Hands are on me, and the guards that led me here are nowhere to be seen. Pansies.

“Let me go,” I snap, yanking at my arms. They won’t release me. My anger spikes; there is nothing so infuriating as being physically helpless against another human being.

The door opens and Montes walks out. “What is going on?” The moment he processes that I’m being detained against my will, his face hardens. “Let the queen go.” His voice is steel.

Hands release me, and I glare at the guards.

“Serenity, what are you doing out of bed?”

“I want to see Will.”

The king’s jaw works. “You can’t.”

There’s that command again. That I can’t. And now I’ve heard it one time too many.

I push past the king and dart for the door he’s come out of. I’ve barely managed to open the door when arms wrap around my midsection and pry me away. But not before I catch a glimpse of the viewing room, and beyond it, the interrogation.

All I see is crimson blood and all I hear are Will’s screams. The outer walls must be thick to silence such agonized cries. The king’s wrath is just as frightening as I’d always feared.

My mouth parts as I’m dragged away. “Oh God.” My words croak out. “Stop,” I whisper.

“Serenity—” The king’s voice comes from behind me. He’s the one restraining me.

“Stop!” I scream.

The king’s hand rubs my skin, as if I am a child needing soothing from a nightmare. “We need information from him,” he says.

“I don’t care.” I’m shaking all over. I’ve seen and done many horrifying things, but it’s this one that undoes me. “This needs to stop.” I’m no longer just talking about Will’s interrogation. I’m talking about war—about being a woman raised on a diet of pain and punishment. Where evil is avenged with more evil. It will never be enough to remedy the world.

The king feels me trembling beneath his hands. “You need to rest.”

“I’ll do whatever you want, Montes, just please, stop torturing him.” A tear leaks out. It’s Will, after all. I might hate what he’s become, but torture … I don’t wish that on my worst enemy.

The king sighs. “If we don’t get information out of him, then your life might still be in danger. I can’t allow that.”

“Montes,” I say, my hands clutching his arms. “Please.”

That vein near his temple throbs, and I’m sure he’s going to say no.

His hold on me drops. “Get the queen out of here.” The king eyes each one of his soldiers. “And I don’t care what threats the queen made to get here, the next time you defy my direct orders—it will be your head.”