by Danube Adele
“What do you want?” My voice came out in a croak.
“Oh, Cecilia, so many things.”
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it.”
“I am going to kill you. But there are some things I want to know first.” He picked something up off the table as he stood. To my horror, it looked like some kind of whip. “You said some things, and I want to know who’s responsible for this information.”
What had I said? I was having trouble remembering.
“I don’t know what I was saying. I was scared and just talking.”
“You know, this could have gone another way. It didn’t have to be so ugly.”
“But you’re ugly, Morten. Anything you touch is going to turn ugly.” He was going to kill me anyway. I was hoping I could provoke him into killing me quickly. I didn’t want to slowly go out of my mind with pain and fear. The body was able to withstand a lot of punishment, but the mind could not.
A knife flashed in the light. Morten had pulled it out and was holding it above my neck. I closed my eyes, and tried to think about letting go and finding Carlos. I pictured his dark eyes. He would take care of me. The cold blade touched my breastbone. Suddenly, there was a tearing sound and the fabric of the dress I was wearing gave way. The air touched my bare skin. With a fear-clenching realization, I knew he was only getting started.
Was I going to be able to handle this without begging?
“There now. That’s better,” Morten grinned, his eyes taking in the sight of my breasts and ribcage. The dress was hung up on my hips, gathered there because of the jaggedly torn edges. “I like you like this.”
“You’re repulsive. Is this the only way you can get laid?”
His grin faded, and his lips curled into a cruel grimace. He reached his hand out and laid it flat on my stomach. His skin was soft and clammy. His hand drifted up, stopping just before he covered my right breast. Then, with his pale eyes on mine, his hand covered the mound, squeezing painfully. I gritted my teeth to withstand it, but when he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, his fingers returned to the nipple and pinched hard, twisting savagely. It was so hard that I couldn’t stop the cry from escaping or the tears from burning. Only then did he let go.
“You understand, then.”
“I understand you’re sick. Disgusting. The world shouldn’t have to endure another moment of you wasting space here. You should do us all a favor and jump off the cliff.”
“Cecilia, dove, you never learn. When I’m finished with you, I can either kill you or give you to the other men to do with as they please. Now which will it be?”
“Tell me what you want. I want off this ride.”
“Who told you my father killed the king?”
“No one.” I was not going to let Tarra down.
There was no hesitation. In one continuous move, he reached out, grabbed his whip and brought it down across my stomach, part of it curling up over my breast. I screamed, unable to handle it stoically. I had hoped to give him nothing, but I knew I was going to lose it all.
“Try again.”
“I overheard you talking about it.”
The whip came down again, whizzing through the air to snap against my skin. A strangled cry came out. “Wrong again. I would have known if you were there.”
I tried to remember what Cynthia had said. “There are secret passages in the walls that I discovered. Truly. They’re all over the place.”
He looked at me suspiciously, and I was sure he was going to bring the whip down on me again, but then we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Tayla appeared with a tray of water and food. Our eyes met, but she kept her face calm and collected.
“What do you want?”
“Your father was wondering where you were. He’s also looking for Dr. Cecilia.”
“My father?” He stood as if to leave, but then turned back to me with a frown. He opened his mouth, but then realized Tayla was still there. “Leave the tray. Tell my father I’ll be up soon. Say nothing of this, or you won’t see tomorrow.”
“Of course.”
As soon as she was gone, he turned on me. “What was in the needle on the silver tray?”
“A sedative.” He’d taken the propofol from my office?
“You told me it would kill.”
“In great quantity, I’m sure it would. The amount in the syringe was enough to put him to sleep for a bit.”
“So you lied!” He threw the whip across the room and stood with his head thrown back, his hands on his hips.
“Why would you want to kill your own father? What did he ever do to you? Looks to me like you’ve got a sweet deal.”
He turned back to look at me. “You see me as a monster. Know that it was my father who made me one, then turned his back on me. I was the look out when he killed all those years ago, but you know what? The king and queen had always been kind to me. Always. More so than my own father.”
The sound of another pair of footsteps came down the stairs. Syra appeared.
“What is it now?”
“The villagers are rioting.”
“Take care of it! You all know what to do.”
“They aren’t just a few.” Syra’s jaw was clenched.
“Then how many are there?”
“It looks like everyone in the village. There are well over a hundred.”
“What do they want?”
“Dr. Cecilia.”
He muttered an expletive and left with Syra.
I let the tears fall freely as the burn to my body continued to sting. Looking down, I could see the raised red welts that crisscrossed my skin. Relief that I was alone for the moment allowed me to relax at least superficially, but I still listened for more footsteps. What did it really matter anyway? Now or in a few hours, someone was going to come down here and kill me.
When I did finally hear the footsteps, they weren’t just one pair. They were several, and I knew the worst was yet to come. After all that had happened to me, they weren’t going to just let me go. I’d eventually end up in the mass body dump, but at least Sandburg would see me and know what had happened. Why hadn’t I left with Cynthia when she’d offered? Already home. In bed. I could have woken in the morning and figured it all for a bad dream.
“Now it’s my turn.”
I didn’t even flinch. I knew it was going to be Draxton. In this Shakespearian drama I’d done him harm and left him alive. Now it was his turn to visit and get his own. Looking up, I saw the mess that was his face and felt a sense of satisfaction that I’d done that to him. Mottled, puffy bruises, dried blood still staining the skin around his nose and on his hands. I’d broken it for sure.
“You should get a doctor to look at that,” I managed to sputter through dried blood as he opened the metal door and walked through. “Of course, there aren’t any around, are there? It’s okay if it heals up crookedly. You’ll have a story to tell. You know, about how you got spanked by a girl.” I grinned.
Draxton tightened his jaw, but other than that, he only walked up to me and grabbed my hair, yanking it back so my neck was exposed.
“I’m going to have fun breaking you.” He’d brought three of his men with him, and they had lascivious grins. One was even rubbing his cock. Fucking animals.
I was afraid of that, which was why I wanted to make this quick. “Well, I definitely had fun breaking you. And you know what else? I didn’t need to tie you up to do it. How brave you are to beat on a little female. It must make you feel like such a man.”
“You have to learn your place here!” His backhand caught me at the end of my sentence. My head snapped to the side, and I desperately wished for unconsciousness. My lip swelled instantly, but I forced a grin. I didn’t want to be awake when they did what they were planning to do to my body.
“She’s a piece.” One of the men was looking at my breasts.
“Her clothing is in the way.” The other warrior said this.
Draxton must have seen the fear on my face because in a nanosecond, he reached out and yanked the dress all the way off, leaving me completely bare. The warrior nearest me was already cupping both of my breasts. The other warrior was pulling his erection out to begin stroking it.
“Is this what you did to the girls?” I snapped desperately.
Draxton grinned. “This and more. Spread your legs.”
“You spread them!” My feet weren’t tied down, and I hoped for the strength to deliver one more nasty assault on Draxton.
“I will.”
With a grin made even more hideous by the injuries to his face, he stepped toward me. I managed to get one foot under me and launch a front kick to his chin with the other. Almost like it was in slow motion, I saw the pain and anger register on his face. I saw the fist he made, and as it came at me, my mind reached for Carlos, and the lights went out.
So you like this guy, don’t you? His name’s Tabron, right?
I do.
Carlos and I were sitting on the table in the dungeon, legs crossed, kicking our feet back and forth languidly. It was interesting that I could see my body hanging from the chains, but I wasn’t actually in my body. Thank God. Draxton was yelling at me to wake up. He was pulling my head up by my hair and slapping my face. I was glad I couldn’t feel that. Man, I was a mess. First there was the injury from landing on the damned stones, then I’d been rocked by Draxton’s fist a few times. Blood was dripping from my nose and down my brow into my eye. Jeesh. I thought Draxton’s face looked bad. I was halfway there.
He’s an honorable guy. I’d pick him for you.
Thanks. You’re a pal. Hey, you said you were out of here.
Yeah, well, you called. I knew you needed me.
Totally. Check it out. I’m a mess.
You’re going to have to make a choice.
I am? About what?
I’m not sure, but I feel a split in your timeline. It could go one way or another.
I wondered if that was going to happen. Stay or go. Would I make it out of this torture session alive, and if so, would I want to? Maybe I’d be forever damaged.
Who knows? Maybe we could skip around the universe for a while? You can show me the ropes.
Think about it. It’s not time yet. Carlos rubbed his eyes and looked down shaking his head. I can’t watch this happen to you, Ceci. I love you.
I love you, too. Take care.
The final slap Draxton gave me was one I felt. With a pained groan, I looked up into his face, wondering why it was that I couldn’t have remained out. My ears were ringing, so I couldn’t hear what he was saying, though I saw his lips move. Whatever he said had the two men moving to my legs. They each went to grab a knee when suddenly, the room was filled with brilliant blue light. It was so bright I had to close my eyes against it. As the light faded, I was able to open my eyes again.
Tabron was standing there.
Chapter Eighteen
A terrifying roar filled the air. Tabron was across the room in a fraction of a second, his sword skewering one of the warriors holding my leg open. The other warrior tried to scurry out of the way, but Tabron gave him a stomp kick to the head with his heavy boot. His sword came free of the first warrior only to slit the second from groin to chest in one lightning-fast motion.
Which left Draxton, standing with his own sword in hand, looking less certain as Tabron faced him.
“Tabron,” I whispered, so thankful. Hot, salty tears burned paths down my face as I took in his beautiful form, the fury that filled him all on my behalf. All I could think was he’s here, he’s here, he’s here...
“Are you all right?” He asked the question as gently as he could, considering his gaze was filled with rage and he was keeping his eyes on Draxton. I knew what he was asking.
“You got here just in time. It was about to get bad.”
Draxton smiled. “We were just having ourselves a little fun.”
“I like having fun,” Tabron replied, his stance predatory. His face was set, his eyes were focused and he was ready to kill. Draxton would not be leaving alive, and it seemed that he was suddenly realizing that.
“She’s just a woman.”
“She’s my woman.”
Tabron attacked. Whipping through the air, his sword crashed against Draxton’s. Draxton knocked the table in Tabron’s way and tried to run.
“Not so fast, Draxton.” Bruner stood at the metal entrance, his own sword brandished.
“Finish this, coward.” Tabron’s deadly voice, deep and full of cold ruthlessness had Draxton’s eyes widening. There was no way he was going to be able to leave.
“She attacked me! Do you see my face?” He was sounding desperate, but I could see his hand was reaching for something at his waistband.
“Knife!” I called, just before it was whipped out and thrown.
Tabron dodged it as he rushed Draxton a final time. There was no hesitation. He disarmed Draxton in a final thrusting maneuver before sinking his sword in deep and giving it one last twist.
“We’ll wait for you outside, but be quick. The villagers are going to break down the fence.” Bruner turned to leave, and that’s when I saw Tarra with him. She caught sight of me and gasped, covering her mouth with trembling fingers.
“Oh, Cecilia...”
“Come on.” Bruner took her arm and pulled her away.
Tabron quickly resheathed his sword and came to me, his face a mask of anguish. I could see he was blaming himself for leaving me, and he worked quickly to get my hands uncuffed. Bringing them back toward my body after the muscles had been stretched out, holding my weight. He held me gently to his chest.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered in my ear as sobs shook me. He pressed gentle kisses against the undamaged spots on my face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Just stop.” I pulled back just slightly to look at him. “You couldn’t have known.”
“You tried to tell me.”
“But this is your life. You’ve lived it with integrity. Why would you think anything else was happening?”
Bruner shouted from the stairway. “Get up here!”
“Here. Take my coat.” Carefully putting it over my shoulders, I got my arms through and waited for Tabron to cover me. He gathered me in his arms and began up the stairs with me, taking them two at a time. Bruner was standing at the door with Tarra, watching what was happening fifty yards away.
“There’s a standoff between the villagers and Morten’s men. The king is watching from his windows. He doesn’t know what’s happening.”
“Morten tried to kill him,” I stated, holding on to Tabron’s arm as he gently set me back on my feet.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know this?” Bruner asked.
“Morten told me he took one of my syringes and injected his father with it. He didn’t realize it would only put his father to sleep for a few hours. He told everyone I’d killed his father.”
“He’s trying to rally for power,” Bruner snapped.
“We need to get to the meadow. I know someone there who can get Cecilia to a safe place in the mountains.” Tarra said this quickly.
“Let’s go,” he demanded.
Bruner led the way, blocking for Tarra, but the moment one villa
ger saw me, the warriors felt the surge as the people tried to come to me. The cries grew stronger.
“She is an innocent!”
“Let her go!”
“She is our healer!”
The crowd surged fast and furious, pushing their way through the warriors. We were surrounded by the people, and I suddenly felt my arm getting pulled, separating me from Tabron and Bruner.
“No! He’s helping me,” I shouted, but it was like no one heard. I tried to pull away. “Let go of me!” It wasn’t lost on me that just days earlier, I was running from him in this crowd, and now, I was running to him.
“Hold on to me! I’m Jory.” A young woman in jeans and a T-shirt, long hair falling down her back in soft waves, shoved her way through the crowd. With one hand on my arm and the other stretching for Tabron, she made a bridge that transferred the three of us instantly to the quiet, peaceful meadow near the mountains that I’d seen from the palace window.
“Where are we?” Tabron asked immediately.
Jory eyed us both, as though looking to see if we were going to be a problem. “King Kraggon’s camp is just over the hill, beyond the crops.”
“Please, take me to him.”
It was the dinner hour and the main meal was being eaten around the campfire in the center of camp, which was pushed up against tall rock faces. A number of tents lined the perimeter of the camp. A lovely group of people were sitting together, laughing and talking through the evening meal. As we neared the campsite, conversation quieted and a man, tall and broad with a mane of golden brown hair, stood.
“Tabron of Dragmor, state your business.”
“Peace, Kraggon. Only peace.”
“I never doubted.” A wide smile spread on Kraggon’s face and he approached in long strides, only faltering when he got a look at me. “What’s happened?”
“I bring Cecilia Bradford, a doctor from Earth.”
“From Earth?”