Author's Note:
Warning this chapter contains slightly graphic violence. You can choose to skip it if you wish, you should be able to get the gist of any needed information from the next chapter.
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Ashima sat on the side of her bed half an hour later, staring at nothing in particular. The last time she'd been in this room she was ready to give up. Ready to die. Now she was too worried to think of anything other than Kietnan and his brothers. She kept going through her conversation with the king and queen in her mind. Had she said anything to incriminate him? She stood and paced, not sure what to think. At least he wouldn't be back in the homeland for another several days, probably more than a week.
Her pacing stopped and she turned, standing frozen when she heard the door open and quickly shut. A quiet whimper left her lips and she shook her head slightly, her body trembling in fear.
"No." She whispered.
"Miss me?" Zein smirked at her as he stood just inside the door, staring at her angrily. Every muscle in her body tensed. Of all the times he'd beaten her, badmouthed her, ridiculed her, he had never actually been angry. He took one step toward her and she flinched, grabbing onto the bed beside her with her left hand. "My own people have turned against me because of you." He snarled.
Her spine tingled and her hands clenched harshly. This isn't good. She stared back at him in horror, knowing it wouldn't be good to respond, she already knew him well.
"They think I was too harsh on the little alien girl. Too... physical." He scoffed and Ashima watched as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. " I thought you might want to know that I've been relieved of service."
Ashima's eyes rounded in surprise and her mouth opened slightly.
"Oh, don't act surprised. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? By running off your mouth to them?" Her eyebrows pushed together in worry as she watched him begin to pace, his eyes never leaving her.
"For some reason...they are more sympathetic to you, than to me. I did what must be done to protect my people, and I am being punished for it. I am shamed by my people, my family shamed as well so they have chosen to abandon me. I have lost my position, my family, I have lost everything." She flinched when he abruptly stopped pacing and stood staring straight at her, his stance tense like a cat ready to pounce. "My life has been taken from me, alien, so in return, I will take yours."
Before Ashima could fully process the words he spoke, he lunged at her full speed. There was no time for her to react, even so there was nowhere for her to go. The bed was between her and the bathroom, he was between her and the door to the hall. She had just begun to run toward the bed in an attempt to make it to the bathroom when he tackled her. She fell onto the bed with him on top of her. As she fought he grabbed her hair and pulled, causing a painful scream to erupt from Ashima's lips. He punched her hard across the face, causing her to momentarily lose consciousness. When she came back to reality, she was laying with her back to the bed, her ankles tied together and to the foot of the bed. He was sitting astride her, reaching up to tie her hands above her.
As clarity entered her mind she began to struggle but she was already bound. She filled her lungs with air in an effort to scream again but he quickly covered her mouth roughly with one hand as he pulled some kind of rag from his pocket with the other. He shoved it into her mouth before wrapping some kind of tape over it. She screamed but the sound was muffled.
"I was doing a service to my people." He said in a quiet, eerily calm voice. "Everything I have ever done was in service to the Premier, and to the Homeland, to Domu." Ashima panted from exhaustion and panic. Her left eye was already swollen shut and her head was pounding from his punch but she had more to worry about.
"I did what must be done to ensure their safety. And how do they repay me?!" Zein pulled out a knife and looked at it. "They cut me off. And now I'm going to cut you. I'm going to show you what true pain really is. I won't be holding back like I was before. There's no reason to hold back now."
Ashima stared at him in horror before she came to her senses. She screamed against the rag in her throat and fought against her restraints but her efforts accomplished nothing. Tears fell down her face as she cried uncontrollably. She bucked her hips up and hope surged through her as he lost his balance and fell off to her side. Her victory was short-lived. He caught himself quickly, but instead of returning to where he was, he stood on the floor and stared down at her. His chest rising and falling harshly.
Her breath was taken from her again as Zein punched the side of her abdomen. Hard. Twice more his fist connected with her midsection. She gasped for breath through her nose, the rag in her mouth hindering her from getting lungfuls of air.
"Your species really is so weak. So helpless. Perhaps you were telling the truth after all?" He smirked as he took slow steps to stand at the foot of the bed. She watched him with fearful eyes as she struggled to breath.
"Feet are the most peculiar part of the body. We stand and walk and run on them all day long. Yet they are so sensitive." He reached forward and slashed his sharp knife across the bottom of Ashima's feet. Over and over he sliced into her skin, smiling as blood splattered all over him.
Ashima shivered in fear and disgust as Zein climbed on top of her again, straddling her with his legs. She could feel her body losing the fight with consciousness, and at this point she welcomed the thought of simply drifting off to sleep and never waking up again to this nightmare.
"Now, now, girl. You need to be awake for this. I can't have you missing it." Zein said as his knife drug along Ashima's exposed skin beneath her collarbone, drawing blood. She was barely conscious enough to register the pain as she whimpered. She wasn't sure if it was from the hard hits, the blood loss, or the mix of excruciating pain and fear, but she was barely hanging on.
"This has been fun. But sadly, I don't have much time, little alien. We must cut our fun short." He chuckled as he brought the knife up above her chest and smiled at her. "No matter if you were telling the truth or not, you will no longer be a risk to my people."
Ashima drew in a ragged breath through her nose and closed her eyes. Zein hovering over her with a knife wouldn't be the last thing she'd see. She pictured the glowing lights in the cavern, Kietnan's hand caressing her face lightly. Tears ran down her face and she smiled as she let out a shaky breath. She focused on the happy memory and everything else faded away. She didn't hear his insane ramblings, his menacing taunts. She didn't even feel the weight of him on her anymore as she slowly drifted out of consciousness.
"Shima."
She heard Kietnan's voice speaking softly to her as she pictured him watching her intently as they prepared food together in his tent. She relished in the memories of the feel of his fingers on her cheeks, the warmth they spread from his touch.
"Shima. I'm here."
"Ki?" She asked, barely audible, even in her own mind.
"Yes, Shima. It's me. I'm here."
"Ki." She sighed, content as she felt his lips on her forehead. "Don't leave me." She whispered to her imaginary version of him.
"I won't, Shima."
She smiled. "Hold my hand while I die, Ki. I don't want to be alone. I want you to be with me one last time."