by Dagny Aldan
“Yes Grand Duke,” Isabel whispered, her voice sounded hoarse and dreamy. Jingyi looked up at Luke in alarm. What had Ahmed done to her? Luke gave short shake of his head when Ahmed reached down to pull Isabel’s hair back with a clip. She had finger-marks on her neck too, like he had strangled her. Jingyi knew plenty of the heirs enjoyed breath play, but the bruises made her shiver.
“Cold Jingyi?” asked Luke.
“Just a little Duke Luke, there’s a draft,” said Jingyi calmly. Luke nodded, then he and Ahmed led the two women outside. Jingyi rose to her feet once she was over the threshold, but Isabel seemed to struggle for a moment. At first Jingyi thought she was just stiff but then noticed the skittish way she moved her head, as if she expected to be told off if she straightened up. Wanting to help, Jingyi reached out and took Isabel’s elbow. Isabel jumped in alarm, then looked at Jingyi with slightly wild eyes. Jingyi smiled reassuringly at her, and when neither Ahmed nor Luke said anything, Isabel relaxed and straightened up.
In the sunlight her marks stood out even more.
“Let’s go,” said Ahmed, and he and Luke started walking down the path that would lead them on a trek through the trees. Jingyi and Isabel followed, Isabel hurrying to stay close. Luke turned as she came up right behind them,
“Isabel, Ahmed and I want to talk, and you shall talk with Jingyi. You don’t need to be on top of us.”
“I’m sorry Duke Luke,” said Isabel, backing up and looking worried. Jingyi drew level with her and took her arm again, linking their elbows.
“Like this Isabel,” she said gently, glancing at Ahmed and Luke. Ahmed looked oddly annoyed but Luke nodded in approval. Jingyi waited until the men had walked a few steps ahead and then looked at Isabel, who was watching Ahmed go with a panicked expression. Jingyi rested her free hand on Isabel’s forearm and gave it a little squeeze. Isabel turned that anxious look to her and Jingyi smiled at her,
“How are you Isabel? I heard you weren’t well.”
Isabel smiled dreamily,
“I’m better now, thank you. Sir… Grand Duke Ahmed is making me better.”
Jingyi glanced once more at the bruises on her skin, and wondered if intense sessions were really what Isabel needed. Jingyi knew better than to assume the worst in their world, since BDSM did involve a lot of bruising and marks, but this seemed extreme, even for the Grand Duke.
“So you haven’t had any more panic attacks?”
Isabel’s smile vanished and she stiffened against Jingyi,
“I… I’ve not been able to stop a few from happening. I’ve tried, but… well, Grand Duke Ahmed is patient with me.”
Why did a chill just go through Jingyi?
“That –that’s good. Benjamin was very worried about you.”
Isabel’s throat bobbed as she looked at Jingyi, confusion in her eyes.
“Why? It was my fault. I was not strong enough to control myself.”
“What? No, a panic attack isn’t your fault.”
“I’ve been dealing with them since we were in school, I should be able to control them by now.”
Jingyi stared at Isabel in disbelief, but Isabel looked away and stared at Ahmed, as if she was afraid he would disappear if she looked away for too long. Jingyi let her hand fall away from Isabel’s forearm, but kept their elbows linked.
“Isabel, were we really so horrible to you?”
Isabel didn’t seem to hear her for a moment, then her head snapped around to face Jingyi again.
“What?”
“Were we so horrible to you in school, that the idea of being around us upsets you so much?”
Isabel’s eyebrows contracted and her eyes darted over Jingyi’s face, as if trying to read her face. Jingyi waited for her to speak, faintly hearing Luke and Ahmed’s voices as they talked ahead of them.
“You weren’t horrible to me,” Isabel whispered, her voice so low that Jingyi nearly missed it. “You were nice.”
Jingyi’s throat tightened at the sad way she said it.
“But the others were?”
“I… sometimes,” Isabel admitted.
“Like Rawiya?”
Isabel nodded,
“I knew I was the worst in the class, I knew I wasn’t as smart, or pretty, and I didn’t have any special skills. I’m just… me.”
“What’s wrong with that?” asked Jingyi.
“I’m not enough,” said Isabel, now staring after Ahmed again. “I’ve never been enough.”
“Enough to what?” asked Jingyi, utterly baffled by the despondent tone.
“To be anything. A daughter, a pupil, a monarch. I thought, I thought maybe the military could make me useful, could reshape me into someone of worth. It didn’t work, I didn’t try hard enough.”
Jingyi stopped walking, their linked arms forcing Isabel to stumble to a halt.
“Isabel, there’s nothing wrong with you!” she said fiercely. She didn’t bother to add ‘Aside from a lack of confidence’ because that would help no one. She heard Luke and Ahmed stop ahead of them and knew they were listening. Isabel looked panicked at her tone of voice, throwing the two men terrified looks. Not wanting to trigger another panic attack, Jingyi softened her voice and took Isabel’s hand.
“There’s nothing wrong with you Isabel,” she said again. “And if you’re worried about not being smart enough for the role, well, so am I, and so are the others. That’s why we’re here. We’re terrified of not being good enough.”
Isabel shook her head,
“You all can learn, you have been learning, while I was failing. How can I catch up now? I can’t even think about the future without wanting to be sick. I’ve begged Sir to remake me, and he’s trying, but there’s so much that needs work… what if he gets sick of me?” Isabel started to shake, and her eyes started to dart around again, “I fucked up Jingyi! I fucked everything up. I should never have signed on, they died because of me.”
Jingyi didn’t know what to say, but before she could even make a noise, a twig snapped and Isabel looked around, half crouching protectively.
“What was that?” she yelped.
“Nothing, just a twig,” said Jingyi as soothingly as she could. She did not know what to do, except try to sound as reassuring as possible. Isabel did not relax, but she did push Jingyi behind her protectively.
“I can hear something,” she hissed, still looking at the trees. Her hands flexed at her sides, her shoulders were tight, she looked like she was about to spring forward like a leopard. Jingyi looked to Ahmed and Luke, who were watching them with shrewd expressions. Jingyi felt this was a test for her as much as a chance for Isabel to get to spend time with another heir. Jingyi really didn’t think this was the time for such a test, Isabel seemed on her way to another attack.
“Isabel, there’s nothing out there. You’re safe with us, you’re in the Dukedom.” Jingyi gently touched Isabel’s shoulder, but Isabel grabbed her wrist and twisted it sharply, whirling around with her teeth bared.
“Isabel, drop!” shouted Ahmed. Isabel froze, then dropped to the ground like a puppet whose strings had just been cut. Jingyi, frightened that something had actually hit Isabel, dropped to her knees beside her. Isabel lay perfectly still as Ahmed and Luke strode back to them. Ahmed grabbed Isabel’s arm and dragged her over to a nearby log, pitching her over it belly down so her ass was in the air. Jingyi covered her mouth with her hands as Ahmed pulled a short paddle out from his pocket and started spanking Isabel with quick, hard strikes.
Isabel let out miserable cries with each strike and Jingyi covered her ears, something she had never done before. To her surprise, Luke crouched next to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest. Surprised but relieved, Jingyi buried her face in his shirt, trying to block out the sound of Isabel’s misery.
Finally, it stopped and Jingyi heard Ahmed say,
“I told you violence will not be tolerated!”
“I’m so –sorry!” Isabel sobbed, “I didn’t mean to.�
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“What good does that do me?” Ahmed demanded. Jingyi had never heard him so angry. Luke let her go and he straightened up, striding over to Ahmed.
“I think she’s learnt her lesson my friend,” he said in as passive a voice as she had ever heard. Jingyi even thought he sounded a little afraid, but that was ridiculous. Why would Duke Luke be afraid of Grand Duke Ahmed? She watched as Ahmed glared at Luke, then slowly lowered the paddle and put it back in his pocket. He pulled Isabel off the log and turned her to face them. Isabel looked shaken and cowed, tears on her cheeks and her breathing ragged. She sank to her knees and gripped Ahmed’s belt,
“Forgive me sir, forgive me!” she begged. Ahmed stared down at her, and Jingyi thought there was contempt in his gaze.
“We’ll discuss this later.”
Jingyi gaped at the Grand Duke in shock. Was Ahmed really going to deny Isabel forgiveness when she was so distraught? Luke too seemed stunned. Isabel recoiled and prostrated herself at his feet.
“Yes sir,” she whimpered. Ahmed regarded her for a moment, then relaxed and crouched down, taking Isabel’s shoulders and pulling her back to her feet. Isabel’s face was pale and damp, she looked up at Ahmed desperately,
“I’m sorry, I just thought-”
“You are with me. Do you really think I’d let you come to any harm?”
“N-no,” Isabel stammered, “But I heard-”
“You heard a twig snapping, probably from a wild animal,” said Ahmed, his hands coming up and clasping her head. “Now, either you trust me, or you don’t.”
“I do, sir, I love you.”
There was a long moment where no one moved, no one even took a breath. Jingyi’s eyes darted from Isabel and Ahmed to Luke, who looked appalled. Isabel seemed unaware of anything but Ahmed’s face, while Ahmed himself looked stunned. Then he said in a low voice,
“Luke, take Jingyi back to the house.”
“Are you-”
“Do it!” Ahmed snapped, not breaking his gaze from Isabel’s. Jingyi felt Luke take her arm and she let him tug her away. They moved in silence, but as they left the two further behind Jingyi started to worry. Ahmed had looked so angry only moments before and Isabel had broken all sorts of rules by saying that. It had never been explicitly stated that love was not allowed, but no slave had ever doubted that the relationships built here were not meant to be romantic.
What would Ahmed do to Isabel out there, alone with her? Jingyi couldn’t imagine Isabel being able to take any more punishment. She was basically a walking bruise.
A cry rent the air and both of them froze, looking back. The sound had been impossible to interpret. Jingyi looked at Luke with open anxiety on her face.
“Duke Luke?”
Luke looked at her, saw her expression, and touched her shoulder gently,
“I know how it looks, but Isabel’s tough and Ahmed would never do anything to really harm her.”
Jingyi nodded, though she didn’t feel that was true. Yet there was something else that was bothering her,
“Isabel said someone was dead. That it was her fault. Is that from her time in the military?”
Luke frowned,
“She said someone was dead? Who?”
“She didn’t say, she said that, that she fucked up, and that people died because of her.”
Another cry, this one a little less ambiguous, made them both look around. Luke’s frown deepened, as did Jingyi’s confusion. It didn’t sound like Ahmed was punishing Isabel for her declaration.
“Nothing about that girl adds up,” said Luke, almost to himself. Jingyi had to agree.
Chapter Twenty-Four –Lena
Lena was sipping her third glass of wine when Luke barged into her rooms.
“What happened in the Caliphate?” he demanded. Lena managed not to jump at his arrival, calmly setting her glass down and looking at him placidly.
“What do you mean Luke?” she asked. Two spots of colour had appeared high on Luke’s cheeks, but the rest of his face was very pale.
“Isabel! What happened to her in the Caliphate? I read her record, there’s no mention of people dying.”
“Because there isn’t anything like that to record,” said Lena, now perplexed.
“Then why did she just tell Jingyi that someone is dead because of her?”
“I have no idea,” said Lena truthfully, reaching for her tablet automatically. “I can show you mine, but they aren’t any different to what you’d already read.”
“Then what is she talking about? Why don’t her records show any sign of panic attacks in her history? How did no one notice that she was clearly in need of medical treatment?”
Lena scoffed, “That’s a bit much, don’t you think? She’s anxious and easily stressed, but that doesn’t mean-”
“She just told Ahmed she’s in love with him right in front of Jingyi and me!” barked Luke. Lena’s stomach dropped in shock and she sat up,
“What? That’s… that’s ridiculous! She was only in love with Hans a few months ago.”
“That’s what I was thinking, and I’m starting to wonder what she might have said if she had managed to reach Sander and Adrian instead of being seduced by Hans.”
“You think she might have said it to them as well?” asked Lena, folding her arms across her chest.
“I’m starting to think Isabel will say it to anyone who asserts some attention and dominance over her. It’s not healthy, and Ahmed did not correct her. In fact from the sounds I heard on my way back here, I’m certain he’s fucking her against a tree right now.”
Lena picked up her wine glass for something to do with her hands, trying to process this odd behaviour. She sipped at the wine before she said,
“You know, I didn’t get Isabel’s records myself, Ahmed gave them to me.”
“Her military records?”
“Yes, normally I’d get them myself, but he had everything all ready for me.”
Luke paced around the space and dropped into the armchair across from her.
“Are you suggesting that Ahmed could have altered her records?”
Lena tilted her head to the side, considering the question,
“I can only tell you that he was heavily invested in getting her here and there’s nothing in her records that can account for her extreme anxiety and if she’s claiming something went wrong on a mission…”
“We need to get into her records ourselves, find out whether Ahmed changed anything,” said Luke reluctantly.
“Do you really think he would?”
Luke shook his head, pushing his fingers through his hair,
“I’d never even consider it before now, but his behaviour around Isabel is starting to worry me. I still consider every slave here under my care and I cannot let anything interfere with that duty, not even my longstanding friendship with Ahmed.”
Lena had to admit she could respect that kind of dedication. She finished her wine and stood up.
“What do you need me to do?”
Luke looked at her in surprise,
“You’re going to help me?”
“Of course, why not?”
“Because you didn’t do anything about these warnings before,” Luke snapped, “Because you’ve always been more interesting in climbing the ladder than caring for your charges.”
The words stung, and Lena folded her arms across her chest,
“Maybe so, but the fact is Ahmed basically dropped me when I stopped being useful. If I can’t interact with the slaves, I’ve nothing to do. I bet Ahmed would have fired me if it weren’t for the fact that I know too much.”
“So you’re doing this for revenge.”
Lena shrugged,
“Why not?”
Luke looked disgusted by her, but he eventually nodded,
“Fine. Let’s go, we need to get into the main database.”
“You’ll need Ahmed’s passwords,” said Lena. Luke grimaced,
“Damn. You’re right.” Then he not
iced Lena’s expression, and narrowed his eyes, “You already have them, don’t you?”
Lena smiled and waggled her tablet at him.
“Like I said, I know too much.”
✽✽✽
Getting into the database with Ahmed’s credentials was an easy thing, the trick would be to ensure that they left no trace. Rather than waste time reading Isabel’s records on the database, Lena copied the information and logged out again. Then she set about opening the data on a different program that would not trigger the database if the data was tracked.
It was unformatted, but they were able to find the details of Isabel’s military career. There was her pseudonym, Liza Hanson, and the information about her training. It was not what either had expected.
“They tried to drum her out –look at her initial test results, they were awful,” said Lena in disbelief. “Why did she stay?”
“Because she wanted to be remoulded,” said Luke in disgust. “And it worked, look, she starts improving after the fifth month. Faster running times, longer endurance, it’s all there.”
“She’s got several commendations too,” said Lena in surprise. Those had definitely not been in the report she had read. “I thought she was an average solider, but it looks like she was a very good one.”
“Why hide her achievements?” asked Luke in disbelief. Lena hummed thoughtfully, she was already guessing why, but Luke wouldn’t like it.
“What?” Luke demanded.
“Well, if you knew Isabel was prone to under confidence and self-doubt and you wanted that to continue, it would be a smart move to make it look like she hadn’t been a very good one. It meant her parents and I didn’t take her choice seriously.”
“You gas lit her,” said Luke darkly. “You were unaware you were doing it, but that’s what you did. You undermined her choices and if something happened to her while she was serving, that would mean she felt the trauma was also unimportant.”
“So it would seem,” said Lena frowning. She didn’t mind manipulating others, but she did not like being the one manipulated. “The question is, why? What exactly is going on here? Is Ahmed trying to set himself up as a king with Isabel? That seems… very unlike him. He likes being in charge of the Dukedom, but he’s always kept to the shadows otherwise. Being king is too… public for him.”
