WARNING: Sexual and physical violence. Profanity. Torture. Hurt and comfort. Intolerance. Hateful words which are too foul to be forgiven or taken back. Major attitude problems. In short, a difficult tale to read. So, if you are not an adult, both in mind and body, then don’t read this story.

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http://www.phair1.com

### THE RIDDED

### by Phair

### Part 7

Her immediate future was most uncertain. And, her past was nothing more than lies. At the moment, Dayne did not even know how long she had been left to suffer alone in the storm cellar. It was at least one sun rise. Perhaps, two or three suns had risen and set since Senecos locked her in the cold, dirty pit. Nobody had come to check on her after that. No bread for her belly or balm for her wounds was offered. However, those losses didn’t matter to her much any more. She was beyond hunger for food and comfort for the pain of physical and emotion beatings.

One torture towered above all her other grief combined. No water was provided. Thirst was a different kind of torment. Water was a much more basic need than food or care. It was one of the primal desires. The absence of it left one dry. Very dry. So very, very dry. Dayne wondered if her life would end by choking to death on the dust gathering in her mouth with every breath. Her tongue, swollen and parched from dehydration, kept sticking to her teeth and lips. When she tried to pull it free, blood trickled from the cracks in the broken skin. She sobbed from time to time in spite of the fact her tears had dried up right along with her spit.

When the trap door banged open, Dayne covered her head and tried to make herself a very small target. She waited for a victory howl from Waur’s dogs but none came. Her dark, dank world rapidly filled with blinding light and clouds of dust blown up with the rush of fresh air from above. She struggled for each subsequent breath; choking back against suffocation.

“Senecos sent me to get to you,” Varna’s voice was unusually light. Perhaps, she might have been a little giddy. “Get off your backside this very minute! Move it, slave!”

Dayne willed her bruised and sore body to obey quicker than it wanted to do. Any moan that tried to break free was silenced by her shear will. Dayne would not ruin her first, and maybe only, opportunity to get out of the storm cellar by appearing lazy. Also, she didn’t want to lose any chance at getting back into Senecos’ good grace. After she scramble out of the hole, she forced herself to stand tall and stay silent. Dayne stood strong near the open trap and kept her eyes down. She waited for whatever might come next.

“You’re to wash in the river then dress in the clothes I left on top of your bedding. You’ll find your blankets and few belongings in the last unused stall on the moon side of the barn. What isn’t there was burned,” Varna spoke in a sing song voice as she unlocked the shackles around Dayne’s wrists. “I’ll leave the chains with the bedding. I’ll give just one warning, put the chains back on before you go about your usual, daily chores. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to punish you,” Varna sounded almost joyful, “and, trust me, you don’t want to experience that kind of pain. There are two minor changes to your chores. You are not to leave Senecos’ property unless he is with you or instructs you to do so. Second, store the firewood near the doorsteps instead of bringing it into the house. Senecos will not suffer the sight of you again. His poor heart can’t take anymore betrayal from a beast such as you. Now, strip out of those filthy rags and let’s see the damage Milos and the boys managed to inflict with such little effort on their part.”

Dayne shuddered at the statement and cold tone of voice but she remained silent as she did what she was told to do.

“Hmm, looks like they got you hard here…,” Varna smiled as she jabbed her bone thin fingers into the tender, black and blue flesh near Dayne’s ribs. “And here.” Dayne shuddered at the contact but remained silent. “I must admit it’s nice to see you finally getting the beatings you deserved all along. Tell me, slave, what will you do when Waur sends his hounds to devour your flesh and gnaw on your bones?”

“I’ll fight as best as I can,” Dayne’s voice was scratchy and soft. “They’ll win but I’ll struggle for as long as my lungs hold breath. My nature, the Elosian part of me, demands a fight. Something Waur can appreciate.” Dayne cracked a smile and felt the blood dribble from the corners of her lips, “And what will you do when my god’s dogs finish with me? Won’t they search for the roof under which a ridded was allowed to grow to adulthood? Won’t they seek the house that protected me from their highly trained noses all these years? What will you do to appease a foreign god’s appetite for revenge, Mistress?”

Dayne dared to look Varna in the eyes this time. She watched as her words worked their way beyond the first line of defense; anger.

“How dare you?” Varna slapped Dayne across the face.

Dayne waited a breath before resuming her gaze which demanded an answer to the question.

“We’re not Elosian. Waur’s rules do not bind us!” Another slap followed but Dayne rolled with the blow.

“As you say it, then that’s how it’ll be, Waur willing,” Dayne smirked before returning her gaze to the dirt floor.

“Besides, I did not bring you home from your deserved fate. Senecos brought you back inside. No reasonable argument from me could reach him in those days. He’s the one who needs to answer to Waur, not me!” Varna was slightly breathless as she defended herself.

“It should be done as you say. As long as, you did not covet what was not your own.” Dayne raised her gaze into Varna’s increasingly frightened eyes. “As long as, you did not see me as a mule for your labor and bidding. You only wanted me gone from your home, right Mistress? You never wanted me for your field hand or hunter, right? You didn’t desire your oppressors’ property, right? That wasn’t what happened, right?”

“Shut up!” Varna slapped Dayne again. “Go wash yourself then get to work.”

“As you command,” Dayne smirked when Varna left with a curse and ran back to the house.

Dayne managed to get herself to the river’s edge before collapsing in the cold mud. The effort of a few steps exhausted what little strength she had left. She managed to pull herself the last couple of inches to reach the water and quench her thirst. She drank until she thought her stomach would rupture.

Dayne rested her head on her folded arms at the river bank, waiting for the pain of fullness to ease. She was drifting in and out of consciousness. Her mind nagged her to get up. It would not do to be out in the open for so long. Waur’s dogs might be sleeping during the day but her scent would linger for hours if she stayed in one place for too long. When she hunted she always stayed downwind and moving parallel to her prey. Laying here she was upwind, Dayne was sure. She tried to rally herself to her feet but only manage to roll over on her back.

A shadow fell across her face. Dayne whimpered and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She expected sharp teeth or a painful lash to land across her battered flesh. Instead, soft, warm fingers caressed her sunken cheeks. Full and tender lips kissed her brow, eyelids, and lips. The sweet smell of fresh baked bread filled her nose.

“I must already be dead,” Dayne dared to breath.

“No, you’re alive,” Becca replied.

“A dream then, a beautiful, impossible dream,” Dayne refused to open her eyes and ruin the fantasy.

“No, dream, I’m here. I’ll always be here for you. I’ve waited everyday for you to come outside. The village men said Senecos was punishing you but I never believed he would go so far. Dayne, did he really disown you?” Becca sniffled on her tears.

“Yes, he did. He’s keeping me as a slave.” Dayne manage to squint up at Becca, “You are so beautiful. If you’re a dream then please, can we stay just like this for a little while.”

“I’m no dream,” Becca leaned down and pressed her lips to Dayne’s. “And no, we can’t stay like this. I heard what Varna said to you so we have to get you washed and dressed.”

“Becca, it doesn’t matter. The dogs will come for me and then I’ll be beyond your touch. Let me enjoy you a bit longer so the memory can carry my soul for all eternity.”

“You have the tongue of a poet,” Becca sighed and kissed Dayne again. She allowed her tongue to gently enter Dayne’s ravaged mouth, “A wounded but not yet dead poet. I promise you that there will be endless hours of you ‘enjoying’ me but first you must heal.”

Becca pulled Dayne to sit up.

“And to heal, you must first wash.”

With one solid push, Dayne was dumped into the river. Becca follow quickly after. She pulled her sputtered, startled friend to the surface and began to wash Dayne’s wounds clean.

“Becca,” Dayne tried to growl but it came out in a cough.

“No, you listen to me,” Becca grabbed Dayne by either side of her face. “I love you and I know you love me. I saw, felt, the letters you carved into your bed. We are going to be together. Do you hear me? We are going to be free; together and free. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” Dayne’s heart raced as she heard the woman she loved proclaim their destiny.

“Good. So, here’s the plan. We’ll get you washed and dressed and you do what Varna tells you.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Dayne grinned and she leaned forward to steal a kiss. “You really love me, don’t you?”

“With all my heart,” Becca’s solemn pledge stole the smile from Dayne’s face.

“Really?” Dayne was dumbfounded.

“Yes.”

“So, what do I need to do. How do I get away?” Dayne’s voice cracked, “How can we be together?”

“You heal. Stay here and do as your told. Senecos won’t beat you while you’re injured. At least, I don’t think he’ll hurt you more while you’re recovering. When you’re strong enough, we run for the southwest hills. The Elosian Army is spread thin trying to encircle the nomads. We should, with a bit of luck, be able to avoid both the Elosians and the nomads and get to a port city on the other side. We’ll trap game on the way for food and trade the pelts for a ship’s passage.”

“To where?” Dayne was fascinated with the fanciful tale.

“Athens, Crete, Rome, Gaul! Anywhere the Elosians are not the victorious, occupying army.”

“Becca, it sounds so easy but what of the dogs of Waur. We’ll be hunted by man, beast, and god. I can’t let you risk your life like that,” Dayne was adamant as she leaned into Becca’s healing touch.

Becca let out an exasperated sigh. She shoved Dayne into deeper water and pushed her friend’s head under the surface with a howl. Dayne came up gasping for air.

“What, what…, why d’ya do that?”

“I know that you are Elosian,” Becca wrapped her arms around Dayne’s neck, “and I know you are ridded,” Becca rubbed Dayne’s head, “but I didn’t know you were stupid.”

“Hey,” Dayne considered getting angry for a heart beat. “How do you know I’m ridded and what makes you think I’m stupid.”

Becca laughed. She bury her face against Dayne’s shoulder to keep her voice down. Still, her amusement bubbled forth in snorted bursts for several minutes.

Dayne’s skin warmed under Becca’s breath and she felt her humor return with the tender show of affection, “Okay, I am ridded but why do you think I’m stupid.”

“You’re stupid to believe in any god. They simply do not exist. Not the Elosian god or our gods or the Greek gods. They are only stories the strong tell to frighten the weak to enforce their will. Nothing more than half baked propaganda,” Becca allowed herself to sample the pulse point on Dayne’s neck and indulged in suckling the flesh.

“How can you say such a terrible thing?” Dayne shook the woman free as she looked around them for any eavesdropping god lounging in the sun along the river bank. “You speak blasphemy. They’ll strike you down. Or worse, they’ll curse your soul.”

“Dayne, my love, my heart, I just said those things and look…, no lightening, no hounds, no divine retribution. If there were gods then don’t you think I’d be nothing more than smoke and ash at the moment?”

Dayne search the immediate area. No gods seemed to be paying any closer attention to Becca’s heresy than a several moments before. In fact, what she said made some sense to Dayne’s more reasonable nature.

“You don’t believe in any god?” Dayne still needed a little more convincing.

“Dayne, if Waur and his hounds existed do you think Senecos would have been able to save you? How about all those nights you went hunting? Where were the hounds then?” Becca kissed each of Dayne’s cheeks before speaking from her heart, “I promise you there is no god strong enough to keep us apart for all eternity.”

“I’m going to believe only in you from now on,” Dayne vowed as she embraced Becca.

“Good, because I’m all you will ever need to hold onto.” Becca slid her hand beneath the water’s surface to seal their commitment between Dayne’s thighs.

TBC

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