Chapter Five

Battered

A gentle breeze blew across the field, knocking the bright green stalks of grass around. Blades of it brushed along Kadi's calves, tickling her, until she slapped the grass irritably away. The dress she wore was a pale yellow in color, with a loose fitting bodice and a skirt that flapped around her ankles, dancing in the wind. The breeze turned into a hard wind, and her hair lifted off her neck. A shiver passed down her spine, a feeling of foreboding creeping into her chest.

"Arany?" a man's voice called out, drawn to her by the wind.

Black hair blew into her face as Kadi whipped around, hands clenched at her sides. That voice had haunted her dreams for years. Never again did she want to be under its command.

The man walked up to her, his straight, shoulder-length, black hair whipping in the wind. "Arany, you should know better."

"I'm not Arany!" Tears ran down her face no matter how hard she fought them. Her throat was tight with anger, and pain which was not hers. "Arany is dead! She's dead! And I will never be her, no matter how badly you want it! Stop trying to make me! I will never be Arany!"

The man stared blankly at the girl crying in front of him, her face screwed up in rage as she fought to hide her tears. "You are Arany," he replied unfeelingly. "You were born Arany. You can never change that. Changing a name doesn't mean anything. You were created as Arany. . . and Arany is who you shall be."

"Arany is DEAD! She died when I was little! How is she supposed to rest in peace if you won't let her go?" Kadi demanded, falling to her knees in the grass, tears streaming down her face, her hands clenched into fists.

"Maybe Arany is dead," the black haired man replied icily. "But if she is, it's because you killed her."

Kadi woke with a start, shivering uncontrollably as a icy wind whipped over her body. She thought she could faintly hear voices, and in seconds they grew closer as she strained to hear them.

"Mithros. . ."

It took her a moment to place that voice as Alanna's, and she recognized the snort of horses. There was a stomp, and gentle thumps of boots and people leapt off their mounts.

"In the name of the Gods!"

"Mithros damn it!" That was Alanna's voice again, much closer now.

Hooves stamped along the ground, and she recognized the sound of galloping horses. Two more sets of boots clomped to the ground, and she heard more murmuring. "Horse Lords. . ." The rough, but feminine voice had to be Buri's, Kadi realized faintly.

"Kadi, what happened?"

She moaned, peeling her eyes open. She ached all over, though it was a dull and gentle throb, and some part of her pointed out that it should probably have hurt more. Jonathan was kneeling next to her.

Kadi whimpered, tried to scramble backwards, and slipped. A scream escaped her lips as her beaten body slammed back into the ground, and blinding pain crashed through her. A sharp breeze cut the air, blowing her vomit caked hair into her face. Her stomach ached painfully as she curled up, lips trembling. Shaking, she curled herself around her right arm.

"What is it?" Jonathan asked softly, moving slowly towards her on his hands and knees.

"No!" Kadi yelped, trying to move again. Her fingers slipped on a patch of vomit-covered grass, however, and she landed painfully on her bruised back, another round of blinding pain stabbing at her. Images flashed through in her mind, and fire burned between her legs.

Jonathan started to move forward again, but Alanna grabbed the back of his tunic, hauling him to his feet. "Can't you see you're scaring her?" she demanded, violet eyes flashing.

"But I--"

"Just. . . shut up," the Lioness instructed, rubbing her temples. She walked over to Kadi, crouching next to her.

The younger girl laid there, her eyes wide with fear as Alanna studied the bruises and wounds that covered her. The knight's eyes narrowed as they slid down her body, and finally she looked up, meeting Kadi's eyes.

"Who did this?" she asked firmly, but gently at the same time. Carefully, she touched her shoulder, wrapping her arms tightly around Kadi, careful of the arm the younger girl cradled.

Kadi swallowed, her throat tight with fear. She eyed Jonathan, then looked over his shoulder at Gary and Raoul. Shakes gripped her, and she trembled uncontrollably while Alanna held her, a dull ache sinking deeper into her battered flesh.

Thayet came over, kneeling on the girl's other side. "What happened?" she asked, soothingly rubbing Kadi's hair. "It's okay." Her eyes caught the fear in the younger girl's hazel eyes, and she glanced at the men. "Go," she ordered, motioning with her hand for them to back up.

"Gary, Raoul, Jon, one of you, give us your tunic," Alanna snapped a moment later.

Raoul moved first, pulling his off without a moment of hesitation. He took a step forward, and Kadi whimpered again, trying to scramble backwards. She was caught by Alanna's firm arms, however, and only a slight pain jarred her body. Buri walked over and took the tunic from the burly knight. Together, Alanna and Thayet lifted Kadi into a sitting position, while the girl ground her teeth to keep the rising waves of pain at bay,--what would happen when they came too close?--and Buri slipped the large tunic over the youngest girl's head.

Kadi yelped as Buri's hands touched her bruised body, and a dawning realization crashed on her that she had been naked in front of the men. She began to struggle in fear, but her body burned in every muscle, every bone, every nerve, and morphed her struggles into a pitiful flailing. The pain in her leg was the worst, and she screamed out, holding her arm tighter against her chest.

Gary and Raoul took a few more steps backwards, going to stand with the horses, but Jonathan hesitated for a moment. Thayet glanced meaningfully at Buri, who in turn left the huddle again to grab him by the arms and haul him over to the other men, despite her small stature. Had it been any other time, Kadi might have laughed at the picture.

"Who did this?" Alanna asked again, her arms around Kadi's shoulders. She held the girl close, trying to keep the pounding of her own heart at bay.

Buri knelt down by Kadi's feet after a last glare back at the men, inspecting her broken leg. "There, there, and there," she announced after a minute, pointing to three points. "I think that's where it's broken, Alanna. Can you fix it?"

The knight closed her eyes for a minute, the expression on her face growing distant. After a minute she opened them again. "No. Duke Baird will have to." She looked at the men, who waited by the horses, however impatiently. "Now, will you please tell us who in Mithros and the Goddess's name did this?"

The images of words were growing bleary in Kadi's mind as the images of the man came to her. His fingers, cold on her skin; roaming. . . the pain between her legs. . .

"She speaks K'mir."

Kadi started, a fresh bout of shivering gripping her body as Jonathan spoke, and the blinding pain seeping into her bones. The dull ache from before was starting to really flare out, and she was realizing that her new wounds were quite capable of protesting far louder than they had been. . . Alanna continued to hold her tight, while Thayet started to whisper soothingly in K'mir. The voices went on, and Kadi just wished she could die as she shook from head to toe.

"Al ane siel nir cotak?" At first Buri's words made no sense to Kadi, and then they came clear. "Won't you tell us who did this?"

Kadi shivered with fear, and Alanna's arms tightened around her, the pain sinking even deeper than she had thought was possible anymore. Thayet continued to stroke Kadi's hair softly, but Buri stared at her, black eyes kind and gentle, but demanding all the same.

"Ishn ne. . . ne colio ascar di fecarina. . . acanshanti malasnis. . . murcaof smao. . . eritat micaca. . . anmerar fentar becolio shappa coso. . . sal malani!" Kadi wailed, a single tear slipping from her eyes. And even the ache of a single tear seemed to send more violent seizures through her, and that horrible, searing pain.

"'I was tortured,'" Buri began softly, reiterating what Kadi had said in Common, "'beaten, and raped.'" Buri shuddered, running a hand through her short, black hair. "Asacar dian fielco?" she asked, rocking back on her heels. "Do you know the man's name?"

"Ishn heyito nirican," Kadi whispered, the hotness at the corners of her eyes blinding her as much as the fire that coursed through her veins.

"'I do not remember,'" Buri whispered tightly, her face cold.

"Nirakshan mey."

"'His man told me,'" Buri translated through clenched teeth.

"Isicar nial soco."

"'Cannot remember. . .'" Buri's face was red with rage. "Dammit!" she snarled, punching the ground.

Alanna glanced at Thayet, her face white from the terror of it all, and red from rage. Thayet met the knight's gaze evenly, her own face a mixture of red and white as well.

"Niracoshan miracalan?"

Thayet nodded, not waiting for Buri's translation to everyone else. "Let's go back to the palace," she agreed, stroking Kadi's hair with soft fingers. Buri nodded, her face set grimly.

Alanna shifted under Kadi, her eyes drifting towards the depths of the forest, and her expression growing worried. "What's that?" she asked, sniffing.

Kadi shivered harder as the wind whipped her bare limbs again; only her torso was covered by Raoul's tunic. A familiar heat bit at her eyes but she denied the tears their descent, and the white-hot pain that was her arm and leg grew more agonizing with every second, while an acrid smell lit the forest, that made her curl into Alanna's grip, shaking more violently than before, and trying not to move for fear of the pain it would invoke.

"Fire," Buri muttered, making a face. "Someone's been burned nearby. Can you smell it guys? Charred flesh," she went on, not waiting for an answer. A sharp scream cut the air as she finished speaking.

Kadi sat bolt upright, barely feeling the pain that shot like a lance through her body. The scream was a horse's. It cut right into her very brain, digging into every part of her being.

"What is it?" Thayet asked calmly. But Kadi seemed stuck in K'mir; she wouldn't speak Common, or acknowledge it, so Thayet tried again. "Siel elrioc neifoon?"

"Carvalo irsan mukliof," Kadi whispered, her lips hanging slightly apart when she finished speaking. Her whole expression was stunned, and her body jerked again. Alanna held her tight as she began to scream, her body shaking with each scream, until silent sobs wracked her. The horse's pain was her own, and it felt like a knife was trying to gut her.

"Let's get her back to the palace," Alanna grunted, holding Kadi down with more difficulty than she would have expected. "Then I have a deal to settle with someone." Her eyes were like stones, unmoving and cold, as she gathered Kadi effortlessly into her arms, even though the girl was taller than she.

"Wait," Jonathan reached out, and grabbed Alanna's arm. She started; when had he gotten so close? "She can ride with me. Aranho's stronger than Chocolate anyway."

The shriek cut into Kadi's head again, and her body spasmed in response to the horse's wild screams. She cried out as the horse did, feeling its pain, and her own. It felt as if a blunt-edged sword cut into her middle, carving her slowly to pieces as she died in her own pain. Then, as abruptly as they had started, the horse's screams stopped, and she opened her eyes.

Pain. . . fire on her skin. . . the man's cold touch. . . the fire that still smoldered between her legs. . . the sore spots all over her body. . .

Kadi whimpered, trembling in Alanna's arms. Jonathan stared at her, his sapphire eyes slightly glazed.

"Vivak dirancan!"

Her plea went ignored to those who spoke Common, and Thayet and Buri kept it to themselves. Jonathan continued to stare, his expression hurt.

"Ishn shivala irlio curasca manturien," Jonathan whispered softly. "I will not hurt you."

"Marlak tivvackantria!" Kadi whimpered, clinging to Alanna harder as she shook. "So they all say."

"I promise," Jonathan whispered in K'mir, holding his hand out to her. "Take my hand; I promise I will protect you."

"Don't make promises," Kadi spat in K'mir, the bruises on her stomach pounding in her skull as she shook, breathing raggedly, "that you can't keep."

Jonathan's eyes flashed for a moment, then settled back to their usual calm. "What makes you think it's a promise I cannot keep?" His voice was icy as his tongue curled around the K'mir language as if he had been raised speaking it.

"Because," she whispered, the shaking in her body subsiding some. Abruptly, she spoke her words in Marenese instead of K'mir. "I have yet to meet someone who can keep the promises they make, unless they are small."

"I will keep you safe," Jonathan went on, switching tongues as easily as she did. "I am King. I have the King's Own at my command. And I have Alanna, Thayet, and Buri."

"You think it matters?" Kadi cried out, the tremors gone as she cried out her feelings. "Alanna did not keep her promise. She said she would protect me! Do you see what happened?"

"Yet you trust her," Jonathan whispered quietly.

Jonathan's lips. . . soft. . . pushing gently against hers. . .

Kadi whimpered, the images of Jonathan's innocent kiss from before bringing forth the images of pain and fear the man had imprinted on her. Her bruises were tender, and the ones he had inflicted pulsed with her heartbeat.

"Alanna, let me take her," Jonathan said softly, switching back to Common again.

Alanna glared. "Why should I?" she demanded icily.

Jonathan closed his eyes. "Do you want me to order you?" he snarled, his eyes open and flashing. He met her glare evenly. "I could. But I don't think you really want me to."

"Make me," Alanna snapped right back at him, eyes narrowed.

"Alright," Jonathan returned reasonably.

With a snarl from deep in her throat, Alanna handed Kadi stiffly over to Jonathan. The girl tensed in his arms, and he took his coat off, and wrapped it around her shoulders, and rubbed her cheek, which was red from the cold. Carefully, he pushed her into Aranho's saddle, and she bit her lip against the pain that rushed through her at the jarring motion. Then he mounted up behind her, his arms around her waist.

Warm. . . drowsy. . . sleep. . .

"I'm after them, then," Alanna announced stiffly. "Mind if I take the others?"

Jonathan shook his head, eyes flat.

"Alright, Gary, Raoul, Buri, Thayet, you're with me. Jon--if you let anything happen to her. . ." She let her threat hang as she and the others mounted and galloped into the depths of the Royal Forest.

The tightness stretched across Kadi's face as she sat up straight, even though the pain dug into her as she did so. But she was determined not to lean against Jonathan. Aranho moved up to a gentle canter, however, and the rocking motion pushed her back against the king. His arm tightened protectively around her waist, warmth flooding from him to her.

Then the tears came. Kadi could not fight them off, and they flowed fast and hard, rocking her body with them. Reluctantly, she leaned back into Jonathan's grip, crying steadily as he held her tight, and Aranho gently carried them back to the palace.

WEE! I've done it. It took me sooo long to come up with that chapter, and I'm so sorry. Also, I dedicate this chapter to my beta for this story, who helped me come up with it! So, yay Niko!