Lucy’s POV
We reached the hall, and Shaun gently placed me on my feet. He didn’t move away from me, but instead hung close. If he wanted to, it would have been so easy for him to wrap his arm around me and press me to his body. But, I got assurance from the fact that he was close by, and nothing would happen to me.
Inside the hall, stood people whose faces I couldn’t recognise. They all wore the same uniform of black leather from head to toe, making them appear like shadows even in broad daylight. They had gathered at the center of t he hall, watching me in silence. From their demeanor alone, I knew that they didn’t belong here with us.
Anger started to boil inside of me again. “Why are you people still here?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Haven’t you done enough?”
They remained quiet, watching me with stoic expressions. None of them so much as flinched from my earlier question that had almost been a scream.
“Shaun, why are they here? What do they want?” I turned to my mate, hoping that he had more answers than questions for me.
“This happened because of the deal you struck with the admiral, Lucy. If she lost, it meant relinquishing power over her minions.” He gestured with a hand towards the rogues. “Their master is gone, and so have whatever loyalty they held towards her. Now, they see you as their leader.”
“But I don’t want to be their leader. I want nothing to do with them!”
Shaun’s hands came on my shoulders gently, turning me around so that I could face him. I didn’t lift my head up to look him in the eyes, so he gently placed a finger underneath my chin and raised my head up so that our eyes were touching. “It’s alright, Lucy. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but I would suggest that with the Admiral gone, they are still rogues.”
“What about those beasts that hurt people? What about that pregnant woman that was killed without a second thought? What about the others? Every single one of them in this hall also bears the blame for the death of Rosa, and they must be punished for it-every single one of them,” I said feeling my inner anger rising up within me like a flood. I couldn’t stand seeing their faces and be reminded of all those weeks where I had been treated like a common slave under them.
Their hands weren’t even chained. “They’re not even chained, Shaun. They aren’t kept in the same state that they kept us,” I pointed out, looking for something-anything that could be used to make them suffer.
“Lucy-”
“No! Shaun. For this? No. I will not show them mercy . . . What?” I asked him when I noticed that he had become a little surprised. I turned around to see what was happening, and saw all the members of Shadow Howl already on their knees, bowing their heads close to the ground.
“What are they doing?” I asked, watching them in confusion.
One of the people in front, a young man who didn’t look much older than Shaun, lifted his head to look straight at me. “You are our master now. The admiral is no more, but your display of strength showed us that you are a worthy woman to take up the responsibility of leading the Shadow Howl.”
“You must be out of your mind if you think that I will merely listen to
you spit nonsense and fall for it.”
The man’s eyes didn’t even flinch as he quietly regarded me. The others remained on their knees, still looking at the ground. I turned to Shaun uncertainly. “What is the meaning of what he is saying, Shaun?”
“What you heard him say.” As I started shaking my head again, he pulled me close to him, hand brushing the top of my hip. “You don’t have to make any choices right now, Lucy. But these people willingly gave up their weapons right after their admiral died, saying that they can’t fight anymore.”
“And the rogues? These people didn’t come alone. They sent beasts to packs and aided in the senseless killings of many. And all for what? To be seen as a superior species? To make all of us pay for somehow never giving Halflings the recognition that they felt they deserved?” I sighed. “I want them all executed! I want them all to pay for everything they did to us!”
“Do you really want to kill over thirty men and women? I know you’re hurt, and grieving, but let’s just think about this, sweetheart,” he said, holding my face in his hands. I didn’t like that the one time I wanted to do something drastic, he was trying to be a voice of reason. I wanted to surrender to my pain and anger, and mete out punishment to all those who deserved it.
“If you’re not going to support me, Shaun, then just leave me alone,” I said, pushing his hands away from my face and rushing out of the hall and down the nearest hallway.
I didn’t get very far before arms wrapped around my waist, and all the frustration and pain finally escaped me. Cries burst forth from me, filling up the place.
“My love . . .” said Shaun, lifting me into his arms again and taking me to our bedroom.
It had been so long since I’d been inside it. Even through my tears, the place managed to fill me with a little feeling of peace.
Gently, Shaun placed me on the bed and kneeled in front of me, wiping my tears with his thumbs. “I hate to see you cry, sweetheart.”
“They should suffer too. I don’t care if I won, I just want to rip them all apart and destroy them for what they did,” I said.
“But will that really solve anything?” he said, watching me carefully. “Is that going to make things better?”
I pressed my eyes shut. My shoulders sagged as I pondered on his words. He was right. What was done, was done. And there was no going back.