“This is for Queen Eveline,” he says and drives his plated boot into my side.

I cough, and a metallic taste fills my mouth.

“And this, this is for King Vaskis…”

I brace myself for the pain.

“That’s enough,” a steely voice intervenes.

The guard immediately stops.

“There are plenty of other ways to break the girl, Diglian.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I groan, and the air punches my lungs as it leaves. He must have broken a rib or two. Or three. I hear King Vaskis approach, but don’t turn my head.

He snaps his tongue against the back of his teeth in slow, exaggerated movements until he stands over me. When I look up, I don’t see his face. Not clearly, anyway. Instead, images of my mother’s dead body flash across my vision.

“You,” I cough. Gods, it hurts. My ribs squeeze in dissent.

“Me.” The King’s lips curl into a wry grin.

I close my eyes, listening to drips of water leak from the ceiling. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” I wheeze. “Just like you killed my mother.”

His cold hand grabs my chin, and he jerks my head up. I open my eyes to see him squatting next to me.

“I didn’t kill your mother, that little cunt. Although not a day goes by, I don’t wish I had.” He flings my head down, and it thuds against the stone.

I groan and try not to move.

“If only I had been the one to do it,” he coos. “Then I could better deal with the curses Baelliles has endured since. But no, it was not me. I do not lie. Your father killed her, Idalia of Verdana. He killed your mother. Because of him, we all suffer.”

Ruby-covered snakes.

“So, now you’re going to finish me off…for revenge,” I manage.

“That is a possibility, but it is not why I brought you here.” The King laughs as he stands.

Bile rises in my throat, and I do my best to swallow before replying. “Then why am I here?”

“Do you truly think I will reveal my plan to you, the riffraff of our world? You foolish girl. There are far more powerful things in this world than revenge.”

My hands jolt, but I’m too weak to lift them, let alone obey them.

“Your father has kept many secrets from you, but that is neither here nor there. I have you now, and if he wants you back, he will have to pay the price,” he says.

My body is growing numb, and my eyelids droop so heavily that I can barely keep them open. My stomach groans with hunger and my ribs ache in agony when I speak.

“Verdana doesn’t have much. You’d do better to kill me and laugh at him for it, because whatever price you desire, he can’t pay.”