15th of Winter
510 AV
21st Bell
510 AV
21st Bell
Hadyn glared at the objects arranged haphazardly on the tiny table opposite her, candlelight illuminating them in precarious light. The room was small. It felt like a cage. The walls leaned in, claustrophobic and leaving her dropping her shoulder. Her heartbeat was loud, thunderous in her ears like the angry crash of the sea against the shore. Tightness gripped her lungs making each breath a gamble. Even as air made its way in her muscles constricted as if to reject the intake before pushing it out with a swoosh.
Her bandaged hand hung at her side, the wrappings taut against still sore flesh. She was lucky, she'd been told. Her knuckles weren't broken. Neither was anything else. A fortunate woman she was. She didn't feel fortunate. With each inhalation the rip in her back strained, the skin pulling against the linen with the effort of a massive breath. She could feel the wound weep a trickle of blood down her back.
Wounded knuckles. Laceration across her back. Bruises across her cheek, neck and wrists. And she was lucky.
Sure.
Hadyn was released from Soothing Waters only bells earlier. Told to go to her apartment, lock the door and rest. Was there no one to see her home? no family? very well then, send a Knight with you.
She'd walked back to her dungeon-like hole in the wall, nodding silently to the Knight who bid her goodnight. Securing the door seemed pointless. He wasn't coming back. He'd had it out with her and was on to the next victim. But the lock slid dully into place nonetheless. Now she sat on the edge of the bed staring absently at the pathetic affects littering the apartment.
When he left her on the floor two days before in a pile of limbs and racking breaths she'd lost contact with herself. Everything was gone. Emotions, pain, rational thought. How many bells passed before someone wandered by and noticed the door hanging open? she didn't know. She couldn't bother to move her tired body from the ground. Just let her stay there. Let this fade into sleep. When she awoke it would be clear.
But that damn fool called the Knights. Loudly. Someone else entered. She heard them. Saw their boots before her face. Felt arms around her, scooping her up. Telling her to put an arm around his neck. No chance. She lay there limp. So the Knight hauled her off to Soothing Waters.
She was treated for her injuries, the wound on her back the most pressing. It wasn't horrible. A few stitches to close the gash. Her hand was swollen where she'd attempted to break her knuckles over Tobias' face. It probably cost her more pain than him, gods petch it. The marks from his fists bruised her skin. She was told they would get worse before they got better. Obviously. She'd had bruises before.
All the salves, teas and shyke counseling from the Rak'keli healers were more annoying than beneficial. An investigation was launched, or so she was told. She told them what she knew. And how she knew it. It wasn't difficult to tell them the story of their supposed love story. His betrayal. Later she would be loathe to explain it, humiliated by her own stupidity. Embarrassed that she fell for a con. Would've married him, though Cheva would be unlikely to bless the union. But when the Knight inquired Hadyn gave factual dry answers. Yeses, nos. She didn't much care what they did to him.
The wound on her back was the most vexing. Sleeping was difficult. She could feel the tender flesh pull and tear as her back rounded or she drew a particularly heavy breath. It wasn't entirely clear if Tobias had intended to slash her with the blade. She was on her knees reaching for something to turn around and strike him with. He'd grabbed her hair yanking her backward, pairing knife in one hand. The blade ripped through her shirt and skin as she struggled to pull out of his grip. Probably wasn't his fault. Right?
Flexing her aching hand the woman gritted her teeth against the pain, reveling in the sensation of feeling. She'd been so petching numb the last two days. Barely anything registered. But this did. She was flooded with bristling fire running from the battered knuckles up her arm and the response almost foreign after days of nothing. The corner of her lip twitched into a smile, an odd response but pleasurable reaction to pain.
Other emotions began to filter in, slowly at first. She was lonely. Seasons of being with someone and now she was alone. The place was so small. How had she managed to fit two of them in there? the space was at odds with her slim frame, sitting like a statue for the last couple bells. It was wholly depressing.
But it didn't last. Happiness perked her up, glad to be gone from Soothing Waters and away from the nagging judging eyes of the healers. Bitches, all of them. Carefully criticizing her for getting involved with the wrong type. If she'd known what he was up to she wouldn't have this fucking problem, would she? it's not like she was looking for this. Happiness ebbed into annoyance, recalling their dumb stares when she explained the situation to the Knights.
"You had no indications he was being deceitful?" one asked mildly after the Knight departed. Her hand rested on Hadyn's wrist as she sat on the edge of the bed, green eyes imploring the other woman's with misaligned pity.
"No, you heifer. You think I'd have stayed?"
The green-eyed woman didn't come back after that, shaking her head as she left and muttering something about being the most difficult patient. Hadyn doubted that. But she let it go. She wasn't about to apologize. What a stupid question. People were filled with them, making this ordeal into a bigger mess than it needed to be. The woman messed up. No need to rub it in her face with wide eyed questions and ridiculous assumptions.
Watching the candlelight flicker with hesitation the creeping crawling sensation of rage seeped into her conscious. It wound its way along her vertebrae like a snake, coiling and sliding across her bones and into her muscles. It infected the space between her organs, wallowing in her lungs and leaving less space for air to fill. It pushed tentatively at her other emotions, flicking its forked tongue at the base of her skull and reminding her she had no right to feel anything but.
Loneliness, happiness, annoyance and even pain were eventually ushered out, replaced with a tar-like sticky mire of fury. It blazed along her veins, warming her body to a higher temperature than normal. The snake circled and nestled in her thoughts, using its tail to pull forgotten memories into her mind. Memories of her brother, now a year dead. Dead because of Tobias. Memories of the coaxing cajoling liar seducing her. She handed him her heart on a platter. A willing victim. A fucking idiot.
This was his doing. All of it. Hadyn didn't need to figure out why she felt this way. She just did. And she let it happen. The snake pushed her on, its presence invading her body and lighting a fire that burned merrily in her blood. She sat there, replaying the events of the year over and over. Liam, dead on the ground. Tobias, bewitching her, toying with her, convincing her to love him. And she had. She'd loved him fully. Her heart gave a painful squeeze in her chest but it was shushed by the serpent, tightening its grip around her and encouraging these sentiments of rage.
Unable to hold the energy sparking in her Hadyn leaped up, brown eyes narrowed as she sought an outlet for this wonderful umbrage. An arm swept across the table, pushing the objects from their surface with a suddenness that sent them crashing to the ground. Something broke. Other things tumbled wayward, rolling here and there. It felt perfect. She knocked the chair over, smashing a foot over the leg with a force she hadn't anticipated. Finally, feeling the still surging fury removing all rational thought the woman reached forward and grasped the corner of the table. With a growl she pulled it and whipped the wood to the side, sending the table crashing to the side. The exertion had her breathing with haggard intakes of air.
The snake hissed with pride.
Her bandaged hand hung at her side, the wrappings taut against still sore flesh. She was lucky, she'd been told. Her knuckles weren't broken. Neither was anything else. A fortunate woman she was. She didn't feel fortunate. With each inhalation the rip in her back strained, the skin pulling against the linen with the effort of a massive breath. She could feel the wound weep a trickle of blood down her back.
Wounded knuckles. Laceration across her back. Bruises across her cheek, neck and wrists. And she was lucky.
Sure.
Hadyn was released from Soothing Waters only bells earlier. Told to go to her apartment, lock the door and rest. Was there no one to see her home? no family? very well then, send a Knight with you.
She'd walked back to her dungeon-like hole in the wall, nodding silently to the Knight who bid her goodnight. Securing the door seemed pointless. He wasn't coming back. He'd had it out with her and was on to the next victim. But the lock slid dully into place nonetheless. Now she sat on the edge of the bed staring absently at the pathetic affects littering the apartment.
When he left her on the floor two days before in a pile of limbs and racking breaths she'd lost contact with herself. Everything was gone. Emotions, pain, rational thought. How many bells passed before someone wandered by and noticed the door hanging open? she didn't know. She couldn't bother to move her tired body from the ground. Just let her stay there. Let this fade into sleep. When she awoke it would be clear.
But that damn fool called the Knights. Loudly. Someone else entered. She heard them. Saw their boots before her face. Felt arms around her, scooping her up. Telling her to put an arm around his neck. No chance. She lay there limp. So the Knight hauled her off to Soothing Waters.
She was treated for her injuries, the wound on her back the most pressing. It wasn't horrible. A few stitches to close the gash. Her hand was swollen where she'd attempted to break her knuckles over Tobias' face. It probably cost her more pain than him, gods petch it. The marks from his fists bruised her skin. She was told they would get worse before they got better. Obviously. She'd had bruises before.
All the salves, teas and shyke counseling from the Rak'keli healers were more annoying than beneficial. An investigation was launched, or so she was told. She told them what she knew. And how she knew it. It wasn't difficult to tell them the story of their supposed love story. His betrayal. Later she would be loathe to explain it, humiliated by her own stupidity. Embarrassed that she fell for a con. Would've married him, though Cheva would be unlikely to bless the union. But when the Knight inquired Hadyn gave factual dry answers. Yeses, nos. She didn't much care what they did to him.
The wound on her back was the most vexing. Sleeping was difficult. She could feel the tender flesh pull and tear as her back rounded or she drew a particularly heavy breath. It wasn't entirely clear if Tobias had intended to slash her with the blade. She was on her knees reaching for something to turn around and strike him with. He'd grabbed her hair yanking her backward, pairing knife in one hand. The blade ripped through her shirt and skin as she struggled to pull out of his grip. Probably wasn't his fault. Right?
Flexing her aching hand the woman gritted her teeth against the pain, reveling in the sensation of feeling. She'd been so petching numb the last two days. Barely anything registered. But this did. She was flooded with bristling fire running from the battered knuckles up her arm and the response almost foreign after days of nothing. The corner of her lip twitched into a smile, an odd response but pleasurable reaction to pain.
Other emotions began to filter in, slowly at first. She was lonely. Seasons of being with someone and now she was alone. The place was so small. How had she managed to fit two of them in there? the space was at odds with her slim frame, sitting like a statue for the last couple bells. It was wholly depressing.
But it didn't last. Happiness perked her up, glad to be gone from Soothing Waters and away from the nagging judging eyes of the healers. Bitches, all of them. Carefully criticizing her for getting involved with the wrong type. If she'd known what he was up to she wouldn't have this fucking problem, would she? it's not like she was looking for this. Happiness ebbed into annoyance, recalling their dumb stares when she explained the situation to the Knights.
"You had no indications he was being deceitful?" one asked mildly after the Knight departed. Her hand rested on Hadyn's wrist as she sat on the edge of the bed, green eyes imploring the other woman's with misaligned pity.
"No, you heifer. You think I'd have stayed?"
The green-eyed woman didn't come back after that, shaking her head as she left and muttering something about being the most difficult patient. Hadyn doubted that. But she let it go. She wasn't about to apologize. What a stupid question. People were filled with them, making this ordeal into a bigger mess than it needed to be. The woman messed up. No need to rub it in her face with wide eyed questions and ridiculous assumptions.
Watching the candlelight flicker with hesitation the creeping crawling sensation of rage seeped into her conscious. It wound its way along her vertebrae like a snake, coiling and sliding across her bones and into her muscles. It infected the space between her organs, wallowing in her lungs and leaving less space for air to fill. It pushed tentatively at her other emotions, flicking its forked tongue at the base of her skull and reminding her she had no right to feel anything but.
Loneliness, happiness, annoyance and even pain were eventually ushered out, replaced with a tar-like sticky mire of fury. It blazed along her veins, warming her body to a higher temperature than normal. The snake circled and nestled in her thoughts, using its tail to pull forgotten memories into her mind. Memories of her brother, now a year dead. Dead because of Tobias. Memories of the coaxing cajoling liar seducing her. She handed him her heart on a platter. A willing victim. A fucking idiot.
This was his doing. All of it. Hadyn didn't need to figure out why she felt this way. She just did. And she let it happen. The snake pushed her on, its presence invading her body and lighting a fire that burned merrily in her blood. She sat there, replaying the events of the year over and over. Liam, dead on the ground. Tobias, bewitching her, toying with her, convincing her to love him. And she had. She'd loved him fully. Her heart gave a painful squeeze in her chest but it was shushed by the serpent, tightening its grip around her and encouraging these sentiments of rage.
Unable to hold the energy sparking in her Hadyn leaped up, brown eyes narrowed as she sought an outlet for this wonderful umbrage. An arm swept across the table, pushing the objects from their surface with a suddenness that sent them crashing to the ground. Something broke. Other things tumbled wayward, rolling here and there. It felt perfect. She knocked the chair over, smashing a foot over the leg with a force she hadn't anticipated. Finally, feeling the still surging fury removing all rational thought the woman reached forward and grasped the corner of the table. With a growl she pulled it and whipped the wood to the side, sending the table crashing to the side. The exertion had her breathing with haggard intakes of air.
The snake hissed with pride.
