The Kingdom of Darkness

The **** ride is the slowest journey you’ve ever had in your life. Every minute feels like an hour, every hour feels like a day. You feel not only physically exhausted, but emotionally and psychologically as well. Being unable to sit up, you see little but the sky, and you constantly worry that some stranger might see you like this. Whatever is going that caused this, the two men driving you are going out of the way to make sure you are both seen in this embarrassing means.

“Hey!” They shout out “Come take a look at what we’re bringing to the Duchess!” You hear as the carriage came to a stop. Your body tenses in fear of what may happen next, as a solitary and haggered face appears at the far end.

“My my my!” He calls out, speaking to the drivers, as if you aren’t even really there. “What a lovely pair of trophies you have there.” Both you and Dilancia squirm at the sight of him, and at the next words “I’d give all the coin I have for a few minutes with either of them.”

“Not taking that chance. You know how the Duchess is! She wants her plaything clean and unharmed. Not losing my head so you can have a go”

“Ya, besides, one of them is packing a little extra” You wince knowing he’s immediately calling you out, fearing what he might have to say about your penis.

“Ya, I noticed that. Still, there’s other choices for fun there.” He laughed crudely as his own thoughts. “Put her on all fours like the bitch she is, wouldn’t know the difference as I take that ass of hers.”

You try to yell through the cloth in protest as the men laugh at the thought, but it’s no avail. The man hops off the edge of the cart, and you continue on your way. The men continue this beratement all day; every chance they get to stop and expose you to a new set of strange and hungry eyes, they do it. You hear every sort of harassment and slur you knew, and even a few you didn’t. A number of them took opportunities to show and stroke their dicks in front of the two of you, which reviled you something terrible. You just wish this entire thing could be over, though deep down, you fear that your destination could prove to be even worse than the journey.

Because these men dawdled on this journey, it was sundown by the time you reached the destination. Massive walls of thick, dark stone surrounded this castle city; a capital to some monstrous kingdom, with this “Duchess” no doubt in charge. The last few minutes of journey become even worse. Somehow, word travelled faster than horses, and crowds had gathered in the street to see and mock the new prisoners. Rotten food and squalor was thrown at both of you the entire way, causing you to begin to feel physically ill.

Brought to the edge of the castle gate, a new group of men grab you by the hands and legs, quickly and forcefully taking you deep inside, somewhere. Your leather bonds are exchanged for heavy metal chains, pinned to a wall in a dark, dungeon like space, alongside your fellow captive, the now equally disgrace Dilancia. Humiliated but not defeated, the fire of Mastro burns in her eyes, a vindictive and vengeful fury is growing in her like you had not yet seen in your entire life.

“Dilah” you say quietly, “I’m scared” even the most obvious fact feels hard to say, for fear that anything said or done could cause further repercussions.

“I know Demi” she says with a quiet sigh “I’m scared too. We have to keep our minds strong and our wits about us if we’re going to fight our way out of this”

“Fight!?” You ask incredulously “Fight how? We have nothing, and there’s too many of them. We’d never make it out alive.”

“Our lives are forfeit to the cause of justice” She says slowly “If it’s my time to die, than so be it, but I would rather die and take some of these bastards with me than live cowering in fear.” Her words ring true in your heart.

“Okay.” You say, somehow bringing forth a smile “You’re right.” A small silence passes over “Dilah, what do they even want with us? What could we possibly have done to cause all this?”

“I wish I knew.” She responded, looking around the surroundings “It could be because someone had found out what we did in the neighboring kingdom, and are choosing to punish us. This place feels evil, they could be striking out against us for being paladins. And, there is always the most dreadful thought above all, that this isn’t for any reason, other than because there was an opportunity to capture and torment two women.”

“Why is that the worst option?” You ask. That it’s not because of anything you did would seem at least slightly more tolerable.

“Because it means that they would do it to any other woman in our shoes…” That reality strikes like a hammer at your heart, but you have no time to dwell on the implications. A group of men come in carrying large buckets of water, and before either of you can form a question, they’re thrown at you. The cold water becomes almost painfully chilling in the cold evening breeze.

“The Duchess demands her guests be made presentable, now come on. Don’t say a single word, or today will feel like a picnic by the time we’re done.” The water men move out and are replaced with armed thugs and two men with keys. You’re unbolted from the wall as you are led out, to the next step in your descent to hell.