Leila’s stomach was in a tight knot. A shiver ran down her body when the king stood behind her, his hot breath tickled her ear.

“I gave your sister a choice, your life or her’s.” He whispered, his words haunted her.

He moved fluidly in front of her, “She chose to die so you could live.” Amusement danced in his dark gaze, his words taunted her for a reaction. A few silent tears fell down her face.

“Lynleigh gave her life so that Leila could live!” He announced, his hands flew up as if he was still astonished by her sister’s choice to save her.

“You fucking monster! I'll kill you, you bastard!” Her father Thurin roared like a wild beast as he attempted to lunge for the King. Like the coup he had planned it failed, the chains tripped him up and he collided with the floor with a loud thud.

Hot fresh tears stung in Leila’s eyes, she hated that her father looked so weak. To a daughter a father is the most strongest person in their world. There her’s laid sobbing as if his own heart had been torn from his chest. She had never seen him so broken and she was helpless.

Ragnar reached her father with three easy strides, gripped him by his shackles and pulled him to his feet. “Should I tell you about the last hours of your daughter’s life? How she was passed around between not only my son’s but some of my guards as well. How she pleaded on your behalf even after all she had endured? Or how about she cried not for herself but for her sister.” He spat the words out with disgust.

Thurin sagged in Ragnar’s grip, his sobs echoed off the walls. The sound mixed with her mother’s cries. “My poor baby… Lynleigh I am so sorry..” Her mother called out to her sister as if she could hear her.

“Do you want to know how I knew about your little attempt? How I wasn’t where I usually am when you tried to claim the castle?” The King gloated. He released his grip on Thurin as the broken man dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. “Bring him in,” he called to one of his guards. “Oh just wait, it gets better,” he warned them.

They all straightened up slightly, even her parents that mourned the loss of their oldest daughter. Everyone wanted to know who had done such a horrible thing to turn on them. In walked a figure that weared a dark cloak, he stopped just shallow of center of the room. The King stalked over and ripped the hood of the cloak off. In unison they all gasped in shock at the person that had done such a wicked thing.

“Benji?” His name slipped from Leila’s lips like a soft whispers but the vibration of betrayal carried it across the room. His eyes snapped over to her, the look of remorse flashed across his face. “How could you?” She cried out and launched herself at him. Her hands wrapped around his throat, her fingernails dug into his skin. “They killed Lynleigh because of you, you selfish coward!”

The betrayal stung worse because Benji was her guardian, some parents choose them to watch over their children if anything should happen to them. He had been a second father to her sister and her. He had taught them so many things and now his actions had caused her sister’s life.

The King clapped his hands in sheer delight at Leila’s outburst. “That’s it Leila, kill the man that betrayed your family,” he shouted like a wild beast. The demonic side lashed out, it clawed at her milky chocolate skin. Her hypnotic blue-purple orbs swirled with lust, lust for the blood that had caused the death of her sister, the fall of her sister.