Disclaimer/AN: I don't own Oblivion. This is the redone version of a story that I wrote years ago. Changing things, adding things. The old title was Saving the Brotherhood just in case anyone following that story stumbled onto this one. !WARNING! Violence, slavery, sexual content.
The comfortable blackness of sleep deserted me in an instant and I sat up in my bed with a frown. The overwhelming sense that something just wasn't right washed through me. Another thud sounded from something hitting the wooden deck above me.
It was too quiet, I realized then. My father's ship was never this quiet, ever. Night, day, holiday it didn't matter. Noise was always there. Pirates didn't seem to have a quiet bone in their bodies. Something was definitely amiss.
My nerves were on high alert as I tossed my covers back and moved to stand on the wooden floor. It was cold enough that I could feel the chill even through the slippers that I never took off. No one had ever questioned my outfit of choice but I had seen the looks. I always wore a pair of simple black slacks and a long sleeve shirt that covered as much skin as possible. The black clothing hid my pale skin and made it harder for people to see me when I was slipping through the shadows. Just like I was doing now.
Without making a single noise I slipped over to the door. I made sure my hinges were always oiled along with every other hinge on every other door in the ship so it opened without a sound. The passageway outside my door was empty and dark. There was always a torch lit outside my room. I didn't mind the dark but the sense that something was horribly wrong made it ominous.
I snuck down the corridor silently. I loved my ability to walk on just about any surface without making a sound. My feet just seemed to know how to land and where to step to not disturb anything. Anytime a member of my father's crew walked anywhere on the ship their boots stomped out steady rhythms on the boards and the boards themselves would creak and moan.
It wasn't too much father to the captain's chamber. I hoped my father would be able to tell me what was going on and why it was so quiet. We were supposed to be pulling into port in a couple days but I didn't think it would be that fast. Suddenly I stopped mid step.
I didn't even know the reason until I looked down where I would have placed my foot. Horror washed through me and I resisted the urge to scream or gasp or panic in some manner. The stunned face of one of the deckhands looked up at me from the floor and I felt the blood leave my face as I saw the gaping wound across his throat that blood was still seeping from.
I was definitely afraid now. The man had been a friend of mine. His throat had been slashed only a few dozen feet away from my father's room. Worry for my father rushed through me and I darted silently past the man. As I paused outside my father's door, the frozen trauma in the deckhand's eyes wouldn't leave my mind. I was going to have nightmares for sure.
A soft light was shining from under the door but I didn't knock or open the door. Rushing blind into my father's room would have been foolish. Instead I slowed my breathing and pressed my ear against the door. The wood was smooth and cool under my cheek but I couldn't hear a single sound from the other side.
After another second I decided it was as safe as it was going to get and I turned the knob and opened the door just wide enough to slip into the room. Every sane intellectual thought flowed from my mind as if someone had unclogged a drain. I stared openmouthed at the scene before me unable to comprehend it. Captain Draven, my kindhearted, loving father was dressed in his nightclothes dangling from an exposed beam by a rope around his neck.
The first irrational rational thought to cross my mind was that I was gonna have nightmares for sure now. I couldn't tear my blurring vision away from his still form. My mind wouldn't tell my muscles to move to cut him down or to fall to my knees. I was frozen in shock. A sudden thud sounded and pain erupted in the back of my skull before everything faded to black.
I was confused as all hell when I opened my eyes. Things were very strange. The very first thing that I noticed was that I was on a solid dirt floor and I couldn't feel the swaying of the ship beneath me. The second thing that came to my attention was that I was kneeling over a wooden bench of some sort and my hands and ankles were shackled to the ground. I couldn't move an inch.
Fear rushed down my spine and fluttered in my belly when I heard a dark chuckle. I glanced up at the silhouette of a large man leaning against a wall. I couldn't see his features because of the light from the large window behind him. When he started forward and moved gracefully around to stand in front of me I gasped and my eyes widened.
"We meet again Amiee. How do you like the accommodations? I've been setting them up for you since the day your father cheated me out of that deal." His false cheer faded from his face and from his tone by the end of his sentence. A snap rang through the room and a line of fire erupted across my back. I couldn't stop the scream that tore its way from my throat or the tears that sprouted in my eyes.
"Cassius." I spat bitterly when I got my breath back. "What the hell do you want?"
His cheerful laugh startled me thoroughly. "It's Master Cassius to you Amiee and I want the same thing that I wanted before. Your father refused to give you to me but I made sure to let him know that I would take care of you before he died."
I hadn't ever been part of my father's dealings but he had told me about Cassius's stupid offer for my hand. The man had tried to buy me off of my father like I was some kind of possession. I was too enraged to feel the fear that I probably should have felt in the situation.
"I will never give in to you, you sick bastard." I growled out savagely.
He tsked twice before a second snap of his whip unleashed agony across my skin. "That's where you are wrong Amiee."
Another blow landed and I shrieked. A warm trickle rolled across my back and I knew it was my blood. Cassius delivered another three blows in succession. When he paused to circle me I was sobbing mindlessly. There was another crack and pain blossomed on my calves.
"Please stop." I screamed desperately. My mind was drowning in the pain. Through it I fought to remember why he had struck me in the first place. Another blow landed on the backs of my legs interrupting my efforts.
"I am your Master now Amiee. Say it." He commanded. The glee in his tone sickened me. There was something wrong with a creature that found so much joy in the pain of another.
My will broke after another lash and I burst out through the tears, "Master. You are my Master."
The pain stopped coming and he smiled cruelly. "Good Pet. Maybe when you are less stubborn about it we'll talk about letting you up. For now I'll leave you to think about it."
He turned and left the room and exited through the front door leaving me alone in the house. My pride was in tatters as I let go of the sobs that I had been holding in. My wounds were throbbing and burning but it tickled where the trails of blood were.
The scariest part was that I could see no way out of this mess. No one would be coming to save me. In the position I was in there was no way I was going to save myself. Whatever Cassius intended I was stuck enduring it.
I sank into a blank depression as the day wore on. I was a little worried to be in the house alone just in case something happened and I was trapped. I sure as hell did not want Cassius to return though. I was a little worried about what his intentions would be. Honestly I was extremely worried. I could imagine what he wanted and I was not looking forward to the pain.
The room was starting to grow dim and I could see that the sky was changing colors as night crept in. I glanced up stiffly as the door opened and Cassius walked in. He smiled sadistically the moment his eyes rested on me and my entire body tensed as he walked closer.
The tears in my flesh tingled painfully and I whimpered and shifted warily. His voice was quiet with false tenderness when he spoke. "Have you had ample time to consider our lesson today Amiee?"
I decided as I caught sight of the leather whip in his hands that I would say what he wanted to hear. Anything was better than the bite of the lash. "Ye-" My voice choked and I cleared my throat before I tried again. "Yes Master."
"Good girl. If I let you loose to eat are you going to do anything foolish?" I could hear the warning in his question.
I swallowed my pride and shook my head. "No Master."
Cassius smirked again and walked over to me. My heart lurched when he unlocked the shackles holding me to the floor and a cruel gleam entered his eyes. I rubbed my wrists and stood warily and looked up to meet his gaze.
The taste of blood filled my mouth as he backhanded me knocking me to the floor. My cheek throbbed but I remained quiet. I didn't try to get up either.
"How dare you stand in front of your Master in such a way?" Cassius snarled. "You belong at my feet like the bitch that you are."
His words cut into me as effectively as the whip had just in a different manner. I was angry. He had no right to treat me in such a way. My fists clenched involuntarily and Cassius chuckled darkly. "I don't need to have you shackled to punish you Amiee."
A sudden snap tore open my skin and reignited the fiery pain of all of the other damage on my back. My elbows gave out and I fell to the ground with a sharp cry. Cassius struck me again and again with the whip. I could feel trickles of blood running sideways across my back and pooling against my ribs on the floor beneath me. With a massive amount of effort I forced myself to focus completely on that in an attempt to drown out the inferno that was raging across my skin.
The beating continued for what felt like forever. I couldn't gather the strength to even try and beg Cassius to stop. I didn't understand what I had done to deserve such a severe punishment in the first place but I tried not to focus on it. I was doing everything in my mental power to distance myself from what was happening to my body. Finally I was granted a reprieve as the amount of blood lost became overwhelming for my body to handle and I sank into blackness.