Alright, I know this is a really short chapter. I did not mean for it to turn out this way, but well it did. Ozorne kind of decided to be a bastard, but o well! Next chapter I will actually accomplish what I meant to do…I hope…
Disclaimer: By now you should know what is mine and what isn't. At least I should hope so seeing as you are on this site, reading this story, and have made it this far. If not, well, that is truly amazing – congratulations!
The brilliant gold of the throne room seemed to dim and turned a dull brown. Daine turned her head slowly and looked away from the golden emperor. His hazel eyes seemed to burn and blacken as he came nearer and nearer. She wanted to look anywhere but at him; anywhere but in his eyes. Her eyes flickered over to the door and flashed quickly back toward the advancing emperor. She felt her chest tighten in apprehension as she took in the furious lilt to his stride. His lips were pressed into thin white lines gilded softly with gold that clashed harshly to his infuriated demeanor. The mage lights in the room added a hollow glow to him; it was a harsh shine that was hurled back into the room as though it screamed of its impatience. Ozorne was displeased. Of what, she could not tell.
Daine felt her eyes being drawn back to his. It was the classic dance between predator and prey, and she was trapped as the hunted. She had no where to run. Caught like a mouse in the eyes of an adder, she remained still as he began to speak, "You have somehow proven to be harder prey to catch than I had ever given you credit for. Many times my men have lurked in the shadows beneath your very own eyes, but you, Sarra, you have never fallen to them. Not once were they capable of speaking to you, of bringing you to me, of finding a way to convince you." He almost purred the last of his small speech. His words dripped of anger at his men and an unquenchable lust. She did not understand. He lusted for power. He had more than she could ever imagine in the hands of any one man, but still he craved more. Trapping her here like this proved his ravenous hunger, his insatiable drive.
"Convince me of what, your Highness?" she forced from her constricted throat. She watched in horror as he reached out and wrapped his soft and slender fingers around her forearm with a strength that rippled through the very air around him. He held her perfectly still as he came closer yet and whispered softly, threateningly, "That you are in danger as long as you linger by Draper's side. He has no qualms about using a lady as one would use a tramp found in the lowest slums of the city. He has no qualms about destroying others for his own benefit. Calm and quiet he appears, does he not? He is a player of the highest sort. One who can watch the horrors he creates and weaves about his victims with a horrified stare as distraught as even the most innocent of bystanders.
"With me, Sarra, you would have no reason to fear. I am more than capable of protecting you and freeing you of his manipulating grasp. Here in the palace you would have nothing to lose that you have not lost already." She stared transfixed up at his face. Open rage played across his features and made her pause for a moment. Was he demented that he truly believed what he said, or was he simply a perfect actor?
"I don't understand," she whispered trying to force the bile to stop rising to her throat. He smiled slightly as she attempted to pull away from his hold and moved closer and trailed one finger from her shoulder down her arm and over her hip. He leaned in closer and whispered just above her ear, "There is only one thing I request you do for me." He did not wait long enough for her pause or the hitch in her breath to turn into a reply. "You must continue to associate with Draper. Hold his heart in the palm of your hand; then, dove, turn it over to me. I will take care of the rest," he growled with an unmistakable sound of pleasure the thought of destroying the man they were conversing of brought to mind. He made no move to move away from her.
The air seemed to grow heavy and stank with his scent. There was no room to breathe; no room to even scream as he pulled her to him. She was crushed against the gold silk of his shirt. His hands constricted around her waist and roamed lower over her body. She shuddered at his touch and tried to pull away, but she could not move. The lights dimmed and her vision swam. Hot anger and fury coiled and knotted in a hard iron fist that simmered and burned in the pit of her stomach. Thorns clawed their way through her throat and sank into her skin. Anger blinded her and drowned fear. There was no one here to save her; she had to save herself.
With one fierce hiss she turned her head and spat in his face. Her face was twisted in a dark mask; hate froze her blue grey eyes. As Ozorne recoiled slightly in disgust, she pulled away from him sharply. Soft brown curls fell around her face framing the fury twisted and emanated there. As he reached out to grab her again, she twisted to the side forcing him to move and chase her if he was desperate enough. She gave him less credit than he deserved. Faster than a raptor snatching its prey, Ozorne's hand found her wrist again. She could feel the white hot pain well in the back of her eyes as he crushed her wrist in his powerful grasp and forced her closer to him again. Almost without thought she wrapped her other hand around his and dug her fingernails into his flesh. Sharp, thin cat's claws tore through his skin as her fingers shifted slightly, imperceptibly to the man pressed against her. He sprang away from her with a wounded, warning snarl and struck her with the bleeding back of his hand. "Bitch," he growled, "do you have no idea of your place before me!"
Daine wiped his blood from her cheek and hissed a low, dangerous warning, "I know my place. I know my choice, my answer. You have no right, and you have no chance."
She tore away from him and hurled herself against the towering, impassive doors and flew from the emperor's chambers. She did not look back; not once did she stop until she stood in the University's garden by the clear, crystalline pond where the fish glittered like gems in the palm of a god.
Please tell me if you like it at all. I had a really hard time writing it and I feel bad that everyone decided to take a dive off the deep end and divert me from my original plan! Well you understand that they have a mind of their own – even though I try to override it.