“Mind your tongue. You are what I say you are. Got it?”
She quickly nodded her head. While she didn’t want to submit to the man, her jab didn’t have the effect she was hoping it did. It was clear that her mother’s affair had torn such a deep wound that his heart died along with it. He didn’t care she was gone, he cared that she had cheated.
Maybe she didn’t cheat. Maybe she was raped too.
Whatever had happened, Delilah had no ill will toward her loving mother. The pas was in the past and she wanted to move forward.
The rest of her beating was done in silence, except for the occasional scream his whip elicited from her. He seemed to take pleasure in her pain and suffering, but Delilah didn’t give him an easy satisfaction.
When he finally left and the guard came in to release her wrist, Marie was forced to tend to her wounds.
“That man is cruel,” she spoke softly. “Was he really your father?”
Delilah winced from the pain, took a sharp breath and clenched her jaw as Marie cleaned her back.
“He was only my father until my mother passed. Something happened. I don’t know what, but...it broke him. I honestly don’t think he’s my real father. Even if he was, he’s been dead to me for a long time now.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. My life has been so much better since I escaped. Well...before I was caught. I have someone who cherishes me. He’s going to come for me and when he does he will obliterate this town,” Delilah whispered quietly with glee.
Marie stopped wiping her back, her face lit up with hope. “Really? Will he help the other women escape?”
Delilah bit her lip. She knew that if he came for her, he’d risk his secret getting out in the world, but even that wouldn’t stop him from coming for her. In her opinion, it was fair game for anyone who got in his way, but at the same time, she wouldn’t allow him to hurt the innocent. These women were innocent. And if she had to make him see it, he would.
“When he comes, all the women are getting out of this place.”
The look on Marie’s face had Delilah in near tears. She could never truly know what it was like for these women. Beaten, raped, caged like animals. Bethania deserved what was coming, especially the men involved in these heinous crimes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Delilah
Something felt off, but the feeling was pushed into the back of her mind as she sobbed. There was nothing she could do to wipe the salty tears burning her eyes. Her arms were tied to the post in front of her, and try as she might she couldn’t break loose. No matter how often her father tied her up so he could punish her, Delilah never learned how to free herself from the restraints. Even if she had, she knew her father would only punish her more for being disobedient.
Heavy footsteps thudded down the creaky stairs leading to the basement, where she stood fearfully waiting for him to dole out his punishment for her ’crimes’. The basement was nothing but a leaky room beneath the maids’ quarters with a dirt floor and bricked walls. There was one pitiful window on the far side of the room that Delilah couldn’t even look out for a reprieve because it was behind her.
“Are you ready to admit your treacherous lies?” her father asked.
Delilah flinched at the sound of his voice and the implications that went along with it. She squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s not true. I swear.”
Whoosh! The whip cracked against her bare skin and bit into the tender flesh of her upper back.
“Stop! Please I swear I’m telling the truth,” Delilah screamed out in agony.
“No daughter of mine will swear anything. You will keep your mouth clean and your soiled legs closed lest the men at the suitors’ ball find you unworthy to be their wife,” he replied coldly as he whipped her for a second time and third time.
Delilah ignored the blinding hot pain searing her back and focused on the two words instead. Suitors’ ball.
No, he wouldn’t...he couldn’t.
“He tried to rape me...please don’t make me go to the Suitors’ ball. Please father. Please. I beg you,” she sobbed pleadingly knowing that he didn’t care for anything she had to say. As far as he was concerned she was worthless trash, an inconvenience at best.
She was tired of the whippings. Tired of crying and begging. It made her feel weak. It made her feel useless. Almost as useless as when Tristan lifted her skirt in the alley and shoved himself between her thighs. His arms were strong and used them both to cover her mouth and disable her hands above her head. She couldn’t even kick him, or nudge him away. The only saving grace was the one woman who saw their scuffle and scared him off.
The incident was horrific enough as it was, but for her own father to lay blame solely on her was not only embarrassing but demeaning. It was low, even for him.
“Liar,” he yelled. “Admit you wanted to give your virginity away to Guardsman Miller’s son. Admit your crimes and your punishment will end and you can clean up and apologize to Guardsman Miller and his son. Publically for slandering their names.”
She shook her head in bewilderment. “Wha—”
“Enough of your blabbering. If you wish to whore yourself out I will marry you off before you can embarrass me any further. I overindulged in your independence and now I’m paying for it. You will attend the upcoming Suitors’ ball. End of story.”
Delilah sagged to the floor in defeat. Her hands hung tightly above her head where they were still tied to the post. The strain pulled the muscles in her back which were probably nothing more than a bloody mess. But all that felt like nothing compared to the idea of being married off to some man who wanted nothing more than what she could provide between her legs.
Not that she thought she could bear to be anywhere a man ever again. Tristan ruined that for her. Ruined her dreams of someday leaving her father and finding a caring husband who would love her for who she was and the status boost he’d gain by marrying a head councilman’s daughter.
“Oh heaven someone please give me the strength to endure,” she urged quietly to whatever gods may be listening despite giving up her beliefs in them long ago.
Whoosh!
Another burst of rippling pain slashed her skin.
“Ladies do not talk beneath their breath,” he roared. “How do you expect a man to want a pathetic woman such as yourself? You can’t even behave,” he spat.
At this point Delilah was certain she’d been here before. Not in a literal sense, because she’d lived with her father her entire life, and she often frequented the basement for regular whippings. Her scarred back was evidence of such. But there was something else. Like this exact moment had already happened and she was reliving it in some hellish nightmare.
“This is no nightmare. This is reality. Your reality.” Her father’s voice became deeper and sinister sounding.
Suddenly her bindings were gone, her hands were free and she was running.
“Get that woman before she gets away,” angry voices shouted from behind her.
Delilah looked over her shoulder. She was no longer in her father’s basement but in the middle of the road of Bethania, just after the incident with her father. The one where he fell and cracked his head on the ground and bled out to death.
“No...no...this. This already happened. This isn’t real.”
The villagers were gaining on her, with their pitchforks and blazing torches. Except this time they ran faster. They caught up before she could run away like she had.
Circling her like a wolf waiting to eat its prey, they chanted. “Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.” And then they lunged.
***
Delilah bolted upright as she awoke from her nightmare. It took a moment to realize what had happened. It had been about a month since she'd been kidnapped and the situation was growing dire. The only reason she knew was because the guards outside eagerly spoke about the new year celebrations, but there were no celebrations for her or the other women. Mr. Hackley continued to whip her bod
y senselessly until it was a bloodied mess and she’d pass out.
“Shhhh. It’s okay now. I’m here,” Marie cooed. Then they would send in one of the other slaves to her cell so they could tend to her wounds just enough to keep her from bleeding out so she didn’t die.
"I can’t keep doing this, I’m not strong enough," Delilah whimpered as Marie wiped the blood off her back. It was true. Her inner strength was depleting day by day.
"You need to be strong. If not for you, then for the child you carry. Everyone else has given up. They don’t have a reason to fight any longer. You do. Fight for your child while you still can," Marie whispered words of encouragement as low as she could, avoiding the attention of the guards posted outside the cell.
Delilah looked down at her rounded belly. It was a shame that no one had realized she was pregnant yet, but she was also grateful. What if they forced her to abort?
"This place brings me nothing but despair. I can’t imagine being her as long as you have, but the idea of laboring this one into the world tears my heart in half." Delilah rubbed her belly protectively and thought of Skarde.
What would he do if he knew his child was in danger?
She couldn’t bear thinking how broken he would be when he woke only to find her gone. She only hoped that he understood she didn’t leave by choice, and trusted that she kept his secret wherever she was.
Please wake up and find us.
"Alright that’s enough healing for today," Dave sneered, opening the cell for and motioning for Marie to leave.
"Check under your blanket," Marie whispered before standing up to leave.
"No talking! Marie, go get cleaned up. You have three clients waiting for service, and remember to squeeze this time. People have been complaining that you’re getting loose."
"Yes, sir."
"Good and when you’re done with them, be a good bitch and have Randall escort you to my room. Darlene doesn’t suck dick very well and I haven’t come since yesterday morning."
Delilah winced, unable to comprehend how these men have become so disgusting and cruel. Marie didn’t deserve to be treated like a whore. She was a good woman; kind, caring and loyal.
When Delilah ever made it out, she’d help Marie escape too. Heck, she wanted to help all the women get out. This sexual enslavement had to stop. The people of Bethania needed to know what was going on. The problem was, she was stuck here, without a way out and even if she did come up with a reliable plan, she was heavily pregnant. She’d just have to wait a couple more months for Skarde.
The guards posted outside the door disliked it when the women spoke to each other. It disrupted the household they claimed, but Delilah knew better. They didn’t want the women to band together and fight. Not that they would stand much chance against all the guardsmen or their weapons. They were good as stuck here, especially since Marie was right.
She’d noticed the defeated looks the other women carried, they had lost hope long ago. They only reason she knew was because she was let out of her cell once a week during the weekly cleaning. It was always late at night and they were only watched by a few guards. Sometimes when they weren’t looking she was able to speak to some of them.
Even with fifteen women in the house, no one truly knew what the date was either.
With no natural light filtering into the cells they kept them in, there was no way to tell how long she’d been down there. If it wasn’t for the babe feeling inside her, she would have said eternity, but she knew that wasn’t true. Her stomach had grown significantly since her capture, enough so that someone was bound to find out sooner or later.
Thankfully, no one wanted to bed a pregnant woman. It was why all the other women were forced to take medicine to prevent any pregnancies.
The door to her cell opened, pulling her out of her thougGuardsman Dave came in, followed by Mr. Hackley.
Delilah’s stomach rolled. Something was about to happen.
“Dave here tells me that you have some news for me,” Mr. Hackley grinned eerily as he stepped forward. “Go on Dave, why don’t you tell me what my daughter has been whispering about when they thought no one was listening.”
No!
Delilah clutched her stomach tightly. A massive storm brewed deep inside her gut. She would die before anything happened to the beautiful life growing inside her.
“She’s pregnant.”
“No, it’s not true!” she lied, taking a step back as desperation took hold. “They’ve fed me well. Too well. It’s just fat.”
Every straw she grasped to keep her secret hidden was all for naught. Both men in front of her knew she was lying, she could see it in their faces.
“So you don’t mind taking a sip of this tea then?” Mr. Hackley asked, motioning to Dave who was holding a cup.
Her nerves scratched. If that drink was what she thought it was, if she drank it, they would believe her lies, but then she’d also lose the child she was carrying.
“Of course. Give it to me,” she said with false bravado.
The cup was handed to her, and as she reached out to grab it, her hands began to shake. Sweat formed on her brow.
I can’t...do this.
Delilah slumped against the wall. “I don’t like the taste.” Another lie, she never drank the medicinal tea to stop pregnancies. She didn’t even know what was in it.
“Excellent,” Mr. Hackley’s eyes grew even wider. “You better have a boy. I need an heir. If you do this, I will consider releasing you.”
“What? No! Sir you cannot. We’re short on females as it is,” Dave protested.
Mr. Hackley held his hand up to silence the guardsman. “You are not in charge around here. And my daughter is to be taken care of. No visits from the other men. No beatings or whippings. Fed her well. I want that child healthy.”
Before she could think it through, she opened her mouth to protest.
“You will never have my child!” Delilah yelled. “Ever.”
The man stared down at her and laughed. “I will have whatever I damn well please. Keep your mouth shut, you whore. Just like your mother. This works to my advantage for now. So accept your fate, daughter.”
Both Dave and Mr.Hackley, who was still pretending to be her father, left without another word. On one hand, she was relieved to not have to deal with anymore whippings, but on the other hand, she would gladly take any whipping if it meant she could love and cherish her child the way she deserved.
Several more weeks passed by, and Delilah was beginning to lose her mind. She was no longer forced to endure beatings, and when her belly expanded to that of a heavily pregnant woman, she was no longer forced to assist with the weekly cleanings. The only thing that kept her sane was the daily walks around the relief house, but only on the lower level. ‘To keep her in good health’ Mr. Hackley had said.
If he wanted her in good health, then he should have realized these conditions were not safe for a child, but as much as she tried to explain it to him, he told her to keep his mouth shut.
You’re alive and not working as a relief woman because of what grows in your belly. I will have my heir.
His words rang through her mind over and over again, as Delilah stroked her round belly.
When Skarde was through with him, he’s not having anything.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Skarde
Skarde groaned as consciousness slowly came back to him. His body was stiff, sore and achy, but such was the way of hibernation. It is why his kind preferred to hibernate alone in deep caves, because it offered protection when trolls were at their most vulnerable moment.
He could hear the wind whistling, birds chirping and the river next to his cave, but what he couldn’t hear was his mate.
“Delilah,” he croaked out, eagerly waiting for her reply. He missed her dearly.
Normally he didn’t dream during hibernation. He went to sleep and then as if only a moment had passed, he’d wake. It was simple, and yet, this time, it wasn’t.
/>
He had dreams, nightmares and at times, combinations of them both. It all felt so real, making the passage of time take much longer than he anticipated.
Some scurried across the floor up ahead causing Skarde to sit up and call for his mate a second time. “Delilah?”
Where is my mate?
He wanted to hold her against him and never let her go, see her beautiful face brighten up, and for her to sing him a song. Something long, because he missed her voice.
His limbs protested as he tried to get up. Every piece of him felt like a stiff log, but he ignored the sensation in his desperation to find his mate and take comfort in her presence.
As he strode forward, each step easier than the last, something churned in his belly, and it wasn’t because he was famished. Something didn’t feel right and when he reached the front of his den he knew why.
Everything they owned was tossed across the floor. The flap was torn down. Animal excrement lined the floor. His mate was gone.
Agony tore through his chest. “Delilah!” he roared to no avail as he endlessly searched both inside and outside his den.
What happened? By the gods what happened?
Rushing back inside, he found her bedding and clung onto it for dear life. Inhaling deeply, he tried to latch on to her scent, but it was long gone. In fact, nothing in here seemed to smell like her anymore.
Anger snapped his attention away from her furs, to the gifts he crafted for her. In that moment he knew exactly what happened here. The humans had finally come and taken her. His mate was smart. Even if she wanted to leave him, which he knew deep in his heart that wasn’t the case, she was at least smart and sensible to take necessities. And why leave in the winter? Why not leave early spring.
He couldn’t stop the snarling emanating from his mouth as he began the journey to trek down the mountains. He was going to find her. Damn the costs.
***
The moment he made his way into the village they humans called Bethania, screams of terror lined the streets. Men, women, and children alike ran in every direction in their attempts to evade them. The only thing that stopped him from tearing every last one of them to shreds was his mate.
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