Unquenchable

~§~

Last Chapter:

"That will do," Eriol said, and they pinned her down. Eriol swiftly tattooed the Li symbol onto Sakura in green.

"Does it hurt?" Eriol asked, a malicious smile on his face, staring into Sakura's pain-filled eyes. "Well, think again young lady. You have openly rebuked the king…be lucky to be alive."

They left, leaving Sakura helpless, with nothing to distract her from the bubbling pain in her tattoo. A tattoo of the hated Lis.

~§~

Chapter 3: Interrogated

Sakura's hate-filled eyes travelled across the dark cell. Her eyes had gradually gotten used to the dark and now she was scanning the cell.

There were bars on the door, the stone walls were cracked and damp, occasional drips of water could be heard, and sharp stones littered the floor.

This is home…Sakura thought bitterly. I haven't been here for ten years and now, I'm imprisoned in my own home.

Of course, Sakura hadn't forgotten all she had learnt as a child. Secret ways into and out of the castle still lay freshly burnt into her memory.

But none of them seemed to lead out of the dungeons…

Sakura banged her fists against the walls.

"Damn!" she cried.

~§~

The door opened again. Sakura awoke with a start. This time, only two Li soldiers stood, framed by the square cell door.

"His Majesty King Syaoran wants to see you," one of them drawled.

Sakura's eyes flashed red at the mention of the king's name.

"Oh does he?" she asked contemptuously. "And what if I say I don't want to see that idiotic spineless duck-footed, cowardly baboon for the sake of sparing my eyesight?"

"Then we'll just drag you there and make you repeat what you just said to His Majesty and see if he hasn't got a sharp sword to cut your tongue off for your impertinence!" one barked.

Sakura smirked.

"I'd like to see you try," she said, leaning against the wall and folding her arms. "Because, I've gotten used to this place, I don't want to leave it just to see some bastard with an empty head."

Sakura anticipated the first blow. Neatly sidestepping the first soldier's spearhaft, she fell onto her hands and kicked the soldiers feet. He lost balance and fell, losing consciousness. Sakura then slowly closed her hand around the gritty sand that graced her floor. Then, she walked slowly to the second one, who had not noticed her little move.

"Want to stop me?" she asked. Quick as lightning, her hand threw the sand into his eyes. As he fell to his knees, Sakura wrenched the spear from the soldier's grasp and banged it over his head. He too passed out.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job," Sakura muttered, racing down the drippy passageway, spear in hand, twirling it expertly to get the feel of it. She flattened herself against the wall, watching the two guards who guarded the dungeons. Sakura's hand closed about a rough, heavy chunk of rock, a plan forming in her head. Her aim was good. If she could get that first one down, and then storm the other one…

It was simple. She tossed the rock from one hand to the other, feeling its weight and balance, then took aim, and threw with all her strength.

A more accurate throw had never been thrown. It hit the soldier directly on target, knocking him out. As the second guard bent over to check what had happened, Sakura flung the spear.

The expression of surprise lay etched on his face forever.

~§~

Sakura had the bloody spear in her hand, stealthily creeping through the shadows of her former home like a ghost of ill omen. Quite suddenly, as she turned into a corridor, she heard voices.

"I wonder what will become of that girl His Majesty locked into the dungeons yesterday?" one of them asked.

"I don't know. But whomever it was is facing a slow and painful death…by the King's crown I can swear that!" the other one chuckled.

"Yep…but don't get your hopes up…I heard His Majesty's finishing this one off himself…ooh boy, this is going to be interesting…"

"Terribly…but don't forget that she stormed six soldiers by herself…I don't envy the two who were sent down to retrieve her…"

Sakura crept away from the voices, taking an alternate route she knew would get her out of the castle. The voices were growing fainter…she was leaving them behind…she chanced a look behind her…

Wham!

Stars danced in front of Sakura's eyes. Shaking her head, she looked at who she had bumped into.

Wrong move.

It had been the soldiers she had been listening to! They had been in front of her all along! And there weren't two…there were four.

"Ahh…" one of them sneered. "Aren't you supposed to be down there?"

Sakura held the spear warningly in front of her. "I'm not ending up down there. That's where you're going…along with your bloody king!"

She knocked the butt of the spear into the first soldier's stomach and turned it speedily, ready to rush the second, but a sword whipped through the air and chopped the spear in half. The next moment, it was grazing her neck.

"Don't you dare move, girl," another soldier whispered, arms pinning her arms to her body. "You've got a scheduled meet with the king…we're all coming…we were invited."

Chucking nastily, the four soldiers frog-marched Sakura to the throne room.

~§~

Sakura bit her tongue stubbornly. She was suspended by her hands from the ceiling, her feet dangling a foot off the floor, her body covered with bruises, two soldiers standing next to her, eyes glinting with sick ecstasy, whips swinging in their hands.

Sakura's face was tilted toward the ground, her face sweaty, her breathing laboured, her eyes overflowing, but she'd sworn she'd never let anyone see them.

Her heart…

Her heart was swollen to twice its usual size. Hate…

It was the black hatred that had consumed her…

Hatred for the one and only…

"That will do," said a voice that seemed (and Sakura wished was) miles away. The soldiers, looking disappointed, backed away. Sakura could hear his footsteps, feel his presence, sense the cold being come closer…and closer…

Something cold and sharp and silver was placed under her chin. It tilted her face up. Sakura turned her hate-ridden eyes to the cruel amber ones.

"You've got some strength," the king said, and there was a hint of wonder in his voice. "Most people I know would break completely after such an ordeal."

Sakura's teeth tightened on her tongue. She wasn't going to give in…

"…but now I am warning you," he said, his tone icy, the wonder gone, the sword still forcing her chin up, "you will tell me where Tomoyo Daidouji lives."

Sakura bit harder. Blood was pouring from her tongue, the salty taste was making her sick, but she wouldn't give in…never…

Syaoran's lip curled. The pressure on her chin increased. A thin line of blood was drawn underneath her chin, but she didn't wince, not when the whip-marks were still fresh all over her body.

Syaoran was inwardly seething. This girl could not be broken! She was a stubborn creature, a stubborn, perilous, and, he hated to admit it, but a magnificent specimen. Yet, he needed to know who were the people who would dare try and rescue her. He couldn't afford to lose her, now that he had her by the neck; she couldn't slip right through his fingers…Tomoyo Daidouji…he would lead this Kinomoto girl to the jaws of death and see how brave she was then! He racked through his brain, trying to remember all his persuasive methods he had learnt…hunger and thirst…he could resort to those…torture…he had tried…those two soldiers would have whipped the living daylights out of a lesser person, that too in front of the entire court…maybe…slowly…he could starve and thirst her and when she was weakest, he could worm it out of her…

He pulled his sword out from under her chin suddenly. Her head drooped back toward the floor, releasing her tongue, an idea forming in her head. She remembered a lesson back in her days of a princess…this could help her only now…

She took a deep breath and screeched high in her throat – once, twice, three sharp screeches from her throat resonated across the room.

"What was that?" one soldier asked.

"That was Her Highness," another joked. They began to laugh, when the screeches echoed, a hundred times louder, grislier and ghostlier than when Sakura herself had screeched.

Syaoran looked around, his back to Sakura. Everyone's attention was diverted.

"This half, outside! Check what's making this! It's probably a Resistance attempt to save the Princess! You lot, patrol the corridor outside the entrance hall! You lot – "

Sakura shut out Eriol's voice blabbering out orders. Her eyes were focused on the sheathed sword before her feet. Calculating quickly, she swung her feet from beneath her and kicked out.

Right on target, the sword flew from the scabbard in response to the force of Sakura's kick. It flew in an arc, sharp steel glimmering, until the rope obstructed its path…

The rope suspending Sakura to the ceiling!

The sword cut through the rope and fell straight. Sakura's bound hands caught the sword and she streaked it downward to the rope binding her feet together. Twirling her old sword familiarly, the blade sliced through the rope binding her hands together at lightning speed. She charged at Syaoran and slashed his cheek. Blood poured from his cheek. He cried out in pain clapping a hand to his cheek.

"Take that, you bastard!" she muttered to him as she charged past him and took out the remaining eight soldiers in the room. They fell in one swipe. She paused in front of Eriol, her lips twisting upward in the first smile she had worn in the past 24 hours, emphasized by the fanatical glow of bloodlust in her green eyes.

"Shall I tattoo my mark on you, or does it really matter?" she asked him, raising her sword and swiftly, yet gently tracing her family mark on his forehead, so that it poured in a gentle line of blood.

"There," she whispered in his ear as she raced by him. "I left you my messenger only."

Syaoran was on the floor, but he drew his sword and took aim at Sakura's retreating figure. Then, the sword left his hand. It flew slightly off target, but served its purpose. It pinned Sakura's ripped kimono to the wall. Eriol then drew his sword and placed it behind her neck. Sakura raised hers.

"I dare you to," she said dangerously. "I'm pinned to the wall and you're not. Do you have the guts to take me on…you spineless coward?"

Her eyes focused on a portrait on the wall behind him. It was a family portrait of the Lis. There was Syaoran, and a similarly cruel looking man, undoubtedly his father. There was also the Queen, and four other girls. One of them looked dreadfully familiar…but it couldn't be…

Shiehua…

Touya's wife…

Shiehua…

Was a Li?

Confusion welled up in Sakura's mind…

If Shiehua…was a Li…then…why did they take us over if we were already ntied? Sakura asked herself, in a daze.

The soldiers burst into the room, and taking one look at the situation, raced to Eriol's rescue.

"I could have your head for a prize, girl," Eriol whispered, raising his sword.

"Hirigawaza! Don't you dare!" Syaoran bellowed. Everyone stared at him as he got up and pointed a shaking finger at Sakura.

"Take her back downtairs," he ordered.

Skaura, still dazed, let them drag her off.

An elderly advisor held an arm out to Syaoran, who gratefully accepted.

"Honestly, Your majesty, why don't you just do away with her?" he asked.

"No Wei," Syaoran shook his head. "There is another reason for keeping her alive…a reason which I'm sure that even she's not aware of…"

Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.

A/N: Well, I hope that was exciting. Next chapter, we'll see exactly why Syaoran took over Sakura's kingdom, since his sister had already been married to Sakura's brother.

Review please!