All I could make out of the following conversation was that she had accepted their offer. I had also seen her hold Cyrena’s gaze and keep it stubbornly until Cyrena had to be the first one to look away. I was impressed, not even I had ever been able to do that. Of course she didn’t know half the things Cyrena had done, but she did know that Cyrena was responsible for her torture.
The last thing I had seen was Rajaka escorting her out of the room when the hole changed perspective, following them out of the room. I noticed they weren’t even holding hands. I wondered if Rajaka had somehow accommodated the ability to be kind and think of someone other than himself. I know that he knew about me and Keeva, and maybe he had decided that he shouldn’t interfere. But it was not to be.
She was very shaken up from her “performance,” that much was obvious, and Rajaka was focusing on making her more comfortable. I was almost grateful to him for make her more at ease when I wasn’t there for her, but then he did something totally uncalled for. She had stopped, no doubt surprised over her mood swing, and instead of telling her to come on, he grabbed her on the small of her back to pull her forward. Maybe he was just pulling her forward and didn’t mean for his hand to go so low, I thought, trying to calm the sudden intense anger that was building inside me. I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down. When I opened my eyes his hand was still there and he was making no move to remove it. My anger could not be contained this time and I growled ferociously. I tried to lunge forward and attack the image of him, but the chair held me tight.
I heard laughter in the background and I swiftly turned my head and glared at the guards, daring them with my eyes to laugh again. They shut up as quickly as they had begun. They were frightened of me, for sure, and I hid that knowledge away, knowing that I might be able to use that in my advantage in the future.
I swiveled my head back to the hole and saw that they had reached their destination, so he had finally let go of her. I also noticed that it was as if she hadn’t even noticed his advance on her, so either she didn’t care, which was not likely because I had known her longer than him and I knew advances like that had to be earned, or he was charming her. I knew that he had to be charming her, and it made me angry to think that he was playing games with her.
Finally her room appeared in the tangle of hallways and he had to remove his hand. I sighed with relief and closed my eyes letting my weariness and anxiety take over and put me to sleep.
Somewhere in the distance I heard a door slam, and my eyes flickered open. Rajaka had just entered through a hidden door off to my right, and the look on his face made me want to throw up.
The ends of his mouth twitched upward in a triumphant smile, and his eyes gleamed with hatred and pity. I wanted to spit at him as Keeva had done so long ago to the man who took her away from me.
“Don’t be so angry,” his calming voice was trying to sooth me, but wouldn’t have any of it. He could sense the tension in the room that was created by me and his minions who were deathly afraid of him… and me for that matter. Between my hatred for him and their loyal obedience to whatever cause he thought up made an interesting combination. “Do you know why you’re here?” he questioned. I stared at him, not trusting myself with words. “Hiram, do you know why you’re here?” he tried again. I let a blank face cover my emotions of fuming anger, but I know that he still sensed them. His face was suddenly kind and brotherly. “I didn’t want to do it Hiram, I swear.”
I remembered back in our childhood. He was never my friend, I knew that much, but I could never think of a thing that was so powerful to come between us to make us complete enemies. We had, after all, been changed together, and had to go through some rough times together before we had found Cyrena. We had to comfort each other and help each other get through the hard times in ways that I would never have even attempted to now.
I realized now that we are enemies. And as much as I hate him, I couldn’t help but think that I really didn’t want to lose his love…and approval. Since he was the bigger brother he was always the one that looked up to; he was my role model. Now our connection has been severed. I would never again think of him as a person to look up to, or to strive to be like; he was now just as brutal and cruel as one of the torture masters.
I couldn’t help but think that it was Keeva who had severed our connection…in a way it was her fault. As soon as I thought that however, her face popped up into my mind. Her lips were luscious, red, and the image of perfection. Her long, red hair matched her lips in color and flawlessness. Her rosy cheeks were flushed with color, as her eyes were swirling with green as she made herself even more attractive to her prey.
No, no it could not be her fault. Nothing could ever be her fault; she was too gentle for that.
I was Rajaka’s fault, I told myself, he was the one to bring me down here and try to take her away from me, and using his magic none the less. I narrowed my eyes and wet my lips, so that it was possible to vocalize my anger and grief at our broken bond.
“Then why?” I asked, keeping my voice like velvet, but deadly at the same time.
“I didn’t know she would so important to you. I was just told to seek her out and bring her, no matter the cost. And I was told if she escaped again that I would be punished along with the others. I knew that you would follow her. When she was brought to us, Andelko, the leader of the group, described to me the person she was with. All he had to say was that he looked a lot like me before I knew it was you. I visited her that night, you know. She was thrashing around like she was having a nightmare, and I remember being surprised at her beauty, even in those rags. I couldn’t let her have a nightmare like that so I calmed her down a bit. She sighed in her sleep and mouthed your name a couple of times. I could sense that she was in love and I knew that you would probably be in love with her too.” He suddenly looked very vulnerable. “I knew that you could break in and get her out, but I couldn’t let you do that. I didn’t want to be tortured, but I also didn’t want to hurt you. I was required to put you in some kind of punishment, so instead of physical pain, I gave you mental pain.” His face hardened into a scowl, and I knew that I would most likely never see his face in a kind look again. “You now have to sit here and watch as I charm your girl into falling in love with me.”
He turned to leave the room, but not without throwing me one last insult that made my blood boil.
“I wonder if she tastes as good as she looks,” he mused, before slamming the door shut.
How dare he, I thought, but inside I was really weeping, for my brother had been corrupted by power as I knew he always would be.