WAR comes to Kemena, part 2

The man strides angrily past the many guards of the sweltering compound into a burnt-red chamber of the fortress half as old as time. It is time for her to be given another dose but right now he needs her awake and at least partly able to talk. He lifts the slight body of the young woman in blue, growling into her face as her fugged mind and eyes try to focus on his mohawk.
I have something I need you to do woman.
Blinking and mumbling, the only clear words she gets out are Rel.
Oh, you're about to talk to him, my dear. He slaps her hard across the face. Dagger point under her chin to quell her struggles.

-sharp-

You will do exactly as I say or you will bleed woman. Talk to your Rel, tell him to stop all aggressions against Nox, or I will hurt you... I will violate you, maiden. Feeling her stiffen and go quiet, he shoves a white horse emblem into her hand.
Rel? ....Rel? Her voice unsteady, unclear.
Kem! His an explosion of emotion.
Tell him what I told you to, but if you say the wrong thing, you die, here and now.
Where are you?! Strength in that voice.
Don't tell him.
Hesitance. Sontlux presses the dagger point harder against her throat. please... stop... attack...
His warm strong voice Ask him what his ransom is.
Mumbling to the mohawk, her tongue not working right. What ...ransom?
Forget that! Tell him to pull back or you die, nothing else!
Rel... stop killing... please...
I've ordered them to stop. I've left. They have pulled back. So much love there and so much more, his strong remembered voice.
Emblem and dagger both taken away, hope and danger both.
Good job Kemena, my men tell me they are now no longer being harrassed.

-betrayal of trust-

Ah, our new sister is here. It is time for Invicta to hear our demands.
Sontlux, your men will die.
My men are now safe, thanks to her. I had her "talk" to Aurelius. He nodded at Kemena just now understanding who has arrived.
Isabela! Please? ...let me go to Rel.
Quiet Kemena. Distracted, his thoughts elsewhere.

Isabela's countenance is clear with the conviction that every word she utters is true.
Aurelius is a demon in a man's form Kemena. His violence and anger are great. You love this man yet I wonder if you really know him? Or do you love the man you once knew?
Rel...he is good. She fumbles, trying to make her tongue speak the next words very clear. I love him. No demon.
To slaughter men at your own will and anger is good? I pity you Kemena

-demon, the Relbeast-

Turning to the women, away from his thoughts. And he loves you Kemena. and that love will be what brings him to his knees. He will have you back, though it will be in pieces if he doesn't do exactly as I say. And you're going to make sure he does Kemena. You are going to write to him, telling him our demands and impressing upon him how much he needs to listen to them.

Isabela hisses, That love will destroy you both.
No... do not harm Rel!
Belatedly she understands Sontlux's words too. Her face crumples as the hope of the emblem-voice fades, as realisation dawns. No. He...has ...all Invicta to think on....not just me...
Sontlux backhands Kemena, sending her spinning into the ground. He then picks her up by her collar and punches her in the stomach, driving the air from her lungs. His blows land hard and fast, again and again. On the floor, she curls up trying to protect herself. Other guards near, grinning. One comes in to help but Sontlux waves them off for now, growling.
Mitra! ....Help your handmaiden!
A woman's spit Mitra..the weak god, he will not save you here Kemena!
You will do exactly as I say woman! You hear me?! His yells filling the chamber as he picks her up by the collar again and shakes her. You hear me?!?!
A whimpering nod calms him. He smiles warmly. Good. Now dear, please write a letter for me. He turns and lays out pen, inkwell and parchment on the dark red stone. Quit crying woman, you will ruin the parchment. Come over here.
Kemena tries to hold in her cries from the forming bruises as she settles, shakily holding the pen.

-vendetta, always after me and mine-

Now write. I care not how you word it, but tell Aurelius that if he wants to see you alive and in one piece, he will have to end his vendetta against Nox and its allies.
Kemena smooths the parchment out on the stone and dips the quill in the ink. His next words cause her to pause.
Not only that, but they must turn on their allies, Kings Guard and bring me the head of one of their officers, I care not which.
He...can't ....not against the King
He can, and he will.
He...fought... 6 years ago...to put Conan ...make him king...followed the Count....followed Trocero.... Conan.... a good king.... for Poitain...
Then we will see who his loyalty is to the most, you or Conan. I just want proof that when he gets you back, he won't immediately declare war again.
...I ...cannot...ask him that...not...against...not against his honour...
Sontlux pulls his dagger and says quietly, You sure?
Isabela's voice cuts in softly and Sontlux nods to her as Kemena turns toward her. Kemena, Aurelius is mad, I believe you know this. He craves violence.
Mad? ...no...good...strong...
Do you remember Lareit? He had had an simple argument with Brutalis and Anrielle. It was between those two yet when Aurelius gets involved it became a war. A war between companies. Her soft words weave a tale, an entrancing tale, utterly convinced of her own point of view, drowning out Kemena's befuddled protests.

-Mad, violent, always-

Enough! Sontlux crouches next to Kemena and whispers in her ear. Write what I tell you or I will let that brute over there have his way with you. He fancies you. Kemena tenses, going very still as she follows his finger to the largest of the local guards, a hulking brute. All you have to tell him is you love him and you're scared. Write it.
Kemena redips the quill in ink, starting to write shakily.

Isabela tries a new tack, softly stroking Kemena's hair, gentling her. Kemena, you love Aurelius very much....yet you have not known his touch..Why have you waited?
I love him. It is right... by Mitra.
Does he not want you?
A whisper, ...he ...he wanted.... the once we kissed.... but he held back. Then sharp, moving from Isabela's hand. You... you ...got me here! ...you betrayed Invicta!
Ahh Kemena... you saved my daughter. Quiet words. Why would he hold back from loving you Kemena? He says he loves you. Oh Kemena, I believe you know. He is not one for love, he craves violence. Kemena, have you not wanted to love Aurelius?
I ...kissed him.... when .... I was 14....They sent me away........ I turned to Mitra.... thinking Relius lost to me.
And he changed while you were away...did he not Kemena?

Enough of this! Kemena, write to your man, the one who will not touch you.
Jumping to the stern voice that contrasts so with Isabela's, Kemena picks up the pen again. She struggles for the formal greetings, her mind not grasping them, just focussed on Aurelius.
~Greet...Relius...Love.... I love you...want to kiss you...your arms hold me. Miss you...want to make a chaplet for you, wedding flowers...autumn full blessings, strong in mellow fruitfulness...our four children... our rock, you my rock~
Say, My dearest love, please dont let them hurt me any more. She adds that after the wobbly picture of a wedding wreath, though frowning.
That's good enough, now step back.
In haste and small letters she adds into the wreath afterwards. ~Remember Trocero~ but he spots it.
I said step back! You will pay for that. She cries out as the blows land again. Thrown back against the wall with the force of them. She cowers there whimpering as he burns out the offending phrase and adds his demands below her shaky letters.
Guards hold her. Violent blows. Sontlux grabs her hands in an iron grip, extending the left one. Come Sekhmett, you want your revenge.
Screaming, flinching away... to no avail. Blood pours from the stump of her little finger. Blackness as someone knocks her out.

-Screaming as he comes for me, holding me-

Sekhmett, revive her. Slapping to stop her cries, he ties her ankles and wrists with black cord and throws her roughly onto a stone slab anciently carved into a bench.
Sekhmett, the Sparks of Set!
Shrieks fill the chamber, one guard turning his head away though laughing it off when a fellow notices.
Oh, stop for a moment Sekhmett. Tell me Kemena, how do I use this emblem? He waits mostly patiently for her screams to fade. Slapping her to get her to focus as her mumbles make no sense at first. ...think-talk... you mean talk with my mind? Thanks. Sekhmett, break her.

-Pain, my world is pain-

For hours, her light body thrashing around at each pulse. Whispering in her ear Your world is now pain. It has always been pain. embrace it. Become it. Aurelius failed to protect you Kemena. Sometimes she regains a moment of self-possession NO! Rel! Mitra!
Also failed you Kemena. Everything you love has failed you. No one is here to protect you.
The bliss of passing out... but brief. Heal her wounds for me please sister. The strain of forced healing will further break her mind. We must get Neverlin here. No one is better at torture then him.
The chamber muggy now from the burning of her dress, unrepaired in the healing, and blood and fluids oozed out over hours. In a hoarse whisper she sometimes still tries to call on her god, her love... mostly just screaming in blind pain, thin screeches now, her vocal cords strained by the hours of screaming.
Whimpering Mama! Come back! Mama!

Embrace the pain sister. It will make you stronger. Everything will fail you Kemena. But the pain never will. The voice drones on hypnotically. The young woman sobs still, quieter..utterly incoherent, lost in the world of pain. You understand now don't you Kemena? The only thing you can believe in is pain. Blotchily through the bloodspots in her eyes, she sees him take his dagger and slide it across his own arm. Brightness streams down his arm, down the red blade, dripping off the point onto her face. Blood will give you strength Kemena. The blood of others. You will never be weak again. You will never be helpless again. The young woman cries as the blood drips on her skin, balm after the endless pain. Here sister, drink this. She drinks gratefully, accepting anything that is not the pain, though the sharpness reminds....
As Kemena's eye's glaze, Sontlux whispers in her ear while stroking her hair. Sleep Kemena. I will protect you.
Sekhmett, for now, please heal her wounds. I want her to remain beautiful. The Setite priestess partially complies.

-Turning from cutting Papa's neck, turning to me blood dripping on me from the point of his sword. Starting the world of pain. 10 years old...and he so large.-

The shaft of light coming into the chamber has shifted falling at a long angle now on the dried-blood brick and stone. A large man drops a crate and glowers at the local guards. He is masked save when he savours his rolled green leaf, masticating loudly.
Another man approaches in anger. Mocking words pass between him and Sontlux then he leers down at her and blearily she rouses from drug-dreaming. When he perches beside her, she endeavours to shuffle back wincing. The softness of his initial demeanour confuses her as he asks after her health, cuts her bonds, sighs at the rag on her left hand, muses at her hair.
Suddenly, fierceness!
Mandisa! Do you know her? I'll tell you who does. Aurelius.......Do you know what he did to her last night? Well, while she was travelling alone out in the wildnerness...your betrothed and his thugs ambushed her. A mere priestess helping the sick. Your betrothed ambushed her...knocking her from her steed...
He and his thugs beat and punished the poor woman unmercilessly, beating her until she bled from every pore. She was unrecognizable when we came upon her.

The large man cuts down a guard who over-eagerly strays too close. The young woman jumps as blood spatters her. Then her attention forced back to the man before her as he clutches her suddenly, his face right up in her own, the ragged breathing, the venomous look, the hatred and anger there. THEY BEAT HER, THEN RAVAGED HER! KEMENA!

-They come for me, sent by him. Pain, never-ending, beating then ravaging me.-

Deathly calm and quiet he is now, watching her struggles as the large man chains her and dumps her in the crate. His vengeance and his experiment begins.

-All of Invicta! All of his men!-

The large man nigh cheers as now composed the master of torture brings out a small silver hammer. Yesss Neverlin do it...do it.... He watches eagerly as her raven-black hair is parted, relishing her pleas. As the back of her head becomes a bloodied mess of flesh, hair, and gore under the rhythmic blows, a groan of pleasure escapes him.

-beating me until I bled from every pore-

He stares slack jawed at the necromancer digesting the tasty morsel of brain, gaining so much from the tidbit. Can i have a souvenir Neverlin?

-the pain is excruciating-

He watches: strange dark magics building her anew. Asks for a curse to be laid. Snickers as Neverlin asks if he would have this child-woman.

-Pain, my world is pain. Only Draton came to save me from Aurelius. Our life together after partially blocked the pain that demon had caused. Through our trials together these past years I have come to trust one person, my beloved Draton. The demon Aurelius put me here, sent his men to ravage me. Draton will rescue me from the pain, his strong arms enfolding me, keeping me safe.-

With the last words of his deep enchantment spoken and I.....Neverlin...do not exist, the necromancer fades down the stairs from the chamber, thrilled at his success. Leaving the lovers re-united.

Hoarse whisper My love you have come for me!
Kemena you are safe now! No more pain for you. He tenderly wraps me in lionskin, feeds me tiny pieces of roast meat, lets me slake my thirst. His words are odd, speaking of home while we are still in this benighted place but his presence soothes me as it always has. My Draton will make all things right. He gives me some of his special brew. Sleepy.
You can rest here Kemena. I have a small convoy to look over you. I must go warn the others you are safe and home now. Do you think you can wait here for the night?
Thank you...I knew you would come....I...I... I stop, embarrassed and lay back.
Sweet dreams Kemena, sweet dreams.....

Tiredly I accept the help of Draton's friends, my friends. My mind is blurry, I cannot recall everyone right. But they come from Draton. The man with a mohawk and the Isabela priestess of Set smile warmly. The power of the Serpent heals me. They treat me so kindly. I gape as he slices off his little finger and she calls on the power of Set to join it to me. He does me such honour, sacrificing his blood for me. Truly I am blessed that Draton has such good friends.
She is as good as Set has willed.
When will Draton be here?
Draton is busy fighting to ensure your safety. For now, we must move you someplace safe.
... I know blood must be spilt ... to end pain. I do not understand his answering smile but follow tiredly as they take me north to safety. So tired but I wish to be with Draton as soon as possible... and ...Terri... where is Terri? The journey hazy.

It is cold here. We are almost there. your family should be waiting. But no! Treachery in the darkness of the north! They deliver me to the demon Aurelius!
*blackness as she screams and faints*