Twisted Kingdom (Royal Elite #3) by Rina Kent

Like blood.

Mum used to tell me about the power of the darkness. She said the real monsters look more beautiful than angels.

The red woman is as beautiful as the angel in our garden.

I shrink into the corner, tightening my hold on the bag of Maltesers. The sound of the red woman’s shoes comes closer.

“Eli… Mummy is back.”

Her voice is calm and black like winter nights. At times like these, I wish I can feel Mum’s warmth and hear her soft words.

If I pretend to be Eli, she won’t hurt me.

“Did you miss Mummy, Eli?” She stands in front of me, a serene smile on her face.

“I did.” I miss my mum, Alicia.

She crouches in front of me and runs her red nails down my face. Goosebumps erupt in her wake. “I told you not to swim in the lake. Why did you?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“You won’t repeat it, okay?”

I nod, twice.

She smiles and stands up.

Phew. She didn’t get angry this time. I’m about to sit back down when she stops and whirls around so abruptly, I jerk against the wall.

“What is that?” She shrieks, pointing at my hand.

The Maltesers.

I hide them behind my back. “N-Nothing.”

“I told you not to lie to me!” Her voice echoes around us. She grabs my hand, her nails digging into the skin.

I try my hardest to keep the bag of chocolates, but she snatches it away.

“Give it back.” I glare at her. “It’s mine.”

“You ungrateful little bastard.” She slaps me across the face.

I fall to my side onto the hard floor, my cheek stinging.

“I gave you everything, everything! But all you do is lie and play at the lake when you shouldn’t!”

The first lash of the horsewhip lands on my back. Something rips at my skin, and I scream.

“Mummy will fix it, Eli. Mummy will fix everything.”

Crack.

I wail. The pain is unlike anything I’ve felt before. It hurts more than when she cut my arm or when she chained me with the cuff.

“Stop…” I crawl to the corner on all four, shaking all over.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

She goes on and on… and on.

A sticky warm liquid travels down my spine and drips onto the floor.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

My eyes flutter closed and a tear falls down my cheek.

I’m sorry, Elsa. I won’t keep my promise.





29





Elsa





I listen to Aiden’s retelling of that day.

Every word and every sentence is like being stabbed in the gut. It’s like being cut open and left bleeding on the ground beneath us. It’s like being in the middle of an earthquake, buried alive.

We sit side by side on the cold ground without touching. Aiden hasn’t looked at me once since he started talking.

His gaze is lost in the distance as if he’s seeing the events play out in front of him. As if my mother is right there, whipping a small child until he bled and passed out.

He’s watching the corner as if he can see himself; weak, small, and defenceless.

The moment he stopped talking, heavy silence engulfs the room.

Frightening silence.

Earth-shattering silence.

I pull my knees to my chest and resist the urge to hide and cry.

I won’t do that.

This is Aiden’s memory, not mine. He was the one who suffered, not me.

I turn away from him because I know I won’t be able to hold on for long, and I don’t want him to see me breaking.

“Then what happened?” I ask in a small voice.

“That part belongs to you,” he says. “I won’t force you to remember.”

“Okay.” A long breath heaves out of my lungs. “Okay,” I repeat because apparently, my mind is caught in a loop.

“Elsa?”

I’m still facing away from him, so my expression isn’t visible. Is there a way to dig a hole to bury myself in?

“What is it, sweetheart?”

My chest thunders with explosions and sparks when he calls me that. How can he call me that after what happened? How can he look at my face, let alone be with me when I’m so much like her?

His tormentor.

His torturer.

“Elsa, look at me.”

“I can’t. I just can’t, Aiden.” I choke on the words. “What if you eventually hate me? What if one day you wake up and realise you’re sleeping next to a monster?”

“That will never fucking happen.”

“How do you know that? How can you be so sure?”

“Look at me,” he repeats, but this time it’s a low, deep order.

I wipe my cheeks and turn to face him. The depth of longing in his eyes takes me by surprise.

Oh, God.

“Aside from the first time you stepped into RES, I never saw you as your mother.” He takes my hand and cradles it between his strong ones. “You’re the little girl who brought me food and drinks and her annoying Maltesers. You’re not the red woman.”

A sob tears from me, hanging in the air like an axe. “What about in the future? What if you change your mind?”

“Never, sweetheart. Do you know why?” He wipes the tear under my lid and strokes the corner of my eye. “While you look so much like her, you don’t have her empty gaze or her haunting voice. As long as you have this spark in your eyes, I’ll always recognise you as my Elsa.”