Revenant Slaves Chapter 7: Chapter 6: Luna's collapse

Read chapter 7 of Revenant Slaves by Zee on NovelPedia.

Chapter 6: Luna's collapse Luna walked, unblinking, head held high, out of the throne room. This time, she used one of the side gates, the one reserved for the family. “Take Anotella to the medical wing. I’ll retire to my room for now.” Avraham obeyed without a sound, and soon she was alone. Luna kept walking, faster and faster. She wanted to run, and she almost did. But her discipline won. She ignored everything and forced her mind to go blank, with a singular purpose: keep it together and get to her room. Luna had barely crossed the threshold of her room before the tears she had been holding back started pouring down her face. Her own father had all but disowned her, and for what? ‘Pathetic.’ ‘Insect.’ ‘Meaningless.’ All her life, she had craved her father’s attention, and in the first intimate conversation they had had, she finally saw how her own father viewed her. Where had Mother been through it all? Where had Avraham? Maybe if he had protected her as he was supposed to, Horus’s attacks would not have been effective. Maybe… maybe her father would not have said all those things to her. ‘No… Father must have hated me long before that,’ Luna thought, but it made no sense. Luna remembered her father’s hand around her throat. She shivered hard. The memory gave way to a cascade of others, forcing her to relive the entire evening again. She could not stop trembling and began crying in earnest. She saw the imprint her father’s hand had left on her neck, then the uneven bruises from Horus’s brutish power, starting below her throat and spreading downward. She could not watch anymore, so she abandoned the attempt, walked out of the dressing room in a panic, and strained to make it to her bed. Once there, Luna wrapped herself in her blankets, but she would not stop shaking. She felt alone, and, worse, her illusion of safety had been shattered. Luna would not have felt any less afraid or any less alone even if her mother or Avraham had been there. ‘Avraham never enters my room, though.’ Luna did not know why that thought had come up. She had never once felt uncomfortable with Avraham. He never intruded upon her personal space, never grew impatient with her, and she was sure she had some nightmares in which he had rescued her. Whether they were truly nightmares or actual events, Luna could not recall. That was why it stung deeper that she had been hurt and insulted while he had been in the same room. And her mother? Where was the loving woman in whose warm presence she had always found comfort? Which was so confusing, because all Luna really wanted right now was to hug her mother while Avraham stood brooding in some shadowy corner close by. She put her hands on her face, her nails digging into her skin. She felt like nothing would ever be in her control again. Luna fell back onto her bed and started kicking randomly until her legs hurt even more, then threw her pillows and cushions all over the room. It was the utter lack of control and the feeling of helplessness that made her frustrated and scared beyond measure. She was down to her last cushion when, instead of throwing it, she hugged it tightly. She hid her face in the cushion and started crying. A knock on her door broke her stupor. She remained silent. Another knock. Luna held her breath. “Leave me alone,” Luna whispered. She wound herself even more tightly into her blanket. She heard the door open and gripped the covers of her bed tightly. Luna listened to the hurried footsteps approaching her bed. There was silence for a moment before someone sat on her bed right beside her, and without removing the blanket, they hugged her. “Mo… Mother?” “Yes, my child, my love… Would you please let me look at you?” Lady Luciana replied softly. “You didn’t help me…” Luna replied. A sigh escaped Luciana’s lips before she answered, “I did not.” “…Why?” Lady Luciana stopped hugging her then and slightly tugged at the blanket she had so tightly wrapped around her body. Luna hesitantly let go of h