The Imperial Palace

Amara now sat in her new accommodations. As Imperial Consort, she had her own private wing in the Palace. She sat on the chaise in the center of the room, as the sole remaining servant stayed to brush her hair. She wanted to be left alone, but since she hadn’t been properly attended to during the 6-day journey here, she couldn’t possibly have turned them away. She had been bathed in rose water, petals were thrown all around the room, fed fine wine and meat, and finally dressed in unfamiliar Solandrian marital robes.

“Enough, leave,” She said, holding up her hand, dismissing the servant.

As soon as they were gone, she rushed to the window. It was too high of a fall for her to jump from this distance. She tiptoed to the doors of her room and cracked them open, meeting the eyes of two Solandrian guards. She quickly closed the door with a clack. Amara racked her brain for a solution, but there was nothing. The impending night she would have to endure with Lucius was quickly approaching. Damn it all!

Amara set to searching through all the dressers and drawers for anything that she might be able to use to protect herself against him, or in the worst case scenario, end her own life, but there was nothing. Amara slumped against the wooden bedpost, knocking her head on it lightly in defeat. The full weight of her sacrifice was beginning to plague her. She was emotionally shattered, and not only on the inside.

Amara felt like a hollowed-out version of her former self, broken so badly she was beyond repair. She was completely isolated in this foreign land, with not a single familiar face to comfort her, and worst of all, Ammar. Ammar had forsaken her.

Amara sprang up as the doors burst open, Lucius entering swiftly, a smirk playing on his face. She stepped back towards the wall in an attempt to create a greater distance between the two of them. Lucius smiled as he watched her, she was like a wild cat who’d suddenly been cornered, the hair on the back of her neck standing at attention. No matter, he had all evening to play with his Zaramuunian pet. He casually took a seat on the chaise in the center of the room and leaned back, facing his feisty feline. His muscular chest visible through his open robe. Amara looked away, immediately repulsed.

“Come sit, Heart of Zaramuun,” Lucius suggested, patting the space beside him. Amara did not move, there was no way she was going to willingly sit nex-

“I said, come sit,” Lucius’s cold command sliced through the dense air, piercing right through her.

In a matter of seconds, Amara felt completely winded. Like all the air was knocked out of her lungs. Her knees buckled from beneath her, and she crumbled to the ground. Impossible! With just those few words, the air in the room had changed, she was left there feeling cold, her body trembling uncontrollably.

His voice had instilled her with such fear, the order felt like a heavy pressure on her shoulders. In addition to his domineering presence, which felt like a punch to the gut. Is this how her people felt when he murdered them senselessly?

“I told you to come here,” He said, with an amused smile on his face, leaning back further on the chaise.

“...I can’t,” She said through gritted teeth, glaring at him. She was planted to the floor, unable to move. Her legs were completely useless, she could only sit paralyzed in fear. 

Lucius stood tall and casually strolled over, his towering body hovered over her. She flinched as he scooped her up in his arms and made his way back to the chaise. The warmth of his body made Amara feel nauseous, she wanted to be nowhere near this man. Lucius sat down with a thud, Amara flopping down in his lap. She turned her head, cringing as he took a lock of her hair between his fingers, bringing the rose-scented strands to his nose, inhaling deeply. That’s when she saw it. A small bronze dagger hung loosely on Lucius’s belt.

That was when Amara made her decision. Raising her reluctant hand and slowly bringing it to Lucius’s muscular chest, he looked down at her in surprise.

“What’s this? The Heart of Zaramuun an active participant?” Lucius asked, with a chuckle.

“I feel a bit dizzy,” Amara mumbled, laying her head on his chest. Never taking her eyes off the dagger hanging at his waist.

Lucius brought his large, warm hand to Amara’s thigh, caressing her skin between the thin fabric of her robe, as she tried to resist the urge not to vomit. She was focused on one thing and one thing only, her escape. As soon as he moved to slip his hand under her night gown, Amara lunged for the dagger! 

Unsheathed dagger in hand, Amara quickly turned it on herself and drove it full force toward her throat. Lucius’s movements were lightning fast, as he grabbed her wrists in one hand and a fist full of her long black hair in the other. His grip was so tight, it caused the dagger to fall out of her hands, sending it clattering to the floor. Lucius made sure to yank Amara’s head back hard enough to make her cry out in pain. He watched in amused silence as the tiny incision she was able to make sent a trickle of blood running down her neck, staining her robes.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go through this. I do hate wasting time,” Lucius said, sighing. Keeping his grip on Amara’s hair painfully tight.

“Do you know why I spared your useless piece of kingdom, hm?” Lucius asked. Amara kept her mouth shut tightly, refusing to answer. Lucius tugged viciously at her hair, her neck threatening to snap.

“No! I don’t,” She yelled, struggling helplessly as his grip tightened on her wrists.

“I spared it because your desperation amused me,” He said simply.

“What?” Amara asked, glaring at him through the side of her eyes.

“Your pathetic desperation amused me. I wanted to watch you break, Heart of Zaramuun, and you will break,” Lucius said, leaning down and licking the blood off of her neck. Amara gagged, violently struggling to free herself.

“You see, if you don’t continue to amuse me, I’ll find it elsewhere. I may go back and finish off the rest of your god forsaken kin and the savages you call your people, down to the last child. That would satiate me enough,” Lucius threatened, taking another inhale of her neck, before kissing it lightly.

“If you break now and take your own life, I’ll kill them all anyway. Think deeply about it, Heart of Zaramuun,” He said lightly.

Amara sat completely still, she was disgusted and terrified. If she didn’t give him what he wanted, everyone would die. Mother, father, Ammar, and the citizens of Zaramuun. She felt completely helpless as she nodded stiffly, tears streaming down her cheeks, as that sadistic monster released his tight grip on her wrists and hair. The roots on her head ached, and her wrists had already started to bruise.

Pleased with her reaction, Lucius placed one of his large hands behind her neck and the other on her small waist and leaned in. Amara went limp, overtly unresponsive to his advances. With this disgusting act, she will have completely become a shell of her former self. Lucius brought his lips to hers, covering her mouth in a deep kiss.