The Scourge's Queen

"Rhane! Rhane!!" Kali fell and twisted her ankle, but she stood up and didn't stop running. She intercepted Rhane before he could enter the council room.

"You have to save her!" Kali said, holding Rhane's hand.

Rhane glanced at his sister's hand and sighed. "She's not coming back, Kali. I hoped she would, but..." Jenna had left.

"No, no! Jenna didn't leave. She chose you and Gerald took her!" Kali said the words as fast as she could. It was a miracle she made any sense.

Rhane paused at first, as if his brain had stopped working.

Kali's chest rose and fell rapidly, sweat trickling down her face. She could clearly see the confusion on Rhane's face, and that made sense.

Rhane stepped forward, then shook his head. "Gather the horses. Everyone should wait outside for me." He didn't know how true it was, but if it was... then Jenna was somewhere waiting.

Waiting for him.

Kali dragged her foot out of the hallway, going to gather their skilled fighters and also a physician for the old woman.

It was on her way that she saw Jenna's only servant.

Percy walked through the hallway, searching frantically for someone. When he saw Kali, he rushed up to her.

"Have you seen my mistress? Our horse was supposed to leave a while ago."

Kali grabbed the boy's shoulder. "We'll find her faster if you lend me your feet." She pulled Percy to her side. "Now walk. We have an army to gather."

Meanwhile, Rhane walked straight down the hallway to his room. Reaching his bed, he found a piece he'd bought during his travels but had never used. It was a gun. He holstered it at his waist and touched the letter he always kept close.

Tying up his face with a mask and his hair in a high ponytail, Rhane got ready to address his most skilled assassins.

With Kali standing beside her horse and a confused Percy at her side, she stood first among the gathered assassins, all dressed in black, all masked.

When Rhane arrived, everyone bowed. "Master," they chorused.

Rhane scanned the men. They were his most skilled, and sending them out was like leaving his whole legacy open to attack.

"We're going to find my woman before dusk," Rhane began, his voice a drop of storm in the sea of curious silence.

"You're looking for Gerald, my half-brother. Go out, streets, villages, any route walked upon by humans or not and even if it means turning entire towns upside down, find Gerald. Keep him alive for me, but most of all... protect the woman he holds." Rhane paused.

"When you see the Scourge's Queen, you'll know. Now move!"

The assassins mounted their horses skillfully, and in no time, they were out in the villages, scouring every corner for one woman.

"Is it my mistress he speaks of?" Percy asked.

Kali grunted as she jumped on the horse first, then helped Percy up. "Close your eyes if you've never ridden a horse at full speed."

Rhane leapt onto his own horse and left with the search party. He was moving with uncertainty. If Jenna had truly wanted to stay behind, his heart bubbled with joy at the thought of it. But if Gerald truly held her, then she wasn't safe either.

His horse galloped with force, and the only face Rhane could see was Jenna's. He should've trusted her enough to stay and not doubted so easily.

Maybe his doubt was the reason everything was happening. His foolish doubt. And he hoped he wasn't too late.

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Back at the inn where Jenna was held, she tried to cover her body with her hands, but every time she moved, Gerald whipped her.

"Stop being stubborn!" Gerald raised the whip. "Show those men your body and act right!"

Jenna clenched her teeth. "I'd rather die, Gerald. I'd rather die!"

Gerald cracked the whip across her body, once, then twice. He kicked her side and let out an exasperated sigh.

"You leave me no other choice." Gerald grabbed Jenna's hair, pulling it from the roots.

Jenna let out a cry, but didn't loosen her grip on her chest.

Gerald dragged her out of the room, not caring how her skin scraped against the hard floor.

"This is a ritual! When you let another man see you," Gerald sneered, "you have to face the humiliation that follows."

Once they got outside, the drunk men cheered loudly, encouraging Gerald's spiteful actions.

His pride swelled even more with the cheering. He let down his breeches and pulled himself out, waving it in front of Jenna's face.

"My wife might've fallen for my half-brother! Women are whores!" Gerald boomed, trying to push himself into Jenna's mouth.

Jenna clamped her mouth shut, shaking her head each time he came close. She didn't know how long this would last, but she wasn't going to give in.

Rhane isn't coming. The thought echoed in her mind, and she flinched. Of course not. Why would he? She was just a trade. A problem to be solved, a used wife of his half-brother not worth any trouble. For the first time since Gerald abducted her, a tear slipped down her cheek.

"Don't cry. You weren't ashamed of being a whore," Gerald mused, pulling his breeches back up. "She used to enjoy me quite so... now? She's even worse." He sucked his teeth.

"You over there. Come and take her," Gerald pointed at a random man in the crowd. "Maybe she'll relax when she feels something hard in her."

The lean man Gerald pointed at raised his hand while the others cheered for him. He removed his trousers and walked toward Jenna.

Jenna moved her hand along the floor until she touched something. She wrapped her fingers around it tightly.

The man sneered. "She's a feisty one, Gerald."

"I did tell you," Gerald chuckled.

"I know how to do women like her," the man growled and stepped on Jenna's hand.

"Let me go! Let me go!!" Jenna screamed, flailing her arms.

The man was about to lower himself over her when a hole formed in his forehead with a loud bang.

"The Scourge!"

That was the last thing the rest of the men said before they left the earth. One by one the drunken men dropped like dominoes while Gerald hid among the crowd hiding behind others.

Rhane kicked the limp body off Jenna and tried to lift her, but she wouldn't stop screaming.

"I'm going to kill you!! I'm going to kill you!" Jenna shouted, eyes shut tight, flailing her hands wildly.

Rhane wrapped his arms around her. He didn't care that her nails dug into his skin and left marks.

"Hurt me if it'll help you process this... hurt me if it'll soothe your aching heart," he whispered softly into her ear, hoping to silence the horrors she had just endured.