Pure terror courses through my veins as I’m led to the stone tower my father has always used to imprison me whenever I find myself at the center of misfortune in the kingdom. This room holds nothing but horrible memories, yet I have a feeling that nothing I’ve been through compares to what is to come.My head begins to pound in line with the hammering of my heart, and my vision begins to blur just as the two men dragging me up the tower begin to struggle to hold me down. The torches that illuminate the spiral staircase begin to burn brighter, courtesy of my curse, no doubt, and they tighten their grip on my arms, their movements becoming more frantic.The soldiers let go of me to open the heavy metal doors, and neither of them looks me in the eye as they hold the door open for me. Part of me wants to beg them to save me, but I know I’m beyond salvation. I stopped begging years ago.I’m not surprised to find my father standing in the room, a whip in his hands. Cold sweat licks at my skin, and bile rises up my throat. Magical objects are banned in our country, yet my father’s army has a handful of torture devices I’m certain are magical. The thick leather whip in my father’s hands is enchanted to heal the surface of your skin instantly, leaving you with pain but no visible scars. Of all my punishments, this is the one I hate most, and I suspect he knows it.“You thought you could run from the Shadow Emperor?” He looks at me, his eyes blazing with a mixture of disgust and rage. “Who did you think would pay the price for your treachery?”I gulp when my eyes land on the handcuffs he picks up from the floor, black tendrils of dark magic seeping out of the metal. For a moment I try to resist, wishing that I truly had my mother’s magic, as he’s always accused me of having. Maybe then, I’d be able to fight back. Maybe then, Nathaniel and I would’ve made it out alive and well.My father binds my hands together using the enchanted cuffs, and I’m instantly immobilized, my body stiffening unnaturally. I have no doubt he’d make me wear them every day if it weren’t an item he shouldn’t even possess.Father smiles as he pushes against my shoulder until I tumble onto a cold metal stool, my movements stiff and unnatural. I’ve been here countless times, yet it never gets easier. I used to fight him, before he acquired the cuffs, but in time, I learned that my punishments only get worse if I do.I try my best to brace myself for the inevitable pain, but it doesn’t come. Usually my father can’t wait to get started with disciplining me, hoping to beat the curse out of me, but today he just stands and stares at me, his gaze burning. “Answer me.”It takes me a moment to even remember his question. Fear controls my every thought, and I feel sick to my stomach. “I wasn’t thinking, Father. I was terrified of marrying a monster and dying at his hands… I just wanted to live.”My father laughs, the sound in contrast with the swishing of the whip. It comes down on my back with such force that I struggle to stay in my seat. It feels like fire burns underneath my skin, coursing its way through to every last nerve ending, and I clench my teeth to keep from screaming. It’s futile, but it’s the last bit of control I hold.“It’s our entire kingdom you put at stake. You were to be traded in return for leniency for our kingdom.”The whip comes down again, and this time I don’t manage to stay silent. I cry out in pain, and that only makes my father more angry. He hates weakness. “I’m sorry,” I beg. “Please, Father.” I say the words without thinking. Years of this should have taught me that my father knows no mercy, yet each time I try.“Did the Orathis boy touch you?” he spits, raising his whip all over again.“N-No! I swear it, Father. He had nothing to do with this. It was all me,” I tell him, praying he’ll have mercy on Nathaniel.noveldramaHe hits me again, and this time I nearly choke from the air that suddenly rushes through my lungs. Much like the fire that flooded my body earlier, burning me from the inside, the air I breathe is now trying its best to suffocate me. The whip’s powers are so reminiscent of what I’ve read about the Shadow Emperor that I can’t help but choke out a laugh, the irony not lost on me. I’m moving from one tyrant’s household to another. I won’t die here tonight, but if I’m lucky, I’ll die at the Shadow Emperor’s hands tomorrow. Maybe then I’ll finally know real peace.“You will marry the Shadow Emperor tomorrow, and you’ll do it with a smile on your face. Hesitate for even a second, and I’ll have the boy hung.”I nod as tears fall down my cheeks. The whip stings, but physical pain is bearable. It’s the heartache that has me shedding tears. I feel foolish for thinking that I could get away. For thinking that my father might understand, or that he might console me.“You’re just like your mother,” he says, his voice radiating with anger. “She’d have condemned this kingdom to ruin by welcoming in those who bring misfortune if she’d had a chance, and you’re just as selfish. You, too, would condemn an entire kingdom for your own selfish desires.”Part of me is tempted to argue with him. No territory that has been conquered by the Shadow Emperor has suffered, provided that it didn’t resist, nor have there been reports of misfortune befalling the countries he’s established safe havens in. It’s not the kingdom my father is trying to protect. It’s his position as king. He knows failure to comply with the Shadow Emperor’s demands means being replaced.“Did I ever mean anything to you, Father? I know you never loved me, but did you ever care at all?” I turn my head and stare up at him through teary eyes. He pauses as though caught by surprise. I have always endured the punishments he gave me for merely being who I was born as, never daring to ask for his love. But now? Now I have nothing left to lose. He can’t hurt me any more than he already has.“You are my daughter,” he answers, evading the question. That in itself should tell me enough.“If it was Serena that he’d asked for, would you have agreed?”His eyes widen in anger, and when he raises his whip again, I have my answer. “Don’t even dream of asking your sister to take your place!”I shake my head to deny the allegation, but I should know better by now. There’s no reasoning with my father. When it comes to me, he only hears what he wants to hear. Nothing I do or say will ever be right.Except this. This marriage. Walking down the aisle tomorrow might very well be the only thing I’ll ever do right in his eyes. The whip comes down on my back again, and this time I fiercely wish it truly could burn me until I’m nothing but ashes. My vision begins to swim as my father’s last hit makes me fall off my seat, and my eyes fall closed as I welcome the darkness, my broken heart bleeding out on these cold stone floors.