by L G Nauck
Alena slowly looked up when the king walked towards her, coming to stand in front of her with that smug look on his face. He knew he had won.
“I will take your gratitude now.”
She clenched her teeth, feeling a wave of blinding wrath consume her. She wanted to kill him with everything in her being.
With a cry of rage, Alena struck out. The king must have anticipated the move as he brought up his arms to block each blow. But she continued to strike out, feeling her rage increase with each parry and chuckle produced by the Dryken. She didn’t care. She wanted him dead. She threw herself into her punches with everything she had. Her vision blurred as angry tears filled them.
Her emotions built into a crescendo, feeling as if they would explode out of her. She pressed both of her hands to his chest and forced the feeling out of her, a blinding light coming out of her hands and connecting with his chest. The look of surprise on his face was enough to quiet some of her rage as he went flying across the room, implanting himself into the wall. As stone tumbled around his fallen body, Alena glared with a disdain she had never felt before. Her body radiated with anger and power. She felt as if sparks were literally shooting out of her body.
The shifting of stone indicated that the source of her disgust was still very much alive. She watched as he stood up, brushing off the residue with an expression that didn’t reveal his emotions. When he looked at her, the coldness in his eyes pierced through her anger and reminded her of her fear. It was the look he had used when he repeatedly abused her.
“Remember who you belong to. You live to service me. I will give you that one, but know your life is in my hands. And your friend’s life is also in my hands right now.”
She felt as if a bucket of ice water was poured on top of her. The anger within her was replaced with a feeling of hopelessness and fear. She may have been able to cause some damage which was a major victory, but she still did not have the power to take him out. And even if she did, Kaleck was still in dangerous territory. If he was away from here, then at least she would be the only one to face any kind of wrath. Right now, she had more than one life on the line.
“And now it is time for your repayment.”
The look in his eyes sent shivers down her spine. She couldn’t help but take a step back as every fiber in her body wanted to run.
“Uh, Uh, Uh, if you run from me I will not only kill your precious ‘brother’ but I will torture him until he wishes that he were dead.”
She choked back a sob but forced herself to stay motionless as he stopped in front of her and reached out, brushing the hair back from her face. Alena weakly followed the Dryken as he took her hand and led her to the bed. She felt panic rise within her as he pushed off his pants and sat down on the bed. Instead of pulling her to him though he pushed her down until she was on her knees. She looked at him in confusion, unsure of what he was planning.
“To ask for forgiveness and thank me for my graciousness today, you are going to serve me with your mouth.”
The reality finally clicked within Alena’s mind. He wanted her to…with her mouth. Horror and disgust filled her as she looked up at the Metician’s face. She didn’t want to look at that disgusting appendage that he forced into her daily.
“You forget who is in charge and who has the power. We will have plenty of time for sex, mutually beneficial, in the future. Right now, though, you are to pleasure me.”
She felt despair as she forced herself to look at the swollen appendage that was pulsating under her gaze. She didn’t want to do this. But she had to for Kaleck. Soon, he would be far away and safe. Safe from the king and his sadistic nature. She would be able to fight then. Just as she would need to fight now. He was not winning. She was doing this so she could succeed in the future. Or at least this is what she kept telling herself to gain courage.
Alena closed her eyes, forcing her mind to remain blank as she opened her mouth and allowed the tip to enter. She wouldn’t allow herself to think about the taste. She wouldn’t let herself think about the feeling. She was doing this to free her friend and eventually herself. Alena kept telling herself that as she moved her head up and down, changing her behavior according to the king’s demands.
“Lick it. Caress my balls. Suck harder.”
Pretty soon she felt his shaft get even harder, if that was possible. He also had started to growl and push his hips up so he could slide his shaft farther into her mouth.
“I’m going to cum and don’t you dare spit any of it out. You better swallow it all or so help me, I will cut off Kaleck’s dick and feed it to him.”
She squeezed her eyes tighter, allowing him to use her mouth as he wished while she prayed silently for it to be over. His claws clutched the back of her head, forcing her down as began to shoot his seed down her throat. With every gush, she felt as if she was suffocating. The fowl liquid made her want to gag but she forced her mind to stay blank as she quickly swallowed as fast as she could. It was almost over.
When the pulses began to ebb and his claws disentangled from her hair, she took it as a sign that she could pull away. She let his shaft fall out of her mouth as she sat back on the floor, staring blankly towards the wall and tried to forget what just happened. She would not allow herself to break down. Not now.
She did not look away from the wall as she heard shuffling as the king moved from his spot. She didn’t care where he was going. She hoped he was satisfied and would be gone for a long time. Her wish didn’t come true however when she felt his hands move under her armpits and lifted her. She was placed within his bed, his body moving to the other side so he could pull her back into his arms. She limply laid there, her eyes staring blankly in front of her.
“From now on you will sleep and live within my room. If you want, you can go back to the room you had been living in, but you will return here every night. You are my mate and will warm my bed as you should have been.”
She heard what he was saying but didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Her emotions were being buried too deep within her. She was too numb. So, she just laid there, staring blankly at a scratch in the wall. A crack in the otherwise perfect wall paper. And everything else was red.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alena watched out the window as Kaleck was escorted through the main gate. They had met eyes once but neither one of them smiled. This was not a happy occasion and they both knew it. She was grateful that he would be far away from here though. He couldn’t save her and that was something he would have to learn to live with. And she would live with the knowledge she had been able to save him from pain. Or worse.
When the last of the party had exited the gate, Alena turned from the window and surveyed the room blankly. The bed was now neatly made up, courtesy of the maid service. But even though the bed looked neat and ordinary, the memories there would haunt her forever. Not only had the king taken advantage of her mouth last night but she had been awakened by the feeling of him on top of her. And he still insisted on her remaining in this room with him. Because it was what mates do. And they were mates. She blinked slowly and turned her face away.
After he had forcefully taken her as she stared blankly at the ceiling, he had pulled out the bow Kaleck had made her.
“Look here at what I found in your stuff.”
Even in her deadened haze she still felt the jump of her heart at the weapon that had taken Kaleck so much time and effort to make. It reminded her of the affection they felt for each other. And then it was broken in half like it was nothing.
She had gasped and choked on a sob as the king smirked at her.
“It’s a good thing you have no use for a weapon. Even if you did, there’s no way a queen would be caught dead with such a poorly made piece of drift wood.”
She had allowed a few numb tears to roll down her cheek ad he chuckled and turned to leave.
She wasn’t even sure how long ago that had been.
She had felt enough and now she felt nothing. It was easier that
way. Her body and mind could not recuperate from the events that had happened.
Alena did not process the rest of the room even though her eyes traveled the length of it. None of it was important.
What was she to do now?
The sound of a door opening and closing had her slowly turning to see who had entered.
The tiger.
Alena looked at her without revealing any emotion although her heart was filled with disdain.
“I see you were able to say your distant goodbyes to your friend. It was a shame too. He seemed to be quite a handsome and vivacious young man. I would have enjoyed him staying around.”
Alena blinked and the tigress tilted her head, her eyes searching Alena’s face. For what exactly, Alena had no idea.
“I warned him about pushing you too much. You may be Dayuki but you are also a fragile little thing. At least you have pleased him though. I am pleasantly surprised you were able to get away for as long as you did. It showed great character, so I commend you on that! Plus, you gained some respect from Tane.”
Alena scowled, “I don’t care. If he respected me he would stop using me.”
The tigress made a sound that resembled a snort.
“That is his respect. If you put up more of a fight, then maybe you would be able to enjoy yourself a bit. It doesn’t have to be him using you.”
Disgust and rage filled her.
“I don’t want to touch him! I will never play into his hands and give him what he wants! I will never want to enjoy that!”
Serena sighed, “No need to yell. Your options are limited right now. I am simply trying to ease your suffering a bit. Even if the king had not found your friend, he probably would have found you anyway. When Meticians mate, they put some of their essence into their partner. This essence allows them to feel their partner at any time. That means if you were far away from him, he would be able to feel and track you. Your best scenario is to create some happiness where you currently are.”
Alena was quiet as she let the information sink in. He would always be able to feel her? She truly could never get away from him. He was literally inside of her. The thought made her want to dig through her skin and force every bit of him out.
“However, I do consider how things would be different if you could reach your full potential. It is a shame to have a Dayuki reappear and not be able to see the extraordinary things you are capable of. As a present, I have brought you an ancient text that I found in one of the elven colonies. They are notorious for their rare artifacts and I knew this particular one was a must! You see, I am fascinated by your breed and would love to see your powers in person. That is why I have brought it to you. Maybe you can tap into some of those powers of yours. I would love to see a dragon or phoenix!”
Alena tentatively reached out her hand and took the book that was offered to her. The cover was black without a title, the pages worn. This would help her?
“Other novels really romanticize Dayuki and talk about their benevolent hearts, but none talk about their combat or how deadly they truly were. The book also talks about summoning so maybe that can get you started!”
Alena felt too numb inside to even care about the priceless item. If she was able to use her powers, would that even make a difference? Perhaps the tigress was right about finding a small amount of happiness in her impossible situation.
She nodded at the Metician in forced gratitude, “I will read it.”
She could tell that Serena was waiting for her to say more but she had nothing else. She may be trying to help her but that did not excuse her relationship to the king or the fact she was silently encouraging his actions.
“Well…. I will leave it to you then. I hope I get to see some of the beasts you summon. I have always really enjoyed the stories of the Dayuki. Oh, before I go, I just wanted to inform you that your wedding is scheduled for the beginning of next week. If you are planning on doing anything, then I would do whatever you need to before that date. And remember, you don’t have to suffer if you don’t want to.”
Serena gave Alena a meaningful look that made her want to punch her. She didn’t want to suffer but she also didn’t want to be raped every night. She didn’t want to be forced to have children. She didn’t want to be a prisoner.
Alena said nothing as the tigress left, closing the door behind her. She looked once more at the book before setting it aside on an end-table.
She moved towards the bathroom, thinking about washing away the dirt. Although, truthfully, she never felt clean. She always felt dirty.
She turned on the handle to start the water in the shower. These types of amenities were unheard of from the South district. Standing-bathing chambers and even hot water were hard to come by. It was ironic that their city was known for having great wealth and technology, yet that prosperity did not extend to all citizens. But they were meant to be happy because they were lucky enough to be under the protection of the king.
It was all bullshit.
She took her time undressing, feeling the familiar numbness surround her and protect her from nightmarish thoughts. Once she was fully undressed she stared at herself in the large mirror. Her body was still mostly darkened even though she had been kept predominantly out of the sun. Her long, dark hair that she normally felt proud of was a tangled mess and fell almost to her buttocks. Her violet eyes were the hardest to look at though. Because she saw the pain and suffering in their depths. There was no hiding from it, and even if she could lie to herself, the dark circles under her eyes told a different story.
Her eyes drifted to her stomach and the thing that was apparently growing within her. It was true that she had not had a cycle in some time. She thought it had been due to stress. Plus, the fact the tigress had told her she was not pregnant not too long ago….
Had she lied? Or had the subsequent attacks finally done their job?
She doubted the king would joke about pregnancy.
The question was, what was she going to do about it?
She couldn’t imagine bringing a child into this world, especially not into such a horrible and dysfunctional home. No one deserved that.
She knew there were doctors in the city who could eliminate unwanted pregnancies, but she doubted she would get another chance to go into the city. Especially not to a specialist in abortions. The king would be in a rage.
What choice did that leave her?
Eyeing her hair once again, she had the urge to cut it off. There were plenty of times when the king would touch her hair, claiming it pleased him. She didn’t want to please him. She wanted him to never touch her again.
If she did everything possible to look unappealing, would he leave her alone?
Though there was no way she could get a knife or scissors. They would automatically think she planned on going on a rampage if she asked for potential weapons.
But as she stood there, her desire grew stronger until she was itching to remove the offensive strands.
She needed to do something. Anything. She couldn’t stand this anymore.
Alena could feel her heart speed up as her lungs seemed to not be able to get enough oxygen. It was like she was suffocating. Her head spun, and she grabbed onto the counter for balance. Her eyes darted to the mirror, wondering how long she would have before the guards came to see what happened. Could she punch out a small section and cut off her hair in time before she was confronted? Her eyes fell to her stomach, thinking of another use for a weapon.
Could she solve her problem?
Alena took a deep breath, deciding it was worth the risk.
She couldn’t stand this anymore.
She couldn’t let this happen.
She breathed in deeply, forcing her body to comply as she formed a fist and aimed it towards one of the corners. With the water running and such a small area being broken, the sound may not be overwhelming. She may have time to complete it.
She barely felt the sting as the glass cut into her hand. If anything, she f
elt numb inside. The anxiety was turning more into resolve. As if her mind was content that she was taking her life in her hands.
Her hand clenched one of the larger shards of glass in her hand. The sharp edges dug into her hand, causing more blood to well up and drip down her arm. She eyed it with satisfaction. She did not have much time left. She heard the sound of a door being slammed open, followed by footsteps. She took a last look at herself in the rest of the mirror, seeing herself as fragmented. Just as the guards burst open the door, she drove the shard into her abdomen. There was blinding pain and then numbness once again as she fell to the floor.
She prayed that it was enough. Enough to end life before it began and to destroy her uterus. If she was unable to bare children, then maybe she would be free.
The thought brought a smile to her lips just as she fainted and fell into the dark oblivion.
Chapter Thirteen
Tane’s roar could be heard throughout the palace. His eyes bled red as he rushed towards the infirmary. Terrified servants jumped out of his way as he dashed towards where he knew his mate was. Everyone knew the dangers of getting in between mates when one was injured.
He had felt as soon as she had stabbed herself. The shard driving through soft tissue and the blood pouring out. The stutter of her heart.
He had immediately dropped everything and moved towards her, disbelief and rage consuming him.
Where the fuck had the guards been!?
He would kill each one slowly for allowing this to happen.
As the door he knew she was behind came into view, he became more determined. His instinct screamed for him to be with her. To force her to get through this.
A body stepped in front of him, blocking his way.
Serena.
How dare she step in between him and his mate!?
“Stop! I know you are feeling the connection, but you will only make things worse if you go in there. Let the physicians do their job.”