23 | ACT I, SCENE XXIII

P R E V I O U S L Y

"Well, well, well..." Emerick said, tilting his neck slightly to look at me as he popped a crisp fig into his mouth. "Look who's here to join us tonight. Lady Tremayne. How gracious of you to join us."

ARCTON FORTRESS, RIMEBAY, VERTGATE.

EDWINA

"LOOK WHO'S HERE TO JOIN us tonight. Lady Tremayne. How gracious of you to join us."

"I'm a Queen, Emerick, not a mere lady. It would be better if you address me as such," I said curtly. "Or you will force me to... punish you."

"Ah. Punish? Me? Lady Tremayne," Emerick said with a nasty sneer, "I doubt you know how to punish anyone. Someone definately needs to punish you, that is certain," he laughed cruelly, his roars echoing off the walls of the stolen Fortress.

My blood began to boil and I pulled Verona behind me.

"I don't know how to punish you, is it?" I hissed venomously. "Wait till I get my whips and knives out, you fool. You won't recognize yourself until I'm done with you," I threatened, slowly gripping my sword, Seraphine.

The guards moved closer into the circle as I drew out my sword, but Emerick stopped them in their tracks with a laugh.

"Little girl," he taunted. "Do you really think you stand a chance against so many men?"

"Obviously," I said loftily. "My Tremayne blood is worth fifty times the scum that flows in your dirty veins."

"My aunt is the Queen Regnant!" Verona whispered fervently. "You shouldn't talk to her like that-"

"Quiet, girl," a guard interjected, moving to her and raising his hand to slap her. My fist gripped his wrist and I crushed his bones in an instant.

"Now you shall see," I barked savagely, pulling out my whip, "what happens when you threaten to harm my family!"

Five of the guards fell on Verona, and I pushed one away, knocking his helmet with my elbow as he tried to catch me arm. Reeling, I kicked back, yet three still remained and my sword slashed through, drawing blood as it cut through their flesh.

"Aunt Edwina!" I heard her yell, and I turned around in my anger to find Verona caught securely in a headlock by Elias, who held a gleaming Bloodstone knife to her throat.

"Now, if you move, the girl gets hurt," he leered, wearing the most nasty smile on his simpering lips. "Or even better... she dies."

"Let her go," I hissed, my fists beginning to smoke slightly as the men began to back away from me.

"Ah. Spirits," Emerick inhaled the wine. "Well, Lady Tremayne, I believe it's time we had a little... chat."

"A chat?" I snapped, raising an eyebrow. Emerick needed no chains or men to keep me rooted to my spot, he knew that holding Verona and threatening to hurt her was more than sufficient to ensure I did not get up to any tricks.

"A parley?" Justaline whispered to Emerick, winding herself around her brother's torso like a creeper.

I closed my eyes to summon the fires residing under my skin. They responded with gusto and I felt my blood begin to heat. A tinge of a spark flew out from me and fell behind Emerick sitting on the throne, unnoticed by him.

Ah, now that spark would grow into a mighty flame. All I needed was to keep him talking.

"Is this your idea of a parley? Yelling down at me from your new fancy chair while you gallivant around with your wife? Forgive me if I throw up," I said coolly as Emerick snorted and Justaline tinkled.

"Forgive me if I don't want to gallivant with you, my Lady. Why would I gallivant with you?" he drawled, stalling, as his voice trailed away and he looked at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

The flame was slowly growing, but it would just be a small flicker and hopefully no one would smell it burning right now.

"To hear my terms," I announced. The men gave a loud guffaw, as the hall erupted with laughter and I looked up at the bastard with defiant eyes.

"Terms? From you?" Justaline smirked. "You need to win for them to matter, child."

"Do you know the number of rules you've broken today, you brat?" I snapped. "First, you've taken a Fortress that doesn't belong to you. Arcton Fortress is the seat of the Emmersons of Rimebay, not the Rotavelles of Allington!"

"Vivian Emmerson has left his Fortress to go on a merry hunt," Elias leered with a grin, referring to the Lord of the fortress and the god of medicine, Vivian.

"Second," I continued without batting an eye, my anger rising, "you claim to have my sister! Release her. Right now."

"Threats? From you?" Emerick loudly chuckled. "From such a poor little thing like you. Forgive me if I can't stop laughing," he said, holding out his cup for some more wine.

"You should be more worried about whether you are going to get out of here in one piece, Edwina," Favian threatened from a corner, brandishing his knife.

"Who all are you holding?" I hissed angrily. I was sure I'd been lured here, the only thing I feared to know was who else had fallen prey to the wicked game.

"We have King Eric chained in our dungeons," Favian said proudly, and I only had to look at the expression on Verona's face to know it was true. My smile fell at once as dismay flooded my thoughts.

They had captured the Lord of the ocean itself...

"And his wife and sister as well. His daughter too," Emerick added, nudging Verona, who stood stiller than a statue in her captor's grasp.

Oh lord! They had imprisoned Amphitrite and Vanessa too! What if he hurt them!

The little fire I'd started near the throne had begun to stealthily flare up, now making its way up to the gilded ornaments that decorated the base.

"Why, Edwina... as a matter of fact, we have Eric's sister in law too," Elias commented, picking out his knife.

"We should have taken Eros and Erida as well. Then we'd have a whole new family!" Favian sickeningly smiled.

"You old bat," Elias smacked him on the head, "Erida is gone. Ever since she passed through those cursed gates of hell."

"Shut up, both of you. Take her away. I imagine she's still... intact?" Emerick chuckled, looking at Verona.

"No..." she whispered desolately.

"Can I have her?" Favian asked eagerly, the green eyes bright with wicked intentions.

"You can have her, my men can have her, my horses can have her. Do what you want," Emerick added as an afterthought, bored.

His men began to haul her away and a cry bubbled up my lips as the fire rose up suddenly, out of control, spreading towards the ceiling, a huge wall. Lord no, this wasn't supposed to happen!

I realised that I had lost concentration over the fire, alarmed due to the sudden danger to my niece.

"Let her go!" I shouted. Suddenly, all hell broke lose as people started to shriek, running away from the throne. Verona was pulled away, screaming helplessly as the same happened with me. My hand was halfway up pulling out my daggers as I heard a knuckle crack, someone pulled my hands behind me and cuffed them.

"No!" I yelled.

Manacles of Ekrite!

Half the room was on fire now, people were screaming, shrieking in panic.

Justaline's hair had caught fire. She repeatedly tried to beat it against the carpet to make it go out.

"You bitch!" she snarled at me, as Emerick dragged her by the hair to another carpet. She whacked her arms around wildly at the men who rushed at her with a huge tub of water. Against her protests, Emerick dunked her in like a biscuit in tea. Her hair began to hiss as it cracked and spit, and she shrieked in protest.

The flames around the dais were growing larger. Elias and Emerick were screaming at the soldiers to do something. Favian hurriedly ran out of the way to prevent his long hair meeting the same fate as Justaline's, and men rushed around with buckets of water to smother my handiwork, but the flames were clearly winning.

"Valmont soldiers!" a man ran in, screaming, which turned hysterical once he saw the flames. "Valmont soldiers! Right outside Crimsonvale!" he screamed wildly.

"How many?" Emerick gasped suddenly, Justaline fell from his arms, hitting the bottom of the tub with a thunk. A loud, siren like wail emerged from its depths.

"One thousand!" the man screamed.

The colour drained from Emerick's face and a gasp bubbled itself out of my lips.

The Emmersons did not bring enough men to match one thousand fully armed, efficient Valmont soldiers trained under the watchful eye of Apollo and Tristan.

And I had no idea why Valmonts would come to the aid of Tremaynes.

"Get the men! All of them. ALL OF THEM! CALL REINFORCEMENTS FROM HOME RIGHT NOW!"

"That," I smirked, "is what happens when you attack other people's houses in their absence."

"TAKE HER AWAY!" Emerick shouted.

"No way! Not until she extinguishes the fire and my hair!" Justaline snapped as Emerick dunked her under the water and she hit the bottom of the tub which the soldiers were pushing out of the room.

"Get her out before her damned husband comes and takes her away!" he ordered, as men rushed to me, pulling me.

"Someone put out the bloody fire!" Favian shouted, shaking his shoulders as Emerick slapped him as well, pushing him over the stairs, pulling out his knife.

"VALMONT SOLDIERS AT OUR GATES NOW!" Another rushed in, sweating and bloody, quickly passing a note to Emerick.

He read it and the look of fear on his face quickly turning to that of happiness.

Oh no. This wasn't going to be good news.

"Stop dancing about, Favian," he said contentedly, waving his hand. "Five thousand soldiers just came in from Allington."

Five thousand! How would one thousand men stand against five times their number?

"Ah, Valmont won't stand a chance against five times his number now, will he?" Elias asked his father lazily.

"You just wait," I hissed, straining against the men and the cuffs which held me. "You just wait till I-"

"Take her away! Take her to the others before the King finds out!" Emerick shouted, interrupting me.

I struggled to break free of the six men surrounding me, kicking three in the crotch before two of them firmly grasped my arms. I kicked them again and again and they began to tie my legs with cord, yet I managed one last punch to break one nose.

I felt them carry me off to where everyone else was apparently shackled, before giving me a hard knock on the head as I passed out.

• • • • •

Yes, they have her. And she's not going anywhere. Poor Edwina is in danger. My favourite part in this chapter was Justaline and her burned hair ;) though things gonna get much heated now!