A Sinless Betrayal - Cherie Benjamin (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📗

pursue my dream of world domination."

This catches my attention. I turn my head towards him and narrow my eyes. "You don't know where he is," I hiss at him. Cordell just throws his head back, laughing heartily like I'd just said the grandest thing in the world.

"Oh-ho-ho, but I do," Cordell says, his laugh humourless. "If he truly loves you and your unborn Barbarian brat, he won't refuse the offer I give him."

My face heats up in anger despite the raging cold of the outdoors. "And what offer will you put on your golden platter before my king?" I say through gritted teeth.

He runs a hand through his knotted auburn hair. "Suppose you'll just have to wait and see, hmm?" He wipes his hands on his jacket. "Have fun out here in the freezing cold, love. And try to look presentable for tomorrow."

I watch him as he retreats back to his tent. "The gods favour the fortunate brave. I do not know why they favour you." I whisper, the wind carrying the saying to his ears.

Cordell turns around slowly. "Because they know it is my destiny to destroy any enemy that blocks my path to glory," he says to me. "They know it is my destiny to conquer your new home, burn Castle Rock, and have the head of your bastard husband mounted on a post in front of the Iron Castle. I will be known as the King of the Universe."

I shake my head at him. He knows nothing of the gods. "The gods shan't give their throne up for you," I say to him. The sky is darkening, thick black clouds rolling over the incandescent moon. "What makes you think that they will make you the ruler of the universe?"

With three long strides, he is kneeling in front of me. His fingers clutch my jaw tightly. I sit completely still for I know that if I try anything that he will overpower me in a heartbeat. "I will be loved. I will be king. And it's a pity you won't be at my side to see it happen. I'm afraid I'll just have to trample over you since you insist on standing in the path of a raging bull."

He then lets me go and crawls into his tent for the night. I lean my head against the tree's trunk and try to salvage all of the warmth from my thickly layered furs and the thin, ratty blanket that was thrown to me by one of the soldiers.

I close my eyes and imagine Abigor's warm arms wrapped around my shivering, frail body. I pray the gods keep me and my unborn child safe and warm through the night.

0o0o0o0o

I am sitting on the bed, watching him from a few feet away. He sits like a true ruler in his bearskin chair, his head leaned back against the soft fur pelt. He stares into the fire, hearing it crackle and pop in the night air. In his hand is a goblet of wine.

It is a summer night, one of the most beautiful in the whole entire season. I am naked on our bed. I have become increasingly comfortable in my skin with Abigor's reassurances that I am the most beautiful woman that he's ever seen. He made love to me beneath the sunset, as he does every night. He even let me take the lead that night. He enjoyed it better when I took charge.

I peer at him through my thick curtain of curly brown hair. He looks over at me and smiles widely. "Tiger Claw," he whispers. "Ku zo gare ni, masoyi." (Come to me, my love.)

I oblige, sliding off of the silk sheets to pad across the stone floor to him. I stand in front of him. His eyes roam all over my body, mimicking what his hands want to do to me. His hands suddenly rest on my very pregnant stomach. I lean forward as he presses his lips to my skin.

"My child," he whispers. "He will be the prince that conquers the world. Everyone shall love him. Everyone shall respect him. Every knee shall be bent in his presence. And you, my love. You will be the queen that every soul remembers."

Suddenly, our fire is reduced to black ash like someone blew a candle's flame out and we're in the forest. I'm in my silk nightgown, lying in the snow before a large gate, made out of iron. I see Abigor standing on the other side of it. Snowflakes fall on my face.

I look up at the sky before turning my head towards his. "I'm so cold," I whisper. My lips are blue, my fingertips numb.

He curls his fingers around the cold metal bars and nods his head. "I know." I move in the snow, my tears forming like crystals on my cheeks.

"Why won't you come to me?" I ask. I can't get up. I'm stuck in this weathered snow and it holds me there. I reach out to him. "Please…I'm so cold."

He rests his head against the bars and shakes his head. "I can't." That's all he says. I sigh sadly and look up at the sky. The snow is falling harder now. It's covering me. When I look back at the gates, Abigor's outline is fading. I can't seem him as well anymore.

"Where are you going?" I ask him. His outline flickers on and off. "Please don't leave me."

He looks up at me with sadness in his eyes. "I can't stay."

I shake my head, fighting the urge to cry. "But you can't leave me."

"I have to," he replies. " But…I will return. I will find you. Somehow."

I reach out my hand. His arm is long enough to fit through the bars. His fingertips grace mine with warmth. I hold onto him so tight. "I love you."

"And I you," comes his husky whisper.

I move my frozen limbs in the snow. I cringe and cry out in pain. "I…I can't move. It hurts so badly."

His big brown eyes stare into mine. "Don't give up."

His outline flickers again. He's going to leave soon. The snow is slowly burying me. I can no longer see my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see a tall, dark figure creeping behind Abigor. I try to warn him, but my mouth his frozen and I can't seem to work my tongue.

He's looking down at the snow, his hand clenching mine tightly. My eyes widen and my breathing speeds up. The snow is slowly covering my face. The dark figure raises a sword. I cry out for him to move, but my hand has frozen him to the gates.

The sword comes down hard on him, beheading my lover. I want to scream, I want to cry. But as the last of the snow fall from the desolate sky, my eyes are covered from the horrid sight of my king's glassy brown eyes staring at me from where he laid in the snow.

I'm falling, tumbling through a snow vortex, only to land on a ground covered in ash. It is the capital city of Stauckana, where Castle Rock is located it. The houses are burned down. Smoke tumbles out from the windows and creates a thick fog in my atmosphere. I'm wearing my torn red silk dress from the first day I came to Stauckana.

There are still flames burning away at the grass and little sparks sizzling in the dirt ground. I see the toys of small children lying black and charcoal-like on the ground. I begin to cry as I pick up a small cloth doll.

There are the unfortunate people that are lying on the ground, burnt to a crisp in the fireball raid. It is truly a massacre. I step over a fallen log and trip on my ripped rags. I see the young child lying next to her mother, her hand stretched out as if she were reaching for something.

The doll.

Sobbing, I place it into her hand before standing up to see the catastrophe unfolding around me. I'm running, running so fast that the tears on my face are flying off of my cheeks.

A rip in time suddenly creates a doorway for me to go through. Desperate to escape the hell that became all too real, I dart through it. I'm in a palace. I collapse to my knees, relieved that I'm back in Stauckana. Castle Rock hasn't been burned down.

But as I look around, I notice that this castle is certainly not Castle Rock. It's the Iron Castle. I'm dressed in a huge black dress, the typical mourning attire in Bellechester. I stand and run into one of the rooms, desperate to find the way out of this place.

I open the door to Cordell, sitting at the end of a long table with a golden crown on his head. "Pleasure to have you join," he says loudly and somewhat rudely. "It only took you forever to get here. Do sit down."

I don't want to sit down, but my legs suddenly become wobbly and I have no choice. The door slams shut behind me, inevitably trapping me inside with him. I want to cry, but I have no tears left. There is a wine glass in front of me, and a plate of food. It looks delicious and my mouth waters. It seems like I've not eaten in a year.

I look up at Cordell. "Eat. You seem hungry," he says. "I had it prepared specially for you."

Without words, I dive into my food. Cordell watches with a sick sort of humour as he leans back in his chair, sipping his wine. Suddenly, I begin to cough uncontrollably. The food has been poisoned. I should have known.

As I drift into the silent darkness, I can see Cordell's triumphant look. "You…you won't win." I cough. "I-I won't…let…you."

He comes over as I tumble onto the floor, clutching my neck and gasping for breath. "Oh but Elizabella," he murmurs sweetly. "I already have."

And darkness closes in on me.

I wake up in a fright, tears streaming down my face. It is night and the moon is shining brightly. I have only slept for a couple of hours. The owls call at night. The world around me is quiet, and cold, and cruel.

I know the dream wasn't real but it could easily become a reality. I curl against the tree, trying to get warm again but I'm not having much luck. I just want to fall asleep and bury this nightmare that I'm living six feet under.

The hellish nightmare gave me insight on what could happen if Cordell really did succeed. The gods are warning me of an outcome so disastrous that even they want to stop it. I know that I can't let him win.

I can't give up. I can't stop fighting. For when an opponent stops fighting, for even a second, it gives the other a chance to find a weak spot and run you through. He told me before. He will return. He will find me.

Beast

I can feel his lips skirting across my neck, his hot breath behind my ear. His hands roam over my skin, and suddenly I'm lost in his touch. "I try to concentrate, but all thoughts of sanity drift away the