Rayne had never experienced drunken intoxication before, but if it was like this…

She muttered to herself, “Fuck that.”

The colossal beast of an Icarus with his hand entangled in her hair grinned. “We’ll get to it soon enough,” Nox purred.

Rayne did not like the sound of that. Or the look on his face as he said it.

The road to Nox’s castle was fuzzy. Rayne thought she remembered flying in someone’s arms, but not this man’s. Walking on his right, Korac stared straight ahead. Not glancing at her, or anyone else for that matter. He was the one who’d carried her from the cave of Kyle’s betrayal.

Now Rayne stumbled down a stone corridor made of similar rock to Umbra’s Spire. Was Nox trying to measure up to daddy? With what little energy she could muster, Rayne tried to pry his hand out of her hair with her good arm. Her other arm swung along for the ride, useless.

“Report, General.”

“Sagan escaped, sir. She killed two of my men in the process. The traitor assisted her, and I locked him in the dungeon.”

Nox said, “Make sure the Progeny boy sees this. He’ll want to know what he helped me accomplish. As for Sagan, see to her capture. Fail me again and I will replace you.” Nox peered down at Rayne as he asked Korac, “How long do I have?”

If Korac felt any censure at Nox’s remark, he hid it well. Korac replied in an even tone, “Three hours at most. She’s recovering faster than expected.”

A red glare of light ahead marked the end of the tunnel. They were high up. The altitude added to Rayne’s dizziness.

Nox thrust her forward by her hair. Rayne hissed at him, the most struggle she could offer in her current state. They spilled onto a grand veranda. Massive, open to the space below. A viewing platform.

To Rayne’s left was the ancient throne Nox had often sat upon during her dreams. It’d been made for a giant. Something the size of a Gargantuan Tritan.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Below, Icarean soldiers and citizens of the lower caste shouted for their king. Rayne lost count at one million, two hundred. Her side needed more people. And possibly another General after this.

Nox pulled on Rayne’s hair until her back arched her onto her knees.

She cried out.

The ranks below grunted.

Korac stayed silent.

Nox addressed his people, “Celindria at last!”

Gasping for air through the drugs, pain, and oncoming hysteria, Rayne screamed she was not Celindria and the bitch in fact yet lived, but not a sound came out. Not a word. Rayne’s brain was mush, and her lungs burned.

What Nox announced next broke her into pieces. “The Traitor Prince is dead!”

Rayne tore from her knees and screamed, wordless, in his face. He held her aloft with one hand and cupped a nacre in the other.

“No,” Rayne groaned, ready to vomit.

Obsidian eyes locked with hers as Nox popped Xelan’s life force into his mouth and swallowed it, dry.

Some of the crowd cheered, but not all.

Eyes wide with horror and her will beat beyond repair, Rayne wanted to fall to her knees. She wanted to cry.

But Nox wasn’t finished. “I shall unseat the throne of Earth and take upon the throne of Cinder my spoils of war,” he announced. Again, half cheers.

Oh, this would not be good.

Rayne tried to scramble away, using all strength she possessed to fling herself off the platform.

Nox grabbed her with both hands, locked on her like a vice. He wrenched her around, and she spat in his face.

With no effort at all, Nox struck Rayne in the throat, and she couldn’t even manage a scream. She crumpled in his grip and choked.

Nox threw Rayne against the stone pedestal. Her entire body wracked in bruises, but the overall sensation was familiar. He disrobed, and she tried to look at anything else.

Some soldier dude.

Korac intently, not looking.

The sky.

It darkened when Nox’s shadow cast over Rayne as he climbed onto the throne. His weight was oppressive and terrifying. He gripped her chin and turned her to face him. Fucking spearmint.

Rayne stared into Nox’s vicious eyes with his intentions bare. She couldn’t speak even if she wanted to beg. Tears streamed down her face as all the illusions carefully constructed around her heart shattered. This was not a man worth loving. This was a dragon in need of slaying, and if Rayne survived this, she was the knight to do it. And god damn it, she was determined to survive it.

Focus. Decide.

This would not be Rayne’s ruin. Nox gripped the collar of her top and shredded it in half. This would not be how she chose to think of the beautiful planet of Cinder. He ripped the seam at her pants and peeled that layer away, too. This would only be another spoke in the cycle of abuse he’d inflicted on her that she’d survived for years. He clutched the underside of her thighs and spread them wide apart. She would not play slave to the trauma anymore.

When this was over, Rayne would end Nox.