AN: I realize I'm posting this really late at night, however, I had this next chapter finished and felt like I needed to give you guys something after that cliff hanger I left you with in the last one. I promise things will start picking up once they reach their destination. As always, please leave a review letting me know what you think and enjoy!

"You realize pacing isn't going to bring her back, right?"

"It's been a week! You realize that, correct?"

"Erik, we are all worried, but Gustave's right. You need to stop."

Erik paused his trek to glare at the Persian. Ever since they had woken to find Mélodie gone from the cage, the tension had increased between them. Erik was taking it the hardest, pacing back and forth in the half of the cage he previously shared with his daughter.

".الفارسي الوقح"

"Call me insolent if you must, Erik, but don't forget, I am perfectly aware of what Javert is capable of and I don't like the idea of her with him any more than you do."

Erik just scowled, resuming his back and forth motion.

"P-please," Mélodie breathed, her voice a raspy whisper.

She was currently tied with both hands above her head, laying on her stomach. She had been stripped down to her undergarments and her back was screaming in agony from the many new whip marks that had been put there. She had one mark for every hour that passed. She heard Javert pause his movements above her.

"She speaks," he stated.

Mélodie had continued to stay silent through the whole ordeal. The only noise that had escaped her lips was when she had screamed during the first 48 hours of whipping. After that, she had become numb to the whip's effects and gone back to being mute. The simple, one word plea was all she could manage given her throat was sore and dry from lack of use combined with the screaming from earlier. Just then, the clock on the table struck the hour as four o'clock.

"P-please," Mélodie tried once more just as she felt the whip's sting deliver blow number 160.

Tears stung at the corners of her puffy eyes, but she didn't cry out. She could hear the sound of the whip being set on the table and footsteps coming back over to her.

"Please, what?" Javert's greasy voice whispered in her ear.

If she had more strength, she would have shuddered as his breath tickled her ear and neck.

"P-please s-stop," she managed to get out before succumbing to a fit of coughs.

She heard a deep chuckle and felt Javert's breath on her once more.

"Stop? But I'm not done with you yet, girly."

"Sir?" another voice said.

"What?" Javert's voice growled as he stood.

"The masked prisoner is causing trouble for us."

"What is he doing?"

"He hasn't stopped pacing and anytime anyone gets close to the cage, he snaps at them. No one wants to get anywhere near them."

"Why is he behaving this way?"

"We believe it's because you took the girl."

She heard Javert sigh before sending the messenger away.

"Well, I believe today is your lucky day, girly. Perhaps our time together will have to be cut short."

Mélodie held her breath, not daring to respond.

"But first..."

The sentence trailed off and all she heard next was the sound of a belt buckle being undone.

"Erik, would you please-" Nadir stopped mid-sentence as he caught sight of one of the gypsy guards dragging Mélodie in their direction.

Her dress was torn and she looked like every movement pained her. Erik turned to see what had distracted the Persian and gasped. Once the pair reached the cage, the guard opened the door and shoved her through so she fell in a heap to the cage floor with a yelp. He then shut the door and locked it once more before leaving the four alone.

"Mélodie?" Erik under toned, crouching down beside his daughter.

"Is she hurt?" Gustave inquired.

Upon further inspection, Erik found the back of her dress soaked in blood.

"She's bleeding," he responded.

"How bad?"

"I can't tell. I'd have to take off her dress."

"D-do it," Mélodie choked out.

"Mélodie?"

"D-do it," she repeated.

Without another second's hesitation, Erik ripped the back of the dress, exposing the wounds on his daughter's back as she cried out in pain.

"Well?" Gustave asked.

"Oh, Mélodie," Erik breathed, looking at the bloody lines criss-crossing her back.

"Erik, if we don't clean that-"

"It will become infected. I know, Daroga."

A different guard approached the cage with their weekly meal with water.

"Give me the water," Erik commanded.

Nadir handed it over as Erik took off his shirt, ripping a piece off the bottom. After soaking it in the water, he used the piece to clean the blood from Mélodie's back.

"Help her sit up. I need to wrap the wounds."

Nadir helped the young woman sit while Erik ripped more strips from his shirt and began to wrap them around her torso and shoulders until her entire back was covered.

"W-water?" Mélodie wheezed out.

The Persian transferred her into her father's arms, who helped her drink down the rest of the water. They then portioned out the food and distributed it between themselves.

"He whipped her?" Gustave questioned them as they ate.

"Yes," Erik growled, still cradling his daughter in his arms as she attempted to eat.

"Why would he-"

"Because the Shah didn't ask for me. He asked for the three of you."

"The Shah?"

"The ruler of Persia," the Daroga supplied.

"Since he didn't ask for me, Javert figured he could have some fun with me."

Erik stiffened underneath Mélodie as she spoke.

"He just whipped you? He didn't try anything else?"

Mélodie hesitated, wincing as she squirmed slightly in her father's embrace.

"Mélodie, he didn't... I mean..."

She stared at Gustave then glanced up at their father, communicating to him with her eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," Erik growled.

The rest of the night passed in silence as the traveling fair picked up and started to move once more.