Love Bite Obey

Chapter 12: Betrayed

Rahlan has almost reached the large boulder on the Old King's Hill. The sun has set, darkening the landscape and making it nearly impossible to discern his black cape from the field. He's going to meet with a vampire army at that boulder and take command. Our time spent wandering alone in Urko will be over, and I imagine that it will be just like when Rahlan and I traveled with Lord Soran's army.

"Thanks," a deep voice says. I jump in surprise. Paral's looking at me, still bound to the tree. He had been quiet for so long that I didn't expect him to speak again. It must have struck him as odd to see a human acting as his shield.

I want to apologize for what happened, but how meaningful would it be when I wasn't the one torturing him? Thinking of what it would be like to be in his position, hearing an apology would simply leave me wondering why it was allowed to happen in the first place. I want to at least tell him that he won't be harmed again, but I'm not sure that I'll even be able to accomplish that. If Rahlan believes that hurting Paral is the only path to saving his sister, then there's little that I can do to physically stop him.

Though I can't promise his safety, there is one useful thing that I can tell him.

"You should know," I begin, "one of your men – the black-haired soldier who led us to your keep, has passed." Saying that he has passed sounds better than 'we killed him', but the underlying meaning is the same. I would give more details than just the color of his hair, but all the blood obscured the man's features.

"He's not my man," Paral says. "I did not know him."

Not his man? Is he confused? "The man was in your castle. He was taking us to meet you."

He smiles for a moment. "'Tis not my castle either. My father does not consider me great enough for such things."

No castle and no men? He looks in his mid-twenties, a little younger than Rahlan. As a prince of a nation, I'd have thought that his father would have wanted him to have some kind of role in the military.

He notices my puzzled expression. "My father states that such things are the affairs of a king, not a prince. In truth, he simply thinks little of me." He looks up at his bound hands. "In the end, it appears that he made an accurate assessment."

I let my gaze fall to the ground. "Someone treating you as lesser doesn't make it truth," I mumble.

Rahlan passes over the crest of the distant hill, completely disappearing from sight. His men will soon arrive if they haven't already, and he'll come marching back here, probably with a set of iron chains for Paral.

My gaze moves back to the vampire prince who has his arms bound over his head, still hanging from the tree. While I blocked Rahlan from Paral, Rahlan is only one person. When the army comes, Paral will be handed off to some vampire I don't know, a vampire that definitely won't listen to a human like me. It's one thing to keep Rahlan away from Paral, but it's entirely something else to get Rahlan to order his men not to hurt Paral.

When that army arrives, I will be forced to hear Paral's screams as they tear his body apart, unable to do anything to stop it. Just imagining what it would feel like makes my stomach twist. I was a captive just like him, and if Rahlan had chosen to, he could have hurt me in an attempt to gain information about Ivan. Sitting back and allowing Rahlan to torture Paral would mean accepting that it would have been justified to have done the same to me. I can't do that. There was no one to save me from his vicious fury then, but I can save Paral from it now.

My eyes return to the rock. Rahlan's on the other side of the hill, far away and out of sight. I'm sorry, Rahlan.

I stand up and approach Paral. His gaze meets mine, and he raises an eyebrow.