"Pain is a fickle fruit. It can turn Men into Monsters and Women into Warriors"

Advisory:

The following chapter contains scenes which might be disturbing for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Lothar, Traetos Province, Southern Avestria

Few days had passed; the civilians had not seen Krora since he had captured the Queen and her daughter. There were no more executions by the Parso. Supposedly, Krora had got what he wanted when he captured the Queen. The people assumed that the Queen and the princess must have been killed by Krora. However, this was not the case. As the days went by, it was an inferno for the Queen and her daughter Kiyara.

Kiyara was imprisoned in a room which was always locked from outside. The doors to her room only opened when the meals were delivered to her. However, tonight, the Parso guard had stepped inside Kiyara's room for the first time since the day she was locked.

She was sitting at the corner of the room, cringed behind her bed. The Parso held her and forcefully dragged her out of the room. Kiyara was crying loudly as she was being yanked, all along the corridor. The guard stopped when they arrived at the entrance of another chamber. It was Krora's chamber.

Kiyara could remember this chamber as the one where her mother and father used to live. She had played within the walls of this corridor, chased by the King's guards to keep a watch over her. Now, she was being dragged harshly towards it by the enemy soldier.

As the guard opened the door which was left ajar, Kiyara saw her mother, the Queen, who rushed towards her. The Queen was sobbing her eyes out. She tightly embraced Kiyara by getting down on her knees. The Queen kissed her daughter Kiyara on her cheeks and her forehead.

The Queen was jubilant and relieved, knowing that her daughter was alive. As Kiyara glanced over her mother's shoulder, she saw Krora standing near the table. He had a Shokal receptacle in his left hand and a pitcher in his right hand. He glimpsed at Kiyara, as he poured the Vinalia from the pitcher in the receptacle.

"Your daughter is alive...I have done my part of the deal...It's time that you do yours" he spoke. The Queen sobbed as her eyes lowered to the ground. Kiyara could realize from her mother's eyes that she was afraid. She could sense the coercion that was imposed on her mother.

"Are you okay, my love?" the Queen asked Kiyara, as she caressed her hair. Kiyara was too terrified to respond. She was shocked to see her mother, so vulnerable and so afraid. She had always known her mother---the Queen---as a suave woman who was venerated by the people of the village. But somehow, her mother had lost her elegance. The Queen looked afraid and diffident. She had never seen her mother, trembling in fear.

"Are you done?!" asked Krora loudly. The Queen kissed Kiyara on the forehead; her lips were tightly pressed against Kiyara's temple. It was as if she was seeing Kiyara for the last time. After the kiss, the Queen stood up and moved back from Kiyara. Kiyara was completely dumbfounded on seeing all of this.

"I am done," she said and turned towards Krora with her head lowered. Krora downed the Vinalia from his receptacle and banged the receptacle on the table.

"Hold her" he commanded his guard. The guard immediately yanked Kiyara and wrapped his hand around her throat.

"NO! You said you won't kill her!!!" shouted the Queen as she tried to pull her daughter away from the hands of that Parso, but he shoved her away.

"Calm down, I am not killing her!" replied Krora. The Queen was confused and frightened.

"But after she sees what I am going to do to you...She will kill herself in the coming years" he said, calmly. The Queen was flabbergasted.

"No...No please...please...I beg you...Let her go" she said, beseeching and begging him.

Krora clutched the Queen's hands and yanked her, all the way from the door and shoved her on the bed. The Queen was lying at the edge of the bed with her face down. Krora pulled her hair from the back, as he stood behind her. He started kissing her on the neck and her shoulders. His right hand clutched her hair while his left hand groped her bosom.

"I want her to watch...I want her to know how she was born" he whispered in the Queen's ear from the back. The Queen was sobbing, helpless and weak. As soon as Kiyara could see her mother in this state, she tried to resist the Parso's hold but the guard had held her tighter. The guard pressed his palm over Kiyara's mouth so that she wouldn't scream.

With his other hand, he forced her head to look in the direction of her mother who was getting molested by Krora. Kiyara cried and shouted till her throat was dry but her voice was muzzled by the Parso's palm which was tightly pressed against her mouth. She had to watch her mother, getting raped.

Krora vigorously tore the Queen's white robe from her right shoulder and kissed all over her petite body. He smooched over her clavicle and roughly fondled her breasts. Krora continued to tear the Queen's garments, until she was naked in front of her daughter. The Queen didn't resist but let Krora do what he wanted. If she had resisted Krora, he would have killed her daughter. She had to be submissive, in order to protect her daughter from getting killed.

He pulled her hair back, so that her head was tilted upwards and he could kiss and bite over her neck. After she was completely undressed by Krora, he released his grip over her hair. As her head lowered, the Queen saw Kiyara, muzzled by the Parso and made to watch all of this. Krora spread the Queen's legs apart and pushed her down to the bed. He loosened his own lower garment and in the next instant, he pushed his manhood inside her.

The Queen yelped in pain as he lustfully mounted himself over the Queen and leaned over her bare back. His right hand had groped her breasts while his left hand had clutched her hair, pulling it back. His chin rested on her shoulder while his warm and foul breath fell over her neck. The Queen was forced to look at her daughter and Kiyara was made to look at her mother. It was brutal and unbearable. Kiyara's eyes were filled with tears as she saw what Krora was doing to her mother. She couldn't d anything to protect her mother from getting raped. She was powerless against the Parso soldier who had restrained her. What could a girl of five Mesha possibly do, to a full grown, trained warrior?

After a while, Kiyara grew silent. She wasn't crying or shouting anymore. She just stood there staring at her mother, petrified and laconic. She had surrendered to the situation and so had the Queen.
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It was dark outside, the night brought freezing cold along with it. Ramusa was sitting in his cell, alongside Herios who was already asleep. Herios had coiled himself like a snake, with his legs pulled closer to his chest and his hands placed below his head as a pillow. Herios was enervated from the wounds that he had incurred. He was growing weaker and paler with each passing day.

Ramusa was worried about Herios and his condition. Seeing the severity of his wounds, he was dubious about Herios surviving for more than a few days. He sighed and leaned over the bars of the prison cell. His back was resting on the wall behind him, while his head was leaning on the bars. He could see the Parso guards, armed with their pikes, standing at the entrance of that tenebrous dungeon.

They had firebrands in their hand so that they could keep a watch over Ramusa and Herios. Slowly and steadily, his eyelids started closing. Sleep had engulfed him. Ramusa had grown weaker than he ever had, in his entire life.

Few hours later, Ramusa was startled from his sleep when he heard a thudding. As he woke up and gazed around he saw the Parso guards, plummeting to the ground. There was an arrow which was protruding out of the Parso's neck. Ramusa was bewildered. Out of nowhere, an armor clad bowman stepped inside the dungeon.

"They are here!" the bowman whispered, as he walked through the entrance of the dungeon. He was followed by many more armor clad warriors who entered the room with firebrands in their hand. Ramusa was alarmed. He immediately stood up at his place and shook Herios. Herios, perturbed from his sleep, woke up to see Ramusa standing at the corner of the cell near the bars and staring outside.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Enduring the pain from his wounds and injuries, he stood up at his place by taking the support of the wall.

"Someone's here....be alert" whispered Ramusa. As the footsteps grew louder, Ramusa and Herios warily stood inside their prison cells. When their prison cell illuminated from the light of the firebrand, Ramusa saw the man who was holding the torch.

"Are you an Avestriān?" said the swordsman who was holding the firebrand.

"I am Ramusa Vorcerus and this here, is Herios Neraepherus..." he replied. Herios was standing in the shadow of Ramusa. Before Ramusa could tell them his rank, the men broke the leverage of their prison cell and opened the gate. Ramusa was overwhelmed with joy, when he saw the emblem of the Traetos province carved over the armours of those men.

"Ramusa Vorcerus ....We are the soldiers of Harāpiā... The Ethnarch has commanded us to save the hostages trapped in Lothar...I am Velnik Stoneweld, also an Ashra Primus" said the man. He had a giant stature but he was shorter than Ramusa. Nonetheless, he held the same rank as Ramusa. Velnik stared at Herios with his dark black eyes. He was perplexed on seeing those injuries and wounds all over Herios's body.

"I will explain later" said Ramusa. Velnik nodded. Velnik was an armour clad warrior with dark brown hair and rugged arms. He was carrying a Bladius in his scabbard, hanging low at his waist. This was a confirmation of Velnik's rank. Bladius was only awarded to the warriors at the rank of Ashra or higher.

"Follow us" he said. Ramusa and Herios rushed through the dungeon and climbed their way up through the staircase. They had been imprisoned there for so long, that they had almost forgotten about this spiral staircase which led into the dungeons, below the castle. They moved through the tenebrous staircase, illuminated only by the firebrands held by Velnik and his men. Ramusa was eager to get his hands around Krora's throat.

"I am going to kill that swine!" he exclaimed. "Kill who?" asked Velnik. "Krora, the commander of this Parso force that has invaded Lothar" he replied.

"I apologize...but we have neither time nor enough men for a battle against the Parso" he replied. Ramusa was befuddled.

"Not enough men?! You just said that you are here to save us" said Ramusa, agitated.

"Yes...we are here to get you out of Lothar, safely...We are here on a rescue mission...We are not here to go on a war against the Parso" replied Velnik. They finally arrived on the upper floor and rushed towards the gate. When Herios and Ramusa stepped outside the walls, they were jubilant on seeing that some of the civilians were already rescued and they were fleeing outside the citadel through the gatehouse.

Some of the injured soldiers of Lothar, who had been taken as slaves, were also made to flee away from the kingdom along with the other civilians. Although there was a rabble of people jostling their way through the gatehouse, it was exceptionally quiet.

The soldiers of Harāpiā were admirably handling the situation of rescuing the people from this Parso stronghold. Some of the soldiers of Lothar, who were fit for fighting, gathered around Ramusa as soon as he stepped outside the dungeon walls. It was dark and cold, but the twinkling stars had somewhat illuminated the milieu. It was bright enough to see where your foot was falling. Ramusa and Herios were following Velnik where he was leading them. On their way, they could see the corpses of Parso soldiers, disfigured and beheaded. The Harāpiān troops had attacked the Parso in the same manner as Parso had invaded Lothar---sneaking in the middle of the night.

Herios recognized Ikshah as he walked briskly towards Ramusa. "Chief Ramusa..." he said and held out his hand for a handshake. Ramusa shook his hand. He was stupefied on seeing a cloth that was wrapped around Ikshah's head. The cloth was muddled with blood, which was spilling out of his wound.

"I am fine...It's probably just a flesh wound...I got hit when I tried to free myself from the shackles...I had to...They were taking away the Queen and the princess" said Ikshah as he saw Ramusa, staring at the cloth.

"We need to hurry to the middle bailey...many of the civilians are trapped there" said Velnik.

"I am going to Krora's chamber...We need to save the Queen and the princess Kiyara" suggested Ikshah. Ramusa was stupefied. His apprehension had finally come true. The Queen was captured by Krora and taken to his chambers. Herios was equally angered on hearing that Kiyara had been taken as well.

"I am coming with you" said Ramusa.

"No! Please cooperate... we need to save a lot of people who are trapped in the middle bailey" said Velnik and stopped Ramusa.

"I am the warrior of this kingdom...It is my duty to protect the Queen...I am going to rescue her even if it means death" Ramusa said firmly. Ikshah concurred. Velnik knew that it was no time to be obstinate.

"Alright...as soon as you save her, meet me in the middle bailey..." said Velnik to which Ramusa agreed with a nod.

"Herios go with him" instructed Ramusa and pushed Herios towards Velnik. Herios shoved his hand away and stared at him.

"I am coming with you" he said.

"NO you are not! We don't have time to argue...Velnik, take him with you" instructed Ramusa.

But as soon as Velnik tried to grab Herios, he felt a burn on his hand. He immediately retracted his hand in a reflex.

"What was that?" he said, perplexed. "I said...I am coming with you" said Herios, staring at Ramusa with gritted teeth. Ramusa stared into his eyes and realized that it was futile to force Herios to go with Velnik. By now, he had realized that Herios was a recalcitrant squirt and it was not the right time to argue with him. As it is, Ramusa was aware about Herios's special ability.

"Fine" said Ramusa and nodded at Velnik, reassuringly. Velnik sighed. He handed them some weapons for their battle and he briskly walked away towards the middle bailey along with his troops. Meanwhile, Ramusa, Iksha, Herios and a few of the Sanek marched towards the citadel, in order to save the Queen and her daughter Kiyara, the princess of Lothar.

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Footnotes:

• Vinalia was an intoxicating juice extracted from a grapefruit.

• Bladius was a type of sword which was awarded to the warriors at the rank of Ashra or higher.