Of Queens And Commanders (DISCONTINUED)

2. Commander Bitch

Arlin's P.O.V.
Brought to you by a talking horse

I grunted as a soldier kicked me in the small of my back, forcing me to the ground before removing my blindfold and gag. I spat at his feet but kept my head low, glaring through the strands of hair that had fallen from my braids. I glanced around and quickly determined my location. I had no idea where the fuck I was. "Heda," the second soldier said, "The Trikru girl you requested." When he spoke it clicked in my mind, I was in Polis, in the tower, in the throne room of the Commander of all twelve clans. Speachless, I began to sweat nervously and looked up. From her position on the throne, the Commander looked me up and down before glaring at the two men behind me. "You were told to bring her to me unharmed." She gestured to my banged up body. "Clearly you have not done so!" Even though I couldn't see them, I could sense the fear radiating off the formerly brave soldiers behind me. "Apologies Heda, she ran and we had to use force to take her." "I'm sure she did." She waved her hand, "Dismissed." The two cowards bowed slightly before leaving and I scoffed. "Pathetic." The brunette Commander rose and walked over to me, watched by every guard in the room. She unsheithed her sword and knowing that I had nowhere to run to, she cut the restraints on my feet and used the side of the weapon to force me to look at her. "Arlin kom Trikru, I have heard many things about you." Ok back up, how in the hell did she know my name? Not knowing how to react, I did one of the things that I do best. Be a fucking salty ass bitch. "Oh yeah, like what? That I'm hardly a bitch compared to you?" A few guards moved their hands to their weapons. But she slid her sword down my throat, pressing against my skin but not drawing blood. "Do not test me."

I took a shaky breath as the sword was retracted and placed it in its scabbard. She walked slowly in a circle around me, "Rumors of your abilities have spread throughout Trikru and made their way here, to Polis. They call you Bisheda, Commander of Beasts. Is what my people say true?" She questioned, returning to her throne and watching as I sat in awe of my new name. "Can you really control beasts?" I scanned the room for an escape, but there were none. "Answer or have it beaten out of you." The Commander growled. I had no choice but to answer, revealing one secret to keep another safe. "Depends on what you mean by control. Can I make them do what I want? Not always. Can I speak with them? Yes. Can I perswade them to do whatever the hell I want? (Catch that reference? If not, think beginning of season 1.) Most of the time." She nodded to a woman at her side who then left. "Prove it and your life will be spared." I gulped, no pressure. The woman led in a dog and tied it in front of me.

"What would you have me have it do, Heda?" I spat out the last word like a peice of spoiled fruit but she ignored my rudeness and pondered my question. "Have it do something distinctively human." The dog was sitting calmly as I looked into its eyes. "Stand." The creature dipped its head in acknowledgment of my request and turned to face the woman on the throne. The one who held my life in her hands. The leader hid her surprise when the canine rose to stand on its hind legs for an extended period of time. Bipedal like a human, just as she had asked, though it soon return to a sitting position. "Very well." She turned to the nearest guard. "Take her to the room and guard the door, I have no doubt that she will try to escape." She said in English, most likely thinking that I could not understand her. "That's it? Can't someone at least tell me what the hell I'm doing here?" I looked around for answers when my arms were taken by guards. The blindfold was placed back over my eyes and I started yelling as I was dragged away. "What the hell?! Let me go assholes! Get off me!"

...

After a kicking and screaming filled few minutes, the guards took me to a room and locked me in after unrestraining my hands. I ran and threw myself against the door multiple times, trying to break it down. But after a half-hour, my shoulder had begun to throb like the rest of my body, making me gave up. I fell on to the floor in tears and clutched my knees as I sobbed, what were they going to do to me? Were they going to experiment on me? Torture me? Or worse, would they kill me? I didn't want to know, not now at least. All I wanted to do at the moment was cry because I knew there was no way I was escaping unless I jumped from the top of the Polis tower. I whipped my eyes with the sleeve of my dirty, ripped shirt and looked up to examine the room that I had been put in. Even though it was my prison, it was nicer than any room that I had ever been in before, save for the throne room that I had been in only a few moments before.

The room itself was quite small, probably only used for housing unimportant people like myself or people who were not quite prisoners, seeing I had done no crime that I knew of. It was on a different floor than the throne room and had a few small windows but no balcony. Probably to keep those inside from jumping to their deaths which was smart, seeing as that was something I definitely wanted to do at the moment. There was a small bed in the back that had a few furs, blankets and pillows on it. Although I knew some would consider it plain, it was most definitely better than anything I'd ever had before. There was a mirror atop a water basin that stood next to a wardrobe, something that I honestly had no use for. I really only had two outfits with a few other articles of clothing. Stuff that only needed a drawer, not a whole wardrobe and the men had only taken me with the clothes on my back. Thinking of my capture reminded me of something, where was Artemis?

I didn't think that the soldiers would kill her, horses were too valuable. I could think of only three other things that they could have done with her. They could have sold her, kept her for themselves or given her to one of their superiors. At the moment I didn't care what they did to me, I just wanted peace of mind. To know that at my friend was and would be alright, not that I didn't want to know what they were going to do with me. I had always assumed that I had been forgotten about or had become no more than a story told to children. I mean, no one had known where I was besides Lincoln and I couldn't think of any reason as to why he would tell someone about me, hell I didn't even know whether or not he was alive. But neither he nor anyone else knew of my abilities, all those who had known probably had forgotten all about me or thought I was dead.

But I guess not, somehow the commander had found out about me. The fucking Commander! I knew my ability was abnormal but what did that have to do with commanding of the clans? Because it really only concerned animals, so that would make her what, Commander of the raccoons? Please, she had an army, not a zoo. So why she wanted me left me clueless, like why I had this ability in the first place. Maybe whatever god or creator was out there made me like this soley to let me suffer. Tired of mopeing around, I picked my sorry ass up off the floor and looked around a little more. I noticed a doorway that had been hidden from the position I had been in earlier and walked in. This room was smaller, it was lit by candles and contained a metal tub filled with water as well as some sanitary things sitting next to it. I dipped my finger in the water and was suprised to find it slightly warm. I guess this was one of the things that the Commander had meant by 'see that her needs are met.' I looked down at myself, I was pretty dirty, a product of my fall and my struggles on the ground. I did not trust anyone or anything here, but I didn't want to stay dirty.

I looked around, the guards should only be on the outside, but you never know when a perverted bastard will strike. Seeing that I was the only person in the room, I undressed and stepped into the water. I sat for a bit, just thinking, I couldn't remember the last time that I had taken a proper bath or shower. Of course I cleaned off daily in the river by my home or poured a bucket of water of myself but it sure wasn't a bath. Then my mind flashed back to an old memory.

...

A little girl squealed and covered her face playfully as her mother poured soapy water over her. "Arlin, stay still or you'll get soap in your eyes." "Yes, Mama!" The older woman ruffled her child's wet hair, "Good girl." The daughter looked up to her mother and smiled wide, showing off a grin complete with a few lost teeth.

...

I shook the memory from my mind and grabbed some soap from a shelf. A while later and I cleaned up to the best of my ability, and cleaned off my wounds. I stood up shivering and looked for my clothes, my eyes came to rest on some clothing. "Thats strange." I picked up the shirt, dripping water all over the place in the process. "Hold up, these are my clothes! They went through my shit!" I angrily got dressed, I hated the idea of people that I didn't know, and just people in general, going into my home and things, but at least I had clean clothes. Walking to the bed I dried my hair with a blanket and briskly brushed through it with my fingers before beginning the long, intricate and somewhat painful braiding process. When I had finished I looked out one of the small windows to see the setting sun. I did not want to sleep, seeing as I could be killed at any second, but why would they give me a bed if they did not expect me to sleep in it? Plus, I was absolutely exhausted and it was very comfortable. I did not plan on sleeping, not really, just resting my eyes. But as soon as I got under the warm furs and set my head on the pillow, I was fast asleep.