She can't be Tamed

Chapter 11 - What happened?

Rain poured steadily down from the heavens, rhythmically tapping on the window. The room was small without any form of decorations. The only furniture was a bed, the only light came from the window she was looking through. She couldn't see a thing besides the rain-formed waterfall on the glass, but nevertheless kept staring outside.

She'd been here all day, watching the sun travel the sky. The soldiers had led her to a small door, about 50 meters to the left from the big entrance. She'd slowly stumbled behind them, but it seemed fast enough for their liking. Just before the guards handed her over to a young woman that would bring her to her room she'd heard the little girl laughing spontaneously behind her, and it made her wonder how a child could be so happy by this Ashe.

She wondered how anyone could be happy to see him. He took away her freedom, locked her up in this room and promised her a fate even worse. She wondered when she would see him again.

Her stomach choose that moment to rumble painfully. Another torture. No one in this stupid castle seemed to know they needed to feed their prisoners.

It was getting dark outside now and the room seemed to get even colder with the minute. No wonder without a fireplace to light and warm the room. Shivering she carefully sat down on the bed, afraid it couldn't handle her weight. The whole room, including the bed, looked like no one had been here in years.

She curled herself up in a little ball, pulling the flimsy excuse for a blanket tight around her, trying to keep as warm as possible. Exhausted from the long day without any food it wasn't long before she fell into a restless sleep.

--

"Catharina!"

A voice, laced with panic and yelling her middle name, slowly woke her up. She felt like a cloudy fog had settled inside her head. And she was cold, so very very cold. It was a battle to try to open her eyes, but eventually she succeeded. Not that it helped much, because she couldn't see a damn thing in the darkness.

"Catharina!"

There it was again. The voice. Closer this time. His voice. And the panic was still there, if she was correct. Slamming of doors sounded in the distance. She shivered, trying to get up. Why was her body not responding? And why did everything feel so foggy? It felt like the sleep tried to pull her back.

Not trusting the control over her body anymore and slightly panicking she tried to call for him, give him a lead on where she was.

"Ashe..." Her voice seemed not able to produce more than a soft whisper. She felt helpless, laying there on the bed, waiting to be found. The only thing that kept her eyes open was the immense fear that if she closed them she'd never wake up again.

"Catharina!"

She felt too weak to respond. The door rattled as he tried it, but it was locked.

"Shit! She has to be in here!" For a moment everything became silent and she held her breath, closing her eyes. The fog became thicker and was put her slowly in a dream-like state. She vaguely noticed the door cracking slightly at the impact of a body thrown against it, but it didn't budge. She wished they'd hurry. She was so cold.

It took several more blows before the lock on the door shot open. Warm arms hugged her freezing body and she managed to open her eyes enough to recognize Ashe. She was lifted from the bed and cradled to his warm chest in a alarmingly comfortable manner.

"Don't you dare close your eyes now, honey. If you go to sleep again I swear I'll spank you until your ass is pink. Don't think I won't do it cause I will. Don't you dare close 'em, you hear me?"

She didn't even make it to the end of his little rant. The spanking part was the last thing she heard before she succumbed to the lull of her new found warmth and closed her eyes.