Prince of Cats (13 page)

“On with it!”  The Priest shouted to
Hondo
.

Hondo
approached and unraveled the whip.  He swung it testin
g the weight of it
in his hand.

“Don’t!” 
Neomee
heard Bray growl.

Hondo
’s calm voice reverberated through the room, “When her punishment is finished, so is my hatred for what you
have
cost me.
  It is a gift she has chosen to give to you.
  Accept it.
”

“
Hondo
…please!
”

Before the first lash licked her skin, Neomee’s eyes welled with tears at the pain she heard in Bray’s
plea
.  She knew what it must cost him to beg in front of his brothers
,
for a woman
he’d just met
and to his
own
enemy
. 

Her
body was tense with the anticipation of the first lash. 
It took all her strength to keep her slight frame from trembling
in
fearful
expectation
. 

As the first crack rent th
e air, Neomee’s body jerked, she bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out.
Sh
e made no noise as the first lash sliced her back from one shoulder to the opposite hip. 

Bray must have shifted because the growls and hisses coming from behind her sounded like someone had cornered a lion. 
She knew now what she’d seen the night he’d rendered her unconscious
.  She knew
with a startling clarity
that it hadn’t been a hallucination
.  The rumors were true.  The guardian Cats of Thebes were in fact Cats.

She
heard
the
guardians
barking orders at each other as they fought to restrain Bray
, but the
orders
were interrupted by another ear-
splitting crack as the second lash
tore at her flesh. 
She barely stifled a scream as w
arm silent tears rolled down
her
cheeks
.  She
struggled to control her breathing
, and drew blood from her own lip when
she
bit
down
too hard
. 

With the third lash, Neomee was taking deep gulps of air fighting
to keep
the blackness that clouded her vision from swallowing her completely.  As hard as
she
fought to keep from crying out,
she knew
Bray fought just as hard to get to her.  The yells from the men holding Bray grew louder and louder with each lash she took.
  She doubted any Cat was even witness to her whipping as it sounded like they were all preoccupied with restraining their Prince.
 
It would appear that a
s
her
body wore down, Bray’s strength built up and the
Cats
were on the verge of losing control over him. 

The Priest stood before Neomee and watched with a sinister smile as she struggled against the pain.
  With the fourth lash, Neomee saw the Priest jump back.  He was no longer watching Neomee struggle against
t
he pain, he was watching the
Cats
struggle to
restrain
Bray. 

Fear was evident o
n the Priest
’
s face and
in his
voice as he yelled, “Finish it!” 

On
e last crack and it was done. 

Neomee was on her knees supported only by the
Cats
holding the ropes that bound her wrists
, suspending her arms high above her head
. 
Her once white gown was
now
crimson with her blood
and finally a whimper escaped her lips
as her body slumped forward
.

Backing from the room, the Priest issued his orders, “Release her.  Bray you are now free to
consummate your claiming
.” 

Neomee slowly raised her head dragging in a ragged breath, “I will be taken as no man’s mate.” 

The Priest smiled wickedly at her, “
You will
,
or you’ll die.  Again,
it’s entirely
your choice.” 

Neomee watched as the Priest looked
over her shoulder
as he backed out the door, “Do not release him until I am gone.”  

Bray’s angry roar filled the room. 
Then the door behind the priest closed and Neomee dropped to the floor as the ropes that bound her hands were
released
. 

Bray was there in an instant. 
Strong arms
picked
her
up and
she was placed
cautiously but quickly
over his
broad
shoulder
.  He was
shouting orders as he swiftly fled the room
with her
. 
She
heard
him
demanding
water, clean linen
,
and the
healer
,
and finally she was afforded t
he opportunity to let the
ink
y
black
haze consume her and her eyes fluttered closed.

Chapter 13

The first thing
Neomee
became aware of was the darkness followed by a
s
earing
white-
hot
pain
.
  It emanated from her back and reached
to the core of her soul.
 

Not instantly remembering what had happened she thought she was being
tortured,
burned
for Amon only knew what infraction she’d made this time
. 

A scream left her throat and she tried to roll away from the source of the heat at her back.  When hands gripped her arms she tried to fight against them but it only made the burning worse.  “Stop!” she begged
, tears were instantaneous. 

“Lily, be still!”  Bray’s
ashen
fa
ce appeared in front of her own
.  “It’s alright.  You’re safe now.”  One hand left her arm to stroke her sweat-dampened hair.  “I’ve got you.” 
   
 

L
ying face down she struggled to recall the events that had led up to her current situation.  It all slowly came back in bits in pieces. 
Her attempt at escape,
Bray’s stoic face, his roar of
anger, the altar room
,
the Priest
,
Hondo,
the whip.
 

Licking her lips
Neomee drew in a deep ragged breath as she scanned the room from where she lay. 
She recognized the room
immediately;
she was again in Bray’s quarters.
 
Attempting
to lift her arms to push herself up off the bed
she
froze in pain as she felt
the movement
tear at her back.  Either she’d been stitched or her wounds had tried to form tight scabs that cracked and tore as she moved. 
Her arms shook with the pain as she lay them back at her sides.

“Don’t move.”  Bray’s deep voice
commanded
from behind her.  Crossing to stand in front of her,
he
dropped to his knee and held a small bowl of water
close to her mouth
.  He dipped a white cloth into
the bowl
then held the cloth to her lips.  “Suck on this.”

Still hazy, Neomee didn’t argue as Bray slid a hand under her cheek to lift her head
slightly while his other hand brushed the cloth against her lips.  She opened her mouth and
Bray used a finger to tuck the cloth between her lips where she sucked slowly accepting the water.  She opened her lips when the cloth was dry and Bray dunked it back into the bowl before repeating the procedure several times until the small bowl was nearly empty.
 

“Let me get you more,
” Bray
smiled
uncertainly
down at
her
before leaving her line of sight to re-fill the bowl. 
He
returned and
she accepted more of the water until her
thirst was
quenched
.
 
Bray
used
his thumb
to wipe
droplets of
water from Neomee’s lips and cheek. 

“How long have I been asleep?” 
Her voice came out as a raspy
whisper.

“Three days.”

“Oh.
”
  The shock Neomee felt at the revelation
was
not
evident
in her too weak tone.

Bray again left Neomee’s sight and returned with a bowl of what smelled to be some form of poultice
.
  Without a word,
he
began applying the preparation to
her
wounds.  She tensed at the cool
ness of the ointment
and then
stayed tense from the pain.  Bray worked quietly and gently, as Neomee concentrated on controlling her breathing. 

“Before your punishment, you had scars on your back.  Wh
o did it
?”

She smiled to herself.  She knew when he’d seen them that he’d demand answers. She just hadn’t expected him to demand them so soon. 
Shifting uncomfortably Neomee considered
a lie but quickly discarded it
.  S
he
knew that Bray would
smell her dishonesty.
 
“I have never been a free woman.”

“Meaning?”

Neomee thought she heard a dangerous edge to Bray’s voice, but dismissed it
.
 
“Before being sold to the House of Cats, I belonged to a wealthy family.”

“Belonged to?  You mean with.”

“No, I mean
to
.  Just as I
am
a slave here, I was a slave there. 
I’ve always been owned
,
I ha
ve
never
known
free
dom
.”

Bray left her side to pace the room, “And the scars?” he growled.

Smiling without humor, Neomee bit
her lip at the memories, “I have
a
long
history of trying to run.  After several unsuccessful attempts,
Holder made an example of me.”

“Holder?  Was that you
r
captor’s name
?”

“No.  We were no
t allowed to speak his name.  He
was the holder of the slaves.  He made sure we knew that he held our freedom and our lives in his hands.  We all called him Holder
.  I
t felt le
ss submissive than calling him M
aster.
”

“
And the scars,” he prompted again refusing to let the matter go.

Neomee smiled now, this time the humor reached her eyes and danced across her
pleased features.  “It was nearly a year ago that I was made an example of,
whipped for trying to escape
. 
I never forgot the pain
.
After, I
plotted and when everything fell into place, Holder
woke strapped to his own bed.  I used the same whip on him that he’d used on me.”  Neomee’s smile faded, “I was almost home free when they caught me.  Holder was furious.  He wanted to kill
me;
it was wha
t I’d expected if I were caught. 
I
had accepted my fate
.  But when he told me
he planned on selling
me to the House of Cats
…
well,
he knew that I’d prefer death to life-long
servitude.  He
kept death from me.” 
She
turned
her head
away
to avoid Bray’s intent stare, “That is how I came to be a slave for
the House of Cats,
it was a form of punishment.  But
I’ll never stop running.
  Not even here, not even from the deadly and cunning Cats
.  Not now, not ever.  Not
even if it kills me.
”