Enthroned by Amethysts (A Dance with Destiny Book 3) (23 page)

“I will take your silence as proof of what I already know to be true. Did you honestly think you could ever leave me? You gave ill counsel to your young friends. Because of you, I will lose a trusted advisor this night.”

She tore free from his grasp. “Because of
me
? What have I done but protect the ones I love? Where’s this coming from? Tell me what has happened. What has changed since sunrise? Our carefree laughter from this day still rings around us. We took our meals together, played with our Angels, talked about everyday life. And this is not new for us. Not anymore. We have been comfortable friends for months. What madness now consumes you?”

“The madness is on your part, Milady, when you sought to deceive me. This most horrid of betrayals will cost young Yui his life. And Mika will lose her innocence.” A foreboding shadow fell over his countenance, ominous, menacing.

“I refuse to let you do such a thing,” she hissed. “Your unfounded anger and strange behavior forced my hand in this. You will not blame me for your sins. And you will not punish them for mine. Draw your blades. Let us see your words forged into action, Ronin. Wings or no, you will not be the one drawing blood this night.” She snarled at the imposing man before turning, leaving him alone on the balcony.

Her temper thrilled him. He followed her. “You dare bare your teeth to me? What of your sons? Who will protect your little demons once I’ve removed their mother’s head? Think before you answer, Angel. No one leaves this palace without my knowledge or consent. Not even a Shinobi.”

Jenevier froze. His admission of capturing her beloved sons ceased her breathing. Hate coursed through her marrow as ice pumped through her veins. She turned slowly, narrowing her magical eyes into a level glare, locking her cold gaze with the enraged Shogun beside her.

“You will die this day,” she hissed. “Or, you will die
because
of this day. This is my vow, my solemn promise unto you. And as you well know, I do not make promises lightly.”

“Perhaps I will—die because of this. Yet not before you stand witness to Yui’s execution. I want to see the pain in your eyes as you watch his beautiful head roll upon the ground at your feet. Then… I will bind you. Force you to listen to Mika’s screams as I tame her properly. You will observe it all, watch every painful moment. And
that
is my promise to
you
.” His cold smile looked more like a snarl. “Now, that’s all settled and will not be changed. Yet, if you do as I say, if you mind me in all things, your sons will remain untouched. I want you to put up a small fight, Princess. Yes, I believe I’d like it too much if you struggled with me. We will discuss what will befall your little
Angels
on the day you refuse to open your glowing legs to me.”

Her mind raced as she tried desperately to search out her son’s presence. Musashi seized the moment, ripping her treasured binding band from her arm, tearing the holy amulets from her dainty neck.

She heard the faint sound of her precious possessions scattering, spreading across the hard floor, as if she were in a dream, a horrible nightmare.

The incensed Emperor grabbed her, forcing her down onto the bed, pinning her beneath him. She did not resist, at first. It was more like she was watching it happen to someone else in slow motion. Her wrists were painfully restrained above her head, in but one of his massive hands, before her bizarre new reality had completely set within her addled mind.

Coming back to the present, regaining her senses, Jenevier tried to rationalize with this giant of a man now pressed atop her, smiling viciously. Madness apparent in his eyes, she realized the hopelessness of her current situation.

“You have remained pure the whole of your life, Musashi. Do not soil yourself with one such as me,” she pleaded.

“I did not lay with a woman by my
own
choice. You have changed my thinking, little Princess. You alone will set the tone of our fleshly exchange. I will learn this night, from whence I draw the most pleasure. If your screams are more enticing than your moans, I will demand such nightly.”

“What’s happened to you?” she cried. “Please, tell me what turned a loving heart into cold stone.”

“My eyes have been opened, as your legs now are. I will know you for the first time, right now. Don’t force me to call the guards. Who knows what they’ll do to those little blue-haired demons if they think their mighty Emperor is in danger? I gave them commands, they were but two. The first, if you walk through those doors, minus me, they are to slit three angelic necks clean open to the spine. And the second, if you refuse to cooperate, they will drag your offspring in here, slay them in front of you, and hold you down. For me first, of course. After that, who knows? Your choice, Milady. You decide. Or… you can claim my head, don your wings, and leave Jinn forever.”

Jenevier tried to cover her mouth, tried to muffle the screams she did not want her sons to hear. It all happened so fast she didn’t have time to send her mind to another place, a happier time. Musashi clumsily pressed himself against her, holding her hips still beneath him, immobilizing them with unimaginably powerful hands. The pain ripped tears from her eyes, yes. But the violation itself ripped holes in her soul, gaping wounds through her spirit, snuffing out her lovely fire. He pressed upon her until she could take it no more.

“Musashi, please stop,” she cried piteously.

Her earnest tears reached him, somewhere deep inside his crazed mind.

She watched the raw fury slowly fade from his eyes.

He tenderly brushed her hair back, wiped away her many tears with his massive hand. “I swore to you once, I would never force you in this.”

She did not speak, could not. Bitter tears were her only answer.

“It was a lie when I swore it, Milady. I have dreamt of nothing but being inside you since the moment I first laid eyes upon you. The happy vision was not as this, no. I had hoped you would invite me into your bed, hold me in your lovely arms, smile up at me through those enchanting eyes while professing undying love. The only tears upon your cheeks were ones of joy. But when I saw the end was nearing, I could wait no longer.”

Still, she did not speak. And no matter how fiercely she willed them to, her tears refused to cease.

“Why like this, beautiful flower?” His regretful drops of pain fell upon her cheeks, mingling with hers, running back to soak her tangled curls. “I offered you the entire world, the whole of it, literally. You have been its ruler since the day you arrived. This you know. Whether they called you Empress or Angel, you have owned this land, always. Why didn’t you just accept it? How hard could it have been to simply take my hand and raise your scepter? You were already so blessed, beloved by all. You only had to accept the title. You only had to sit back and let me heal you, let Jinn heal you.” He tried to kiss her. She turned her head.

The tormented Emperor did not stop his claiming of her, but he replaced his rage with a more tender passion. It only proved to damage her all the more… betrayal is like that.

“Why don’t you just change?” he mumbled in her ear, over and over. “If you wish me to stop, it will be by your hand. I cannot on my own.”

She kept telling herself it would be over soon. She was wrong.

Musashi’s first taste of ecstasy was the opening of a floodgate. When he withdrew from her, he helped her to stand. Lovingly removing her clothing, he placed tiny kisses upon her bared shoulders, caressed her trembling back.

She visibly shuddered, repulsed by his touch, by his very scent. She wanted nothing more than to scream and scratch and fight. Fear for her little boys’ safety was all that stayed her hand.

He remained single-minded, heeding not her pleas nor her tears. He gently picked her up and placed her in the center of that massive bed—marveling in her naked glowing body, eagerly exploring her many sapphire covered scars.

“I love you. I swear by the gods, I love you. You are the only creature worthy of me. The only one I have ever wanted. No one else shall know you. You are mine.”

His wine-scented breath upon her skin, the feel of his warm tongue touching her flesh, caused her stomach to boil up in her throat, bitter bile choked her.

Just shut it
, she thought.
Close your damn mouth, you filthy, disgusting beast. I may have to endure your lusts, but spare me your words. Claim my body minus your putrid commentary. It only makes me hate you all the more. It’s taking all my strength just to hold my tongue, just to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs how I abhor you, how I only want to see you dead. See the ground soaked with your blood, dismembered pieces strewn about amongst the lavender. Hurry, have your fill before my strength is gone, before my dark words can no longer be contained. Leave me in peace before they spill forth, uncontrollably. Thus bringing about a violent end to my precious sons… just hurry… be finished
.

In her mind, she could plainly see them in the hallway outside her door. Terrified tears streaming down Tenshi’s trembling cheeks, unquenchable fire growing within Daichi’s steel blue eyes. No matter what, she had to spare them even more pain. She could never let them hear what was happening to their mother. She would hold her tongue, bite back her screams.

He was a fast learner, too fast. It wasn’t as physically painful the second time, but the mental scars cut just as deeply as before.

Thus began a dreadfully long dark night for this tragically abandoned, powerless Princess.

Musashi was eager and insatiable. He never tired. “I have eaten the herbs prepared by the elders, the ones intended for my wedding night. The blissful night you denied me, until now. I will go to them on the morrow and demand more. I quite like the effect they have upon me.” He rolled her onto her stomach, pulling her hips up to meet him. “Would you like that, Princess?” he whispered.

“I will end my life first,” she hissed. “I will end
your
life first.”

The sudden fierceness in her voice, the vicious words from his once silent prey, caught him off guard. He struck her in retaliation. Until now, he had convinced himself her silence was her acceptance. Her muffled screams—moans of pleasure. He was making love to his wife, his Empress. This was their first glorious night together. How dare she speak to him thusly?

The suddenness of the stinging blow caused her to cry out. She tried to crawl away from her tormenter, kicking him as hard as she could, scrambling to get off the bed before he caught her.

Musashi grabbed her curls, halting her escape, pulling her back to him. He was no longer gentle. His occasional slaps left large red welts across her bottom and the backs of her thighs.

“Be a good little mama. Do what you must to protect your children,” he whispered into her curls. “As long as I am satisfied, my guards will not remove their angelic heads. I plan on ensuring my heir before the rising of the sun. The beautiful dawn will greet you as a new woman, wife, and expectant mother of our future generations. You are the answer to an old prophecy, Empress Jenevier. It is written…
From blood and pain comes forth perfection.
Our children will be perfect. I will ensure that. Trust me.”

She spent the next several hours trying
not
to see the faces of the ones she loved. She never wanted to associate them with this blackest of all nights. Instead, she stared at the glorious moon, releasing the occasional whimper when her assailant would get particularly brutal.

When exhaustion finally claimed him, she feigned sleep until his deep snoring gave her the assurance she’d been waiting on. Quietly, she slid off the bed.

All she really wanted to do was take a bath, scrub her skin until it bled.

Crawling around in the darkness, she found her precious treasures, grabbed her dress, and cracked open the door. There were no guards. The entire top floor was abandoned. The fear she had been harboring that a thousand troops surrounded her bedroom was now banished.

Jenevier searched desperately, calling out to Tenshi and Daichi over and over with her mind. Nothing. When finally she exited her prison palace, even the guards on duty were sound asleep at the gates.

I am such a fool.

She was still chastising herself, cursing her submission to his blatant lies, when Apollyon’s loving smile popped into her mind.

Oh no… my picture.

She turned back toward the palace, barely able to make out the tallest tower through the trees. Weighing the risk in her mind, she took one step back the way she’d come.

A strong hand grabbed her shoulder, and a second one quickly clamped over her mouth.

Chapter 31

Musashi

(moo-SAH-shee)

Apollyon swung wide the gates of hell, loosing eons of evil into the universe. Yet he alone went to layer nine.

With the news of his beloved wife and son’s murder still fresh in his ears, the mighty sapphire Angel left the Underworld and headed straight for the Emperor’s palace on Jinn.

Musashi was waiting for him.

He hadn’t been surprised when he woke and found Jenevier gone. He was surprised she had not killed him, but not surprised she had left.

The Emperor’s shoulders slumped under the weight of his unyielding guilt. So ashamed was he over his horrid actions the night before, suicide was singing loudly within him, taunting his hands, coaxing his blade.

When he watched that devil of a she-Guardian disappear into the clouds with the long dead Shinobi wizard, Musashi knew what he had to do. The woman he counted as his Empress must leave this world, carrying her sons with her. His intent was to coax Vashti back to life. Force her to don her wings. Corner her into keeping the promise she had refused him. He determined to either make her angry enough, or scared enough, to realize she was still Angel. Then remove his head—as he had begged her to do if ever she parted—and leave Jinn before Apollyon found her.

He knew the Prince of Hell would waste no time in coming. Yet Musashi had read her journal, memorized her words. He knew better than anyone exactly what would happen. If Apollyon came here, Jenevier’s bliss would cease. She would shatter again. Those precious baby Angels he counted as sons would be horribly scarred. Or worse… taken. There was no way around the fact; her dark Angel
would
be removed from her, yet again. Such was their fate. Thus, all happiness for the woman he loved would end. The thought alone maddened him. She was so horribly broken.

Since coming to Jinn, he was blessed to look upon her lovely smile daily. It had taken a few weeks before her eyes started sparkling again. But he could tell. She was finally happy… she was finally home.

He had never planned on defiling her. Yet he was but a man. Once Musashi finally tasted her sweet kiss, felt her warm body squirming beneath him, he lost all control. Never had he known such a feeling. It was beyond comprehension, beyond words.

Being inside her felt like… like… heaven. Why? Why did I hurt my precious Angel?

Musashi knew he deserved death for what he had put her through. He only wished it would have come by her hand, as was his intent.

That woman needs to have her revenge. How will she heal if she doesn’t claim my life for my crime against her? Doesn’t stand over me, watching the light go out in my treacherous eyes? The hate will eat her up inside, burn her lovely heart, singe that beautiful soul. How can it not? Oh god… what have I done?

He sat upon the balcony, staring into the clouds, remembering her pleas for mercy. Pleas he heeded not. Her cries still rang in his ears. Her many tears burned gashes upon his broken heart.

Musashi had truly fallen in love by her written words alone. When he at last beheld her rare beauty with his own eyes, he was lost. He would have done anything for her. Obeyed any command she may have given him. And waited an eternity for her just to touch him.

When he heard the words Mikage said he intended to confess to Apollyon, Musashi knew all hope was lost. Any chance of happiness he dared long for had been dashed against the stones.

Madness and loss consumed him. His plan to push her into donning her wings had gone horribly wrong. Now, he had no idea where to find her, where she’d run.

Just as long as she stays gone
, he thought.
Apollyon believes her dead. If I can get him to leave before he finds out the truth, neither will have to know of the other. I shudder to think what would happen to her beautiful sons, once their dark father knows they live. How can beautiful Angels such as those live in a place such as hell? She’s just a woman now. How will she be able to stop his claiming of them? It will destroy her. If I can be strong enough to withstand his torture, hold my tongue for all eternity, she will be safe. I trust Yui. He will see to her now, and her sons. He will keep her from harm, always.

His fate mattered not to him. He only wished her to be gone when her dark husband arrived. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, the sight of her forever damned Angel would utterly destroy her.

He cried as he sat there, holding those little dried-up flowers she’d carried into his world on that most tragic of all days, staring at the picture she had cherished above all things.

She left her treasures. Left her only possessions in her haste to escape her torturer, in her haste to escape me.
He rubbed his thumb over the image of Apollyon’s perfect face.
I beat her. Never have I raised a hand to an unarmed woman… Yet, I beat her. The only other human I have ever truly loved, and I tore the flesh from her back with my own hands.

Musashi looked at the dried blood caked under his fingernails and wept bitter tears.

What kind of monster am I? What kind of man does the wretched things I’ve done? If I had any honor, I would take my own life, here and now.

But Musashi couldn’t bear to die before he had the chance to look into the eyes of the one who held Jenevier’s heart in the palm of his hand. He
had
to know the kind of man who could wield as great a power as this. And… he had to make sure that same man left this realm as quickly as possible, without snooping around.

He looked back to the clouds.
What’s taking him so damn long?

“Why would your thoughts hasten the coming of an eternity you cannot possibly fathom?”

The voice wasn’t dark and demonic, as Musashi had imagined. The velvety chords floated on the air, landing softly upon his ears. He turned slowly, beholding the whole of a mighty creature—flawless, the embodiment of perfection. He was leaning against one of the gold inlaid pillars supporting the balcony, casually looking out upon the beautiful land of Jinn.

Leaping to his feet, the Emperor’s chair crashed to the floor.

Apollyon slowly turned toward the noise as if it were a mere disturbance, an annoyance to his tranquil thoughts. His eyes were bluer than the purest heaven. His teeth—blindingly white. His smile—feral and heart-stopping.

Musashi’s knees went weak. A sickeningly sweet numbness engulfed him. The wrongness of it was suffocating. He unconsciously dropped the treasures he’d been holding.

Apollyon’s gaze lazily followed the single picture to the ground, fixing upon the image of his angelic face. His stomach twisted in knots when the glorious day it was taken came back to mind. He reflexively reached for the pouch hanging about his neck.

“Emperor, tell me. What have you done? What game did you play and how did it end?”

The voice was so enticing, so warm and magical. But Musashi couldn’t have spoken even if he’d wished to answer the damnable questions.

Apollyon’s gaze once more returned to the flowing lavender fields before them. “How is it I can still smell my love’s enticing scent on the breeze? It yet mingles with your lovely flowers, making them all the sweeter. If she was here but a day, and long dead for months… how is it I smell her?”

Musashi remained silent.

“Can you manage to at least point me in the direction of your refuse heap? The one where you burn the things you consider
of no value,
the things you deem are
without worth
.”

The bitter rage dripping over the mighty Angel’s last few words turned the Emperor’s blood to ice in his veins, causing his sorrowful heart trouble in its purpose. He tried to raise his arm. It wouldn’t obey him. With great effort, he found a ghost of his voice.

“How did you come to be here?” he rasped. “I saw you not within the clouds.”

Apollyon laughed. “Why would I be in the clouds, Emperor? I am not heaven’s creature.”

Musashi swallowed hard. “How is it your voice pulls me to you as a babe to his mother? My mind knows better. But my ears lull my heart to ease.”

Apollyon’s warm laughter was soothing, almost loving. “My dear man, how would you do your job if your title was Emperor of Temptation? Have you ever been tempted, Musashi? I know you have.” His eyes were cold, piercing. “Were you scared into temptation, or lulled warmly into it? How many would freely follow you if you appeared as a hideous monster, spewing fire and blood from your lips?” His feral smile returned. “A few would go out of fear, perhaps. But they could easily be coaxed away by love. Love will always destroy fear. Every… single… time.” Apollyon turned back to the flowering fields. “As the Emperor of Temptation, what if you appeared before the masses as pure beauty incarnate, flowers and sunshine spilling from your loving, enticing words? What then? How many would willingly follow you? How many would even stand up to defend your honor and glory?”

The horrible, beautiful scene he described was playing out in the mind of the now broken Emperor. Tears burned the backs of his eyes.

“I’ll tell you,” Apollyon continued with a smile. “Billions upon billions. They would eagerly snatch your proffered temptation to their bosom, hold it, treasure it, protect it always. Parents who try to scare their children away from
the devil
by telling them horror stories about pointy tails, black horns and pitchforks, do their offspring no favors… and make my job all the easier.”

Musashi trembled but couldn’t move. He claimed no power over his own body, none whatsoever.

Apollyon bent, retrieving the treasured photograph. He sniffed it, inhaling deeply. His eyelids fluttered. Pure joy spread over his perfectly beautiful face.

“Only once, in the whole of my existence, was I compelled not to lie. Only once. My words to her were as rare gems. The love I held for her could not be matched in all heaven or throughout the universe… will never be matched.” He rubbed his thumb across the picture, precious memories flooding his tortured mind. “Why do you have this? It doesn’t belong to you.”

“She left it here,” he choked out the words.

Musashi felt the tremor in the air an instant before Apollyon’s words rang like thunder through the palace halls.

“Show me your trash heap!”

Now, the trembling Emperor saw hell in all its fury. His knees gave way. He collapsed to the floor, tears streaming from his burning eyes. One tremulous, shaking hand slowly rose, pointing beyond the palace walls.

Apollyon looked at the blood caked fingernail and flew off in the direction which it heralded him.

Musashi’s lungs filled with air once more. He fell full upon the ground, as if he had been suddenly released from invisible restraints.

Rolling onto his back, he coughed and gasped as his lungs fought to refill themselves.

When the mighty Emperor of Jinn looked around… hell was gone.