Chapter 33 #2
We only had to hide and hold our breaths one more time until we made it outside to the stables.
I quickly worked on tacking a large chestnut mare at the end of the stable, hiding Cora in the corner of the stall.
I hoped the horse was fast and responsive, but there was no time to get choosy.
We needed to go. I couldn’t believe our luck so far.
Limited guard and no other staff in sight.
“Miss?”
I jumped, and Cora gasped. Ketlus poked his head over the stall door to catch me hitching the mare’s saddle. “Ketlus. Hi. Um, I wanted to show my daughter, Cora, how to properly tack a horse, a lesson all younglings should learn.” I was stuttering and rambling. I knew my voice gave me away.
His hazy eyes searched my face, and he stepped inside the horse stall with me.
“Hello, little miss,” Ketlus bowed to Cora, who watched with wide eyes.
He took the bridle off the wall and placed the bit into the mare’s mouth.
“You be needing to tighten that saddle a bit more, miss. I don’t want either of ya’ fallen off now.
” He hitched the girth up one notch to ensure a tight fit on the mare.
Ketlus gave me a nod. He knew what I was doing, and he was helping me anyway.
This could get him sent to the atoner or worse.
He helped me get Cora onto the saddle and then gave me a leg up, Cora seated in front, her little body wrapped into me.
I intended to go as fast as we could until daybreak.
I didn’t know where I was going, but I would figure out the next steps once we were safely out of the city and into the countryside.
This was reckless, stupid, and my only option.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Yer welcome, miss. Be safe. Seems the path to the gate is cleared at this time of night. Just in case you needed that information.” The old daemonite tipped his chin up.
“Hold on tight, Cora. We are leaving now,” I whispered into her curls.
I nudged the horse to walk through the stable, and as we moved out into the moonlight of the courtyard, a dark figure moved into our path. Cora tensed, and I drew in a breath.
The pillar of Themis lingered behind the cloaked seraph. Always the watchful eye.
“And where do you suppose you’re going with your youngling?” a voice said, full of mocking rage that I recognized in an instant.
“Devoruh,” I sneered.
She drew back the hood of her cloak, and a vicious smile spread across her face as she looked from me to Cora. Her sword was drawn from the sheath on her back.
I didn’t give myself time to think and pushed the mare to take off into a run, my heart beating in time to the horse’s hooves hitting the ground.
We were about to go through the first set of archways out of the castle when two more figures stepped out, blocking our path.
I was prepared to push the horse to plow right through them, but a voice called out, “Rory, stop the horse!”
My hands immediately yanked the reins, halting the mare. Cora let out a cry. I blinked.
Why did you stop, you idiot?
“Tsk, tsk, Rory. What a disappointing turn of events. I thought we were making so much progress,” Gabriel chided. He stood with Alec, both sporting terrifying grins.
Before I could process what was happening, a hand grabbed me by my hair and yanked me backwards off the horse. I screamed in shock and pain.
“What do you want to do with her, Commander?” Devoruh questioned as I struggled in her grasp. I dug and scratched at her arms, but it didn’t even faze her.
Alec approached Cora, sitting on the horse, sobbing. She kicked at him, but he reached out and grabbed her ankle, holding it down so she couldn’t hurt him or herself. “Mom! Please don’t hurt my mom!” The sheer panic and fear in her voice made me struggle harder.
Gabriel looked at Cora and then at me. “Let her go, Devoruh. She will behave. Won’t you, darling?”
Devoruh threw me forward onto my hands and knees in the dirt. Alec picked Cora up off the horse and set her down in front of him, holding onto her shoulders so she couldn’t run. She struggled to free herself.
Alec gave an amused chuckle. “This one is a bit spirited like her mother.”
“Cora. It’s alright, sweet girl,” I tried to reassure her, but my voice wavered.
Gabriel slowly walked up to me, and I stood back up on shaky legs, not wanting to be in such a vulnerable position.
“Devoruh said you were making a run for it, and I didn’t want to believe her.
I thought there was no way a human female, MY human female, would be stupid enough to try to make it out in Tironaill on her own with a youngling.
But here you are.” Gabriel’s voice had an edge of anger, though he was staying controlled.
I narrowed my eyes and balled my fists. “You’re a monster. I know your plan! I heard you and Alec talking about taking over Edenalee and wanting human women to breed with. You’re disgusting! I will never let you have my body. I am not a womb for your heirs!” I yelled.
Gabriel cocked his head and smiled. “The takeover has already begun, my darling. It has been for a long time. You should be grateful that I chose you to bear my younglings. The rest of the fertile human females will get thrown to whichever angheal is the highest bidder. Trust me when I say, as bad as you think I am, there are far worse.”
I turned to Cora, who had exhausted herself and stopped struggling. Her eyes held so much pain and fear. I swallowed.
Gabriel gently grabbed my chin and turned my head to look at him.
“I was willing to make your transition here pleasant, and tried to help you see how much better you would have it here with me, living in a castle instead of some hovel of a home in Edenalee. But now you have gone and made everything more difficult. Such a shame.” He kept his face impassive as he shook his head.
“And Rory?” He mocked as he took a step closer to me, lowering his mouth to my rounded ear.
“You don’t get a choice in what I do with your body.
” He stood straight up. “For instance, Rory, undress.”
I loosened the laces of my tunic, exposing the tops of my breasts.
“Rory, stop undressing.”
My fingers stopped untying, and I stilled, my breath hitching.
Gabriel assessed my face. “You see, my darling, I have an enchant most don’t know about.
My greatest divine gift. I’m a compeller.
I can make anyone do anything I want. You were a little challenging at first, I’ll give you that.
I was surprised at how much force I had to use with my enchant. Pretty strong-willed for a female.”
My chest heaved.
“So, Aurora, either you learn to coexist with me willingly and live a life of luxury and wealth, or you can be thrown in a small room and taken out only when I have use for you.” He tapped his temple twice with his index finger. “Think on it.”
The rage I had been holding back for so long coursed through my veins.
My jaw tensed, and I ground my teeth. WHACK!
My fist connected with Gabriel’s nose, and he drew back, eyes wide and hands covering his face.
A trickle of blood dripped from his nostril, and I smirked even when Devoruh grabbed my hair again and yanked my head backwards.
Gabriel clasped one hand around my jaw, stepping into me and putting his bloodied face by my ear.
“You little bitch,” he whispered so Cora couldn’t hear him.
“You’ll be lucky if you get to see Cora ever again.
” My amusement vanished, and I drew in a breath.
“Don’t worry. We will raise her to not be such a fucking tease and teach her how to be a good little noble.
Submissive, like girls should be. She will be perfect for Prince Percie. ”
I struggled in Devoruh’s grasp at the thought of Cora being groomed to be nothing more than a noble match for royalty.
Gabriel smiled at the fear plastered on my face. “Take the youngling back to the castle. Lock her in her room.”
Cora let out a sob, and Alec held her tight while she fought to get to me.
“NO! Gabriel! I’m sorry! Please don’t take her from me!” I pleaded. Begged. My voice was on the verge of screaming.
Cora’s wails became more distant as Alec picked her up and carried her back toward the castle.
Gabriel stood with his hands behind his back.
“I’m afraid the time for bargaining and pleading has passed, Aurora.
But no worries, you’re still mine. I love a good challenge.
You just need to be broken like a spirited horse.
By then, you’ll be begging me to ride you like one.
It’ll be the best you have ever had.” He grinned with venom.
So wide I could practically see every single one of his perfect teeth.
“You’ve already had a little taste of how wet I can make you. ”
“Fuck you!”
Gabriel snickered. “You will be doing just that. A lot. You just need time to come to terms with everything.”
My focus moved away from Gabriel’s mocking threats to the dark figure who stepped out from the shadows behind Gabriel. My heart fluttered. Darkened eyes met mine. A mere sliver of chestnut brown remained. His muscles in his neck pulled taut.
Gabriel turned as my eyes shifted behind him. “Ah, Captain. Surprisingly, just who I wanted to see. Take Aurora down to the cells and lock her in there. She is to stay there until she can be reasoned with and is less…violent,” he fumed while wiping the blood from his upper lip.
Darragh tracked his movements and then stared back at me. I felt a tug on the invisible string.
Devoruh leaned close to my ear, her hand wrapped around my hair and her arm around my neck. Her voice was a low taunt in my ear. “You didn’t think Queen Mollah would leave you without being constantly watched, did you?
“I should’ve known she would be a bitch and have me followed,” I spat.
Devoruh pushed me into Darragh, tumbling me forward. He caught me in his steady arms. I looked up into those rich eyes, pleading with him to help.