The Hidden Truth
Chapter 6: Light in the darkness
The man dressed in a red tunic grabbed his whip and made movements as if he was warming up for beating her. Kyah's eyes were wide open and she looked horrified by regarding the whip and by thinking of what she heard a few seconds ago. What a monster was Draju? Slowly she closed her big green eyes and tried to prepare herself for her torment. Her body went still and she found her centre. Suddenly the whip made contact with her smooth skin. The only thing she felt was hot, burning pain on her back. The stroke tore her white shirt. But she didn't cry out. "He will not take my dignity!", she recalled in her mind. Then another stroke and another. The beats came more rapidly now. Tears streamed down her bloody face, but she didn't make a sound. Her back was on fire and she felt a warm liquid flowing down her spine. It was blood. Remaining of her shirt was pressed into the welts with every hit. Suddenly the king nodded and the other man stopped.
"Will you sign the confession, that confirms, that you were behind all these criminal acts?", Draju asked. But Kyah shook her head.
" I will not confess, what I didn't do!" she stated calmly.
Draju gave again a nod and the other man made a fire and place an iron rod into the flames. When the top of the rod was red-hot, he took it out of the fire. Then he ripped of the girl's shirt and exposed the upper part of her body, her chest only protected by a bra. Slowly, but painfully he touched the teenager's skin of her stomach. She gritted her teeth, but nevertheless a small cry escaped her mouth. Again and again the man repeated the action. The air carried a stench of burnt flesh. There were clearly visible marks on her stomach, chest and shoulders, where she was burnt.
"Sign it and you will die a quick death tomorrow!", the king almost yelled
Obi-Wan was surprised that such a young girl could make it through this kind of torture. He was impressed.
"NO I WILL NOT, BASTARD!" she screamed at him.
The man in the red uniform laid the red-hot metal aside and took another rod. And he started to hit her everywhere. A sickening crack was audible, when he hit her right knee. Now she cried out aloud. Obi-Wan tried to wrap her into the force, but he couldn't subdue much of the pain. It was too much. She was hit everywhere and eventually she became unconscious. Obi-Wan was glad, that the beating stopped and that she wasn't able to feel much of her pain right now.
"Bring this scum back into her cell! We will finish tomorrow, what we began today.", with that the monster of a king left the chamber.
Kyah was dragged into her cell and thrown onto the cot.
Obi-Wan was furious, how could he have served a man like this? He had to find the evidence of the document, that made Kyah to the rightful queen of this planet. But first he would have to treat her injuries, even if the king was against it. It didn't matter anymore.
He went down to the prison with a backpack, that he just fetched from his chamber on the upper floors. Suddenly a big soldier stepped in front of him.
"Where are you going, Jedi?", he asked aggressively
Obi-Wan moved his hand in front of the soldier's face and said: "You will let me through!"
"I will let you through!", the soldier agreed peacefully.
"You will forget, that I've been here!"
"I will forget that you've been here!"
"Move along!"
"Move along!"
What the guard didn't realize was that Obi-Wan stole the keys for the prison cells. What a weak minded creature. Obi-Wan went quickly to Kyah's cell and opened it without any sound. He looked at her closely and was sick of the view, that presented itself in front of him. Blood streamed down her features. She looked awful. There wasn't a spot on her body unharmed. When he touched her cheek, he woke up and wanted to scream, but she couldn't she was too exhausted and in too much pain.
"Sssshhh, Kyah I am going to help you! I don't want to hurt you, little one. Stay calm.", he calmed her with his soothing voice.
"What's your name and does the king know, that you are here?", she asked weakly.
"My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and no, the king doesn't know!" he said with a small smile.
"He will punish you for helping me!"
"He doesn't need to know. I won't let him harm you again."
Gently he examined the girl's injuries. Kyah was embarrassed because of being half naked and she turned her head away. His hands felt for broken ribs and he found three on the left side. He searched in his backpack for bacta to be able to treat the burns on her skin and the welts on her back. But he couldn't bandage her ribs and broken patella. The bandage couldn't be hidden because she didn't possess a shirt anymore. Obi-Wan gave her a dose of painkillers and she dosed off. Now he could set the broken bones in her knee and see if there were ligaments torn or not. When he had done his work he left quietly the room and decided to search for the documents in the night. He couldn't do it tomorrow because for her, there wouldn't be a tomorrow if he didn't act quickly.
Tbc…