Chapter 7

Kiara wakes up with an indescribable pain around her neck. She puts her hand around her throat and makes a sound, she panics when nothing comes out. She tries again and manages to make a small hoarse sound. She looks around the room and recoils in fear and somewhat shock, when she sees the Emperor sitting on a chair, just a few feet away from her.

He is shirtless, his midriff is bound with white linen. He leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees, a posture that must be incredibly painful, considering his injury. Both of them hold eye contact for a long time, before she finally speaks in a voice that is not her own.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

“I told you, death will be too easy for you. I intend to make your life a living hell. Besides, I am a ruthless killer, not a heinous one, rumors that I killed my wife during the night of consummation will ruin my reputation.” His voice is cool and toneless as he says this.

“Since when are you worried about being accused of heinous crimes?”

He throws a box on her lap. “Put that on and don’t take it off for any reason, even when you have to bath. We have court this morning, I don’t need rumors spreading because of your bruises.”

Inside the box, Kiara finds a humongous choker, designed all over with different types of precious stones. She turns it around, running her finger over each stone.

“Put it on.” The Emperor orders in a voice that jolts Kiara out of her daydream.

She puts on the thick ring around her neck and the latch snaps shuts at the back. The Emperor stands up from his chair and approaches her, she shuffles away but he grabs her by the chin, turning her face this way and that before letting go.

“It suits, you.”

He turns to leave the tent but stops halfway and turns back to Kiara. “Take care of it, it belonged to my mother.”

“Your father used to choke her to death too?” The words are out of Kiara’s mouth before she can weigh the consequence of them.

The Emperor surprises her by smiling at the retort. “I’ll let that one slide, but the next time you talk about my mother again in a derogatory way, I will smack you across the face. I don’t care what marks I leave.” He leaves the tent and the servants assigned to her enter.

Nia is very quiet, she doesn’t even smile at her and Kiara is certain that Nia somehow bears the consequence of her action with the Jade pin.

They bathe her and wash her hair in rose water, no one makes a comment about the ring around her neck. She is covered in different scented oils from different flasks. They brush and oil her hair, letting it flow down her back. Nia informs her in a flat tone, that no more accessories are to be used on her hair, it is an order from the Emperor himself.

She is led into another tent, awaiting the Emperor and his entourage.

This tent is larger than hers, it is decorated with different weapons on stands, different crowns, armours, swords, a plethora of books on different subjects, chests of different sizes are arranged around the room, there are maps, scrolls, statues, busts, scepters, various Knick knacks, when she sees the crown of the king of Dion sitting on a velvet pillow on a tiny pedestal, his robes folded on another pedestal, it dawns on Kiara that these are trophies, trophies from all the kingdoms he had gathered from his conquest.

She turns around, examining each piece, thoroughly enchanted with the ornaments.

“I had to see it to believe it.”

Electricity runs down Kiara’s spine as she turns around to face the owner of the voice.

“Aunt Tina…”

“I had to see it to believe it!”

Aunt Tina advances and Kiara takes cautious steps backwards.

“To see what Latana’s mother had said to me was true, to see what the priest had said to me was true! That you had whored yourself out to this animal for what…Silver and Gold?”

Kiara hits an armour, causing it to fall from it’s stand with a momentous crash, she trips on the metal, loses her balance and falls on the floor, still she tries to crawl away from her aunt on her hands and bottom.

“Aunt Tina, it is not what you think?”

The slap comes before Kiara can anticipate it, it stings, momentarily blinding her.

“How dare you tell me what I can think, when I see it written all over you!”

The second slap hit her right cheek and this time, Kiara sees stars.

“A strange man offers you clothes, jewelry and a soft bed to sleep on and you spread your legs wide!”

Kiara is slapped again.

“You slut!”

“I had no choice!” Kiara manages to get the words out amidst the blows but it only seems to infuriate Aunt Tina more.

“You had no choice?” Aunt Tina asks, incredulous. “You had no choice? You had no choice but to sleep with the man who is responsible for the death of your uncle and cousins? You had no choice but to sleep with the man who murdered your betrothed? The same man who killed your King and brought your city to ruin? You had no choice? No choice?! You could have said no!”

Aunt Tina releases an onslaught of blows on Kiara, somewhere along the line, her slipper had come off and its wooden base did a number on Kiara’s fragile body.

“You whore…”

“Harlot…”

“Shameless slut…”

“You whore yourself out because of jewelry!” Aunt Tina grabbed the choker around Kiara’s neck and pulled it forcefully.

“No!” Kiara screams, trying to grab hold of the jewelry.

Aunt Tina smacks Kiara with her slipper before flinging the piece across the room, Kiara tastes blood in her mouth.

“Because of silk, you spread your legs…” Aunt Tina takes hold of Kiara’s blouse and rips it apart in one pull, exposing her breasts.

“Harlot…Let the world see you for what you really are!”

She kicks Kiara on her sore ribcage, causing the girl to collapse on her side in indescribable pain.

“Your mother would be ashamed of you.” She spits on Kiara. “As for me, I disown you. No niece of mine will be known as a slut.”

Aunt Tina walks out of the tent.

Kiara’s chest wretches in both physical and emotional pain, she wails, pouring her heart out, hitting her fists on the ground until she can no longer feel her hand. She lays on the floor, spent.

She is still sobbing when the Emperor walks in with his armed guards. He surveys the scene before him, sees his mother’s choker on the floor and his expression changes from calm to rage. He looks to the guards and they head out of the tent, securing the area, only two of his generals remain behind.

The Emperor kneels before the sobbing Kiara and takes her face in his hand. He sees her half-shut eye, sees her split lip. He lets go of her face and offers his hand, which she takes. He helps her up into a sitting position and takes into account her torn blouse which she holds together with one hand. Before she covers it, he sees the scratch marks on her breasts.

“Who did this to you?” His voice is calm, toneless, despite the rage she sees in his eyes.

She looks away.

He grabs her chin and turns her face to his, this time the action is painful and she winces at the force he uses to hold her face in place, any harder and he would break her jaw.

“I am only going to ask you one more time, before I beat the answer out of you, who did this to you?” His golden eyes are wild, his voice is dangerously low.

“M-my Aunt.” Kiara stutters.

The Emperor turns back to his generals. They bow before leaving the room. The Emperor releases Kiara and stands up, he goes over to the spot where Aunt Tina tossed his mother’s choker, he picks it up and turns the piece in his hands, fingering the jewelry. The clasp is broken, a few rubies are missing and there is a huge dent in the piece. Kiara sees the rage in his face, sees the tick in his jaw and realizes that he is not angry because he cares for her, he is angry because his mother’s choker is destroyed.

He turns those wild eyes on her and Kiara shuffles back in fear as he advances. He grabs her by the arm and pulls her roughly to her feet.

“We are going to teach that aunt of yours a lesson. I do not take kindly to people who damage my property.” He drags her out of the tent with so much vehemence in his step that Kiara can barely keep up while holding her blouse closed.

They walk through the city gates and everything comes to a standstill. Soldiers and their Generals bow as he walks past but he pays them no mind, his eyes fixed on his intended destination. They get to the city square and Kiara gasps in shock as she sees the two generals manhandle her aunt onto the podium, she is forced into a pillory and locked in.

Kiara sees that her aunt has been given the beating of her life, she can barely stand, her legs wobble under her weight.

“Do you know this woman?” The Emperor drags Kiara to stand in front of her aunt.

Aunt Tina hurls a glob of bloody saliva that misses Kiara’s foot by mere inches. The Emperor looks at the glob and looks back to aunt Tina before landing a solid punch on the woman’s right eye.

He is about to land another one before Kiara grabs hold of his arm with both hands, letting go of her top. “No! Please have mercy!”

The Emperor rips his arm away, almost toppling her to the ground. “Shut up before I shut you up!” He unclips his cape from his armour and tosses it to her. “Cover yourself!”

He turns back to her aunt, clenching and unclenching his fist, ready for another strike at the slightest provocation.

“I am going to show you how we treat people who touch what belongs to royalty. Cut her hands off.”

“No, please!” Kiara interjects, trying to reach for him again.

“If I hear you speak again…” He turns to her and lets the threat hang.

The Generals draw their swords and hold it high above their heads.

Kiara turns away, putting her hands to her ears to block out the sound of the blades as they make contact with her aunt’s flesh.

The Emperor wheels her around and plants her in front of him, right in front of the action, he grabs her by her face, forcing her to look at the scene about to unfold.

“Watch.” He says, but Kiara keeps her eyes tightly shut.

She feels his lips make contact with her ear. “If you do not open your eyes, I will have your lids cut out. I have no objection to having a lidless woman as my wife.”

Her eyes snap open, she knows he will do it without hesitation. Her aunt’s face is swollen, her right eye is closed shut and turning purple but her left eye is wide open, it regards Kiara with so much hatred that she can hear the words she had been called this morning.

Shameless slut…

Harlot….

Whore…

But she sees past all that, she sees the woman who took in the four-year-old orphan who had been dumped at her doorstep in a time of crises. Dion had been experiencing severe drought and food shortage when Kiara had been dropped off by the stranger tasked with getting her to her closest relative. Aunt Tina could have denied her, sent her away and no one would have held it against her because she had her own children to feed.

Aunt Tina had been there when Kiara had cried her eyes out for a week when it occurred to her that she would never see her parents again, Aunt Tina had nursed her back to health when Kiara had fallen ill with grief for months, Aunt Tina’s bosom had been the only place of comfort where Kiara had rested her weary head for most of her childhood.

Aunt Tina had provided for her in the same capacity as she had provided for her sons, she had nursed her, nurtured and raised her to be the woman she was today.  Kiara remembered every inside joke she shared with the woman, every piece of gossip they bantered over, every...

“Do it.” The Emperor orders.

They raise their swords above their heads and bring it down with so much force that one of the swords imbeds itself in the wood after it slices Aunt Tina’s arm off from the elbow. An unrecognizable sound comes out of her aunt, Kiara does not know if it is because of the pain of losing both her arms, or the shock of seeing two stumps that were rapidly spurting out blood.

A small group of onlookers had gathered at the podium to observe the scene. When Kiara makes eye contact with a few who knew her story, they begin to look at her with hate and disgust, this does not escape the attention of the Emperor. He calls the attention of the general standing by and says in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Burn the city to the ground and leave no survivors. Except her.” The Emperor turns around and points to Kiara’s aunt. “Leave her there.”

“No!” Kiara screams, trying to reach for him, but she is blocked by two soldiers who grab her by her arms before she can reach the Emperor. “You Promised! I agreed to marry you because you promised.”

He pauses and turns back to face her. “I never promised.” He pronounces every letter of the last word, drawing it out. “I gave my word and I am Emperor, I can retract it.” He continues to move. “Put her in a carriage, we ride for my castle immediately.”

Kiara is dragged out of the city kicking and screaming as the massacre begins.

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