Chapter 7 ~ Sophie Von Tirol

 

I was dizzy and tired, and every muscle in my body was bruised by the time he stopped to rest his horse.

I was dumped into a man’s waiting arms so the Lion could dismount. Once he had, he grabbed onto my arm and yanked me into the woods.

I was forced to stand behind him as he relieved himself. Then he expected the same from me.

My bladder was near bursting from the long ride. I was desperate with need to relieve myself. I squatted by a tree and did what I had to. It was almost impossible with my hands tied behind my back.

“There’s blood,” the Lion declared as he looked at the stream I’d made in the dirt.

“My courses are upon me,” I admitted, hoping that he would understand that he couldn’t force himself on me in this condition.

He grinned at me.

“Untie me so I can wash myself,” I demanded.

He pushed me down, removed my slippers, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Before I could fathom what he was doing, I found myself standing in a river with his hand cupping me between my legs, washing me. I tried to move away, but he finished before I could find my tongue to protest.

“This is good news. It means that I won’t have to wait for you,” he told me.

I had no idea what he was talking about, and I was mad that he and his men had killed so many innocent people. Even young Marcus who would never fall in love, marry, or have children of his own.

“What are you talking about?” I asked him, putting hate into my words.

His eyes narrowed on me, and his good mood fleeted away. “You will never talk to me like that again.” He wrapped his arm around my middle, holding me so I was tucked under his arm. Then he picked up my skirts, gathering them at my back and leaving the back of my legs and my rear end exposed.

I tried to twist away from him and to see if anyone could see me like this, but he held me too tightly to allow me to move.

Smack!

Suddenly, a searing pain exploded on my left normally hidden cheek. He had hit me, like commoners punished their children.

Smack!

His hand landed again, getting my other cheek. “I’ll teach you to talk with respect.”

I heard his men laughing as his hand landed again. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out. It hurt so terribly, and no one was coming to my rescue. Instead, they were standing about, enjoying themselves as I suffered in pain and with shame.

His hand came down relentlessly covering every bit of my rump, making my skin burn. I continued to twist and to try to free myself, but his hold on me was as relentless as his smacks.

I was whimpering and panting as tears dripped from my eyes. I had never been so shamed in all my life. This brute was no gentleman. I wished that he would kill me and get it over with.

I yelped out, unable to control my mouth or the sounds coming out of it. The men cheered, making me sob. My will broke as my body shook in pain and fear. When would he be finished?

He leaned forward, and his hand reached lower. He spanked the back of my thighs, making me scream out as his men cried out in delight.

“I beg you, please stop.”

“She’s begging me,” he called out to his men.

They whistled and hooted at his words. I lost all sense of maintaining grace and cried, letting my weight fall completely into his arms. He pulled his arm away, making me fall face first into the water.

I panicked when my face was under the water, thinking that he meant to drown me. My hands were still tied behind my back.

He grabbed onto my hair and yanked me out of the water. His other hand reached under my arm, raising me to my feet.

Before I knew it, we were back on his horse. Me in my normal position, face down over his lap. To make matters worse, he swatted my backside every now and then. It seemed to be every time that I drifted off to sleep, he saw fit to wake me with a sharp swat.

~

At night, he forced me to lay beside him on the ground. When he removed his helmet, I saw dark black hair. He had a broad chest that I was forced to lean against while he slept. I could see, hear, and feel him breathing. It didn’t seem right that he could still breathe when no one in my family could.

I slept little, fearing what might happen to me. The men looked at me constantly, but they didn’t speak to me or touch me.

In the morning, we rode past what was left of my castle. He held my head and made me look at the ruins. The castle had been the heart of my realm. Without it, my realm was no longer. I was homeless.

~

We rode on for days. He was very eager to return to his castle. Every time we stopped he made a show of giving me a few swats as his men looked on.

I was given old hard bread to eat and river water to drink. The Lion reached under my skirt every day to test if I still had my courses. I wondered what would happen to me when they stopped.

Suddenly, a castle appeared in the distance. It was bigger than any castle I had ever seen before. But it was different in that it wasn’t completely out of stone. Only the lower floors were stone. The rest was wood.

Trumpets sounded as we rode through the gates, announcing the arrival of their lord. The people were rejoicing that the war was finally over. I had nothing to rejoice about. I was the loser whose head might end up on a spike.

How many men would want to ruin me before the spirit of life left my body?

The Lion’s men helped me off of his horse. Gracefully, the Lion got down and stood in front of me, staring at me. “Should I tell them who you are? Do you have any idea how much they hate you?” he asked me.

He got out a dagger, making my heart stop. Then he cut the binds that held my hands together. I rubbed my wrists and shoulders, grateful to finally have them free. He said nothing more to me, but he kept me close.

The Lion kept me at his side as he dined with his man and the ladies of his court. I sat beside him as if I mattered, but I knew that I didn’t. He wanted everyone to see me. I was the prize that he brought home from war.

After the celebration meal, he brought me outside to the carpenter’s shed. His squire had followed us in to help remove his lord’s armor.

The Lion sat me down and ignored me while he filed wood and butted it together. He was extremely comfortable in this room. No one offered him help, and no one was surprised to see him in here doing manual labor. I watched him as he worked the wood. He was so large that it amazed me that he could do such fine, peaceful work, carefully sanding and forming the wood into what he wanted.

He often glanced at me, and several times he asked me to stand up. I did each time he asked.

Then it got too dark to for him to work by candlelight. He cleaned up and grabbed onto me by my wrist, yanking me back into the castle and up to his room.

It was a large room, made completely out of wood. He had a much larger bed than Prince Frederick had. It was longer as well as wider. Red, feather-filled blankets covered his bed. Under them were animal skins. This was a very fine room. He had a desk filled with papers and a large wardrobe to keep his clothing in. The door was open showing the fancy clothes he had. Chests were also in his chamber, giving me the impression that they were filled with gold. It reminded me that I had given up my dowry chest. It was lost in the rubble of the castle. My life’s work gone away.

He threw his coverlet onto the floor. “You sleep there.”

I went to the coverlet and wrapped myself up in the soft satin. This was an improvement to the cold ground. The wooden floor was warmer than a stone one would be. I was glad that we weren’t so close to one another.

His squire removed the Lion’s clothing until he was naked. I turned away so I was facing the wooden wall.

Would it be wrong to pray for a fire to burn the castle down?

The squire left, and the candle was blown out. The room was dark. I couldn’t see anything so I listened. But mostly, I heard myself breathing.

Later, I heard him breathing as he slept.

Exhausted, I also fell asleep too.