Xanatos used his handy-dandy tranquilizer gun one more time, this time on Demona. While it had been satisfying, he had done it to stop any further violence that would accomplish nothing but wasting time.
"Well, this has been fun," he said, "But we're still no closer to finding a way to wake Elisa up."
The clan grew quiet. They had hoped that putting pressure on her as a group would have some influence with convincing Demona to do the right thing.
Perhaps they should have known better.
Brooklyn went over to where the book Demona had thrown lay. Bending over, he picked up the book and stared at it.
"Hello?" a female voice called out. "Brooklyn?"
"Skyler?" Brooklyn called back.
"Oh, thank the Gods," Skyler said rushing into the room. "I'm sorry, but I had to find you. I swear, I have no idea what's going on. You guys told me to stay up in the nursery, so I haven't left for two days now. Where's Elisa? She hasn't come by to see Liam. He's asking for her, and I don't know what else to tell him…" She trailed off looking at the large form in the corner, but then, "Aaaaand why is Goliath on the floor?"
"It's a long story, Skye," Brooklyn said, feeling horrible that they'd tried to keep her out of the whole thing. "I just wanted to make sure that you were safe."
"I get that," She said. "I was assuming that there was a reason that you've maintained radio silence, kept me out of the loop, busy with the kids so I don't have to wonder what you're doing in the lower floors of the castle with your leader unconscious on the floor and holding the world's thickest volume of poetry? You didn't hit him over the head with that, did you?"
"Well, we… wait," Brooklyn stopped. He held the book out to Skyler. "You can read this?"
"Sure," Skyler said, her brow wrinkling in concentration. Reaching out, she took hold of the book, turning it over. "This is a book of Poetry by Publius Ovidius Naso. He's also known as Ovid. He was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of …" Skyler trailed off when she realized that the clan was staring at her. "What? I took a lot of ancient culture classes, and took Latin as my foreign language through high school because I liked the time period," She defended herself.
"Lass," Hudson rushed forward, "Can ye read what's in the crates here?"
"Uh," She sent an uncertain look at Brooklyn. "I don't know, but I can try."
Brooklyn smiled and swept her up with a quick kiss. "That's my girl!"
-{- -{- -{- -{- -{-
Nell woke to the sound of hoofbeats pounding in her ears. After her dance, she had been so tired she had immediately went back to the wagons. Despite the cooling evening air, the inside of her wagon was so stuffy that she had opted to sleep under the wagon again.
She opened her eyes to find a group of soldiers from the castle yelling at everyone, gathering them into the center of the clearing.
Out of nowhere, a large armored hand grabbed her by the upper arm and dragged her out into the open.
Nell cried out in pain, and hurried to her feet. Stumbling, she joined the others.
"What is happening?" Nell cried out.
"They're accusing us of theft," Patrin spat. "Someone noticed that some jeweled goblets are missing, so of course, they accuse us first."
"Sir," Came a shout, "Over here."
Nell watched, disbelieving as the soldiers converged upon her wagon. From inside the wagon, a hand withdrew two golden, jewel encrusted goblets.
"Who owns this wagon?" the captain demanded.
"Nell," Winnie cried from the front of the group, loud enough for all to hear. "What did you do?"
"I didn't take anything," Nell insisted. She swung her head towards Patrin. "I didn't! I came straight here and went to sleep!"
The others weren't given the chance to defend her.
"Take her," The soldier holding the goblets shouted.
Nell was torn from the group, still in her nightclothes. Behind her, she heard the raised voices of the other gypsies. She risked a glance behind her and caught a glimpse of the others, and of Motshan trying to break through the line of soldiers to get to her.
"Motshan," she tried to call out to him, but was ruthlessly dragged away.
From the Gypsy camp, just outside the castle walls, she was all but dragged through the gates and into the large courtyard. The long legged stride of the soldiers preventing her from getting her feet under her to walk.
All the while, she cried out, begging for someone to listen to her.
The castle's inhabitants were suddenly everywhere, having been alerted to something happening. Some were trying to look at her without appearing to look at her, others openly staring. Some followed behind the soldiers, trying to find out what was going on.
Then came the first shout.
"Thief!" The voice called. "She tried to steal from the Princess!"
Someone threw something rotten at her, hitting her with a juicy sound and leaving a dark stain on her white nightdress.
Other voices joined in, as Nell was forced to endure increasingly rougher treatment at the hands of the soldiers. The louder the shouts, the more things that were thrown, the rougher they got.
Finally, Nell was shoved to the ground. She landed hard on her hands and knees with a force that made her cry out. Frantically, she looked over the crowd. Where were the others? Surely someone would help her.
"Silence," A soldier called to the crowd. "We will not tolerate outsiders, thinking that they can come inside our walls and steal from us. Especially from our beloved Princess!" He raised his clenched hand to emphasize the point, and the crowd roared its agreement. Once the noise died down, he continued. "As punishment for the crime of theft from her highness, Princess Kathrine, we hereby sentence you to 20 lashes." The soldier then leaned over and sneered in her face. "Ten per cup."
Nell stared at him in fear.
Even the crowd quieted. Surely he was only trying to scare this girl. Yes, theft was a crime, but to whip this young girl...and that many times.
Two soldiers hauled Nell to the front of the inn. Roughly, they tied her wrists together with one end of a long rope. The other end was tossed over the crosspiece of the Inn's sign, then pulled until her arms stretched high overhead in a mockery of her final pose of the dance she had done.
Nell continued to beg and plead, trying to get someone to listen to her, only to scream when the whip stuck her flesh.