Chapter 22
1434 Words
By the time I finished hauling the last water barrel to the courtyard, my hands were already cut and bleeding again. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and crimson that reminded me of fire.
The garrison had already begun their evening meal.
I watched from the shadows as the soldiers filled their cups, drank and laughed about tomorrow’s march.
I didn’t even notice when Elera appeared beside me, her small frame very tense.
“Something is happening”, she whispered. “Look at them. Something’s wrong ”.
At first, I didn’t understand what she meant. The soldiers were just eating, they were just—
One of them staggered forward, his cup falling from his hand, shattering against the floor.
“What..what is happening ”, he gasped , his hand clutching his stomach.
Then another one fell down on the floor and another. Within seconds all the soldiers were collapsing and gasping for air, their eyes turning white as they convulsed. Some were vomiting, some were screaming.
“No”, I breathed, taking a step forward.
Elera grabbed my arm, pulling me back. We have to go.you need to get away from here”.
But I was frozen, watching the chaos unfold. The water. The water I carried, how can it be causing this.
“Vivian!!”, Elera whispered urgently. “They will blame you. You need to leave”.
She was right. I knew she was right. I know they will blame me , besides I was the seed of their enemy. But I couldn’t move.
Warriors were running low, shouting for healers. Someone pointed toward the barrels. Someone else also pointed toward the courtyard where the soldiers had drunk from.
And then someone pointed at me.
“There she is! The Solari girl”.
Elara’s grip on my arm became painful. “Now!”
We ran as far as our legs could.
The corridors were like a maze, and Elara knew them better than I did. She pulled me through servant passages, past kitchens, downstairs that spiralled into darkness. My heart was hammering so hard I thought my ribs would break.
Behind us, I could hear shouts. Warriors mobilising.
“This way “, Elara gasped, dragging me around a corner.
Elara pulled me through narrow passages I never knew existed, then down a stairwell that smelled like mold.
“Keep going”, she gasped.
But the passage ended. We burst into a wide corridor with nowhere off to run.
Immediately, four warriors in the rounded corner ahead of us.
“There!!” One of them shouted.
“Keep running”, I told Elara, shoving her toward the side passages we’d just come from.
“Vivian!“
“Go!”, I screamed,
She resisted for a second. Then I heard her footsteps disappear up the stairs.
The warriors weren’t in a hurry. They knew I was caught.
The biggest one had scars across his face. His eyes had gone fully gold. Too bright. Too wolf.
“You poisoned them”, he said.
“I didn’t”.
He grabbed my arm and slammed me into the wall. Pain shot through my spine. I tried to twist away but his grip held.
His fist came up and I got one hand up to block but his punch came anyway, catching me in the ribs.
The air left my lungs.
I couldn’t breathe .His other hand was still holding my arm and he was pulling back for another swing and I had nowhere to go and my vision was spotting.
“Bring her to the courtyard."
A sharp command cut through the haze . The scarred warrior dropped me like I'd burned him.
I fell hard, gasping.
"Yes, sir," he said quickly, his tone completely different. "Right away, Alpha."
Alpha. Dominic.
Hands dragged me up. The world tilted. My ribs felt like they'd been shattered.
---
The courtyard was packed.
Warriors lined the edges, their faces carved from stone. Some looked away when they saw me. Others stared like they were watching a spectacle. The whipping post stood in the center, its wood scarred and dark with old blood.
I'd been dragged here an hour ago, thrown to the ground while soldiers gasped and wheezed around me. One of them was already dead.
The accusations came fast.
“The barrels were poisoned."
"She handled them."
"She was careless. Reckless."
"She killed our brothers”.
I'd tried to explain .i tried to say I didn't know, I hadn't seen anything wrong. But my voice was small against the weight of their grief.
Vespera watched from the platform where Dominic should have been. Her eyes gleamed.
"Strip her," someone ordered.
Hands grabbed my tunic and tore it away. The cold air bit at my skin. I kept my head down, refused to look at any of them.
The whip came out.
An older warrior stepped forward, the one who would administer the punishment. He looked uncomfortable, which meant nothing. His hands still gripped the leather.
Thirty lashes. That's what they'd decided.
Thirty for poisoning. Thirty for killing. Thirty for being careless enough to let it happen.
The first strike came without warning.
Fire exploded across my back. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming, I tasted blood.
The second came before I could breathe.
My knees gave way. Hands pushed me back up. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide from the leather cutting through skin.
The third one slashed my back.
Then it stopped.
The warrior's arm froze mid-swing. I felt it before I understood it. A spike of pure agony through the bond. But it wasn't my pain.
It was his.
When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw Dominic standing at the edge of the courtyard. His hands were shaking. His eyes were locked on the blood running down my back, and the expression on his face was something between anguish and rage.
The crowd realized before the warrior did. They went silent.
"Alpha," the warrior said, lowering the whip.
Dominic's voice was quiet. "How many?"
"Three, sir."
He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, something had broken open inside him. "Two more. Then we're done."
The warrior didn't move.
"Dominic!" Vespera started from the platform.
He didn't even look at her. Just held up a hand, and the gesture was so final that she stopped mid-sentence.
The whip came again. Four. Five.
And then Dominic dropped to his knees.
Actually dropped, like his legs had given out.
Someone gasped. Silas moved forward, but Dominic held up a hand, stopping him.
He picked up the whip and held it, but his hands wouldn't work. They were shaking too badly.
"Enough," he said, his voice broken. He dropped the whip like it burned him. "Everyone. Back to your positions. The punishment is executed."
"But, Alpha," one of the younger warriors said carefully. "You were supposed to..”
"It's done," Dominic cut him off. His eyes found mine for just a second, and the look in them made me stop breathing. Then he turned away, walking back toward the tower like each step cost him something.
Vespera's jaw tightened. She stood, descending the platform steps with precise, deliberate movements.
"With respect, Alpha," she said, her voice carrying across the courtyard. "Five lashes is hardly justice for poisoning. The soldiers..”
Dominic stopped walking.
He didn't turn around. He just... stopped. And when he finally looked at her, Vespera actually took a step back.
There was no rage in his expression. That would have been easier. Instead, there was something lethal. Something that said without words: “I could kill you where you stand, and I'd sleep well tonight.”
Vespera's mouth closed.
"Everyone leave now!," Dominic said. "Now."
They all scattered so fast.
A young warrior appeared at my side as I tried to stand. He was lean, maybe a year or two older than me, with kind eyes that looked almost ashamed to see me like this.
"I'll help you," he said quietly.
I couldn't refuse. My back was screaming, and my legs weren't listening to what my brain wanted them to do.
He wrapped my torn tunic around my shoulders, careful not to touch the wounds. "I'm Kade. I work the perimeter."
I didn't have breath to answer.
He carried me away from the courtyard, into the shadows of the corridors. The Citadel seemed to swallow us whole, and for a while, I forgot that anyone else existed in the world.
- Writer
