Crimson's Captivation by LLC Melange Books Page B

was insistent that nothing happen to
Sergen. She stepped between the guards and Sergen, trying her best
to protect him. “It’s not his fault, Mother. I ordered him and
Uric! I made them do it! Sergen is not to blame. Blame me … blame
me.”
    The countess nodded. The guards pushed Darya
aside and each took one of Sergen’s arms at the bicep. They
forcefully escorted him from Darya’s room. Darya stomped away from
her mother and went to the far window where she showed her
disapproval by yelling and pleading as Sergen was taken away, “You
won’t harm him, will you? You had better not! You had better not
cut him!”
    The countess refused to answer her daughter.
She was too angry for the ceremonious observances of which she
normally spoiled her. It took everything she had to not lash out
and berate her daughter’s actions in front of the palace
servants.
    Uric didn’t say a word. He backed himself to
the far wall and silently watched as Darya screamed and pleaded
with her mother. He busied himself with a bathing gown that he
found. He covered himself with the gown, refused to make eye
contact with the countess or Draya, and wondered if he could sneak
out without being noticed. Darya’s pitch seemed to grow with each
plea, and he was sure she was about to lose control. All the while,
he hoped Darya wouldn’t mention his name.
    Sergen heard Darya arguing from the hallway.
Her shouts leapt down the long corridor and swallowed the distance
between them. He trusted Darya would be able to convince her mother
to spare him. He didn’t want to go under the knife. But he also
knew something else, something that wasn’t spoken. He was enamored
with Darya. She was not like the others. The others wanted him for
pleasure. Darya wanted him for pleasure, as well, but she had
whispered to him—she had said she loved him. She was the first to
ever say it, and after all this time as a stud, after pleasing
woman after woman, after making them orgasm to the point of almost
vanishing from this world, after following carnal orders until he
exhausted himself without any real connection. He finally knew why
he was always left without hope. It was nice to hear that he was
loved. Even if Darya was young and didn’t understand what she had
said, he knew she felt it. Darya was sincere and it sparked a new
revelation in him, a new purpose, and for the first time he felt in
union with hope and his own body.
    Sergen heard the door slam shut and the
mother scream back at Darya from the hallway. Her tone was full of
anger, “Darya! You are not to tell me my business! I run this
palace.” She spotted Sergen. “Guards, oil him and prepare him for a
lashing! And then take the other one back to his quarters.” Sergen
was far bigger and stronger than the guards. He easily pulled away
from them and knocked them to the ground. He rushed toward the
countess. The countess yelped, ran into Darya’s room and slammed
the door behind her. She leaned her weight against the door and
shouted, “You had better behave, Sergen! I warn you, my patience is
already thin!”
    Sergen easily pushed the door open several
inches and could feel the countess push back. “My lady,” he said
through the opening, “it is not my intent to harm you. Do not blame
the young girl. It was my doing. I seduced her. If there is any
blame this night, it should fall on my shoulders.”
    “Like her legs were moments ago when I
entered the room?” the countess countered. She pushed even harder
against the door. “Weren’t my orders clear, Sergen? She was not to
have you, right?”
    “Yes, my lady, you were clear.”
    She let Sergen push open the door as she
stepped toward the middle of the room. When the door was fully
open, the countess approached him, shaking her head back and forth
with displeasure. “I’m afraid I’ve been too lenient with you, all
of you! You all will be punished, am I understood.”
    The guards’ approached Sergen from behind and
the largest guard