Chapter 35

The cell’s stone walls made it hot, musty, and dark. The only light came seeping through a hefty wooden door. There were no chairs in this small chamber except for a board that served as a small bench in one corner. It was quiet except for the occasional squeaking of rats or a hissing snake.

The prisoner inside stood tall, staring up at the stone roof. His emerald green eyes were hot with tears of frustration and anger as he calculated an impossible escape. This figure was dark and rugged, incredibly fearless for the age of 20. His dark brown hair was shaggy and hung over his eyes. Its length which was now past his shoulders partly hid the electronic collar he wore. Still, he was an imposing figure clothed in torn black leathers which took the domestic look away from him.

His name was Xavier.

Xavier’s body shuttered as the sound of footsteps came from outside his cell door. Quietly fading into the corner, he waited for the door to open. When a minute had passed and a noise was not heard, he relaxed. Suddenly, a door from a cell across the corridor burst open. A man began screaming hysterically for his life, then there was stunning silence. Xavier shifted in his position and bit his lip hard to ease his emotional pain. He felt the taste of blood on his tongue, but ignored it.

The cruel sounds beyond the wooden door brought a thought of the future to his mind. Being held in the slave pit, as it was called, was a permanent sentence for hard labor if they survived. Each prisoner was a slave, prepared to be bought, sold, or do any desire of their masters.

A jingling of keys were heard as Xavier’s cell door was being unlocked. An ugly figure entered the cell. Its body was as white as snow. A shaved head with a beaded band with feathers around it caused it to look like a savage beast warrior.

Before Xavier could straighten up to defend himself, it threw a heavy chain around his neck and tightened it. Xavier gasped for breath, trying to pull the chain from his neck. The creature dragged him out of the cell by the chain where two more of the creatures grabbed his arms. In the distance he could hear the roar of a crowd…and he knew.

Today was the arena.

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Valin sat in his throne-like chair appearing to be relaxed and uninterested. However, inside he was seething. As the announcement was made and the two opponents were brought into the arena’s fighting grounds, no one noticed the way his eyes narrowed on one of the fighters.

His jaw clenched as he seethed some more. It was now two weeks since he had sent the Wahani’s beloved King to the Arena to die. Yet somehow, the man had the nerve to remain alive. Day after day he was shoved into the Arena to battle with yet an even bigger and more brutal opponent, yet somehow he’d managed to defeat them all. And that was without recourse to those coveted powers of his.

Valin watched as Xavier stood just inside the door where his jailors had shoved him and stared at nothing. The announcer’s voice rang out again and the opponent came surging into the arena with his hands held high as he gave an ear splitting roar.

The crowd went wild.

Valin smiled slowly as he sized up Xavier’s newest opponent. This time. This time the mighty King wouldn’t stand a chance. This opponent was nearly three times as tall as Xavier and had hands that looked like it would only take one to encase Xavier completely in it and squeeze the life out of him.

Oh this was going to be good! Xavier didn’t stand a chance. There was no way he would be walking out of the arena alive. Valin was literally bouncing in his seat with excitement now. And when the announcer decreed to let the fight begin, he sat up straighter in his chair and craned his neck to get a good view of the fight.

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Xavier looked up at his opponent when he threw his hands in the air and roared. It was the only movement he’d made since they had shoved him into the arena again. He simply stood there and watched as his opponent paced and postured for the crowd as they cheered him on. Clearly the odds were in his opponent’s favor.

As the man paced, Xavier sized him up while ignoring the aches and pains of his protesting body. He knew Valin wanted him dead, but he obviously didn’t want to do the deed himself. So, he’d ordered his men to put Xavier into the arena to fight. That was where Xavier had been for weeks. At least he thought a few weeks had gone by, but he was either fighting for his life or recovering from his latest wounds to keep good track of time.

Xavier was thankful Jules had been such a good teacher and that his father had been so adamant that he attend all of his lessons. At least that was one of the good things Marcus had done for Xavier. Everything he’d learned from Jules about hand to hand combat had come in handy quite often. That and the skills he’d learned from both Kegan and Jules on how to size up your opponent and use what you saw on both the opponent and anything you found in the surrounding area as weapons.

Still, despite the fact that he’d had good teachers, it still didn’t prevent him from getting hurt. Plus the fact that he kept having to deal with the heat that came upon him at any given time and sapped his strength also added to his bad recovery time. He knew it was only a matter of time before he wouldn’t be able to save himself.

Xavier didn’t move when the announcer said the fight was to begin. He stood there as still as ever watching as his opponent moved closer to him in slow zigzag movements. The man was huge and Xavier knew he would have to stay away from those sledgehammer fists or he’d get pummeled. At least the man wasn’t that quick on his feet because of his size. Xavier knew he’d have that in his favor, but not much else.

As the man moved closer, he growled at Xavier. “C’mon! You ‘fraid to fight me, lil mon? Dey tol’ me you aren’t scared o’ nutting! Iz tha na true?”

Xavier didn’t reply, but continued to silently size the man up.

Just as the man was about to say something else, electricity suddenly surged through Xavier’s body, sending him to his knees. As Xavier knelt there breathing hard and trying to get his body back under his control, the man used that chance to attack. Rushing up to Xavier, he delivered a hard kick to his ribs and sent him flying backwards into the wall.

The roar of the crowd was in Xavier’s head as his back impacted with the stone wall and he swore he could feel something snap behind him. He bit back a groan as his feet connected with the ground and he lifted his gaze to glare at the man lumbering towards him.

Without thinking, Xavier lifted his hand towards the man and flicked his wrist. Instead of the man being lifted and slamming into the wall, Xavier cried out as more electricity surged over him. He fell to the ground and just barely managed to keep himself from falling face first in the dirt.

Unable to hold back the whimper of pain, he lifted his gaze once more to see the man looming over him with his clasped fists in the air. Just as those fists came down towards him, Xavier forced himself to roll away. The man’s fists slammed into the ground right next to Xavier and made the entire area rumble.

Xavier didn’t waste any time as he willed himself to his feet and moved behind his opponent. Using the ground as leverage, he pushed himself off and lifted one leg to slam his foot into the small of his opponents back. His opponent roared and whipped around with one hand reaching out for Xavier who was trying to duck the coming fist.

As Xavier ducked, he twisted his body so that he could lunge away from the man, but fire seemed to suddenly consume his back and made him scream in agony. As he stumbled away, he turned to look at his opponent and saw the wicked long nails coming in for another try.

Xavier lifted his arm in defense and roared in pain as the nails nearly ripped his forearm open. He staggered back and tried to send his mind into overdrive. There had to be a way to best this guy, there had to be. Xavier couldn’t lose to a huge, lumbering, simpleton with razors for nails.

Gritting his teeth, he quickly tried to assess the situation. As the man lunged for him again, Xavier ducked and grabbed the guy’s arm. Using it as a bar, he swung himself up and kicked his opponent in the jaw. As his opponent’s head snapped to the side, Xavier grabbed fistfuls of hair and yanked the guy’s head down.

His opponent stumbled forward and Xavier used that movement to swing himself onto the guy’s shoulder and wrap his legs around his opponent’s neck. Without missing a beat, he squeezed his legs together and proceeded to choke the life out of the lumbering giant.

The guy went down to his hands and knees gasping. As Xavier continued to tighten his hold, the guy sat back on his legs and reached up with his hands to unwrap Xavier from his neck. Xavier simply gritted his teeth and squeezed harder. Until his opponent dug his nails into his leather covered legs. Not even the leather could keep those nails from digging into the flesh beneath it. Xavier tried in vain to ignore the burning pain in his legs, but his eyes began to water and he could feel his hold loosening.

His opponent grabbed a leg in each hand and dug his claws in. Prying Xavier’s legs away from his neck, the man yanked him off and slammed him into the ground.

Xavier managed to twist enough so that he landed on his side, but he heard a sickening crack as pain shot up his arm. He knew without a doubt that his wrist was now broken. He had barely registered that fact when he felt himself being lifted once more and slammed into the wall again. This time his world nearly went black as the back of his skull cracked against the stone.

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Valin cackled with glee as he watched the giant slam Xavier into the wall then proceed to pummel him into mush. With any luck, the giant would beat the King enough that they’d have to scrape what was left of him off the wall. He watched as Xavier’s body slumped against the wall and began sliding down to the ground. Blood smeared the wall as he began to crumble to the dirt. But the giant wasn’t finished with him.

He grabbed Xavier’s neck and hoisted him up against the wall again, slamming him hard enough to make the stone behind him shatter. As he held Xavier pinned with one hand, he used his other to continue hitting him. Occasionally using his nails instead of his fists.

Valin laughed. The giant was making a bloody mess. This was exactly what he’d been waiting for. Today the Wahani King was going to die.

He watched as the giant grabbed Xavier by the hair and lifted him up so that he was standing on his toes. He pulled his hand back, preparing to hit Xavier again.

Valin growled under his breath, “Yes! That’s it! Kill him! Make his head explode!”

“Miss! Miss, you can’t go in there! My lord is not to be disturbed!” came the sound of one of his guards.

Valin whipped his head around, annoyed at the intrusion. “Who dares to interrupt me when I am enjoying myself!” he screeched.

“I do!” came the husky reply, seconds before Princess Evelyn came into view.

Instantly Valin’s scowl left his face as he took in the sight of Evelyn in a deep red gown that flowed around her ankles and dipped so low he could see most of her ample cleavage. As he licked his lips in approval of what he saw, she spoke again.

“Forgive me for intruding, but I really needed to see you!” she purred.

Valin’s eyes never left her bosom as he shook his head. “No, that’s okay.” He waved to his guard, “You may leave us.”

The guard bowed and quickly retreated from the area.

Valin moved closer to Evelyn, leaning in to breathe in her scent. She never once moved as he leaned in and whispered, “You… needed to see me?”

Evelyn slowly nodded, “Yes.”

He moved back slightly and asked, “Tell me Princess, which members of your family know you’re here?”

She shook her head, “No one knows where I am. I ran away.”

He quirked an eyebrow, “Ran away?”

“Yes, I snuck out to come see you. They don’t want to negotiate with you, but I do.”

He grinned, “Oh, you do, do you? And just what do you want to negotiate about?”

She ducked her head and looked down at the ground before looking up at him from beneath her eyelashes. “You want to marry me, don’t you? I came to talk to you about that. To tell you that I wouldn’t be adverse to doing that.”

Suddenly Valin had no interest in the fight anymore. Instead, he was interested in the beautiful voluptuous woman standing so demurely in front of him. As his pulse began to beat furiously between his legs, he leaned over the railing and called out to the announcer. “This fight is over!”

Instantly the entire place went quiet. Even the giant stopped beating Xavier into the wall. All eyes turned up towards Valin, standing before his chair.

“You heard me! Take the prisoners back to their cells! We will continue this fight another time!”

The giant roared in anger and turned to finish what he’d started, but Valin barked orders to his men. “Stop him! Kill him if he refuses to behave! Now!”

The giant never had the chance to touch Xavier as the collar he wore came to life and sent him to the ground. Xavier’s nearly lifeless body slid down the wall as the giant writhed in pain close by. The guard holding his control sent wave after wave of electricity into the giant until he’d finally passed out from it.

As the white skinned creatures emerged to drag the two prisoner’s bodies back to their cells, the crowd of spectators began to disperse.

Valin moved to Evelyn’s side and offered her his arm. “Come, Princess, let us retire to my rooms and continue to discuss these negotiations.”

Evelyn gave him a seductive smile as she slid her arm in his.

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Xavier could feel them dragging his body along the corridor. He was vaguely aware of his broken wrist, his bruised ribs, and all of the myriad aches and pains the giant had inflicted on him. As he wondered if he would even have time to heal from these wounds before he was shoved back into the arena, he suddenly found himself face down in the dirt.

Turning his head to the side, he tried to get his eyes to focus. Blinking them in disbelief when he thought they were playing tricks on him. There was no way he was watching as his wife stood behind one of his guards with what looked like a black rectangular box in her hand. At the end of the box was what looked like bolts of electricity bouncing around it.

The guard that had been in front of her was slowly sinking unconsciously to the floor and Xavier realized that the other guard was already sprawled out over the floor too.

Nikki tucked the black box into her jacket and knelt down over Xavier as he rolled onto his back. “Xavier? Can you walk? We have to get you out of here.”

Xavier licked his lips and tried to form a coherent thought in his head as he watched her digging into her other jacket pocket. Suddenly she produced something shaped like a pen and leaned closer to him.  Her fingers quickly moved over the collar around his neck until she felt a small groove in the metal. She placed the pen-like object on the groove and applied pressure. With a soft hiss, the metal came apart and she removed the collar from his neck.

Xavier’s eyes went wide. “What? How?” he croaked.

She shook her head. “We don’t have time to discuss this. Come on, I can’t carry you, so you have to help me! Please! Hurry Xavier, Evelyn can’t keep Valin distracted for long!”

Xavier could feel her strength surging into him now that the collar was gone. Granted, he knew she was weakened just as he was from the heat episodes, but she was still stronger. He allowed Nikki to help him to his feet and slung one arm around her shoulder, leaning into her. Still, he tried not to put that much weight on her as she began to lead him through the corridor towards a back door.

Nikki paused at the door and leaned Xavier against the wall before she peeked out the door. Looking both ways to make sure the way was clear, she waited a few seconds before turning back to her husband.

“Okay, the coast is clear. We should be able to get to the edge of the ruins without being discovered.” She reached out and helped him stand upright before they both moved through the door.

As they made their way across the deserted field, Nikki spoke to Evelyn. Evelyn. I’ve got Xavier. We’re making our way to the meeting point now.


Okay, I’m right behind you, came Evelyn’s reply.

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Evelyn reclined back on the couch as she watched Valin move towards her with the tray and its contents. She smiled up at him and kept her eyes hooded, watching as he placed the tray of drinks on the table in front of her before he sat down next to her.

He picked up the glasses and handed her one. She took it and raised her glass up as he lifted his. “Here’s to a successful negotiation.”

He chuckled, “Yes indeed.”

They clinked their glasses together and downed the drinks. As Valin lowered his, Evelyn took the glass from him. “Here, let me refill our drinks, hm?”

Valin watched as she slowly rose and made her way to the table that held the decanter of red liquid. She swayed her hips in a way that she knew would keep his attention on her behind and no where else.

Evelyn set the glasses on the table and looked over her shoulder as she pulled a tiny vial out of her cleavage. Seeing that Valin’s gaze was riveted to her behind, she quickly flipped the top of the vial open with her nail and upended it into his glass.

Turning back to face away from him, she made a show of leaning over, to reach for the decanter effectively causing Valin to stare harder at her derriere as she slipped the vial back into her cleavage. She slowly straightened up and poured more red liquid into the glasses before making her way back to the couch.

Valin continued to drink in the way Evelyn walked, her lovely hips swaying as she moved. He returned the smile she gave him as she sat next to him and handed him his glass.

Once more she raised her glass and spoke. “To the future!”

He grinned, “Oh, I am so looking forward to it!”

She leaned towards him and batted her eyelashes. “So am I,” she whispered. Valin gulped as she lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip before licking her lips. Suddenly thirsty, he raised his glass to his lips and downed the entire contents in one gulp.

Evelyn giggled, “Oh Valin! I had no idea you were really looking forward to it!”

Valin blinked to clear his suddenly blurry vision. “Looking forward to what?” he slurred.

Evelyn simply sat there and watched as his eyes fluttered shut and he slumped back against the cushions. She laughed softly to herself as she got up and quickly made her way out of his rooms.

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Nikki grunted with effort. “Come on dimo agalo. Just a bit further.”

Xavier gritted his teeth against the pain shooting through his body. Every step that he took seemed to jar all of the aches, pains, bruises, and broken bones in his body. He couldn’t remember ever being in that much pain and wondered why he wasn’t healing like he should have been.

Suddenly Nikki’s head snapped up and she pulled Xavier against the wall.

“It’s just me, Nikki.” came Evelyn’s whisper.

Nikki let out a sigh, “What took you so long?”

Evelyn sighed, “I had to find a way to slip that sleeping potion into his drink, you know. It wasn’t easy!”

Nikki nodded, “I know. Come on, help me would you? Your brother is heavier than I thought.”

As Evelyn moved to the other side of Xavier and slung his arm over her shoulders, Xavier grunted. “Who’s idea was it to send my pregnant feigos to rescue me?”

Evelyn and Nikki glanced at each other, but neither of them said a word as they led Xavier through the ruins.

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Xavier lifted his head as he saw the walls of the border rising into view. “Are you telling me the two of you snuck into Valin’s territory alone!” he mumbled.

Evelyn shook her head, “Um, no, we had help.”

As they neared one of the hidden gates to the border, Xavier looked at Nikki and literally growled, “Just who was foolish enough to allow you to risk our son for this?”

The gate slowly slid open to reveal a timidly smiling Charles, with Teether standing behind him. “I was.”

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Xavier could hear her moving around the room. He knew she knew he was awake, but she still moved as if she didn’t want to disturb him. He knew why. She was not in the mood to listen to his reprimands for risking her life and the life of their unborn son to save him.

All the way back to the castle, as he lay on the makeshift stretcher Charles had made and fastened to Teether, Xavier had chastised all three of them for doing it. And he’d been furious with Teether whom he’d thought would have been the smartest of them all. Nikki had simply argued with him saying that he was the one who gave her the knowledge to rescue him.

He’d argued that he’d told her to give the information to Charles so he could tell the others and they could come up with a way to rescue him. Instead, Nikki had taken his information, met with Charles and Evelyn in secret and talked them into helping her rescue him.

No one else had been involved or informed of their plan. Once Nikki had told Charles about the electric collars and Charles had seen it in action during Valin’s little display, he’d quickly come up with a way to disable the collar.

He said that there had to be something on the collar that enabled it to communicate with the remote device the captors carried in their hands. He was also certain that that something would be almost invisible in order to prevent the captives from removing it themselves. So, he’d designed the thin pen-like object to detect a locking mechanism and serve as a key that opened the collar when pressure was applied.

Xavier had growled at Charles saying that was a big risk they all took since none of them were even sure the device would work. And Charles had also sent Nikki with another device that shocked people into unconsciousness as well as a sleeping potion with Evelyn. He’d growled that doing all that did not prompt him to think he was a good suitor to his younger sister.

He was also upset that Evelyn had pretended to seduce Valin in order to get him to lose interest in the fight and go someplace to be alone with her. He went on to say that she couldn’t have known what Valin would have done once they were alone. Evelyn had retorted that she had powers and Valin didn’t, so of course she was safe.

No matter how much he’d grumbled and ranted, none of them seemed fazed, Nikki the least of all.

So, they’d brought him back to the castle amid lots of shocked faces and more grumbling from the likes of Zachary and Marcus. Devnet had told them all to grumble later because her son needed to be taken to his room, bathed, and healed immediately. She told Xavier he could rant all he wanted once he was able to stand on his own two feet without toppling over from pain and exhaustion.

He sighed and opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Nikki. She was sitting in her chair in front of her vanity table, watching him.

He frowned at her.

“I know Xavier. Your thoughts are bombarding me with your anger.”

He pursed his lips, “And still you aren’t the least bit apologetic.”

She sighed and made her way to his side. Sitting down next to him, she ran her hand along his jaw. “We’re safe. You are home again and nothing happened. We got in and out quickly.”

He grabbed her wrist and glared into her eyes, “You promised me you wouldn’t ever put yourself or our son in danger! How can you not remember that!”

Nikki didn’t say anything for a moment. Instead she looked away from him and he watched as a single tear slid down her cheek. “I wasn’t in any danger. No one knew I was there. Valin didn’t know about me, so he didn’t expect me. He would have expected an ambush. None one notices a pregnant woman wandering around the ruins.”

Silence sat between them for a few moments before she spoke again. Her voice trembling. “I saw what he made you do to yourself. How could you think I would leave you there in his hands and allow that monster to treat you like that? I needed you here with me! Our son needs you here! And I told you that you were going to have to put up with me being the weeping woman every time you went out into potential danger!”

He stared at her for a moment before his face broke out into a grin. “A weeping woman huh?” He chuckled, “Well, if that’s how you weep every time I go into potential danger, I’d hate to find out what you’d act like if I purposely sought danger out.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Marcus Xavier Raneri! If you ever go looking for danger on purpose, I will have no problem whatsoever with dragging you back and tying you to the bed to keep you safe!”

His eyes twinkled up at her as she leaned down over him. She brushed her lips over his as she said, “And you already have proof that I can tie you to the bed and make sure you stay there.”

His laughter echoed through the room long after her lips had finally claimed his.