The Forsaken, Part One Chapter 4, a game of thrones fanfic

Chapter 4

Justice is Served

It is hard to believe the girl standing across from me is the same one that was broken and desecrated no more than two weeks ago. Her light brown hair, covered in dirt and blood that fateful day, shines like silk in the sunlight. The tiny fragile little body looks full and strong although there is bruising still visible. She must have gained 10 pounds; the other girl must have provided her with more food than she was used too. She doesn't recognize me but how could she. When I last saw her I thought she was dead. I am amazed, perplexed and excited.

The child looks at me and there is recognition in her eyes, the masked girl must have described me to her. I watch the girl as she gets closer. After all she has been through she walks with her head held high, with strength beyond her age, and with confidence. She stands in front of me.

"Sir Gabriel Saint Croix?" She asks, already knowing who I am.

"Yes." I reply, my eyes searching the far distance. I know she is out there but where?

"My name is Sarah Lancaster." She curtsies clumsily but yet with grace. "It is an honor to meet you."

"Please sit down." I offer, pointing to the bench on the other side of the table. As she makes her way to the chair I look for the masked girl but still nothing.

She thanks me and sits down. She smiles a sweet innocent smile and her eyes sparkle. Eyes that I have seen before. The left one was green and not just any green. It was the color of the green sapphires that are only found in the deepest part of the southern desert. The sapphires are of an unknown origin and are extremely rare. What is known is that to own one means you are wealthy beyond comparison. Her green eye looking at me matches the eyes of the masked girl.

Her right eye is a color I saw a long time ago in another life and I have been throughout Pelatia , the southern desert, the badlands across the northern sea, even to retched Clouseton to the west. The eye that was of a light violet was of the exact color of the eyes of the man that burned my family.

The smile that illuminated her face is gone and fear crosses it. I realize I have stopped breathing and the look on my face must have be a scary sight for such a young child. I shake my head and take a breath.

"I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you." I apologize and put on a cheerful face, I cannot blame this girl for something she had no hand in.

"It is okay." Her voice is soft and gentle, delicate to the ears but yet forceful and commanding. "Elizabeth says I can trust you and I will be safe with you."

Elizabeth, so that is the name of my adversary. No, not an adversary, more like an opponent. It is a competition, a competition to see who can get to the men that harmed Sarah and her family first. The difference is I want to take them in alive so they can face justice. Elizabeth wants to slaughter them. So far she is winning. I want to be mad at her but I can't. I have seen what men have done to her and can only imagine what other atrocities she has faced or seen. I have empathy for her but I have sworn an oath to be the caretaker of justice and that oath consists of the belief that every man, no matter what their crime, deserves to be judged.

"Elizabeth is right." What am I to do with the child?

Before I can say anything else she reaches into a bag and pulls out a scroll. "She said to give you this."

The note is written in Atraterrium. I believe she assumes that I learned to speak the language after our first encounter two years ago, she is right.

"You say you are an honorable man. If you are, then I make a vow to you. Care for this child as you would Margaret. Provide for her and give her a life of joy that I cannot provide. Take the oath that you will protect her and put her welfare above all else including above the other oaths that you have sworn. Take Sarah to the middle of the road in the center of town. Draw your sword and present yourself on bended knee to her and give this oath: 'MY SWORD IS YOUR GUARDIAN. MY SHIELD IS YOUR SHELTER. IN FRONT OF MAN ON EARTH AND THE GODS ABOVE. BY MY HEART AND THE BLOOD OF MY LIFE. I AM FOREVER YOUR SERVANT.' Say these words and I shall end my quest and allow you to bring the remaining four to face your justice."

The remaining four? So she has beat me to another one, by the Gods how is she doing it? I roll up the scroll and contemplate what it means. Elizabeth has made it clear I am to become the surrogate father for this child. My oath to her however, would require me to put Sarah above all else, The Northern Court, my men, and even the King. The duties I have sworn to perform and the laws I am expected to obey would all come second to Sarah. I look over the parchment and stare into her face. I think I can accept that.

The crowd of people may have been confused but I knew I did the right thing as I looked into Sarah's eyes and said the oath. As I rise up a young boy tugs on my pants leg. I look down and he hands me something wrapped in a cloth. I knead it with my hands and know exactly what it is.

Safely out of sight I unwrap the package. The hand looks as if it was cut off within the past few days. "Fif", five, is carved into the back of it. On the palm is what appears to be a map which I assume leads me to the body.

"So what comes next?" Sarah asks with nervousness in her voice. Her concern is justified considering all she has been through over the last two weeks.

"Well, my dear." I sit next to her and put my arm around her. "I am going to take some men and find where our friend has left something for me."

"So you are going to leave me too?" Her face expressed sorrow and anxiety. "You said the oath, you promised."

I squeezed her tight. "As soon as I find what it is I am looking for, I will return and then you and I are going to take a trip to see some friends of mine in Lagosburg. From there, if you wish it, you may come live with me at my estate." Adoptions have to be approved but I had little fear of not being approved especially after I receive the High Court's endorsement.

"Do you really mean it?" Her face beams.

It is strange that she has taken to me so quickly. I have barely known her for more than an hour and she is already willing to give up everything to live with me. Considering she has nothing I guess it isn't so strange after all.

Sarah takes my hand in hers. "Elizabeth said you are an honorable man and that I will be safe with you and she is right. I have no one or nothing."

"Elizabeth is right and now you will have everything. I promise that you will have the finest dresses to wear, the wisest scholars to tutor you, and people to wait on you hand and foot. You will want for nothing, this I swear." My oath was not just words; it was a commitment that I will stand by Sarah until death decides to take me.

She nods her head and wraps her arms around my neck in a voracious hug.

"Until I return, the Tavern keeper's wife will keep an eye on you. Her daughter is about your size so she will give you some fresh clothes and make you a hot bath and meal." I had already made arrangements with the woman prior to taking Sarah to my room. "When I return we will talk some more and then get a good night's sleep before we set off."

"Okay." She releases me but only after she kisses my cheek. "Thank you."

Words escape me so I just smile and walk out of the room and down stairs where five men wait. I brief them on what we are looking for and mount Gallant.

When we came upon the men it was a gruesome sight indeed, as I expected. The map on the hand did lead me to the body as expected, and as expected it was in the same position as the previous two I have seen. It also had the same desecration performed upon it as the others. The only difference in the scene before me is the man bound to a tree across from the body.

The man is on his knees, his hands and feet tied behind the tree in a very uncomfortable position. The man has a strap that wraps around the tree holding his head upright. Clothing, presumably from the dead man's outfit is stuffed in the man's mouth preventing his screams from being heard. The man is shirtless and he has a number carved into his chest, "feower", four. On his forehead are the familiar words, "Rancloren Chilook".

I kneel down in front of him, his eyes never move from the body hanging across from him. The smell of shit and piss infect the air around him. His body trembles in little spasms as if an unseen force shakes him. A slight whimper, barely audible, expels from within his throat. I have no pity for him, he deserves what has happened to him. He deserves more for what he has done but he also deserves the right to argue his case before the High Court I remind myself. Who are we to judge and execute? There are those who believe I should be judged and ultimately executed for more than a few of my actions. Granted, mine were conducted during a time of war but there are still those that believe I went too far in my actions. This man however, has committed his crimes during a time of peace and against innocents.

The Northern Court will convict him and he will face the executioner's blade and once dead he will stand and be judged by Wodein and his patron god. They will of course denounce his vile acts and condemn him to Pandorium where he will dig for the precious stone that is used by the gods to build their temples.

Pandorium is a wasteland where the vilest individuals reside in slavery and are subjected to the whims of the caretaker Belastrius. Belastrius treats the fallen with brutality, and punishment is doted out for the smallest of misfortune. Something as simple as pausing to rest will receive ten slashes from Belastrius' reaping whip. With each snap, flesh will be ripped away by the thorny spikes imbedded in the leather. A fate this man well deserves.

I follow my routine of carefully surveying the scene and looking for evidence of which I know there is none. I finish and motion for the men who accompany me to untie the man and to take care of the body hanging on the cross. I walk a few feet away so that I may clear my nostrils of the stench of death. I take a deep breath and let it out and as I do a thought takes me. She is there, somewhere, watching us. I don't have a mystical feeling I just know she is out there, watching, it is what she would do. I search for her and for a moment think that I see her but it just a sloth hanging, watching the show below . Maybe it is her, maybe she can turn into animals or become invisible. I don't think a sloth would be her choice of animals to morph into however.

I do feel something, someone trying to penetrate me. I do feel her reaching out to me and I think about the oath I took to provide for and protect Sarah. It is an oath that I intend to keep. I give one last look around and then salute.

I will deliver this man to the High Court and try to get information from him about the others but I am not sure he will do much talking. I will then search for the other three but first I will take Sarah to Saint Croix where I will fulfill my oath and maybe finally find some peace.

Choices

I watch from my perch high in the tree. My position provides me with the best view of the men gathered below without allowing them to view me. Gabriel is assessing the scene and I almost laugh as the smile crosses his face. It is a smile that says what I did is justified but I can only imagine the turmoil that is battling inside of him. Gabriel believes all men deserve a fair trial but I also know that there is a darkness inside him that when unleashed can be nearly as vicious as I am. That darkness has been unleashed before, most likely during the Pelatia-Nubia war I have heard about.

I long for him to draw his sword and strike the man down but I know he will not. His will is stronger than that. It took all of my own will power that I could muster not to rip the man apart last night but I gave my word. Gabriel gave the oath so I must honor him by keeping my own. I will allow him to bring the rest of the men to justice his way even though it pains me to do so.

Doesn't matter anyway. My hunger is quenched for now and the world is full of men so I will always have prey to feast upon. A thought invades my mind, one that annoys me. Are there more men like Gabriel? I believe there are but the chances of me meeting them are slim because most of the areas I travel are places where evil lurks and preys on the innocent.

Sarah was one of those innocent victims and she is why Gabriel and I met. Samsaria delivered Sarah to me so that I could deliver her to Gabriel, I see that now. Samsaria always has a reason for what she does and who am I, as a faithful servant, to judge her choices. I am sure I will meet more honorable men but I will meet many more that are vile and deserving of my vengeance and they will feed my hunger.

I wait until the group of men complete their task and depart before I climb down. I stroke the sloths back, it is such a gentle creature. It slowly turns its head watching me as I climb down.

It is time for me to move on. I will rest for a long while once I find a safe place to settle. Someday I may return, if Samsaria wills it.

Gabriel had looked in my direction once and for a moment I believe he saw me but of course he didn't. I did reach out to him with my mind and a slight glaze in his eyes let me know I got through. I thanked him for what he did and will do for Sarah. He saluted me which made me feel a sense of pride. Why? I do not know and why do I care is the bigger question? This man has gotten under my skin for some reason almost as much as Nicolaus used to. I will not concern myself with these questions for now. Now I will just rest.

As I walk through the woods I think of Sarah. It is the right thing to do and it is what is best for her or I make myself believe it is. She will live a good life and she will grow and she will become a beautiful lady. Gabriel will be a good father, probably better than her own and I can't help but wonder if it was a good thing that happened to her. Samsaria has her reasons for what she allows to happen. Her decisions are her own and I can only worry about providing vengeance for those that are harmed. Maybe someday when she is through with me and allows me to join her as a maiden, she will let me know, but for now I will just continue to do what I must do.

Allowing Sarah to go with Gabriel was the right thing to do, I know it, but my heart still aches. Maybe I will travel north along "Bandit's Trail". A lone girl is a tempting target for vile creatures. I smile and turn north.

The Flower is healed

Tabitha, the inn keeper's daughter, helps me to remove my ragged dress. I see the horror in her face as the bruises that cover my torso and legs are reveled. She assists me as I lower myself into the hot water. At first it feels a little too hot but as I settle in it becomes perfect. Tabitha uses a sponge and softly washes my hair and back and then leaves the rest for me to finish.

"Call for me if you need anything else." She whispers as she closes the door.

I soak for what seemed hours. The quietness of the room allows me to collect my thoughts and what has transpired over the past day.

I was angry and sad that Elizabeth was going to leave me. After all that had happened over the last few weeks, after all of the time together, she was going to pawn me off onto someone else. I didn't sleep the entire night because I couldn't comprehend why she didn't want me. Her explanation that her life was not one that I would enjoy may be true but it didn't matter. I wanted to be with her.

Elizabeth had said the man's name was Sir Gabriel Saint Croix. She said he was an honorable man. If it was the same Sir Gabriel Saint Croix then I already know who he is. I remember William and Lucas playing warriors and they would spend most of the game arguing over who would portray Sir Gabriel. Father or mother would have to step in before their argument would turn into a fist fight. Father explained to me that Sir Gabriel was the greatest warrior to ever come from Lagusour. I remember the happiness that shown in my father's eyes as he spoke of the great deeds that Sir Gabriel had accomplished. I also remember one year when word had gotten around that Sir Gabriel was coming to Lynchburg. Everyone was happy even though some of the mines were closing. I couldn't wait, but father would not allow me to go into town with him and my brothers. When they returned, the joy in my brothers' faces in seeing Sir Gabriel was only surpassed by their joy in teasing me that I didn't.

I am still nervous as I walk into town and almost turn away when I reach the door of the inn. I remember taking a very deep breath and swore that I would hold my head up when I entered. As I walk through the door I recognize Sir Gabriel immediately. Even though I had never seen him, the description given to me by Elizabeth matches the man sitting at a table in front of me. I walk to him determined to maintain my bravery. I curtsy. It is clumsy and I want to run and hide but the look on Sir Gabriel's face tells me he is impressed. He waves for me to sit and I happily do so that I don't pass out from fright.

Sir Gabriel looks at me and it happens. The color escapes his face and his eyes glaze over. He has stopped breathing. I want to run away but his gaze paralyzes me. I get scared and pee a little. Suddenly he snaps out of it and apologizes. I hand him the scroll Elizabeth gave me. It was written in another language but even if it was written in Pelatian I would not be able to because I was never taught how.

As it was, Elizabeth had made Sir Gabriel make an oath to protect and care for me. After bringing me to his room he said that he would honor the oath and as I looked into his eyes I could tell he meant to. I would have reminisced more but Tabitha interrupted my thoughts.

Tabitha assists me in getting out of the bath and dries me off. She produces a beautiful blue dress that she says I can have. Tabitha is only seven years old, but even so, her dress is a little big on me. She sits me down and runs a brush through my hair. She hums a beautiful tune as she does. When she finishes she turns me to a mirror. I barely recognized myself and begin to cry.

"Sarah, what's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" Tabitha's voice quivers.

"Oh, no, no!" I smile at her and wrap my arms around her. "I am crying because you have made me so happy."

She beams with joy and then drags me by the arm to her room where we play with her dolls. Other than my brothers and our dog, Tabitha is the first friend I ever had.

It isn't until late in the day that Sir Gabriel returns. As he walks in I can tell that something didn't go as he planned.

"Did you see Elizabeth?" I didn't want to seem too excited..I failed.

"No, I didn't." He saw my disappointment. "But I know she was there watching."

"Did she hurt someone else?" I can't explain why it makes me sad that she hurts the men that killed my family but it does.

"I will never lie to you Sarah. " Sir Gabriel says grabbing my hands in his. "Elizabeth did kill another man. She did however allow another to live."

"Can I see him?" My question takes Sir Gabriel by shock and he looks quizzically at me.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea, Sarah." There is true concern in his voice.

"I know it is asking a lot but...but..." I can't really describe why I need to see him, but I do.

To my surprise Sir Gabriel shakes his head. "Only for a minute and from a distance."

I nod my head in agreement.

Vengeance and Forgiveness

I cannot remove my eyes from Dungar even as the men unbind my hands and remove the strap that holds my head in place. I attempt to close my eyes as I did throughout his killing but the Gods ...no...she doesn't allow it. I turn my head and she is out there, somewhere watching me, waiting for me. My heart burns, my soul is shredded, my bladder releases again. I imagine that ominous, sinister smile crossing her face. Her face will always invade my nightmares as will the girl's. The poor child must live with what we did to her and her family. My hand in their deaths was miniscule but still it played its part.

The men bind my hands and feet so I cannot escape but they do not know she is out there watching and waiting. I do not dream of escape. If I did I would suffer the same fate as Dungar and Trestan which would be more than I deserve. I am loaded into the back of a cart as Sir Gabriel investigates the scene.

Sir Gabriel Saint Croix, The Cross of Thunour, a man of great honor and respect. I was at Forte Edward standing the early morning watch as Sir Gabriel and the Pelatian Equite returned from Nubius Passage. I will never forget the sight of the men walking through the gates, heads held high even though their bodies had been tormented. The most striking thing about the men was their eyes. Their eyes reflected the horrors of the battle and the evil that took place during the six month siege. They were eyes of death and I had never seen anything like them until I saw the beast last night. I can only imagine it is what Sir Gabriel and his men saw in the passage but unlike me; they faced the beast and conquered their fear. I faced the beast and cried like a baby.

My mind fills with the previous day's events and I cry again.

I wake, my head hurts and my body feels as if it has been dragged behind a horse. I try to move but I am unable. My arms are tied behind my back and my legs are tied to them like a pig before being slaughtered. I lay on my side in a darkened room of some kind. There is no light whatsoever, even from the moon or stars. I hear deep breathing coming from the other side of the room across from me and I try to speak but something has been shoved in my mouth.

Suddenly, a light flashes and light appears from a candle. The room becomes dimly lit and I discover the source of the heavy breathing. Dungar lies across from me, bound just as I am, and looks just as confused as me. I ask him what is happening with my eyes but he shrugs his shoulders not knowing. I hear a creaking sound as someone moves across the room. It is a spooky sound that would frighten a child and concern a man tied up.

A large, ominous shadow presents itself against the wall but grows smaller and smaller with each creak of the floorboards until it becomes as small as a child. I look from the wall to Dungar and his eyes have discovered something to my rear. I try to turn over but am roughly grabbed and sat up and positioned to where my legs are underneath my ass. It is a very uncomfortable position.

As I try to shift to find a more comfortable position a small figure cloaked in grey walks from me to Dungar. She grabs him by the shoulders and in an amazing demonstration of strength pulls him up and positions him as I am. She then moves to where she is between the two of us and removes a mask covering her face.

Dungar trembles as his eyes widen in disbelief. The girl is small, petit, hardly a threat to either of us but as she turns her face toward me I tremble as Dungar had. Her face is a distortion of death. I cringe at the sight of it and as she stares at me I feel a burning sensation in my mind. Her eyes bore into me and no matter how hard I try I cannot look away. I feel as if a mining nail is being driven slowly into my skull and I want to scream out but an unseen force prevents me from doing so. The burning inside my head increases and suddenly my mind explodes.

I am sitting in the back of a cart my small brother Lucas sitting next to me and he tugs at my braid. He is an annoying little bug but I still love him. I see a man jump out of the bushes behind us along with another. I hear my mom scream and William, my older brother crashes down beside us and out of the back of the cart. More screams from my mother and then the men behind us grab Lucas and me. I am punched in the face and black out.

I am now staring at the back of the girl's head. The candle light catches her hair and it looks as if fire has caught it. I look to her side and see Dungar's face. His eyes are glued to the girl's face and from the look of fear in them I imagine he is seeing what I saw and worse, felt.

I had been looking through the little girl's eyes from two weeks ago. We set upon her and her family with the intention of stealing what little food they had but it all got out of hand. I struck her and knocked her out but what happened afterward was...The girl turned and faced me again and my head filled with fire once again.

My head hurts from my hair being pulled. I am lifted up and as I am I see my father being stabbed by some men. My mom screams as she is dragged into the bushes. I am scared and cry. The man that lifts me laughs and licks my face. I smell the stench of his breath, of rotting teeth. He carries me into the bushes. A man grabs him by the arm and yells at him to stop but he is shoved away, I beg him to help me but he cowers and turns away.

It hits me like a kick from a stallion. I am living the little girl's nightmare. How is it possible? My incarcerator is again concentrating on Dungar and I now know he is seeing what I see. I remember that day vividly. It is the day that I lost all honor and became a vile despicable creature destined for Pandorium. I expect Belastrius has my name etched in his book of condemned and can only imagine the punishments I would face.

I tried to stop Ashtar but he was large and easily shoved me away. I could have stopped him but the others would have gutted me so I sat at the cart and tried to drown out the screams of the woman and child ...oh Wodein please do not let her look at me again...the God fails me.

I am thrown to the ground and my dress ripped off. I see my mom to my right and I reach for her and ...the pain. My stomach is on fire, I scream and the man hits me. He buries his forearm into my jaw and with each thrust pain rips me from my groin to my head. He thrusts and thrusts until he pushes hard against me and my insides burn. I crawl to my knees and vomit.

It lasts for hours. Each time the girl looks at me I live the terror of the child. Over and over I see what she saw, I feel what she felt, and lived through the torture she faced. The girl had survived, I wretch at the thought of the pain she must be living with. Each of the others had taken their turns with her and I was certain she had died but it is revealed to me in the most horrible way that she survived.

Each time the girl looks at me it feels as if she is violating my soul. With each glaring look she tears another sliver of existence from me. My entire body is racked with pain and it intensifies with each visit to the child's mind. I have relieved myself of all bodily functions and pray for the end to be near.

"The end is near, Mansel." She whispers in my ear. Her breath is cold as ice and she smells of death. "The question is which one dies first."

I beg her with my eyes to kill me first to end the pain and torment. Please send me to Pandorium as quickly as possible.

"You did not rape the girl." Yes, I mean no, I did not. "But you did not help her either."

The beast, for she is no longer a girl, slithers her way to Dungar and whispers to him. He did rape her so please end my pain now, make him suffer more. She raises, a knife in her hand, and I plead with my eyes to choose me but she frees Dungar of his bindings, run you stupid bastard, flee for your life. But he does not. She guides him from the room instead.

A short time later the beast returns and cuts the bindings around my legs and drags me by the hair out of the room. We are outside of what looks like an old hunting shack. Dungar is stretched from ground to roof in an X shape. The beast binds me to a tree so that I may not move.

"You will witness this man's death." She points to Dungar. "And then you shall follow him."

I watch, an unnatural entity forces me to look on as the beast devours Dungar in the most vile and abominable manner. I lose control of my functions again and when she is finished I tremor in terror as she moves toward me. She presents her knife and carves something into my forehead and for as hard as I try I cannot scream, my voice has been robbed. She then rips my shirt open and I expect my heart to be ripped out of my chest as she had done to Dungar but she instead carves marks into my bared chest.

"You will bear witness and be my messenger and let all men of evil know that death is coming for them." She penetrates me one last time and the pain I feel is tenfold to what I have ever felt.

Darkness overtakes me and when light shines upon my face I face what is left of Dungar and the pain that I felt before I passed out resonates within my entire body and soul. I pray for death.

Sir Gabriel will return me to the Northern High Court and I will confess all that I have done and I will welcome the execution that will release me from this life. Before that happens I will let all men know of the beast that awaits them if evil is their chosen path. I will be her messenger and someday while I slave away in Pandorium, I hope to be visited by the child. Maybe she will take pity on me and if she feels I have been punished enough, Wodein will forgive me but if she doesn't it is what I deserve.

Sir Gabriel stands looking into the distance, searching the trees. He knows her; he knows she is out there as I do. If only I had chosen so many years ago to join the Pelatian Equite but I never learned to ride a horse so I chose not to apply. Instead I became a simple foot soldier. If only I had taken up Randell Taylorman on his offer to teach me to ride when we were 10 years old. Funny how a simple decline of an offer would change the fate of a man so many years after.

Dungar's body is loaded next to me. His life is perished and he is condemned for eternity. Condemned to where though? The beast ate his soul so I don't believe I will see him in Pandorium but I hope that he is in a far worse place and if it happens to be in the darkness of the beast then it is what he deserves.

I laugh.

"Trust me, you will not be laughing once they take your head, scum." A boisterous man smirks at me.

I lay my head down and close my eyes. Exhaustion takes me and I expect nightmares to occupy my darkness...they don't disappoint.

I lie on the cell floor shivering, not from the cold but from the thought of the beast.

"Sit up." A powerful voice startles me. "Do not open your mouth or you will get a beating like you have never suffered before." I almost laugh at the man who says it.

I sit up and stare at the door as it opens. My body shakes even more than it had been as the little girl walks into the room. I begin to whimper as she stares at me. Her violet eye looks cold as ice and her green one...that beautiful green one burns into me. She stares into me for a moment and then turns to walk away.

"Sarah." The word escapes me and I am set upon by two men. They kick me until and angel stops them.

"Stop hurting him." Her voice is powerful and commanding.

She runs up and kneels in front of me. I try to turn away but she commands that I look at her. My heart screams in agony and I become a slobbering mess. Suddenly she places her hands on the side of my face and turns my head so that we are face to face.

"I forgive you."

"Okay Sarah it is time for us to go." Sir Gabriel breaks the silence and lifts Sarah up and rushes her away.

As she is dragged away she looks back at me and smiles.

The men kick and hit me until I pass out but as the darkness overcomes me I rejoice in knowing that as much as I deserve the torment that I will receive in this life and the next, it doesn't mean a thing. Those sweet words from those precious lips are all that matter.