by T R Tells
“What?” Thea exclaimed the roar of the flames made a loud creaking sound, ready to collapse at any moment. “Jiran, I don’t under—”
Suddenly, Thea felt strong arms wrap around her waist, ripping her away from Jiran. Thea kicked and screamed, but to no avail, the person didn’t let go.
“Stop your screaming, Thea.” Flint’s words echoed in Thea’s head. “You truly have some gall; I’m starting to get pissed. Remember what I said about punishment?”
“Please, Flint! Let me go. I have to save Jiran! I have to save my friend!” Thea knew it was futile to argue with him, but she hoped no matter how cruel the pirate was that he would empathize with her. She looked down at the pained expression Jiran’s face as he mumbled.
Flint broke out into a grin and raised his brow at her. “That’s cute, wanting to sacrifice yourself for someone, what did I tell you about the meaning of life? Besides, I can’t let my investment get damaged or killed. You’ll be a hot commodity being one of the few Roma left and all.” His face then grew severe then, it was somehow different than what Thea had seen. It wasn’t anger or sarcasm but guilt, even sympathy.
“The fires engulfing the house at an exceeding rate. The debris fell on top of him, his spine was probably broken. He’s not going to survive even if we get him out of here.”
“What!”
Thea’s lip quivered as she stared at Flint. She knew the man was evil, but she would never have thought him heartless enough to leave a dying man. He cared for nothing; he would never care about anything.
Within a blink of an eye, however, Flint removed his pistol.
“Hope you end up in a better place than this shit hole.” He said to Jiran, aiming his gun.
The blast from the gun fired at the same time Thea screamed “No!” She watched as if in slow motion, the silver-tipped bullet escape from the barrel of the gun and land directly in his forehead. Thea screamed as she watched the bullet hole enter his head, Jiran’s body lightly jerked, before falling still again as blood began to seep out.
Thea stared at Jiran’s motionless and bleeding body as Flint carried her out of the burning home. It crumbled with Jiran’s dead body still inside. So many options ran through Thea’s mind. She could bite him, thrash about, scream until the Kingsland’s Kingsland Guards arrived, but she did nothing. She couldn’t even muster up a tear. Her body was too numb, and her tears had dried; she didn’t feel anything now.
She relaxed her body and Flint’s hold tightened before he threw her over his shoulder. She faced the house as they slowly started walking away from it.
"I did him a mercy killing," Flint whispered as silence collected around him, his voice miles away. "No one deserves to die like that."
The last thing Thea saw was the orange illumination of the fire in the distance and a mushroom cloud of smoke in the shape of a skull.
***
“Stop crying, Thea. This is what happens when you try to be a hero. You end up getting punished. Maybe this will teach you from running off and putting your nose in things that don’t belong.”
Another person you couldn’t save, the ominous voice echoed in her head.
Even though Flint’s cynical words echoed in the background, they didn’t register immediately in Thea’s head. She had her arms wrapped around her chest, shivering uncontrollably from the cold room and the searing pain on her backside. She didn’t know what hurt more her back after ten more lashes, her broken nose, or watching Jiran being shot and then burned.
Thea closed her eyes tightly and pressed her lips together. She felt hot tears lick her cheeks and down her chin, both fresh and old. She felt like a used wet rag, and felt powerless to do anything about it, precisely as Flint had wanted.
“Take off the rest of your clothes.”
This time his words registered in her head and she prompted herself to slowly turn around to look at him with red, teary eyes. She pleaded with him, but she knew very well that pleading would get her nowhere. She looked down and saw that his pants slid off his legs and exposed his erect genitalia. Thea averted her eyes but could see Flint walking over to her from her peripheral. He grabbed the base of her back with one hand, and with the other, he shoved one of her hands off her small breasts his more massive, uncaring hand taking its place.
Thea stiffened at his touch and looked down at his dirty hands; they felt rough, and they scratched her several times as he began to caress her and rub her backside. Thea squeezed her eyes shut, hoping for it to end.
Hel . . . please, Thea pleaded. She could feel the demon stirring within her, but she did not answer Thea’s cries and pleas. Thea could not call upon anyone. She was alone.
You’ll always be alone.
Flint forcefully turned Thea around, so her back faced him. She heard him mumble, “Hold on to the railing.” The moment she grabbed onto the cold steel, he removed the last of her clothing, and a stiff breeze drifted across her naked bottom. Thea’s instinct made her tighten her hands around the railing until her knuckles turned white.
“Arch your back. I’ll do the work. This is what happens when you do what you want to do.”
Thea’s lip quivered. She felt the stinging sensation on her back that felt like flames scorching her. She hadn’t expected Flint to thrust himself so forcefully inside of her and she yelped in pain.
“I said, don’t tighten. You’ll only hurt more,” Flint said in a passive-aggressive way. Thea could feel the warmth sting in her eyes and gulped the bile that threatened to come up. She nodded and tried to regain composure as she felt him thrust again.
Thea gripped onto the bed’s railing and began to bite her lip, hard enough that she tasted blood right away. Find your happy place, don’t think about it. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping to imagine herself anywhere but there. She slowly found herself pushing away from the grunts, the pain of being forcibly entered, and the oozing warm liquid that ran down her legs. Everything around her was silent. She was left alone in the dark, something that she thought would terrify her, but now she felt solace and embraced the darkness. It was safe and predictable. It was comfortable.
You’re alone, you will always be alone trapped in a never-ending cycle of sex and abuse – I’m sorry Dominya.
Thea hadn’t thought about her sister in a long time and the brief conversation she had with her the night she had the vision for Clovis made her realize how much she craved her sister’s hugs, her kisses, and for her to tell her “it would be okay.”
But it will never be okay because you’re gone, and now Jiran’s gone. I’m alone. I lose everyone I love.
The silence started to break, and Thea found herself accepting reality, that this was it for her, she was surviving. She wouldn’t be able to escape it anytime soon. Then she heard a voice, soft and familiar, and it made her heart leap in her chest.
“Now I didn’t raise you to be a quitter, did I?”
“Dominya!” Thea shouted. Though she couldn’t feel or see her sister, she sensed her smile; she painted a picture of her peach skin and grayish-blue eyes that held love and wisdom. Dominya’s scent filled her nose the moment a warm embrace wrapped around Thea’s shoulder. Thea missed the warm, gentle kisses and the smell of pine and freshly cut grass.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Why are you crying?”
Thea felt her lip quiver and her eyes burn, the words blubbered out unintelligibly, but somehow Dominya knew what she said, and she continued to rub Thea’s back, as she did when she was a girl.
“I miss you, Dee. Y-You aren’t here, and I’m so alone. I don’t know what to do anymore sometimes I wish I—”
“Now Thelma Rose Anne Frey,” Dominya called out her full name, often used when Thea was in trouble, but Thea only found it another reminder of her sister’s non-existence. She hadn’t heard or shared that name since she lost Dominya. “I don’t want you to finish that sentence, you hear me?”
Thea nodded obediently.
“You’re here because you have a purpose in life
, everyone does. My job was to raise you in the stead of our parents. It wasn’t long, but that was my purpose, to make sure my baby sister was cared for until it was time to clip her wings.”
“But . . . how can I have a purpose, Dee? All I want is for everything to go back to the way it was. I feel so lonely now,” Thea said in a brittle voice, she felt herself choke over the words trying hard not to cry.
“Oh, baby you aren’t alone, you’re never alone. Just because folks aren’t with you physically doesn’t mean that they aren’t with you. It’s spiritual things that matter, that drives a person to do better, be better.”
Thea felt Dominya’s thumb trace along her cheekbone and started to wipe the tears from her eyes. “I’m always here, no matter what. I may be gone, but my spirit lives on in you. It’s just the same as the people you’ve met over time.”
Thea frowned. Thoughts of people she met slowly began to come to her mind: Maggie, Freya, Eddie, Donnie, Kilua, Grégori, and Jiran, even Clovis.
“You don’t see it yet, Thea, but your purpose has only just begun. You are kind, and you are willing to protect others, even at the cost of your own life. You must tell yourself never to give up, even if everything seems bleak, you cannot give up. Some people need you, those you have already met, and those you have yet to meet.”
Thea licked her lips, she could feel her throat dry but forced the tears to stay in place. “But what if I can’t do it alone? What if it was a mistake and I’ll suffer forever?”
“You won’t be where you are forever, Thea. If you want to get out of the life you are in, it will happen. There are just some things you have to suffer through to find peace. Who said you had to do it alone? Your kindness, bravery, and need to protect others will be the benefit of you and those you love. You have to keep surviving until then and keep moving forward.”
Thea pressed her lips together, thinking and letting Dominya’s words sink into her. The pain and suffering that she had been through, that others had been through made her feel raw and vulnerable. She wanted nothing more than to yell at Dominya and tell her that she was nothing but a farce, that the real Dominya was dead and she was alone. There would be no “happy ending” for her — only pain, suffering, and misery.
Despite everything that had happened; losing her sister, being orphaned, starving, abused, raped, betrayed, and now, losing Jiran—if she hadn’t had been through any of the pain and suffering, she would have never become the way she was, broken and beaten but still determined. Thea would have never met known Jiran and in turn, would have never met Grégori or Kilua. She would have never known Maggie, Freya, or Eddie and if she had never known them, she would have never met Donnie.
Throughout all the bad things in her life, there was, no matter how small, a shred of happiness and smiling faces that she loved, that needed her as much as she needed them. Thea couldn’t give up on them any more than she could give up on herself. Dominya didn’t raise her that way and she wouldn’t have wanted her this way.
Thea might not have known what her purpose was, but she wasn’t going to give in anytime soon.
Dominya smiled. Her image and presence fading, leaving only her gentle and encouraging words behind.
“I’ll always be with you, Thea. Just keep moving forward. Survive. I know you’ll do great things.”
Part four
Chapter Thirty-One
Month of Summertide, Year 666 of Ya’skr
In four years, Kingsland had from its wares to its people, but more importantly, the brothels. With sex in high demand, there was a need for women and King Godfrey IV signed a decree to allow the legal prostitution of women if they demonstrated self-control and moderation in the frequency and enjoyment of sex. brothels were no longer in secret. Over 500 brothels opened to the public, one of many in all of Kingsland.
Flint’s girls were the most famous prostitutes, not only for sexual favors, but their art in entertainment, and the art of killing.
***
“What do you mean eighty silvers? It was just forty bronze last week. What cheatin’ ass brothel you running here?”
“Look that’s the price, we’ve had to raise it since then,” a girl said. She couldn’t have been older than seventeen.
“Well to hell with that, I’m not paying anything!”
“Well, I’m sure your wife would like to know where you’ve been spending your hard-earned money, yes?” The girl, who wore nothing but a pink lingerie set, had her arms crossed over her chest and glared at him with one eye, as the other eye was covered with a silver-gilded eye patch—a request by the male patrons.
The man’s eyes bugged out and his face contorted into a deep frown. “You bitch!” he yelled at the top of his lungs and raised his hand in the air. However, before he had a chance to strike, another hand reached out and grabbed hold of the man’s arm and bent it behind his back, the man let out a cry of pain.
“You know the rules, no hitting the girls. Take that shit over to the other 400 brothels. My girls are doing you a service by rubbing your filthy cock,” a boy of nineteen hissed into the man’s ears before releasing his hold on him.
The red-faced man rubbed his fat wrist where the boy had grabbed it and knitted his brows together. He glowered at the young man as his face got even redder, pursed his lips together, deciding on several choice words to say.
“I want to speak to the owner of this place ‘cause I know it ain’t you, kid,” the red face man demanded, his Adam’s apple rattling with every angry word.
“As I said, Kurt, if you have a problem, you can go elsewhere. But just know we’re the only brothel that does what we do.” The boy grinned and chuckled. “Now if I were you, I would pay my lovely friend and get going to your wife and children. Flint is not the kind of man that negotiates and if you hurt one of his investments, you’ll find yourself bleeding to death in an alley.”
The boy rubbed his nose with his hand before sullenly sticking it into his pants pocket, where he craned his neck over to look at the girl in the satin lingerie.
“Did he hurt you, Freya?”
Freya shook her head. “No, I’m fine Edward.”
“Do you think we should tell Flint that he almost hit you? I guarantee that his nut sack will be as good as gone.” The comment directed at Kurt whose eyes grew wide at the threat. “Maybe we’ll drop a visit to his wife, drop his dick on her doorstep, and maybe even pass a tip over to the Kingsland Guards that he’s been having illegal trading in the market.”
“W-What? Now wait a minute, we got off on the wrong foot. There’s no need to involve the Kingsland Guards.”
Edward shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest again. “Well, this all can be forgotten if you just pay your dues, like you do your taxes, and your secret is safe with us.”
The man, Kurt, nodded quickly and hurriedly dug his meaty fingers into his pockets and fished out a gold coin.
“D-Do you happen to have any change?”
“Nope.” Edward quickly snatched the coin from the man’s fingertips and tossed it to Freya, who caught it effortlessly. “That’s for giving her a hard time, maybe next time you won’t act like a child and pay up.”
Kurt gulped and bobbed his head. He turned to leave, but Edward grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. The look on his face was like a deer in headlights, and he gawked at Edward with fear in his eyes.
“I believe you owe a few words to my girl here. She may be just a courtesan to you, but she makes sure to keep that little worm in your pants happy.”
“R-Right, sorry.”
“Not to me, asshole.” Edward snapped and smacked the back of the man’s head.
Kurt nodded and looked at Freya. “M-My apologies.”
“Now, get out of here.”
Immediately, Kurt left with his tail between his legs and the girls who had been watching in the corner of the brothel giggled together. Edward just shook his head and ran his fingers through his thick woolly mane.
“Assholes. Whe
n the hell is Flint going to be back,” he mumbled to himself.
Freya gently chewed on her bottom lip and pushed her hair behind her ears. She walked over to Eddie with a little sashay in her step.
“Um, thanks Eddie for telling that guy off. I mean, I could have handled it but thank you anyway.”
“Edward,” he corrected. “And don’t sweat it, Freya. Flint’s girls are my girls and any man who thinks they can put their hands on you is a dead man, but I’d rather stay out of the suspicious eyes, that’s why I stepped in.” He grinned and patted Freya’s head, who frowned at the gesture.
“Where’s Thea, by the way? She was supposed to be overseeing you girls,” Eddie said and walked past Freya.
Freya huffed and rolled her eyes, before facing Eddie. “She’s upstairs, I think with her usual client.”
Eddie nodded. “Alright, thanks. Get back to work ladies.”
***
“Come on, Thea you don’t have to be like that. I love you,” a handsome young man said. He had mousy brown hair pulled back, and black eyes that glistened like diamonds. “What is this about, the age difference? You’re eighteen; I’m almost twenty-eight. I’ve had friends who married younger than that.”
“Well good for your friends,” Thea retorted, she was busy picking up several articles of clothes and thrust each of them into the man’s hands. He still stared at Thea as she walked around the room. “You’re nice Leonard and I am sure that you will make a great husband to some aristocratic woman, but you don’t love me, you only think you love me. But not only that, you are a Kingsland guard and me your courtesan, you are far from ready to carry my baggage.”
Leonard had been working for the Kingsland guard for eight years. He had found the brothel from another close friend in the guard and from there he’d found his way into Thea’s chambers. It was not only illegal to fall in love with a whore, but to wed one was treason. Thea knew that the young guard, though he meant well, had been spoon fed most of his life—even though she was young herself. He could not handle any of the weight that she carried, and she had a lot of it.