The Sunfire (29 page)

Sejanus did not respond, just continued to stare at her with
a dark, heated gaze. His stare started to make Sofia feel uncomfortable, not
that she was ever comfortable around this man. Of all her father’s Praetorian
Guard, it was this one who scared her the most. He seemed to be around her
constantly, always following her with his eyes with a demanding, hungry
expression. Now here, alone, in her personal bedchamber, late at night, that
fear was growing exponentially into full-blown terror.

Reaching out with a calloused hand, he combed his fingers
through her hair. “So pretty,” he whispered breathlessly. Then blinking his
eyes, as if coming to his senses he added. “I am inspecting what has been
promised to me.”

“Promised to you? I don’t understand. I don’t know what you
are talking about. Leave me please. You are starting to frighten me.”

However, instead of retreating, Sejanus tightened his
fingers around a ringlet of her hair and tugged sharply. The sudden flare of
pain caused Sofia to tilt her head sharply back and Sejanus took the
opportunity to run two of his fingers down the length of her neck. His eyes
widened, his breathing became louder, deeper and more ragged.

Having grown up in her father’s court, surrounded by
officers and politicians, protected by her father’s elite Praetorian Guard,
Sofia had never faced or even contemplated what was happening to her. Terrified
out of her mind she could not move, could not utter a word and only stared in
complete panic into Sejanus’s eyes. As his fingers wandered lower, to the strap
of the camisole and then underneath, Sofia finally came to her senses. Opening
her mouth in preparation to scream, she found it suddenly covered by one of his
rough calloused hands.

“Quiet,” he whispered, his tongue reaching out to lick the
edge of her ear. “You are so beautiful I cannot help myself, I just need a
taste and a sample of what has been promised to me.” With this he bit the edge
of her ear, while his free hand disappeared underneath her thin camisole. Sofia
cried out in a mixture of pain and fear, but the hand roughly covering her
mouth silenced it. Sofia could feel his cold, slimy hand inching across her
breast until it reached her nipple. It was already hard, from the cold or
terror, Sofia did not know which. Sejanus just rubbed against her cheek and
roughly pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.

Sofia whimpered in pain.

Quickly, the hand was then withdrawn and Sofia almost cried
out in relief, thinking the worst was now over. However, Sejanus still held her
tightly, his hand still pressing over her mouth, his other hand this time going
lower, above her camisole, pausing only for an instant to caress the nipple
that he had so painfully pinched moments before. As his hand started to wander
even lower, Sofia finally realised his intent and began to struggle
frantically, but still Sejanus held her tightly.

Eventually his hand reached the edge of her camisole and
pushing it up and out of the way, lingering at the waistband of her underwear.
He caressed it for a few moments, before pushing it aside and pushing a finger
underneath, against her bare flesh.

With a roar of rage, like a crazed bull, Gideon charged into
the room. The two men collided like the impact of two continents. However,
Sejanus was caught off guard, as his mind was only on Sofia. Hence, as he
didn’t have time to brace himself, he was thrown across the room by the
strength of the older man.

Vaulting over Sofia’s bed with effortless ease, Gideon did
not take his eye off Sejanus when he ordered Sofia in a firm voice, full of
anger. “Princess, get behind me.”

Sofia was stunned by the sudden turn of events. Firstly by
Sejanus’s sudden appearance and his callous actions then Gideon’s timely
intervention. As a result of this, she could only stare at them
uncomprehendingly.

“Sofia, move girl. Now!” Gideon ordered sharply, taking a
step towards Sejanus, his face red with fury and hands trembling from the
barely restrained desire to tear Sejanus apart, limb-by-limb.

Finally coming to her senses, Sofia scrambled from
underneath the bed covers, until she was kneeling on the bed, behind Gideon.

Meanwhile Sejanus had recovered from the sudden shock of the
attack and quickly scrambled to his feet, facing his attacker. “Gideon,” he
exclaimed in surprise and with a little trepidation. The Praetorian Commander
should have retired to his own bed many hours before, so what was he doing
here? “This is nothing to do with you as this is between Marcus, Sofia and I
—
she has been promised to me.”

Gideon only spat on the floor. “That is what I think of you
and that promise. You take this girl over my dead body.”

Sejanus’ hand went to the sword at his waist, but hesitated
for a moment, for Gideon’s expression had changed to one of delight. Sejanus
knew Gideon’s skill with the blade was unmatched and he had never been beaten.
If he were to draw his blade and attack him, Gideon would be within his rights
to defend himself and kill him. Sejanus slowly withdrew his hand from the hilt
of his sword.

“Get out!” Gideon spat at him. “Get out and if I ever find
you back in this room again I’ll kill you.”

“You have been promised to me, Princess. I always take what
is mine and I’ll wait as long as necessary, don’t ever forget that.” Sejanus
uttered in a strained tone of voice, terrifying the Princess with his gaze.

Then without another word he left.

Once he had gone, Sofia started trembling violently at the
memory of what had just taken place and what had so nearly happened. Hearing
her sob, Gideon turned around to face her, his heart going out to the young
woman.

Taking a seat on the bed next to her, but being careful not
to touch her he reassured her. “He’s gone Princess. I promise that he will
never hurt you and you will never see him again.”

“He kept saying that I was promised to him, what did he
mean? Who promised me to him and why?” She trembled, teeth chattering together
uncontrollably and for some reason she felt cold all over.

“It’s nothing at all, just a misunderstanding, a mistake,”
Gideon answered hesitantly. “It will be corrected,” he insisted. Looking at the
young Princess worriedly, he could tell she was going into shock. Reaching
behind her he pulled the blanket from her bed, wrapping it tightly around her.
Only then did he gently and carefully pull her into his arms.

“There, there,” he said gently. Comfortingly but not too
tightly, as he wanted to make it clear to Sofia she could break his embrace at
any time. “I promise you that while I am here nobody will ever hurt you.”

“And what happens when you are no longer here?” Sofia asked
in a terrified voice.

Gideon paused for a moment, before replying. “Then there
will be someone else, somebody younger than me and much faster. Someone who
will be able to protect you even better than I am able to.”

And he was right.

*****

Delighted by the recognition in her expression and the flash
of fear that quickly crossed her face, Sejanus inquired, “Surprised to see me,
Princess?”

Sofia took a deep breath, taking all her terror and fear and
burying it deep within her. Jon had taught her long ago that while fear could
be useful, it sharpened the senses and improved reactions, but it could also
consume you, dulling your actions instead of sharpening them. Hence pushing
back her fear, she looked Sejanus in the eye and replied, “Not so much
surprised as, well, disappointed.” She let the last word roll off her tongue.

“Disappointed?” Sejanus replied, confused.

“Yes, disappointed,” Sofia insisted. “Disappointed Gideon or
my father did not cut off your fucking head!” She hissed.

For a brief moment Sejanus was astonished at her response.
Remembering the timid young woman before, who was paralysed by fear. However,
that memory bared little resemblance to the woman now shooting daggers at him,
eyes flashing with anger.

Radec!
This was his doing, Sejanus knew with absolute
certainty. Taking his reward, his prize and twisting her against him. He ground
his teeth together in frustration and, with his face flushed with anger, he
took Sofia’s arm in a painful grip saying, “I promised you we would be
reunited. I always take what is mine, no matter how long it takes. There is no
Gideon or Radec to save you this time,” he cursed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you. When Jon hears
about what you have done, he will come looking for me,” Sofia replied with
absolute certainty.

Sejanus was confused for a moment before his expression
cleared and he said with a knowing smirk. “I would not be so sure, Radec has
already been and gone.”

“Gone where?” Sofia asked confused.

“The same place as your last guardian, Gideon. Radec is
dead.”

Sofia went very still and was deeply shaken for a moment,
before shaking her head. “No, I don’t believe you,” she insisted. “Jon wouldn’t
dare die a second time and definitely not without telling me first.”

Sejanus only laughed. “Well you had better believe it. I’ll
bring you his head, as a wedding present.”

“A wedding present?” Sofia replied scornfully. “You are
crazy and delusional as I am not marrying
—
anybody else.”

“Oh you will,” Sejanus insisted with a grin. “You will beg
me to after I show you what your other wedding present is.” With that he pulled
Sofia to her feet, keeping a strong grip on her arm and propelled her out of
the room.

As his escort guard fell into formation around them, Sejanus
could barely hold back his triumph. For after almost a decade his ambitions
were finally going to come to fruition, with the Princess, the last piece of
the puzzle, finally slotting into place.

*****

Jon rounded the corridor and would have come face-to-face
with Sejanus and his guards, were it not for him hearing them just a moment
before. Quickly stepping back into the corridor he had just come from, Jon
watched as, in a flash, they passed him by. However, it was not Sejanus or his
guards who drew his attention, causing his breath to catch in his throat and
his heart to miss a beat. It was the woman being pushed along in front of him.

Sofia.

Jon had not seen her in years, but it did not matter. Sofia
consumed his every waking moment, his dreams were full of her scent, her touch
and her smile. She was branded across his very soul. For a while he was
overwhelmed by the need to rush after her and rescue her from the hands of that
sick psychopath. Jon could feel his hands trembling with the strong desire to
take her away from this place, to wrap her into his arms and protect her,
forever. The fire flowing through his blood was like a living thing and Jon
could feel the blade at his side become equally as heated, perhaps also feeling
its master’s all-consuming fury.

Instead, Jon was forced to close his eyes and take a few
deep breaths to compose himself and, after a while, he felt in control enough
to be able to open his eyes and try to think things through rationally once
again.

Sejanus had Sofia and more than likely he was going to take
her to the Emperor, her father. Jon had dealt with people like Sejanus before.
Shallow people that liked to gloat and flaunt their power over others. Hence
Sofia was probably safe for the moment and, more importantly, soon to be
reunited with her father. Therefore where Jon found one, he would probably find
the other. As an added bonus, Sejanus would be with them and Jon had plans for
him. He would pay for what he had done to Sofia and he would die by Jon’s hand.

However, Miranda was still out there somewhere. Probably
still in Sejanus’s personal quarters and therefore in much trouble. Jon could
clearly remember his promise to Miranda, that he would not let anything happen
to her, no matter what.

Jon felt torn between his duty and his promise.

Between his love for Sofia and his vow to Miranda. Jon was
racked by indecision should he go first to Sofia or Miranda. Left or Right?

Damn.

*****

The two guards stationed outside the main security centre
tensed as they heard talking coming from further down the corridor. However,
they both relaxed when they saw two of their own, who were easily recognisable
by their corporate security uniforms, turning the corner. There was obviously
no danger, as they both had their rifles slung casually over their shoulders
and were joking and jostling with each other. One laughed at something the
other said and gave him a light push in response.

As the two neared the entrance to the security room, one of
them raised his hand in greeting to the two guards, before turning back to
their conversation. As they were almost directly in front of the entrance, the
other laughed out loud again at some private joke and gave his colleague
another friendly shove. However, with the reduced width of the corridor caused
by the two guards stationed at the entrance, the man stumbled slightly into one
of the security guards. The guard unconsciously raised an arm to catch his
colleague and that was the last thing he ever did.

The Marine caught his arm and, using his momentum, swung in
closer. Before the guard could blink there was the brief flash of a knife, as
the razor sharp edge cut across his throat. He was dead before he could utter a
single word.

His colleague fared little better, because before he had a
chance to realise what was happening, the other man darted in close and thrust
an equally sharp knife into his chest. He was dead a few moments later.

Both men tensed for a minute, unsure if anybody had observed
or heard what had just transpired. However, after a while, both relaxed when it
became apparent their actions had gone unnoticed.

“You ready?” Jonas whispered to Jackson.

Jackson reached into his belt and withdrew the two spherical
devices they had procured from the small armoury earlier, before giving Jonas a
nod.