-And now I've written this. Go figure. I think this story will be hated by one side for having romance and by the other for having a dog in it. I like it because of the romance. Again, go figure.
With a final, hate-filled scream that clawed at the soul, the execution ended. Inshini, Countess Mardapur, released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and suppressed the shudder that longed to ripple through her limbs. She wanted to take a deep breath, to feel clean again, but the air was foul with the detritus of the execution, so much so that she could feel dust and who knew what else clinging to her skin. Wizards tended to die hard, dark wizards even more so, and Andushkhan had been very, very dark.
The thought drew her mind, inevitably, to Roas and the price he had paid as part of the effort to end Andushkhan. Equally as inevitably, her eyes were drawn to his figure. Who knew what motivated a mad wizard? Why he had not simply killed Roas was something beyond the ken of the sane. But he hadn't. He'd reshaped Roas instead.
'Far kinder to have killed him,' Inshini thought for the hundredth, no, thousandth time since her maimed love had returned.
Her betrothed had not been a particularly handsome man, but he had been a man. Now... Again she was struck by the resemblance Roas now bore to the Mardapur Hounds, those enormous brindle dogs the country was famous for. The resemblance was not complete, though. Roas was larger still than any hound Mardapur had ever bred. That was the most noticeable difference. But it was not the only one. His muzzle was very short and the toes of his paws longer than those of a hound. And while his coat was brindled, half that coloration was the red hair which Roas had formerly worn in a tight braid. His eyes alone remained un-maimed by the wizard's work, bright green, full of life and intelligence.
And intelligent he was. Whatever else the wizard had done, Roas was still himself inside his almost-canine shell. His testimony had been heard by the King, courtesy of a board of letters and words. His tale had even been modest and only through the words of his companions had the Court heard of his great heroism. Inshini had been so very proud, and though she had managed not to weep, still tears had run freely down her cheeks.
Roas, sensing her eyes upon him, looked up at her, briefly meeting her gaze before looking away. He knew. He'd always known. She'd despised him, then, for his knowing. He'd been forced upon her, the King's choice to marry his ward. Not even a proper nobleman but a barbarian princeling. She'd raged, and hated, and scorned, and slowly, so slowly, come to love him. He'd known her better than she'd known herself; known her thoughts and her emotions as if he felt them. He'd made sure she had the time she needed to be comfortable with their life together, pushing the wedding back despite the entreaties and not-so-veiled threats of the king, insisting that he would honor the betrothal, but in her time and no others.
'Pushed the wedding back too far,' she silently grieved. And the whispering would have already begun as the Court began to speculate on who the King would select to replace Roas as her betrothed. She hadn't heard anything yet. But she would. And if the Court was not ready to speak loudly enough to be heard, their actions were plain enough. They ignored Roas. His injury, to them, was as distasteful as a suppurating wound might be. And by their actions they made him less of a man and more of a beast. 'Accomplices to Andushkan,' she thought fiercely, her deep sorrow swinging suddenly to fiery anger.
"Excellency," the voice of Moranth interrupted her thoughts.
She blinked her teary eyes and focused them on the Marshal of the Court.
"My lord marshal?" she asked.
"Your guardian the King desires that you should attend him, Excellency," the man said quietly.
"On what matter?" she asked. To question the King's commands was not unheard of, but it was neither respectful nor wise. Inshini was too distraught to care about either.
"He wishes you to meet the men who are asking for your hand," the Marshal replied.
'So,' Inshini thought. 'So soon. Jackals.' But she gave no outward sign of this, instead nodding once. "I will obey my lord protector, lord marshal. Please tell the King of my state and that I will attend him so soon as I am fit to be in his presence."
"As you wish, Excellency." He bowed, shallowly, and left.
'I cannot bear this again,' she thought in quiet desperation. It had been bad enough the first time, when the King had bullied his way into becoming her guardian and then sold her hand for the maximum political gain. She could recall the humiliation of being exposed before a roomful of men and the terrifying boredom of countless 'friendly' meetings at which she had been, at best, a piece of the furniture. She had found her solace in her love, in the knowledge that all that suffering and humiliation had at least brought Roas to her. And now the King would take even that away from her and again scour her soul for his greed. Inshini, no longer able to hide her sorrow, wept and fled, scurrying down the halls to her rooms. A waiting maid tried to wipe at her face, but Inshini slapped her hand away and screamed at her to leave, screamed at all of them.
She felt as though her world was collapsing about her, threatening to bury her in the rubble of her joy become sorrow. The residue of the execution that clung to her skin, the too tight clothing that would not let her breathe... She ripped at the fasteners and clothing, tearing the finery in her haste to be rid of it. At last she stood unclothed in the midst of a pile of fabrics and found that it was not the clothing that prevented her breathing, but her fear. A clicking on the floor behind her drew her attention and she whirled to spy Roas slowly walking towards the door.
"No!" she screamed as horror and self-revulsion filled her body. 'I ignored him! I disrobed before him without a thought, as though he was simply a beast! I have treated him worse than the Court, than the King, than Andushkan!'
Again she screamed and ran after him, feet tangling in the fabric and tripping her to the floor. On all fours she scrambled after Roas, hurtling herself at him and catching him about the neck.
"No! Do not leave me, my love! Do not! I cannot bear the thought. I cannot lose you. I cannot," she wept as she clung to him, burying her face against his stiff, short pelt and kissing him. With a sudden lunge away from the door, Roas pulled away from her, leaving Inshini sprawled face first on the floor. She looked up at him, puzzled, and saw the cause of his unease protruding beneath his belly.
She would have expected to feel repulsed, but she instead felt a soaring sense of relief. 'He desires me still,' she exulted. The thought that she had not yet lost him was like a beacon in the darkness and filled her with a joyful determination. She rose to her hands and knees and crawled towards him, backing him away from the door.
"You love me yet," she crooned softly as she slowly approached him. "I can see it in your eyes and your - " she almost stumbled on the word, but she forced the crudity from between her lips, " cock. You still desire me. I was wrong to hurt you my love, my betrothed. I beg you to forgive me. Punish me if you must, if you will. I deserve your punishment for my unthinking actions. But do not, I beg of you, abandon me. I am still yours, soul and," she turned to face away from him, spreading her legs to more fully expose her sex, "body."
