One Heart

32. Mine

Darkness. 

Sorah swore her eyes were open, yet all she could see was darkness. She tried to focus, tried to concentrate on what she could hear, what she could feel. As she narrowed in on every tactile sensation she could locate, she felt the restraints wrapped around her wrists and chest, holding her to the chair beneath her. She tested them, pulling with all her strength, to no avail. Something pinched her inner elbow. What was it? What happened? Where was Kensie? Where was Anna? A vague image of the bracelet entered her mind as she heard a door open—the beginnings of a conversation as two men entered the room.

"Wake her up."

She heard the deep, familiar—yet unrecognisable—voice a moment before she felt the cracking blow to her cheek. Her head lolled back and despite the pain, her senses remained blurred.

"Wake up, royal whore," another man spat.

She clenched her eyes shut tight before opening them, finally able to see. She stared into the dark eyes of the brute whose hand now clasped her jaw, holding her face toward him. "There we go," he said, his tone soft yet somehow full of malice. "Pretty eyes." He held her face while he leered at her, examining her features. "So innocent... hopefully he lets me have a go with you and then we'll see how innocent you look after that."

He released her, the lack of support causing her head to fall to the side. She could now see the other man—pairing the voice to the face—and realised it was Nathaniel. She glared at him, her gut twisting as he grinned.

The hurried clicking of shoes on the hard floor brought both men to attention. Sorah watched the way they stood, shoulders back and heads held high. She understood the posture. It was the way her soldiers stood when they faced her. As the footsteps slowed, she closed her eyes and waited for her enemy to reveal himself.

"Well done, Nathaniel."

She opened her eyes. Her memories had prepared her for Ehrik Kahahn, but they didn't prepare her for how it would feel to be his prisoner. He loomed before her, not in stature, but in arrogance. By his side was Alyssa, who leered at her with a maniacal grin.

Nathaniel stood tall. "Thank you, Your Majesty." Sorah rolled her eyes.

"How did the chip go?"

"No issues. I didn't feel a thing for the little bitch."

In a flash Alyssa was before him, his face in her hand. "Watch your mouth, underling," she said through clenched teeth.

He pulled away and sniggered. "Maybe you need a chip of your own, Princess."

"Enough." The commanding voice resonated throughout the cell. All eyes were on Kahahn. At last, he turned his attention to Sorah. "It seems, Your Majesty, that you haven't lived up to your name."

She glared at him, no strength or energy to do anything more.

"At least Sorah the First was a challenge. That whore killed my father, and my grandfather, and while I was never able to exact my revenge before she retired, there's a certain poetry in being able to capture her namesake." He paced the small section of floor before her. "You're a quiet one... usually you royals are full of useless things to say." He laughed, looking to his two soldiers who did the same. "So, you have nothing to say to the man who killed your mother and grandmother?"

Sorah used all her energy to tilt her head back and answer him. "The only words I have for you will be spoken by my blade."

He grinned, a small chuckle leaving his chest. His laugh, just like his voice, resonated throughout the room in deep waves. "That just isn't going to happen. I'm sure you've noticed how weak you've become?" He waited for a response, and then continued on despite her silence. "We've developed a serum for you. It inhibits your powers, rendering you as useless as a human." She looked down at the cannula in her arm and followed the tubing up to an IV bag beside her. "You're never leaving here," he said. "I can't kill you, or another pesky heir will be born to one of your cousins. So you'll stay here to rot in this basement, for say, the next thousand or so years, maybe two, who knows how long you half-breeds live?"