I walked back in and took my seat before them. I looked at Daniel very carefully, but couldn’t read his face. LeBlanc’s face, however, was readable from the small smirk on his face. I could tell I was found guilty on at least one of the charges. “Amaya Wardwell, you have been found guilty on both charges.” LeBlanc said.
“By what count?”
“Five to four. Neither Daniel nor Fredrik were allowed to vote,” Garrett stated.
I raised an eyebrow, “Yet Kachina was.”
“She’s not related to you by blood, so yes,” Alasie responded.
“You will be whipped thirty times in front of your clan,” LeBlanc said with a smirk still on his face.
“You may lash me, but it will not be in front of my clan.”
“You don’t get to make the rules,” LeBlanc growled.
“I do when my clan has been through so much. Many of them have had experiences worse than your nightmares, and I won’t put them through anything else.” I pushed dominance into my voice, “You will not lash me in front of my clan.”
LeBlanc’s head bowed slightly under my dominance. “Fine,” he bit out with his head still bowed.
I nodded, “When are we taking care of this?”
“Right now, so the other leaders can be here for it,” Daniel said.
I just nodded. As we walked into the hall, Jace stopped Fox from walking up to me. LeBlanc growled at him as we walked past. I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to LeBlanc and shoved him against the wall, lifting him just slightly so we were eye to eye. The smell of fear permeated the hallway. “Even look at my mate wrong again, and your clan will need a new king. Understood?” He swallowed hard and nodded, “Good.”
Once we made it outside, I pulled up a pillar with a spot in it for the iron cuffs. Daniel handed me the cuffs, and I set them in the open indent and closed it over them. I pulled my shirt over my head so I was still covered on the front. While the other royals’ eyes were trained on my scarred body I bent open the cuffs and closed them around my wrists. I closed my eyes and touched my forehead to the pillar. LeBlanc stopped staring at some point and picked up the whip he brought with him. For each strike that came down, I didn’t flinch or cry out, I just stood silently with my forehead against the pillar.
“That’s thirty,” Fredrik said. I felt the whip about to come down again, but it never hit. I uncuffed myself and turned to see what stopped him. I saw the whip caught in a block of earth and LeBlanc being held at the throat by Kachina.
I fixed my shirt before walking over, “Kachina,” I said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Kachina. Let him go. I’m fine.”
LeBlanc continued to struggle until Kachina looked over at me. She threw LeBlanc to the ground. She touched her forehead to mine and breathed deeply as our dragons reached out for one another. “Let’s get you healed.”
“Wait,” Bree said, “How did you get those scars?”
I snorted, “Why would I tell someone who didn’t care to listen?” I turned and walked back into the complex with Kachina, Daniel, and my uncle.
“Let’s get you to the infirmary,” Kachina said once we got inside the complex.
“No. I don’t want anyone in the clan to see. They don’t need to relive their trauma. You can treat me in my room, but I think it’s close to being healed.”
“I hope you didn’t like this shirt,” Fredrik said, “You’ve pretty much soaked through it.”
Fox was the first person we saw as we turned the corner, “What happened?”
“Out of the way Fox. She needs to be treated,” Daniel said, but Fox just looked at him. “Fox! Snap out of it. She needs to be treated.”
Fox finally snapped out of it and moved out of the way, following as we walked to my room. “Do you want me in the room?” Fox asked as Daniel and Fredrik took a seat in my office.
I just nodded with a small smile on my lips. “You may hold her hand, but anything else will have to wait until I’m done.” Kachina told him, “Let’s get you out of this shirt,” I shrugged out of my shirt, “lay on your stomach. It’ll be a little easier to treat these than it was to treat you the last time.”
I did as she instructed and Fox settled in next to the bed, squeezing my hand gently. I closed my eyes as the warmth of Kachina’s healing washed over me.
Fox’s POV
“She’s asleep,” Kachina said quietly.
“Thank you for-uh-healing her,” I said, unsure of myself.
“I would do anything for your mate. You’re very lucky to have her.”
I looked at Amaya, taking in every little detail on her face before looking up at Kachina, “I know. She’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”
She gave me a warm smile. Daniel and a middle aged man walked in, “How is she, Kachina?”
“She’ll be fine,” Kachina looked down at her, “She’s been through enough this won’t bother her.”
“It sure as hell bothers me,” the man said. “That shithead had the votes coming into the meeting. I don’t know what he hoped to accomplish by doing this, but whatever it was it didn’t work.”
“I’m sure he wanted to make her appear weak,” Daniel said bitterly.
“What exactly happened?”
“Fredrik and I were forced to abstain from voting on whether she was guilty or not so that LeBlanc could have the majority vote. She was lashed thirty times because LeBlanc was, and probably still is, best friends with Joseph,” Daniel growled.
“Why would they do that after everything she’s been through?” I asked.
“Most don’t know. Aaron’s a friend and even he didn’t know,” Fredrik explained.
Everyone looked to her office door as a light knock echoed through her office. Daniel walked out and threw open the door, he quietly swallowed a growl, “What do you want Bree?”
“Is she okay?” A pretty, young woman asked.
“Why would you care?” Daniel asked with a growl.
“I’m sorry. You know how Beau is. He made us believe if she wasn’t punished, she would expose us completely, and who’s to say she hasn’t done that with these three humans she exposed us to.”
“The fact she puts her life on the line for all of you should be reason enough to back her,” I hissed angrily as I came into Amaya’s office.
Bree nodded her head, “Maverick just explained to me what all she has done for my clan. I had no idea she was responsible for getting rid of the hunters in my territory.”
“Because she doesn’t want recognition for her actions,” Daniel explained.
A small sound came from the bedroom as it got louder, I rushed back into the room. I picked up her hand and placed a hand on her forehead, hoping it was enough to keep the nightmares at bay. She startled awake, tears streaming down her face. As she sat up I wiped the tears from her face, but they kept coming. I crawled into bed with her and settled her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her. She sobbed hard into my chest as I soothed her.
She eventually stopped crying but didn’t stir. Bree came into the room quietly, “I was hoping I could-”
“No. Get out,” I ordered her. I was surprised when her head bowed just slightly like they did when Amaya ordered people to do things. She backed out of the room without another sound.
Author: Kailan Counahan 