The Breeder

by L G Nauck

  Ann took a breath as she finished, studying the queen’s expression worriedly. It was impossible to tell from her expression what she was currently thinking.

  “So…you’re telling me…I have been kidnapped… and repeatedly raped me because he believes in a fairytale?”

  The anger in her voice was obvious. Ann could understand the queen’s thoughts and knew it was hard to understand. Hell, even she could not believe that a Dayuki was still alive. She had thought the stories were myths, not history. Stories told by people who ate too many mushrooms and fantasized about mythical worlds. But if it were true, and the queen in front of her was a descendant of such a clan, then she would have the key to her freedom.

  “But what if it isn’t? The king obviously believes it. Have you ever had anything odd happen to you?”

  Ann saw a spark of recognition flicker in the queen’s gaze. Something had happened. Which only provided more evidence to the prophecy. Ann felt hope blossom within her chest.

  “How would I even know?”

  Ann was at a loss of an answer. She knew very little about the legends other than what was shared in children’s books. But from what she knew, Dayuki could call upon spirits through their own power. How exactly they did that, she was not sure.

  “I am not sure…I can see if I could find a book that describes the Dayuki in detail, but this must be kept secret. From my understanding, the king does not want anyone to know. If he knew that you found out, it could prove disastrous for everyone. Especially for you since he would try to find a way to control you. Even more so than now.”

  The queen nodded, her eyes seeming to gain some life that Ann had not seen before. If her spirit could be awakened, then that may prove to be the solution to her problem.

  “I will do my best to find out some more information, but you may be able to find something more in the king’s personal library. You have access to more areas than me and they would probably just assume you are finally coming around to your new position.”

  The queen looked at her once again, nodding slightly. There was silence and then the queen whispered something that Ann was barely able to catch.

  “Thank you”

  Ann felt a surge of pleasure as she smiled back at the queen, finally feeling like she was able to do something positive.

  “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  The queen shook her head slowly, turning to walk over to a plush red couch to sit down. The queen stared off into the distance, except this time her expression was contemplative instead of blank.

  “I need some time by myself if you don’t mind.”

  Ann quickly nodded, wanting to please her mistress.

  “Of course! Let me know if there is anything else I can do!”

  Ann quickly bowed, hurrying out of the room so that her mistress could have some alone time. Even though it seemed like she was alone most of the time, at least this time she was not looking as if she would throw herself out of a window.

  Ann felt accomplished, but at the same time she had a blossom of fear that settled deep within her chest. She knew the queen deserved to know why she was here, but she also knew how devastating it would be if she really wasn’t a Dayuki. Then her suffering would be for nothing. The king would probably dispose of her and re-mate. Ann shivered, sincerely hoping that the prophecy was true. Because then the queen would at least be able to make some decisions for herself.

  Ann nodded at the guards as she passed by, letting them know that the queen was still meditating and did not want to be disturbed.

  That would hopefully give her some time to be alone and think.

  Ann did not feel bad about trying to help the king’s mate. Although she considered herself to be loyal to the crown, she was more loyal to what she felt was right. And currently, that young girl was suffering. A young girl whose very existence was a miracle.

  How could Ann stand by and watch her be mistreated when she could help in some way?

  If the king was meant to bond with the Dayuki and beget offspring, then it would happen. It could not be forced. The Gods would always win in the end.

  As Ann continued down the hallway to return to the servant’s quarters, she sent a quick prayer that everything would work out as it was supposed to.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Alena felt as if her mind was going to explode. She had been sitting still for days wondering why her life had turned into this monstrosity and what she had done to deserve it. Had it been because she was selfish and wanted more for her station? Was it because she had wronged a person who specialized in curses?

  And now.

  Now, she found out that her life had turned into this nightmare because the king believed she was some kind of legendary person from a storybook.

  Her anger was hard to contain as she gripped the side of the couch until her fingers stung. Flashbacks to the past week and the reality of her enslaved life unfolded before her eyes. All because he believed she was some kind of mystical being who could give him power.

  Power that he already had.

  What could he expect from her? What could he possibly want from her? Why did he need anything added to what he already had? And what if it was all a mistake? He had kidnapped and tortured her for no reason.

  Even if she was this person then there was no way in hell she would want to be paired with such an asshole. She did not want to be someone’s play thing, having her strings pulled according to their whim.

  She did not want to bear his children.

  One of her hands lifted to clutch at her stomach, feeling sick at the thought of something growing inside of her. She had to get away before that happened.

  She looked around the spacious and expensively decorated room to consider her options. If this absurd idea was true, then that meant she had some hidden power. Power that could be useful.

  But how could she access it, let alone use it effectively?

  Alena thought about her fight at the competition and how an energy ball had seemingly burst out of her. She froze, realizing she had been grabbed right after that. She had originally thought it was because they assumed she cheated.

  But now…

  Had there been a connection? Had he seen that power and decided she was this Dayuki person?

  Now that Alena was considering it, the power had been strange. She had never had those capabilities before, and it had only revealed itself when she had nothing left. Had she triggered something within herself? Could it have been locked away for this long without even a hint of its’ existence? Or had it been a mistake?

  It was hard for her to believe that she had a hidden, incredible power within her this whole time and never realized it. Wouldn’t she have noticed other signs before? And if she could summon creatures, then where were they now? Was there a way to control them?

  Alena felt like banging her head against the wall with all the questions that were bombarding her mind. Too many questions, too little answers.

  She thought about the maid’s suggestion to find a book on Dayuki. There had to be one somewhere in this place. And if not, she knew there had to be a source for this prophecy that the king seemed so sure about.

  Alena paused, considering the possibility that the maid had actually been lying. What if she had made all of this up in the hopes of inspiring Alena into living again? What greater way was there to give someone motivation than to give them hope that there was an escape.

  She highly doubted that the girl would risk her life for something like that though.

  Unless, of course, the king had convinced her to do it.

  If so, that was a cruel and unusual tactic.

  But what if it was true? Wasn’t it better to believe it and find more answers than to sit here and wait for him to come and rape her every night?

  Alena decided she could not sit here any longer.

  Releasing her death grip on the couch, she stood up and walked towards the door. She had no idea where anything in the palace was
since she had mostly occupied this room. And the few times she had ventured out, she had been so locked inside her head that she hadn’t noticed any of her surroundings.

  Perhaps she should not have been so quick to tell the maid to leave.

  She could have had her escort her to the library and leave her to her investigation. Perhaps she would have even known where to start looking.

  Alena drew open her door slowly and cautiously poked her head out. Immediately she was greeted by two large guards who had piercing yellow eyes and stern expressions. Their appearance almost made her retreat into her room and slam the door shut. But she forced herself to take a deep breath and maintain an appearance of being collected.

  The Meticians thrived off fear and she didn’t want to satisfy them.

  She didn’t need their respect, but she did need their cooperation.

  With that thought, she straightened her body and looked each one in the eye in turn.

  “I am bored with being in my room all day and decided I would like to see the library. I like to read and thought it would be a good way to pass the time.”

  The guards looked at each other for a moment before turning their gazes back to her and nodding. Apparently, reading was not considered to be a dangerous past time. Or perhaps they were satisfied to see her actually moving around.

  It was, after all, what their king wanted.

  To see her cooperating and adapting to her new life.

  She hated them.

  They knew what happened every day and did nothing.

  They stood there as she was raped and abused.

  If she had some great power, then she would make sure that no one would be alive when she was done with this place.

  Once she stepped out, the two guards immediately stepped to either side of her and steered her down the hallway. She knew they were on the second floor because she vaguely remembered walking up steps. She also knew that she had been taken to the king’s room at some point as well which was also on this floor. She forced herself to resist shivering in fearful remembrance.

  She kept her head held high as she walked with the guards, not letting them know how incredibly uncomfortable she felt being between them. Luckily, they did not touch her. She knew if she felt even the slightest brush of their skin she would freak out. Even their smell repulsed her, reminding her of pain and terror.

  Keep it together. Breathe. Just breathe.

  They led her to a door that had not been that far away from her own room. One of the guards stepped forward to unlock the door and hold it open as the other one waved her in. Stepping inside, her vision was bombarded with shelves of books that seemed endless. Everywhere she looked there were rows of neatly stacked books.

  The thought of finding what she needed made her heart sink. She would be in here for days and still not find what she was looking for.

  She glanced at the guards and knew she could not ask them for assistance. The maid had been right; the king could not know what she was doing. He would probably lock her up or find a way to entrap her so that she never figured out how to control her powers.

  He did not want a powerful mate. He wanted an enslaved one.

  Could she ask for her maid?

  The girl had said she had never been inside this library, so she may not know where to look either. And that may also raise suspicion.

  Alena decided she would just do her best to look through what she could. Perhaps she could find something that was useful.

  “You may go now.”

  She forced her voice to sound stern as she turned to walk over to a row of shelves. Listening behind her, she heard the guard’s footsteps slowly begin to retreat and the door close.

  Yea, she had to be supervised, but she was also technically a queen.

  She thought how funny it was how most people would be overenthusiastic to have that title while it made her want to vomit. Alena quelled her disgust as she began to look through the many books. Noticing they were organized according to subject matter made her feel better. She would then only have to look through the sections that were focused on history or mythology. She figured it would be more mythology oriented.

  As she moved around the room, she began picking books off the shelves with titles that seemed as if they could be mythological themed. When she had a substantial pile in her arms, she sat down and began to flip through the pages of one of them. While there were many references of dragons, unicorns, and vampires, Dayuki did not seem to be a popular subject.

  She sighed and opened another one, reading about elixir concoctions that could help people fly or live in water. She could only imagine the poor people that the elixirs were tested on.

  After the twelfth book, she sighed again. It had already been about an hour and she was not any closer to finding out information than before. The books had some interesting topics but nothing even remotely close to Dayuki. She wondered if the story even existed.

  The story had sounded familiar to her though. Which was odd because she didn’t remember hearing or reading about it. Perhaps when she was younger? Alena stood up and moved to see if there was a children’s book section.

  After searching for quite some time, she concluded that there was not a single children’s story book in here. Which made her skeptical about the king’s interest in having children.

  But, of course, he was only interested in increasing his social standing. Not in actually creating a happy family. She felt a bubble of anger increase within her that she struggled to control.

  In a moment of anger, she grabbed a book and threw it across the room, venting her frustration at her situation and her unproductive search all in one throw. It did not dissipate all her frustrations, but it did feel slightly satisfying to express her emotions in a physical way. Especially since her every action had been controlled as of late.

  It was then her eyes landed on a book that was sticking out of a bookshelf. For some reason, it called to her. She moved towards it, her eyes searching for a title but found none.

  Could that be a good sign?

  It appeared the book had been retrieved recently so perhaps this was the one she was looking for.

  Alena drew it out and opened it, scanning the pages. Her eyes stopped when they found the word “summoner.”

  There is not much known about the great summoners of the golden ages, other than they had great power. They were blessed by the Gods, living out their lives integrated within many societies throughout Zidania. Even though they had great power, they did not use it maleficently. They lived in peace with their environment and others. Their duty was to make the world better and that was the source of their strength.

  Alena paused. It sounded as if the Dayuki were selfless which seemed highly improbable. There were no creatures alive or dead that were that selflessly good. But then again, they were blessed by the Gods. And to get a gift like that would require some kind of divine trade. But that also did not fit with her. Alena was far from selfless and could not imagine herself dedicating her entire life to others. She wanted to gain money and status and travel. Sure, she loved other people and wanted to make the world a slightly better place, but she was also capable of hate.

  Was that why she was in her current position?

  Was she not selfless enough and now she was being punished?

  She thought of that concept as being silly since she had been fighting when the first burst of her power had surfaced. And she had been far from selfless and peaceful in that situation. She had wanted to destroy her opponent, not coddle him.

  So, if that was not the source of her power then either she was not one of these people or this book was false.

  Alena scanned her eyes over the next few pages, seeing drawings of some of the creatures that Dayuki could summon. They ranged from small and cute to humongous and frightening.

  What would it be like to summon something like that?

  She could imagine herself being scared out of her mind if a large dragon-like creature ap
peared out of nowhere.

  How could she even be sure if it was on her side?

  She froze in her investigation as she heard a door creak open and close. She hurriedly replaced the book and pressed her back against one of the shelves. She was far enough into the library that she could remain hidden. But who would come in here? Was it a guard? Servant? She felt her heart speed up as she moved slowly towards the edge of the bookcase so she could peer around it. When she saw no one at the entrance, she tried to tell herself that a guard may have only peaked in before moving on.

  But the hot breath on her neck told her otherwise.

  “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Her heart sank as she recognized the voice and her muscles immediately went liquid in fear. This was a meeting that she had wanted to avoid.

  How did he find her?

  She remained stiff as she felt his long, clawed hand travel up her body to grab her breast while his other curled around her waist to pull her firmly against him. The feel of his hard erection against her buttocks made her quake in fear.

  “Not excited to see me? It’s such a shame too. If you would only get over this silly predisposition you have, then we could move onto more pleasurable things. I see that you have been enjoying my library. Can you imagine the nice conversations we could have about topics? And I would hate to have to drug you every time we have sex.”

  Then don’t rape me! Her mind screamed.

  She gritted her teeth as his claw ripped the top of her dress so that he could move under it and roughly start rubbing her nipple.

  She wanted to cry but knew that would only lead to more pain. He hated to see her weak and it made him angry. As if crying meant you were weak. If he were in her position she was sure he would be doing the same thing.

  His other hand moved further down to curl between her legs and start rubbing her through the fabric. She clenched her eyes shut as she tried to move away. His arms held her fast though and his strength was too great for her to combat.

  If she were able to harness some of that energy, would she be able to overpower him?

  She heard him inhale deeply, a pleasured groan sounding in her ear.