chapter twelve

─── marriage plans

trigger warnings : this chapter contains abuse, large amounts of violence, inference to rape and misogyny

          𝔄s soon as I sat down, I tightened the walls in my mind to make sure that my father would have to spend a large amount of time breaking them, before reaching out to Azriel through the mating bond.

Don't come back. I warned, watching the room cautiously.

Maiya... Azriel sounded panicked, but I tried to push my calmness down the bond.

Stay with Rhysand. Whatever happens, do not come back to the palace. I warned once more, before blocking the mating bond and watching my father with cold eyes. "What is this about?"

I caught my mother's eye, seeing the guilty look inside of them as she turned away. My own eyes narrowed, turning back to my father. His eyes were wild with madness, glaring at me like he wished I would incinerate.

"You lied to me." He stated, voice hushed.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, girl!" I was on my feet in an instance at the shout, hand reaching for a dagger as I watched him. "You and the Illyrian bastard?"

"I don't know what you're speaking of."

"Do you think that I'm stupid, child? Or that I wouldn't know what was going on in my own court." My father was also standing now as I tried to find a place for me to back away too, but I was trapped. "First, your cousin goes and sleeps with one of Rhysand's friends, now I find that you've whored yourself out to one as well."

"Excuse me?" My temper grew, anger igniting inside me. "How dare you insinuate that?"

"As far as I know, you've been sleeping around since I sent you to the Hewn City." He thundered, as I shook my head. 

"Don't you dare undermine my position." I pointed at him, disgusted with the insinuation. "I worked hard to get to where I am in Hewn. I never slept around, I never took bribes and I never blackmailed. I got that position on my own!"

"Well now, that position is going to Mendax."

"What?"

"All of your duties will now be Mendax's-"

"You can't!" I protested.

"-and everything you know you need to tell him."

"That's not how it works."

"Well, it is now." My father glared at me. "You should be lucky that I am not treating you as Keir treated Morrigan. You should be lucky that Mendax is willing to take spoiled goods so go and thank him."

"I'd rather die than give that pathetic excuse of a man any of my power." I spat, glaring at Mendax. "I will not marry him and I will certainly never let him into bed with me."

"Then I'll give him permission to take you no matter how much you struggle." My father's glare grew harsh as I stumbled away from him, shaking my head in horror. "The only thing I need you for now is a strategist, and even then I don't need you all that much."

"Maiya, just accept it." I turned my glare onto my mother.

"You don't have a right to speak in this matter when I am certain that it was most likely you who fuelled his paranoia." I spat as she shrunk back into her seat. "Even now, you won't even try and protect me like you would have done if it was Rhysand in this position-"

"Maiya!" My father growled.

"If Rhysand and my roles were reversed, you'd be down on your knees begging him not to let anything happen to me. Instead, because it's me, you're letting him get away with it." I thundered, my anger mounting as I reached for a dagger. The mating bond with Azriel was flickering, worry coursing down it but I batted it away. "Just like you did when they chopped my wings off of my back!"

"Maiya, I am your mother." She protested, eyes filling with tears.

"No, you're not." I towered over her, glaring at her. "You haven't been my mother in years, not since you ran off to Rhysand and forgot that you had an older daughter that you left at the hand of this monster. So don't even try and sit there and defend yourself. You're just as guilty as he is."

Before I could spit another insult at the woman, a hand grabbed the back of my armour, throwing me backwards and into the door. I thudded to the ground, winded, but father didn't let it rest there. He grabbed onto my throat, pulling to my feet and holding me up. I choked, struggling to get air into my lungs as my feet kicked.

"Watch your tongue, before I take it out." He hissed as I tried not to spit in his face. 

Maiya? Maiya, what's going on? Azriel sounded panicked now.

Stay with Rhysand. They know. If you come back, they'll kill you. I kept the glare on my face as my father turned to Mendax.

Are you alright?

I'm fine, but you have to stay there. I can handle this, but I can't do this if they hurt you. Reluctantly, Azriel seemed to back off as my father turned back to me.

"I won't have this information getting out that you slept with an Illyrian." My father pushed me to the floor, slamming my head to the ground as I struggled, stars clouding my vision. "I will not face the shame that Keir did. Mendax, marry her quickly and get it done with it."

"I'm not marrying that son of a bitch and you can not make me." I pushed myself up, but my father turned around. I had underestimated how angry he was, for when he turned, his fist went flying into the side of my face and I slammed against the obsidian once more.

My vision blurred, my head spinning as I winced in pain. But, I had never truly known when to stop and they were not going to make me do this. Training with the Darkbringers had prepared me for fighting through injuries.

"I'll kill him in his sleep. I'll set my entire legion on him if I have to, the whole of the Darkbringers." I pushed myself up once more as I spat insults from my mouth. "I'll hunt him down and hang him using his own guts."

Another punch sent me slamming back into the floor as my legs crumpled beneath me. I rolled onto my back, pulling my hand back from the side of my head to look at the blood on it. It was red, slipping through my fingers like rubies. 

"She's being overdramatic." My father glared down at me, as I struggled up once more. "Mendax is a good match, hopefully he'll curb that defiant streak in you."

He turned to Mendax, who had been watching all of this with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Use force if she will not submit, I do not mind." My father waved his hand, as I pushed myself up. Still, my mother said nothing and just watched.

"I'll kill him like I killed his brother." I hissed, using the door to hold me up as I brushed the blood away. 

"You will go and be a good wife." My father glared at me, pointing a finger in my face as I scowled. "You won't bring anymore shame onto this family."

"I'm your best strategist! You will not do well in this war without me." I reminded him.

"Mendax will take over your roles." I truly laughed at that sentiment.

"The Darkbringers hate him. You think that any of them will follow Mendax, then you have never been to the Hewn City." I shook my head, knowing my army better than anyone, "and you truly think that the Illyrians will listen to him? If you think that, then you are more of a fool than I first thought."

It felt like they were cutting my wings off again. I felt powerless, like there was nothing I could do. But I did have one final card to play, one ace in my hand so to speak.

"What did you say to me?"

"You heard me." I shook my head, brushing the blood away. "The Illyrians would kill him. Rhysand would kill him."

"Rhysand would not." My mother stated and I nodded, before shrugging.

"You're right, my brother might not, but my mate would." I folded my arms, smirking as I placed my trump card on the table. "He'd butcher Mendax for daring to lay a hand on me. You know how overprotective Illyrians can be."

My father watched me, fury in his eyes as I chuckled to myself. 

"You don't have a mate."

"You see, you didn't read that list I gave you properly, because if you did, you would know that I read them all years ago." I shrugged, still laughing to myself. "You didn't though, and instead gave me three weeks unsupervised leave with my mate. The Frenzy is a wonderful thing."

He was beside me in an instance, slamming me against the wall as I choked. But even that couldn't stop me grinning and chuckling.

"I win." I hissed at him, my eyes flashing as he slammed me back against the wall once more.

"You impudent child!" He seethed, glaring at me with bulging eyes. He dropped me, and I slammed to the floor, still laughing maniacally. I had won.

For the first time since they cut my wings off, I had beaten my parents. 

"You are no longer a daughter of mine." My father glared at me as if I was a prisoner that he wished to butcher. "You hold no place in my court. You will never take my place. You will never return to the outside world unless fighting."

"I think you forget," I stood up on shaky legs. "I control the Darkbringers now and in a matter of days, Hewn is mine. I have full control on whether or not we fight in any of the wars to come. As you have effectively banished me, I don't think we will fight."

My father's face grew pale, realising the complications that banishing me caused.

"I don't care truly. I'll be more than happy not to fight." I smiled, before grasping onto the door handle, ready to leave. "Good luck."

"You will fight, otherwise I will have your mate killed, damn the consequences." My mother sat up straighter at my father's words, turning to look at him with wide eyes. Of course, she'd only start to care when my father threatened Azriel. 

I shot him a dark glare, before disappearing into the corridor so that I could head to my room. I needed to pack as quickly as I could, so that I could disappear swiftly back to Hewn.

My head ached, the corridor moving as I placed my hand onto the wall and tried to keep steady. But when I opened my eyes again, I found that it was not steadying. It was worse than I had thought.

"Firoh." I drew a rune in the air beside me, pressing onto it as I summoned my second in command. It took a few moments, before Firoh appeared from nowhere, hurrying to my side.

"Mother above, Maiya." He hissed, pulling my arm over his shoulder, panic written across his face. "What happened?"

"I've been banished." I did a little cheer as he began to help me back to my room. "I need to pack and get to the Hewn City. Start the coup, we do that now."

"I've got people setting your home back up." Firoh muttered, keeping me upright as I leant into him. "We'll grab your sword and I'll tell the rest of the legion to grab everything. You need to go home and you need to be treated."

"I'm fine." I waved him off. "We start the plan as soon as possible."

"Maiya, you're bleeding." He showed me his hand, which was tinged with red. "Come on."

He propped me against the wall, opening the door to my room and grabbing my weapons from the corners. As he did, I leant back and tried to find my mating bond. I could feel Azriel's anxiety radiating from it, and I sent him all of my calmness and reassurance.

I'm alive.

Are you hurt?

That's a relative question. I thought to myself, wincing as I reached up to touch my head again. The world's spinning.

Maiya, I'm coming.

Don't. I'm not going to be here long, I'm going back to Hewn. I sighed, before accepting Firoh's arm as he pulled me up and threw his arm around me again. Stay with Rhysand, I'll be alright...

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"Isaak." I whined, hissing as he placed a rune above my injury and began to knit the skin back together. "I hate this."

"You want to heal, deal with it." Isaak muttered, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated. "Almost done."

"I can't believe he banished you." Firoh leant against the wall opposite as his mate finally finished healing the wounds, and was now working on the bruises along my throat and ribs. "Well, I can, but in that manner. And threatening you!"

"He knows that I won't want my mate hurt." I muttered, sighing in relief as Isaak held the cooling rune to my ribs. "That feels much better."

"You're looking at two very bruised ribs." Isaak told his apprentice, a little boy named Hicks as I relaxed. "So, cooling rune to mimic icing the area and then remind the injured patient that they shouldn't be fighting on it for at least three weeks."

Firoh and I shared a look that Isaak caught.

"Then, you expect to see them in here two to three days later because they did end up fighting with it."

"Precisely." I grinned, before standing and stretching as I sighed. My whole body ached. "The one good thing is that I'm now able to be here full time, though I don't particularly like the whole 'no venturing into the outside world' rule."

"You get used to it after a while." Firoh muttered as Isaak and Hicks began to clear their equipment away. "Will your father hurt Azriel?"

"No, no he won't." I sighed, reaching down to pick my shirt up from the floor. "This bargain works both ways. If Azriel is harmed, I won't fight and they'll lose. If Azriel isn't harmed, I'll fight and we'll win."

"The elders are going to be thrilled at this arrangement." Firoh laughed, before helping me pull my shirt over my back. 

"Oh, they can go fuck himself." I muttered, causing the three boys to start laughing. I smiled, before turning as the door was pushed open. Rhysand was in the doorway, eyes wide, Azriel and Cassian right behind him. They were all in full armour, eyes wild and I hummed.

Immediately, Isaak and Hicks were in front of me, drawing runes for protection. Firoh had grabbed his sword and stood in front of all three of us, watching them with narrowed eyes as I rolled my eyes.

"What's your business here?"

"Firoh-" I growled.

"What?" Rhysand's eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you here on the High Lord's will, or on your own?" Firoh asked again, before I gave him a shove away. He stumbled, but did not fall, as I shot him a glare.

"Stop it. That's my brother." I rolled my eyes, before patting Isaak and Hick's arms so that they dropped their runes and backed up. "It's fine, let me talk to them."

My brothers glared, grumbling to themselves, before heading out of the infimary as the three Illyrian stepped inside. How they fit, I wasn't sure. Their wings were hitting against one another as they tried to find a comfortable way to stand over me like three very over protective parents.

Cassian, like Azriel, had seven siphons, though ruby red instead of azure blue and the shadows were flicking around us in agitation. Azriel looked stressed, worry clear in his eyes, though he was trying to hide it.

"This is a rare surprise. Rhysand, visiting Hewn? To what do I owe this pleasure." I held onto my ribs as I sat back on the infirmary bed, looking at all of them. I didn't wince as I sat, just examined their faces.

Rhysand was watching the bruises on my face and neck, eyebrows furrowed.

"What happened?" He stepped closer, his wings disappearing as he did. I watched as he crouched beside me to examine the bruises. "Who did this? I'll hunt them down."

"Unless you feel like killing father, then no." I sent him a smile. "It's alright, we just had a disagreement on an arranged marriage."

"They brought up Mendax again?" Azriel was fuming in the corner. His shadows had tensed now, one curling around my finger as I watched him with softer eyes. "They wanted you to marry him?"

"I think they actually wanted him to marry me and, if I recall the words correctly, I had to 'submit' to him." Azriel looked like he wanted to commit manslaughter, but the sight of my injuries kept him in place. "Then he banished me for eternity and blackmailed me so if there was any uncertainty before, there's none now, the High Lord title is passing to you, Rhysand."

Rhysand looked conflicted at that.

"Where are you going to stay?" Cassian stepped forward now, his accent growing thicker, with what I assumed was anger. His wings were twitching, but I waved him off.

"I'm banished to Hewn. I'll be down here from now on." I sighed, as Azriel sent warmth and affection down the bond between us, his eyes sad. I suppose it had truly been the last time that I had seen Velaris' lights. At least that happened with my mate. "I'll get prepared for the war and most likely see you out on the battlefield, and you never know, father might drag me topside once more to shout at me. There's no issue. We have already started our work here."

I reached for my armour, tugging it on and beginning to do the straps up with a wince. Isaak had been right, I would most definitely be training before I probably should be. But, I had to look strong now. The Darkbringers had their commands, and at the moment, they had a list of names that they were hunting down to drag to the throne room so that we could decide what to do with them. Our plans to take over were coming into effect sooner rather than later.

"I'd be careful now, Rhys." He looked down at his nickname, watching me with wide eyes. "I'm not there to take the brunt of the critique now, so it's going to be on you more. They're most likely going to place you into an arranged marriage soon because of what's happened with me and Mor."

"Mother wouldn't let that happen."

"Mother let me be sold off to Mendax, so I wouldn't count on that." Resting a hand on his shoulder, I smiled as gently as I could, hoping it didn't look too much like a snarl. "Don't backtalk father. Don't try and get into a fight with him either. At dinner times, stay silent and eat quickly, he can't yell at you for anything then and don't say hello to anyone of the opposite gender, because then he'll accuse you of whoring yourself out to anyone you meet, though maybe that rule only applies to me."

Rhysand went pale, before tugging me into a hug, clinging onto my armour as I winced at my ribs being crushed. I fought the pain back down, reaching up to run my hand through his dark hair and press a kiss to the side of his head.

"It'll be alright. I'll try to come back and be a buffer if they find you a wife." I muttered, before pulling back to smile at him. "I appreciate you coming to check on me but you should probably get back to Windhaven."

"Do I-"

"Yeah," I cut Rhysand off. "You need to go back. You can't be here much longer, Hewn is about to become a bit politically unstable and two Illyrians and the son of the High Lord won't be looked upon too favourably I think."

I turned to Cassian now, watching him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm going to assume that between you and Azriel, you're the one who slept with my cousin." He spluttered out some words, going pale. "Tell her not to come back."

"What?"

"Whilst everything is up in the air, it's best she doesn't come back. Not until I can deal with Keir." I shrugged, before looking to Azriel. "You're going to need to be careful. Father's on the war path, and I doubt he's going to be pleased with any Illyrians after learning about Morrigan."

And myself was left unsaid, but Azriel knew the risks that he was facing. I'd kept him safe until after the war, and then he'd either have to go back to Illyria as quickly as possible, or he'd have to seek refuge with me.

"I know." Azriel muttered, his arms folded at my warning. "I'll stay safe."

"Good." I shot my brother one final smile. "You should go. Prepare your legions, just as I now have to do. There's a war coming."

Rhysand and Cassian headed out first, but Azriel hesitated waving them off and muttering something about one final bit of strategy from the Illyrian camps Once they were out of earshot, he pulled me into a kiss as he traced the bruises gently.

"Don't ask me to stay away when you're hurting again." He shook his head, hazel eyes wide as I brushed his dark hair back. The curls fell back almost immediately, as shadows covered us. "I felt helpless and I should have been there to take some of the pain they inflicted on you."

"I won't but I feared they'd kill you and I couldn't have that." I pressed a soft kiss to his lips, before leaning my forehead against his. 

"I don't want to leave you here." He whispered, hazel eyes wide and all of his vulnerabilities on show. "I ca-Don't make me leave my mate here. Please."

"You have no choice, Azriel." I rested my hand on his cheek, rubbing the burn marks on his hand with my other. "You have to go. You have other important duties above ground. Let me deal with here."

"I-"

"I'll see you again." I turned, pulling one of my twin daggers from it's sheath and flipping around for him to hold. "So, you'll have a piece of me with you, just like I have one of your shadows-" I held my pinky finger up with the shadow wrapped around it. "-you can give it back to me when I finally am able to come back home permanently."

"I'll come here every day." Azriel squeezed my hand, a shadow wrapping around my body, before he reluctantly followed after Rhysand and Cassian, all of them disappearing. I watched them go, before plastering a face of calm on, and heading out to the assembled Darkbringers. Firoh was waiting for me, as I overlooked the legion, knowing what I had to do. 

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Hiya,

So, this was a roller coaster of a chapter. Maiya's been disowned and now cannot be High Lady, so the title's falling to Rhysand. Her parents are complete pains, her and Az are sweethearts and I'm so excited for the next few chapters

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx