Dedicated to: Fancy_Irish_Turtle
"Even the highest of walls will crumble when met with the hammer of time."
-Catalina Grayson
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With each bite, she felt a small morsel of her strength returning. Being fed by her enemy proved to be both humiliating and quite effective.
Slowly the bowl emptied and her stomach filled. Iolas scraped the sides of the dish with the spoon, ensuring that nothing went to waste, as wasted food was something this nation could not afford.
"That's the last of it. Good, the poison should kick in soon."
He smirked, making her eyes go wide.
Adelaide panicked and attempted once more to fruitlessly sit up.
"I'm only joking."
He reasurred through a laugh, setting the empty bowl down.
The smirk on his face told her he was telling the truth, so instead of making a big, angry scene, Adalaide forced herself to relax, settling back against the pillows.
"A joke like that is in bad taste for a criminal such as yourself." She said coolly, but her eyes shot him daggers.
"You are so polite to me. I wonder what polite words you would have for the man who had you in down that snow 2 days ago."
He shot back.
Her mouth opened to gasp, but no sound came out.
Adelaide's pale skin went even paler as the memory of that night struck her like a cannonball against an old city wall. The events of that night had been fuzzy up until just now, but it all came rushing back like the snapping of a bow string.
Frozen, she stared blankly ahead as she relived it in her mind. She could feel the dirty giants hands on her neck as he pushed her down into the bloody snow, smell the putrid odor of battle, blood, and his unwashed form as it overtook her senses.
The tugging and tussling of her skirts was all to real, as was the pain of his hands as the gripped onto her thighs.
"Oh God!" She shrieked.
Panicked, adrenaline pushed aside her disability, she sat straight up to violently push the blankets off of her.
To overwhelmed by the incident to care or even remember about propriety or Iolas's presence in the room, she began tugging her skirts upwards in a state of total panic.
This revealed a set of bruises in the middle of her thighs in the shape of two very large hand prints.
"Oh God!" She shrieked again.
"Was I...? Did he...?" Her two questions came out in a terrified rush, and real tears streamed down her face.
Something inside Iolas snapped, seeing her state of absoulute fear, he realized he had made a terrible mistake.
Gazing at the fear-stricken girl before him, her body pale as a sheet, and her cheeks slick with tears, her body wracked, for the first time in his life, it struck the selfish Prince felt the smallest twinge of guilt, noting that he had gone too far.
"No! Nothing happened."
He jumped up quickly, reaching down to grab the blanket and cover her.
"I got to you before he could do anything else, I swear it."
He reasurred, all traces of humor gone from his voice.
"Shhhhh. He did not violate you."
Iolas did his best to soothe the hysterical woman, something he had no clue how to do.
"No brute shall ever touch you like that again. I swear it."
Pulling the blanket all the way back up, he grabbed her shoulder and gently pushed her back down.
"I know my word does not mean much, but I for as long as I am here, I will do everything I can to keep you and your honor safe."
After the words were out of his mouth, Iolas wondered why they sounded more like a promise of his own, rather than a reiteration of his father's order.
YOU ARE READING
A Thorn In The Ice
Historical Fiction"I fully expected you to say that I was the sort of Prince whose story would involve going into cahoots with the dragon, rather than slaying it." Iolas smiled, but their was a level of seriousness to his statement. "That is where you are wrong, de...
