Number 3 lit up on the screen, turning red.
“Stop being stubborn. He could have taken you with him, you know. But he didn’t. That means he doesn’t love you. It’s simple as that.”
And still Fawn didn’t answer.
“It’s your life on the line, not his. So let me ask you again. Where is Beatrice Crichton?”
“I don’t know.”
Meredith went back to carving.
It was another circle, marking the right side of Fawn’s forehead, and number 4 lit up on the screen, turning red.
Meredith’s tone became conversational. “Why are you so loyal to him? Is it because he fucked you so good?” She didn’t wait for Fawn to answer. “Oh, wait, you don’t need to answer that. I’m being a dumb fuck again. Of course he had to have fucked you good. Duh. He’s the Prince of Darkness, after all.”
She looked at Fawn contemplatively. “What about you? Do you fuck just as good?”
Before Fawn could answer, someone out of the video leered, “I can answer that for you. Just give me a taste.”
The sound of raucous laughter filled the screen, and the prince’s blood ran cold as he realized together with everyone in the courtroom that there was more than one man in the room with Fawn.
“Do you hear that, Fawn? I can have them answer it for me, but like I said, I don’t want to hurt fellow girls. Girl power, you know? So tell you what, if you tell me the truth about how good you are at fucking, I might not let them all rape you at the same time.”
Meredith looked at her expectantly.
“So are you good?”
Fawn choked out, “No.”
Doubt colored Meredith’s voice as she asked, “Is that false modesty?”
Fawn shook her head. “No. I used to think...I used to think I w-was frigid.”
“I see, I see.” Meredith began sharpening her knife again. “Do you think that’s why he left you?”
“I t-told you.” Fawn’s lips trembled as she spoke. “It’s because he’s protecting me. He doesn’t want me involved because his life is dangerous—-”
“So he’s doing it because he cares for you?”
“Yes—-”
“I want to believe you,” Meredith said, voice ringing with sincerity, “but you must explain to me first. Why does this man keep you at a distance when he’s had his parents and friends with him all these years? Does this mean he doesn’t love them as much as he loves you?”
“Is that what you’re saying, Fawn? That he loves you more than the friends he’s known for years? That he loves you more than his family?”
Fawn whispered, “No.”
“Then why do they get to stay in his life, and you don’t?”
“I d-don’t know.”
“Poor Fawn, unable to face the truth.” Meredith cupped Fawn’s chin. “But you need to face it. That’s how you become really strong, so let me give it to you straight.”
“Please—-”
“They matter to him. That’s the truth of it. His family, his friends, they’re the people that matter. So they’re the people worth fighting for to keep in his life. But you—-”
Meredith let go of Fawn’s face with an exclamation of disgust.
“Do you get it now? You’re a fucking brick around his neck he doesn’t want—-”
A cry escaped Fawn.
Meredith said in a singsong voice, “You know. YOU KNOW.”
In the courtroom, everyone watched as Meredith’s words succeeded where having almost half of her face carved had failed—-
Tears started to fall, mingling with blood, and the prince’s eyes began to burn.
Red mixed with white, and the right side of Fawn’s face turned into a ghastly shade of pink.
You know.
YOU KNOW.
Meredith’s voice echoed in the prince’s head like a jeering reminder of how he had practically said the same thing to Fawn—-
Why is nothing I do not enough? Just tell me—-
And he had told her—-
He had fucking told her—-
You know why, Fawn.
YOU ALREADY KNOW.
No, God, no.
It wasn’t goddamn like that.
He bent down, his head reeling at what Meredith’s words forced him to see.
Oh God, why did Fawn have to suffer for him to realize the truth?
He had pushed her away again and again, thinking that he had been doing it for her sake, but—-
In the video, Meredith was turning to Fawn with an insanely gentle look on her face.
“Do you see you’re suffering for nothing now? So give him up.”
But Fawn refused, and the knife went straight to the middle of her forehead.
Two slashes.
The number 5 lit up on the screen, turning blue.
“You know I’m telling you the truth. His family matters. His friends matter. But you don’t. He had fun with you, maybe he even cared for you, was fond of you, I don’t know how rich fucks like him think. But what I do know is when crunch time came, he dropped you. So I’m going to ask you one more time. Tell me where Beatrice Crichton is.”
And still Fawn whispered, “No.”
“Stupid bitch!”
A raw sound clawed past the prince’s lips when he saw Meredith slap Fawn hard just before grabbing her by the hair, pulling her head back as she furiously carved on Fawn’s chin.
Jagged lines turned into an X.
The number six lit up on the screen, turning blue.
“I don’t know if you’re keeping tabs on your own face, bitch,” Meredith snarled, “but I just need one X or one fucking circle – it doesn’t really matter, the next one will be a fucking tic tac toe, and either way, it means I get to carve a piece of your nose and I’ll have my men fuck you while you bleed to death.”
Laughter mixed with curses and obscene catcalls greeted Meredith’s statement.
“I’m going to rip into that pussy hard.”
“Her asshole’s mine.”
“Do you hear that?” Meredith demanded. “They’re excited about fucking you while—-FUCK!”
Fawn’s cry spilled out of the speakers, a sound of agony that no one in the courtroom would ever forget.
But it was her face—-
It was her face as she peed in her fear—-
The yellowish liquid dripping down her bare legs until it formed a puddle next to her feet—-
Ah God, Fawn.
I’m so
