Chapter 4: Prepared for Transport

I know today’s demonstration was just a prelude to the cruelty and torment Alejo will be planning for me when we reach our destination. Only the knowledge that Alejo needs me to be able to function keeps me from sinking into total despair. Last year, Alejo belatedly learned of my survival from the massacre he orchestrated six years ago. Unknown to me until recently, I’ve been the target of the Briniates king’s ambitions since then. Alejo has been biding his time until I was able to claim my birthright as the rightful ruler of Cambris. My uncle’s foolishness has conveniently removed himself and his heirs from the equation, and reopened my legitimate claim to the throne of Cambris. Now I know what Alejo would have done earlier, had he been aware that I’d survived the murderous episode that resulted in the death of my parents, and inadvertently opened the way for my uncle’s ascension to the throne. Alejo has me in his clutches. I now understand why my mother’s dying command was to order her maid to hide and protect me from my mother’s Briniates kin, particularly King Alejo. Unfortunately, while the maid managed to hide me from spies, she was unequal to the task of protecting me. A year later I was captured by brigands, and sold as a slave for the Duke of Quenier’s brothels.

I try to console myself with the knowledge that Alejo secretly fears me. At least, until he can reduce me to a broken and obedient slave to his demands. Only then will Alejo feel safe. Should the numerous allies of Cambris unite to rescue me while I’m unbroken, then I’m a threat to Alejo’s rule over the Briniates. My ancestry gives me a tenuous claim to his throne. Whether anyone will attempt to rescue me is something that neither Alejo nor I can know. But the possibility is enough to make Alejo nervous, and very cautious in my handling. Hence the heavy slave collar and fetters.

I think about happier memories to divert my mind from the discomfort, and my pending fate. Since my escape from Quenier, I’ve encountered many people I can now call my friends. A few recognised my entitlement to be called ‘queen’ even before today’s events killed my uncle and his heirs. One knows me more intimately, but I’ve no idea whether Marco survived this war.

I’m no stranger to sex; a year in the brothels of Quenier ensured that, although I’ve fucked my fair share of men since my escape. It’s something Alejo undoubtedly intends to use against me. My previous time as a slave taught me to take pleasure at every opportunity. Even a halfstarved slave is capable of enjoying an orgasm. I’m hungry for that sensation again, but I know that denying me sexual satisfaction it is just another torment Alejo will use against me. Teasing me with those sensations, but always denying me fulfilment, is a far more effective torture than inflicting pain.

I’m left in the city square under guard until late evening. A few citizens linger in the square, but they are kept well away from me. I’m woken from a doze when I feel my cage being moved. My cage is put onto a wagon and we set off almost immediately. Before long, the sounds and smells around me hint that I’m being moved onto a ship. Not the hold, though. Our destination is one of the ship’s cabins. My heart sinks when I realise that the cabin belongs to Drax. Obviously he doesn’t want to waste an opportunity to gloat and begin the process of breaking me to Alejo’s will. The cage is lowered with a thump, causing fresh ripples of pain through my cramped limbs. But I refuse to cry out even though I long to scream and yell.