Chapter Thirteen- "Let Her Live!" Ezekiel 27:36- ".you will have come to a horrible end and will be no more."

Klane Satine had left Hidon with permission from King Partini, who thought that his younger brother would be visiting Shansire and Ziex. And he would, but that was only a cover-up to hide his true intentions. He left for Malaar and, while stopping on another planet, Wreph, heard that Hidon had been blockaded. He didn't really care whether or not Fareari succeeded in their mission to take Hidon over; it made no difference to him whether they did or didn't. After a quick visit to Malaar, everything would be in place for his reign on Hidon. And after Malaar, Klane supposed that he should go to Shansire and Ziex as planned, just to keep up appearances and to prevent anyone from becoming suspicious. *** Hristen came to Tielle's cell to gloat, much to Tielle's dismay. She was still healing from both her interrogation and Chayden's unexpected kiss, and Hristen was not a welcome distraction. "Ah! There's the *princess*," he sneered, taking in her dirty surroundings and appearance in one quick, arrogant glance. "Since you seem to care *so much* for your precious planet, I thought I'd come and tell you that Hidon is being blockaded by Fareari." Tielle stared at him, shock jolting through her harder than any jolt of electricity. "No," she breathed unbelievingly, "no." Hristen smirked. "Oh yes. Yes indeed. And so far, your father remains steadfast in his refusal to surrender. So he may need some encouragement." He looked at Tielle with an evil look in his eye, and she knew that he was thinking of another torture session. "No," she breathed again, not wanting to be interrogated, but not wanting Hidon to surrender either. "No." Hristen sighed loudly and theatrically. "Unfortunately, I have not yet received permission to interrogate you," he said regretfully, as though he was sad that some event had been cancelled because of bad weather. "So for now you will remain untouched. For now," he repeated meaningfully, and he the door clicked behind him as he left. Tielle numbly turned back to the passage in the Prophets that she had been reading, but her mind was spinning with too many thoughts and feelings, and she couldn't understand a word she was reading. *** Hidon remained resolute in its decision not to surrender, and although there had been rumors about Shansire coming to break Hidon free of the blockade, so far there had been no real resistance. Fareari wanted to take Hidon intact and productive, without the damage that warfare caused, so it had not yet pushed for Hidon's surrender. It didn't have to; it had their Crown Princess. When Hristen approached Chayden with that glee in his sense, and that vigor in his step, Chayden knew that Tielle was once again going to be tortured. And this time, a countdown had begun, for if Partini did not surrender after this interrogation, after the next an execution would take place instead. *** They brought Tielle, kicking and fighting all the way, back to the same room that she had visited the last time. She struggled and fought, trying to get away, trying to break free, but all her effort was in vain, and she was left alone to face the interrogation sphere once more. It was worse. Far worse. Whether because they had increased the pain levels, or because she knew what was coming, Tielle didn't know. All she knew was that she thought she was dying. How was it possible to live through such pain? She tried to think of something, anything else. Hidon. her family. her friends. anything to take her mind off of her unbearable reality. But it didn't work, and soon Tielle had no mental energy left to think about anything. Except how it hurt. Darkness came, and with it welcoming relief and the knowledge that she would never hurt again. *** Fareari transmitted the message to Hidon, lifting one frequency from the jamming to show Tielle being tortured again. Shari watched, horrified, beside Partini, who stoically gazed upon the screen, thick rage welling up inside of him. Then Tielle collapsed. The interrogation sphere prodded her, electrocuted her, to make her regain her consciousness. She didn't. She remained on the floor, limp and unmoving, her red hair sprawled across her bleeding face. Partini strained to look for some sign, any sign, of life within his daughter. He found none. The transmission winked out. *** Hristen was showing no mercy and exhibited only malice instead as he increased the levels of pain. Chayden fought to keep his emotions in check; revealing his fear, anger, and most of all love, would result in destruction for both Tielle and himself. His own destruction he could tolerate, but he *must not* be the cause of any of Tielle's pain. As pain wracked Tielle's body and echoed through Chayden's mind, he turned to Hristen. A nauseating look had come upon the cruel prince's face, and he grinned an evil grin as he jacked the pain levels up even harder. *That's too much!* Chayden thought in horror, but he knew that to tell Hristen that was too reveal himself. Chayden's older brother's thumb kept moving up, making Tielle's anguished screams louder than they had ever been before, and Chayden could not stop himself. "Hristen!" he started, but then there was no need to continue. The terrified screams stopped, and Tielle fainted. Chayden breathed a sigh of relief, but his relief quickly turned back into concern when the interrogation sphere failed to revive Tielle. It prodded the lifeless princess, but she remained just that: lifeless. "See what you've done!" Chayden snapped at his older brother, who was now staring, shocked, at the motionless Tielle. Chayden took action and slapped the "transmit" button and watched as the camera transmitting the horrific images shut down. He simultaneously shutoff the interrogation sphere and threw open the door separating him from Tielle and rushed to her side. His heart was pounding as he checked for a pulse. *Please let her be all right. Let her live!*