Chapter 16

She had been fighting, but getting nowhere with her resistance. The underwater sand refused to hold her feet and rather than keep steady, she was dragged through the soft material. The more she fought, the more Triton laughed.

"You fight the one thing that will bring ever lasting peace," he laughed. "You truly are your father's daughter, aren't you, my little Amazon…" He had finally dragged her close enough that he could reach out and grab her with his other arm, forcing her body to his. He pressed his mouth to hers, possessing her and caressing her body, his hand sliding down from her lower back to her backside, roughly gripping it.

Wedging her hands up in between their bodies, she managed to force herself back, tumbling into the surf and losing the trident as she went. Diana's eyes widened as she dove for the weapon, Triton getting to it first with a triumphant laugh. There was no hesitation in his movements; first he brought the round, curved edge of the triton across, cracking Diana in the jaw. Her body arched backwards, swinging so she was no longer on her hands and knees, but rather on her backside. Her wide eyes were stunned, and she didn't even have a moment to react to the first attack when he aimed the triton directly at her and fired at the unarmed, ill equipped Amazon, knocking her further backwards.

She landed further up the beach, temporarily stunned by the strength of the blast, realizing now Arthur must have been holding back on the occasions that the two fought head to head. Foggy as her head was, she was unprepared when he stalked past her, grapping her hair as he went, dragging the half unconscious woman towards her residence.

Her mind was cloudy; as much as she tried to focus, to get her hands to grab at his wrists or to get her feet up under her, or even to fly, she couldn't. Even her voice seemed to leave her as she was dragged across the sand. She knew that while Triton was strong, and the trident was a powerful weapon, that she should not have been so subdued, there must be powerful magic afoot for her to be so... submissive.

"You have some powerful enemies, beautiful," he said, dragging her up the stairs of her temple like residence. "What a beautiful palace we have, my darling," he cooed, pulling her up to her feet, putting his free arm around his unwilling lover's waist, pulling her tight to him without option of escape. "But I would have thought you a better house keeper, why it looks like your little lover and you have already explored the territory that I was promised would be pure..." The rage in his voice vibrated through her as he reefed the lasso from her waist and bound her wrists, tossing her to the dishevelled bed.

She barely had time to look around, to see her chamber so very unlike the way it had been left. Her eyes were wide; what in the name of Hera had Arthur done here, and with whom?

Her answer came as she landed on the bed, the bed her and Arthur should have shared, where he should have been the one to first embrace her as a man embraces a woman, where she smelt the perfume of the sorceress Circe, the one she had first thought of when she found Triton raised from the depths of Lord Hades' realm.

She was stunned as what had transpired had set in on her. She was innocent, or as Triton had put it "pure," still. She knew Arthur was no virgin; he hadn't been when they first met. Mera was his lover, and his wife; she knew they had made love on several occasions, and while Diana was jealous of the intimacy, she had never considered it a betrayal, but Circe...

She didn't have time to focus on her hurt; Triton was on top of her and all too willing to take advantage of her distractions, tearing at her gown. The trident was left at her side, abandoned as Triton's hands found better ways to busy themselves, disrobing the prone queen trapped under his weight.

The more she struggled to push him away, the more he laughed, bringing his hand down across her face. A trickle of blood cracked her lip, her head turning to the side. "That witch said you'd be mine and I intend to claim my prize," he said, lust deep in his voice as she spotted the abandoned trident.

She stopped fighting, her mind finding some clarity and clinging to it as best she could. Slowly she let her hand move, closer, inching closer and closer to the handle of the weapon. It had reverted to its shorter version, with no true hand to hold it. Even Triton's short grip on the weapon had tarnished the once shining gold handle.

His hands split her knees, pulling and tearing her gown up from her ankles, splitting it up to her thighs, exposing her legs and licking his lips. His hands were rough as they ran up and down her thighs, massaging her muscles roughly.

Diana, for her part, felt entirely immobilized; unable to will her limbs to obey her mental commands. She could only half focus on the paranoia and the terror of what was about to happen, that she should suffer the same fate her mother had, at the hands of a God no less, but of much lower importance and of little use than her mother's attacker. Her stomach turned when her mind rested on the relationship between her mother, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, and Ares, the God of War and Chaos. What had started out as an entirely non-consensual event begot two children for the queen, a son to act as heir to his father, and a daughter to be the heir to the Amazon throne.

It was different, though, a little voice in the back of her head challenged. Hippolyta loved Ares, but she was bound by the Amazon code to deny the God of War to keep favour with his sisters, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis and Hestia. This was nowhere near like what had transpired, she told herself over and over, pushing the foggy thoughts away and wishing her hand would move.

The trident was right there, she could see it when she opened her eyes. She need only to grab it. If only her body would respond!

"Oh my," he grinned, running a hand up the smoothness of her thigh, thumb pressing into the muscle. "You certainly do look delicious..."

A final tug of his other hand ripped the skirt clean to her hip, giving him full view and unimpeded access to her most intimate of places. A hot pink tongue snaked out from his thin lips, licking them with a lusty desire that made Diana want to scream, but she found no voice in her throat. Something was wrong here.

He must have finally noticed the painful expression on her face, fear wrought with confusion. "Oh, my pretty little queen," he whispered to her, almost tenderly, bringing his hand to her cheek. "Hush now," he pressed his fishy lips to hers, claiming her mouth with a slithering tongue forcing its way past her lips and teeth.

"Don't be afraid..." he whispered as he broke the kiss, pressing a tender kiss to her ear. "I am not Arthur; I am the true champion of the oceans. I will not hurt you as he did. I will never ask you to reign at my side but keep you at an arm's reach from my heart. Diana, I love you."

His words, while some might find them consolatory, Diana simply found them chilling. He spoke of love, but expressed himself in acts of dominance and possession of her body.

"Your room, it was Arthur and Circe who did this," he gestured to the torn bed sheets beneath her, to the air, where the scent of sex still hung heavily in the humid night. "I love you," he said once again, but the words sounded more like threats than confessions of adoration. "I will make you love me," he finally admitted.

While he continued to talk, Diana had worked on getting her body to comply to her desire for movement, finally inching her hand almost close enough to grab the trident.

He pulled back, readying himself for his conquest when he stopped, noticing the shimmer in the blue eyes before him. "You are ready then, my dearest," he cooed to the woman underneath him, kneeling up on the edge of the bed, spreading her legs wider and readying himself for penetration.