue is the only weapon I can control ,” she says.

For the first time, I’m given a glimpse of Giselle’s vulnerability. It saddens me. She deserves more than what she has. Especially now.

And Maeve deserves my loyalty.

In the minutes that follow, I’m certain I’ll break down the castle doors. Soro could be hurting Maeve as we speak. I can’t handle anything more happening to her.

“It’s time to save Maeve,” I say.

Giselle shakes her head. “No, Leith.” She rights herself. “It’s time to take back Arrow.”