by JK Ensley
“Perhaps,” he grumbled. “I shall have to make her pay for that, and soon.”
Jenevier watched as his cold eyes focused on her, on his carnal desires for her. She tried to draw his mind away from the horrible intentions she saw clearly within his thoughts.
“Has the light gone out, Sire? Does the sun no longer shine upon your heart? I know it does. The man I’ve lived with these past many months has a heart as gentle as my own.”
His eyes glassed over with tears, matching hers. She prayed, hoped against hope, wagered contrary to reality. Her words had to get through to the Musashi she knew, the man she had come to count as her dear friend, a heartfelt, lifelong companion.
After the first few weeks had passed since her arrival, shock and anger were replaced with gratitude and forgiveness. Accepting her Fate was the most liberating feeling she had ever known. These extraordinary people, this unlikely world, this was her home now. No matter how she got here. No matter the original intent. She loved it, the daylight and the dark. Jinn was where she wanted to raise her sons. The ninth layer was the only place now capable of filling her heart. This realm, the whole of it, was her normal… finally.
His dream has come true. Musashi was right. What he offered me my first night here is finally a reality. Jinn is my paradise. The surreal thought rocked her soul, clashed with her current reality. Please, Musashi. Don’t do this. Not now. I was just starting to believe in happiness again.
Those sorrowful words remained in her head, but he read them clearly within her sad, terrified eyes. He pulled her hard against him, hugged her as if it were the very last time.
She felt the desperation in his trembling touch, smelled the fear and pain on his clammy flesh.
“Why could you not just love me?” he whispered into her hair. “Why couldn’t I be the one to own your heart? I only asked for a piece of it. I never demanded the whole thing. I could have made you so happy, Jenevier. If you had only kissed me, just once. If you had accepted even the tiniest piece of me, this would never have had to happen.” His voice was small, pleading. “I never wanted this, never. It goes completely against my dreams for you. Now… I have no choice.”
“But you do own a piece of my heart, sweet Ronin. I know not whether you stole it or I gave it to you freely. But you live within me, all the same.”
She heard his sharp intake of breath. His grip tightened around her, strengthened by her glorious declaration.
“Then, that’s it. It’s settled,” he whispered. “I have no other choice. Your sweet confession has solidified my resolve. I must do this… because of love.”
Then, almost as quickly as he had softened toward her, he stiffened. The Emperor ignored her desperate words, acted as if he hadn’t heard the lie they held.
“I have watched you closely, Angel,” he said. “I know what you could once do, but no longer. Tell me. Have your wings returned to you?”
Jenevier could not answer. Her blood was running as ice through her veins. The bitter chill in his lavender eyes caused her to tremble.
“I will take your silence as proof of what I already know to be true. Did you honestly think you could ever leave me? You gave ill counsel to your young friends. Because of you, I will lose a trusted advisor this night.”
She tore free from his grasp. “Because of me? What have I done but protect the ones I love? Where’s this coming from? Tell me what has happened. What has changed since sunrise? Our carefree laughter from this day still rings around us. We took our meals together, played with our Angels, talked about everyday life. And this is not new for us. Not anymore. We have been comfortable friends for months. What madness now consumes you?”
“The madness is on your part, Milady, when you sought to deceive me. This most horrid of betrayals will cost young Yui his life. And Mika will lose her innocence.” A foreboding shadow fell over his countenance, ominous, menacing.
“I refuse to let you do such a thing,” she hissed. “Your unfounded anger and strange behavior forced my hand in this. You will not blame me for your sins. And you will not punish them for mine. Draw your blades. Let us see your words forged into action, Ronin. Wings or no, you will not be the one drawing blood this night.” She snarled at the imposing man before turning, leaving him alone on the balcony.
Her temper thrilled him. He followed her. “You dare bare your teeth to me? What of your sons? Who will protect your little demons once I’ve removed their mother’s head? Think before you answer, Angel. No one leaves this palace without my knowledge or consent. Not even a Shinobi.”
Jenevier froze. His admission of capturing her beloved sons ceased her breathing. Hate coursed through her marrow as ice pumped through her veins. She turned slowly, narrowing her magical eyes into a level glare, locking her cold gaze with the enraged Shogun beside her.
“You will die this day,” she hissed. “Or, you will die because of this day. This is my vow, my solemn promise unto you. And as you well know, I do not make promises lightly.”
“Perhaps I will—die because of this. Yet not before you stand witness to Yui’s execution. I want to see the pain in your eyes as you watch his beautiful head roll upon the ground at your feet. Then… I will bind you. Force you to listen to Mika’s screams as I tame her properly. You will observe it all, watch every painful moment. And that is my promise to you.” His cold smile looked more like a snarl. “Now, that’s all settled and will not be changed. Yet, if you do as I say, if you mind me in all things, your sons will remain untouched. I want you to put up a small fight, Princess. Yes, I believe I’d like it too much if you struggled with me. We will discuss what will befall your little Angels on the day you refuse to open your glowing legs to me.”
Her mind raced as she tried desperately to search out her son’s presence. Musashi seized the moment, ripping her treasured binding band from her arm, tearing the holy amulets from her dainty neck.
She heard the faint sound of her precious possessions scattering, spreading across the hard floor, as if she were in a dream, a horrible nightmare.
The incensed Emperor grabbed her, forcing her down onto the bed, pinning her beneath him. She did not resist, at first. It was more like she was watching it happen to someone else in slow motion. Her wrists were painfully restrained above her head, in but one of his massive hands, before her bizarre new reality had completely set within her addled mind.
Coming back to the present, regaining her senses, Jenevier tried to rationalize with this giant of a man now pressed atop her, smiling viciously. Madness apparent in his eyes, she realized the hopelessness of her current situation.
“You have remained pure the whole of your life, Musashi. Do not soil yourself with one such as me,” she pleaded.
“I did not lay with a woman by my own choice. You have changed my thinking, little Princess. You alone will set the tone of our fleshly exchange. I will learn this night, from whence I draw the most pleasure. If your screams are more enticing than your moans, I will demand such nightly.”
“What’s happened to you?” she cried. “Please, tell me what turned a loving heart into cold stone.”
“My eyes have been opened, as your legs now are. I will know you for the first time, right now. Don’t force me to call the guards. Who knows what they’ll do to those little blue-haired demons if they think their mighty Emperor is in danger? I gave them commands, they were but two. The first, if you walk through those doors, minus me, they are to slit three angelic necks clean open to the spine. And the second, if you refuse to cooperate, they will drag your offspring in here, slay them in front of you, and hold you down. For me first, of course. After that, who knows? Your choice, Milady. You decide. Or… you can claim my head, don your wings, and leave Jinn forever.”
Jenevier tried to cover her mouth, tried to muffle the screams she did not want her sons to hear. It all happened so fast she didn’t have time to send her mind to another place, a happier time. Musashi clumsily pressed himself against her, holding her hips still beneat
h him, immobilizing them with unimaginably powerful hands. The pain ripped tears from her eyes, yes. But the violation itself ripped holes in her soul, gaping wounds through her spirit, snuffing out her lovely fire. He pressed upon her until she could take it no more.
“Musashi, please stop,” she cried piteously.
Her earnest tears reached him, somewhere deep inside his crazed mind.
She watched the raw fury slowly fade from his eyes.
He tenderly brushed her hair back, wiped away her many tears with his massive hand. “I swore to you once, I would never force you in this.”
She did not speak, could not. Bitter tears were her only answer.
“It was a lie when I swore it, Milady. I have dreamt of nothing but being inside you since the moment I first laid eyes upon you. The happy vision was not as this, no. I had hoped you would invite me into your bed, hold me in your lovely arms, smile up at me through those enchanting eyes while professing undying love. The only tears upon your cheeks were ones of joy. But when I saw the end was nearing, I could wait no longer.”
Still, she did not speak. And no matter how fiercely she willed them to, her tears refused to cease.
“Why like this, beautiful flower?” His regretful drops of pain fell upon her cheeks, mingling with hers, running back to soak her tangled curls. “I offered you the entire world, the whole of it, literally. You have been its ruler since the day you arrived. This you know. Whether they called you Empress or Angel, you have owned this land, always. Why didn’t you just accept it? How hard could it have been to simply take my hand and raise your scepter? You were already so blessed, beloved by all. You only had to accept the title. You only had to sit back and let me heal you, let Jinn heal you.” He tried to kiss her. She turned her head.
The tormented Emperor did not stop his claiming of her, but he replaced his rage with a more tender passion. It only proved to damage her all the more… betrayal is like that.
“Why don’t you just change?” he mumbled in her ear, over and over. “If you wish me to stop, it will be by your hand. I cannot on my own.”
She kept telling herself it would be over soon. She was wrong.
Musashi’s first taste of ecstasy was the opening of a floodgate. When he withdrew from her, he helped her to stand. Lovingly removing her clothing, he placed tiny kisses upon her bared shoulders, caressed her trembling back.
She visibly shuddered, repulsed by his touch, by his very scent. She wanted nothing more than to scream and scratch and fight. Fear for her little boys’ safety was all that stayed her hand.
He remained single-minded, heeding not her pleas nor her tears. He gently picked her up and placed her in the center of that massive bed—marveling in her naked glowing body, eagerly exploring her many sapphire covered scars.
“I love you. I swear by the gods, I love you. You are the only creature worthy of me. The only one I have ever wanted. No one else shall know you. You are mine.”
His wine-scented breath upon her skin, the feel of his warm tongue touching her flesh, caused her stomach to boil up in her throat, bitter bile choked her.
Just shut it, she thought. Close your damn mouth, you filthy, disgusting beast. I may have to endure your lusts, but spare me your words. Claim my body minus your putrid commentary. It only makes me hate you all the more. It’s taking all my strength just to hold my tongue, just to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs how I abhor you, how I only want to see you dead. See the ground soaked with your blood, dismembered pieces strewn about amongst the lavender. Hurry, have your fill before my strength is gone, before my dark words can no longer be contained. Leave me in peace before they spill forth, uncontrollably. Thus bringing about a violent end to my precious sons… just hurry… be finished.
In her mind, she could plainly see them in the hallway outside her door. Terrified tears streaming down Tenshi’s trembling cheeks, unquenchable fire growing within Daichi’s steel blue eyes. No matter what, she had to spare them even more pain. She could never let them hear what was happening to their mother. She would hold her tongue, bite back her screams.
He was a fast learner, too fast. It wasn’t as physically painful the second time, but the mental scars cut just as deeply as before.
Thus began a dreadfully long dark night for this tragically abandoned, powerless Princess.
Musashi was eager and insatiable. He never tired. “I have eaten the herbs prepared by the elders, the ones intended for my wedding night. The blissful night you denied me, until now. I will go to them on the morrow and demand more. I quite like the effect they have upon me.” He rolled her onto her stomach, pulling her hips up to meet him. “Would you like that, Princess?” he whispered.
“I will end my life first,” she hissed. “I will end your life first.”
The sudden fierceness in her voice, the vicious words from his once silent prey, caught him off guard. He struck her in retaliation. Until now, he had convinced himself her silence was her acceptance. Her muffled screams—moans of pleasure. He was making love to his wife, his Empress. This was their first glorious night together. How dare she speak to him thusly?
The suddenness of the stinging blow caused her to cry out. She tried to crawl away from her tormenter, kicking him as hard as she could, scrambling to get off the bed before he caught her.
Musashi grabbed her curls, halting her escape, pulling her back to him. He was no longer gentle. His occasional slaps left large red welts across her bottom and the backs of her thighs.
“Be a good little mama. Do what you must to protect your children,” he whispered into her curls. “As long as I am satisfied, my guards will not remove their angelic heads. I plan on ensuring my heir before the rising of the sun. The beautiful dawn will greet you as a new woman, wife, and expectant mother of our future generations. You are the answer to an old prophecy, Empress Jenevier. It is written… From blood and pain comes forth perfection. Our children will be perfect. I will ensure that. Trust me.”
She spent the next several hours trying not to see the faces of the ones she loved. She never wanted to associate them with this blackest of all nights. Instead, she stared at the glorious moon, releasing the occasional whimper when her assailant would get particularly brutal.
When exhaustion finally claimed him, she feigned sleep until his deep snoring gave her the assurance she’d been waiting on. Quietly, she slid off the bed.
All she really wanted to do was take a bath, scrub her skin until it bled.
Crawling around in the darkness, she found her precious treasures, grabbed her dress, and cracked open the door. There were no guards. The entire top floor was abandoned. The fear she had been harboring that a thousand troops surrounded her bedroom was now banished.
Jenevier searched desperately, calling out to Tenshi and Daichi over and over with her mind. Nothing. When finally she exited her prison palace, even the guards on duty were sound asleep at the gates.
I am such a fool.
She was still chastising herself, cursing her submission to his blatant lies, when Apollyon’s loving smile popped into her mind.
Oh no… my picture.
She turned back toward the palace, barely able to make out the tallest tower through the trees. Weighing the risk in her mind, she took one step back the way she’d come.
A strong hand grabbed her shoulder, and a second one quickly clamped over her mouth.
Chapter 31
Musashi
(moo-SAH-shee)
Apollyon swung wide the gates of hell, loosing eons of evil into the universe. Yet he alone went to layer nine.
With the news of his beloved wife and son’s murder still fresh in his ears, the mighty sapphire Angel left the Underworld and headed straight for the Emperor’s palace on Jinn.
Musashi was waiting for him.
He hadn’t been surprised when he woke and found Jenevier gone. He was surprised she had not killed him, but not surprised she had left.
The Emperor’s shoulders slumped u
nder the weight of his unyielding guilt. So ashamed was he over his horrid actions the night before, suicide was singing loudly within him, taunting his hands, coaxing his blade.
When he watched that devil of a she-Guardian disappear into the clouds with the long dead Shinobi wizard, Musashi knew what he had to do. The woman he counted as his Empress must leave this world, carrying her sons with her. His intent was to coax Vashti back to life. Force her to don her wings. Corner her into keeping the promise she had refused him. He determined to either make her angry enough, or scared enough, to realize she was still Angel. Then remove his head—as he had begged her to do if ever she parted—and leave Jinn before Apollyon found her.
He knew the Prince of Hell would waste no time in coming. Yet Musashi had read her journal, memorized her words. He knew better than anyone exactly what would happen. If Apollyon came here, Jenevier’s bliss would cease. She would shatter again. Those precious baby Angels he counted as sons would be horribly scarred. Or worse… taken. There was no way around the fact; her dark Angel would be removed from her, yet again. Such was their fate. Thus, all happiness for the woman he loved would end. The thought alone maddened him. She was so horribly broken.
Since coming to Jinn, he was blessed to look upon her lovely smile daily. It had taken a few weeks before her eyes started sparkling again. But he could tell. She was finally happy… she was finally home.
