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Post by John S. Rhodes on Nov 22, 2015 6:21:51 GMT
By the time they could actually see the palace through the storm, they were nearly upon it. Narrowly avoiding a tower, the dragon veered to the left and landed in the courtyard where her rider slid back down. Grabbing the princess by the waist, he helped her down from the beast... not to be nice or anything though. He didn't give two shits if she fell from the dragon and broke her neck, but there was that feeling inside of him that made him do it, as if by impulse.
The doors were pulled right open for them and the palace guards were there to greet them as Vokun Zoriik half dragged the girl in. Holding her by the upper arm, his grip was tight and probably even painful. "Take us to the king," Vokun Zoriik ordered as the guards scrambled to do just that. Even the guards were on edge in this man's presence, keeping their distance as they made their way to throne room. Both the rider and his prisoner were dripping wet, soaking the floor as they walked.
"Benjen..." the rider said, improperly addressing the king. Neither of them batted even a single eyelash at this though, the king simply accepting it in a fashion that he normally wouldn't. Usually, he would cut a man's tongue out for not properly addressing him.
"You've found them..." Benjen said, getting to his feet and approaching them, looking angry and borderline relieved.
"Just this one," Vokun Zoriik said, pushing Katerina and practically throwing her at the king's feet. "Princess Lydia managed to escape."
Color rose in Benjen's face and you could see that he was holding back anger. He looked as if he wanted to scream and even kill someone, but he didn't direct any of this toward the rider. He was clearly watching his step with this man. "YOU!" he said, turning his anger on a guard. "SEND OUT WHATEVER AVAILABLE PARTIES WE HAVE! I WANT MY NIECE BACK HERE BY MORNING!"
"Yes, your highness!" the guard obliged, running off to do just as he'd been commanded to do.
"I appreciate your help in this matter, Vokun Zoriik," Benjen said, his voice strained as he was still doing his best to stop himself from lashing out at this man. Vokun Zoriik had dealt with Benjen in the past plenty of times and Benjen had found out the hard way that Vokun Zoriik was not someone who could be pushed around. "I promised to keep this one safe... and my precious niece... I can only pray to the divines that she's safe..." Of course, he was only praying this because of what he had in store for the poor girl. Both men knew this.
"As promised, you may stay as long as you like... Your chambers have already been prepared for you," the king added before turning his attention to Kat. "Did you really think you could get away from me, princess?" Vokun Zoriik stood there, his expression impassive as he awaited the next move of both the princess and the king.
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Post by Katerina M. Montgomery on Nov 23, 2015 5:25:55 GMT
Katerina was so numb from the cold and rain by the time they landed that when he helped her down from the dragon she was almost afraid that her legs wouldn’t support her and that she would fall to the ground in the courtyard and have to be carried or dragged inside. Thankfully though, her legs graciously decided to be functioning enough to keep up with the rider as he pulled her into the palace by her arm, his grip so tight it seemed to almost be cutting off circulation. Being back in Benjen’s palace was practically the last place she wanted to be at the moment, but thinking about how her falling behind had allowed Lydia to escape, she knew that she had done the right thing.
Her stomach turned though as they walked into the throne room and Benjen stood and approached them. This man was vile and pathetic and weirdly enough she felt safer with the rider than in the presence of the Hrothgardian usurper. When the rider shoved her at Benjen, she fell to her knees hard in front of him, gritting her teeth so that she wouldn’t cry out in pain. It was a great effort to stand, her entire body protesting now from being in the elements way too long and taking a beating but she did it anyway, not wanting to ever willingly kneel at this bastards feet.
Katerina almost laughed as he acted like he actually cared about Lydia or keeping her safe. She couldn’t keep the laughter from bursting out when he asked her this though, and it wasn’t filled with any kind of real amusement. ”You think that this was about me trying to get away do you? You disgusting old fraud. This was about getting her away from you… What kind of disgusting old bastard plans on marrying his niece? One that doesn’t have any real claim to the kingdom, that’s who! You aren’t fit to rule even a rundown farm that has one mule but no viable ground to plant on.” Katerina said, boldly spitting at Benjen’s feet as if he were beneath her and disgusted her… It definitely wasn’t her normal kind of behavior to say the least but she was tired, her nerves were shot to hell and she was tired of being walked all over and she really really just hated this man.
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Post by John S. Rhodes on Nov 23, 2015 7:12:51 GMT
"You fucking tramp," Benjen seethed, stepping toward Katerina and backhanding her. There was fury in his eyes as he glared at her with such an intensity that his gaze would surely burn a whole right through her very soul. "You think my niece can run this kingdom without me?! Her father was an idiot to think that a girl could take over. My plans to marry her are a blessing. It's either that or slit her pretty little throat. I'm twice the King my brother was! He was a weak fool who was unwilling to reach for more strength and power. And look at where it landed him? He's dead and, by the time we're done, your father will be too. I would slit your throat here and now if I hadn't promised your safe keeping. I would even fuck you in your own pool of blood, princess."
A twisted smile crossed Benjen's face, the look in his eyes so dark and cruel. "You and Lydia are blessed to still be alive. Just remember that the two of you are lucky that I am merciful." He pointed a finger in her face and Vokun Zoriik stood there, impassive and unperturbed by the exchange. "When my darling, Lydia is dragged back to me, we'll be wed soon enough and I'll have heirs I need to solidify my claim to the throne. And YOU? You will get to live on, knowing that my forgiveness and mercy have saved you from a terrible fate. There is so much in store for you, my sweet Katerina... you don't even know."
Stepping closer to her, Benjen caressed the side of her face, where he'd backhanded her, his eyes glazed with longing. He half wished that he hadn't promised that she would return in the same state that she'd been taken. In his effort to preserve his future queen's dignity and virtue, he hadn't touched Lydia and vowed not to do so until their wedding night. That didn't stop him from seeking out other women though. He supposed that, so long as she was returned a virgin, Roland couldn't say much. That didn't mean that they couldn't have fun in other ways.
His mouth dry and his groin aching, Benjen let the back of his hand caress the length of her neck and downward. Grabbing hold of her wrist so that she couldn't pull away, his other hand moved to the spot between her legs, his fingers pressing against her, feeling her heat beneath the fabric of her pants. Her soaked body did nothing to ease his appetite for sex. "Now why don't why take you back to your chambers and I'll help you out of these wet clothes?"
He didn't know what made him do it, but Vokun Zoriik stepped forward. Seizing Benjen's wrist, the pressure of his grasp forced him to release Katerina's own wrist. "I can escort her back to her chambers," he said rather darkly, his eyes unwavering as he stared at the king. Many would have considered this an idiotic move... seizing the king the way he had, but it was clear who held the real power here.
Looking displeased, Benjen stepped back, looking as though what he really wanted to do was set Vokun Zoriik on fire. He was a king and yet he was allowing this man to lord over him. "Fine... get her out of my sight," he said, turning on his heel and walking away. Vokun Zoriik didn't know why he'd denied Benjen of this woman. Vokun Zoriik himself had raped many women, taking them against their will, but watching him torment this girl ignited a sense of turmoil deep inside of himself. Staring after the king for a long moment, the rider didn't speak again until he was well out of earshot. "Tell me, princess..." he said to her after waching Benjen disappear. "How fucking stupid are you? Do you always egg on on like this? Is it your desire to be pushed down and raped? If a good fucking is what you need, I'd be more than happy to give you some assistance.
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Post by Katerina M. Montgomery on Nov 24, 2015 7:06:49 GMT
For the second time that night Katerina was seeing stars as Benjen backhanded her in the very place the rider had earlier. And it hurt like hell the second time around. She would have brought her hand up to her cheek to hold it while it throbbed but wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing how much it had actually hurt. Kat would be surprised if the bones in her cheek weren’t broken from the force of both blows. Glaring back at him it was all Kat could do to refrain from talking back to him and earning herself yet another blow to the face. There definitely would be bruising there by morning if the throbbing was any indication.
After a minute Kat started to tune out what he was saying, just glaring daggers at him as she watched his lips move. The man was disgusted, a lunatic who thought that he was the best thing in the world and obviously believed he was helping everyone by giving them ‘mercy’… not that he was actually very merciful at all. Gods she felt like she would vomit from all the shit that came out of Benjen’s mouth. The only thing that she really caught was the fact that, twice now, he had said he had promised her safe keeping… promised it to whom was what she really wanted to know. Katerina was trying to puzzle out the answer to that when Benjen stepped closer to her and stroked her cheek where he had hit her and she almost flinched but managed to catch herself in time.
Just his touch made her feel disgusting, as did the look in his eyes. She had seen that look before but never had she been in such close contact to a man when they were looking at her like that. Katerina couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her as he ran his hand from her face, down her neck and shoulder, to her arm and then grabbed hold of her wrist. Kat stopped breathing for a moment and tried to no avail to break his grip as his other hand touched her groin and his fingers pressed against her folds. Even though she had a barrier of cloth between his fingers and her opening she still felt his fingers rub against the fabric… and despite herself she felt herself dampen. Just that fact made her want to vomit again. Benjen offering to “help” her out of her wet clothes had her panicking on the inside… until the rider intervened.
Katerina’s eyes went wide in shock at the rider’s boldness but she tried to hide it quickly as Benjen let go of her wrist from the force of the other man’s grip. She wasted no time in bringing her wrist to her other hand and rubbing it as if just his touch had contaminated her. Kat watched ss Benjen ordered her out of his sight, and then turned and left the throne room leaving her with the rider… whom if he had seemed like a better sort of person she would have thanked for intervening like he did. But of course his words dispelled any idea of thanking him. Katerina threw the rider a dark look and crossed her arms over her soaking wet chest and said ”I don’t need your criticism over how I react to being dragged back to being a political prisoner of some sort. You can save that for someone who actually cares. That man is a coward and quite honestly, if you behave anywhere close to how he does then I’d have to guess you are too. Only cowards take from people what isn’t freely given because they’re too afraid to ask or work for it.”
She was actually ready for it this time… getting hit in the face that is. Katerina knew that she should just shut her fucking mouth and not talk the rest of the night but everything inside her was so messed up and she was worrying about Lydia… if she had managed to completely escape Benjen’s search party, hoping that she didn’t get hurt on the way to finding Aiden… she tried not to dwell on the more horrifying thoughts that floated through her head. She just didn’t have the energy to filter what came out of her mouth at the moment.
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Post by John S. Rhodes on Nov 24, 2015 22:11:31 GMT
He wanted to hit her again. His hand twitched reflexively to do just that, but he thought better of it. She obviously hadn't learned from the past two times she'd been hit, so she wasn't going to learn from this one. Besides, when he looked at her, something deep inside of him wouldn't allow him to lift his hand. He did, however, step forward, taking hold of her upper arms and standing so close to her that their bodies were just about touching. When he glared down at her with his icy gaze, he was practically towering over her, a ball of fury blazing within him.
"Do you have a brain in there? Do you have any idea who you're fucking talking to?" he asked her before laughing in a way that clearly said he didn't find any of this humorous. It was a cold and dark sound, chilling to the bone. "Kings have trembled at my feet, princess. My dragon and I have razed villages, cities, and even kingdoms. You haven't seen cowardice. Cowards are men who piss themselves when the cold tip of your blade touches their neck... Vokun Zoriik lifted his hand as he said it, tracing his cold finger down the front of her neck, slowly.
"Cowards run and hide. The last time I checked, I've never backed down from a fight and I never intend to. If you want power, princess, you have to seize it and anyone who stands in your way is just collateral damage. That is working for it." Still holding her by one arm, the rider started to lead her out of the throne room and through the halls. He had, after all, promised to take her to her chambers. He didn't care how much she protested, he wasn't going to let go of her arm.
"You know, maybe if you learned to shut your mouth, you wouldn't get hit so often. You should probably at least learn to shut it around King Benjen. That man may have promised safe keeping for you, but he'll find other ways to fuck you and toy with you if you don't watch your step. Believe me, I've seen it happen." Why the hell was he even trying to warn her of this? What did he care if Benjen screwed around with her?
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Post by Katerina M. Montgomery on Nov 26, 2015 3:13:25 GMT
Katerina flinched as he stepped towards her and grabbed her arms, standing closer than she would have liked. It was better than being hit in the face again though so for the moment she wasn’t going to complain. Not that she would be able to wrench herself from his grip. He was at least ten times more powerful than she was and that in and of itself should scare the shit out of her… and it did, but half of her was horribly turned on by that fact also. Being kidnapped and held by a madman must have really affected her hormones for this man to be able to turn her on. But his tone with her definitely pissed her off.
”Why the hell would I care who you are? It’s not like I’m ever going to be like ‘hey crazy dragon riding psychomaniac I need you to come pillage this town for me’ that’s not my style. I actually value people’s lives and I’d rather them love me than be terrified by me.” She said as he let go of one arm while keeping hold of the other. She laughed slightly as he said that men peeing themselves because their lives were about to end were cowardly and that he had actually worked for what he had taken doing whatever it took to take it from them.
Kat decided against struggling with him, knowing that it wouldn’t help her any and honestly wanting to go to her room and change out of the freezing cold and wet clothes she was wearing. She did glare at him though as he tried to tell her to learn to keep her mouth shut. It was weird, but there was this little tiny voice whispering to her that he sounded like he actually cared if Benjen did these things to her. But that was easily brushed off by the way he had treated her so far.
”Oh like you actually care, you’d probably stand in the room and watch, waiting for your turn. That’s what men like you do right? You can let go of me now. I’m perfectly capable of finding my way back to my chambers and I’d really love some peace and quiet, which I’m obviously not going to get with you yelling at me.” Kat said, looking at his hand on her arm as if to tell him she was serious. She was tired, stressed, the buzz she had from all the adrenaline was gone and in its place she felt sore and cold and was all too done with this conversation. And especially done with him and his hands touching her and making her feel things that she shouldn’t be feeling for a man who had admitted to raping and killing people.
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