Chapter 2
***
02. Reina Sabelli
...
Josef stared at Reina in disbelief.
Aside from his soldiers, there was only one human being who could have done this to the daughter of the Duke of Aviles.
It was her brother, Angulem.
The sight of Reina's tightly clenched jaw, her face a mask of embarrassment, making the desire to question her disappeared.
"The besieged castle of Aviles will have no food, let alone an army to lay siege to it. The soldiers have been killed and the grain has been burned. Don't be stubborn, keep the gates open and wait."
Josef seemed to think for a moment, and then, without further question, he released Reina and announced.
After a long battle, the soldiers were tired and their patience was wearing thin. They desperately needed rest.
"As I have already told you through the messenger, I promise to guarantee your life and Angulem's."
Josef reassured Reina once more.
His offer was generous, but his demeanor was as threatening as a blunt weapon.
"I will convey that."
Reina was puzzled by Josef's decision to be more amicable than she had expected. He was known for his lack of mercy.
She didn’t even believed the messenger's word that he wouldn't kill them in the first place. Why the favor?
Ascania’s army was far from chivalrous. They slaughtered and plundered.
Two hundred years earlier, the kingdom of Naparoa had granted land to the barbarians of the north, the Ascania, and their chieftain had sworn eternal loyalty.
The Ascania barbarians became vassals of the Naparoa Kingdom.
But in this war, they betrayed their former masters and allied themselves with the Kingdom of Kalev.
And this was what happened.
The barbarians would remain barbarians for centuries to come, and their ungrateful promises should not be trusted, Reina thought nervously.
"You may return."
"Thank you."
Reina stood up, afraid to finish the sentence. She didn't want to stay here for another moment.
The barracks were stifling. The malice of her enemies was suffocating.
But her aching knees and numb legs refused to cooperate.
"Tsk-"
Someone stealthily stepped on the hem of Reina's dress.
The frayed fabric ripped, unable to withstand her forward momentum.
She fell to the floor in a heap, her long, slender legs peeking out through the torn dress.
"What............... what. She didn't even wear chemise underneath?"
"No street girl walks around like that."
"She must be crazy."
"She’s determined to get laid anywhere, by anyone."
At the soldiers' laughter and chatter, Reina burst into tears.
She had already come prepared to die. She thought she had no heart left to break, but she was mistaken.
It was painful, sad, and sickening. A strangled sob escaped her throat.
The soldiers who had tormented the small woman had gotten their fill.
Ten years of rolling around on the battlefield and the loss of a comrade-in-arms because of that bitch's family.
This was nothing more than a lighthearted bully.
Pushed to her physical and mental limits, Reina finally passed out in the bloody mud.
When she didn't move, the soldiers panicked and didn't know what to do.
"She's not dead, is she?"
"Don't be an idiot."
As they stood there, unable to touch her, Josef got up and walked over to her. The soldiers who had been chattering a moment ago fell silent and straightened their postures for fear of being reprimanded. Josef scooped Reina up in his arms, light as a fallen leaf.
+++
When Reina awoke, it was already night.
She jumped to her feet and looked around as if she had been stabbed in the back.
She couldn't see anything.
"Ugh................"
Something was draped over her body. She felt it with her fingertips and realized it was a light, warm robe.
"You're awake."
A husky, dark voice came from somewhere. The hairs on Reina's body stood on end.
Quickly, she slid off the cot and started to run out the door, only to bump into something. She couldn't see an inch. The night was so deep.
Accustomed to the darkness, Josef watched Reina desperately search for a way out.
She was annoying him left and right.
"Let me out. I want out!"
Panicked, Reina grabbed hold of the barracks cloth and shook it as best she could.
As the makeshift barracks staggered, Josef rushed to her and grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me! Let go of me!"
As Reina struggled, he pulled her into his arms and trapped the rest of her body with his hold.
Her slender frame was nearly broken. His forehead creased as he tried to control his strength without hurting her.
"I'm not trying to do anything to you, so hold still."
Josef's voice was dry, with no pitch.
But the flesh against his was like a scalding heat wave.
He wondered if this was what it would be like to be bound by scorching chains.
Like a prey dying in a trap that tightens the more it struggles, Reina slowly sagged in Josef's arms.
Exhausted from the long fast, anemia, and extreme strain, her body once again collapsed against her will.
Josef laid her down on the cot, pulled a match from his pocket, and lit a lantern.
The small flame quickly pulled him and Reina out of the darkness.
Despite the struggle earlier, Josef was unruffled.
Reina was breathing heavily, slowly regaining her composure. Josef picked up the robe from the ground and held it out to her.
The eagle embroidered in golden thread on the black velvet was so vibrant it seemed to soar.
"It's okay."
Reina shook her head no.
Since coming here, she had seen the bodies of so many Naparoan soldiers that she could not see the ground.
Over their bodies, like their robes, were banners emblazoned with a golden eagle.
"I'm going back, I'm sure my brother is worried back home."
Reina wiped the sweat from her brow and excused herself. She'd wasted too much time.
No, more than that, she didn't want to look any more pathetic to her enemy than she already was.
"Your brother drove his only sister to the brink."
Reina shut her mouth, knowing the truth.
Suddenly, without warning, Josef reached out and placed his hand to the corner of her swollen left eye, causing her to jerk her head up in surprise.
"There is only one man in Castle Aviles who could do this to you, Angulem Sabelli, your brother."
Reina pursed her lips and pretended not to hear.
She was ashamed to have revealed her brother's true identity and miserable condition to the enemy.
"As you know, my army and I will soon be stationed at Aviles castle. I promise to protect you from Angulem's touch."
Reina was dumbfounded by Josef's words. He was the one who had caused all of this.
Protection. Who's responsible for all this?
When the former Grand Duke of Ascania, Franz, succumbed to his wounds and died, leaving his son, Josef, in command, the war reached a fever pitch.
Enemies and allies alike assumed that Josef would lead the war in a similar fashion to his father, Franz.
They were wrong.
Josef allowed his troops to loot and burn, something Franz had forbidden. It's how he earned his famous nickname, the Human butcher.
Thanks to him, the Duke of Aviles hadn't returned to his home for the past two years.
In her father's absence, Reina was abused by Angulem.
Katrina, princess of the Kingdom of Kalev and mother of two, who should have protected Reina from Angulem, worried only about her son until the day she fell ill and died.
At the memory of the past, Reina's eyes flushed with sadness. But she quickly composed herself and blinked at the ceiling.
"It's okay, I don't need the Grand Duke’s help-no, I don't need anyone's help."
She was alone. Always would be. Not to mention the enemy's lack of friendly ships.
But Josef still pushed his robes in front of Reina.
"Take the robe. And..................."
"I don't need it! I don't want anything from the Grand Duke!"
Reina snapped, her thin threads of reason snapped.
She didn't want to wear the robe with the golden eagle on it, or anything else associated with Josef.
But when Josef met her piercing gaze, her spirits quickly dropped and her shoulders slumped.
"Do you have a hobby of showing your body to men?"
"What the................"
Raina's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets as Josef blurted out the offensive word.
"But I don't think you're going to get any man to go along with that appearance..................."
"Don't play with words. It's the Grand Duke who's holding up anyone who wants to go. What in the world do you want me to do for you to let me go? Do you want me to crawl on the floor again? Do you want me to clean the Grand Duke's bloody shoes with my tongue?"
The look of fear and defiance, the way she looked like it was about to cry, but then bared her teeth and bite, was familiar, Josef thought.
He shook his head. It was ridiculous to say that he had seen it somewhere.
Suddenly, the fatigue he'd been trying so hard to ignore washed over him. He didn't feel like arguing with the woman in front of him anymore.
He pointed a finger at Reina's legs, which were exposed through the hem of her torn dress.
The dress that had been ruined during the afternoon's struggle was now open to her thighs.
She fumbled with the hem of her dress, trying to pull it together.
The frayed fabric burst into threads as she pulled harder.
Her pale skin flushed bright red with anger and shame.
"Please don't take this the wrong way. I just-"
"Oh, come on. I have my own tastes. I don't want a skinny, dog-bone woman."
"I'm glad to hear it, for I assure you, the Grand Duke is far from my taste either."
Reina scoffed, fumbling with the hem of her dress in an unsuccessful attempt to straighten it.
A muffled chuckle escaped Josef's throat.
He then withdrew his faint smile and approached Reina.
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my kofi page
Write a comment