“Wake up, my slave,” Alexander whispered in a mocking tone. “It is time for you to serve me.”
Collette stirred and shook her head weakly. She was lying in a cage, the floor covered with a thick straw that
scratched at her skin, leaving it red and irritated. She was struggling for breath, the air hard to pull into her
diminished lungs. She felt
sluggish and tired and as she sat up she looked at her captor.
Alexander Nicholai
was a tall man with broad shoulders. He had dark black hair, like the color of coal that was shining
brilliantly in the brightly lit room. His face was chiseled and he had a red scar that bridged his nose,
running from beneath his left eye to the top of his lip on his right
cheek. It looked angry and
gave him a hard look that was scarcely concealed by his otherwise handsome
features. His voice, when he
spoke, was callous and harsh, “get up.” He unlocked her cage and waited for her to stand and emerge
from her new home.
Collette struggled to her feet, using the wooden bars of her cage for
support. Strong vines bound
the cage and it did not even budge as Collette lost her footing and slammed
painfully into the wooden posts of the cage. She gasped as a sharp pain raced through her shoulder and she
struggled to stand again. She
was panting at the exertion, straining to gain her footing in the loose
straw.
Alexander watched with a bemused smile and chuckled at her
discomfort, “if you find that difficult, you will not have an easy time
here,” he said to her. Then,
smiling cruelly, he said, “Which is good. I do not want you to have an
easy time. Do you know how
much fun I am going to have breaking you?”
Standing now Collette looked at him and with a shallow breath she
gasped, “you won’t break me.” She
leaned against the cage for support and continued, “in fact, I will be
rescued.”
Alexander laughed, a deeply resonant chuckle of bemused delight,
“no,” he said, shaking his head in merriment, “you won’t. Your people do not even know you have been captured and my second
in command has already dispatched a message saying that you died of
asphyxiation. That has
happened with you Offlanders, hasn’t it? I have heard that more than one of your kind,” he spit the last
word, “died after just hours on land. No, you shall not be rescued. There will not be a rescue attempt for a corpse.”
Collette knew that his words were incorrect having sent the message
that it was a trap, but she knew she needed to play along. She wiped her face, looking shocked and slowly sank to her knees
onto the coarse straw. “No,” she said faintly, shaking her head in
disbelief. She buried her
face in her hands and slowly drew shallow breaths. “No,” she said
again.
Alex smiled at her, “So you see, there will not be a rescue
attempt. And now, you will be my slave. How do you feel about that, queeny? From the leader of your
damnable Offlanders to my slave. And you will serve me well. Do you know why?”
She lifted her head from her palms and shook her head, still
feigning disbelief at his words. “No.”
Alex turned and grabbed a wooden stick that had been formed into
the shape of a paddle. He hit
his thigh with it, the smack echoing loudly in the room, “because,” he
said, “disobedience will be punished harshly. Understood?”
Collette struggled to her feet once again and said in a feigned weak
voice, “I understand.”
Alex smiled, “you will call me Master.”
And biting back hatred Collette said, “yes, master.”
Alex’s eyes lit up in anger as he heard the contempt in her tone. He stepped to her and slapped her face with the back of his hand. Collette spun and fell to the ground. Her hand went to her face, holding her cheek with her palms. She gasped as her face exploded in pain and white-hot stars
appeared and danced before her vision like drunken pixies. She looked up at him, her eyes dark points of anger. She said nothing. She
sat there waiting his command, knowing that a rescue attempt would be made
for her. She needed to bide
her time until she was rescued and realized it was unwise to anger this
man. She had already seen the hostility in him.
She struggled for breath and when Alex commanded her to rise to her
feet, she did.
*
* * * *
I met with Collette’s military advisor and informed him of Collette’s
abduction. He was a small
man, with thin arms and blond hair. His
face was soft with blue eyes that barely hinted at the underlying
intelligence he possessed. Darin
Hollander was an extremely intelligent man with a knack for tactics. He was not a soldier; never had he seen a field of battle. He was, however, a tactician without peer and as such served
admirably as Collette’s advisor in all affairs concerning confrontation.
“I will take care of it,” he said to me after I informed him of
Collette’s abduction. He turned
from me and immediately two soldiers appeared. He spoke to them in fish speak and they replied in kind. Turning to me he said, “She will be home tomorrow.”
Was it that easy? Could
it be that she would be rescued in such a short amount of time. I did not ask what his plan was; that knowledge would not do me any
good, assuming I even understood it. I had seen Darin overcome battles with opportunistic Onlanders
countless times before, and knew he would win. I thanked him and returned to our home to await Collette’s return.
* * * * *
Collette walked behind Alex. He
had clipped a leash to the collar he had secured around her throat and was
currently pulling her behind him, chuckling delightfully as she staggered
along trying to ease the discomfort around her throat. Her hands were bound behind her back by thick vines, leaving her
helpless to defend herself. He
led her through his home and down a flight of stairs. The light grew dim with candles barely illuminating the stairway. Below her Collette could hear the sound of screams and the sharp crack
of paddles striking flesh.
Alex continued to pull his newest slave behind him. He could sense her displeasure and it excited him. She would break and he would enjoy being there when she did. He knew she was headstrong and that it would take a long time for
her to finally bend to his will; but when she did he would revel in that
supplication. He was looking
forward to breaking her, slowly driving her closer to the destiny he had
picked for her. She was his
slave, now he just had to wait for her to realize it.
He tugged on her leash, pulling her forward ungracefully. She staggered behind him and he laughed at her. He led her deeper underground and finally the small hallway opened
up into an underground chamber. A
dozen men brandishing whips and paddles, each of them tormenting a bound
Offlander, occupied the room. The
sounds were louder now as Alex beamed to Collette, “if you don’t obey me,
you will be spending a lot of time in this room.”
He continued pulling he along and sympathetically Collette spoke to all
of the captive and bound and tormented Offlanders with fish speak, don’t
worry, she told them, I will have you out of here by weeks end. Her face was pale as she looked at the broken and bruised skin of
her people. The torment
bestowed upon them at the order of Alexander Nicholai would not go
unpunished. She would see to
it that he suffered as he had made her kin people suffer.
Nobody noticed how the Offlanders suddenly became less concerned by
their fate, more stoic.
Alex pulled Collette through the chamber and out another stone hallway. The hallway climbed higher and soon Collette and Alex found themselves
standing in the sunlight. Collette looked around. The
small town was behind them and from her left the ocean sang its song of
greeting to her, lapping noisily again the shore. She longed to run and jump in the ocean, to breathe deep in its
water and savor the caress of its touch. She looked at the water and Alex taunted her, “wouldn’t it feel
good in there?”
He looked at her face and continued his teasing words, “yes, I
bet it would. You want to go
home, don’t you queeny? Too
bad that ain’t gonna happen. You
will never again feel the ocean on your skin.”
She looked at him and said nothing.
He tugged her leash and started to lead her towards the town.
* * * * *
“We are ready to begin,” Darin informed me.
I nodded.
Darin turned from me and left our home. The walls seemed more barren, the light provided by the swimming
fish less warm. Collette’s
presence was absent and our home seemed less comfortable because of it. Darin was ready to begin whatever rescue he had plColletted. I knew I did not have to ask what it entailed; the safety of Collette
would be his primary concern.
I crossed the room, the warm water of the ocean feeling oppressive
without Collette’s presence. I
walked into the bedroom and finding the bed empty I spun around to sleep
on the couch. Tomorrow, I
pleaded to myself, let her be here tomorrow.
I shut my eyes and tried to sleep.
* * * * *
The town cheered and whistled and Collette’s cheeks burned. She was being led through town, as she had been the day
before. Alex informed her
that as the town’s trophy, she would be displayed to them, naked and
helpless, daily. She would be
the town’s morale, her exhibition that would help break her and bring
cheers and happiness to the people of the small town.
Charles
Linton, Alexander Nicholai’s second in command approached him as he
slowly pulled the naked form of Collette through the town. He spun and began to walk beside his superior. Speaking slowly he asked, “What are we going to do when they ask
for her body?”
Alex
laughed heartily, “Why, we buried it, of course. As per our custom.” He
glanced at Charles and said, “You really do worry too much. I like that about you.”
Charles
said nothing. He exhaled
heavily, a sound of doubt sneaking past his open mouth. He felt that Alex was being too simplistic, that the Offlander’s
would come and demand the return of their leaders body. Alex’s handling of the situation was too lax and he wondered
briefly what preparations he could make for the upcoming confrontation
that he was certain was coming.
He said,
“by your leave,” and left Alex to continued leading Collette on her
humiliating display through the town.
*
* * * *
“Sir?” a young man said inquisitively to Charles as he sat in his
office pondering upcoming events.
Charles looked up and asked, “What is it, Marty?”
Marty, an elderly gentleman with graying hair and an unkempt beard said,
“It’s my wife, sir. She
is missing.”
“Missing?”
“Yes, sir. I have not been able to find her all afternoon. I have looked everywhere and asked just about everyone we know. Nobody has seen her since this morning.”
Charles looked at the concern on Marty’s face and said sympathetically,
“I’ll send some people out to find her, Marty. Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”
Marty’s face lit up, “oh, thank you, sir. Thank you.” He
seemed genuinely relieved and as he left Charles’ office, feeling
confident that his wife would be found he did not hear Charles say, “so,
it has begun.” |