Lucy’s POV
Admiral Fern, of course, accepted the challenge without batting an eye. “Of course, I’ll accept.” She walked over to where Tessa was seated and dragged her to a standing position, before bending over so that she could be close to the young girl. “But, I have my own terms as well.”
Of course she would. She had to have her own terms, unless things wouldn’t have been fair, would they? “What are they?”
The sinister smile already on her face grew. I had mever seen anyone who was able to communicate evil intentions with merely their facial expressions, but this woman was a pure master at it. Malicious intent oozed straight from her eyes, and the air turned cold. “This little girl here, and that man back in my chambers, will both meet a gruesome end if you lose. I can imagine that it’s a fate worse than death, seeing the people you love get killed like mere flies,” she said, her voice turning bitter.
A few weeks into our slavery, the admiral gave us all a thorough explanation of why we had found ourselves in that position, and how this was simply karma taking its course. To her, this was justice for the discrimination and loss she suffered as a Halfling. This was her way of creating a world where she and her kind could thrive. The long monologue she had given us appeared to me as simply a long, meaningless narration to excuse and justify all her wicked acts, but the more I observed her and the things she did, the more I understood that she was merely doing on the thoughts that she had forced herself to believe were true and right.
Even a ruthless villian was a hero in their own story.
“Let me go!” Someone else started shouting. I started shaking my head as soon as I saw that it was Rosa being forced into the clearing by two of the admiral’s people. Her arms were bound behind her back, and her hair hung in a disorganized fashion over her face. Her lip bled, and was a little swollen. Still, she had an anger in her eyes that couldn’t be quenched.
“Do you think that we are fools?” The admiral rose into a complete standing position, letting go of Tessa’s hair. “Did you think that no ine would have found out that right under our noses, you were trying to create a revival? Trying to put hopes into the hearts of these people?”
I had warned Rosa to be more careful with the people she approached for support, even as we were imprisoned, but she insisted that it would have been better for her to try to see people who would have been interested in helping us fight. Clearly, her actions hadn’t gone unnoticed.
I pressed my teeth together, clamping my jaw tightly. Each time we tried to do something, it always looked like she was a step ahead of us, and it was infuriating.
But right now, where we stood, I knew that there was nothing like going back anymore. Our future was going to matter. This was a chance for me to free everyone, or finally become nothing more than a memory.
I found it funny that almost a year back, I would never have thought of doing such a thing for Moongrowl-or even for other people who weren’t considered family. But here I was, willingly putting my life on the line for hem.
Rosa’s struggling pulled me out of my thoughts again. One of the man holding her lifted his arm and gave her a backhand slap so hard that her head threw back and she fell to her knees. “Silence!” he shouted at her.
More blood dropped out of her mouth as she kneeled down. Most of her face was now hidden.
“No, stop,” I said, taking a step towards her, but the guard close to me grabbed my arm, preventing me fron moving further.
Slowly, Admiral Fern steptled towards Rosa, carefully turning her blade this way and that by merely the rotation of her wrist. “I admire your courage, really. It takes a whole lot of guts to come here and challenge me.” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. “When you lose, I will definitely pay my respects to your corpse”
She signalled for the guards to step away from Rosa, and they did, giving her the space to advance nearer. Her eyes didn’t look away from me as she stepped behind Rosa, slipping her hand atop her neck from the front and immediately applying pressure.
Immediately, Rosa started to gasp for air, scratching at the admiral’s hand. “When I am done with you, you will beg for deeath. And you will be made as an example to all those who dare to defy me!” She said to me, still squeezing Rosa’s neck. At this point, she had stopped fighting, and her eyes were already closing.
After a torturous moment where I thought I was going to have to watch my friend die right in front of me, the admiral released Rosa’s throat, and Rosa fell forwards, resting on her palms as she breathed deeply, trying to let in fresh air into her lungs.
But the admiral wasn’t over.
There was a flash of metal, and a scream.
A strangled cry left my mouth. My whole body went cold.
Rosa stared at me, her eyes wide with shock. She looked down slowly, down to where the admiral’s blade had been pushed into her abdomen. She looked up again, and as her mouth opened, a rush of blood poured out.
I tried to go to her again, but the guard held me back. In rage, I tried summoning my wolf, but because ofthe fact that we had been given water and food laced with wolfsbane, I could barely even manage to summon my claws. I twisted around, trying to shock the guard and slash him across the face, but it was like he already anticipated such a move. He dodged my attack by stepping away, before kicking me square in the chest. I groaned from the force of his kick, which felt like a brick.
The back of my head connected with the ground, and my vision filled with stars for a moment.
From behind me, the was still speaking. “You want to show me what power is? Then the floor is yours.* A few stears slipped out of my eyes as I forced myself to roll over so that I could still see Rosa. “Don’t worry, If you’re manage to survive this challenge, your friend will live. But if she dies, your punishment will remain the same.” Sharply, she pulled out her blade from Rosa’s torso, causing Rosa to fall forward into the earth with a moan of pain. Slowly, blood started to bloom on Rosa’s dress around her wounds.
Slavery was no way to live.
“So, do you accept these conditions?” Admiral Fern asked, handing over her blade to a guard for cleaning.
I swallowed hard. My father’s voice echoed in my mind for the first time in months, reminding me of the time he asked me to swear off cowardice, especially when it came to risking my life for what I believed in. “Yes. I accept.”