Chapter IV

The Pain

"Well, well, well," one of the guards spoke up a tad rudely in a deep, throaty voice. "Look what we have here."

"What do you want?" Delphine asked in fear, afraid it might be one of her guards.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Another one made a pass at her, "You're too pretty."

Quite disturbed by their remarks, Amador soon frowned at this, and placed his arm around Delphine's shoulder to protect her from the sick perverts. The first two guards attempted to step closer but without a flinch, Amador pushed Delphine behind him to shield her from having to deal with them.

"Stay away from her," he threatened in his toughest voice.

"Or what?" The guard that had made the pass took a step forward. "You'll hurt us?"

"If you know what's good for you, then stay out of this," Another guard said, stepping forward. "We don't want any more trouble than you do. All we want is your girl." The guard pushed Amador aside, and grabbed the young princess by the arm forcefully and pulled her to their side.

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling against the guard's grip, but he was too strong for her weakling body.

As Amador was about to lunge forward to grab Delphine back, another guard stopped him and kicked hard in his abdomen, and he doubled over, grabbing onto his stomach in pain, causing him to gag and choke. The guard picked up his leg and nailed him into the back, which sent Amador falling onto his knees and flat on the floor. "We told you all we wanted is the girl, shouldn't have fought us."

"Amador!" Delphine yelled out desperately for her lover, who was lying on the wood ground gasping for air helplessly. She struggled, trying to break her way free and lunged forward, trying to run to Amador, but the guard's grip was too tight.

"Uh, uh, uh." The guard pulled her back into a tighter grip. "You're not going anywhere, pretty little one." He placed his lips on the crook of her neck and blew puffs of air on her neck, sending chills down her back as she turned her face away from Amador's vision and shrugged her shoulder to sweep his sick breath off of her. "See that? She enjoys it." He smiled wickedly, and then kicked Amador a few more times in the stomach.

"Get your hands off of me you dirty monster!" she yelped, continued to protest. "Amador, help me, please!"

Swinging her over his shoulder, he carried her off to another part of the wood as the others followed, and started fondling her while she kicked and screamed, crying out for Amador.

Apparently these guards didn't seem to know who she was as they took turns taking their pleasure out on her, exploiting her sacred body.

After each one finished, they patted her cheeks while chuckling, causing her to flinch every time, and then whispered something revolting into her ears which almost made her squirm.

The cries were tormenting, but there was nothing Amador could do. He was too weak to get up and too fragile to pick a fight. He crawled to her as much as he could, inch by inch, letting out a small whimper as he crawled. But, it was too late when he was half way there. He saw them running out of the forest, chattering to one another and laughing.

He knew what they had done to his precious Delphine, and he hated himself for not being able to protect her.

Pulling her dress to cover her bare chest, she sobbed uncontrollably. Hot tears freely strolled down her pale cheeks like waterfalls. She felt so dirty and shamed. Dirty because she'd let those bastards touched her. And shamed because she had let a bunch of men intrude her body.

Wiping off her tears, she put her ruffled dress back on. She bravely pulled herself up to go find Amador.

Stumbling with each step, she finally worked up enough energy to walk normal again.

Searching through the dark wood, she called out his name every step she took, "Amador?" she called. "Amador! Please answer me."

Not too far away, Amador crawled slowly, following her once angelic voice that was now cracked into a raspy, throaty tone like an old woman's.

"Delphine!" he tried to call out for her, but didn't make it any further than one foot.

"Amador, please answer me," she cried again.

Pacing slowly, she wrapped her arms around herself to protect her from the darkness. Suddenly a whimper startled her. Jumping at the sound, she twirled herself around and then again, another whimper let out.

"Delphine!" A raspy voice called out for her. She was only feet away from him. Running toward the voice, she finally saw Amador lying vulnerably on the ground.



"Amador." She dashed to his side immediately to help him. "Oh, Amador," she cried, as she picked Amador's head up and let him rest on her lap.

"Delphine," he began.

"I'm here," she took his hand.

"It was all my fault," he spoke weakly. "I should've protected you from those monstrous men."

"No, it wasn't your fault," she shook her head as more tears welled up her eyes. "There was nothing you could've done. It was an army against you."

"I could've done something." he forced himself to get up. "Dear God, what have they done to you?" He weakly brought his hand to her tangled hair and picked out some leaves that were stuck in her brown wavy locks and gently ran his hand through it. Bringing it down to her cheeks he softly caressed it.

Unable control her emotion, she broke down as her hand trembled up to meet his and pressed it against her cheek.

"Don't cry." He brushed her tears away. "It's going to be fine."

Without saying another word she helped him sit up straight then jumped into his embrace and cried in his arms. With all his might, he pulled her in for a tighter embrace.

Shifting himself into a more comfortable position, he flipped her hair behind her ear and spotted a dark spot on her neck.

He ran his thumb through it and kissed it, as if it was going to wash away her pain. He brought her face to his and he could see the pain in her eyes. They had hurt her as much as they had hurt him. He could feel it in his bones.

"Don't let me go." She sobbed, her voice barely audible, "Ever."

Rocking back and forth in each other's arms and slowly drifting away, Amador carefully laid Delphine down onto the ground. Gazing at her intensely, tears of seeing her in pain sprung up his eyes. Bringing his hand up to her face, he delicately swept away a few strands of hair from her face, and then ran his hand down to her neck where the bruise was at, and then to her shoulder. Circling his fingers around that area, he brushed the sleeve off her shoulder, which revealed a red hand mark imprinted on her skin.

With his hand trembling, he traced his finger on the outline of imprint. Doing the same thing to her other shoulder, another imprint was revealed.

Shaking his head, not wanting to believe what had happened, he leaned forward and snuggled in the curve of her neck and laid himself next to her.

Waking up to birds chirping above their heads and the sun peaking out over the mountaintop, Delphine's eyes fluttered open, and she found them lying on the rough, leafy ground.

Sitting up slowly, Delphine rubbed her eyes lazily and took a look at her surroundings.

"Amador," she called hoarsely, shaking him.

"Hmm," he replied sleepily.

"We have to go," she panicked.

"Go where?" he asked, attempting to stand up.

"Get out of the city before my mother sends guards looking for me."

"We don't have time."

"Please."

"No," he refused, "You need to go home."

"What?" she shrieked. Her eyes were filled with hurtfulness and puzzlement. "You can't mean that. No. Please."

"I can't put you in anymore danger," Amador firmly stated. "I care for you too much to see you get hurt again because of me."

"It wasn't your fault!" she yelled. "Please reconsider," she pleaded grabbing onto his arm. "I can't go back."

"You have to." he brushed her off. "There are just things that aren't meant to be." He said grinding through his teeth, trying not to get emotional. "And we're one of them."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" She shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. "Think about us, think about what we have!"

"There is no 'us.' And there will never be. We have nothing. Go home. Go!" He roared, as if all his feelings for her had turned into a black empty hole. "I don't want to see you anymore." He then abruptly walked away without having a little courtesy to even say good-bye.

"Don't, please. If you're not going to think about me, at least think of our child!" she yelled after him. Her voice had cracked through the wood, and boomed in his head. "I love you!"

Keeping his head up, he picked up his pace and got as far from her as possible. He just wanted to kill himself for doing this. He loved her, dammit! And he loved the little miracle that was inside of her. But some things just weren't meant to be, and they were one of them. Fate had brought them together, and now Fate was ready to break them apart.



Heart shattered into millions of pieces, Delphine fell onto her knees without even realizing it and broke down. She felt like someone had shot an arrow into her heart, and it was definitely not Cupid.

How could she have been so stupid to fall in love with a peasant? How could she have been so dumb to believe everything he'd ever said to her? Why hadn't she listened to her mother when she'd said that peasants were no good? Maybe because she was blinded by her love for him and never thought this day would ever come.

He could hear her cries, her cries to be loved and to be cherished. Her cries were even more powerful than her words. He wanted to run to her and bundle her up in his arms and kiss her tears away, tell her everything would work out, but he couldn't; he had to stay strong. It was for the best…for the both of them.

Hours had gone by and high noon approached. Guards were now scattered all around town searching for Delphine. Her name was boomed from door to door, posters were hung from street to street, and townspeople were frantically searching for her, competing with each other so that they could get the reward.

Wandering around the street looking miserable, streaks of dried tears stuck to her cheeks, her puffy red tearful eyes were visible to the public. Her dress was somewhat torn, her face was dirty, and her once shiny honey brown hair was now frizzy and tangled from the attack. She was undeniably unrecognizable.

Minding her own business, she suddenly bumped into a tall, dark figure, which almost knocked her off her feet considering she was in a weakened condition.

"I'm sorry," she murmured without looking up.

"Princess?" the deep voice uttered, recognizing her voice.

She slowly looked up with gloomy eyes; it turned out that the figure was one of her guards. Glancing at him for a few seconds, she suddenly felt light-headed and her knees collapsed. The guard quickly shot out his arms, and the princess's limp body fell right into them.

Fear quickly filled his eyes as he gathered the princess up in his arms and rushed back to the castle.

"The Princess has fainted," he called out, bursting into the front lawn of the palace.

"The Princess had been found," Another guard hollered to notify everyone in the castle as the first guard ran past him. "Call off the search," he told another guard so that he could pass on the message.

"What happened?" The queen and the king rushed out into the lawn, staring in horror at their daughter's motionless body.

A few servants had followed them in case of any help was needed.

"I found her wandering in the street and she just fainted," the guard explained.

"Bring her to her room," the king ordered, then turned to one of his servants, "Send the best doctor you can find at once."

"He will be at the princess's service right away, your highness." The servant bowed, and quickly went off.

Day finally shifted into night, and the old summer breeze swished and whooshed in a soothing rhythm once again. The moonlight, blazed glisteningly into Amador's mysterious blue eyes, sending a bounce of crystal spark reflections.

As he shut his eyes, a cold tear that had been sitting on the bottom of his eyelid shifted to the corner of his eye, and rolled to the side.

"Delphine," he whispered to the sky. Thoughts of her had never left his mind since the day they met. Questioning his own actions, he now asked himself whether or not it was a mistake giving up on her and their child. Just the thought of him being a father brought a smile to his face. Oh, how he would love to hold that little bundle of joy in his arms. However, now that little bundle of joy was gone along with his joy. He wondered what the little miracle would be, a boy or a girl? "Doesn't matter," he told himself, "What's the point of even thinking about it? It doesn't even exist. Don't torture yourself."

Sitting in a room, with only one lit candle to light up the invasion of darkness, Delphine laid peacefully in bed with her arms across her chest like a mummy.

Then the back of a hand was softly placed on her forehead, and then quickly removed.

"She should be cooling down in no time," an old raspy voice said, "Give her this everyday," He handed another figure a piece of wrapped paper which contained some herbal medicine and continued, "and her wound should recover in no time."

"Thank you, doctor," a soft voice replied, taking the medicine. "Just hope she won't go ballistic when she wakes up."

The doctor let out a weak smile, then exited the room.

Letting out a sigh, she softly caressed Delphine's cheek. "I'm doing this for your own good," she whispered to Delphine and removed the sweaty strands of hair from her face.



Suddenly a soft moan escaped Delphine's lips as she turned her head from side to side.

"Delphine," a feminine voice called.

Continuing to stir, she let out a small cry and the moaning was beginning to become continuous.

"Amador," she cried out his name.

"Amador?" the feminine voice whispered, somewhat bewildered by the name. She never heard such a name. Amador? What kind of name is Amador? Could he be the one that had impregnated her? Who the heck was this Amador?

Ignoring this for just now, she returned her thoughts back to Delphine.

"Please, don't!" Delphine kicked and screamed into the air.

"Delphine. Wake up!" she panicked, and shook her.

"Mother?" she groaned, fluttering her eyes weakly.

"I'm here," the queen replied, grabbing onto her daughter's hand.

"Mother." She tried to sit up, "AHH!" She let out a yelp. Her body was aching, and from her mid-body down, it felt as if she was paralyzed.

"Don't try to move, darling." The queen gently laid her back down. "You're still weak."

"Why is my body hurting?" she cried, trying to support herself up again.

"You've been hurt severely," her mother explained, thinking back to all the bruises the doctor had examined on her body.

"No," Delphine shook her head, "No," Remembering what happened. She remembered what happened in the morning. What had been said and settled. It was coming back to her; the love of her life had abandoned her and their child.

Closing her eyes, she placed her hands on her abdomen, and a sharp pain sent her bending further over. And a powerful scream of agony thundered through the castle.

"Delphine, don't!" The queen lunged forward and set her back on her back. "It's going to be all right. Don't lunge forward."

"It hurts!" she whimpered, "It hurts, mother."

"I know." She brought Delphine closer to her. "I know."

"Why?" She uttered as much as she could, because every time she talked, she felt a painful twinge shooting through her body.

"Enough talk," her mother firmed commanded. "You need your rest."

Not daring to back talk her mother, she hushed up and carefully laid her head back down onto the pillow and hands on her stomach. She lightly massaged it and felt a small bump. She ran her fingers along the bump and discovered several more, and she immediately realized something was wrong.

Pulling her nightgown up, not caring of her mother's presence, she looked down shockingly at her bruised and stitched up belly, as more tears flooded up her eyes, knowing now what had happened.

"Mother." she looked up horrifyingly, "How?"

"It had to be done." her mother harshly responded. It sounded as if it her voice was filled with pure evil.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Delphine yelled in indignation. "You killed my child?"

"It was for the sake of this family," her mother reasoned. "I have to keep this family in line. We are royals, Delphine. The others looked upon us. I can't have my only daughter running around and coming home with child. It's disgraceful," she spoke in a stern voice, while pacing around. "You know Delphine, you have brought shame to this family and your father and I decided it was best if we get rid of that little brat of yours. We're saving you from your own humiliation and this is how you thank us? And who's this Amador?" she suddenly blurted out.

"Thank you for what? For killing my child?" she shrieked, looking disgustedly at her own mother, ignoring her other question. "The only thing that gives me a reason to live?"

"What are you babbling about, 'the only thing that gives you a reason to live'?" she bellowed outrageously, like every other noble woman when they were hit with startling news. "You and Henrik are to be wed in two months."

"I'm not marrying him," she protested, gripping her hand on her stomach trying to suppress the dire pain.

"You're what?" her mother shrieked, shooting an evil glance at her.

"I'm not marrying him," she repeated. "I don't love him!"

"I don't care if you love him or not. You're getting married," her mother insisted forcefully as she about to let herself out. "You'll learn to love him." She then quickly added, "And we'll discuss this little incident of yours in the morning."

Falling back onto her pillow, she curled up on her side, ignoring the sharp pain and pulled the cover to her chest, then silently cried herself to sleep.

Sliding her hand to her belly, which once held a little miracle, she pressed her hand against it to cause more pain, as she shut her eyes tightly and bit her bottom lip to absorb those awful twinges.

Tears rapidly traveled from one eye to the other and slid down to the pillow, and she slowly drifted away as tears continued to fall.

All of a sudden an appalling wail startled her out of her sleep.

Ignoring it, she shut her eyes tightly to block all images from her vision, and covered her ears to block out all the sounds. However, it didn't do much help, as the wailing grew louder and became constant.

"Stop, please, stop!" she begged, still keeping her eyes shut and ears closed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Momma," a sweet innocent little voice called. "Momma."

The voice just sent chills down Delphine's spine. It was so innocent, so little, so sweet, and yet so eerie. Goosebumps covered her arms, as a rush of tingling feelings invaded her face, her hair standing up straight, and her body felt ice cold.

The mixture of the wailing and the calling was uncontrollable. Dismissing it only caused it to become more intolerable.

As she couldn't stand it any longer, she shot up from her bed and yelled out like a maniac, "CAN IT!!!"

"Leave me alone," she screeched sending servants bursting into her room.

"Princess, it's all right." One of the servants came rushing to her side and grabbed a hold of her. "Calm down."

"NO! Leave me alone!" She shook like a lunatic, brushing her servant off.

"What's wrong?" The king and queen sprinted passed the servants.

"It seemed like the young princess had a bad dream," the servant who was trying to calm her nervously replied.

The royal parents exchanged worried looks with each other and hurried to their daughter's side.

"Delphine, what's wrong?" The king tried to grab her back, but with no luck, she brushed him off.

"Don't touch me!"

"What do we do?" asked a panicked queen who was standing behind the king.

"She's going insane!" the king stated, while trying to make another attempt to control her.

Finally getting control of her, he pinned her down as she settled down and shed more tears, yet her hand kept close to her stomach.

The pain of hearing those cries and calling was much stronger than her physical pain. It was like nothing she ever had felt before. Her body was throbbing with pain, her heart was stabbed with agony, and her mind was playing tricks on her. But, none of those matched up to the call of the spirit.

"It's alright." the king whispered. "You're home."

Struggling to look up, she shook her head and managed to pick up her head up enough to face her father.

"Why?" she murmured, "What had she ever done to you?"

"It was for the best," the king replied in a low tone, making sure the servant couldn't hear him. He then turned to them and ordered, "You all are dismissed."

Stepping back toward the door, they let themselves out.

"How can you stand there and tell me it was for the best when you murdered my child?" she yelled in rage.

"We're done with this discussion." He turned away from her.

"No, we've just begun to discuss this!" she retorted. It was the first time she had ever talked back to him.

"How dare you talk to me like that?!" he twirled around and roared, which frightened her. "Do you know what shame you have brought to this family? How dare you try to humiliate your mother and me?"

Choked up, as she wasn't able to utter anything else, she looked away and kept her mouth shut.

She knew if she had spoken up, something regrettable would spill from her lips and then she wouldn't be able to take it back.

Staying silent, her parents then turned and walked out, leaving her alone again.

She was lucky and surprised that they hadn't even bothered to bring up who might be the father of her child. It seemed somewhat unusual, as they always tried to figure out what she was doing with herself all day, locking herself in her room. Maybe they were on to her but decided to give her some time to recover before bringing her in for further investigation.