Celeste's POV.
The whip cracked against my back again, sharp and burning, and my body jerked even though I tried to hold still. The female guards stood over me, their faces hard and cold. They kept asking the same question.
"Who sent you, Celeste? Speak now!"
Their voices echoed in the dungeon, mixing with the sting of leather on my skin. But I clenched my jaw and refused to give them what they wanted.
Instead, I laughed. The sound was rough, more like a cough, but it made their eyes narrow with anger. "You hit like weak pups," I said, my voice trembling but loud enough to sting their pride.
One of them, a tall woman with a scar on her cheek, hissed and whipped me harder. My body shook, and pain shot through every part of me, but I bit my lip to stop a cry. I wouldn't let them hear me beg. I wouldn't give them that victory.
"Tell us who sent you!" another guard shouted.
"I sent myself," I spat, blood on my lips. "Do you not have brains big enough to see that?"
