Sorry the update took so long. I've been so busy with family and then my 4-H stuff (and I sort of got sucked in to this one television show called Smallville). But I'm back now. Anyway, this chapter is probably the most mature chapter yet. Let me know what you think!
Whoosh. Thunk. Whoosh. Thunk. Reyna throws dagger after dagger into the dartboard from her praetor's chair until it makes a mediocre J. She sits back and scratches the automations behind their ears.
One of them lets out a low, depressed groan.
"I miss him, too." She says to the greyhound as she pats its head.
The door to the principia opens and Reyna grabs the rest of the knives beside her and thrusts them at the dartboard so that the J doesn't look like a J any longer. She doesn't want anyone thinking that she misses Jason although she does. Terribly.
To her surprise it's Octavian who enters. He shoves both doors aside and strides in as if he's a king.
"I'm glad you're here Octavian. I was looking for someone to use as target practice." Reyna says with an edge to her voice as she stands and walks around the table that stands in the center of the room.
Octavian tsks in disapproval, "Now what would the Senate say if they heard you say that?"
"They won't."
"We'll see."
His wild, manic eyes seem to pierce through hers. As if he's searching through her soul. A cold shiver washes through her.
"What is it you want?" She demands stiffly.
He shrugs and stuffs his skinny hands in his oversized pockets. Octavian walks around her in a circle, as a vulture circles dying prey. He's making her very uncomfortable.
"Honestly," Octavian says, stopping behind her and dropping his voice to a murmur. "I want to find out what makes you tick. To find your fatal flaw. Your greatest weakness. The one that will cause you to fall..."
He grabs the back of her neck with his bony fingertips. Reyna's eyes widen in fear. Sweat beads form on her hairline. Maybe if she turns around quick enough she'll be able to puke all over his smug little face. Because she feels as if she's gong to vomit any second.
Leaning in close to her ear, Octavian's hot breath makes her shudder away from him,"and I to rise."
She doesn't show any sign of emotion on her face nor will she let it show in her voice. Reyna's not going to give Octavian the satisfaction of seeing the fear that is fluttering in her stomach.
"Well, it's not hard to tell your fatal flaw now is it? Your hunger for power drives you to the verge of insanity. It's what makes you unstable. And all those death threats and blackmailing you do to everyone hides what you really are inside," Reyna turns around so that they're nose to nose. He releases her neck. "An insecure, scared little futui usque catellus."
Octavian scowls darkly. She glances down and sees his hand placed on his ceromonial knife. The automations, who have been sitting quietly, stand and wait patiently with their ears flattened against their heads, as if ready to attack at any given moment.
He walks in front of her and when she turns to face him, he grabs her wrists with his hands. She backs away from him and feels the small of her back touch the table. Octavian pins her wrists against the edge of the wood. His grip is like iron and hurts as they're pressed against the side of the table. She begins to lose feeling in her fingertips.
"I wouldn't say such things if I were you, praetor." He spits. His breath reeks in her face.
He leans closer to her until she can almost feel the cold of his lips against her neck. It causes her to shudder and her heart to stop. Not in a good way.
Reyna knows that if she tells him to stop that he will. But he will also know that he's succeeded in unhinging her. That he has found one of her greatest fears: Being powerless. And fears, as everyone knows, are the first step to uncovering flaws. If he uncovers her fatal flaw, then that would give him the key to becoming praetor. If he became praetor, well, she imagines that he would run this camp much like Saturn would have run the world.
"What's wrong? Are you... Uncomfortable?" He teases.
Yes. She is very uncomfortable. Every single molecule of her being is in self defense mode. She wants so badly to fight back but she doesn't because he will make up some sort of lie and get her into serious trouble.
All she can really think of is Jason. How, if Jason were here she would be safe. That this would not be happening to her if he were here. She has never felt a need for anyone but her sister. But suddenly, Reyna feels as if she needs Jason by her side this very instant. To protect her. She doesn't know what Octavian will do next.
Reyna gets the feeling that she's about to cry. When your throat closes up and your eyes smart and your chest squeezes. Her heart pounds fast in her chest and blood pumps in her ears. She can almost smell Blackbeard's breath. Can almost feel the rocking of the ship beneath her. These thoughts jolt through her and suddenly she's twelve years old again and back in Blackbeard's clutches.
Back on the ship that smells of decay and men who haven't washed in over two hundred years. Back against the railing of the deck where his crew teased her. The dull and rusted sword she had found underneath some old sacks and barrels felt slippery in her hands. They made lewd gestures and crude remarks. Asking her that if she thinks she's so brave, then why doesn't she walk the plank. The weapon then slipped from her hands and clattered to the deck.
She had felt powerless. The moment of dauntlessness she had been given to wield that sword had been leached from her. Then there was only the realization that she couldn't do it. She couldn't have done it even if she wanted to. She couldn't take on the seven men laughing at her. Because they would have killed her before she could have killed them.
This is how Reyna feels now. Extremely and utterly hopeless. Tears trickle down her face. Octavian presses his lips to her neck. She can feel him smile. Reyna thinks about what's best for the camp and this is the one thing that causes her to stay absolutely still and not fight back as her instincts tell her. The fact that she has to protect this camp. It is her job. She isn't supposed to give in and tell him her fatal flaw out of fear. Reyna will show him how strong she really is. She'll prove him wrong. That he cannot shake her.
Her muscles are ice. Her throat and eyes are on fire from trying to hold back her sobs and tears. She wants to scream so badly. A low, deep growl registers from the greyhounds behind her.
Octavian's slimy tongue presses against her skin. He's just toying with her now. Seeing how long it takes for her to break. To crack under the pressure. Under her emotions. But she won't. She will not show weakness. Because it's when you're at your weakest when you must be your strongest. Her nails dig into the wood, or she thinks they do. She has lost feeling in not only her hands and wrists but her whole body.
Reyna almost throws up. She thinks of the times Jason sat with her when she was sick, and when she sat with him. The memory is just mockery to her now.
How she wishes Jason would barge through the doors right now, see the tears in her eyes, and then beat Octavian within an inch of his life and make him swear on the River Styx not to touch her again. She wants to run to him and have his golden tan arms wrap her in a strong embrace. She wants to bury her head in his shirt and inhale his scent and thank him again and again for saving her. Reyna wants to look into those bright blue eyes just to be reassured that everything is alright.
The most pathetic thing is, she half expects him to walk through that door.
Aurum and Argentum's snarls seem to reverberate off the walls. She can hear their feet clicking against the marble. Their snarls grow more ominous and threatening. Reyna has never heard them like this before. If she hadn't known they were trying to protect her, she would have been scared out of her wits and ran out the door by now.
They stand in front of her, as they wait for her command. Their blood red eyes seem to be fixed on Octavian. Razor sharp needlelike teeth bared menacingly. She mouths a command to them in Latin. Sick 'em. They, of course, go straight for his butt.
Reyna hears a rip and Octavian pulls away from her and releases her wrists, which have lost all feeling in them. She lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Her head pounds and she feels weak from the lack of oygen.
He runs around in a circle, trying to shake the dogs off, but Argentum snarls and bites his ankle, drawing blood. Octavian yelps and almost trips as he runs out the door. He gives her one last, quick look that says, This isn't over. Then he dashes away with the dogs nipping at his heels.
Reyna slides to the floor and rubs the feeling back into her hands. She knows that she should be fine, but she has the oddest feeling. Like she's still cold and numb all over but still burning with anger inside.
The greyhounds return a few minutes later, and she's sure that they chased him all the way to his cohort. Reyna smiles although she's trembling like crazy. She can barely stroke their heads without her hands shaking.
Reyna hugs them as they nuzzle into her and try to make her feel safe again. Because they're her protectors, and that's their job. They only halfway succeeded in making her feel completely safe. Because there is still Octavian's threat looming over her head. What scared her the most, though, was how he knew that coming on to her like that would scare her more than any death threat. Was it because he knew about her past? Reyna wouldn't be surprised if he did.
She's so happy for the automations being by her side. They were good dogs, and they did a great job at protecting her and making her feel safe, which she praises them for.
Except for the fact that Jason would have done better.