A/N: Chapter three is up. I know the beginning is a little slow right now, but you have to bear with me on this one. It will get a little bit more fast pace once the characters are more developed.
Kel relayed all the information she received from Danae to Neal that night. By the time she was finished, Neal looked absolutely livid.
" They are pigs, filthy rotten smelly pigs!"
"I know." Kel said quietly. " We now know what happened. But we need to talk to Amarette. She was the only one left alive who was not hiding. I need to know why."
Neal was silent, which was very unusual. He liked hearing his voice so much; he made long speeches every five minutes.
"She was betrothed," he murmured after awhile. " It must have been the happiest moment of her life. Only to be taken away from her in an instant."
Kel shook her head. "No one, not even the filthiest scum deserves to have that done to them.
Yuki was re-applying Amarette's bandage when Kel came in the next day. It was uncanny how her and Danae looked alike. Each of them had the dark hair and grey eyes. But what was a little different about Amarette was just the way her eyes looked at the world. They were not scared like her sister's, they were determined and hard. She looked at her a little hesitant at first, before she saw that Yumi and her greeted quite warmly.
Amarette was not exactly sure what to think of about this woman. She had sandy colored hair and a build that resembled a boy's. She also was wearing a tunic and leggings, not a dress.
" I'm Keladry of Mindelan, the commander of New Hope." She told her.
Amarette nodded and stammered, "I'm Amarette of the Shihoki tribe.
Kel smiled. The girl might hate men but at least she had pride. "We, the people of New Hope are glad that you are making a recovery."
Why do nobles always think they need to make courtesy speeches? Amarette wondered, it doesn't help them any. Just makes them look stupid.
"Thank you."
Kel sighed and waved to Yuki to come over. She whispered something rapidly in her ear, before Yuki left, leaving Amarette and Kel alone.
"Where is she going," Amarette asked.
"I asked her to leave."
"Why?"
"I need to ask you something."
Amarette sat up, suddenly wishing she was far away from this place. She didn't want this Keladry person to ask her question. She didn't want to revisit that memory. It was too painful.
"We talked to your sister Danae. She told us what happened to your village and how she was in hiding. How did it happen? You were the only one left alive that was not in hiding."
Her voice seemed distant in Amarette's head. She closed her eyes as two tears slipped out.
Fire and ashes. They came like a thundering storm. The hooves of their beasts crushing the ground before them. They quickly covered anything that looked as though they were having a celebration. Flowers were torn from the girl's hair, as the braids were unraveled in the men's.
"Where are they?" They growled. "Where are the children?" Silence penetrated the air, as they refused to answer.
"You prefer to be Martyrs then?" Their commander smiled, showing blackened teeth. "Perhaps we can have a little fun." He surveyed the crowd. Lust grew in his eyes; the fire of his soul became unclean.
"You're a pretty one, who claims you?" He yanked her to him, his hand on her waist. She turned her head away, his breath was stale and he stank of pigs. He squeezed her cheeks, forcing her to look at him.
"I think I will have a celebration of my own tonight," He said as he studied her. His men hooted.
"Amarette?" Kel said, shaking her solder gently. She glanced up at the female commander before quickly looking down at her lap.
"They… they accused us of being martyrs for hiding the children."
"Over my dead bleeding corpse!" Galyn cried. The Scanran commander sneered, and pushed her into his men's arms.
"I think we have just found who claims her."
"Galyn NO," she screamed as he pulled out a dagger and made a run at her captor. She struggled to get out of their hold. He made a slice at the commander, managing to make a thin cut. The man became enraged and drew out his axe. Galyn swerved and ducked under his blows. One of the man's men came from behind and cut him down with his sword as the other chopped him with his axe.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" She never stopped screaming. Never stopped screaming.
"They killed us all." Amarette mumbled.
"But not you, why?"
"Because I was beautiful." Tears slipped out.
His breath was hot on her face, his smile disgusted her. She would not cry out, she would not give him the satisfaction. She just looked at him with un-checked hatred.
"Scream!"
"No."
"Bitch, you do as your told!"
"No."
"Scream!"
He drew out his sword and sliced through her skin from her neck down her right arm. Still she did not make a sound. The hot iron pierced her flesh, the world went red as darkness fell.
"Amarette, did someone rape you?"
She looked up. Tears were spilling down her face.
"Yes." She whispered.
All of them were dead; Mother, father and most of all Galyn. Amarette turned over on her bed, hiding the tears in her pillow. It was the dead of night and long since past her visit with Keladry.
Oh how she missed Galyn! She wanted him to come back, hold her and whisper to her that everything would be just fine.
"I want to die," Amarette whispered, "The Black God please claim me. I have no will to live."
But then… what would happen to the others. Danae was not strong. She could not take care of them. But who was to say that she could do a better job then her sister?
"Why was I given this burden," she murmured, "I'm not a parent, I'm not even married."
Tear came in steady strides, I was going to be married, she thought, I was to be married to the love of my life.
Hatred burned with inside her soul. She would kill all those men that took away everything she loved. She would train to become a warrior. She would meet those soldiers again. Their faces were so clearly imprinted on her mind. She would show them pain. Pain like the pain they inflicted on her.
Amarette smiled, she now had cause keeping her alive
A/N: Hoped you like it. I know it might seem a little weird right now. If Tamora Pierce's books were not fantasy and instead historical fiction it would most likely be set in the medieval ages. Rape was a common thing back then, but that's not what most people think about when they think of the word Medieval. They think of knights in shinning armor and princesses being swept off their feet. Or maybe that's just me. The knights and so on are only one part of those ages. And unfortunately rape was a major part of that time.
