There Is No Me Beyond You

~10~

"Your husband is most likely too busy with the fire still, to even consider the possibility of you being here..." Andrei announced, making me gasp, as he took a step closer to me again.

The fire... so it was him, them, yet again, but... Why?

"What have you done this time?" I asked, trying to sound courageous. But I could not fool him, I knew he saw through my act and was enjoying my fear. Still, I kept talking. "It was your Alina before in the castle, and it was you yourself, I'm sure now, in that... that tower in the forest..." I tried to recall a half-forgotten dream. "You nearly burned him, his men and the two innocent girls alive..."

Andrei stopped mere inches from me, towering above me, so close that I shivered from the cold emanating from his body.

Chuckling silently, he said, "If my stupid, useless nephew had not appeared back then so unexpectedly, at the last moment, everything could have been different now... But never mind, it will be even better like this..."

"Why? What do you want from us? You... you are a member of Vlad's family..." I said, taking a deep, shaky breath as he untied the wide ribbon securing my coat around my neck, pushing the warm, heavy fabric off my shoulders, letting it slip to the ground, pooling at my feet.

"You don't need your clothes anymore, you're staying here," he said, bringing his lips close to my ear, making me turn away from him.

I wished I were brave, or reckless enough to try one of the self-defence moves Lucas had taught me, but my conscious thoughts overruled my instincts. What would be the point of that? We were locked in a chamber in an apparently abandoned castle. Even if I managed to get out of this room, he would catch me again before I would take two steps down the corridor. There was no one to come to my rescue, I could not even feel animals anywhere close enough to summon...

"Why? I don't understand..."
I asked instead, hoping to confuse and distract him.

He placed his large palms on my hips, startling me by the intimacy of his touch, and the coldness of his hands which I could feel even through the layers of fabric of my dress. He pushed my hair over my right shoulder slowly with one hand, and brought his face to the side of my neck, nuzzling my skin, inhaling deeply.

"I'll get you a new gown later," he murmured. "Your... delightful scent, Samara, it is so strong, it would give our secret away too quickly. I'm not letting you go anytime soon, no one must know that you're here..."

"Why are you doing this..." I hissed, feeling my anger, my frustration rise as I tried to push him away uselessly. He was too strong and incredibly heavy.

"You don't remember me at all, do you?" Andrei asked incredulously, his silvery-grey eyes now searching mine for truths. "No, you don't... you were a mere child, a charming little girl when I first saw you. You were seven when I asked your father for your hand in marriage." He smiled wistfully, then continued, both his hands back on my hips, not letting go of me. "See, your father was a very important man in Moldavia. If he had fought against the Romanians spreading like the plague all over this place, instead of becoming their best friend and helping them against the Turks, it would have been him, and then me, his only daughter's husband, who would rule in this world now. Not your beloved Prince Vlad... He was to marry my little sister who loved him so much, and live a quiet, unimportant life here, in the citadel..."

"But this is not even your country, you and Jusztyna..." I said the first thing which his words brought into my mind, squirming under his body now pushing mine against the stone wall, as I felt his teeth graze the sensitive skin of my neck.

He laughed softly, and lifted me so fast and effortlessly that I hardly noticed, carrying me to the bed. Suddenly I was lying under him, his body pinning me down into the pillows and blankets.