by Alta Hensley
"Don't crawl like an animal. Stand before the general. Well… at least until he fucks you like an animal," the soldier spat.
Mad laughter echoed all around them. The woman stood fully upright, straightened her shoulders, and spat in the soldier's face. Pride and fear mixed as Cinder watched the woman stand with renewed indignant courage. "Kill me. I will never let that poor excuse of a cock enter me," she declared.
With tears in her eyes, Cinder couldn't help but watch the proud woman face the devil in the sand. The only saving grace was that she never saw it coming—the second they slit her throat. Horrified, Cinder hooked her arm against her mouth to stifle a scream. Soon afterward, it was Cinder's turn.
"Next!"
Cinder didn't budge. She refused. Her body stiff, she couldn't move an inch.
A disfigured eye leaned in, inches from Cinder's sunburned cheek. "Must I repeat myself?" the man asked, raising a bushy brow. His breath smelled like rotten flesh and spittle formed in the corners of his lips.
Cinder's heart gushed blood to her face, not certain if one wrong word would be her last. Could she be brave and die without giving a part of her she only wanted to ever share with Donte? Should she just allow Rhys to take her? It could all be over in moments. Cinder started to cry. She was supposed to have been their leader, but somewhere along the line had become broken. Maybe it was watching Maysa be torn to shreds, maybe it was knowing Nico had been beaten to death. Maybe it was knowing all these harem women would be raped or killed before her. Regardless...
She was broken.
She turned her head to search the other girls' faces for an answer. They all stared back at her, with terror in their eyes. It wasn't until she saw Mistress Tula, their old disciplinarian from a day that seemed long gone, that she knew what she had to do. Mistress Tula made eye contact and softly shook her head. Silently, she was instructing Cinder to not let the man touch her. Could she die with honor as the two other women before her had?
General Rhys nodded at his soldier. "Kill her." His command was quick and simple.
His henchman placed the knife at her neck, but his arm stopped just as it pinched Cinder's skin. The sickly looking man staggered back, gasping for air and fell to his knees.
Bewildered, Cinder craned her neck, looking straight into his once life-filled eyes. Was he dead?
She shuffled forward at a shout in the open desert. Cinder clutched her nude body, peering out through her scraggly, matted hair. Men with axes, swords, and knives rushed out from behind concrete rubble, moving in a wave across the sand.
"Goddamn, Lazar..." General Rhys cursed as he pulled his sword from his belt, ready to take a stand.
The Jaden men charged, leaving the harem girls alone in the sand. A haze of death, screams, and bloodshed blurred around them. Cinder kneeled on the ground, huddled with the other women, and wished for the best. Helpless due to the ties around their hands, the women could do nothing but watch the battle around them.
Cinder then saw a man running toward her as she sat on her knees. Briskly, he brandished his knife and ripped through her flimsy restraints. The crippling fear she felt was only an afterthought as she looked up into the man's rich blue eyes. She remembered those eyes.
Oh God, was she delirious?
Had madness completely taken over her mind?
Donte? Donte was here to save them. When she tried to stand, he grabbed her frail arms and pulled her to her feet.
"We need to cut them all loose," he shouted. "Get them out of here now!"
General Rhys and his Jaden army, retreated back into the desert abyss. It was hard for Cinder to believe anyone would save her—save any of them. As the other men hacked free the captured women, she pressed her hand on Donte's sleeve. She honestly didn't know if she could remain standing. A faint darkness threatened to overcome her as a ringing buzzed in her ears.
"You saved me," she said, her voice quiet and grateful. "They were going to kill me. Kill us all."
"You look pretty damned shaken," he replied. "Did they hurt you badly? Are you able to walk?"
She tried to take a step and her legs buckled underneath her. In that exact moment, he reeled her in, close to his chest. The heat of being held so tightly made the skin prickle on her arms and legs. Being bundled like that eased her violent trembling and allowed her to breathe at a normal cadence.
"Cinder, I need to look at these bruises."
Cinder stared in silence as he examined her condition. He examined the gash on her ribs that she somehow got along her torturous adventure.
"Are you in a lot of pain?"
She shook her head.
His nose flared with his deep breaths. "Did they rape you?" he asked calmly, but his expression revealed a hint of anger.
She shook her head. Cinder's heart pounded in her chest, lacking the strength and courage to relive the awful attack. He wasn't listening anyway. His head needed to be calm, not hot with anger.
"Donte, please forget about the bruises."
"Tell me what happened, now." The order was firm and unwavering.
"They lunged at me, grabbed me by my neck, and threw me to the ground. I tried to run away from them, but they caught me and hit me repeatedly. I struggled to fight them. Nico did his best to protect me, but there were too many of them and they overpowered us.”
“Who’s Nico?” Donte asked.
“A man who tried to help me, but… they got him too.”
Donte nodded. “Go on.”
“They choked me, punched me several times, and then things got blurry. I tried to fight as hard as I could, but things went black and…" Tears burned her eyes. "Then more men came..."
Donte kept examining Cinder's body, his fingers tracing along the bruises across her neck, chest, and the wound at her ribcage. The pain in his eyes broke her heart.
"I should have been there."
"Donte, you couldn't have stopped them, and you couldn't have saved Nico. Just get me out of here." She glanced around at all the dead bodies and didn’t want to breathe the air of death any longer.
"I will kill them for what they did to you."
Cinder looked at Donte with tears cascading. "I'm so scared, Donte. I'm terrified of what's to come. What happens now?" Cinder pointed to the distance behind him. "Jaden's army is out there, and they'll keep killing until they take over all the communes. They’re ruthless, and the desert is making them worse."
"We’ll figure it out," Donte whispered. "I am sorry, Cinder. I had no idea this would happen. I would have never allowed this if I had felt your life would be in danger. I thought you and the rest of the harem would be safe by splitting up."
"You had no way of knowing," she mumbled against his chest.
"I should have been here to protect you." Guilt flooded his expression. "To fight alongside this man you speak of, Nico."
Cinder shook her head. "No. I'm glad you weren't there. There were too many of them, and you would have died, just like Nico." She pulled away and stood up, wrapping her arms around her still shaking torso. "But everything happens for a reason, Donte. You’re here now. And right now I need you."
Running footsteps approached as one of Lazar's men flew up and stood before them. "Sir, it's all clear."
"How many dead?" Donte's breath was warm against the side of her face as his embrace remained strong around her small frame.
"Two harem girls and seven men in battle. We killed ten of their men before they ran off like cowards."
"Help these women get dressed and covered," he ordered. "Make sure everyone is taken care of and ready to travel."
He looked at Cinder, scanning her face and body. She couldn't help but feel self-conscious that hair that had once hung in a clean, fragrant curtain around her body now hung in gnarled tangles. "Are you going to be all right for now if I leave you?" he asked.
Cinder nodded weakly, even though she wasn't sure that she would be.
Donte unraveled his arms from around her shoulders and walked to a gr
oup of his men. As one of Donte's men draped her in a light blanket, she glanced at the other women being assisted by some of the men. The only woman who wasn't crying or clinging to someone for comfort was Mistress Tula. Cinder saw her sitting there in her ragged clothing, burying her feet underneath the sand. She'd pick up fistfuls and let the grains of silica sift between the gaps of her fingers. Mistress Tula didn't look relieved as much as merely introspective about the whole situation. She was a woman of few words, but something seemed off.
Cinder crouched at her side. "Are you all right?" she asked.
"I’m not dead," Mistress Tula replied sharply. She pulled at her clothes, her superior dignity returning. "I’m not sure I know how to be afraid anymore."
In front of them, Donte and his militia readied their horses to leave. Mistress Tula only grabbed another handful of sand and eyed it as it streamed down her wrist.
Cinder found some tattered silks and wrapped one around her body. She could have gone and found the clothing that Nico had found for her, but the silk garment of one of the fallen women seemed more fitting now that she was part of the harem once again. "We're safe now," she tried to reassure the Mistress. She stood up and dusted off her knees. "Donte and his men will keep us safe. We can go back to the palace." Her words trailed off when she glanced over at Donte. Some of his men were herding the women and assisting them onto the horses.
"We are not safe. Your naïve optimism will get you killed," she warned. "Do not think for a second that Jaden will let this end with today."
"Maybe they're scared of—"
Mistress Tula didn't even give her a chance to finish. "Cinder, everyone is scared.” Giving a snort, she shook her head. “I guess I do know how to be afraid after all. We would all be fools not to be. But I assure you that Jaden is not through with us. They will return." She then finally trotted off to join the other women preparing to leave.
Cinder, overcome with fear once again, made her way toward Donte. She had to have faith. She had to believe that Donte and his men would keep her safe. She had to, or go mad with the darkest terror she ever knew. As she approached, Donte lifted her onto a horse and handed the reins to her.
"I’ll be walking right beside you, so don’t worry about how to ride," he said as he scanned the group, making sure all were secure and ready. He made eye contact with Cinder and gave a reassuring smile as he patted her leg. Then he gestured with a single wave. "Move out!"
17
The brutal sun baked the skin on their backs as they trekked through the utter ruins of a world squeezed dry. Cinder held her arm at her brow, bathed in sweat, shielding her face from the sun. She locked her eyes on Donte's flapping leather jacket, which was covered in streaks of dried blood. To her, he struck a gut feeling she couldn't quite put into words. Somehow, she just knew everything would be all right.
Donte led the crew, his gleaming sword dangling from his belt. In his hand, he twirled a dagger around between his fingers. Cinder's eyes narrowed in on the way his dark hair rested on his tanned neck. It curled slightly at the ends and shone brightly under the sun's rays. He had several days' worth of facial hair, which only added to his rugged, mysterious allure.
Ever since they’d started the journey, he walked beside her horse, but never said a word. She couldn't take the silence any longer.
"Are we heading back to the Palace of Lazar?"
Donte gurgled water in his mouth, then swallowed. "The palace was captured by Jaden." His words were like a punch to the gut. "We have another commune set up until we build up our forces and take the palace back."
"What about everyone else? The rest of the girls? Are they okay?" She was scared to ask the question. Scared of what the answer might be, but she had to know.
Donte placed the dagger he had been playing with back in its sheath. "Some are. Some lost their lives. We will know more when we all gather at Casen."
"Casen?"
"It’s the commune we’ve been preparing for quite some time. It’s always been our back up plan if something were to happen to the Palace of Lazar. It’s in no way as nice as Lazar, but it will provide us with what we need for now." Donte's eyes gazed at the mottle of violet bruises covering her pale skin, making her self-conscious of her faded beauty. "We’ll be able to provide medical care to those who need it as well as food, water and shelter."
A dry wind blew loose strands of her filthy hair. "Will Jaden come for us there?" Tears filled her eyes.
Donte drifted much closer to her side. "Eventually, I’m sure. But I promise you that if they do, we will be ready this time. Vengeance will be ours."
She gazed at the rough cracked skin on Donte's hands. "Are we at war? I remember hearing stories as a child… of great wars with no winners."
"There will be a winner in this one." His voice, so low and cool in tone, sent a shiver through her body.
"I'm scared." She couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Her cherished palace was gone and she was no more than a desert nomad, walking the wasted dunes, one day at a time.
Again.
Her fairytale no more.
Or did she ever truly have the fairytale?
Her dream had been shattered and now, with the thought of war, her nightmare of an existence had returned. She didn't want to live the life of her childhood again. Small, overcrowded communes infested with plague, hunger and hate—Briar was just one of many.
Donte's fingers curled tight on Cinder's fragile leg, and he looked up into her teary eyes when she flinched at his touch. "I’ll make sure you are protected from this point on. I know you have been through a lot. More than I know, I'm sure, and more than I want to know. But I will never let you feel that fear again. Do you hear me?"
"You won't send us away like before?"
"No. Never again."
Cinder nodded, her lips slightly parted. No one had ever told her she mattered before. Even in Donte's cold roundabout way, he had made her feel special. She believed that he truly would try to keep her safe. Foolish maybe, to have such faith in someone, but what choice did she really have? Women of the communes didn't have many choices. She had learned that at a very early age.
Living at the palace gave her a life she’d never imagined. Silks, satins, jewels and luxury filled her days. Food and water were never a want, and comfort was never a need. The Palace of Lazar was her heaven. She cried harder at the thought of it all being gone.
Donte effortlessly hopped on the back of her horse without even having the horse stop. He wrapped his arms around her. "You’ll be safe again. I’ll make sure of it. Dry those tears," he soothed softly in her ear.
She nodded her head and sniffled back her tears to the best of her ability. His embrace gave her the strength she needed. "Thank you. I'm sorry for being such a burden. I know you need us all to be strong."
He stroked her matted hair. "You are strong, Cinder. You are much stronger than you know. There is no shame in being afraid." He tightened his grip around her. "Press back against me and rest."
She leaned back against his weight and wondered how much longer they'd travel before reaching Casen. Intense exhaustion throbbed deep in her lower back. By comparison, Donte didn't seem an ounce uncomfortable after marching beside the horse for nearly five hours.
Her lips parched, she felt sick to her stomach, battered and browbeaten by the sun. Drops of sweat ran down her arms. Her vision clouded and the ringing in her ears escalated, all the signs warning her that she was about to faint.
As if he, too, saw the warning signs, Donte put a flask of water to her lips. The cooling burn of water moistened her mouth. Cinder coughed into her fist.
"Donte," she rasped. "You don't need to waste your water on me."
"Shh… How are you feeling?"
"My throat... it's so tight."
He ever so gently held the back of Cinder's head. Her hair waterfalled through his big meaty fingers. "Drink up," he told her.
Cinder struggled to lift her arms and sip from Donte's flask. Th
e lukewarm liquid shot down and stung her throat.
She stared up, relaxed in Donte's arms. Her hair swung in a tangled disarray, her clothes were in tatters, but she felt safe. Safely wrapped in Donte's embrace on a horse in a war-torn desert.
He looked at the sky, squinted up ahead, and then back at the sky again. "We’ll need to stop and hole up here for a while. You’ll have to bundle up. A sandstorm is coming."
"But what about Jaden? What if they catch up to us?"
"Jaden's army will not find us here. When I said I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you, I meant it."
She breathed deeply, her small waifish body contorted in Donte's grasp. He dismounted from the horse, carrying Cinder through the crowd of soldiers and women. He gave the commands to his men, and his militia dropped their weapons and belongings, ready to set up a temporary shelter. They all saw to the rest of the women as if each girl had been assigned to them.
Dense layers of sand blew in the air. Looking out at the huddled masses, Cinder saw that each of them wore something wrapped around their faces. They hunkered down in the dead center of a sandstorm. Inhaling sand at this speed would scrape like gravel along the lining of your lungs, or suffocate you in your sleep. Blasting wind this high in the dunes would keep anyone—Jaden army or not—at bay. Cinder sat next to Donte, awaiting the storm.
"We’ll return to Lazar," he said, and drew a picture in the sand with his dagger as they sat and waited for the storm to fully hit.
Cinder glanced down at the drawing of a palace with sun rays bouncing out of its borders. "The Palace of Lazar," she replied. "It was the only true home I knew."
Seconds later, the drawing vanished, blown away by the wind as the gusts picked up speed. The storm had reached them.
Donte pressed his body protectively against hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "The storm will hopefully pass soon. Close your eyes and press your face against my chest."
She did as he ordered. The smell of leather from his clothing, and the essence of his body titillated her senses. The sand beat against her frame as Donte tried to pull her into him even closer. The noise of blowing wind conquered any sound. She couldn't even hear the horses that circled all the men and women, providing at least some minimal protection.
