Hunted Queen

Chapter Twenty Seven • Beaten and Brusied

*WARNING - GORY CONTENT*

*Long Chapter*

-Jade-

"When he sees you, he will lose whatever is left of his mind." Loren murmured as he gently grabbed Jade's chin, angled it up a bit, from side to side while giving her a look-over. "They beat you." Loren stated even thought it was obvious. The words seared the air between them. Jade met his eyes for a second and could swear that she could see her husband's fury in her guard's. 

Loren's thumb accidentally grazed Jade's swollen lower lip as went to he let her go. It had split when she'd been abused by Rowan's men before and was nothing less than an open throbbing wound. Intense pain shot from her lip and she whimpered. Tears welled in her eyes and found their way down her cheeks before her guard realized what he'd done. 

"Oh I'm-" Loren's whole face flinched at the realization that he'd hurt her. His thumb grazed her lip once more when he pulled his hand away. Jade hissed sharply and let out a sobbing cry. More tears streamed down her cheeks. The cut stung infernally and her whole lip throbbed painfully. Agonizing waves of pain rolled over her face and underneath her skin. Beads of sweat started prickled her forehead.

"How is she?" Stroem called out. His voice a distressed whisper.

"Bleeding." Loren growled and eyed Jade up and down again. His eyes beamed with guilt. She lifted her hand, not without struggle, and touched her lip. It came away bloody.

Jade's eyes drifted to Stroem who stood guard at the entrance of the tent. His eyes met hers for a second. He then redirected them to the ground immediately. At first it seemed like he was afraid to meet her gaze, but then she saw the focus in his face. He was concentrating on  listening for anyone approaching the tent. When he didn't hear anything his eyes rose from the ground and started searching the area outside the tent. 

"Did they have to beat you...?" Loren groaned and let out a long heavy sigh. His head dropped for a moment. 

Up until seconds ago I was about to get raped as well. Jade thought and a shiver went through her. Her head swung slowly to the left, were he laid. She closed her eyes so they wouldn't wander off to Gorm's lifeless and bloody corpse lying next to her. She could still feel his breath on her skin, lingering close together with the fear of what could have been the most painful and horrifying moments of her life. 

Even though he laid dead next to her, the feeling wouldn't go away. His disgusting words echoed within her as her mind's eye showed her what had happened just before Loren had gotten there. 

"Can you walk?" Loren asked, pulling her from the depths of her mind. She blinked away the image of her guard's dagger crushing the back of Gorm's skull and protruding through the back of his throat. 

"N-no." She answered in a hoarse voice and shook her head. "Everything... hurts." She grimaced as the words failed to leave her. Look down, she saw her bruised limbs, covered in blotches of purple and deeper blues. It''s amazing that I'm even alive... She thought to herself and swallowed. Even that hurt and earned a twitch flying across her face. Her ribs ached so much that it felt as if they were struggling to keep her insides, inside. It was hard just to take shallow breaths. 

Loren watched her patiently as she tried to speak. His eyes never leaving her. 

"I can't ev...en st-" Her voice failed her again. A boot must have caught her throat as well. She wouldn't know. Later than she would have preferred, she'd fallen unconscious as Rowan's men had beaten her for their own pleasure.