A Grave of Chains - The Journals of Kowèn

Part VI: Lacerated

"Why do you force me to hurt you?" Dimos shook stiffness from his hand. My blood dripped from his red knuckles. "Hmm? All you need to do is accept your fate and do what you're told."

The last threads keeping my shirt attached ripped as I got back up on my knees. Deep lacerations over my back, even trailing down my calves, reeked with blood, sweat, and an early-maturing infection. After the late evening's whipping, Dimos and his goons left me chained to the pole outside a couple of stables. It wasn't until the sun was at its zenith that they brought me into some sort of barrack, shielding me from the unyielding heat.

"I hate you, you s-sadistic fuck." My lips were so dry they parted. "I won't let you get away with this. Nothing about you is worth saving, you piece of shit." 

Dimos' chin pushed forward, tilting his head backward with surprise. "That is incredibly rude, especially since I have given you a home, fed you, and clothed you." Dimos sighed. "No matter. I will look past these insults. I would never harm you because of your little tantrums." 

Tantrums? Was that what he called it? There it was again, a lie. My entire body stood as proof of it.

The chains unhinged from my wrists, and Dimos collected them in his hands. "To be fair, I won't deny my sadistic glee of seeing you struggle and fail. Though I do have a suspicion that you enjoy being punished."

The chains unhinged from my wrists, and Dimos collected them in his hands. "To be fair, I won't deny my sadistic glee of seeing you struggle and fail. Though I do have a suspicion that you enjoy being punished."

Revulsion stabbed at my heart. Enjoyed it? Enjoyed it! How in the hell could he reach such a conclusion? What part of the capture and torture had he not noticed my reluctance?

"Why would I enjoy it?" My voice edged with fear. "You've destroyed my life! You're keeping me hidden from my family. They're going to find me, and when they do, I'll find a way to end you."

The chains rattled in his lean hands. A brief silence fell over the room. Sparrows chirping in a nearby bush filled the silence.

"Where are they then, Kowèn? Where are these so-called loved ones?" Dimos spread his arms wide in a dramatic sweep. The chains dangled. "You are all alone, and no one will come for you. You have no one. No one but me."

My posture shifted, and the ache from the whip's cuts produced a quick wince. The mere fact that the restraints remained with Dimos confused me. The few days or weeks I'd been around him, he never let an opportunity to cast me in irons slide. 

"Hmm. No sly remark? No protest?" Dimos taunted, a broad smile revealing his white teeth. "If I were you, I'd start contemplating why fate brought you here. Why has no one come for you? It's because you always let them down. You let your husband down whenever you left home. You proved over and over again that he was not worth staying with. Of course, he doesn't want you."

I laughed, but hardly from joy. Nothing of what left his smirking lips told the truth. Still, why did his words pierce my soul like an arrow? By now, news of my disappearance must have reached Baster... Was Yorah keeping a focused eye on the horizon, awaiting my return? Were they heading to Redilla to reclaim me? Or... were they, in a way, relieved of my absence?

Dimos interrupted my thoughts. "You even willingly ended your last connection to Yorah when you burned your wedding belt."

"You can't trick me. I didn't do that. You did."

"Did I, though?"

"Yes... you. You destroyed it. You let it burn."

"Only after you willingly handed it to me."