Indecipherable Looks

Chapter 13

Father, I wish to marry Sir Calypse, Commander of the Remdragon knights. He is an honorable man; the King has said so himself. If I marry him, I will no longer bring shame to the family name and you will be rid of me, rid of a terrible burden, forever. Please allow us your blessing, and I will always have gratitude for you.

Your daughter,

Maximillian.

It was perfectly concise, just as her sister advised. There was nothing Maxi could give the Duke, but perhaps his hatred for her would make him favor the idea of her leaving above all. She was scared, so scared to go into that office, but would think of Riftan and her nerves calmed just the slightest bit. Maxi knew she could do it, for him, she would find the strength. She had hidden the necklace in her pillowcase, she had written and re-written this many times, mentally prepared herself, and physically tried to make herself look as proper as possible for this visit- she would not walk away.

After saying a prayer, Maxi knocked firmly on the doors.

"Who is it?" But at the sound of that voice, she was scared to reply. She stood frozen, wondering what would be worse: to stay silent, or risk speaking and anger him. Maxi felt so overwhelmed and useless right then. Being unable to answer a simple question was surely pathetic; and on feeling the energy leaving her body, she leaned her head against the doors.

"Just come in then." He snapped, and a chill went up her spine.

Now she'd done it.

Maxi entered, and seeing the obvious surprise on the Duke's face almost made her feel triumphant for a second- that was until his expression settled into something far more sinister. She tried to ignore it, walking forward and placing the letter in front of him. Then she spoke the two words she had practiced slowly over and over.

"Please read." Even as her voice wavered, she did not stutter, and a small amount of relief went through her body. Though that feeling quickly waned when her father leaned back in his chair, not giving her writings the smallest amount of attention. Instead his overtly perceptive gaze was on her, and some tiny amount of sinister mirth was shown in his eyes. The Duke smirked, and although he had made no real move, it was very clear who held the power.

"I was about to call for you anyway, but it seems you are obeying now even before I give my orders. How efficient of my daughter." He taunted her, and the whole time Maxi knew he was saying: you're mine, I have hold over you, look how you bend to my every will. It was all a game to him; he was the Minotaur, watching her roam about an endless labyrinth of which only he knew the way out.

"W-what for?" She could tell he wanted her to ask, and looked away as he scowled at her stutter.

"Ring a bell?" Her body went cold as she looked up and saw the fake rose the magician had given her sitting in his palm. Eyes wide, she felt herself beginning to panic. She tucked that away in her skirt pocket, and then...one of the maids must've found it in the wash and given it to him. She could feel the blood draining from her face, but Maxi shook her head, a beat too late.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" The Duke thundered out, crushing the weak flower in his hands.

"I-I d-didn't-"

"Then what of this?" His face was completely red with anger, holding the bear Riftan got for her tightly around the neck. Maxi impulsively reached for it, but then brought her arms around herself, taking a step back as tears threatened her vision. She had hidden that well; he must've ordered someone to search her room. Why? She could never feel safe as long as she was here, every small amount of privacy breached.

The Duke dropped the teddy and suddenly grabbed for the letter she wrote, crushing it in one go and throwing it onto the floor. Nearly all of her hope smothered, Maxi scrambled onto the ground for it, smoothing out the paper and in some frenzy of hers thinking she could present it to him again. But suddenly she felt a sharp kick to her back, and the writing fell from her grasp as she tried to stop her face from implanting into the hard floor.

She reached for it once more, but father quickly brought his foot down on the paper so she couldn't take it, before harshly turning Maxi over, pulling on the collar of her dress until she was forced to stand up, forced to look at him.

"If you have anything to say, speak like the fucking aristocracy you are. How you shame and disgust me with your foolish behavior," He shook her, and the pressure made Maxi's neck hurt as she let out a choked sob. "I have spent so much effort, only for you to be a complete waste. And now you've been seeing men!"

"I-I d-didn't, n-no!" She screamed, seeing how he was aiming to strike her. Her father stopped.

"What did you say to me?" It sounded like a challenge, one she could not possibly win, but Maxi knew it would be her only chance to explain.

"I-I w-wish to m-ma...marry Sir C-Calypse," She was sure the slap would come any moment, but forged ahead, at least determined to say her peace. It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done, trying to hold in her cries and breath and talk and just be somewhat cohesive, but she was doing it. "I w-will b-be o-out of y-your sight f-forever, f-father w-won't have to...d-deal with me! P-Please! Your blessing..." The sobs were wracking her chest now, but the Duke did not loosen his grip, giving Maxi no room to pull herself together. Being in his presence always reduced her to that small, lonely child, someone she didn't want to be anymore, but constantly found herself in the place of. It was pure torture, and she needed to get away, was sure she'd die if he didn't free her.

If she couldn't be with Riftan, Maxi thought she wanted to die. Just not like this.

"It's even worse than I thought." She screamed and tried to move away when he pulled down her collar, and at seeing the red marks under the fabric, the Duke brought a fist back and struck Maxi square in the nose. Her vision faded black for a second at the throbbing pain, and when she came to, her lolling head was still in clear sight of his raging face as he threw her away, not caring where she landed. She groaned on impact when her side hit the desk and she fell, utterly disoriented and full of sharp pain.

"J-Just l-let me g-go..." Maxi tried again, but he ignored her.

"I'm going to kill that animal for defiling my daughter." The Duke was seething, but even so, she struggled to get up, so terrified for Riftan. He was a formidable opponent, but her father was not a man to fight head on. He was like a snake, creeping quietly after his prey and only striking when he had to absolute advantage. He would never play fair, and she knew they were both in awful trouble now. God, she couldn't bear it if anything bad happened to Riftan because of her. Head pounding, she kept trying to speak.

"He n-never...d-don't h-hurt-" The Duke slammed Maxi onto the door, fully holding his hands around her throat, squeezing until she let out a choked sound, going light headed and seeing these spots all over. It hurt so badly she thought she really would die before he let up, hands still dangerously around her neck. All she could see were her tears and some blurry outline as she desperately grabbed the icy hands on her neck and pulled in vain, her instinct kicking in.

"Give up your love affair. If you don't- I'll make sure he feels pain such as that, worse than anything you can ever imagine. And it will be all your fault. Tell him to leave, and I'll spare both your life and his. I'm feeling very generous. Though it's extremely tempting..." He applied pressure once again, not enough to hurt as much this time, but it certainly got the message across.

"I don't think you quite grasp how easy it is to cause an accident."

When he really started to beat her, she knew there was no choice. It had been this way her whole life and nothing was going to change it. Not the love she felt, not the life she wanted, and none of the prayers she sent to the heavens- reality was harsh and unforgiving. Maxi just had to lay there and take it as he wiped her dreams away, brought her back to that concealed place where she would numb and disconnect herself-hardly seeing her wretched image. In that little pocket of hell maintained just for her, she knew at the end of the day, no one was going to save her at all. It was long past time she realized that.

Because if she didn't let Riftan go, it would not only be her in such an undignified position. Who do you call upon when you are faced with the devil himself?

She needed nothing less than an angel to escape this endless trial. But as she laid in her own disgusting mess of blood and tears, no one came.