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There was talk of crimes and foul deeds done. Richard did his best to ignore it; he knew it was merely a pretext. The Queen gave a short lecture on the man's crimes, then turned to the Princess
"Perhaps the Princess would like to pronounce this man's punishment?"
Princess Violet stood, beaming. "For his crimes against the Crown, one hundred lashes. Then, for his crimes against the people, his head."
A murmur of agreement swept the room. Richard felt sick, but at the same time he wished he could exchange places with the man. The one hundred lashes would be easy, and there would be an axe at the end of it.
Princess Violet turned to De
"Stop down anytime you wish." De
When they were back in the stone room, De
Richard's muscles flexed and tightened, lifting him off the floor as De
"I like the way you can make him beg," Princess Violet said.
The Mord-Sith smiled to her. "Come closer, my dear, and I'll show you more."
De
Richard vowed to himself he wouldn't, but it wasn't long before he broke his vow. De
"Can I try?" the Princess asked.
De
"There, you see, my dear, he doesn't mind at all."
De
Princess Violet stood gri
"It's easy!" she said. "I never thought it would be this easy to make someone bleed."
De
"Remember what you did to me?" she asked him. She jabbed the Agiel into his side. "Remember how you embarrassed me? I guess you're getting what you deserve, don't you think?" Richard kept his teeth clenched tightly together. "Answer me! Don't you think this is what you deserve?"
Richard kept his eyes closed as he tried to control his grip on the pain.
"Answer me! And then beg me to stop. I want to do it while you beg."
"You better answer her," De
"Please, Mistress De
"I'll learn what I please. You better start begging. Right now!"
Even though he knew he was only making it worse for himself, Richard waited 'until he could absolutely bear it no longer before he let himself answer. "I'm sorry, Princess Violet," he gasped. "Please forgive me. I was wrong."
Richard found that answering her was a mistake; it only seemed to excite her. It didn't take her long, though, before she learned to make him beg, and cry, even though he tried not to. Richard couldn't believe the absurdity of a little girl doing this. Much less enjoying it. This was madness
She held the Agiel against his stomach while she leered up at him. "But this is less than that Confessor deserves. She will get more than this someday. And I'm going to be the one to do it. My mother said I get to be the one when she comes back. I want you to beg me to hurt her. Let's hear you beg me to chop off the Mother Confessor's head."
Richard had no idea what it was, but something inside him came awake.
Princess Violet gritted her teeth and jammed the Agiel into his gut hard as she could, twisting it. "Beg me! Beg me to kill that ugly Kahlan!"
The pain made Richard scream at the top of his lungs.,
De
"Thank you, Mistress De
Princess Violet took a step back, her face a picture of bad temper. "I don't care if I kill him!"
De
Princess Violet glared at him. "My mother says that Confessor Kahlan will come back and that we'll have a surprise for her the next time she comes here. I just want you to know because my mother said you'll be dead by then. My mother says I get to decide what to do to her. First, I'm going to cut off her hair." Her hands were in fists, her face red. "Then I'm going to let all the guards rape her, every one! Then I'm going to put her in the dungeon for a few years so they'll have someone to play with! Then when I get tired of hurting her, I'll have her head chopped off and put it on a pole where I can watch it rot!"
Richard actually felt sorry for the little Princess. The sadness for her came over him in a wave. At that feeling, he was surprised to feel the thing in him that had come awake rise up.
Princess Violet squeezed her eyes shut and stuck her tongue out far as she could.
It was like a red flag
The strength of the awakened power exploded through him.
When his boot came up under her jaw he could feel it shatter like a crystal goblet on a stone floor. The impact of the blow lifted the Princess into the air. Her own teeth severed her tongue before they, too, shattered. She landed on her back, a good distance away, trying to scream through the gushing blood.
De
"I warned her before," Richard said, holding De
She stared at him a moment before her expression turned dark. She stalked out of the room. He watched the Princess writhing on the floor as he hung in the shackles.
"Turn over, Violet, or you'll drown in your own blood. Turn over!"
The Princess managed to flip herself over, a red pool spreading under her: Men appeared in a rush, tending to her. De
And then he was alone with De
The strap hinges creaked as she pushed the door closed with one long-nailed finger. Richard had learned over the last few days that De
She stood by the door, watching him. Her voice was soft. "You are a very rare person, Richard Cypher. Master Rahl warned me about you. Warned me to take care; that the prophecies speak of you." She walked slowly, her boots echoing her steps on the stone, to stand in front of him, close. She looked into his eyes, a slight wrinkle to her brow. Her breath on his face was quicker than normal. "That was quite extraordinary," she whispered. "Thoroughly exciting." Her eyes searched his face hungrily. "I have decided," she said breathlessly, "to have you as my mate."
Richard hung from the chains, helpless against this madness. He didn't know what the power was that had risen up in him, or how to call it back. He tried. It did not come.
De
Shocked, and strangely worried, Richard watched as she slowly put the Agiel between her teeth. He could tell by the way her pupils suddenly expanded that it was hurting her. Her skin paled. She inhaled sharply, trembling the slightest bit. De
Every fiber of his being burned with the torture. His gasp sucked the air from her lungs, hers did the same to him. -He could get no breath but hers, she none but his. The pain made him forget everything but her. It marauded through his mind. He knew by the sounds she was making that she was feeling the same agony as he. Her fingers in his hair tightened into fists from the pain. She moaned in suffering. Her muscles tightened with it. It raged through the both of them.