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 now—wearing the leather slave outfit that bound her breasts until they were bulging, crisscrossed her back and belly with straps, and squeezed her robust thighs—she 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.
Leveria didn't reply. True fear returned to her eyes, her alabaster skin became even more pallid, and her fingers began to tremble.
"I didn't believe Ternias when he first told me what happened." I said, "I thought it must be one of your ploys like last time. I waited for her sigil to appear on my mirror, but it never came. It was only when I saw you in that cell downstairs, that I knew you'd truly done it."
She didn't respond. I looked levelly at her, and for the first time, she would not meet my gaze. It disturbed me. "Leveria?" I queried.
"What?" She mumbled.
"What are you hiding from me, sister?" I searched her thoughts, and found nothing but fractured memories, little sensations and images too fine to piece together. Some were horrific, some were beautiful, but none made any sense to me. Even in the screeching bowels of her torment, her mind was an impenetrable fortress. I could break it, but I could not read it. I could, however, sense the tone of her psyche. The nonsensical images and sensations did not make a clear picture for me, but they did create a tenor of pervading grief. Not terror, not dread, nor even anxiety, but a depthless loss the likes of which I had not known since I peered into Brock's mind the day that Trenok died.
Leveria sniffled, then looked up at me, and the tears that had threatened her eyes were gone.
"Why do you grieve?" I asked her.
"Do I really need to say it?" She laughed bitterly, shifting in her binds, "You've been hinting at the horrors you have planned for me. Well, are you going to tell me what they are?"
"Use your imagination."
She looked down at herself. "I'm going to be raped, obviously. Will you put me in stockades and let the whole city have a go, or will you make a spectacle out of it in the arena?"
"A spectacle?" I guffawed, "Leveria, I am going to make a national holiday out of you. It will be called the 'Week of Retribution.'"
"A whole week for me?" She smiled, though her face was turning paler, "I'm honored."
"Oh, you'll be honored many times. We will return to Alkandra tomorrow, and begin three days of festivities honoring the notable citizens who helped build the city. You will be their prize. When the horde returns, we'll have three more days to honor those who distinguished themselves in battle. Once again, you will be their prize. The only thing I won't let them do to you, is kill you."
I was pleased to see Leveria turn slightly green.
"Did you think what Ternias's men did to you would be the worst of it?" I giggled, "We call them beasts for a reason. A thousand years of oppression have honed their savagery to a keen edge. It won't be just orcs, either. Ogres have cocks thicker than my calf, and they are going to want to see how wide they can make you. Centaurs have curved shafts longer than my arm, and they are going to want to feel the squishy parts deep in your guts. I can take all manner of creatures, but you, Leveria, are just a high-elf, and your insides don't quite
stretch
like mine do."
Her lower lip quivered. "And then?" She asked.