Lily woke up dizzy, and realized she was laying on her side. The room came into focus, and she became vaguely aware that her arms were twisted behind her back, bound together at the wrists. She attempted to roll over, but felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation in her left arm.

An orange glow from the setting sun was streaming into the enormous room, and Lily was appalled by the elegant beauty of the ornate details. Even the rugs had delicate carvings shaved into them, and the marble floor looked very expensive. The chandeliers that hung from the ceiling were breathtaking, as were the unique woodcarvings in the pillars and the awnings.

”Mfft!” she tried to call for help, but the sound came out muffled.

She became aware of the distinct smell of duct tape, and could taste it in her mouth. Even more alarming was the faint tang of dried blood on her lips.

Her mind reeled. The last thing she could remember was driving to Allan’s house with the intent to leave her note on his desk. She was surprised to find Timur inside without any signs of a forced entry.

Though the agency had assigned her to get close to Timur and Allan three years ago due to the NSA’s inability to maintain active GFID Nano-chips to monitor them, she was certain Timur had never uncovered this secret.

But why else would he be ransacking Allan’s home?

She remembered the resounding crack as her head collided with the hardwood floor. After that was all a blur. She woke up in a cold damp room trapped inside a cage of barbed wire. She screamed for help for several hours, but nobody came to her rescue. She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she was roughly dragged to her feet in the middle of the night. She screamed in terror as several cloaked figures dragged her down a damp corridor just before she was knocked unconscious again.

How long was I unconscious? If it’s evening now… that must mean I’ve been knocked out for over eighteen hours?!

She heard footsteps enter the room, and heard hushed voices. Fearing for her life, she held as still as possible and squinted her eyes. In the distance she could make out two men approaching. One of them wore a black cloak, just like the men who had dragged her out of the barbed-wire cage. The other was clad in a fine robe with a medieval-looking tunic underneath. As they neared her position, she could make out what they were saying.

“Verily, thou doth misunderstand,” the older man in the fine robe said in frustration. “What say ye, perchance the villagers learn his Holiness has brought hither a woman from Earth? Methinks they shall be wroth!”

A woman from Earth? What are these strange men talking about?

“His Holiness has given his final word,” the cloaked figure’s voice escaped from somewhere beneath the dark hood. “And as you are well aware, betrayal of his command is punishable by immediate death.”

“Lest ye return this woman thither, we shall be doomed unto death!” the older man said. “Anon we shall be infected!”

“Your paranoia is unfounded.”

“Unfounded, pray tell?!” he seethed. “Mayhaps thy Creed had not desecrated our Holy Lands with thine disease and filth?! Our world ‘twas pure!”

Their world? Holy Lands? Is this some kind of sick joke?

“Watch your words, old man,” he warned. “They may be your last.”

“Old man, say ye?” The older man shook his head in astonishment. “Before thine Creed hath come hither to our world with thine diseases, our life expectancy hath remained prolonged like unto thine biblical ancestors.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Oh? How long, exactly?”

“Thirty score, ‘twas common.” the older man explained.

“I don’t understand.”

“In thine dialect,” he clarified, “six-hundred years.”

“That’s impossible,” the cloak figure scoffed.

Where am I? Is this some crazed medieval theme park?

“Verily, I assure thee of this possibility. Hence, now our life expectancy doth dwindle.” He sighed. “Ten score ‘tis now common.”

“Again, I don’t know what ‘score’ means.”

“Two hundred years ‘tis now most common.”

“Whatever.”

An idea struck the old man. “Pray tell, perchance we exile the woman hither to the northern lands?”

“I’m afraid the winters there are so unbearable that nobody can survive the cold.”

The older man chuckled. “Verily, ‘tis so.”

“If you’re not careful,” the cloaked individual warned. “I’ll make sure you’re the one who gets exiled there instead.”

The older man huffed before storming off. She held her body rigid and closed her eyes all the way as the cloaked individual came closer. She could sense his proximity, and it made her uneasy. She heard a slight splash, and cringed at the sensation of water running down her face.

“Miss Thatcher,” the cloaked individual spoke, “are you awake?”

She let out a soft moan to convince him she was just barely waking up.

“This may sting a little,” he warned as he applied the damp cloth to the side of her head.

The searing pain was excruciating, and her eyes flew wide open. She tried to scream, but it was once again muffled by the duct tape. She was then aware of another cloaked individual standing in the near distance.

“Brother!” the one attending to her wounds yelled. “Please tell His Holiness that our prisoner is awake.”

The other figure hurried away at the command.

Lily stopped squirming and forced herself to endure the pain. As he continued to clean the wound, she maneuvered her bound hands so her fingers could feel along her vertebrae. Once she found the familiar bulge of her surgically-installed locator beacon, she pressed down on it hard.

The echo of footsteps came from behind her.

“Comfortable, sweetheart?”

She tried to yell at the familiar voice but only succeeded in gagging.

Timur mercifully removed the tape from her mouth. “I know this isn’t ideal, but I need your ‘kidnapping’ to be convincing.”

My what?!

“How are you feeling?”

She ignored him.

“Oh, come on now.” He smiled as he ran his fingers through her brilliant red hair. “Don’t give me the cold shoulder.”

She turned her head in his direction, and forcefully spat in his face.

He jolted backward, wiping his face on his sleeve. “That was so uncalled for!”

Lily glared at him. “I hate you.”

“Don’t worry,” he said with a sigh. “You will like me soon enough. In fact, I dare say you will even come to love me.”

“Never!” she seethed.

Timur shook his head. “You leave me little choice.”

Lily felt her concentration wane. Her thoughts were muddled as if she was about to lose consciousness. She fidgeted against the straps holding her arms down as her mind sank deeper and deeper into her subconsciousness. She tried to scream out in terror, but no sound escaped her lips.

“There, now.” Timur purred. “That’s better.”

She watched from the back of her mind in horror as he caressed her hair again.

“My darling Lily, how could you say such mean words to me?”

“I’m sorry, my lord.” she heard her voice speak.

“Now,” he paused, lifting her chin up so their eyes met. “What did you really mean to say?”

“I love you, my lord.”

He smiled. “That’s much better. Now kiss me.”

He leaned down, and she felt her lips pucker in anticipation. As their lips met, she screamed in impotent rage in the back of her mind. No matter how hard she struggled to protest, she couldn’t make it stop. She felt her tongue dancing with his, and desired nothing more than to vomit. After what seemed like forever, he finally extracted his tongue and they parted.

“I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense right now,” he said as his pupils began to glow a faint green color. “but I need something from Allan. I need you to be on your best behavior, all right?”

She found herself nodding, as if her movements were controlled. His eyes bore down upon hers, muddying her concentration even further. The words that suddenly came out of her mouth shocked her to the core.

“Yes, Master.”

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