A Tale of Revenge

Thank you guys for all the wonderful emails and comments. I'm so glad you are still with this story. Be warned, this chapter is dark.

*****

Morning came and Evo ascended the stairs to see if Orlith had managed to extract the information he needed. His fingers twitched as he grew closer to the room, he brushed them over his robes, sensing his necklace there. He could feel her magic in his skin as well, as was his talent—it was practically pouring off of her. He was salivating to get his claws into it, to wield it as if it were his own. He knew he had only a few hours left before the king sent for his wayward cousin.

Evo was never one to underestimate his abilities and though there were setbacks with this newest acquisition he felt sure that if he knew how she had obtained her magic—for surely this power could not have been inborn—then he would be able to divest her of it. Anything acquired could be removed, could it not? He mused to himself as he paused, winded from the extra flight of stairs to the tower's topmost room.

The sounds of grunting came from the wooden door just out of sight around the bend of the stairs. Evo stood straighter, each one was followed by a sharp snapping sound. His eyebrows drew together. If Orlith was whipping the girl then he might have failed. The sorcerer threw himself the rest of the way up the stairs and through the door.

Before him Orlith stood over the girl's body, grunting as he swung the multi stranded whip at her prone form. For her part, she didn't twitch as he brought his exhausted blows down on her tattered skin. From where he stood, Evo could not even tell if she was still breathing as she lay in a gathering pool of blood. Her entire body was covered in welts and cuts from the northerner's beating. Evo had seen plenty of public floggings and none of them had looked like this girl.

He shrieked at Orlith to stop, but found the man had gone completely mad and refused to respond to him. He ran to him and snatched the flogger from his hand, a feat easier than it should have been. The northerner looked exhausted, sweat dripping from his face, cheeks puffed from over exertion, his wild blue eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion.

"Gods man, how long have you been beating her?" Evo said, turning back to the mangled body on the floor. "Is she even still breathing?" He did not want to touch the disgusting mess that lay at his feet.

"Oh, she wouldn't dare stop breathing yet," Orlith spat out, rage evident in his voice. Evo had never seen this man so out of control and looked at him, shock in his face. Orlith seemed taken aback by the other man's silence. He stepped back, smoothing his hair and straightening his clothing, slowly pulling himself back together.

"I can only assume she didn't tell you anything then," Evo said, disappointed.

"No, the little cunt is a harder nut to crack then I had initially thought," the northerner's voice was dull but back to a more familiar cadence. Evo grumbled as he took in the pitiful sight before him. "Looks like we are both out of time."

Evo contemplated this sad fact a bit longer. "Perhaps we can still convince her to speak. Bring her down in an hour. We will try one last time." Yes, he would prepare everyone and make a final attempt. He looked back down at her. "I suppose we will be needing Marek as well."

He required no response from the disheveled man beside him. Part of him was secretly pleased the man had failed. He'd make sure to store this up for later, the next time the king took his favorite man's side.

"What makes you think she will have a change of heart now when she knows death waits once the sun goes down?" Orlith had not forgiven Evo for telling her that her torment was ending. Perhaps he would have been able to break her if she hadn't known she only needed to resist a bit longer.

Evo's lips curved into a sly smile. "New developments my good man. Try to pull yourself together before you come. You don't want to look like you're the one who has been tortured."

With that the sorcerer swept out of the room. Orlith looked at the crumpled body on the floor, watching as the ribs visible under her skin rose and fell. He couldn't let her die now, not when he was still unsatisfied. He lowered himself to the ground against the far wall and tilted his head back against it. An hour of sleep would do him good.

*

Anna was just barely aware of being moved. Pain had swamped her mind and made her connection to reality incredibly tenuous. The jog of her body as the person beneath her moved down the stairs was enough to send her in an out of black oblivion. Her broken ribs screamed as they took most of her weight against his shoulder. Her skin was slippery with blood from the flogging of her back. When she was dumped on the floor she passed out again before the white searing agony brought her back. It was harder and harder to breathe through the hurt, which in turn was making her sick with dizziness. She could feel herself dying, every painful second of it.

A familiar voice sounded in her ear and she felt the hands of the healer on her. She tried to speak, to tell him not to, to leave her alone and let her die already. Her mind could not take any more suffering, even if he erased it from her body. But already she could feel his magic bringing her back. Her surroundings grew clearer, her ability to comprehend her circumstances sharped. She could hear Evo and Orlith talking beyond the crackling of the fire from Evo's workroom. Her breathing became less labored as Marek worked on her ribs. Her throat was still ruined so she couldn't tell him to stop. It was too late anyway, she felt death slip farther and farther away with every passing moment. A great weariness settled inside her as he moved onto some other damaged part of her. It was as if her body had also given up. Despite the healing, it had lost the will to recuperate.

Anna became aware of another hand on her. Marek's were on her torso; she could feel the magic he wielded inside of her. Someone else was holding her hand. With great effort, Anna managed to open her swollen eyes. Her vision swam and blurred, but she could make out two faces hovering above hers—Marek's blond hair and another, more familiar shape, one which should never have been here in this place.

"No, no, no, no," she whispered, her voice growing louder as Marek mended the tissue bruised by Orlith's hands and the jerking of her collar. She closed her eyes, blocking him out, refusing to believe he was there.

"It's okay Anna," Dev's voice sliced through the pounding in her head, mocking her denial. "I'm here." His hand smoothed over her hair as he clasped her hand to his chest. "I tried to find you sooner."

Marek sat back from her with a groan. "I can't do anymore," he said more to himself than to her. He laid some cloth over her but she kept her eyes closed, still refusing to believe what she could feel and hear next to her. His voice grew sharper as he turned towards the two men on the far side of the fire. "You've managed to brutalize her past the point of my healing."

"Good," Orlith said, "I'd like to keep her marked up."

Anna felt Dev loosen his hold on her hand and instinctively she knew that he was going to confront the northerner—not a good idea regardless of the man's state. She tightened her grip on him, pulling his body towards her as she lifted her head to his chest. Dev's arms went around her, holding her against him. Anna began to cry, tears she had thought were long past her. She was devastated that he was here, in the hands of these men. But she could not help feel comforted by the presence of the only person in the world who cared for her. Dev drew her in closer, smoothing her hair and whispering soothing things she barely heard.

Anna tried to pull herself together, not to give into hysterics, but after everything that had been done to her she found she couldn't possibly control herself.

"It's my fault," she choked out. "I wished you here. I wished for you and you came."

"Shut your nonsense Anna, your wishes don't run the world. Sometimes I do make my own choices you silly bint." His voice was light and teasing, something familiar and so welcome. But she could feel his anger in his body as she pressed into him. His hands clutched her as desperately as she held him.

"How? What happened?" she gasped through her tears. She pulled back from him, finding the shirt Marek had draped over her and trying to pull it over her head. Dev helped her when she fumbled. She hissed as the clothing hit her still open wounds. She glanced around the room, finding Serena and another collared man in the corner. The young boy was crouched at their feet, his eyes wide in fear as he looked at her. Evo had been busy; his room was in more disarray than when she'd last been here.

"I joined the king's guard two days after you disappeared. I thought I could get into the palace and find you. I was with some new recruits on watch when he arrived at the palace." Dev jerked his head to the far side of the room. Anna turned and saw the man she had cursed last, Leena's husband. Her heart dropped. "He recognized me and I tried to get out before he raised the alarm but I wasn't fast enough." He cast a dark look over towards Evo. "That man collected me from my cell this morning. I wasn't sure why till now." Anna noticed there were four more guards at the entrance of the room, all of them from the remnants of the troop sent out to her village. The sell-sword she'd cursed sat glum and neglected by a shuttered window. His face was still a mangled mess from when she' beaten him. He would see them punished for what they'd done to him but he would be unable to enjoy it. This offered Anna no comfort.

"Oh gods, Dev. I'm so sorry." Anna looked up at his face for the first time, taking in the bruises around his left eye, and the shackles on his arms. "I made a mistake, I didn't stop him from talking about us. I'm sorry." She began to cry again. Dev gave her another hug.

"Don't apologize to me. I chose to come with you and I still don't regret it. But gods Anna, what has been going on here? It's only been a few days since the night in Blower's Edge." Anna took in his expression and tried not to imagine what she looked like.

"It doesn't matter," she cast a furtive look over at Evo and Orlith, wondering why they were letting them alone so long. She saw Evo busying himself, muttering to himself as he shifted materials on the table in front of him. But Orlith was watching them intensely, a half glazed look on his face. She looked back at Dev, trying to ignore the foreboding the northerner's attentions signaled. She had precious little time left. "The king wants me dead tonight," she whispered to Dev. His arms came around her again and she buried herself in his shoulder.

"Aren't we a pair? I'll be following tomorrow morning." She opened her mouth to ask but he anticipated her. "I killed two men trying to escape. One was the Captain of the Guard's nephew. He has expedited my sentencing." Dev's voice sounded hollow as he spoke. He was afraid, as she was, but he was still intact, and she wasn't.

She pulled back so she could look up at him, his arms still around her. Now, as they both faced death, she felt herself open to him, finally feeling for him as she should have before. Knowing she was still capable of something positive in spite of the cruelty and torture gave her solace; she was still herself. Fleetingly, she mourned the weeks she'd kept herself locked away from him, but her regret faded quickly. For that moment her heart opened and she loved him. It fortified her, however slightly, for what was surely to come.

"Why have you not used your magic?" Dev whispered to her.

"The collar keeps it locked inside me. I can't access it. The others who wear it are under the sorcerer's control but it hasn't worked on me," she murmured back.

"And you cannot break the spell?"

She shook her head tiredly. She had tried more than once in the last few days, but she lacked the energy, and the focus. "It's like ice, shifting and caging all at once. I can't catch more than a glimpse of my magic through it." She looked up at him again, guilt twisting her gut as she disappointed him once more. "I'm too tired Dev; I'm sorry."

Dev gave her a hard look. "Don't be sorry, Anna. You saved me. I only wish I could return the favor."

Evo had turned his attention back to the pair clasped together on the floor. "I'm glad the reunion has gone so well. Now, girl, tell me the seat of your magic and I will spare the boy's life."

Dev never turned to look at the sorcerer, instead he dragged Anna into a hug so that his mouth was next to her ear. "Do not let them use me against you. The Captain of the Guard will never let me leave here alive. This man cannot save me, nor will he."

"Well?" Evo said, impatient with their affection.

Could she do it? Could she tell Evo about Leonid and their bargain? She had sworn to Leonid that she wouldn't and he had trusted her. The thought of betraying him made her heartsick. And yet it might save Dev's life. Shouldn't she try to do all she could?

Anna looked at Evo, then at Orlith and then the guards over Dev's shoulder. There was no guarantee Evo would do what he said. He'd left her with Orlith after he'd bargained with her. He didn't care for others and had no honor. He was lying now, and still she wanted to tell him, part of her desperately wanted to save her friend by any means necessary. But there would be no salvation, not from her, not from her godly owner. He'd warned her to turn back and she had defied him and now she and Dev were condemned by her stubbornness.

"No," Anna said defiantly. She put her arms around Dev's neck. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she whispered over and over, desperate to keep him, and knowing the two men and the room would take him from her.

"It's not your fault, Anna," he whispered back. "I love you, don't forget that. Don't ever think you could have stopped this."

"Dev—" She started to say. She felt someone yank on Dev's chains and jerk his body away from hers.

"Don't forget it, Anna," Dev called as Orlith dragged him away from her.

Anna watched in fear as her torturer dragged her friend from her. Dev put up a fight but Orlith grabbed his arm, digging into the spot he had lavished attention on with Anna several times over the last few days. Anna watched as Dev's body stiffened in pain and she whimpered in sympathy, the memory of it still fresh in her body.

Anna tried to get up but found her body would not respond correctly. She was too weak.. "Stop," she shouted at Orlith, her hand stretching out towards Dev. "Don't!" she screamed as the northerner drew a blade and pressed it to Dev's throat.

"This is your last chance, girl." Evo was speaking again, approaching her around his fire pit. "Tell me now where your power lies and how you acquired it."

Anna's furious eyes turned towards the thin man before her. "You are an abomination and you will be punished for what you have done."

Evo raised an eyebrow, smug as ever. "And are you going to be the one to dole out my punishment, girl? How do you propose to do that when you can barely stand on your own?" He had always loved when he could step on those below him. He placed his hand on her head, as if to pet her. The contact made her stomach turn and she jerked away. A pained grunt from Dev drew her attention back to him.

Orlith drew her gaze upwards till she was looking at her tormentor's face. He stared back, his eyes hard. She could see the hurt behind his posturing. She'd injured him, throwing his efforts back in his face. Now he'd seek revenge, as he'd been unable to hurt her own body enough to be satisfied. It was her fault that Dev would die at this man's hands. Had she given in, he might have spared him.

"Please," she said to him, her voice plaintive enough to make her cringe inwardly at the sound. "I will submit to you. Please let him go." And part of her meant it, even relished the idea of giving up, hopeful for the relief that would come once she stopped fighting. Dev made a furious sound as Orlith grasped his chin, digging his fingers into the flesh at the angle of his jaw, counting on the pain to keep his quarry still rather than controlling his limbs. The northerner smiled at her, pressing the knife into Dev's neck enough to send a trickle of blood down from the blade's edge. The sight twisted her gut and stoked her fear and anger, clouding the seductive voice of surrender.

"You had your chance, Anna." Orlith's voice was seductive and poisonous. "But if you ask nicely I'll take you again before I give you to the king to—," Dev used the man's distraction to leverage himself and he placed a well-aimed elbow into the man's ribs following it with another to his groin.

Had Orlith been at full strength this would have barely caused a delay but as it was it caused the man to double over. Dev immediately launched himself back towards Anna, shoving Evo to the side and placing both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. The guards moved on him but not fast enough.

"Stop letting them distract you." He took her face in his hands, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "Melt the ice, Anna," he murmured, moving his bound hands over her head and around her body.

Anna immediately threw her arms around him and clamped down, closing her eyes and turning her attention inwards. She could not bargain him free, she had to push through Evo's spell. Finally she felt the urgency to ignore her own weaknesses. She could feel the men trying to separate them again but she kept her grip, using the strength she felt in her connection to Dev to fuel her. There it was, the shifting cage that separated her magic from her control. She called out in her mind, trying to excite the power held inside it. She could feel them trying to hurt her enough to loosen her hold but she ignored them. She had to move fast to save him.

She could feel her magic bubbling beneath the surface of Evo's spell, just out of reach. She could sense its desire to be free, the frantic energy that had been contained for too long. Evo was screaming at her. Her arms were wrenched free and Dev was pulled from her. Just a moment more and she would see it. She screamed at the fire, forcing the ice to shift faster, to try and contain what would not be kept locked away. There, a tendril of it, another. She heard a strangled sound of pain from Dev but she didn't dare open her eyes yet. She could feel it working, at least for this moment.

Please!

She screamed inside herself, drawing more wisps of her magic out of its cage. She could feel it filling her again, bringing her back to life. But the spell was slippery, moving around, dragging what she had gathered back into its clutches. Another sound of violence from her friend and Anna redoubled her efforts.

Thread after thread she gathered, pulling them through the spell until she could feel it begin to give way. Someone was shaking her, screaming at her. She ignored them. A hand smacked her cheek; she continued. She was following her magic back into its core, intending on exploding the spell from within when she heard the snap of bone and Dev scream, a sound so familiar to her from her own suffering that she couldn't help but look.

She should not have opened her eyes. Orlith stood over Dev, bloody knife in hand, his eyes locked on her face. Dev was cradling his arm and was bleeding freely from several slashes to his torso. He was on his side, face pale and sweating as he tried to move away from Orlith, his eyes wide and scared. The guards stood nearby, ready to drag him back should he succeed. Anna saw the look in Orlith's eye and watched as he reached for Dev.