Chapter 4: The Revelation of Scars
Her gaze held his as she let the remnants of her clothing drop, exposing the bruised and battered remnants of the woman she once was. Scars crossed her body like jagged paths, some faded to pale lines, others still raw, raised and angry against her ivory skin. Her chest rose and fell, steady and resolute, as she bared the truth of her suffering, an unspoken declaration reverberating in the silence.
“Look, Daegal,” she said, her voice thick with a bitterness sharpened by every wound. “See what your kind have left me with. Every scar, every mark—each one a memory, a promise broken, a lie revealed. They carved away my humanity, piece by piece, until I was nothing but this—an empty shell waiting for vengeance.”
Her hands traced a long, deep scar running across her collarbone, then another jagged line that crossed her ribs. “These aren’t just marks, Daegal. They’re fragments of the men who left them. Each one took a piece of me until there was nothing left but rage. And when the last one…” Her voice faltered, then hardened. “When he did what he did, I was reborn.”
Rue leaned in from behind, her scarred skin mere inches from Daegal’s face, her voice now a low, venomous whisper in his ear. “I was given these powers to make the world suffer as I have suffered. Every man I ruin is a balm for the agony they left me with—a small redemption, though fleeting. But it is all I have now.”
She then positioned herself in front of Daegal, letting him take in the sight of her scars, her body a tapestry of pain and survival. “This is why there is no mercy, Daegal. I am beyond that. And you… you are just the next in line.”
Rue’s expression hardened, her final words leaving no room for escape. “So look well, and know that you will soon become another scar etched upon my soul, one I’ll carry until I find the freedom I was promised.”7Please respect copyright.PENANAhNahpclAMC