Chapter 91

91 How could someone do this?

“Pen...” he called and Pen’s feet came to a stop. She cursed under her breath as she turned to him, lowering her head to greet him.

Azriel stared at her for some seconds and then he walked to where she stood. Without asking questions, he tilted her head upwards to look at her face;

“What happened?” he asked, worry in his eyes. Was she sick? Did someone hurt her?

Pen pulled her face from him as she glanced at the ground. Her eyes swirled and she felt like falling but she held herself;

“My lord, ” she greeted weakly, trying to hold herself from falling. Azriel stared at the woman in front of him and he wondered what happened to her.

Taking her hand, he looked at it and his gaze darkened when he saw the several bruises on it;

“Pen, what happened to you?” Azriel asked, becoming more curious now. He had thought she was sick but seeing the bruises on her palms, he knew it was something else.

Wait... Did Princess Lyra find out about the misunderstanding?

Pen quickly pulled her hand from him, and put them behind her as she lowered her head. The last thing she was going to do was tell him about the punishment. It was only going to make matters worse for her, and she knew Lyra; if she knew she told Azriel, she would double whatever she was doing to her now.

.....

“It is nothing, my lord. I fell down and bruised my hands. If there is nothing more, I would like to leave.”

Azriel knew those bruises were not from falling down, but he had promised her that he would let her be, so he decided not to pry.

“It is alright. You may leave.” He said and Pen bowed and she turned around to leave, but she had not taken up to five steps when her eyes swirled and her legs gave way.

“Pen! Pen!...” Pen could hear mild screams of her name in the background before her eyes closed and she lost consciousness.

...

Pen opened her eyes to a dimly lit room. She blinked as she adjusted her eyes to the light in the room, and almost immediately, she frowned;

“Where was she?” She asked herself and tried to stand up but the pain from her back shot through her body sending her falling back to the bed. Gritting her teeth, she looked around her, trying to remember what happened before she lost consiousness.

She was speaking to Azriel before she fell down. She had not had anything to eat since the day before and her wounds was not attended to, that must be why she had fainted. Pen thought.

She breathed in and tried to stand up again, slowly this time. Pulling her back up, she sat up on the bed, but before she could stand up, the door opened and Azriel walked into the room.

“Pen, you’re awake.” He called with worry as he walked to were she lay on the bed.

“You’re sick, lay back down.” He said, helping her back into the bed.

“Where am I? I have to return, Princess Lyra would be looking for me.” Pen said with panic as she looked around her. She was lying down on a king sized bed, and the room was tastefully decorated. There were a few dark arts hanging on the wall, but she was more concerned about leaving there than admiring what it was;

Did he bring her to his house? Pen asked herself and Azriel answered almost immediately, as though he had heard her.

“You’re in my home. You fainted and I brought you here, I had the physician dress the wounds on your hands but you have to tell me what really happened and how you got those injuries so I can help you.”

Pen was quiet. If she told him, he might meet Lyra and it would cause trouble for her, but her back was in serious pains and she needed to dress the wounds.

“Please, promise me you won’t talk to anyone about this.”

She spoke, looking at him, and Azriel nodded;

“I promise.” From her words, he suspected it was the Princess but he did not want to conclude;

Pen paused for a second before she spoke; “Princess Lyra flogged me for the misunderstanding, she overheard me telling the other maids about it so she asked a few servants to flog me.”

Azriel blinked when he heard her words, anger shooting through his bones, but he kept quiet;

“On your hands?” He asked but Pen shook her head;

“No, on my back.” Azriel’s gaze grew darker as he became angrier, but he breathed out, trying to control his anger. One thing he hated was demons using their powers to punish humans unduly, simply because they were stronger.

“What then happened to your hands?”

Pen looked at her hands which had been cleaned and an ointment applied on them, and she replied; “she asked for fresh roses this morning, the thorns had torn my skin as I plucked them.”

Azriel kept quiet, he did not want to show her that he was mad, so she would not become scared and not tell him more.

“Can I see your back?” He asked and Pen hesitated, but after some seconds, she started undoing her dress.

Azriel watched her quietly as she stretched her hands behind her and tried to loosen the ropes.

She grimaced when she pricked her injury and Azriel leaned closer to her;

“Let me help you;” he said, taking her hand away from her back, he untied the ropes.

Pen’s chin flushed when he came close to her, his breath fanning her skin. Her eyes fluttered as she looked away, holding her breath as he undid the ropes.

He was swift with the ropes and she wondered just how many women he had undressed in his house. Pen quickly stopped herself from thinking about things like that, she had nothing to do with him, it was not her business what he did with himself.

Azriel finished untying the ropes and undid her buttons. When he was done, Pen pulled down the dress from her shoulders and held them to her chest as she turned around slowly;

“What in the hell!” Azriel exclaimed when he saw the purple and red streaks lacerated on her back. They were swollen and some of them were broken and blood seeped out of them.

Azriel couldn’t believe his eyes, how could a woman do this?