How was he there?
Why was he there?
The pain remained, I couldn"t have slipped into oblivion.
Thus he was b.l.o.o.d.y there.
"Know your place!" my father commanded on a near-shout. "Remove yourself from this room this instant!"
Noc didn"t remove himself from the room. He arrived at my front, his eyes holding mine.
His voice came as a shock, precisely the gentleness running through it that belied the look of wrath seated deep in his eyes. "Let go of the hook, baby."
"This is beyond the pale, a servant intruding on private matters of members of the most powerful House in Lunwyn!" my father decreed loudly.
"Frannie, sweetheart," Noc whispered, ignoring Papa, and I felt his hand touch light at my waist, "let go of the hook."
"Intolerable!" my father bit out. "Franka, is this domestic your lover?" he demanded.
"No," I answered my father hoa.r.s.ely. "You must go, Noc," I whispered to Noc, not wishing to whisper, but I had the strength for nothing more. "Please. You must. It will be worse if he doesn"t get to finish. I need to complete my punishment."
A flare of rage blazed in his eyes but he simply repeated, "Let go of the hook. Hold on to me."
"I need to endure or they"ll turn to Kristian," I told him.
"Please, baby, let go. I got you," Noc replied.
"Stand back," my father ordered.
"You must go," I went on.
"Promise, Franka, I got you," Noc said.
"Stand b.l.o.o.d.y back!" my father commanded, his voice no longer affronted and annoyed.
No, it was much worse.
At the warning of it, sheer terror coursed through me, almost paralyzing.
"You must go," I declared. "Now or he"ll-"
As I spoke my last, my father thundered, "Stand back!"
But through his thunder, I heard the whistle of the whip.
I knew he"d repositioned and I knew his aim.
It was not me.
Therefore I did what I did next automatically, without thinking. I did something I never did. Not since I was a youngster. Not since I"d learned how vile it was, what I had in me, what my mother gave to me, what I took great pains to hide, using intrigue and torment like weapons not only as was expected of a Drakkar, not only as a way to hold others at bay so they wouldn"t be touched by the darkness of my soul, but as a way to conceal the true power I held.
I let go of the hook and twisted. Unable to bury my cry of pain when the fire of the movement tore through my back, I lifted a hand and swept it wide and high, the sapphire glow bursting forth, the tip of my father"s lash glancing against it, sending it back where it tore through the skin of his face.
He fell back in surprise and pain, his feet slipping from under him, landing on his a.r.s.e.
That would not mean good things for me.
But at least he"d not landed the whip on Noc.
"Holy f.u.c.k," Noc whispered.
I turned back to Noc urgently.
"You must go. I"ve done wrong. Kristian has done wrong. I must endure or they"ll turn their attention to Kristian and he won"t endure, Noc. He won"t. And I must protect him."
"Franka, who the f.u.c.k is that guy?" Noc asked.
His look of shock barely penetrated when I answered, "My father. And I must complete the punishment. I must."
"Baby, this s.h.i.t is whacked." He started to unb.u.t.ton his shirt. "Let"s get you covered. Frey can deal with him. Let"s see if this place has a doc-"
I"d heard my father scramble up, felt his fury sparking the air, and I instantly lifted my hands to the hook, curling my fingers around.
"I"ll endure," I announced to Papa. "Don"t hurt Noc. I will not fall. Tell her. Tell her I"m still standing."
Noc"s hand returned to my waist and curled in. "Baby-"
I looked in his eyes. "He"ll break. Kristian will break. I must-"
"She"s used her magic, Anneka," my father said from behind me and terror gripped me because I knew he was sharing this with my mother.
"No!" I cried. "Recommence! I will not fall!"
"Go to the boy," my father ordered.
G.o.ds!
Kristian!
"No!" I shrieked.
"What the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l?" Frey"s voice came from the direction of the door.
I let go of the hook and whirled to my cousin.
Lifting my arms crossed in front of me to cover my bared b.r.e.a.s.t.s, I beseeched, "You must stop her! You must command the elves! You must bring the green witch! She"s going to Kristian. He"ll break. The green witch must go there and stop her."
Frey"s face was a picture of disbelief and distress as he stood in the doorway staring at me, Josette cowering behind him.
"Explain what"s happening," he bit out tightly.
"We need a doctor, Frey," Noc stated.
"She"s committed treason and so has her brother. For that, she"s being punished," Papa explained.
Frey turned to my father.
"And that punishment would come at the command of your queen if your daughter hadn"t moved to make amends," Frey clipped, twisted at the waist and ground out to Josette, "Get Valentine. And find a b.l.o.o.d.y physician."
Josette nodded at the same time she turned and vanished from sight.
I rushed across the room to my cousin, curled a hand into his sweater at his chest and begged, "You must go. You must take Noc. If I withstand what he wishes to mete, they"ll leave Kristian alone."
I was too deep in my state to notice my cousin for the first time in our lives addressing me gently.
"And how long has this been the understanding, Franka?"
I simply replied on a plea.
"Please, Frey, let him finish."
Frey looked in my eyes but a moment before his went over my head.
"Cover her, Noc, and take her from here."
"No!" I cried as I felt careful hands on my shoulders pulling me from Frey.
The pain at my back was too immense to struggle so I didn"t. I watched Frey look to my father.
"You"re communicating with Anneka?" he asked.
"Family business is family business, Frey," my father returned.
Frey"s tone deteriorated while Noc turned me to face him. I saw his chest bare and felt the agony of the whisper of material of his shirt hitting my back.
"Are you...communicating with Anneka?"
"I don"t have to answer that," Father retorted.
"Kristian is more than a week"s sled ride away. If she"s taking guidance from you, that means you"re a sorcerer or she"s a witch. Either way, you or she are undeclared. Which is it?" Frey demanded.
"This is none of your concern, nephew," my father snapped.
I flinched as Frey roared, "Which is it?"
At this juncture, my tortured cry slashed through the room as Noc lifted me to cradle me in his arms.
"Sorry, Frannie, so sorry, baby," he cooed. "Stick with me. Hold on just a little longer until I can get you to a bed."
I battled the pain of his arm against the torn flesh of my back and looked into Noc"s eyes. "He must finish."
Noc"s face turned hard as he stated, "He"s not gonna f.u.c.kin" finish."
"Noc-"
"Quiet, Frannie. Frey"s got this."
I shook my head fervently as Frey moved out of our way and Noc took us toward the door. "No, you don"t understand."
"No, sweetheart, you don"t understand," Noc declared, striding through the door and into the hall. "They didn"t get it. Now they"ll get it. And, baby, that means you are no longer alone."
My panic overwhelming me, I barely heard a word he said as we moved down the hall.
I shifted my gaze over his shoulder toward the door, hearing Frey demand on an enraged bellow, "Talk, Nils. Now!"
But that was all I heard as Noc quickly carried me down the pa.s.sageway.
"This isn"t good," I whispered.
"It"s gonna be fine," Noc a.s.sured.
I closed my eyes tight. "You don"t know."
"What on...?"
This was a female voice, and I opened my eyes and turned my head to see the green witch rushing toward us.
"Frey needs you," Noc grunted, not pausing a step, meaning Valentine needed to jump to the side as he forged right ahead, pa.s.sing her. "Room at the back," he finished.
I turned my attention over his shoulder and watched Valentine disappear in a tall, thin spiral of green smoke.
Noc kept moving.
I took in a deep breath, closed my eyes again, and for the second time that night, the second time in decades, I used my power, opened my senses and sought my brother.
I was out of practice and in immense pain. I couldn"t sense him.
Either that or she"d already broken him. With Kristian, it never took long.
"I can"t sense him," I told Noc, still trying to do so and feeling us ascending stairs.
"Franka, just focus on you, yeah?"
"This could mean she might have already broken him."
"Frey and Valentine have this."
I opened my eyes only to narrow them at him. "What do those words even mean?"