Oh, I'm so excited for the release of this chapter and the next one, which will be out very soon. As I've said before, I really think they will be among my favorites for this story and I hope you will all find them as enjoyable to read as I did to write. Maybe it's not 'drinks and orgies' enjoyable, but still!
Thank you once again for the reviews. I love reading your opinions, speculations, and comments!
Lyra felt a tightness in her lungs that she couldn't explain and her entire body felt heavy. Her blood seemed to have been replaced by ice water and she could feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck prickling. When she opened her eyes, she had to blink a few times to make sure they were actually open. She couldn't see a thing, but she felt warm winds blowing against her bare flesh, carrying with it a gritty substance she assumed to be sand. The princess then raised her arm, swiping her hand in front of her face several times, hoping her vision was fooling her into thinking it was darker than it actually was and she wasn't blind. Unfortunately, the action did little to solve the mystery.
"He… Hello? Where…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the question. Her voice bounced off unseen walls, echoing back at her a dozen times before falling silent. She cringed, trying to move her legs to propel herself forward, but she couldn't be sure she was actually moving. Still, she urged herself onward, running as fast as she was able and, when that didn't seem to get her anywhere, she cried out her frustration. Her piercing scream seemed to bounce off a thousand surfaces, deafening her for a time. "We welcome you into our dark embrace," came a voice that had no echo, "You have earned your place here among the children. We have waited so patiently for you. A sinful creature with a twisted, blackened soul. Just like the children."
Lyra held her hands out in front of her, trying to feel for the unseen person speaking those cryptic words, but there was nothing but the warm, sandy wind. "Who's there? Where am I? What's going on?" She spoke softly so that her voice would not carry too far. "We are here, you are here. We are together," it snickered. The princess, feeling something brush past her body, began to flail wildly. She was blind and had no weapons, no gauntlets, no dog or friend. She had never felt so helpless in all her life. "Let me out," she demanded, "I want out!" The thing laughed at her, angering her further. But just as she was about to shout another order, something hideous appeared before her eyes just long enough to make her skin crawl. A face, gaunt and shriveled with sunken eyes that seemed to look into her very soul. "We will come again. You are tainted. The stain will never wash out. The sun will never shine upon you again. Tainted… broken little toy…"
Lyra's eyes snapped open and she realized she had been dreaming, but the nightmarish creature and his foreboding words had not been what woke her. She stared calmly into the face of the rifle-wielding intruder, fingers instinctively searching the edge of the bed where her own weapons should have been. A crooked line broke across the man's darkened features as he grinned at her futile attempt. "Afraid not, love. My associate is tending to your weaponry," Merv smirked, jerking his head towards the opposite side of the small room. Slowly, the princess' eyes traveled in that direction only to land on another recognizable face. One-Eyed Jake cocked Lyra's pistol and aimed it at her head as he secured her sword on his hip next to his own.
They were two of Saker's men; men who were supposed to abide by his word that no one at the camp would harass her in any way. So much for her safe haven. "Now," Merv said, tapping the tip of the rebel princess' nose gently with his rifle, "Kindly ask your friends to gather their belongings and be on their way." Lyra's gaze shifted again, this time falling upon the pair of trembling, wide-eyed men sharing her bed. "Get out," she ordered, recognizing the prostitutes from earlier that night and, despite knowing that they had never actually performed their duty, pointed them towards the dresser, "You'll find your pay there by the door." They rushed to comply, grabbing their clothes and their forty gold pieces before fleeing.
Once the prostitutes were gone, Merv nodded towards Lyra and said, "Okay, now you." He backed off a bit to give her room to obey and watched her throw back the sheets she had somehow gotten beneath while sleeping. Apparently both men were caught off guard by her nudity despite having the foreknowledge that she'd just spent the night with two whores and stared lecherously at her supple, bare skin as she swung her legs off the bed and stood. "Never pegged you for one o' those types, Princess. Takin' on two blokes at once," Jake grinned, licking his lips as his solitary eye traveled up and down her slender form. "Yeah, well," she smirked, pulling on a long nightgown Merv had just rummaged from the dresser for her, "The lady harlots were all claimed for the night or else you could have been even more impressed." The mercenaries exchanged a perverted grin before Merv gestured towards the door. "Alright. We're gonna take a little trip. Your chariot awaits, your highness."
Lyra strolled out the open door casually with the filthy pair ushering her with their guns from behind. She shivered when the early morning air hit her, cutting straight through the thin fabric of her nightgown, but she supposed it could have been worse if they hadn't bothered to let her put on something before the abduction. Other than the chill she was now suffering from, she showed little other concern for her situation as she paused on the small porch to survey the quiet camp. A few of last night's partiers were still sleeping soundly where they had dropped while others seemed to have woken at some point and stumbled to their beds. Saker, apparently, was one of the later. He wasn't at the table where she had left him. For a moment she wondered if he was behind this whole thing but decided against it. He had given his word and though it was still possible a man like him would go back on it, she knew he wasn't foolish enough to think he could turn her in for a reward, which is what she believed Merv and Jake had planned.
The sun had yet to make an appearance, but Lyra knew by the sinking moon that it was very close to dawn. She was momentarily reminded of her dream, shuttering again at the thought. "The sun will never shine upon you again." What a nightmare that had been. Trapped in darkness and being taunted by some unseen foe. She hoped to never be in a situation like that again, dream or not. So, she pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on her current situation instead. Since the sun had yet to rise, no one who had had any fun at the party last night was likely to wake up and offer any assistance.
With a yawn, Lyra realized she had gotten no more than three hours of sleep before Merv and One-Eyed Jake showed up and though her head was still swimming in a few gallons of various alcohols, being kidnapped was a rather sobering ordeal. Walking was still a bit of a chore, but with gun barrels constantly prodding her, driving her towards a waiting carriage, she managed well enough. Every so often she would spare a look to the left or right, almost expecting to see her faithful dog charging towards her captors, but Boy was still at large and she wondered where he had buggered off to for so long. It wasn't like him to stray too far. The one time the princess needed him to be his vicious little self and couldn't handle things herself, he was nowhere to be found.
"I suppose you're wonderin' about that mangy mutt, eh?" Merv nearly whispered the words as they neared the horse drawn buggy, fearful of being heard by his fellow mercenaries. His attempt to keep things quiet and inconspicuous confirmed her hunch that these two morons were acting of their own volition. "Well, you ain't gotta worry. Greedy little bastard woofed down a whole loaf of One-Eye's famous drowsy bread. He'll be sleepin' like a babe 'til well after daybreak," the man snickered, climbing onto the front seat and taking up the reins. Lyra frowned and said, "I don't think Saker will approve of his men going against his orders, you know." "He ain't gonna find out," Jake said, shoving her into the carriage and jumping in beside her, "He's not gonna be wakin' up anytime soon either. We drugged his last mug of beer."
Lyra simply shook her head and laughed as the horse pulled the carriage down the worn track towards the gates of the camp. "I'm almost impressed, boys. You managed to formulate at least a half-baked plan," she said, flinching when One-Eyed Jake poked her ribs with her own pistol to shut her up, "But I wonder. What do you suppose will go through Saker's mind when he wakes up and sees Boy running around without me? Don't you think he might get suspicious and ask around? I bet those prostitutes will be more than happy to tell him how I was whisked away by two such handsome devils. And that's just if they haven't already made it to his cabin and started on waking the lazy sod." Merv took his eyes off the path ahead to look at his friend in shock. Jake pointed an accusing finger at him and asked, "Why'd you let those two blokes go!" "Why'd you put the dog in that cage! Saker's gonna know somethin' fishy happened and WE were supposed to be on guard duty," the rifleman panicked.
The princess laughed again as her captors exchanged blame and insults, but they soon ceased the argument when they realized how much amusement she was getting out of it. "She's just messin' with us, One-Eye. It's a good plan. She's just tryin' to turn us against each other." "Yeah, you're right," Jake said, turning his attention back to the woman as they passed through the gates, "Besides, after we get our pay, we won't have to come back to this dump anyway. Saker won't be able to touch us." Lyra shook her head and sighed. She looked up at the sky, wondering how much more aggravation she was going to have to suffer this week. "If whoever hired you doesn't kill you the moment you hand me over, I will," she promised, crossing her arms and legs haughtily. "He'll pay. He'll pay well for you. We have his word. And you're in no position to be making threats like that, love," Merv smirked.
What seemed like hours ticked away as the carriage traveled along the bumpy road, but the sun had only just begun to peek over the horizon. Lyra had dozed off a few times only to be jarred awake by the sharp jab of a pistol to her ribs. She really did overdo the drinking portion of that night's festivities, which was why these two otherwise incompetent fools had managed to sneak up on her the way they had. The princess promised herself that she'd never make the same mistake again, just as she had pledged a dozen times before while suffering from a hangover. Sighing as she was poked again, she decided to survey the slowly brightening landscape with weary eyes to see if she could determine their location or perhaps even their destination.
Lyra's surroundings were, in fact, quite familiar. It was Millfields. She suddenly realized with great dread the name of the man who had sent Merv and Jake to abduct her. "Oh, you're definitely going to be shot," she said, despite her own reservations about reaching that large manor in the distance. The man sitting next to her scowled and pressed the pistol to her temple. "Not before you if you keep that up. I've had about enough of your threats." The princess merely sneered at the gun, boldly turning to stare down the barrel. "How do you know? Are you trying to say that you can actually count, you scum-sucking charlatan?" Growling, Jake pushed the gun against her cheek roughly, prepared to pull the trigger then and there until a hand reached back and gently lowered the barrel. "Easy, One-Eye. We're almost there and we'll be rid of the sassy tart," Merv chuckled.
Frowning, the mercenary settled for glaring at his prisoner the rest of the way, realizing that they would not be paid for a corpse. Still, as they pulled up in front of the mansion, he thought it would be oh so satisfying to put a bullet through her pretty face. "Okay, move it," Merv said, jerking his head towards the manor's double doors as he jumped off the carriage and took out his rifle. Lyra did as told with a groan, but not before receiving yet another jab to her ribs from Jake. Her jaw clenched angrily. She was becoming quite agitated by the fact that her own gun was being used to poke and prod her, but she said nothing. The opportunity for her to repay the man for his kindness would likely be very soon. For now, though, the princess was ushered towards the door, her gut twisting into knots as she was forced to enter this particular abode for the second time.
Upon entering, all three were greeted by an aged butler Lyra supposed had taken Barry Hatch's place following his unfortunate mauling at the masquerade. "Master Reaver has been eagerly awaiting your arrival," he said, bowing his head, "Please, would you all follow me into the parlor?" The butler then shuffled off to the left of the entrance with Merv, One-Eyed Jake, and their captive in tow. "What's a parlor?" The woman rolled her eyes at Jake's whispered question and bit back an insult. Instead of answering, she ignored him completely so that she could remain calm and calculate the likelihood of actually getting out of this mansion alive a second time. The odds weren't good, but she had to admit, there was no one she'd rather go down fighting against for her life than Reaver.
Lyra assumed the aristocrat had hired the mercenaries to deliver her to him alive only so that he could then betray them and sell her off to Logan himself. Since she had tried, ever since that first meeting with him, to think the way he did, she felt pretty confident in her conclusion. Obviously, he had had plenty of time since the masquerade to mull over the type of reward the king would offer for his traitorous sister's return to the castle and he was looking to collect. Well, she wasn't going to make it easy for him no matter how much she admired him. There was no way the princess would allow herself to be taken back to Logan. She would die first. Weapons or no, she would fight back, however short a fight it turned out to be.
Lyra, Lyra, Lyra. What sort of death wish do you have, girl? Well, looks like our princess may finally have some one on one time with her idol after five long years, but it's highly unlikely that things will play out quite the same way they did back then.
Ah yes, and as for the first part of this chapter, I decided to give Lyra a little premonition. She doesn't know that's what it is, but I thought it fitting. I have a feeling the Crawler might take special interest in someone like her and my little gears are turning for the future scenes in Aurora.
But for now, onward! What does Reaver want? How will Lyra react to whatever it is? Will One-Eyed Jake get what his cycloptic ass has coming? Will he ever figure out what a parlor is? :P All will be answered in chapter 13!