Duke Tedric turned his head to the right. "I have seen what you've done to Count Dickman. Very impressive, I must say. Just this morning, King Liam has already been informed of what you have done, and your title as a Baron has been taken away from you!"
Jayden was as surprised as Mina. "King Liam?" The question slipped between Mina's lips before she could stop it.
"I see that you don't know. But how could you have known when you left to chase after rabbits in the mountains? Rumors of Kaj's escape have reached King Liam's ears, and a secret coronation has taken place since then to secure the kingdom's future. As Rosalyn's cousin, you would also have been invited, along with your husband. Well, I mean husband at that time." Duke Tedric turned his attention to Jayden. "Since you are no longer a Baron, your marriage with my niece has been annulled. But don't worry, even though she has been soiled by you, there are still men that want her. And it so happens that King Stig is looking for a new whore to keep his Royal Guards happy!"
Jayden tried to attack Duke Tedric, but the Necromancer slashed his knee ligaments. He tumbled to the floor, and the collar tightened around his neck, choking him.
"Jayden!" Mina and Rosalyn said at the same time.
Mina rushed to Jayden and looked for a way to remove the collar while Rosalyn tried to take the dagger from the Necromancer, only to be grabbed by her neck and thrown across the room. Her back hit the wall, and she fell next to the cage.
"You fucking coward!" Jayden snarled. "But you always loved torturing women! No wonder your mother abandoned you the day you turned seven. She knew the piece of shit you were!"
Before the Necromancer tried to hurt Jayden even more, Duke Tedric stopped him. "Kaj! We need him alive! After his powers are taken from him, you can do what you wish with him! Rosalyn, get back in the armchair, and if you dare move again, your husband will have to find a new queen!"
Rosalyn wobbled to the armchair and sat without uttering a word.
Jayden glared at Duke Tedric. "What I did to Dickless is going to be tame compared to what I will do to you! And not only that, but I will let everyone know you spent Mina's dowry to start your illegal slave business!" Duke Tedric lifted an eyebrow. "You thought I would not find out? It is impressive what people say when they are tortured for hours! I know about your brother—"
"Kaj!" Duke Tedric said loudly, interrupting Jayden. "Time is running low. Lord Ferry should come searching for the bastard any time now. We need to hurry!"
Mina wrapped her arms around Jayden and bared her teeth at the Necromancer. Duke Tedric grabbed Mina by her hair, forced her to her feet, turned her around, slapped her so hard her lower lip bled and shoved her into the sofa. She ignored the sting from her cheek and lip as she tried to stand, only to be pushed right back. "I will have Kaj cut your ligaments as well if you move one more inch!" the Duke snarled at her.
Jayden swore and tried to reach for Mina, but magic chains snaked around his arms, legs, and torso, pinning him to the floor while the Necromancer squatted in front of him. "You and your men will be guests in my tower! I have so many spells and poisons to test on you," he said as he inserted the tip of his dagger between Jayden's topaz and his forehead.
Jayden bucked and growled and grunted in pain, but he could do nothing to escape.
"Stop!" Mina said. "I will do whatever you want, but please! Please!" she begged as she fell to her knees in front of her uncle. "Don't harm Jayden anymore!"
Duke Tedric petted her hair. "You will do whatever I ask of you?" Mina nodded. "Kiss my boots and say how sorry you are for being a stupid half-breed gypsy whore!"
"Mina, don't!" Jayden bellowed. Blood was running down his face as the Necromancer was trying to cut free the topaz.
Mina knew how humiliating what her uncle asked her to do was, but she did not care. She would kiss the shoes of everyone in Athea if she had to.
Mina lowered her head, and before her lips touched her uncle's right boot, she said, "I am sorry for disobeying you and not knowing my place. If you set Jayden and his men free, I will go willingly to the Kingdom of Litus and do everything King Stig asks of me!"
Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them run down her cheeks. She kissed the boots—twice each one—and remained on her knees, her head bowed low in front of her uncle.
"Now mine!" said Rosalyn. Mina looked at Rosalyn in confusion. "Do as told, or I will have Jayden's men executed. And it will be all your fault!"
Jayden's men were hers as well. Mina was their Andarra, and even if she hated Rosalyn with all her heart, she could not—would not let them die. She tried not to show her hate as she moved in front of Rosalyn—a Queen bowing in front of a queen. And Mina kissed Rosalyn's shoes.
Jayden bucked hard against the magic chains. "I will fucking kill everyone for humiliating my wife this way!"
"She humiliated herself by letting you touch her!" Duke Tedric calmly said to Jayden. A moment later, he looked at the Necromancer. "Kaj, the Topaz of Power, if you may."
The Necromancer kept trying to remove Jayden's topaz. He tried to cut it free from Jayden's forehead, but the gemstone stubbornly refused to come off.
The Necromancer gritted his teeth. "I almost have it!"
Mina crawled toward Jayden, but her uncle kicked her in the ribs, and she fell on the rug. Her eyes found Jayden—blood covered part of his face. His dark gaze was fixed on Duke Tedric, and he opened and closed his fists. Mina knew that the moment Jayden was free, he would find a way to kill her uncle.
Duke Tedric looked at Jayden as if he was a rabid dog. "Kill him if you have to! I need that gemstone!"
"No!" Mina screamed. "You promised to let Jayden and his men go!"
Duke Tedric smirked. "I never said that! Kaj! Now!"
"Pitty! I would have enjoyed breaking him." The Necromancer smiled as he tried to stab Jayden in the chest but dropped the dagger when Mina screamed, and he pressed his palms on either side of his head.
Mina was not screaming; she was shrieking so loud that all the house windows shattered. Duke Tedric and Rosalyn covered their ears with their palms while Mina kept shrieking. The chains that kept Jayden tied to the floor broke, and Jayden tackled the Necromancer. The cage opened, and despite their injuries, the wolves jumped to help Jayden. The shadow wolves followed them.
Duke Tedric kicked Mina in the stomach, sending her crashing into the coffee table, knocking the air out of her, and stopping her infernal shriek. Her ribs hurt badly, and she forced herself to stand despite the pain, but before she could take a step, Duke Tedric pulled out a hunting knife and moved in front of her. In a low and menacing tone, he said, "Give me one reason to not kill you right now!"
Mina kept her eyes on her uncle's knife while she wondered why Jayden would not use his powers. "You sold me to King Stig? Only he can decide if I get to live or die."
Duke Tedric smiled. "Then I will cut your legs and arms! After all, you don't need them to satisfy the men of the Litus Kingdom."
Mina had no doubt her uncle would not only harm her more than he already did, and she was in no condition to fight.
The undead wolf, which only a few hours before had been Caesar, ran to help his master. He turned on his brothers and attacked a brown wolf, biting his front hard and breaking bones. Two light gray wolves tried to save the brown one from the powerful jaw of the undead creature.
Jayden trapped the Necromancer between his strong legs and the rug. He used the iron manacles or his fists to hit the Necromancer in the face and head while the ocxoas and the shadow wolves were tearing the Necromancer's hands and feet.
The house shook violently. Black vines wrapped around Jayden and his wolves' legs dragged them around the room. The shadow wolves rushed to free Jayden while the Necromancer grabbed his dagger from where it fell before standing up.
The ground opened and swallowed the floor, and skeletons and half-decomposed corpses rose from it. Some had swords or battle axes, while others carried shields, and they attacked Jayden and his wolves. Two skeletons aimed their sword for Jayden's head, but he avoided them at the last moment. A shadow wolf reduced the skeletons to a pile of bones while the other two finished removing the black vines from around Jayden's leg before helping the ocxoas.
Jayden inhaled sharply and grunted in excruciating pain as he stood. Even with his ligaments injured, he and his shadow wolves fought a group of six undead, using the iron manacles to stop the battle axes from cutting off his head.
Three skeletons circled a brown and white wolf and stabbed him with swords between his ribs. A whining sound came from the wolf as when he was stabbed again, his yelps and sounds of pain died. The light from his eyes was gone before his body hit the ground.
"Shaun!" Jayden bellowed as he used his fists to try to put two skeletons back in the ground.
More undead rose, and Jayden grabbed a sword and a battle axe from a pile of bones. He slashed and hacked and sent back to Beliar the skeletons. Madness danced in his eyes, and when the Necromancer crept behind him, he did not notice.
"Jayden!" Mina screamed as the Necromancer plunged the dagger into Jayden's lower back several times.
And Mina shrieked again, louder than before. Something cracked inside her chest, and she screamed so loudly the Necromancer and the Duke fell to their knees, blood coming out of their ears.
The undead wolf jumped on Mina and bit her right thigh. She fell on her back; fingers and hands stuck out of the ground and pulled her in. The shadow wolves rushed to save her, and threw the undead wolf off of her. She tried to free herself from the hands but more appeared, covering her, pulling her beneath. She tried to scream for help, but so many skeletal fingers covered her face, muffling any sound she made.
Before the ground covered her, she thought she heard Rosalyn say, "He is no longer safe in Nodor. Take him to..."
Dozens upon dozens of hands kept pushing Mina down, down, down. And the ground closed around her.