Chapter Marian
Marian
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Marian, forgive me. I knew he’d come.” Penny sobbed. “I tried to warn you all. He was never giving up. He—He’s h-hurt you. I’m sorry.”
Harder she cried, but all I could do was let her hold onto me as I stared forward in a daze.
“I’m going to make this up to you. Once I—When I—I will. I’ll make this up to you.”
“I want to leave.”
The words mumbled through. No matter how much I tried to focus, I couldn’t with David and Simon not feet away.
And I saw more guards. Guards who had raped me.
They were everywhere. They were glaring and watching.
Waiting. I was afraid to move. Afraid to speak or even look at Penny.
The top half of my body was so heavy. All I wanted to do was lower to the floor.
To take my position—to cower—to just… disappear.
I wanted to be away from here. I could barely think. I could barely hold myself together.
“Marian.”
Penny pulled back as her small hands leveled at my cheeks. She didn’t make contact. She was studying me too hard, and she seemed to know not to touch me. I could barely contain the need to scream or fight as she’d been wrapped around me. Had I not been so far away, maybe I would have.
“Marian? Please. I know this is… hard for you. I know—Just obey. Listen and obey. If you fight anything asked of you, it’ll only be worse.
Take orders and get out of here. That’s the only way you’re leaving.
Marian… Marian?” Her hands connected hard to my face as she held on, snapping me from the scowls I kept anxiously scanning.
“If you want to leave, listen. Obey. Nod.”
I blinked through the words, swallowing hard as my head went up and down.
“Someday, we’ll see each other again. I’ll miss you every second until that day. You helped me. You made me happy, and I love you.”
Penelope turned to leave, and I quickly grabbed her hand. The action had the guards reaching for their weapons. My eyes flew open wide through the fear, and I froze, feeling my legs grow weak at their nearness.
“I love you, too. Penny, this isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you for this.”
She was crying again, flying into my arms.
“Obey, Marian, no matter what he says. Be strong, but show him you can take orders, and he’ll show you mercy. Focus on the task, not on what you’re doing.”
All I could do was keep nodding. I clung to the clarity as she drew back and raced back through the guards.
They parted, and I saw The Unavowed ordering men to strap Drayton to a large wooden X.
He wasn’t wearing the tux’s jacket or shirt anymore.
He was bare from the waist up. They were cuffing his wrists and ankles, and his eyes were fixed right on me and the guards who were circling in.
Tears blinded me, and I blinked them away, feeling them fall down my face.
I was supposed to take the punishment. I was supposed to spare Drayton.
After all, didn’t I deserve this? Wasn’t this my doing?
Now, he’d hate me even more. I hated myself.
I thought I’d been so strong. So… untouchable as a shark.
I was the mouse. I was the dirt. Dirty. Low. Mouse.
Squeaking sounded as two more Xs were rolled in next to me. I could see the fear in David and Simon’s faces as they looked between me and the St. Andrew’s crosses. I wasn’t na?ve to what they were… or what they could be used as. Restraint. But why were all three men being strapped to them?
I fled the crosses as the two guards were marched my way. I collided with a stranger, but Bram quickly reached out and pulled me to his side. I clung to him like my life depended on it. Deep down… it did.
“Now we’re having fun!”
The Unavowed’s voice echoed through the large stone area.
Chairs were being moved out of the way while the men in the black veils carried small torches, beginning to light ones fastened to the wall.
The brightness from the large chandeliers above dimmed, and the glow from the fire increased.
I could feel my body shaking as a whispered chant started from Masters who stayed to witness what was happening.
“We are—”
The explosive words from The Unavowed left me jumping in Bram’s arms.
“The shadows above kings.”
“We are—”
“In the blood that silence brings.”
“We are—”
“The truth they fear to find.”
“We are—”
“The wrath they left behind.”
“Once again—”
“Born to rise.”
“Forever more—”
“The kingdom in disguise.”
A loud sound roared from each of them sending my fingers digging into Bram. But still, The Unavowed continued.
“Nothing in our world comes easily. Nothing comes without a cost. When one of us dies, it is not without contribution to a higher cause. We come into this knowing someday we may be the sacrifice. We may be the currency that allows our world to continue. Tonight, we lose three, but what we’re gaining is unlike anything we’ve known. ”
The Unavowed’s eyes locked on me, and I tried to pry my fingers free of Bram as he headed in our direction.
Somewhere deep inside, I knew I had to be strong.
At least pretend to be. But the fear—the consuming screams—they made it hard to let go and not cower.
Somehow, I managed. The creed was sinking in.
The words: Kingdom. Blood. Shadows. I was better than this broken woman.
I was someone. I was a LaRoe. That used to mean everything.
It still did, or I wouldn’t be here. I had to think.
I had to find pieces of the Marian I was before this happened.
“I promised us progress, and I have delivered on that promise. We’ve gone too long hiding in the shadows. I say… No! More!”
A roar of cheers had me holding tightly to the skirt of the ballgown as I inched away from Bram. My eyes went to Drayton. To the terror in his depths as sweat dampened the hair falling at his forehead.
“I do nothing without reason or result. Someday, when my heir is king or queen, history will come back to this very moment. To two bloodlines so supreme that there will never be any action taken against them again. Pennington and LaRoe—Taylor and Masterson.” The Unavowed’s gaze narrowed as he kept eye contact at his approach.
“Together, we are the future, and we’re going to prove that tonight. Aren’t we, Marian?”
Think. Think!
“We are…Unavowed.”
A moment of pause had him smiling bigger and nodding in approval at my formal address with a hint of his creed.
“Tonight is more than a game. Tonight, a woman equivalent to a queen in her country, one who will produce the other half of our future, will take her revenge. I allow this, but not without a price. When I bleed, so do those who inflict it. My blood,” he said, pointing to the guards, “for hers.” He waved his arm to Drayton.
“Like any game, there are rules. Blood for blood. Wound for wound. Death… for death.”
My head shook, but I knew better than to speak. He wouldn’t kill Drayton. He couldn’t. Not if he wanted his heir.
The Unavowed waved his hand, and a guard wheeled a cart of weapons to a stop between the two Xs that held David and Simon while they also placed one in front of the king. David and Simon were gagged now, completely stripped bare for all to see, unlike Drayton, who still wore his pants.
“Here are the rules. You have twenty opportunities to bring suffering. Each guard you torture will hold ten wounds. Not nine. Not eleven. The tenth must be the one to end their life. If they don’t die, your husband will.
If your wounds are not significant enough to cause pain, I make Mr. Pennington’s severe.
Each wound consists of what we call a turn.
Example: If you want to cut off their finger, the number of swings to a hatchet doesn’t count.
The finger is the turn, not the number of times it took you to make the wound.
Once we start, at no point are you allowed to turn around and see the damage I’ve caused.
If you disobey, he pays. Now, choose. Do we go one wound at a time, or would you like to make two—one per guard? ”
I met Drayton’s eyes, feeling more tears fall.
To argue would make this worse. Penny said to obey.
To act strong and obey. This man was a leader.
I was giving birth to his future heir’s betrothed whether I liked it or not.
He was a king… Maybe not the one ruling his country, but he could be in the future. He was supposed to be now.
“Two.” I stood straighter. “I will inflict one on each guard before you have your turn.”
The side of The Unavowed’s mouth pulled back, and he gave a slow nod.
“Two, it is. You go first.”
My eyes lifted to David, darting to Simon as I tried to step forward. For the life of me, my feet didn’t want to move.
“Marian, you’ve got this. Think about what they’ve done to you. Don’t hold back. Not for anything.”
I didn’t turn to Bram, but I did nod as I slowly headed for the cart between the two men. Each step was harder than the next as I took in the different style knives and hatchets on the cart I neared.
“Mmm-grmmm.” David thrashed, and I looked up, seeing the rage boiling in his continued glare. He was so angry. So ready to beat me down again. But he wasn’t leaving that cross alive. I wasn’t going to let him.
I grabbed the handle of one of the large knives, pulling it towards me as I stopped in front of him. More, he thrashed. I went to turn to look back at The Unavowed but caught myself knowing if I did, Drayton would suffer.
I’m a shark.
I’m a shark.
“Mmmm-gggmm.”
Hate. So much hate stared down at me. It was enough to tilt my world. Him… hate me? Hate… me? He hurt me! He raped me. But he thought he could look at me like I was the one to blame?
“Don’t hold back. Not for anything… Think about what they’ve done to you…”
The words bounced around and the fear drained, leaving my body ice cold.
I pulled up one side of the wedding dress, stomping forward and grabbing his dick.
Grabbing the weapon he’d used to destroy pieces of me.
More, he thrashed, but I only held on tighter, squeezing with all the hate I had inside me.
Heavy jolts didn’t move the cross from his panic.
I began sawing easily through the thick width watching the layers of muscle peel back from the sharp blade.
Blood sprayed out, speckling the white silk.
Back and forth, I went, letting the blade split muscle.
Within seconds I was slicing through the bottom and dropping it to the floor.
Muffled screams were deafening, and they were coming from both men as I headed for Simon. He’d never raped me, but he had come in my cup and poured it on my face as I lay broken on the ground. He hadn’t wanted to participate, but he had wanted to watch me get assaulted. Abused. Humiliated.
“You liked to watch. To touch.”
My voice was soft. The statement came more as a whisper, getting swallowed down by David’s yell.
Simon’s face was so high, at least a foot taller than me.
I couldn’t be eye-level with him as I made him pay, but it didn’t stop me from thrusting the knife up, letting the tip of the blade sink through the center of his right eye.
Red raced over his bottom lid and before Simon could process my quick action, I twisted the blade in the socket, feeling the knife scrape bone as I circled it around and jerked back.
Blood raced a river down his face, dripping on the floor as his head swung back and forth violently.
Drip-drip.
Drip-drip.
Drip.
Drip.
I got lost in the red that was splattering on the floor before me while his eyeball swung against his cheek.
More screams sounded. Simon and David continued going wild on the crosses, crying out distorted words and pulling as hard as they could against the restraints.
The pleasure of seeing their fear only lasted a moment before a deep sound roared out behind me.
Instinct at hearing Drayton’s voice housing agony had my entire body going rigid.
I wanted to spin to check on him, but I knew better.
If he had to endure this pain, I wasn’t going to make it worse.
“Fuck! God—Fuck!” Deep pants left him before another yell sounded. An eternity seemed to pass before a guard stepped between the two crosses and gave me a gesture to continue.
Was I sobbing? No.
Were the tears falling for a man who was going to despise me after this? Yes.
I went to wipe the wetness only just realizing I was still clutching the knife. My fingers were white, and my hands were trembling so badly it didn’t look real.
Heading forward, I faced David, not seeing him here, but in the chair.
Holding me. Forcing his cock into me even as I screamed and tried to get away.
I could still smell his sweat and the garlic on his breath.
He’d eaten before he’d come to me all bruised from his own beating.
I’d never be able to smell garlic again.
Even thinking about it nearly made me gag.
I gripped with everything I had, closing the distance as I collapsed to my knees.
Thrusting.
Squeezing me.
Thrusting.
Drip-drip.
Drip.
Blood splashed against the full ball gown.
I watched as the material soaked it up while the color seemed to eat away the white.
My eyes cut off to the area where his dick had been, and I scanned the space wanting to massacre every inch.
I lifted on my knees, stabbing it into the hole I’d made as a place holder.
Half-scream-half-sob left him, and I grabbed to his balls while he continued to fight the restraints.
David was getting wilder as I tugged down on his sac, and he was trying to move out of my grasp.
I stretched him, tightening the loose skin as much as I could.
Pulling the knife free, I let the metal split through, keeping the sawing at a torturous pace.
I knew nothing but each second. Each slide of my hand as I pushed forward and pulled back.
Crimson rained down in a steady stream, and the slower I went, the more I took in pleasure of it leaving him.
His life was mine now, staining my special day with a remembrance that would last a lifetime.
Bram Whitlock was right. I couldn’t hold back. Not for anything.