Page 11 of A Broken Promise

Get up. Damn it. Get up!I screamed at myself; at my limp, frozen limbs.

No, the fight was already over. Dimitrii kicked me hard a few more times until the shard of the mirror scattered across the room from me. I felt the oh so familiar feeling of heat spilling inside my body—broken ribs—but the kicking didn’t stop. He kicked me again and again. I tensed my body, shielding my head as much as I could.

Maybe if I piss him off enough, he’d just beat me to death. I smirked at the thought of that as I took another hit.

Useless human filth. Get up and fight. Do something!!!I smiled at the angry voice of my elf-maid sounding in my head. For a second I was back in the bushes, barely seven years old, being beaten up by the village kids for having an elf as my family.

Dimitrii stopped kicking me, taking a breath for himself. Then he grabbed my short hair and painfully pulled my head until our eyes met. My lips stretched in a bloody smile.

“You little cunt,” he sneered as he spit in my face. I just stared at his bloodied-up, fileted cheek. He would have a scar.

No matter what happened to me, he would forever have a scar. I smiled wider at him, taking a small, agonizing breath.

And then I screamed.

I screamed as loud as I ever screamed, as loud as I could, ignoring the excruciating pain in my lungs.

“FIRE!!! FIRE!!! FIRE!!!!”

Even Dimitrii startled and turned around just to double check.

“You dumb bitch!” he roared in my face as the realization camethrough. But it was too late. I heard the rushing steps already loud in the hall.

Dimitrii froze. They were so close but with my door shut… His hand covered my mouth, choking me. I listened as the rushing steps went by my door.

I bit his hand, taking off a chunk of his calluses. He gasped, letting go of me just long enough for me to scream again, spitting flesh and blood out of my mouth, gagging as I screamed.

“FIRE in here!!! FIRE!”

He pushed his bloody hand harder against my lips, his blood choking me. But my heart eased as my door suddenly opened wide and a guard stormed in.

“What the FUCK Dimitrii?!” he shouted as he saw us, his torch lighting up the room. “Are you out of your mind??? She is forhim!!!!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, you fucked up Dimitrii…you fucking fucked up.” The guard took another look at the room, at the broken mirror, at the ripped nightgown, and my broken body.

Dimitrii threw me to the ground. His face seemed to clear up from rage to regret, but not regret of coming here. No, he would do it again. His regret was only of being caught. “Relax, Nhey, I’ll keep her face clean. The rest they don’t need to know. For all we know, she came from the Rock Quarries like that. Plus, nothing that I am doing right now is anything he wouldn’t do, so I am just preparing the bitch for him. He will probably thank me for it.” Dimitrii wiped the dripping blood, a smug look filling his face as he saw the other guard considering.

I raised my eyes to Nhey, pleading with everything I had.

“You can fuck around when it’s your shift, but I am not putting my neck on the line for you to get your dick wet. She is forhim and him only.You know what he did the last time we didn’t follow that. So go and clean up,” Nhey ordered. Dimitrii hesitated, growling as he looked at me. But Nhey repeated, “Leave Dimitrii,” as he motioned for him to go.

I watched Dimitrii angrily storm off. As soon as his tall figuredisappeared in the dark hall, my body began shaking. Uncontrollably shaking. And then I sobbed.

I didn’t care that the other guard was still there. I didn’t care that each cry hurt. I wept.

“Go to sleep, girl. I’ll stand watch nearby,” was all Nhey said as he closed the door, leaving me alone with the darkness.

I was lost in the storm, emotions flooding my mind until I drowned in my own tears. Until finally, my swollen eyes closed shut surrendering to a deep sleep.

6

Amuffled voice sounded from behind the door, immediately erasing any kind of peace I might have felt.

“Good morning, dear, it’s Brita.” She slowly unlocked the wooden door.

I tried to stand up from the stone floor I slept on, but flinched at the sharp pain in my side, immediately remembering the broken ribs.

I tried to ignore the pain; the ache of each muscle and the body shivers that came back as I made just enough effort to sit up on the floor.

The loud gasp that escaped Brita’s mouth and the dropped dress she had been carrying told me that she didn’t know what happened last night. She ran towards my limp body against the wall. My blood stained and ripped nightgown was bunched up at my bruised, bony thighs.

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