So I was left,hanging in that depressing cell, for I knew not how long. There were no windows, no clocks, and nothing but dense, unbreakable silence.
I couldn’t sleep.
I was so cold.
Thirst made my tongue prickly.
The aching agony of my limbs pushed me to the edges of sanity.
At last, noises broke into my solitary confinement. Footsteps approaching.
I’d rather be left, suspended and alone, than endure my uncle’s loathsome presence again.
Unfortunately, he returned with the two bulky guards and Rafiq in tow as well. One of the guards carried a wooden stool, the scarred one a tray of food and drink.
Rafiq’s eyes peeled wide when he saw the state of my condition. And, on noting my nudity, he swiftly averted his gaze.
He hadn’t known? He wasn’t complicit in this?
What did that mean for me? Was there a possibility I could get out of this?
Suddenly, I felt more awake than I had since this captivity’s beginning.
“Hungry, Roya?” Uncle Abdullah asked.
I was too nauseous to be hungry, but I was so parched my throat was on fire.
I refused to answer.
He tisked then motioned his son forward. When Rafiq didn’t budge, Abdullah pushed him toward me.
“It is time for you to assert your dominion over her, my son,” he ordered.
Had I not felt so sorry for myself, I would’ve pitied Rafiq. He kept his eyes on the floor, and he flinched when he saw the dried blood on my feet as more of the red liquid drizzled from my cuts.
The beastly bodyguards set the stool and then the tray in front of me. And if I thought I’d be unshackled so I could eat, I was sorely mistaken.
“You will partake from Rafiq’s hands,” Uncle demanded.
“I am sorry, Roya. I didn’t understand how far he’d go,” my cousin whispered, his tone so low I almost didn’t hear him.
Hope careened inside of me.
“Then help me. Get me out of here,” I said in a hushed voice.
“I . . . I . . . He would kill us both, I think.”
And just as quickly, hope fled.
At his father’s continued prodding, he brought item after item to my lips, but I shook my head and clamped my mouth closed.
“Eat, you obstinate bitch!” Uncle’s voice cracked out like a whip, and Rafiq winced.
I refused everything that was offered to me. I only opened up a little when he tilted a cup of water at my cracked, dry lips.
He drizzled the liquid inside, and I swallowed it all.
During the whole heinous ordeal, he pointedly stared at the wall beside my head. He never glanced at my naked body and his hands shook like mine would’ve if I’d had any feeling left in my extremities at all.
Finally, Uncle’s patience wore as thin as the few strands of gray hair on his scalp. “Enough! She is not desperate enough to accept the truth or her master yet. Leave us, Rafiq.”
He met my gaze, his expression defeated, before slipping from the cell. He was most likely grateful to flee the scene.
My toxic uncle ranged forward. “Tell me about the bracelets. You’ve not worn them before.”
“They’re a gift. From Aris,” I stated with no compunction.
As soon as I said the name, Uncle’s face became stony hard, his fingers convulsing at his sides.
And I liked his reaction so much I decided to goad him further. “You believe you’ve thought of everything, don’t you? There’s just one little thing you couldn’t have predicted. As of six days ago, I am no longer a virgin. I gave it up to the man who has thwarted you all along.”
“You gave your maidenhead to that Russian infidel?” His words blasted out.
I smiled with a shocking amount of pleasure. “I sure did. And Aris was magnificent.”
Enraged, he picked up the tray. He hurled it and all the dishes against the wall, crockery shattering into hundreds of shards. The stool went the same way, the wooden legs splintering off and crashing to the floor.
In the background, one of the ugly guards lifted an eyebrow as his employer went ballistic.
Spinning to me, Uncle bellowed, “You were supposed to save yourself for Rafiq!”
He struck my face, and the blow hurt, but seeing him come so unglued made the pain worth it.
“Whore of Babylon!” He screamed in my face.
“See? I’m worthless. A spoiled whore. You said it yourself. I mean nothing to Father,” I agreed easily. “I’ve probably ruined everything, haven’t I?”
“I have a way to break you of your filthy tendencies, Roya. We are just beginning. I will fix you,” he gnashed out. “Since you’re already sullied, I intend to use that to my advantage. Slut.”
Turning away, he ordered, “Get Rafiq back here. He will need to witness this.”
Fear crawled up from where I’d shoved it away. Dread and panic clawing like nails along my skin.
I’d pushed too far.
This was all going too far.