Chapter Four

Lysa

One Week Later

If this is a prison, where in the fuck have I been my entire life? This place is incredible. Everyone is nice, even when they’re trying to be hateful. They respect me more than anyone in my family does. I am fed three times a day. The food is warm and filling. It doesn’t even have mold.

Every morning, I wake up and clean before breakfast is brought in. After I eat, I clean the room, sit on the balcony, and read. I eat outside as well because it’s always warm. I go back in and kneel while they clean, but they never have anything to clean. Julianna comes in to bring me my dinner and asks random questions about my childhood and my life in general. When she leaves, I eat my dinner, take a bath, and read until I fall asleep.

Today has been no different. I have been here a week now and I have a lot more strength than I did before. I think I have even gained a little bit of weight. You can’t see my bones as easily now. I am sitting on the balcony reading but abruptly jump up and kneel when I hear the balcony door come open.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I bow my head when I see Eyrx. This is the first time he’s been here since the first day.

“Get up,” he says. “Why aren’t you letting the servants do their jobs?”

“What?” I ask. “I…”

“Their job is to clean, but you keep cleaning. Why?” he asks.

“Force of habit, I suppose. I am just incredibly thankful to be here,” I say.

“This is not a vacation, witch,” he frowns.

A laugh slips out of me, and he grows as he steps closer. “I’m sorry… I just… this is kind of like a vacation. This is the best I have been treated in my entire life. If this is a prison, home is like hell.”

“You expect me to buy that? You are the daughter of a king. You expect me to believe your fucking sob story that your daddy raped you?!” he says as she shoves me against the railing and pushes me back, so I am laying across it, almost dangling. “I could kill you right now, witch. Wanna see if you can fly?”

“Sure,” I say simply. “Can I jump and find out, or is this like a baby bird situation where you push me out of the nest? ”

“Gods, you are so fucking annoying,” he grumbles and drops me to the ground. I stand and fix my dress before looking back at him.

“What do you want from me?” I ask.

“Tell me why the spell was done?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I say.

“Liar. You are just abusing our kindness, tell me,” he growls.

“I’m telling you the truth,” I say. “Maybe it was to try and get more Ignisium. I don’t know.”

“Why do they need that?” he asks.

“Because our land is wiped clean of it,” I say. “Electricity is scarce. Farming is suffering. I guess things are falling apart. I only ever hear bits and pieces, but they’ve been struggling for months with a low supply.”

“So, you attacked our king?!” he yells.

“I didn’t do shit,” I snap. “I don’t know what they even did. I don’t know why I’m here.”

“Fine. You want to see what your people did?” he asks before grabbing my arm and dragging me back into the room and out of the door.

“You’re hurting me!” I yell at him.

“Get over it,” he says as he drags me into a room across from mine. When we get in, I see Julianna sitting next to a large man asleep on the bed.

“What are you doing? Let go of her,” Julianna shouts at him.

“No. I’m done watching you baby her. Move,” he shouts back.

I ignore the bickering and move closer to the man. He is a little taller than Eyrx and his muscles are more pronounced. He has brown hair and a full beard. He is stunning. He’s not just hot. No, I mean, he is the most beautiful being that I have ever seen. I feel drawn to him, so I go to his side.

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask softly. I gently touch his arm and a jolt of energy surges through me, rewiring everything in its path.

“He’s in a coma,” Julianna says. “He’s been like this since the spell.”

“This is what your people did to us,” Eyrx booms.

“I am… so sorry,” I say softly. I still have my hand on his arm and looks like he’s sleeping.

“You’re going to fix him,” Eyrx says. “You are going to break the curse and bring him back to us.”

I sigh and turn to face them, and he looks angry. Julianna is focused on me, and I cannot discern what she is feeling. “Guys… I don’t have powers,” I say. “I don’t know….”

“Bullshit!” Eyrx shouts. Julianna doesn’t move. It’s like she’s frozen.

“I never developed powers. That’s why my family is so mean to me. I’m a useless witch. What part of that do you not understand?” I ask. “If I could break the curse, I absolutely would. You didn’t deserve this.”

“Try!” he roars. “You’re a lying witch abusing our kindness.”

“No, I am not,” I yell at him. “I am useless to you. Also, you cannot break a curse like that. They had nearly one hundred witches casting the same spell at the same time. That is a massive amount of energy and no one person can reverse that. Did you seriously fucking think that one underdeveloped witch could fix him? Are you stupid?”

Eyrx suddenly charges at me, but I’m cornered. “Fine. Let’s find out right now if you’re lying,” he says as he pulls my arms behind my back and binds them with something. I start crying when I hear him pull his belt free, only he doesn’t hit me with it. No, it’s far worse than that. Eyrx wraps the belt around my throat and fastens it tightly before shoving me to the ground.

“Save yourself or die,” he screams.

If I had powers, I could get myself out of this situation. I know the spells, but they just don’t work for me. I can’t breathe. I can’t move my arms. I’m going to die like this because magic is of no use to me. I thrash on the floor and try to pull my arms free, but I can’t .

“She can’t breathe, Eyrx. Stop it,” Julianna scolds.

“Good. That’s the point,” Eyrx shouts. I understand his anger. The King must be his best friend. They’re not brothers, but they might have been raised that way. This is the kind of unconditional love that I wish I had with my family. Only I don’t. I’m just a useless witch who is going to die of strangulation because I can’t save myself.

“Eyrx. Stop it before she dies,” Julianna screams. “Stop it right now.”

“Her powers will save her. She’s faking it,” Eyrx says with a sad voice.

Oh, this poor man. He is desperate to help the king. This level of violence is not in his character. He sounds like he’s in pain watching me thrash on the ground and slowly get weaker. Eventually, my muscles stop responding and I am reduced to nothing but twitches as my brain is starved of oxygen.

“That’s enough. She’s telling the truth,” Julianna says through tears. I suddenly feel her hands on my neck as she pulls the belt free. I gasp for air and start coughing and gagging as I try to move myself away from Eyrx. He doesn't let me get far though. He grabs my arm and hauls me up.

“Fine. If you cannot reverse the spell, you will bear his child instead,” he says. He still maintains a hostile tone, but he looks broken. Julianna looks broken too. “Servants will ready you for the ceremony.”

“Wha…” I start to say.

“We will breed you. When you have his baby in your belly and eventually give birth, you will have paid your debt to us. You will be free to go or to stay with a child. If you stay with a child, we will continue to breed you to bear his heirs,” he says firmly. “Go with the servants. Now.”

One of the servants gently takes my hand and pulls me from the room. I’m guided back to mine and several of them join us. I am in a daze as they undress me and start washing my body. They are meticulous and seem to have a process for this.

I don’t know how to tell them that I’m sterile. I cannot bear the king's child or any child for that matter. I will do as I am told and just pray to the gods that a miracle happens, and I can give this kingdom an heir to the throne.