YAVARA
Torturing Leveria wasn't pleasing to me; it wasn't even satisfying. When her shrieks of agony split the air, and she writhed in the perdition of her flesh, there was no joy in me; there wasn't even a fury like there'd been when I did my work on Adarian. There was only anguish now, and the more Leveria suffered, the more I did as well, but within the depths of my own darkness, in my anguish that danced with her agony, I found some measure of release, and that release gave me a moment of blessed peace. Only a moment. I had been awake all night. Even after I'd let Leveria rest, I'd stared up at the ceiling, and imagined the way Elena must've shrieked and begged while my dearest sister methodically cut the pieces away. A finger, a toe, a nose, an ear; the loss of feeling, the loss of taste, the loss of sight; the loss of everything that held her to this world. Such a horrific guidance to the void, and selfishly, I wondered if she had thought of me before the end.
I had the food set out on the floor. I sat cross-legged on a folded blanket, and ate delicately as Leveria walked cautiously toward me. She looked the vision of elven beauty with her statuesque frame and womanly curves, her elegant high cheeks and pointed nose, her impossibly-long neck and legs. We had both inherited our mother's beauty, but Leveria had truly inherited her body. Even nowβwearing the leather slave outfit that bound her breasts until they were bulging, crisscrossed her back and belly with straps, and squeezed her robust thighsβshe retained her elegance. I gestured for her to kneel on the blanket across from me, and she did so uncomfortably.
"
One by one, I am going to kill those closest to you.
" I recited to her, "
One day, you'll look upon the ashes of your kingdom and wonder where it all went wrong. You'll walk atop the carcasses of your fallen loved ones and stare blankly at their skulls. And then you'll see me, walking to you through the haze with arms outstretched. You'll embrace me as your sister, and I'll kindly slip the dagger between your ribs. And the last words you will utter on this earth will be 'thank you,' as you look upon my face.
That was what you said to me, do you remember?"
"Yes." She said, her eyes downcast.
"I guess it didn't happen like that."
"I guess not."
I leaned forward. "You thought you were so clever, the chess master of Tenvalia, the schemer of schemers. Now look at you."
"I lost." She muttered.
"That's an understatement."
"I always knew this would be the price of defeat. It would've been your fate had I won, so it should be mine now."
I cocked my head. "Leveria, was that contrition I heard?"
She looked up at me then, her big blue eyes unwavering. "Not for you."
I twisted my lips.
The bitch actually smiled at me. "What do you want from me, Yavara? A fucking apology? Torture me then. Make me blubber it out while I'm pissing and shitting myself, but when you look into my eyes, you'll know it's a lie. You can make me very, very sorry, but you'll never make me repentant, not to you."
I made Leveria snatch the knife from her plate, and bring the point slowly to her eye.
She giggled. "What is your fascination with blinding me? Don't you know that seeing what's being done to you is the true horror?"
"Are you giving me a lesson right now?"
"Just some sisterly advice."
I stopped the blade a fraction before her eye. "I could make you peel it." I said.
"That would be extremely painful." She said, watching me from behind the knife, waiting. With a sigh, I made her give me the knife, and I enjoyed for a second, the palpable relief that washed over her face. It was honest.
"Put your hands behind your back." I commanded, and she did so without my needing me to coerce her. With my mind, I laced her wrists with the leather straps that dangled from her belt, and tightened them. "Now you can eat." I said.
She looked down at the plate of eggs and bacon, then at the silverware I'd set out for her. She shrugged, dipped low from the hips, and began sloppily eating from her plate like a pig. I watched her, and she watched me, the food smearing all over her cheeks and nose, dribbling down her chin.
"You were always so dignified," I said, though without any relish, "now look at you."
When she swallowed the last mouthful, she licked her lips, wiped her face off on the towel, and sat upright on her knees. "Now look at me," she echoed with a smile, "Dignified?
Me?!
Yavara, if you had witnessed the depths I'd go to for our father's pleasure, you'd know dignity was only ever a mask I wore. Pride, dignity, civility, propriety; these were just necessary disguises of royalty. If the Highland nobility operated like the Alkandran aristocracy of old, I would've been the filthiest whore in court."
I laughed genuinely. "Catherine Jonias might've given you a run for your money."
Leveria laughed with me. "She wouldn't have stood a chance."
My laughter waned in my throat, and Leveria's smile dissipated. There was a silence between us that lasted for minutes before I next spoke. "How would you have fared against Elena?" I asked softly.