Death Wind (Elven Alliance #3) - Tara Grayce Page 0,35
the troll king had been his first? Blood spilled not on a battlefield, not protecting his family or his kingdom, though he had given that excuse to himself even as he made the decision to so coldly kill for the first time.
And under that shame, with blood on his hands and the last of his innocence gone, he had shattered.
“You laugh?” King Charvod gripped Farrendel’s jaw, yanked his head to face him. “You know the pain I can inflict.”
Farrendel had to choke back another laugh. Physical pain was the least of all forms of torture. It could be endured and, eventually, ignored. King Charvod could inflict all the agony, mental torment, degrading humiliation, and mutilation he wished, but he could not truly touch Farrendel.
Because, the truth was, King Charvod had lost the only weapon that could truly harm Farrendel the moment Essie had successfully escaped. Farrendel could endure anything as long as Essie remained out of King Charvod’s reach.
King Charvod still had Melantha. But even then, he had miscalculated in revealing her treachery too soon. It had been a blow. One that sent Farrendel reeling on top of the initial bewilderment of his capture.
But King Charvod could have used Farrendel’s trust in her to make him freely talk. Or bond him further by having her tend him, only to turn on him.
No, this could have been much worse in the hands of a more experienced and calculating torturer. Instead, King Charvod wielded physical pain with all the clumsiness of a man who would himself break under such torment and could not conceive of someone who would not.
Farrendel glanced past King Charvod to where Prince Rharreth still leaned against the wall by the door, his face impassive and hard as the stone behind him. If Prince Rharreth ever stopped observing and started helping King Charvod, the torture would be worse. Much worse. Prince Rharreth was, after all, the one who figured out how to use Melantha to recapture Farrendel at the border.
Farrendel dragged his gaze back to King Charvod’s burning, dark eyes. “You really are inept at torture.”
It probably was not smart to goad him, but goading King Charvod into causing pain felt like the little bit of control Farrendel could grasp.
King Charvod made a growling sound and his fingers dug into Farrendel’s jaw. “Inept? I will fill this fortress with your screams.”
Farrendel yanked his chin free of King Charvod’s grip and lashed out with his teeth, the only weapon left to him. He managed to bite King Charvod’s thumb and clamped down as hard as he could.
King Charvod shouted and yanked his hand free, ripping his skin on Farrendel’s teeth.
Farrendel spat out the taste of blood. A small wound to inflict. But it was far too satisfying to have drawn blood.
King Charvod gripped his thumb, blood welling. When he turned to Farrendel, his eyes burned. “You will pay for that.”
Farrendel braced himself and drew in a deep breath. The last decent breath he would get for the next while.
King Charvod pressed his hand to the stone floor. The temperature of the room dropped, and magic flared.
Spikes of stone drove into Farrendel’s body. Deep. Far too deep. Pain tore through him, even as he tried to hold back his screams.
Perhaps, this time, he had goaded King Charvod too far.
ESSIE STROLLED through the encampment, gazing about at all the activity. In one of the cleared spaces beneath the spreading branches of a humongous tree, a group of Escarlish soldiers and elven warriors drilled together. Other groups practiced in other sections of the camp.
It looked like everyone was getting along...on the surface. But Averett and Weylind had both been called away to different parts of the camp to settle disputes while Leyleira and Julien had rushed off to one of the other encampments. It had been nearly a full-time job to keep everyone peacefully training together instead of fighting.
“Princess!”
Essie turned at the call, finding a young soldier skidding to a halt before her, panting. She smiled at him to put him at ease. “Yes, soldier?”
“The chief surgeon sent me to find you or one of your brothers. He needs you to settle a...discussion he has been having with the elf healers.” The soldier pointed back the way he had come.
Even the healers were at odds? Essie huffed out a breath. At this rate, they were going to be so busy arguing, they were never going to get around to attacking the trolls. “Very well. Lead the way.”