“What defines the trueworthof something, Naaz? Would you pay your weight in gold for a chipped marbled vase?”
“Why would I waste my money on something already broken if I could have it made anew?”
The answer seemed to get a reaction out of my distorted reflection. “Then what might define the worth of aperson?”
I jumped at the sound of screaming behind me. When I turned, I saw Morrigan fall to the ground. The back of her dress was ripped, revealing her bare back, and I let out a shuddering breath as I saw them for the first time...
I knew they were there, but... I just hadn’t seen them before.
The sound registered in my head before I could actuallyseethe cane strike her. A single line against her fair, pink-tinted skin had been left behind.
“Morrigan!” I yelled, running to her, but my body slammed into the mirror. “Morrigan!” I’m here! I’m?—”
“Nothing!” The voice echoed just as my reflection had behind me. An odd reverberating tone that sounded like we were deep inside of a cave. “You are nothing! You are no one!”
I couldn’t see the person striking her, but I would recognize Maeryn’s venomous voice anywhere.
“Would you pay your weight in gold to save her right now?” my own voice whispered nearby.
Morrigan cried out as the cane came down in a vicious slash, and I could almost feel my chest shattering as I watched the skin tear this time.
“Yes! Fuck, just…” I slammed my hands against the mirror, trying to get her attention. “Morrigan! Let me in!”
“But she’s broken, Naaz. Her worth… I mean, she’s worth no more than your common whore on the street now.”
Anger boiled in my veins, and I turned slowly to stare at myself. “What the fuck did you just say?” I watched my own face contort into a twisted smile, before I ran at the mirror. “I’ll kill you!” I yelled, slamming my body against it, trying to break the glass. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
I heard the crack of the cane again, but this time, a sharp sting erupted along the skin of my back. I dropped to the floor from the explosion of pain that shot up my spine.
“Do you know what it’s like to be broken?” my voice whispered on the other side of the mirror.
The cane whipped through the air again, but I couldn’t see it anywhere, and now, the image of Morrigan was gone. But the pain was all too real. Again and again, the cane smacked against my back until my chest hit the floor.
“Stop!” I pleaded with an empty room. “What—What is happening?!”
The pain slammed into my ribs, knocking the breath from my lungs, and I rolled onto my back searching for relief.
“No one!”Maeryn’s voice yelled again, this time distant and hidden in darkness.“You. Are. NO ONE!”
My head snapped to the side from being struck, and I felt blood spray from my lips, landing on the floor in front of me. It happened again, ripping my head to the other side until stars danced in my vision.
All I could hear as I faded from consciousness was Maeryn’s screams and Morrigan’s pained pleas…
“No one.”
“No one.”
“No one.”
Memory
300 YEARS AGO…
“Kaiden. I don’t understand… What does this mean?”
We both sat together quietly for longer than I would have liked. “It means nothing,” he sneered, clutching a scroll in his hand until it crumbled in his palm. “They can’t decide our future like that. They can’t just stop us from choosing a wife… From loving…”
His eyes lifted to meet mine, anguish filling every speck of darkness that lingered there.
