Beneath The Shadows of Evil... Torn

by Jolynn Raymond

  The sparkle in his eyes gave away his true meaning and Alliana knew at once that he suspected exactly what it was she had been dreaming about. Oh the cad! How could he tease her about such and intimate and mortifying thing?

  "You are a beast, Sir. How... How can you sit there and ... Oh!"

  "Why Alliana, whatever is the problem?"

  "You know what the problem is. I do not know how you guessed the ways of my thoughts, but I shall ask that you keep your own opinion on the matter to yourself. It was bad enough to experience such a revolting nightmare, but to have you gloat in all your manly pride about it makes it even worse. You are a despicable lout. A gentleman would never bring up such a thing."

  "No, sweet, but a husband would. Especially one who longs to bed you and is thrilled that whether you will admit it or not, you wish in some small part to do the same."

  "I certainly do not! I have no control over my dreams. If I have nightmares about being tortured in the dungeon it does not mean I desire for it to happen. Dreams simply come, whether you bid them or not. I found the images to be most disgusting. A Lady does not wish for such things."

  "Perhaps, but your body feels otherwise and that is a start. The blush upon your cheeks and the way you were trembling told me the true nature of your feelings. Now then, I will speak no more of the subject. I'm sorry I distressed you, sweet. Would you care for another helping of bread? It appears that our son has quite the appetite this morning. Perhaps I should take you for walks every evening; it seems to have done you good."

  Alliana was ready to make a snide comment, ready to tell him that she had loathed the time spent with him, but she knew it wasn't true. Yes they had had words and disagreed over things, but all in all, it had been a very pleasant night, one she wouldn't be adverse repeating.

  "Yes, please, I'd like more bread and some eggs as well. It is my guess that if I feed little Mikhalen all he wishes that I shall soon be so fat that you will look upon me with disgust, and we shall no longer have to engage in these discussions."

  "Never, love. You are radiant and your body swells with our growing son. You have never been lovelier in my eyes."

  A knock on the door interrupted their discussion, the guard had arrived with Enid, and the morning was about to take on a decidedly different turn. Mikhal called for them to enter, and the guard opened the door and stepped back, allowing his prisoner to precede him. Alliana’s eyes widened at the sight of the witch who had treated her with such ruthless cruelty, and she couldn’t help but be pleased by her retched condition.

  Enid’s feet were shackled, her ankles rubbed raw by the coarse irons encircling each bony leg. She was filthy, the back of her gown in tattered rags stained red with her blood, hunched over as she shuffled to where Mikhal sat. Her hands were held close to her body, fingers curled up protectively in obvious pain. She kept her eyes downcast, keeping her misery to herself, until she reached them, then she dared a glance upward at the woman who had triggered the demise of her exalted position in the castle.

  Though her eyes were blood shot, Alliana could clearly see the hate radiating out of them, and she shrank back in spite of herself at the vehemence of her stare. Enid’s lip curled up in a grimace as she threw daggers of hatred at Alliana and Alliana responded, after pulling herself together, by sitting up tall and staring back, an expression of smug triumph on her face.

  At Alliana’s look, Enid opened her mouth to deliver an unwise but uncontrollable insult, and Mikhal, sensing her intent, hit her with a back handed slap that snapped her head back and split her lip open.

  "To your knees, witch. You aren’t to speak until spoken to. Your position here is lower than the lowest servant. Remember that your life hangs on a thin thread, one which I could sever at any moment."

  Defying Mikhal, feeling she had nothing to lose, Enid remained standing, and spoke anyway. "Perhaps I would find death much sweeter than tending a Gypsy whore."

  Mikhal reached out, took hold of her scrawny neck, and began to squeeze, cutting off her disparaging words with the crush of his powerful fingers.

  "SILENCE. I am quite capable of torturing you daily until you are so close to the death you beg me for it night and day."

  During his mistreatment of the old midwife, Mikhal connected himself with his wife’s feelings, and sought out any horror his actions might have been causing, but he came away with only pleasure and spiteful happiness. His wife was angry, but not at him. She was furious with the thing he had his hands on, and wanted her revenge. Alliana was quite content to have her past tormentor reduced to a pile of suffering, dirty rags, no matter how violent the act that had brought her to such state.

  Mikhal finally released her, and she and Alliana stood glaring at each other in silence, each wishing to flay the other alive with their words. Alliana held her tongue as she stared the old hag down, not out of fear of reprisal, but because she wanted to see if Enid would dare to speak again after Mikhal's harsh treatment.

  A second passed, three, ten, twenty, and still Enid remained silent, her eyes full of venom, then she finally looked downward in defeat. There was no use fighting the Gypsy whore who had stolen Mikhal's heart. Nothing she could say would make Mikhal toss her from the castle. What Marishka's mad spell hadn't accomplished, the mating claim had.

  She looked back up; eyes traveling unwillingly to the table heaped with breakfast leftovers, and couldn't suppress the longing look in her eyes; the look at the food was followed by a distinct rumbling of her empty stomach much to her embarrassment and dismay and her tongue darted out, licking her dry cracked lips, almost on its own accord. Her stomach felt hollow, she was ravenous, and the smell of the food almost made her dizzy.

  Mikhal smirked at her, knowing she hadn't been given anything to eat in all the while she'd been in the dungeon. Good, it served her right. Let her insides ache with hunger as well as her flesh burn from the lash.

  "Perhaps if you begged my wife for forgiveness she would take pity on you and toss you a scrap of food to eat from the floor like one of the hounds."

  "I’d rather eat the rats that inhabit the dungeon."

  "That can be arranged, or you can starve. I care not if every scrap of flesh on your body wastes away. Go wash yourself. You aren’t fit to touch my wife." Mikhal gave the curt order then turned away. The sight of Enid disgusted him and now that he had given his command, he wished to have her away from him. Alliana's cry of dismay made it all too clear though that what he had in mind wasn't going to happen without a fight.

  "Is there something you would like to say, sweet?"

  "I'll not be touched by that... that vile creature. Look at her, she's filthy and disgusting and her odor is enough to turn my stomach. How can you suggest such a thing, Mikhal?"

  "Alliana." Her name was said softly, but with just a hint of anger. Mikhal didn't care to be berated by a female, wife or no. "This will be the last time she ever touches you. I wish to see what Enid says about your condition, and then to hear what Natalya has to say as well. I am asking you to please endure this for the sake of our son."

  "Mikhal, I simply will not tolerate yet another affront to my person by submitting to this witch. I have every confidence in Natalya’s ability to care for me, and I refuse to be degraded any further at Enid’s hands. You must know that I love our child as much as you do and would never put his health in jeopardy."

  "Alliana, it will simply be this one last time."

  "Simply! How can you say that? It may be a simple matter for you, but to me it is a fate worse than death. Look at her. She is a vile, disgusting creature who isn’t fit to be in this room let alone touch me intimately. I won’t allow it."

  "That is enough, Alliana. You will do as I say in this matter."

  "I will not!" Alliana pushed herself away from the table and rose, determined to put as much distance between herself, her husband, and the hated midwife. Mikhal as determined as she was, and just as angry, turned and made a grab for her arm; Alliana slapped at him in an effort t
o be free, landing a blow to his chest, then another to his cheek.

  Mikhal released her, stunned, and raised a hand to his face, his eyes turning thunderous as Enid’s cackle of laughter rang out. She was enjoying the little spectacle before her. It served Mikhal right for allowing the Gypsy bitch to have her way in the past. Her laughter soon died however when Mikhal turned his anger at Alliana onto the midwife instead.

  "Silence, you old witch."

  "She has you beaten down, Mikhal. A whipped dog with its tail between its legs is what you have become. Perhaps we should allow your Gypsy whore to rule now that you do not seem able."

  "I told you to be silent, Enid."

  "Aye, I heard you, but not until I have my say. Perhaps there is still a chance you will be made to see. What has become of you, Mikhal? She has taken away your manhood. Listen to how you grovel. Asking her what she wants, trying to pacify her. It’s pitiful and humiliating." Mikhal growled for Enid to stop her tirade and raised his hand in a warning gesture, but kept his eyes on Alliana as he did so. He wanted to mollify her, to make her agreeable to his desire for Enid to have one last look at her. He knew Alliana found the mere suggestion horrifying, but even so, felt it must be done.

  "Enid, tell Alliana what you will now endure every day for the rest of your existence because of what befell her in my absence. That should quell your claims that I have softened."

  His voice was full of menace now, and it was clear that Mikhal was still very much in charge, at least when it came to ruling everyone in is life but his wife. The punishment he had sentenced the hag to be very much in keeping with the actions of the old Mikhal the Merciless.

  Enid thought about the ramifications of defying him, thought about challenging him as she used to, and what doing so would bring her. Her life was already one that plunged her into the depths of hell on a daily basis, if she refused to comply now, he would gleefully make it all that much worse. Was making him furious truly worth the pain it would cause? Then again, she couldn’t tolerate the turn her life had taken. Hers was a life not worth living. Perhaps if she were lucky, she would infuriate him enough so he would simply kill her.

  "I’ll not tell her anything. I would not bow down to my own people when they taunted and hurt me and I’ll not bow to your kind either."

  Alliana raised her eyebrows and sneered at Enid in disbelief, her voice dripping with malice and sarcasm. "So now you are human once more? I thought you had disowned us long ago. Beware witch, for the humans in the castle will not welcome you back into our fold."

  "Don’t threaten me, Gypsy whore. They do not think highly of you either." The crack of Mikhal’s hand as it struck Enid’s cheek was almost deafening as it echoed off the chamber walls. She fell to her knees, stunned, but then slowly struggled to her feet, staring at Alliana with eyes full of hatred as she did so.

  "Never speak that way to my wife. Not if you wish to live."

  "Perhaps I do not."

  "That can certainly be arranged. Now then, I wish for Alliana to know how you suffer for your crime against her. Tell her how you are punished Enid. Tell her now." His tone was sinister, dark and evil, and it was clear that his demon was hovering just below the surface, enraged by both his defiant wife and the old midwife who used to be his friend. The violence in the room was simmering, waiting to set his beast off and the animal inside him was feeding off it. When Enid still refused to comply, he let out a low growl that left no doubt about his current mood.

  "I ordered you to tell her, Enid."

  "Perhaps I could tell her, but perhaps there are other things she would find more interesting. Do you wish for me to share your secret as well?"

  "Enid..." Another growl, this one louder, more animalistic. The beast was rising, Mikhal could feel it, and knew he wasn't going to win the battle to keep him caged.

  "No, I am done holding my tongue. Perhaps it is time for the truth to come out. Shall I tell your dear wife about Marishka’s spell? Shall I tell her how it has changed you?"

  Mikhal, knowing he had to silence her, lunged forward and grabbed Enid around the throat with both hands, his demon emerging in full force, fire blazing from his eyes as he looked down on her, cutting off the words that would destroy his fragile relationship with his wife. Alliana gasped. Not because Enid was about to die, it bothered her not that her husband was on the verge of killing the old midwife, but at the snarl that filled the air and the violence with which he shook her. It was clear that what the old hag had threatened him with had disturbed him greatly, and the vision of his beast raging to kill was a sight that would terrorize even the bravest of souls.

  Mikhal felt Alliana’s fear as well as Enid’s hatred, and he weighed them against each other with what little sense the man in him still possessed. He knew choking the life out of the hag in front of Alliana would more firmly root her belief that he was but a monster. On the other hand, Enid’s words were ones that could never be spoken. Mikhal knew that in time that he would have to reveal the truth about Marishka’s spell to Alliana. That kind of thing wouldn’t stay buried forever, and it would be best coming from him, but now wasn’t the time. She still hated and distrusted him far too much to believe that the change in him stemmed not from the magick but from the reawakening of the man who had been repressed for all these years.

  Shaking Enid like a rag doll, squeezing ever harder as her dirty face went from red to blue, Mikhal tried in vain to rein in his beast. He was determined to kill the witch, but he didn’t want his wife to witness the pleasure his demon would take in the act. In the end though, the violence was too much. He couldn’t help himself, his beast had to be free. Squeezing and shaking, shaking and squeezing, he throttled the old woman until her eyes bulged and her tongue poked out through purple lips, then he flung her across the bedchamber with a mighty roar of satisfaction, causing Alliana to squeak in terror and flee to the tower room stairs.

  Mikhal saw her run out of the corner of his eye, a flash of golden hair and white silk nightgown fleeing across the room. To his beast, she was but yet another prey and he ran for her, snarling, the predator in him inflamed, bloodlust pulsing through his veins.

  Alliana heard him and screamed, running faster, the tower stairs seeming so very far away. She banged her knee on the chair by the hearth and stumbled, and Mikhal nearly caught her, but the adrenaline induced by pure terror drove her onward. As she reached the stairs, she tripped again, over the hem of her gown and this time it was her downfall.

  Alliana turned in his arms, looking up into his eyes, her own pleading with him for mercy, not sure what he planned on doing to her, but fearing the monster in full game face just the same. She screamed and he reacted by snarling, she fought and he tightened his hold, nostrils flaring as he scented her fear. His demon loved the struggle, loved the fight, loved the feel of a warm woman trembling and terrified in his arms.

  "Mikhal, Mikhal, stop. Please." She struggled against him but he held her fast, his demon in full control. His beast had its mate in its arms and she was warm and full of life and it wanted her. He lowered his head, sniffing, panting, and licked her neck over the mark of claim and Alliana felt the tingle deep in her belly, but it was combined with a horrible fear. He wasn’t himself, never had he acted like this, never been so out of control. Alliana knew she had to do something. He was balanced on the edge of violence and lust and her fate lay in her hands.

  She pulled one arm free of his hold and took his hand firmly in hers, lowering it downward to her belly, to their child. "Mikhal, your son. Please stop this for the sake of your son. You will frighten him."

  Mikhal pressed his palm to her stomach as he continued to lap at her neck. Her blood was racing, her claim mark throbbing and tingling, her body becoming heavy. "Mikhal..." The word was but a whispered plea to the man inside the demon but it was more effective that the shrillest of screams.

  "Alliana." He whispered her name as well, mouthed it against her skin as he laved her neck with the flat of his tongue and began to stro
ke her belly. "Alliana, love." He could feel her trembling beneath him, feel her fear, hear her heartbeat and that of their son and both were racing. The sound was almost deafening, so many beats, loud and soft, strong and faint, so many beats, overwhelming to the man who had a dead heart.

  He raised himself up, looking at her, his face changed to that of the handsome man once more, his blue eyes showing confusion and asking for forgiveness. "Alliana." Mikhal stroked her stomach, trying to soothe his wife and child, stroked and caressed, and murmured sweet words that he knew wouldn’t have a chance of pacifying her now.

  "Alliana I’m sorry. Killing Enid... I just." How could he explain in a way that didn’t put more light on the fact that a monster dwelled inside him? "I wouldn’t have hurt you."

  "Perhaps, but you frightened me and I fell trying to escape from you. Is that what you wish? For me to injure myself and lose our child?" There was a bite to her tone and it came from the hysteria still lingering inside her.

  "Never suggest such a thing. That is insanity. You know that isn’t true."

  "The notion may be insane, but you did it all the same. I care not that Enid is dead. She deserved to die, but your beast took delight in the killing, Mikhal. Your beast couldn’t control itself and because of that, you almost hurt me."

  "Tis the nature of my demon, Alliana. I'm sorry. I can suppress it, but I can’t destroy it nor seal it away for good."

  "And therein lies the danger does it not?"

  "I would never harm you! You are my mate."

  She gave him a rueful laugh and shook her head, her eyes sad. "You said yourself, tis the nature of the beast, Mikhal. Some things cannot be helped. Be it in body or spirit, you continue to hurt me whether you try to or not. If you truly cared for me like you claim you do, then you would control the monster within."

  Now Mikhal was becoming angry once more. He had done so much for her, allowed her such freedom when it came to her wishes, controlled his temper over and over, and ignored how she spoke to him with such disrespect. How dare she even suggest that he didn’t care? That he hadn’t been controlling himself?