When you're strong enough

Chapter 7

Soon I followed the guard into a Jeep. The car drove for twenty minutes and stopped in front of a grey, foreboding building. The front of the building was eerie, and many soldiers were patrolling outside it; I guess the dungeon was inside.

I followed the guard into the building, and the stench of stale blood came straight at me. I heard guttural sounds of beating and screaming from all corners of the building, which unnerved me.

As I descended down the narrow, winding staircase, the air grew colder and damper. A scream came; the sound was somewhat familiar.

I followed the sound and saw a hideous monster tied up in front of me, only slightly visible under the dim light of the torches hanging on the walls, the creature's bloodied head with two panic-filled eyes, and its mouth opening and closing desperately as if gasping for air.

This monster was a man who had the skin from his scalp ripped off his head! I immediately felt my stomach churning, and I almost threw up my breakfast there and then.

Appalled, I turned to run away, but a pair of hands clamped tightly around my arms, preventing me from moving.

"What are you running for, did you not see who this man is?" Theo's voice was quiet and cold. Without waiting for my answer, he pulled me towards the monster, "Now carefully look at him!" Theo ordered me.

I opened my eyes again with a shiver and now realised that the monster in front of me was none other than Andrew, the man I had cursed countless times in my heart.

The fear in my heart suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a feeling of enormous pleasure; he should have been killed by a thousand cuts, he really deserved this torture!

"He's the one who got you here? He's the one who put you in the ring? The wounds on your back are all from this prick?" Theo's voice was now a deep growl, and his eyes were flickering like gold.

With a trembling voice, I confirmed this.

"Want to know why he did this to you? Unfortunately, this guy is quite hard-nosed and won't tell us even after all this." His eyes narrowed as he glared at Andrew.

I was a little surprised to hear these words coming from Theo's lips, was there something else going on here?

"Kill me, I don't know anything." Andrew gasped in a hushed tone; his words barely audible and his breath faint.

I remembered how desperately I simply wanted to be killed when I was pinned down in the mud and beaten up for the first time in the ring; and I thought of this damn guy on top of poor little Sophie.

"Killing you now is too merciful for you. If you don't tell me now, I'll push this hot skewer into your head to see your skull burn." I jerked up a red-hot iron skewer from the fire next to me and shrieked at Andrew.

"You shameless whore, I should have killed you a long time ago!" Andrew gasped and cursed me.

Without hesitating, I stabbed the iron skewer into his already raw face, and immediately the stench of roasting flesh pierced my nose as Andrew screamed horrifically.

"It was Zoe! She told me to bring you here and find a chance to kill you, she said it would be bad for her reputation if you died near her pack. Now you can kill me!"

I pulled the skewer out of his face and stabbed him in the heart with all my strength. The blood exploded out and splashed over my face and body, but I didn't even notice, all I could think was, I was so miserable because of Zoe, and I called her Mom for 19 years.

I turned my head to look at Theo, "Did you hear all of that? It was Zoe all along, and I want her to pay for it!" My hysterical voice pierced the room.

"She will, but not yet, when you're strong enough." Theo stared at me expressionlessly.

I thought of Sophie and pled with Theo: "Your Majesty, my friend Sophie is here because of me, she is lame and in trouble. Could you find work for her at the Palace?"

"Hah, you can't even protect yourself, but you still want to protect others! No, Rogues are forbidden to work at the Palace, Luke, where do you think Sophie should work?" Theo asked, turning to face a man standing behind him.

It was only then that I noticed the man standing behind Theo; he was the blond man in the bar with Theo that night, who turned out to be Theo's Beta.

Luke glanced at me and replied, "Your Majesty, I think we can arrange for Sophie to work in the garden. It's not such hard work, and Dorothy will still be able to visit her."

Theo nodded. "Then go ahead and make the arrangements."

On hearing this, I cast a grateful glance at Luke.

Maybe I was suffering from shock, but I developed a high fever that night. There was Andrew's head sliced open, staring at me and cursing me right in front of my eyes. I curled up and trembled all over.

Once I had fallen asleep, I dreamt I was dancing among the snow-covered hills and frozen rivers. My voice was rising and falling in a beautiful chant that seemed to transport to another world...

When I opened my eyes, there was Esther sitting in front of my bed. She touched my forehead with her hand and smiled, "You don't have a fever anymore, that's a relief."

"How long did I sleep for?" I asked her.

"Two days, you had a high fever, one moment you seemed to be singing and another minute you appeared to be dancing. I was frightened, I thought the fever had burned your mind," she told me, handing me a glass of water.

I picked up the glass and drank the water, and my head felt a little clearer, though I was still a little dizzy. I arose from the bed and shook my arms and legs, feeling an indescribable sense of relief.

"Dory, are you hungry? I'll get you something to eat," Esther asked me.

I hadn't eaten for two days, but still I didn't feel hungry. I shook my head, "Thank you, I'm not hungry right now and I don't really want to eat."

As we were talking, Theo walked in.

He must have overheard my conversation with Esther, and he stared at me for a while before saying, "If you're not hungry, come with me for a walk in the hills."

Theo's long legs were helping him fly up the mountain, and I was panting as I followed. Finally, we stopped halfway up the mountain on level ground.

"Blindfold yourself with this!" He threw me a black strip of cloth.

I took the cloth and looked at him, puzzled. What is this? Is the king going to play blind man's buff with me?

"Cover your eyes with the cloth. I'll start throwing stones at you, for every stone that hits you, I win a point, and for every stone you dodge, you get a point, 100 stones a round. Whoever loses will carry the other person down the hill. Now do it!" Theo's tone did not indicate any hint of negotiation.

I tied the cloth over my eyes, protesting: "This is not fair, you can see, but I ..." I hadn't finished speaking when a stone hit my leg. I winced with pain and jumped up.

"I ..." now, a piece of mud had been thrown into my mouth; I hacked and spat it out.

"Stop whinging, duck quickly, listen out for the stones, and focus!" Theo shouted at me.

My body was hit a few more times; I tried to dodge, but it didn't work at all, the speed of the stones hit me before I could react. I was anxious and angry and said to myself: I might as well have stayed and fought in the ring, at least I could see there.

"I've got 30 points, you've got zero." he shouted at me, and I stood still: there was no difference at all between hiding and not hiding. I was giving up!

"Don't you want to take revenge? You can't even hide from a stone, what makes you capable of taking revenge? Taking off your clothes? Trading your body? Why don't you just strip naked now and try to see if I stop hitting you because I'm attracted to your beauty?" Theo's tone was full of mockery.

I was enraged by his words, but I couldn't say a single word to contradict him.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus my mind, and I said to myself, "I can, I can do it! I really can hear the sound of the stones flying at me."

And I really could hear it. I heard a stone cut through the air, flying towards my left leg, and I quickly moved my leg out of the way; I heard another stone flying at my head, and I instinctively squatted down.

Gradually, I heard the sound of stones flying over more and more clearly, I dodged nimbly and was hit by fewer and fewer stones. Now, I was getting excited like a child winning a game. I was no longer satisfied with dodging and started running.

"My King, let's see whether your stone is faster or I run faster!" I shouted triumphantly and ran towards the hill by waving my hands.

I ran faster and faster, thinking that if I could win, it would be the powerful King who would carry me down the mountain. But I got carried away. Suddenly, my feet left me and my whole body stumbled, and I started to fall down the mountain.