Chapter 20: Discipline

A Prince of the Nobillo

Chapter 20: Discipline

"That little piece of eroki!" Boz fumed.

Rivuk moved some figures on his screen, pretending not to notice as Boz stormed down the corridor followed closely by Elihim. "It is the fourteenth bil of Princess Lindsay's incarceration, but, in light of the new evidence that's come forward, people are asking, hasn't she been punished enough?" Yasolina said on the miniature viewing screen next to a report on the Western Plateau.

A few video bots flew around as Lindsay spoke to a Nobillo man on the street. "It wasn't like she meant to do anything to hurt us," he said. "I don't know why we're in this war, anyway. Seems like a waste of hecares if you ask me."

"We love you, Princess Lindsay!" a gaggle of young women shouted in unison.

He turned down the volume to listen to his brothers.

Boz spun on his heel causing his older brother to almost crash into him. "She laughed at us! Laughed!"

"And you silenced her," Elihim said, clearly trying to calm the raging storm.

"But I didn't break her," he hissed through clenched teeth. "I could still see her laughing at me in those ugly mud-colored eyes! Guard, summon my concubine, I don't care which one. I just need something to beat. Something that will cry and beg me to stop. Ugh! I want to watch her crying and weeping for mercy at my hands! I want to break her like a riragdon! I want to see that shattered look in her eye!"

He grabbed a guard's spear and, without even a second thought, stabbed the large Child through the head with it. The guard fell to the floor, dead. "I need something that would hurt her. Something she cares about that I can use to destroy her. Like watching me skin her precious Bona Serat Corsar alive."

"Please don't kill the guards," Elihim said.

Boz kicked the guard's head, staring at its large, open mouth, long tongue dangling from the side. "We should cut off their faces, they're so ugly. Why can't they make them at least look tolerable?"

"It is difficult enough to breed them as it is."

"Don't even talk about that! The only thing more disgusting than they are is the idea of them breeding. Can you imagine having sex with something that looked like that? I'd gouge my own eyes out. I'd cut off my tessect and scour myself with salt." He paused and looked at the guard again, then at his brother. "Well, I suppose you can imagine it quite clearly."

"I'd rather not discuss that," Elihim said.

"Oh, but I never felt closer to you than in that moment when I watched you put that one from the barracks in the hospital. For a moment, I thought you might actually kill her. I was so pleased father let me come along to watch your little rebellious streak be quashed by the destruction of the very thing you loved the most. Remember that look in her bloody eye when she realized she was all alone and her prince wasn't coming to help her? That the one she cared for was the one destroying her. You wouldn't even look at it after that." A chilling grin rose on Boz's features. "Oh, I know," he said.

"Scouring her with salt?"

"No." he said simply. Then he laughed. "What's the poor little princess going to do when everyone she loves can't bear to look at her?"

It was a laugh Rivuk knew well. Even though it had been lancs since he'd last heard it; a shiver shot through him. He must hold Lindsay extra tight, tonight, for she was about to face something evil, and he would be powerless to stop it.

________________________________________

Lindsay lay in her cell, listening. There was nothing else for her to do. She could hum. She'd smirk but it hurt too much to smile. The pain had become a dull ache enveloping her entire body as long as she didn't move. Whenever she did, whenever she even breathed too deeply, it was like someone stabbing her with a huge rusty knife. She couldn't even sleep. All she could do was wait.

"I'm here to see the princess," Carak's voice carried down the hallway.

"Again? Why do you even come here every day, anyway? She's a traitor. She doesn't deserve your pity," the loud voice of the guard said.

"I am permitted to. Thank you." Carak replied.

She heard his heavy footsteps approaching her cell. Staggered, as they always were, his limp giving them a distinct cadence.

"He's in love with her, that's why," the other guard said, likely to the first.

"You think so? Hey, you in love with the princess? Ugh, that's too disgusting to even think about. Especially today. Did you see her when they brought her back?"

"It's not like he'd ever have the chance, anyway. You've heard how his grace goes at the little whore every night. Oh Rivuk! Ohhhh!"

She did not like hearing her voice mocked like that.

"I'd like to have her suck my telson," the guard said more quietly. "Oh! Eroki!" he shouted. He sounded terrified.

She heard Carak's voice, soft and deadly. "I will report your desires to his grace."

"No! Please don't!"

But Carak didn't respond, his shuffling step continuing toward her door.

Lindsay winced as the handle turned. He was going to be upset. She knew he was. And she couldn't even warn him to spare him that horrible moment. He'd know what happened the second he saw her - who had happened.

The door opened. Horror flashed across the part of Carak's face she could see without moving her neck. In a heartbeat, he was kneeling beside her, slicing through the string that bound her lips with his claw. His eyes were murderous.

"What did he do?" Carak demanded.

"He lost," Lindsay said, glad to have the ability to speak again. "But he didn't rape me, if that's what you're asking. He gave some reasons but I think he just couldn't get it up when I laughed at him." She ran her arm across her mouth, smearing blood and vomit across it. She winced. It felt good to get that crust off, but damn those holes hurt.

"Thank the Immortal!"

"Can you fix it? I really don't want Rivuk seeing me with a bunch of holes in my face, it's bad enough you have to."

"I think they're recent enough. Hold still."

She surrendered herself to Carak's care. She winced as he reset her bones, but tried not to cry, though a few tears did escape when he reset her wrists. She didn't want him to feel like he was hurting her. That was Boz, and he'd been nothing if not thorough - every one of her arm joints had been pulled out of place. It took almost an hour for Carak to put them back to right. Then he covered her arms with special cloths he'd used before that were supposed to take down the swelling and bruising.

"What did Elihim mean when he said they had to keep me intact?" Lindsay asked as she swung her arms back and forth, glad to have the motion back, even if they still ached.

"Just what he said. So long as you are a princess, it is illegal to do any long-term or permanent harm to your body that might affect your duties as a wife and mother. Unfortunately, with medical technology as it is, the definition of long-term harm is rather vague. So long as it can be healed within a bil, it is allowable." Carak answered.

"So they can whip me all day, but they can't cut off my toe?"

"More or less."

She let out a derisive huff. "If that's the case, I could do this for years."

"I'd rather you not."

Lindsay's eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me to talk?"

"No. But I hate to see you hurt."

Her heart melted. She wanted to embrace him, to kiss him! She wanted to stroke his smooth head and tell him how much she loved him. She gazed into his large white eyes and saw a deep tenderness. Suddenly, it was gone, pulled back within. Had it been real, or just an emotional moment brought on by playing nursemaid to her?

She'd been so confident in her desire to tell Carak her feelings. But then she'd been a princess, she'd been a queen! Now she was nothing more than a burden, and one he shouldn't have to bear more than he already was. It was better this way. She was enough trouble for Rivuk as it was.

"Would you like to play a round of mancala?" she asked, plastering on a smile. "It'd be good to test out my fingers."

Carak nodded. "Yes. Of course."

________________________________________

The thought of Boz's impending plan troubled Rivuk through supper. He hadn't slept at all last night. If he was honest, he hadn't really slept more than a few hours at a time since Lindsay was arrested. He kept having nightmares of waking up as he had that night, with her and his wristband gone. After this, he doubted he would ever sleep again. And he would have to order Carak to do it. He knew what it would mean for the plan: that it would be a step too far to the people, that it could be the thing that turned the tide. Certainly, they'd lose the taste for his wife's punishment after something public.

He scrolled through the degree on his holotab. But in order to make that gain, he would be giving their lives to the cause. Knowing Boz, even though he did not know what it was, it would be something horrible. Something involving his hest and his wife, since he had to sign the consent forms for their use. They couldn't kill Lindsay, but they could kill Carak. They could make her kill him, or maim him, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. All he could do was sign the paperwork granting them the use of his hest and the public torture of his wife.

Could he really do that? Could he really sign them away to be destroyed in front of his eyes? For his wife to be left broken and praying for a death he would not, could not give to spare her the pain of living with such a deed on her conscience. But how many more lives would be lost if he didn't? If he explained it to them plainly... No, they'd never agree to it. And she shouldn't have to feel the pain of what was to come until it was absolutely necessary. Let her have one more day. Perhaps his father might still relent.

A little hand rested on his arm. "Daddy, is Mommy Lindsay ever going to come home?"

He smiled at Deneta, fighting back his own worried expression. Mommy Lindsay. Lindsay would have died to hear those words. Would she ever hear Deneta say them? "Someday, chickadee, someday."

"Mommy Lindsay used to call me chickadee," Deneta said.

The sudden ached stabbed through his heart. She had, hadn't she? He'd never even heard of the word until she'd drawn one for his daughter and she'd fallen in love with it. "Yes, she did."

"Why hasn't she come back? Is she sick?"

"No. You know how sometimes when you do something wrong, you get sent to your room as punishment?"

Deneta nodded.

"Well, Mommy Lindsay, she accidentally did something very wrong, and part of her punishment is she is stuck in a room and can't come out to visit anyone right now."

"You get to see her!" she protested.

"I'm her husband, so I'm allowed. But I can't stay with her all day."

"But I miss her! It's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong, why are they punishing me?"

"I miss her, too. Sometimes punishments don't seem fair," he said.

"Will it be much longer?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said, a note of sadness creeping in to his voice.

"I hope not. I have a new trick I want to show her."

A tiny, child-sized spoon floated in front of Rivuk's nose. "See, Daddy, I'm just like you. I can move stuff, too," she said happily.

His eyes went wide as horror rushed through him. He sprung over the table and grabbed Deneta, smashing her tiny body against his.

"Daddy! You're squishing me!" she cried.

"I'm sorry, chickadee. I was just... so proud. Have you shown anyone else?" he tried to keep the panic from his voice as he asked, stroking her tawny tresses as though he might never feel them again.

"No."

His shoulders relaxed. He pulled Deneta back, looking her in the eyes. "That's good. For now, let's keep this between us. We wouldn't want anyone to tell Mommy Lindsay and spoil the surprise, would we?"

"No." Deneta shook her head.

"She's going to be so proud of you," he choked back his tears of fear.

"Really?"

"Of course. But, until then, it's our secret." He held an upright finger to his lips, as Lindsay had used to do when saying that.

Deneta copied the motion. "Our secret. Shhhh... Are you going to see her tonight?"

"Yes." His heart was still racing.

"Tell her I miss her and I hope her punishment ends soon."

"I will." He would definitely not. The last thing Lindsay needed right now was to be worrying about his daughter when she had the future of an entire race on her shoulders. A weight he could only hope to distract her from for the next few hours.

* * *

"It was Boz," Carak said, meeting Rivuk at the door of Lindsay's cell.

Rivuk stared at the blood on his hest's arms. Red blood. Her blood. He'd known, of course he'd known from Boz's tantrum in the hall, but to see her blood against Carak's grey skin...

He'd kill him. He'd kill Boz for this.

"How bad was it?" Rivuk asked.

"I've done the best I could, but she has some scars and her body is in a delicate state. I thought it was best to prepare you before you went in," Carak explained.

Rivuk took a deep breath and asked the question he'd been dreading since Elihim said Boz had silenced her. "Did he rape her?"

Carak shook his head. "No."

"Thank the Immortal!" Rivuk breathed. Still, that Boz had even touched his wife! That he'd left her marked! Silence be damned! "Thank you, Carak," he said. "I know you did all you could. You may go."

Carak nodded.

In truth, Rivuk didn't want his hest to see how he would react; even he wasn't certain. He opened the door.

There she was, sitting on the shelf bed in only her bra and panties, the skin of her body and arms mottled with blue and purple bruises.

"Rivuk!" she cried, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.

But he'd seen the marks where Boz's needle had pushed through, pulling that rough, thick thread behind. He wanted to speak, but the words choked in his throat.

"I'm sorry, I know they look bad," she began. "He just pissed me off so much with his whole sewing lips together thing, I told him to do it. Carak says they'll fade in-"

He kissed her gently, delicately.

"Harder." she said. "I won't break."

He kissed her hard and long. So that was why Boz was so mad, his one favorite thing to do and she'd stolen it from him. It held no power over her.

She stripped him of his clothes. Her body slithered into his. He tried to hold it, but he felt it jerk at his softest touch. How she could want him at this moment, he didn't know. If he'd taken her home to the forest when she'd asked, if he'd not brought her there in the first place, she wouldn't have these marks. On her lips. On her shoulder. On her forearm and her side.

On her mind. He'd seen her nightmares of burning camps and Children of the Immortal attacks. He's seen her wake up in a cold sweat, panting, from dreams she couldn't remember of Children of the Immortal attacking her home and tearing her family apart. Would Boz now be among the nighttime phantoms that preyed on her?

All of these scars were from him in some way. How many more would be inflicted on her before it was all through?

And yet, knowing all of this, how did the anger of her betrayal still burn within him? Why did it stop him from forgiving her? Why did it seek to punish her by stopping his tongue? He saw in her eyes how it crushed her. Hadn't he hurt her enough?

Yet some part of him begged to hurt her even more so she would feel the way he did, to see her crushed like a tiktik under his boot on the barracks floor. It looked at her body and the walls and felt no remorse, only that she had gotten what she deserved for betraying him when he'd given her everything. When he'd given her a palace instead of a tent. And still, at the first chance, she'd chosen the tent! She'd thrown everything he gave her away for a tiktik infested tent!

And he hated himself for it, for taking solace in her misery. All the while comforting himself with her body.

How could she still kiss him, treacherous prince that he was?

How could she still... ohhhh... He closed his eyes as her kisses ran down his chest to his tessect. This ended now. It was time to put away the rage and the jealousy for the woman in his arms. The woman he would help Boz destroy if he didn't.

She was his wife. It was time he loved her like she was.

________________________________________

Rivuk's tessect moved back and forth in Lindsay's mouth, her tongue stroking it, looping around it, running around the rear edge as his fingers tangled in her hair, pushing her head further onto him. She took his telson deep in her throat and began to swallow repeatedly. His hips shook as the first burst ejaculated down her throat.

His breathing came fast and heavy. His hands moved to her shoulders as she pushed the bottom of his telson against her teeth, pressing the top with her tongue. She felt the sharp tips of his claws against her skin, his hands swaying her shoulders back and forth until a stuttered moan escaped his lips and her mouth filled with the sweet felous. She swallowed it greedily, savoring the aftertaste. It was the only thing with any sweetness or flavor she'd had since she was locked up.

Rivuk slid down the bare rust-brown and white wall until he was sitting beside her. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him, enfolding them in his wings. She laid her head against his chest and sighed. She felt his kiss on her brow and turned her gaze up to him. There was the faintest curl of a smile at the edge of his lips.

"My wilding," he said. His fingers combed through her hair, tilting her head back. He showered her with kisses as he spoke, "My impulsive, brave wilding. But I am glad you are my wife."

"Are we ok, now?" she asked, her finger unconsciously traced the faint scars on her lips.

Rivuk's finger followed. "No. But we'll get there."

"I'm sorry I messed up the plan," Lindsay said.

"You don't need to worry about that. Leave it to me to deal with."

"I'll bet the people hate me now. They probably want to kill all the Bonat," she said, miserably.

"You'd be surprised. Most of the people are confused, of course. My family did everything they could to portray you as a dangerous traitor, but I was able to start a few well-placed rumors with the right people that have cast doubt on your guilt in the matter."

"The right people?"

His eye twinkled. "There is a woman who owes you for a certain exclusive interview."

"Yasolina!" Lindsay cried.

"She never believed it anyway; she was only too glad to help."

"But what about the Bonat?"

He shook his head. "I couldn't stop them from going back into the forest. We lost three squads. I'm not certain of the Bonat losses, but I doubt they were as heavy as ours."

Lindsay saw all those innocent Children fighting to the death against the Bonat. Needless death! She buried her face in his chest, the water from her tears spreading all over as she pressed her fists against it in impotent anger at him. "Why couldn't you stop them? You're the head of the military!"

"Because they would have accused me of being in league with you, and that's the last thing we can afford right now. These are the choices a prince has to make. I can't save everybody!"

Lindsay hung her head. She knew he was right. "It's not your fault, it's mine. I can't believe I was so stupid!"

"You weren't stupid. You saw all the worst things in our society and believed us capable of one thing more. And you weren't even wrong in that; only in believing it was near completion."

She was stunned. "So, you are working on a bioweapon?"

"Of course we are." Rivuk answered simply. "This is a war and it's been going on a lot longer than either of us have been alive. If I were to come in and cancel every program that might help us win, they would have given my position over to Boz long ago. You can imagine what he'd do."