Given to the Savage

by Natasha Knight

  “As good as new almost,” he said. “See?”

  Rowan looked at the fading mark. He’d have a scar for sure but he seemed to wear it like a badge of honor.

  “Shouldn’t you be at school by the way?” she asked, eyeing his bag.

  Charlie rolled his eyes. “Yes… mom needs to go in with me. My teacher wants to see her.”

  Rowan smiled and teasingly narrowed her eyes. “What happened?”

  “Just a prank. Some grownups have no sense of humor!”

  “Charlie,” Joe Lynn called when she came outside. She stopped short when she saw Rowan but quickly recovered herself and walked toward them.

  “Hello,” Rowan said, still unsure where she stood with the woman.

  Joe Lynn nodded but Rowan could see it was a struggle to meet her eyes. “That tea you made sure helped my boy,” Joe Lynn said, forcing herself to look at Rowan. “I thank you for that.”

  “He looks like he’s healing nicely.”

  Joe Lynn looked at Charlie and ruffled his hair. “Oh, I think he’s back to his usual self. Have a meeting with his teacher right now in fact!” she said, trying to sound stern even though her affection for her son was clear to Rowan.

  “It was just a prank,” Charlie mumbled before moving to pick up his bag.

  Joe Lynn glanced at the bunch of flowers in Rowan’s hand. “Is Kara here? I wanted to give her these and apologize for snapping at her the other day. I wasn’t feeling well and I think I hurt her feelings.”

  “She’s very sensitive these days,” Joe Lynn confided. “Hormones, I think. She’s inside.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Let’s go, Charlie. We don’t want to add tardy to your list of offenses, do we?” she teased again, but before walking off, she turned back to Rowan. “Um, you’re welcome in my home anytime and if you ever need anything…”

  Rowan smiled even as her eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

  Joe Lynn nodded and turned away looking almost embarrassed. Rowan walked to the front door and knocked. It was a moment later when Kara opened the door.

  “Hey,” she said finally.

  Rowan held up the flowers. “I’m sorry for how I snapped at you the other day. I won’t make excuses but I’m just sorry that I hurt your feelings, Kara.”

  Kara looked at the bunch of colorful wild flowers and after a moment, smiled up at her. “It’s ok. Want to have a cup of tea?”

  * * *

  “When I have proof that the breeder is with child, then you’ll get to talk to the boy,” Commander Norrin said, barely looking into the camera.

  Silas’ eyes narrowed and his heart rate picked up. “That wasn’t the deal. I agreed to try. I can’t help it if she’s not pregnant yet.”

  “Maybe you need to try harder,” came the commander’s reply. Silas suddenly had his full attention, his face harder than Silas had seen it before. “I honestly thought we’d have had some results by now, Silas. Are you even sure you’re trying? I thought a great big man such as you would surely…”

  But Silas cut him off. He wasn’t interested in the offensive comment. “I want to see my son,” Silas said, taking the time to enunciate each word. It took all he had not to say more.

  “Get me evidence that she’s pregnant and I’ll be happy to show him to you. If I need to send my men to pick you both up, I can do that. Perhaps it would be easier for everyone if you were both here. If our doctors helped you along. Of course, the village might suffer. And your son, well… he hardly eats as it is they tell me…”

  “If you hurt him…”

  “I will do what I need to do to!” Commander Norrin shouted, slapping his hand down on the desk so hard that Silas heard it rattle the room. “You have one more month.”

  Silas vowed revenge but for now, he knew his hands were tied. If he at least knew where his son was being kept, he could physically go to him, but he didn’t. Commander Norrin kept that knowledge very well hidden. Even his informants in the colonies knew nothing of the whereabouts of the child.

  “She’s not been bred before. How can you be sure she can bear children?”

  “Our testing is thorough,” the commander said, sounding angry at being questioned. “You just do your part and quickly. I’m sending another test. If it’s not positive, there will be consequences.”

  “If you touch my son…”

  “Goodbye, Silas.”

  With that, Commander Norrin disconnected and Silas slammed his fist into a wall. He packed up his things and, without a word to the others who sat in the outer room, he left the hall and headed to the clinic to pick Rowan up. He’d fuck her for the next twenty-four hours straight if he had to in order to get her pregnant. But when he arrived at the clinic, Dr. Stone explained that she was upset about Kara and had left to see her almost as quickly as he had dropped her off.

  “And you allowed her to simply go?” Silas asked.

  “I’m expecting them both back any minute. Besides, she’s not my prisoner and I saw no harm in it. She won’t leave the village and I didn’t like to see her so alone all the time,” the doctor explained. “I have patients, Silas. She’s most likely at Kara’s house.”

  Silas wished he could tell his friend about his son, about his recent call and Commander Norrin’s threat, but he couldn’t. Instead, he turned and walked out the door and went to Kara’s house. But when he found it empty, he switched on his tablet in order to search for Kara, grateful for the tattoo she was marked with. He was surprised when he saw that the coordinates led directly to his own house.

  “Rowan? Kara?” he called out when he entered a few minutes later.

  “Out here!” Kara called out. “Help me, Silas!”

  Silas ran out the back door to find Rowan lying on the ground clutching her belly, curled up into a tight ball. She wasn’t speaking, but a constant moaning came from her as she rocked in obvious pain.

  “What happened?” Silas asked, suddenly frantic as he turned her onto her back.

  “I don’t know. She needed to pick something up before going back to the clinic but before we even got here, she was having some pain. It was worse than before, I could see that, but I didn’t expect this!”

  “Go get the doctor. Fast!”

  Kara ran while Silas lifted Rowan in his arms and carried her inside. “Rowan? Can you hear me?”

  That continuous moaning was her only response.

  “What’s happening, Rowan? Did you eat something? Look at me, don’t close your eyes.” She was slipping away, he could see it as her eyes rolled back and she stopped clutching, her body relaxing. Silas shook her. “Fuck! Rowan, look at me. Look at me, damn it!”

  “What’s going on?” Dr. Stone asked, rushing in.

  Kara came running behind him.

  “She’s nearly unconscious! She was clutching her belly as if she were in severe pain.”

  “Get her some water. Let me have a look at her. Kara, do you know anything? Did she take anything?” he asked.

  “What are you talking about? What would she take?” Silas asked.

  Dr. Stone’s expression showed he was holding something back. “The herbs. I don’t know half as much as she does, Silas.”

  “What the hell are you saying? She did this to herself?”

  Silas looked from the doctor to Kara who now sat at the head of the bed, wiping the sweat from Rowan’s forehead.

  “She’s burning up!” Kara said, tears in her eyes.

  “I can’t give her anything if I don’t know what she’s taken.”

  Kara’s worried expression went from Dr. Stone to him and back to Rowan who now lay completely still, her face flushed, her eyes closed. Silas looked at her. There was something Kara knew that she wasn’t telling.

  “Kara,” Silas said, “do you know what she’s taken?” He tried to keep his voice calm and level.

  Kara turned tear-filled eyes up to him.

  “If you know, you need to tell us now,” he said, forcing himself t
o speak softly to not scare the girl.

  “We need to get her fever down but I can’t give her anything until I know what, if anything, she’s taken,” the doctor said when Kara wouldn’t speak.

  “Kara. God damn it, this is serious. If something happens to her…”

  Tears fell down the girl’s face and she looked at Rowan as if she were torn.

  “Please, tell us if you know anything. You won’t be in trouble. We only want to help her,” Dr. Stone said.

  “Outside. The selenium. She’s been growing it. I didn’t know what it was but saw her making her tea with it a few times and she wouldn’t give it to me ever. I was curious and so I looked it up in Freya’s old books.”

  “What the hell is selenium?” Silas asked.

  Dr. Stone’s face grew even more worried. “It’s been used as a contraceptive in the past,” he said, dragging his eyes to Silas. “But too much and it acts as a slow poison.”

  Silas sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Rowan who shivered and convulsed now, her lips pale while the rest of her was burning up.

  “Kara, go to the clinic and ask the nurse to give you my emergency kit. Bring it as fast as you can.” As he said it, he filled a syringe with a clear fluid. “We need her to wake up to tell us how much she took so I know how much damage has been done. Turn her over and hold her still. This should help get her fever down until we can get the poison out of her.”

  Silas turned her and the doctor raised Rowan’s dress, pricking her hip with the needle. Rowan’s body tensed and Silas held her tight while he pushed the medicine into her. Kara in the meantime ran out the door. Once the injection was given, Silas tore Rowan’s dress off and lifted her, carrying her into the bathroom.

  “Silas, what in hell are you doing?” the doctor asked.

  “I’m waking her up,” he said angrily, disappearing into the bathroom where he set her in the tub and turned on the cold water. Her eyelids flew open when the cold rushed her and she grabbed hold of Silas’ arm, mumbling something, trying to climb out of the tub but too weak to.

  “Shh,” Silas said, holding her down. “You’re sick, Rowan. You need to wake up.”

  “It’s cold,” she managed, her eyes closing again, the initial fight at the cold going out of her too quickly.

  “How much did you take? How long have you been poisoning yourself?” Silas asked, cradling her head as she clutched his arm.

  But instead of answering, she convulsed with pain, doubling over with it.

  “Rowan, tell me how much you took,” he asked, surprised to hear the panic in his voice. “You have to tell me how much so we can help you!”

  She opened her eyes again and looked up at him, the usually sparkling, bright green looking dull and clouded now. “You don’t want to help me,” she muttered, the effort seeming to take every ounce of energy from her.

  “Silas,” Dr. Stone said from behind him. “Take her out of the tub now. Dry her off and lay her down on the bed.”

  Silas turned to find the doctor standing there with Kara staring wide-eyed.

  “She’s going to tell us how much she took,” Silas said through clenched teeth, opposing emotions warring within him: guilt, anger, and most prominently, fear at what might happen to her.

  “Screw you,” Rowan managed.

  “Maybe it’s best if you leave her with me. She’s awake now, obviously,” Dr. Stone said.

  “Not a chance. Get me a towel.” Silas lifted her to stand but had to support her as her knees simply buckled beneath her. After wrapping her in a towel, he carried her back to the bed where as soon as he lay her down, she doubled over, her face contorting in pain.

  “It hurts,” she moaned, tears coming from her tightly closed eyes.

  “Rowan,” Dr. Stone said, sitting down beside her. “I can give you medicine to counter the effect but I need to know for how long you’ve been using the selenium and how much you think you’ve taken.”

  She made a sound but wasn’t able to speak.

  “The medicine will help but I need to know how much to give you.”

  “She drank it every day, two, three times a day,” Kara volunteered from against the wall.

  The doctor nodded and Silas watched Rowan’s face.

  “Thank you, Kara. Why don’t you go wait outside.”

  She nodded, her eyes still on Rowan. “I’m sorry, Rowan. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

  Silas saw Rowan squeeze her eyes harder as Kara said it.

  Once Kara was gone, the doctor opened his kit and took out some things. “Lay her on her belly. She won’t like this but there’s no way around it. It’s the fastest way to clear her system.”

  “I’ll hold her down, do what you need to do.”

  “Let me go, please just leave me alone,” Rowan said, her eyes half closed, her attempts to free herself weak. “Just let me die.”

  Silas looked at her, understanding for the first time her desperation. “No. I won’t let you die,” he said. “No.” He shook his head.

  Dr. Stone stood silent, watching him with concern in his eyes. Silas turned her as gently as he could and put the flat of his hand against her low back. He watched while the doctor unwrapped a large white tablet. As soon as his hands were on her bottom, she clenched tight. Dr. Stone only had to look once at Silas before Silas patted her bottom twice.

  “Open, Rowan.”

  She clenched tighter and buried her face into the blanket. Without a word, Silas turned her onto her side and pulled her knees up, then nodded to the doctor who spread her bottom cheeks apart and pushed the long, thick tablet into her anus. Rowan groaned with the pain of its entry but Silas’ hold on her wouldn’t let her move even an inch.

  “There,” he said. “Rowan, I know it doesn’t feel good but please don’t push it out. Lie here and let it work, you’ll feel better by tonight.”

  “If you try to push out, I’ll plug you,” Silas warned.

  She didn’t react but when Silas released her, she simply lay still, quietly crying.

  “What now?” Silas asked.

  “Now we wait. If she had only taken a few doses of the selenium, it would have naturally left her system daily. But two or three times a day?” The doctor shook his head. “That’s when it binds onto itself and slowly turns into a poison. If she was in so much pain, it means it had overpowered her natural defenses and was being absorbed. The good news is, it’s a slow process, the body naturally rejects it. The drug I gave her is powerful, it will essentially collect and draw the poison into her bowels. She won’t be comfortable while it’s doing its work but by tonight, we’ll be able to clear her system. I’ll be back with the enema kit in a few hours.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Silas said.

  Dr. Stone packed up his things and prepared to leave but at the door, he turned back to look at Silas.

  “Go easy on her,” he said. “She’s obviously terrified of getting pregnant if she’s willing to go to such lengths to prevent it.”

  “I’ll wait to punish her until she’s recovered,” Silas said.

  “Silas, I don’t know that punishing her…”

  “I appreciate your concern, doctor, but she’s my responsibility and I’ll be the one to decide whether or not and how she is punished.”

  * * *

  Rowan woke some time later feeling more like herself. She wasn’t sweating any more although she was still warm, and the pain was much less severe. She kept her eyes closed pretending to sleep when she felt Silas sit down on the bed beside her. Her back was to him and he gently covered her with a blanket before brushing her hair away from her face.

  “So desperate not to go back you’d rather stay here and put up with me.”

  She could almost see him shaking his head but she remained silent.

  “You gave me a scare, Hellcat.”

  “Why do you keep calling me that?” she asked. At least when he called her Hellcat, she knew he wasn’t angry with her.

  “Becau
se that’s what you are, a beautiful creature sent from hell to torment me.”

  She looked up at him.

  “Is the pain better?”

  “What do you care?”

  “I do care. I just didn’t expect to, that’s all,” he said. “Look at me.”

  She turned onto her back without arguing.

  “Rowan, I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you. I just thought it would be easier when it was time to send you back.”

  “Silas, the commander is a cruel man. Have you considered that he might be lying to you about your son?”

  His expression was one of torment. He was struggling, it was perhaps more obvious than he intended it to be.

  “Yes, I’ve considered that but if there’s the slightest hope, I have to try. If I knew where he was being held, I would go myself and get him.”

  Someone knocked at the door. They both turned to find Dr. Stone and a nurse walking inside carrying some equipment. Rowan’s eyes grew large when she recognized what the woman held and she sat up on the bed, hugging the blanket tight to her.

  “You look better already, Rowan,” Dr. Stone said to her, then turned to Silas. “I have the kit. I’ll just take her temperature and see if she’s ready to be cleaned out yet. The solution will have raised her body temperature a bit but if it stays in too long or is overheated, it too becomes toxic.”

  The still too fresh memory of her last medical exam sent her panicking to the farthest edge of the bed. “No. You can’t… no!” As she said it, she felt a cramp although it was not half as severe as what she had been feeling. “No more doctors or nurses.”

  Silas looked at her. “Rowan, you have to. Once it’s over, it’s over.”

  Rowan wrapped her hands around the headboard, once again knowing she was powerless, that he would force her to bear this humiliation if she refused and still unable to comply.

  “Set it up, nurse,” Silas said.

  “Please,” Rowan muttered when the woman approached. “I don’t want to.”

  “It will turn toxic,” Dr. Stone said. “I’m sorry but you have to take this,” he continued. “It will be over within half an hour.”