Disclaimer: Sorry no ownership here.
A/N: Hope you all had a great Christmas. And thank you for reading and your feedback is amazing, touching and I'm going to cry because I feel so honoured. I fear I may yet disappoint you, but if I do I thank you all so much for reading.
Chapter three:
Tall, fair and eyes as blue as the sea, she came upon him standing in a ray of sunshine. At her approach he turned towards her, a sadness in his face that gave her a moment's pause. Feeling the smile melt from her lips, she frowned as he stretched out a closed fist towards her. Turning it over, he unclenched long, spindly fingers, revealing a beating heart in his palm. "Avenge me," he whispered.
Waking to the overwhelming dark, Serena felt the hot sting of tears as they spilled from reddened eyes. In pain, she wept in the darkness, the torch that burned for her during the night put out long ago. With the whispered words of her uncle echoing in her ears, she sobbed harder, helpless and for the first time in her crazed mission aware that vengeance may very well be out of her reach…
Rising from the chair, Darien winced, the throbbing at his temples a consequence of the previous night's festivities. Saddened by the news that his cousin would never walk again, he stared down at the man, reflecting on the man's skill as warrior and commander in battle. Saving him from death countless times, they shared a bond that would last a life time. Thinking of the woman in the dungeons below, he vowed the woman would pay with her life.
Sensing their palpable eagerness to see her head on a spike, her eyes swept over the audience, their faces tight with anticipation. Dragged from her cell and on her knees for the last half hour, she was feverish; a sweat breaking out on her forehead. Resting tired eyes on the King, her gaze hardened. Sitting in his throne with his fancy goblet, the bastard was deliberately taking his time. Licking the cut on the inside of her cheek, she let the metallic taste flow over her tongue as she waited.
Siping from the goblet, Darien watched the woman from beneath thick lashes. Lips twitching at the welt that stood out on her left cheek, he drained the rest of the drink, holding out the empty goblet for more. As the cup-bearer hastened to fill it, he leaned forward, a half smile on his lips.
"Woman, you have been sentenced to death for the bodily harm done to my cousin and the attempted assassination of myself. As you have not pleaded for mercy, have you any last words?"
"May you die a thousand deaths," she hissed.
"Very well. You will spend the remainder of your days within the dungeons never to see the light of day," he said calmly. Looking to the guards standing sentry, he beckoned them forward. "Take her. Torture her, starve her, I care not. But keep her alive, I want my cousin to see the life drain from her eyes when he wakes,"
"Yes, your Majesty," the guards said in unison as they hauled her up from her knees. Her ruined back shown to him as she was lead away, the look of utter hate fired over her shoulder was the last thing he saw as he watched them leave.
"Come on you stupid bitch,"
Dragging her feet to the frustration of the guards, she blinked the sweat from her eyes, the darkness hard to pierce with fading vision. The march into the void coming to an abrupt stop, Serena sensed an ominous presence that had nothing to do with the men flanking her. A more isolated section of the dungeons, the hairs on her arms were standing on end. Swallowing to lubricate a throat gone dry, her breathing slowed as fear prickled her skin.
Sensing one of the guards reaching for the keys, the soft snick of the lock echoed eerily through the dungeons. As the iron door swung open to the pressure of a callused hand, she was propelled away from the flickering torchlight and into the shadows. Stumbling over clumsy feet, she fell to her knees from the momentum. Shooting the brutes an angry look, Serena frowned, her ears picking up the faint sounds of movement. Turning back to face the dark, she scooted backwards. Something was watching her. Without warning, a body launched itself from the shadows. Screaming in terror, she was pinned against the iron bars as foul, putrid breath flowed over her. Conscious of the clawed hand at her neck, she shrieked as the thing dragged a slimy tongue up the column of her throat, lingering over her jugular.
"My thanksssss," the thing hissed from beneath her tattered hood as the guards laughed in amusement.
"Try to make her last, Shinta. The King wants her alive,"
"I shall try," she said.
A/N: Incredibly short I know. I'm sorry. struck down by holiday laziness. But I shall recover! Thank you for reading!
