Chapter 67 Sixty-Seven
Danica's peaceful oblivion didn't last long before the effects of the wolf's bane made it feel as if her entire body was on fire. The room around her laughed and cheered as she became unable to hold back her screams of pain. Everyone was enjoying the show, and even if she didn't want to give them what they wanted, she couldn't stop.
"Isn't it wonderful?" The harpie queen asked, giggling. "Wolfs bane was probably one of the greatest discoveries in existence. You wolves are quite annoying after all."
"Shut up." Danica panted as pain roared through her. "You are just a bitter old hag."
Even though she knew that pushing the queen's buttons wasn't the best of ideas, Danica couldn't help the urge she felt to piss the harpie queen off.
"You're playing with fire." The harpie queen warned getting up from her seat. "Would you like me to cut that tongue of yours out so you can't speak ill of anyone ever again?"
Biting back her reply, Danica curled in on herself, trying to find some relief from the pain that was consuming her.
"I wonder..." The queen mused, smiling ear to ear. "How long will you be able to withstand this? Eventually, the pain should drive you mad."
"I've already been mad." Now it was Danica's turn to laugh. "This is nothing."
As the words left her lips, a particularly agonizing round of pain hit her, seeming to want to prove her to be a liar.
"Since this doesn't seem to be enough for you, how about I add to your pain?" The queen asked as she turned to her steward. "Bring me the bamboo pole."
"Yes, Lady Marie." The steward said before turning and hurrying out of the room.
Danica could feel her heart constrict at Marie's order; it seemed that she was about to beat her, and there was no way to stop it from happening.
Beginning to feel helpless, Danica couldn't help but kick herself over her own stupidity for leaving Mason's side. Now she had truly gotten herself into a mess, and she couldn't quite find a way to get out of it.
"Scared now?" Marie asked, seeming to notice the change in Danica's attitude. "Too bad, it won't change anything now."
"Do your worst." Danica rasped, earning herself a growl from the harpie queen.
"Eventually, you're going to beg me for mercy." Marie pointed out as her steward returned with a long, thick pole made of bamboo.
Snapping her fingers, Marie motioned for the two harpies that had brought Danica to her to move forward and grab each of Danica's arms. Obeying, they did as commanded, lifting Danica up off the ground and facing her back towards the harpie queen.
"Go on," Marie cooed, slashing the bamboo pole through the air. "Maybe if you beg for mercy now, I will be lenient and not beat you."
"Never." Danica growled, bracing herself for the lashings that were to come.
"Have it your way."
As the harpie spoke, the sound of the pole whizzing through the air could be heard just as it connected with Danica's back, causing fire to surge through her.
"Still want to be defiant?" Marie asked, raising the pole and readying for another blow.
Clamping down on any replies, Danica prepared herself for the next hit that was sure to come.
"HIT HER!"
"HIT HER!"
"HIT HER!"
The same chant began to build around the room as the queen's bystanders grew bored with waiting. Obliging the queen let fly, connecting the pole with Danica's back again and again, adding to the pain she was already feeling from the wolfs bane.
It was only when Danica was on the edge of blacking out that Marie finally stopped with her torture.
"Stubborn." Marie murmured, eyeing Danica. "Just like your mother."
"You seem to have known my parents pretty well." Danica whispered, trying to remain conscious. "You have mentioned them quite a bit."
"Of course I knew your parents." Marie snapped. "We were all friends a long time ago."
Friends? If Marie and her parents had been friends, then why did Marie kill them? It made absolutely no sense to Danica.
"That was, however, a long time ago." Marie continued. "Back before they both became traitors."
From the tone of Marie's voice, it was easy to tell that she held a deep-rooted grudge against Danica's parents. One that left her bitter even to this day.
"Seems you were jealous of them." Danica pushed, wincing, as she began to try to sit up to look at the harpie queen. "Otherwise, why would you kill them?"
Marie smiled. "It seems that you remember it well."
If this had been a few weeks prior, then Danica wouldn't have even realized, but now that her memory of that night was back, she knew damn well that the loss of her parents had all to do with Marie.
"Why?" Danica asked, fixing her gaze on Marie's. "Why did you kill them?"
Seeming amused Marie just smiled bigger. "Do I truly need a reason to kill?"
"Yes, you do." Danica shot back. "Isn't there a peace agreement among all the creatures?"
Tilting her head back, Marie let a bellowing laugh escape her before turning her attention back to Danica.
"That agreement was ridiculous from the start."
Sensing bitterness in Marie's tone, Danica examined the harpie's face carefully to see if she could sense any sign of what the woman was actually thinking.
"If it is ridiculous, why did the harpies sign it to begin with?" Danica asked, trying to pry more information out of her.
"That was the ancestors decision." Marie huffed. "They even agreed to us living in the darklands alone and desolate."
There it was, Danica thought to herself. The reason the harpies were beginning to rebel was because they wanted to reside in the light like the others. But if that were the case, why didn't they just bring up their issue with the counsel of elders instead of having to start an all-out rebellion?
"Why try to change things this way?" Danica asked, giving up on trying to figure out the harpies actions. "Wouldn't the counsel hear you out?"
Marie's face fell into a frown at the mention of the council. "Those old fools shouldn't be in their positions." She spat. "We placed Rebecca there to help end them."
"Why are you bothering to tell me this?" Danica demanded.
"Why not?" Marie responded with a shrug. "It isn't like you are going to survive long enough to go back and tell anyone anyway."
Finished speaking Marie kicked out, connecting with Danica's stomach and sending her flying back into a wall. Air rushed out of her on impact, and black spots began to dance in front of her vision as she struggled to regain her breath.
It seemed that Marie was done talking, and now she was ready to take Danica's life right here and now.