Mitchell and Gwen 2

         It was custom in D’diyot for a male child to inherit. Gwen had a brother but he had died in infancy. Gwen had refused time and time again to marry. The proposals had been many and varied but none satisfied Gwen. Up until tonight she thought she had control over her future, now she realized that her father had humored her dismissal of all her suitors because he was waiting for a particular someone to ask for her hand.
         Tulio. Tyrant of Turrat- was her prospective spouse. Turrat was the other island nation in the northern archipelago. There were no known islands in the south and those who sailed that way never returned. Tulio had taken over Turrat by force when the royal family had become corrupt and foolish. Tulio fought for the people and now ruled them brutally. Yet even a tyrant must age. Tulio was growing old and he had no heir. The closest thing to an heir was the First Admiral, a young, brilliant commander, who rumor had it, was extremely attractive. Why wasn’t she marrying him?
         Gwen sometimes slipped into disguise and meandered through the streets and the taverns to hear the rumors and whisperings of the common folk. The sailors talked and while the talk of mists that devoured ships might be exaggerations brought about by months at sea their talk of current affairs was more reliable than any messages sent from Turrat.  Turrat wasn’t as well off as it would seem. The rebels were a thorn in the side of Tulio and while there more blazon displays of rebellion had ceased after the burning of some rebel stronghold the covert actions of the rebels had increased. Then the rumor came that the First Admiral had disappeared or been killed by pirates. Gwen hadn’t believed this. Someone that important would surely be kept safe at some castle commanding ships at a distance. Now, however, it seemed that there was truth to that rumor, something had happened to the First Admiral. Tulio needed an heir. For that he needed a wife, someone young and beautiful whom the rabble would admire; someone who could insure peace between D’diyot and Turrat when Turrat most needed peace. In other words Tulio needed Gwen.
         The messages sent from Turrat spoke of nothing but good things and ever increasing naval power; no mention was made of rebels decimating trade between the islands, much less Admirals disappearing. The nobles of D’diyot were in constant fear of Turrat. Gwen’s parents were among the most afraid. Giving Gwen to Tulio would assuage all their fears. Who cared what Gwen wanted?
         Would he be horrible to her? Would he beat her? Tulio had taken over an entire nation and put its rulers to the sword. He was a brutal man, but maybe he would ignore Gwen, get her with child and then ignore her. She would have to dress up and look pretty for him on occasion, but that would be better then beatings. He was so much older than her. What could she possibly talk to him about? He was old enough to be her father. Was he like her father? No, her father could never have taken over a nation. Tulio was a cruel man. What if he loved her? She was beautiful, but beauty wouldn’t create love. Tulio didn’t seem like a man capable of love from what she had heard. He was dedicated to ruling. Would she love him? No, she couldn’t love him when she knew that all he wanted her for was for safety from D’diyot. Through her he would rule all of the Northern Archipelago. She shuddered at the thought
         She didn’t want him touching her. He would have to make his heir. She imagined cruel hands holding her down and forcing her to do… that. She didn’t know what that was like. She had heard stories, but many were exaggerated to scare her from walking dark streets at night. Tulio would be rough; he might’ve raped women before. It terrified her knowing that she would be his to do with as he pleased. She couldn’t say no. She wouldn’t be giving her self to him because of love he would take her because of need. Gwen had actually thought she would get to fall in love.

         The carriage that took Gwen to the ship seemed to move especially fast. She felt like she had just gotten into the carriage when she arrived at the docks. The fact that it was a lovely morning escaped her; she stared at the ship with growing dread. Lady of the Sea was one of the best ships in D’diyot’s navy, and Gwen should have felt honored to be sailing aboard her. Of course she didn’t and her father had to practically shove her aboard, she didn’t even wave to her people as she sailed out into the open ocean, dread weighed heavy on her shoulders.
         
         Gwen had been trying incessantly to convince Captain Edaward to allow her to join his crew and stay on the ship. While she had managed to convince the crew that she should stay, Edaward would just smile and shake his head. Gwen had received secret training from her families arms master, so she actually knew what she was doing and Gwen liked sailing; she loved the freedom of the sea and while she occupied herself with the ship and sailors it distracted her from what she was sailing too. Still even with her obvious skill with weaponry Edaward would have none of her suggestions of joining the crew.
         “Lady Gwen, I think you should go into your cabin and stay there. The weather mage feels a storm coming; he says it will probably be of considerable power.”
         “I could help, I know what to do.”
         “Gwen, I know the sailors have shown you the ropes and you’ve displayed an aptitude for it, but while the ship will get through unscathed, a storm such as this is no place for a beginner.”
         “But, but…”
         “I don’t want to lose my most precious cargo.”
         “Stop calling me that!”
         “Actually I was referring to the chickens, now go to your cabin.”
         Gwen huffed, but went to her cabin with no further complaint.

         “Milady, your beloved awaits.” The messenger spoke to her as she stood on the deck of the ship staring at the port city or Turrat. The ugly barracks spoiled the view of the winding sea town. Once Turrat City had been beautiful- now poverty clung to the streets and the mansions stood empty and abandoned. After the killing of the royals all the remaining nobility had fled. No one took their homes; it was a reminder of what the people could do. Gwen followed the messenger towards the barracks building. Young farmer’s sons peeked out of the corners wondering at the appearance of this lady amongst them.
The messenger lead her down hallways.
“Why are we not going to the palace?”
“My master wishes to gaze upon your beauty in private.”
Down, down they went. It was cold now. The hallways were dark and no longer adorned with the luxuries of Lord Tulio’s city. These chambers seemed ageless. They belonged not to Tulio, nor to the first empire. They were leftovers of something before- maybe leftovers of the time of the angels. Ha. Gwen shook her head, she couldn’t believe she was starting to believe the myths her nurses had fed her to make her sleep.
They stood before a door- the black planks of wood had forgotten the sunshine long ago. The door cried softly as it was pushed gently open by the messenger.
They entered into a circular room with a massive pit in the center. The messenger motioned Gwen close to the edge- she approached hesitantly and stared down. The pit was bottomless. Gwen shuddered, suddenly terribly unsure of what was going on.
“I brought you to your beloved.” The messenger gestured to the far end of the pit, there chained by the wrists, dangling over the abyss was a man she did not recognize; he was almost naked and horribly thin. This man’s body was almost dead Gwen knew.
“Beloved, Speak!” The messenger commanded his voice suddenly powerful and terrible. Magic was present in that voice.
The man called beloved jerked to consciousness. Violet light sparked around him. The magic forced him to lift his head which had hung heavily between his shoulders.
“Gwen. You shouldn’t have come. I wish you hadn’t come.” His eyes met hers sadly.
“What is going on?” Gwen was terrified.
“You wanted to see your beloved.”
“I don’t know him.”
“Yet- you don’t know him yet.” The messenger moved his hand and the magic that had forced the man awake vanished and they man went completely limp again.
“What is love, Gwen? You do not know? Is it being completely safe in that on person’s arms? Is it always thinking about that one person before you fall asleep at night? Is it the grin that comes to your face when that one person’s name is mentioned or thought? Is it willingly dying for that one person?” The messenger pushed Gwen off the edge.
She was falling. Or maybe flying. Floating? She drifted down into the pit and for some reason she wasn’t scared. Wings brushed against her naked body, soft and gentle. Then something cold rose up from the darkness to meet her and it coiled around her body. The scales brushed against her and made her feel dirty as if just their touch raped her. A face that might once have been human gleamed there, it’s sallow features twisted in a sneer of evil. Clawed wings held it in the air and its dragon’s tail was what wrapped around her. It laughed and she soared through a black night sky with it. The thing placed her on the deck of a ship made of stone. The waves lapped softly against the dead ship and the creature laughed again and dove into the water. Suddenly a horrible head rose from the water. Huge and monstrous, it was the same creature as before but now its humanity was almost entirely done, except in the eyes, they were a deep brown, almost black. Even as she marked on their humanity they turned black and flickered red. No humanity. The creature’s tail flashed of stone and metal and coiled around the ship. Gwen screamed as the giant sea monster threw the ship through the sky. She was in the water and it was coming for her now. It grabbed her and she felt it squeezing her, it threw her up into the air, she was falling into its mouth.
         “CRASH!” A tremendous clap of thunder roared through the night. The sea had become a monster, gigantic waves threatened to overwhelm the ship. Water splashed against Gwen’s windows. No rain fell yet but the wind drove water from the sea against her window like so many deadly bullets. Gwen was absolutely terrified she gasped as a flash of lightening illuminated a single monster wave bearing down on the ship. Losing all self control Gwen ran screaming from the cabin. As soon as she was outside the fall force of the storm hit her. She was buffeted to the rail, as she turned to fight her way back to the cabin she was struck by the dark rolling wall of water that was the wave, she was not secured to the ship like the sailors and was swept overboard, no one even heard her scream.
         This time the monster was real, a living creature trying to swallow her up- she was far beneath the waves the darkness crushing her. She fought her way to the surface as the monster fought to keep her down. Up and down the monster tossed her, knowing she couldn’t fight it for forever.  Gwen wanted to just give up and drift down into the belly of the monster, but as the monster threw her down once more something else was thrown with her. She hit the box painfully, but it was no worse then the beatings the monster had given her, but this wasn’t the monster; this was something good, which might save her. Desperately she struggled to hold onto the box they were both tossed by the monster. She was torn from the box but a rope that was attached to the box grabbed her, she pulled herself back to the box and somehow managed to entangle herself in the ropes that had once secured the box to the ship. She looked up into the storm ravaged sky as the monster lifted her up and in the distance she saw Lady of the Sea, as she stared desperately at the ship a bolt of lightning strike the ships mast, flames greedily consumed the pine tar sealed ship. Then Gwen was flung down by the monster and finally beaten unconscious by it.