A Gentle Blade Part 14
It's been a long while since I had a whump scene with Leera, but here we are.
TWs: Torture, mentions of death (of briefly mentioned character), mention of past abuse, nonconsensual touching towards end (brief mention), <-straddling ...(If I miss any lmk!)
If wouldn't have mattered how long Sir Guard spoke; the queen wouldn't sleep until she hurt Leera. Rennera wouldn't say what she would do to her prisoner, but she did say Sir Guard wouldn't want to be there if he didn't torture. He would be there, whether he liked it or not; Leera wouldn't want to be alone. Or would she? Maybe she would be embarrassed if he were there.
It was too late to turn back now. Sir Guard was behind Rennera on the stairs to Leera's cell. If he turned back now... It would be cowardice to sleep in another room, away from the assassin who he was responsible for. He was the reason she was there. Sir Guard felt he needed to see Leera's torture, if not to make her feel better, then to punish himself.
"Knock, knock, my dearest assassin," the queen chuckled with high pitched hums. Sir Guard couldn't wrap his mind around the change in demeanor. Just earlier she had been talking about how she hated to hurt Leera, and any prisoner. She had just been talking about the abuse she went through, but now she was back to a sadistic torturer. How quickly she changed...then again, she had been silent the entire way from Sir Guard's room to the dungeons. She must have been preparing.
Leera whined like a dog preparing to be kicked by an abusive owner. Sir Guard had to look away from her before he did something he might have regretted more than what he'd already done. He turned his attention to the door, which he shut before taking up his usual space next to it. Sir Guard stared at the wall across from him. He hated that he couldn't plug his ears in order to stop hearing the assassin's harsh breathing.
"I have company in a few days," Rennera began to explain. "My conferences didn't go as expected so they will be visiting our great home. I'd like for you to be by my side." She spun on a heel to face Sir Guard. "You, too, my future king." He raised his brows. His lips parted, as well. Before he could say anything, the queen continued. "My assassin needs prepped in a particular way. I'm afraid you might coax my visitor's minds into helping you escape and I can't have that."
The assassin shook her head wildly. Sir Guard couldn't help but watch the panic on her face, the panic he ultimately caused. "I wouldn't. I won't. I promise I won't."
"Now, now." Rennera took lingering steps toward her captive. She bent at the waist, raising a sharpened nail to Leera's face. The assassin's eyes squeezed shut as she turned her head away in a series of small, nervous jerks. "You already agreed for our little session today. Best not to make it worse for yourself by begging, no?"
She nodded against the nail which barely touched her, but was still frightening nevertheless. Leera muttered a tiny, almost unheard, "Okay."
Sir Guard believed what all the queen had told him now. Even after the character change he witnessed, he believed her. She sounded evil, the way she suggested the assassin not beg, but it was that that Sir Guard caught onto, the piece that let him know Rennera really hated to hurt the assassin. She didn't want Leera to beg because that made it harder for her to pull through.
"Guard-" Sir Guard's attention snapped up if only because he was used to the assassin's nickname. He was fond of the name 'Sir Guard' now, though he felt bad that he never told Leera his real name. He almost did once before he came up with his best friend's name. "I need you to follow me. Bring the assassin. If she doesn't walk on her own, you drag her."
You're only saying that to prove your worthiness to your guard. But Rennera was a queen. Most people would have thought just owning the title would be enough. Sir Guard knew better. In some aspect he knew Rennera was doing the right thing, just as he had in some way; it didn't mean he liked her any more. He despised her as much as himself.
"Come, darling." The queen's black dress tailed her, dragging across the stone floor.
The other guard waited on Sir Guard with a bored expression. He quickly realized the queen was calling him darling. He shook his head, blinked a few times, and followed. It was difficult not to turn his head back to look at Leera who walked behind him.
"I can walk her," Sir Guard said, speaking to the man even further behind him than Leera. He turned his head just barely enough that he could see a little bit of the wall in his peripherals. It was safer Leera walk with him than the other guard. He seemed much more callous- certainly willing to drag her if she walked too slow like she nearly was.
"Her Majesty ordered me to walk her."
"She'll walk faster with me, and the queen hates waiting. I can hear her opening the door on the top step already. We're behind." He added. "And if you have not noticed, I am having to speak louder than I'd like because you and the prize are so behind."
To his surprise, it was Leera who responded. She gasped and the sound of footsteps ceased. "Please don't," she blurted and the guard behind her hummed in confusion.
"No, no, no. Please, you can't let him walk me. I'm going." But she wasn't moving.
Leera continued to cry, unmoving on the stairs. What was she doing? Was she really afraid that Sir Guard would take over and hurt her? Was she scared of him now because he slapped her? She must not have trusted him anymore. Sir Guard reckoned he deserved it.
"Please," Her voice raised to a wail. Her body hit the hard stairs as the guard pushed her down.
"If that's not what you want, it's what you'll get," the guard said.
Then it struck Sir Guard. She was acting out because she wanted to be lead by him. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. It was that she did. Leera felt safe with him. Before he could smile, he gruffly demanded her, "Up, now. Let's go."
She scrambled passed him on all fours before standing and beginning to walk. She gave him no trouble, acted as if she were afraid stepping wrong would upset him. Her acting skills were coming along well.
The assassin turned her head once- before they could approach the queen- and mouthed a thank you, to which Sir Guard gave a long blink. He couldn't nod or else the man behind him would know something was going on.
Even if the queen didn't like hurting Leera, Sir Guard couldn't let her know that he cared for the assassin at all. If he showed that, Rennera would be forced to take action, and then neither he, nor Leera, would ever have a chance at leaving the palace.
Rennera tutted as she spotted Leera, then Sir Guard, and finally the other. "I don't suppose there were problems, my dearest assassin? It took you quite a while." She looked at her own dress, suggesting she should have been the slow one.
Sir Guard actually heard the assassin swallow. He said, "She only needed a little coaxing, Your Majesty. I think her fear in my presence merits enough as any amount of added punishment."
"Of course," was all the queen said in return.
The door was already open. Rennera stepped passed the threshold and the others followed her. Leera's harsh breathing was getting worse with every step. Sir Guard was afraid- but also hopeful- she would pass out before the queen could torment her.
He wondered what would happen if Leera did pass out first. Would the treatment be worse or better? It was hard to tell. On one hand- if she passed out- she wouldn't feel anything and it might be harder to tell when the queen should stop, so she might stop early. But this could also be the same reason that she hurt Leera more. Without the cries, Rennera might accidentally overdo it. The latter would be great for the queen, terrible for the assassin.
As the four of them walked across the royal rug of the throne room to another door and staircase, Sir Guard pondered further. This time, he thought about something the queen had mentioned earlier.
A hiccup in her meeting amongst the kings and generals of other kingdoms. They must not have believed she was worth her word and that was why she was so persistent now in fixing Leera up. It was an extra measure to assure others viewed her like her husband.
What did this all mean to him? Well, Rennera only ever referred to him as her 'future king'. He never had the confidence or preparation to tell her he didn't want to marry her. He would marry her if it kept Leera safe, or as safe as she could be. Sir Guard couldn't stop her from hurting, but he could at least be there to comfort her afterwards. If he refused Rennera when the time came, he couldn't be there. Maybe he could, but not in the way he needed to be. He would be no help to Leera if he was whipped until he was motionless and unconscious.
Sir Guard wondered what this next meeting would look like. The queen clearly had the intention of broadcasting Leera. How would he be shown though? Would Rennera demand he stay silent, be a puppy dog at her side to make her seem like a master of authority? Or would she expect him to be as evil as she was to Leera?
A door opened. The queen and crew flooded in. Two torches alongside the same wall as the door lit the room with flickering light. Various wooden tables scattered the open room, each with different...supplies on them. Most of which were metal. Most of which were stained various shades of red. Sir Guard felt as if one of those tools were pinching his lungs. He swallowed.
It felt selfish to think that he couldn't stay and watch. That feeling of selfishness was what made Sir Guard stay though. He needed to be here, in this...this Torture Room for Leera. And anyways, what kind of future king would he be if he couldn't stand to see prisoners like this?
I'm not this kingdom's future king. That's what he wanted to think, what he'd even say to Leera when she mentioned it at one point in time.
In all reality, or as reality spun on, the thought more or like became, I am the future king. I have to fill the old king's place. Not fully, of course. He could do as Rennera did; make the orders for guards to hurt the prisoners. But what if all of the prisoners are innocent, or they were forced into doing something?
Now again he thought of Leera. The assassin wasn't forced to be an assassin. From what he gathered from her poorly secreted self was that her father was taken prisoner and- as opposed to only being tortured- was killed while in captivity. Sir Guard assumed Leera became an assassin out of her own good will. She admitted she didn't kill for just anyone. 'I don't kill for people with overloaded bellies. I kill for the people whose ribs I can see, or can't see due to the loose fabric in place of skin' the assassin had said days ago. All in all, Leera wasn't forced to be an assassin, but even then she did the job only when it was fitting for the rest of society. Sometimes it backfired, like now as she was being wrestled onto a stone table. Sir Guard hated himself more than ever.
"I'll keep this simple," the queen practically announced.
Sir Guard couldn't tear his eyes away from Leera. She wasn't looking at him. He wondered if she hated him as much as he did himself. The assassin said before that she didn't hate him, but it was hard to believe, harder to believe than the queen actually being a semi-decent person.
"My future king has had many issues with you before, with your complaining and whimpers. So," She said the last word sharply, suddenly. "I have come up with an idea. I will use- hmm..."
Rennera moved on from the stone table to the nearest wooden one. Sir Guard still watched Leera all the while.
The assassin was held still by thick leather restraints bolted and strapped around the table. There was a seemingly new addition to the table. Sir Guard could tell it was new only by the fact it had no dirt or grime adorning it. It was a...a metal bracket, Sir Guard thought, and it was movable. By the looks of it, it was split in the center and pushed aside when not in use. However when someone lay down on the table, both sides were pushed together and locked in place on either side of the person's head. But why restrict the head?
As if on cue, the queen inhaled and released the breath with a sharp squeal as a shing- as well as some loud clunks- sounded throughout the room. Sir Guard's eyes finally left Leera to see a sharp short dagger glinting in the torchlight. The queen handed it off to the second guard in the room, the non-future king.
Rennera said to the guard now, "You'll cut lines in her lips- vertically. She won't give you trouble. Thank Bliss for new inventions."
That's why, Sir Guard thought mournfully. The torture would be done to Leera's mouth, and therefore her head needed to be as still as the rest of her body. It made him feel sick.
The other guard didn't waste a moment, already trying to figure out the easiest way to complete the task, which he didn't seem to mind doing at all. Sir Guard hoped he was only as great of an actor as everyone else in the room. He doubted it.
"Can I-" The guard gestured to the table, or Leera.
"Whatever will make this a speedy process," the queen answered, and the guard nodded, climbing on top of the table and straddling the assassin, looming over her with dagger in hand.
Leera tried to look away, but cried out as the metal brackets must have dug into her scalp. Sir Guard imagined there were spikes being driven into her head. He swallowed, watching, not saying a word- though he had many he wanted to say. The table was small enough that climbing on top was entirely unnecessary. The queen must have known this. Why did she agree? Sir Guard tried to think hopefully. Perhaps she is only trying to please her guard. Word will spread of cruel treatment of prisoners, but great treatment of the Guard.
"Get off of me!" Leera screeched at the man. "Get off!" She tried bucking her hips if only to knock him off balance, but his knees were well planted on either side of her and he only chuckled at the motion.
Pig, Sir Guard thought disgustedly.
Rennera said as Leera continued to protest, "Grab her mouth at the joints of her jaws."
The man followed instruction and Sir Guard quietly cursed himself. It was he who had done that and the queen caught onto it, using it to her advantage.
Every moment grew worse. Leera screamed and cried, begged between individual slices of skin made by the blade. Sir Guard wanted nothing more than to scoop her off of that stone table and carry into the very woods he found her in.
He considered what would have happened if he hadn't brought Leera back to the queen at all. Could they both have been free? No, of course not. The reason he brought the assassin to Rennera, he knew all along, was because there was no chance of freedom as long as Rennera wanted the assassin. The whole reason he brought her back was so that he had enough time to learn how to reason with the queen and convince her to release Leera. Nothing had changed. This was still the goal. It was just becoming slightly difficult now with the meeting of kings and generals coming up so soon-
A thought struck Sir Guard. Rennera already stated he was to be at the meeting- most likely it would be a conversational dinner. What would happen if he was recognized by the others? The queen thought Sir Guard as only being a bounty hunter. She had no idea it was an act, one used to fool her into keeping him around. He refused to be Leera's guard at first only as a 'playing hard to get', though he didn't expect it would make him worthy of being her next king. Either way, to Rennera, Sir Guard being her king would be the first time he had experience with royalty. It wasn't, and that's why this next 'conference' as she called it would be so dangerous.
