The Takeover Part 2

Ludovic & Terren

A rush of pleasure entangled Terren's body while her back scraped up and down against the stone of a waterfall enclosure. Her rear rested in Ludovic's palms and the heat of their passion intensified. Hours went, not a hindrance to their Libido. They craved each other bringing them to entwine again and again. Their lips locked and nostrils clashed releasing heated breaths. The stench of sour ale lingered from his mustache since her nose brushed against it. With heart rates ramming through their chests, a final stroke caused his knees to buckle. The climaxing tide ended their sweaty exchange. He slowly lowered Terren to her feet. She pecked him on the lips.

"I love you so," he said as the rhythm of his heart steadied.

"I love you too." Terren stared up at him, chin raised, with glistening orbs of truth. Perhaps it was the moonlight bending through the sheet of water igniting the shine in her eyes. She did not have to say it for him to know.

"I can see that."

"Let's clean off and head back."

"Has our getaway finally come to an end?"

"We've been gone too long. My parents are probably angry with me."

"You're right and my clan is probably just as upset. Go ahead and clean off while I go and fetch our clothes."

Terren's thin frame stole Ludovic's attention for a brief moment. She turned from him and walked beneath the waterfall. The spraying droplets soaked her skin from head to toe. The moon cast a white glow along her body. Her hands delicately traced along the folds of her flesh removing all evidence of intimacy. He brushed by her and swiftly rinsed his manhood. Just as fast, he ran off into the wilderness in search of their belongings.

A shabby open tent with no closure nested a blanket and two pillows. It sat under a weeping willow giving them shade when the sun blazed. They spent their days under it doing their normal activities like picnics and at night they would make love.

Tossed beside it, he found his trousers scooping them up. He gawked at his pants dangling on a thorny shrub. When he spotted his shirt, he finally dressed. Then something caught his attention. His eyes widened with curiosity when he saw a red hue through the maze of branches. Miles from where he stood, the darkness above him seemed to melt into it.

"What's that?" said Terren as she dressed. She propped her crown on her head as a finishing touch.

"Let me investigate," said Ludovic.

"It's near my home. I'm going too." She pushed by him with speed in her steps.

Closer and closer, a hazy fog filled up the forest causing them to choke. Nearer and nearer, they heard women's screams in the distance. In the eye of the burning pit, their body temperature rose just enough for them to speculate the horror awaiting them beyond the final row of scattered trees. They seemed to have caught fire too blocking their view.

Terren searched around for an opening, but Ludovic gripped her arm. She shifted around toward his face. Her forehead crinkled, an unsettled gesture since he prevented any movement she attempted. Both his hands clenched her shoulders while he wore a sullen stare.

"The village….is under attack."

"Under attack? Perhaps, someone's home caught fire and caused all this."

"It's a raid, Terren."

"And how do you know?"

"It's why we...came."

"You came to raid our villages?"

"TO RAID YOUR COUNTRY! And I am sooo sorry."

Heavy heaves left Terren's lips as her feet pedaled backward. The palm of her hand pressed along her heartbeat pumping vigorously through her flesh. When Ludovic grabbed her wrist, she knocked it away.

"Terren please! I didn't order this. My men betrayed me."

"BACK AWAY FROM!" She shoved him each time his hands reached for her. "Your plans were to take my kingdom regardless."

"Those plans changed the moment I fell in love with you."

"Fuck your love. I must warn my parents and you will not interfere. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Your parents are probably dead. I know because my brother told me how HE wanted to do it. Take down the castle, so the rest of the kingdom would fall. I came in his place to prevent any of that. But I guess that doesn't matter now. Look what he's done."

"My parents? Dead?" A stream of tears smeared across her cheeks. In a world without the two people she dismissively acknowledged, her turbulent life no longer made sense. If only I listened. I'm so stupid. Now, they're dead because of me.

"I'm sorry."

"I need to be away from you. We are finished." As he tailed her, she scooped up some dirt and threw it in his eyes running into the darkness. She ripped her crown from her head tossing it aside. With it, a gust of tears flew in the same direction. Her feet pounced through the grass uncertain to where. But she couldn't focus on her destination since the images of her family's faces tore through her doubts. Are they really dead? She yearned to know finally setting her next mark, the castle.

About thirty minutes into her journey, she arrived, but fear kept her away from the front. Through an open window on the side, she climbed in. She listened and lurked for Gunner's men, but the castle was empty of clan members. With speed, she bolted up the stairs where their rooms were and found all of their doors open. Her heart dropped and only pulsing when she saw her own opened wide. They were looking for me. As she crept to Bloom's room, she passed by it since it was empty. Perhaps she got away. In Ash's room, she saw his lifeless body laid out. She gasped in horror as her hands clutched her mouth. Her stomach could not withstand seeing the others. To avoid the same fate, she fled never to be seen again.

Gunner

The fire swallowed three villages miles apart from each other, Atmos, Patimos, and Ferrimos, being the closest to the castle. They were named after the three kings before Ferrel. It was said these kings held the power of the cosmos. Their reign stretched back ages ago, a time when fictitious conjecture may have been literal. No one witnessed such sorcery since the stories first left the lips of the raconteurs and no one believed them in current.

The destruction brought Gunner to a grin reaching the corners of his eyes. He stood in a grassy field, centered by the three villages. Though the blaze ceased, smoke swiveled upward from the crisped gray cottages and huts. Women and their bulge-eyed children waited for their own fates, no home to go to. Gunner finally approached them. Duncan wasn't too far behind him,

"What to do with them," said Duncan eyes darkened and weary from hours of slaughter.

"Let them live. Allow them tents since their homes are gone."

"Sir?" When Duncan pinched his brows together, Gunner's reply made them beam upward.

"We will not make use of any of them. They'll live among us and adopt our customs." He slithered around and gazed at all the women. "Do you all understand?" The women took a beat before agreeing. "Now then, you all will rest here."

He shifted his back to them and rammed his feet over to Ferrimos since his new home awaited him, the stone, white castle. His eyes shifted to its depths and it towered above him when he finally reached it.

"Where's my bride-to-be?" he said to Yoden his soldier and close friend.

"Inside crying her little eyes out. Ylda will have a thrill tormenting her."

"Where is the jealous warrior anyway?"

"She fought. But now she's upstairs looking for a room."

"As if I am going to allow her to stay here. I'll get things in order shortly."

Gunner, Duncan, and Yoden headed through the arched doorway proceeding to the throne chambers. When inside, his orbs glistened with victory as they paused on the glorious seat where he intended to carry out his reign. Shiny, navy-blue valor, with golden pellets, indented from the arm to the top, amazed him to a wide-mouth smirk. He let out a sigh, chest still tight from the anticipation. Just as he took a few steps toward it, someone called his name.

"Gunner?"

Recognizing the smooth voice of his brother, he lurked around with a displeased grill.

"Where the hell have you been, Ludovic?" With quickness, Gunner stomped over to him leaving little space between them.

"I didn't even know you were coming. Duncan made sure of that." Ludovic's eyes turned to slits when they leered at the perpetrator.

"Were you with the princess? Where is she?"

"I killed her."

"I know you better than that."

"She found out about our plan. Was using me. I killed her when she threatened to tell her father." Ludovic's heart pounded through his chest when he realized how deceptive he could be to protect Terren.

"So you do have a devil bone in you. Then you won't be so weary about what I am going to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I killed the royal family, minus the daughters, and all of their measly guardians. I know you wanted to do things your way, but I could not risk it. Risk this opportunity."

"Oh." Ludovics's heart sank, thinking about the prestigious parents of his lover, now deceased. He was certain his heart was as mangled as hers would be.

"You don't sound so pleased."

"I'm pleased by your triumph. I just don't agree with the way you went about it."

"There can be no such thing as a soft-hearted brute." He laughed out cursing Ludovic's empathetic impulses.

With arms broadened, Gunner reeled his younger brother in for a hug. Ludovic took a beat right before melting into his embrace. Somehow, his fatherly squeeze eased his mental anguish. Look at the bigger picture. We now have a permanent home.

When they parted, Gunner continued to the throne, marking it with his tush. He swung a look at the seat beside him, a step down from his, same color, but knotted in diamonds. A mental decision formed in which Bloom would take claim to it. A las, they parted only for their brief moment of endearment to mold into criticism. He shunned all the men from the room, except his glassy-eyed younger brother.

"You put shame on our family. If father were alive, he would have beat you to a pulp for not carrying out your duty. It is time you embrace who you are." With conviction, he said, "A warrior. It's time you and I recreate our dynasty. This throne is mine and you will be by my side as a prince."

"I can't claim that title." Terren's glorious face pulsed through his mind as he decided that would betray her further.

"You will! And you will not disappoint me like you have tonight. This is your new home. You are a leader with a far greater purpose now."

Ludovic waited a moment before replying. "Alright, brother." Perhaps, he's right. It's time to step up.

"I know what will get you in good spirits," said Gunner. "Let's have a party to celebrate." When he stuffed his rear back into the throne, he yelled out to the hallway. "Bring me my fiance."

Fiance? thought Ludovic. His thoughts trickled about, but he could not put a face to the woman. He nearly laughed, but faintly smiled at the thought of his brother tying himself to one person. Would he even? Then he saw her, eyes swollen from heaps of tears, cheek still raw after being smacked, and disheveled hair ripped from its updo. She was an unfamiliar face. He studied her from head to toe, puzzled creases on his brows. She looked rough, even more so with her blistered feet and heels blackened from hours of walking. What have they done to her? What surprised him more, the idea of him marrying outside of his clan.

"Who is she?" said Ludovic, face scrunched in both confusion and disgust.

"She is the Princess. Bloom." He jumped to his feet swatting his hands at the two soldiers clamping her biceps. They let her go, but he took grasp. His claws curved her wrist pulling her so close to his face she could see the microorganisms. "My wife-to-be, stop with the tears. Clean up and wear your best for the party tonight." He pinched the end of her nightgown causing it to stretch across as she hunched forward and walked off.

I will not interfere, thought Ludovic choosing to overlook his clan's ruthless traditions. This one in specific, capturing women of territories they overtook, taking advantage of them in ways he could not fathom. The only difference now, a marriage, so forbidden by law, in an effort to solidify his crown.

Bloom

Bloom found herself in the midst of the party as she sat beside Gunner on the throne. She watched his guest in a nauseated manner, lips stretched and curled to her nose. What made matters even more horrendous, she could not stomach the shrill that filled the room. Had they any remorse for what happened to her family? If she could excuse herself, she already would have made an exit. However, Gunner had a chain around her neck, one she could feel but couldn't be seen. She sat there with stillness, shoulders leveled like a straight line. Her fingers silently clawed at the armrest, mouth disengaged, but her inner voice screaming. As her dead eyes stared blankly at the dance floor where revelers skipped and twirled, her jaw clenched with disdain. Living among savages was a life she didn't foresee for her future, especially a frivolous marriage to one. She noticed her throat tightening as her neck curved around to scrutinize her husband to be. Her heart raced in response, quickening with hate. There was no way she'd marry him and death made more sense now. A thought surfaced from the back of her mind of don'ts, How will I carry out my own death? At least killing herself would be her decision, one Gunner did not have a say over.

A surge of terror ripped up her spine when Gunner placed a hand on hers. She flexed her fingers causing his grip to tighten. He swung his nose to her neck and sniffed up to her jaw. With eyes lingering on hers, his face moved back just enough to get a better view of her.

"I forgot to tell you how lovely you look. How delicious you smell. But need I remind you to fix your face!"

"You want me to smile at this spectacle you call a ball?" Her eyes swooped down to the marble, widened with surprise at her sudden act of boldness.

"I want you to be grateful I let you live."

"You should have killed me." Her necked turned toward him, both their faces closer than ever. She sent him a contemptuous sneer. "Death would be better than this."

"You'd rather die than be with me, but you'll live as long as you are mine."

"I will never be yours."

"Tonight you will become my wife and you will be."

Bloom felt her heart descend to her stomach churning in disagreement. The only thing that came to her distaste was this marriage. I will not marry this awful man. I need to get out of here. Ideas of many beamed through her mind as she tried to create an escape plan. Then Gunner proceeded to sway her.

"You will learn to accept this or I will murder your sisters."

"They're alive?" she said with life's purpose outweighing death's cause. Her sisters were her purpose to withstand her new obstacle, Gunner.

"They are and they are safe as long as you comply."

"Where are they?"

"All you need to know is that they're safe." In his mind, they were safe because they managed to escape.

There was a short pause before she responded.

"Okay. I'll marry you."

After their short wedding ceremony, Bloom was escorted to the east wing, an area of the castle she seldom roamed. Outdated in its rustic depths, the reminder of why came clear. This section of the castle held a lot of history sealed in its wooden floorboards and oak-paneled walls. Why here? she thought as her disinterested eyes scanned for something to be pleased by. The corridor sent chills up her spine since the walls stretch up into the darkness. Then she remembered how Huckleberry use to say demons lurked in the shadows above. Oddly, as a child, she swore she saw silhouettes of them stalking her the few times she roamed these halls. A faint smile broke into the corners of her mouth that frowned all night. Huckle and his antics. The thought of him warmed her heart, but she knew the frost would soon take over. The guards led her up some stairs and to a room at the end of the hall. Just then Huckle's face faded and so did the warmth.

The room was much larger than her parents but lacked the elegance she hoped for. Was it the creaky floorboards or the king-size bed without wooden posts, no canopy? Perhaps it may have been the lack of drapery, all windows exposed. As her eyes wandered around, they closed when she heard someone enter the room from behind her.

"Our bedroom," said Gunner easing his way toward her. "I am eager to consummate this marriage."

"Do you have protection?" She ground her teeth repulsed by the idea of having his offspring.

"There's no need for that. You will have my children."

"So I have no say in this?"

With his abs pressed against her back and chest leveled at her shoulders, his neck sunk down, allowing his lips to touch her ear. The hairs on her neck sprawled.

"None! You will do as I say. Act as a wife intended to fulfill her king's needs."

"What about my own?"

"Life is all the fulfillment you need. If you defy me, I'll end it. Kill your sisters just as fast."

"You're a monster."

"No my lady, I'm the devil."

When he backed away, a heavy sigh submerged from her lungs. He walked around her toward their bed and fell to it.

"Come here." His eyes preyed on every curved element of her body.

Her feet dragged, pausing each time she thought, I can do this. She must not have been moving fast enough.

"Come to bed now!" Gunner leaned forward with his elbows holding his weight. Just as she hovered over him, his arm curled around her waist. He pulled her nearer, so close, her chest smashed against his. When he kissed her, his tongue tasted the saltiness of her tears. He ripped her gown at the shoulder trailing his lips from hers to the exposed skin. Moments later, he tossed her aside and jumped to his feet. A rush of terror ran through her flesh as he blew out every candle in the room. Something wasn't right.

Darkness swept across the area and almost instantly, Bloom felt a set of hands throw her to her stomach.

"Please!" she cried. "Not this way."

As the ominous night came to an end, Bloom's dreadful cries echoed through the halls of the east wing. He roughened her up since it was just them too. Perhaps someone would have intervened due to her horrid cries, but that didn't matter, no one heard. Something broke in her that night. I really married the devil, she decided as her finger trailed along her bruised legs and thighs. She lay balled up in their bed, back to him. He snored loudly, a nuisance she wished to hush. Even if his snores stopped, there was no way she was sleeping tonight. Instead, she shed more tears holding her sister's images close since the idea of death sifted through her mind. I must continue for them.

***The rest of the chapter coming tomorrow.