Eye of the Ancients Pt. 02

The air around us seemed to cool dramatically even before we walked into the castle. Crows cawed overhead as they left their rests to lift into the sky, their wings beating like a single panting breath. My heart pounded in my chest and I was dizzy with fear, but I didn't dare show it. My uncle got a sick thrill out of making people afraid of him and I would rather die than give him what he wanted.

Besides, my strength would only help Corsica. As I glanced back at her, I could see her trembling in the grip of the young soldier who ushered her forward. Even he looked afraid of what was coming. I wondered, if he knew he was probably leading her to her death, would he risk helping her escape? It wasn't likely, but I could hope there were still those who served under my uncle who retained their humanity. Of course, why someone with a conscience could still serve under such a horrible man was something that I couldn't comprehend. It just wasn't logical.

Servants bowed as we passed, but they kept their eyes downcast even as they rose. No doubt word of what I'd done, and what was coming to us both, had already spread through the estate. Though no one would be willing to stand up to the King, none of them were so sadistic that they would enjoy listening to the pain he was about to inflict, either. At least not that I knew of.

I wondered if Aeron had already received word of what was about to happen. I knew he had his own spies within the castle walls because I'd caught him several times with information that he should otherwise be unaware of. How and who was the mystery. I could only hope that if he had heard, he wouldn't do anything stupid like try to stand in my uncle's way. It would only be worse for him.

The soldiers outside the King's Keep bowed their heads before opening the heavy wooden doors. My shoes clicked on the tile floors while Corsica's slippers barely made a sound. The soldiers' boots sounded heavy like the fall of Hades' bident. Like a harbinger of doom.

My uncle sat on his throne with his head turned away as he talked with his adviser, Dominic, who glanced in my direction as we stepped forward. With the slightest of smirks, he turned his eyes away from me, bowed to the King, and backed away to his position on the right and just behind the throne. Dominic's dimples deepened as we entered. If anyone in the castle, besides my uncle, was sadistic enough to enjoy our suffering, it was Dominic. He looked like he felt we deserved it. I hated how attractive those dimples were, almost as much as I despised the man they belonged to. I had reason to believe that my uncle's bloodlust would not be nearly as insatiable if it weren't for Dominic constantly whispering in his ear.

"Do you simply enjoy trying my patience, or is it the pain of my whip that pleases you, Niece?" Turning his head as we neared, I could see the anger and vengeance in the King's eyes. He was looking forward to my pain and humiliation. It's why he always left the doors open. He wanted my screams to echo throughout the halls. And today, there was the added bonus of Corsica. She had been punished before, but never as severely as me. Today could easily be her last unless I was careful.

"Bring the servant girl first." The King's voice echoed throughout the room like the beat of a drum. I swung my head to the right, my eyes meeting Corsica's with the same measure of fear shining between us. He was moving quicker than usual. Any other time he would draw out our fear as long as possible, reveling in it. Never was he so eager to get to the point. Something was wrong. Even more than usual and suddenly the air felt thick with something I couldn't define.

When my head turned back toward the throne, I met Dominic's eyes and saw the glee in them. This had been his doing. His influence. I narrowed my own eyes so that he would know this debt wouldn't go unpaid, but he just tipped his head back in defiance. My heart rate tripled, but I worked to hide it behind anger. I doubted it was effective. If only I could get to the sword that bastard wore around his belt in time.

The soldier walking with Corsica pushed her forward, walking halfway between where we stood and where my uncle sat before forcing her down to her knees. He stepped back a couple paces then clasped his hands behind his back to wait for further orders. My uncle stood and walked languidly toward her. This is what I had expected, but the air shifted and new dread settled in my bones.

"We took you in from that hovel you and your wretched family called a home and promised you food. Clothes. A warm bed and a solid roof over your head. And all we asked was for you to watch our niece, the Princess, to keep her safe and help her to make choices that were becoming of her position in this kingdom. Choices that would not look badly on her. Or us. And now you've failed us. You've failed the Crown. And so the only thing to do is to put you down like a dog that won't hunt."

My uncle extended his hand out to his side and a soldier stepped forward to fill it with his sword. I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew this was a possibility, but even knowing that I didn't really expect it. I couldn't let her die because of my impulsiveness.

"Wait!" I tried to rush forward, but the soldier at my back held my arms. I threw my hands back with just enough energy to get him off of me, but not to hurt him. When his arms released me, I stumbled forward, caught myself, then rushed toward Corsica and threw myself over her back. If the only thing I did was earn my uncle's sword two heads instead of one, then I would still have done something.

The air whooshed and condensed over my neck, but the pain of the blade never came. I held Corsica's trembling body under mine and silently begged whoever may be listening that this wouldn't end up being a huge mistake.

"What do you think you're doing, child?" The King's voice was grating above us. Metallic. I looked up and saw the fire of his anger reflected in his eyes.

"She didn't know," I choked out. "I lied to her. She thought I was going to my lesson but I snuck away and went riding instead."

I cried out in agony as my uncle reached down and pulled me away from Corsica by my hair, flinging me against the floor to the side. Corsica reached for me, but my uncle stopped her with the tip of his sword pointed at her throat. Tears poured down her face as she looked at me, showing her torment as she was unable to move except to arch her head away from the blade.

"Is she telling the truth," the King bit out harshly through clenched teeth.

Indecision warred on her features as it hit her what she had to do. She was going to have to lie to save her own neck. Literally. But in doing so, she was going to put mine on the line. Still leaning back on the cold stone floor, I gave her an almost imperceptible nod, hoping she would see and do what needed to be done. I could handle another whipping. But I couldn't handle losing my best friend because of something stupid I'd done. She closed her eyes before looking up at the King.

"Yes, my King. She is."

His sword didn't move at first and I held my breath thinking he was going to kill her anyway just because he was angry, but with one last shudder of rage, he dropped his arm to his side.

"Leave," he growled.

Corsica cast one more trembling glance at me before standing and all but running from the room. I knew she'd hate herself for leaving, but it's easy to say you'll be strong and brave until the moment comes when you need to be. Until the moment when your life is on the line and you have to make that choice. I didn't blame her for making the choice she did. It would be hypocritical of me if I did.

My uncle walked back to his throne, swinging his sword absently like a child as he did. He murmured a few things under his breath while Dominic glared daggers at me. The evening wasn't going the way he had expected, it seemed. There was blood to be spilled and he was unhappy to see the floor still clean.

"Fascinating. You lied to your handmaiden so you could go for a ride on that ridiculously slow horse you seem to love so much. I should have fed him to the wolves years ago. I knew he would be a burden on this kingdom one way or another."

My eyes narrowed of their own accord. My uncle was being even more strange than he usually was. While sometimes prone to unreasonable rage, he wasn't know for all out madness. How could a horse put the whole kingdom at risk? If I had just gone for a ride like I said, it's not like I had been selling secrets to rebels or something of the sort. What harm could a horse possibly bring? I pushed myself up to kneel on my knees and waited for him to get bored of prolonging the inevitable so I could get past this moment. The quicker the pain came, the quicker I could heal.

Except the longer he sat there, the more I started to wonder what new game he was up to.

"How many times have you been whipped for your disobedience?" He was looking at me, but I could tell he was thinking to himself and didn't expect me to answer. Very often, any words I spoke would only make him angrier. "Too many, it would seem," he finally concluded. "The problem, then, must be that the punishment is no longer a deterrent. Perhaps you do enjoy the pain..."

His voice trailed off as he looked out of the massive windows to my right at the quickly fading light of the coming night. Most of the light in the room came from enormous wax-coated chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and torches around the room's perimeter, but neither were enough to fully illuminate the room. It gave my uncle and the scene he'd gathered around us an even more ominous feel.

Absently, the king waved his hand to someone in the back of the room. Despite myself, I stood and turned to see who he was motioning to. This was highly unusual and the irregularity of it was somehow more frightening than my uncle's erratic behavior.

A young page rushed into the room carrying something almost as large as himself. He was a thin, malnourished boy. Similar to the one I'd seen selling flowers just that morning. The joy of my ride and the dance with the handsome stranger in the bazaar seemed a lifetime away.

The page struggled with his load and for a brief second, I almost considered helping him, but then I thought better of it. It would only make me look insolent and him weak and neither would be good for either of us. So instead, I bit my lip and gripped my skirts in my trembling hands in the desperate hope that they would soak up some of the dampness on my palms.

As soon as he dropped the object at my feet, the boy's eyes met mine and I recognized him. He was one of the stable boys that would often care for Ferdinand. I saw the fear and anguish on his face, but still it didn't register what he'd just delivered. I think my brain was fighting with itself because it didn't want to face the realization that was just beginning to dawn on me.

I looked down at the embellished leather. At the golden threads woven through the seat. The intricate design pressed into the seat jockey. The patterns my hand had formed on the horn.

And the blood splashed across the side.

When I raised my tear-filled eyes to my uncle, both he and Dominic smiled with evil delight. One of them had finally found the punishment that would break me. As I fell to my knees again and threw myself over Ferdinand's saddle, my uncle began to laugh.

"I guess I don't have to worry about you going riding on that damned horse ever again, now, do I?"

***

As soon as my uncle dismissed me with a wave of his hand, I grabbed my skirts and fled from the room. My face stung with the heat of my tears and my eyes blurred as new ones continued to fall but all I could think of was getting as far away from the King's Keep as possible. Where I would go, I had no idea. I just wanted to get away from his presence and from the awful stench of Ferdinand's blood on the saddle.

I couldn't hear the footsteps over my own sobs and didn't know anyone was following me until strong hands gripped my arm. My body was flung so violently against the side wall that all the breath in my lungs was forced out of me. Before I could catch my breath, Dominic's body was crushed hard against my own.

"You cunning little witch," he growled, his deep voice vibrating in my chest menacingly. "How did you manage to convince that old fool to spare the life of your maid?"

"I knew that was your doing," I seethed in response. I no longer cared about hiding my hatred of him openly in front of the knights who were standing near, looking to each other as if trying to decide what to do. Dominic was the King's High Advisor. He was second only to the King, himself, so to go against him was to forfeit one's position in the castle. However, I was the Princess and the soon-to-be fiance of the High Commander. Their position was precarious to say the least. But after a few moments of Dominic and I staring each other down, the closer knight - the one who had promised to lie for me - began to step forward. It was clear that his loyalty to me outweighed his responsibility to Dominic.

Realizing his situation, Dominic grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. "Return to the King's Keep immediately! I will take the Princess to her quarters and ensure she stays there until called for."

When the knight didn't respond immediately and the one behind him began to follow his lead, Dominic pulled me forward so he could address the senior knight without raising his voice. "Bear in mind that I know your families. While I may not be able to touch you, my reach outside this castle is far and swift."

The knight's eyes widened with incredulity. He glanced from Dominic to me, his conflict of conscience clearly written across his features. I gave the knight a subtle shake of my head. Whatever Dominic had planned for me couldn't be bad enough to risk the lives of the knights' families. I wouldn't have their blood on my hands, too.

I could tell how much it pained the knights to step back, bow, and turn around. I wanted them to know how grateful I was that they'd even thought to protect me, but now wasn't the time and here wasn't the place.

Once he was sure his orders were being followed, Dominic tightened his grip on my arm and tugged me down a darkened corridor. He once again shoved me against the wall, hitting my head against the stone this time. My vision swam and my stomach lurched as there were briefly two versions of Dominic standing before me, each with their own sadistic grin on their face.

It took me a moment to realize that Dominic was raising the hem of my skirt. When I did, I tried to push his hand away, but the pain in my head was so strong that my muscles were as weak as a newborn calf's. Tears welled up in my eyes anew as his hand slid up my leg like a venomous snake. I tried to cry out, but he pressed his free hand hard against my mouth to stifle my voice.

"I know where you've been, kitten, and what you've been doing." His fingers found my cunt and slid between the folds still wet from my time with Aeron in the blacksmith's cabin. He slipped his fingers in and out of me slowly and I cursed my body for responding against my will to his touch. Tears puddled around his hand at my mouth and bubbled from the breath that was barely able to get around it. I felt as if I were drowning in my own anguish.

"How very quaint of you to fall for a peasant. A street urchin such as Aeron Witfall. You convinced your uncle to take him in just so you could get on your back for him like a common whore." Dominic's fingers continued to pump in and out of me, speeding up their pace. I clenched my eyes shut and begged for the help of any god or goddess who cared to get me out of that position. For someone...anyone...to help me.

But no one heard my prayers and the only one coming was me.

My legs shook as Dominic pushed his thumb against my clit, working it in circles as he continued to fuck me with his long fingers. "See," he whispered in my ear, pressing his body tighter against me to keep me still. "You'll come for any man who shoves something up your tight cunt, won't you?"

I whimpered and sobbed against his hand as my legs started to buckle. Dominic's breath was hot in my ear as he rutted his clothed, hardened cock against my leg. He bit my ear and shoved his fingers so hard into me that I knew I wouldn't be able to walk properly later. Reflexively, my hand shot out to grab his shoulder, my nails digging into his flesh. I could feel Dominic's smirk as his tongue trailed over the outer shell of my ear and down the side of my neck. My pants and whimpers grew stronger as my body flashed hot and cold with my warring emotions. I hated how pliant and willing my body was being for such an evil, heartless man.

"Just so you are aware, some of us can speak to the crows so you might want to tell Lover Boy to watch what seditious words he says, even when he thinks no one is around to hear."

My eyes flew open and met Dominic's as his threat hit me. Without warning, an orgasm took hold in my body and shook me so violently, I almost threw up. Dominic's eyes were glowing golden even in the darkened hallway, similar to the way Aeron's did but with much more power behind them. What he cursed too? Possessed by a demon? His smirk was demonic enough that a possession seemed possible.

When the waves of my unwanted orgasm subsided and my cunt no longer clenched against Dominic's fingers, he released me, letting me fall hard to the stone floor. I gasped for breath and choked out wracking sobs as he glared over me, his face a mask of condescension and disgust.

"I'll make sure to tell your lover what a good little whore you were for me, coming all over my hand like that." He punctuated his words by slinging my own juices onto my face. I barely had the strength to recoil at it.

"And make sure you don't go to him again, or it won't be my fingers that find your tight little hole. It will be my sword. After it has been used to behead the blacksmith.

***

The days that followed passed by in a blur. It was finally time for my betrothal announcement and once again I felt like I was being led to the gallows. Towering arrangements of flowers had been stuffed into every conceivable corner of the castle, each one a combination of blood red, black, and white. There was so much red around the castle that it felt as if the walls were bleeding. The choking floral aroma stretched even beyond the castle walls and made me wonder if that was the scent that filled the nostrils of the dead on their way into the afterlife.

With all the crying I'd done over the past few days, the arrangements matched my eyes. It had taken Corsica quite some time, and an astonishing amount of makeup, to cover the dark circles under them. The rims, lids, and lashes had been blackened in order to use the color to my advantage which created quite a contrast between my face and my dress. I felt like I was two different people inhabiting one body. I just wished to know which one was really me.

Corsica flitted and tittered behind me as she fluffed at the skirt of my gown so that my entrance would be perfect. I was thankful that at least she was still with me, but the pain of knowing Ferdinand's death was on my head refused to leave me. Had I listened instead of being so impulsive, an innocent animal wouldn't have died.

The events in the King's Keep, and in the corridor beyond, that day weighed heavily on me like a shroud, pulling down my thoughts and my spirits in a way no one, not even the King, could have anticipated. Whenever he saw me around the estate, however, he got a smug grin on his face knowing that he'd finally broken my spirits. Dominic wasn't any better. He'd walk by me in the halls, tilt his head back, and grin down at me with those damn dimples as he said a polite "hello" or "good evening". To my own amazement, I'd taken to fantasizing about all the ways I could kill him. I'd never had such thoughts before, but after him having my horse killed and the humiliation he'd inflicted on me in the hallway, I couldn't stop myself from my bloody thoughts.