Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters from the anime. I own the plot and the Tide Whisperer.
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Chapter Sixteen – Sentence
Atemu raced through the winding pathways within the labyrinth as he made his way toward the escape hatch out in the forest. He retraced his steps, found where Seto and Atemu had left the horses tied to a thin, deeply bowed sycamore tree. He untied them, put Yugi up on the gelding and Atemu mounted the mare. Yugi goaded the gelding into a steady gallop with Atemu trailing behind to keep an eye out for any enemies who might be following.
After they were certain nobody was after them, Atemu called a halt and he turned his mount to face the ever-lightening castle in the distance.
He could hear his heart pumping in his ears, could feel his palms going damp as he tightened his grip on the reins. He wanted to forget what he had heard back in the tunnels. To find out that he had misunderstood what had gone on between Seto, the guards, and Louis. He kept waiting to see Seto's silhouette come into view, even though Atemu knew better. His senses were sharper than any other, and he felt that Seto was in danger.
If anything happens to him…it'll be my fault.
Atemu growled at that thought, berating himself. He finally turned away from the castle and continued on with the gelding cantering alongside Atemu's mare, heading in the direction of their father's cottage.
"No matter what happens, get Yugi out safely, cabin boy."
Atemu didn't like how Seto had pulled rank on him, but he realized that Atemu could do nothing with Yugi around to worry about. He'd take Yugi home and he'd go back to the Whisperer to get help, and then they'd come back for Seto.
Hang in there, Seto. You promised!
Seto stood tall and proud as he was led into the spacious interrogation room. He kept his expression arrogant even as the guards bound his wrists to the wooden post in the center of the room that was only as tall as his hip. He grinned roguishly at the burly executioner as the masked man came up behind him with a coiled, nine headed leather whip in hand.
Louis sat high up on a raised dais, seated on a luxurious throne made from the finest maple wood, adorned with royal violet cushion, a coated with a double layer of lacquer to give it a remarkable shine beneath the light of the various candelabras in the room. Louis, himself, looked very much like a plum holiday boar, decked out in gold and burgundy robes, his crown seated mockingly atop his head, and a pathetically smug grin split his face.
If Louis honestly thought that he could make Seto flinch in envy as Louis flaunted his new status as King of Spain to the man who originally should have held that title, then he was in for one major disappointment.
"Seto Leandro," Louis began, "I have the power to have you executed as well as the power to set you free. After all, I am a reasonable man, and I know how to negotiate a fair trade, if you will. However, this bargain revolves around that young man you stole from me a little over a month ago, Yamir Rodriguez."
Seto cocked an eyebrow, "I can't give you what I don't have, Louis. Yamir Rodriguez is dead."
"No, Leandro, he's not. I know for a fact that he is alive and well. The miniature runt that stayed here for the whole of last week, his brother was seen in a tavern on the Pirate Haven seaport of Sale` in Africa. With you."
"The kid? You've got the wrong guy. That's my cabin boy, Atemu Santiago. So, I'll say it again, I can't give you what I don't have."
Louis gestured imperiously, and the executioner lay ten strikes across Seto's back. Seto ground his teeth hard enough to chip a tooth, but he refused to give this bastard the satisfaction of seeing him acknowledge his pain verbally.
"Let's try that again, shall we?" Louis commented silkily. "All you have to do is tell me where Yamir is and I will let you go." You can sail off in your puny ship and I won't breathe a word of this to anyone."
"Read my lips, Louis." Seto growled, "Yamir is dead."
"I grow tired of this cat and mouse game you insist on playing with me, Leandro." Louis' blaze tone slowly turned into frustration.
Five more lashes, and Louis rose from his throne, "Tell me where he is."
"You want to know where he is? He's floundering at the bottom of the ocean." Seto snapped, and a malicious smile pulled at his lips, "But I can tell you what you missed out on. Yamir was a delicious, feisty creature. He fought me tooth and nail, shouting at the top of his lungs before he started screaming. God, he was so tight and hot, and I devoured him. Do you know how exhilarating it was to listen as his screams turned to begging? By the time I was done with him, I couldn't get the kid off of me. I took him onto my ship and had my fill of him all night long, and then I slit his throat and cast him overboard. See, he was fun while he lasted, but he was a bit too clingy for my tastes. Sorry to have made you go without, but you see, I was man enough to take what you never could!"
Louis' face drew together like thunderclouds as he snapped, "Whip him until there's no more skin on his back!"
The executioner delivered fifty-five more lashes before his arm got thrown out at the ferocity of the strokes.
Louis sneered at Seto's crumpled form as he slumped against the post, "I will see your head roll, Leandro! Mark my words, you'll not see the light of another day!" He screamed. "Get this trash out of my sight."
Two of the royal guards dragged Seto out of the interrogation room and to the dungeons. They locked him up in the same cell they had just broke Yugi out of. The bound him with shackles around his ankles, and fastened the pirate's arms above his head and they left him there in that position.
Seto growled as the cold, coarse rock ground into his ravaged back, but that pain was nothing compared to the shame brought on by the horrid image he had painted of Yamir's "death".