“Now, Ginny, before I call the healer, I am here because we need to discuss something. I hear that you made another attempt to leave the Embassy the other day. That is not wise. You know that it is too dangerous for you out there. Suppose that filthy Qatu decided to take his revenge on you for what your kind did to his cub?” Gin blinked her eyes a few times. That made sense, perfect sense. Of course Sathlir would try to hurt her. Memories flooded her mind of Sath lunging for her with those terrible claws, roaring as he ran at her. She touched the side of her face, her fingers tracing the scar still visible on her cheek from her first-ever encounter with the Rajah of Qatu’anari. Ben smiled at her, the fury subsiding. “Yes, just like that and much, much worse, Ginny.”
She looked up at him, utter confusion clouding her ice-blue eyes. “You mean worse than what you have done?” she asked innocently. Ben’s nostrils flared as his countenance seethed with immediate rage.
“I have done nothing but love you and try to protect you, you ungrateful little…” He snatched her up by her throat, pulling her mere inches from his nose. “You still would prefer him to me, after I have given you this magnificent place to live and promised you would become Queen of all of Orana. You still would prefer that beast!” He shook her hard. “You will have to earn your way back into my good graces this time, my pet. You are mine, Ginny, for always!” he screamed as he threw her off the bed and onto the inflexible marble floor. Gin landed right on her face, and her right cheekbone immediately burst into conflagrations of agony. Stars shot before her eyes, and she curled up into a ball, sobbing from the pain.
She opened her eyes carefully when she felt something close to her face. The toe of Ben’s boot was mere inches from her nose. She rolled onto her other side as she tried to push herself away from him, but she ran into his other boot, as his stance straddled her face. “Let me get up, Ben, please?” she begged, keeping her eyes on his boot.
“Show me that you want to be here, and I will,” he murmured as he bent down and took her ponytail in his hand. Kneeling over her, he pulled her head back until she was looking up at him. Skin stretching across her still stinging cheekbone drew fresh tears to her eyes. “Stop crying and be brave, like I know you can be!” he exclaimed as he pulled her up to her feet and into his chest roughly. She fought him, pulling away. “You will not break, why will you not break?” His lips enveloped hers in a rough kiss, and she bit down hard on his mouth, causing him to cry out. He slapped her hard and dropped her to the ground, then crossed the room to the door, making sure he flattened her conjured wisp under his boot as he went. “Fine. There’s a fresh round of spell testing tomorrow, so you might want to get some sleep.” The stone door clanged behind him, leaving the only sound in the room that of Gin’s hitching sobs.
It was the next day before Ben returned, but Gin was unable to sleep. She tried eating the rest of the food he had brought her and counting everything that she could imagine, but she still couldn’t even doze off. She heard him in the next room speaking some sort of strange language…probably Eldyr. Steeling her resolve, she was ready by the time he entered the room.
“So, pet, any bad dreams last night?”
“Leave me alone, haven’t you done enough?” She pushed herself as far as she could get into the pillows and the headboard of the bed.
“Oh, my Ginny, you’ve grown so cynical,” Ben said, clucking his tongue in disappointment. “What has happened to steal away the bright young girl I knew growing up in the Great Forest?” He crossed the room and sat on the foot of the bed. “Now, we’ve work to do today, Ginny, and if you cooperate with me, it will be fast.” She leaned toward him, and he scooted up closer to her only to have her spit in his face. Ben scowled as he wiped his cheek off with his sleeve. “However, if you are disagreeable, it will be most slow and quite excruciating.” He reached out faster than she could see him move and pulled her by her arm across the bed. She tried to keep her balance but toppled over, face first, into his lap. “Ah! Have you changed your mind?”
“May Ikara take you,” she hissed, her face pressed into the fabric covering his right leg. She thought about biting him but just didn’t have the energy.
“No? Well, I will just have to change it for you.” He pushed into her mind, and Gin felt the intrusion. She pushed back as hard as she could, but his talent was too great. Things grew dim and then dark. “Much better, my love,” she heard Ben whisper as she just…forgot.
Sath was staring at her, saucer-eyed and slack-jawed. Gin snapped her fingers, bringing him back to the room in the inn—bringing herself out of the memory as well. She was not quite ready to use her voice, though, so after she made sure to close up those memories from him in the bond, she addressed him there. Sath wouldn’t meet her gaze anyway.
Well? Still think I might have preferred him to you, Rajah? Do you still think I was his MATE?” Even if you only said that to Josiah to scare him-
How was I to know?You never told me. You never told any of us, not even Tee.
You knew what Ben was like, and yet you still
