Forgotten Conqueror Book Two - From RoyalRoad.com by Za1d3

Chapter 48 - Chains of Garnikul

  "Stupid! You knew this was going to happen! Why did you even come here?!" Narissa angrily scolded herself as she scrambled through the streets of Garnikul.
Barefoot and wearing a dress with a large tear on its side, her feet drummed against the stone pavement, doing their best to take her as far as they could from her naïve choices.
Onlookers ogled her but instead of embarrassment, she was filled with panic as shouts pertaining to her whereabouts erupted from behind.

Passing an intersecting pathway, she swiftly pivoted to her left, barely avoiding a man lunging at her from the side. The abrupt action caused her to lose balance and her body careened into the side of a cart. "Over here! She's over here!" A voice bellowed, as more shouting came through the crowd. With the sound of hounds also closing in, Narissa painfully turned for the alleyways. Yet as she did so, wall of people emerged from within and blocked her path.

"You can either choose to come back with us, or we can drag you back by those pretty plates of yours. I am sure the master would not mind at all." A man wearing a dark guard uniform called out as the group surrounded her.

"Kuh! The men of this country reduced to nothing more than lowly thugs without honor or pride, you all make me sick!!" Narissa retorted furiously.

"Honor? Pride? Look around you. Does this look like the sort of place where honor keeps you safe, and pride feeds you?" The man replied, gesturing to the dozens of hopeless slaves quietly observing her predicament. "Now come, or I fear I will not stop these boys from roughing up that pretty face of yours."

She glared at her pursuers. "I am Narissa Unrigan, and I will not be forced against my will!" foregoing her shame, she took her hand off of the tear on her dress and readied herself for a fight.

"Well then my lady, have it your way." The man grinned and made a mocking bow, then signaled the others to proceed.


...


"Unhand me you curs!" Narissa screamed, trying to shake off her captors as they dragged her through the house. Her lips were bleeding and her torn dress was only hanging on by mere threads, but she had taken down three of her subjugators before being overpowered. Brought to a staircase that led to the second floor of the house, she was held down and made to wait on her knees.

Some time passed before a kovus man wearing a brown robe appeared at the top of the stairs. There was a large stitching along the left side of the man's head, and on his forehead--barely below his protective plates--was a swelling the size of a fist where she had rammed her skull-plate. Slowly descending down to her, the man was grimacing with each step he took.
Unable to move or stand up, Narissa angrily glared up at the person whom she had thought was a friend.

"Why do you stare at me with such eyes after all I've promised you?" The man spoke, not looking away from her. Anger was apparent in his eyes, along with a glint of triumph and a coldness unlike his usual self.

"Fuck you, Shiar!"

"Is that any way to speak to me after what you did? You forget your position."

"It is you, who has forgotten himself! How dare you do this to me!"

"How dare I?" The man closed in on her, taking a deep breath to dull his pain. "You come here seeking my help while offering nothing, and you expect me to put everything I have built on the line for you? For your vengeance?"

"They were our family, our friends! How can you be so callous!?"

"They were your family and your friends." The man replied coldly. "I was always the orphan that your father took in, never the son or brother, not even a confidant! I slaved myself away as your father's apprentice, and what did I get in return? Nothing!" *Guh!* he groaned in pain and held onto his head. "... No, that is not true. I guess I should be thankful for the skills he had imparted onto me." A sinister smile appeared on Shiar's face, and he reached out to caress her cheeks. Narissa quickly turned her head in disgust, but he held her jaws and forced her to look up to at him. "And now, I will have what I've always wanted."

Seeing the hunger in his eyes, her body tensed up. "Please Shiar... please don't do this!"

"It is already too late. You made your choice earlier, and I have made mine."

"Please! This isn't you!" She begged once more as she fought to hold back her tears.

"If I cannot have your consent as a proper woman, then I will take you like a slave." Shiar replied, his voice devoid of any compassion. "Bring her to the cellar and lock her up with the others."

"O-others?" Shocked, Narissa stared in horror at the person before her.

"You will learn your place soon enough." The man smiled and turned toward the stairs.

"No! Shiar, please let me go!! Please!" She screamed, trying to break free from the vice-like grips as the guards dragged her away. "NOOO!!"

As if to answer her, the ground trembled and the house began shaking uncontrollably, throwing her to the floor. Decorative statues and large pieces of artworks furnishing the spacious hall came crashing down, and cries of alarm echoed throughout the large house. Pushing herself off the floor as the unexpected quake slowly subsided, the two men who had been holding her were on the ground in a daze, and she saw her chance for escape. Ignoring Shiar who had also fallen and was now yelling for the others to stop her, Narissa turned her aching body around and bolted toward the door.

Her eyes widened as she exited the building.
Not far away, a pillar of flame was shooting up into the sky amidst screams of panic.
Without staying to watch or waiting to be captured again, she ran.