Lily squirmed on the cold concrete floor. She couldn't move. She hadn't seen any of the hooded men enter the room before they'd attacked her. How had they gotten here so quickly? Had Timur sent them? Was this all part of the plan from the beginning?

She tried to summon up the strength to stand up and fight back. But her limbs remained numb as she lay on the floor. She looked around and immediately recognized where she was. Somehow she was back inside the main chamber of the Temple in Atlantis. Her back was leaning up against the altar that she had been laying on several days before.

The memory of their conversation came rushing back to her.

"Why did you do it?" she heard herself saying, "Why did you betray me?"

Timur's reply was low, almost inaudible.

"Because you were a threat to my plans. You knew too much, and I needed to eliminate that possibility. If you had escaped, you could've gone straight to the authorities and exposed me. And then I would've lost everything."

She didn't hear the rest of what he said, because a sharp pain erupted behind her eyes. She felt her consciousness begin to slip away once more, but this time there was something different about the feeling. It wasn't a sense of loss and despair. Instead, she had a feeling of dread.

She opened her eyes to find that she was alone. No one was holding her down on the cold, hard floor anymore. She started to sit up, but realized that her wrists were bound tightly together.

"Tiamat?" she whispered.

There was no response.

"Tiamat? Are you here?"

There wasn’t so much as even a snort to signify the dragon’s presence.

What have they done to her?!

Lily was seething in rage, but she forced herself to remain calm. She couldn’t afford to react impulsively. If they wanted to capture her alive, that was fine. But if they were trying to kill her, she needed to be prepared.

As she stood up, her legs wobbled beneath her. The tranquilizer must've really been strong. suddenly Timur entered the large chamber.

"Welcome back," he said, "I’m so glad you decided to join us again. You nearly missed the wedding.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“What wedding?”

“Why, ours of course.” He sneered, “Or did you forget when I told you that I would make you my Queen? I wasn’t speaking metaphorically.”

Lily cringed, “There’s no way I’d ever marry you!”

“Oh really?” Timur bore his eyes into hers, “Something tells me you’re about to change your mind.”

Lily’s mind went numb as Timur’s powers of persuasion took over. She felt as though her entire consciousness suddenly became trapped inside a cage and thrown to the back of her mind. She could no longer control her thoughts or her movements. All she could do was watch as Timur walked toward her and placed his hand on her cheek. He looked down at her with a smile and said, "You're mine now."

Try as she might, she couldn’t resist.

"Yes, Master.”

He smiled at her, and then kissed her tenderly on the lips. She wanted nothing more than to vomit, but his influence wastoo powerful. It seemed like some sort of dark magic.

Timur pulled away from her, and Lily felt her body sag weakly onto the ground.

"It's time for you to get cleaned up and dressed to tonight’s main event!" he said.

His men led her into a wide hallway lined with rows of doors. They ushered her into a small room where several women were waiting near a wash basin, and an elegant wedding dress hung against the far wall.

They undressed her and led her into the tub. After cleaning off the dried blood and dirt, the women helped her put on the wedding gown. When they finished, they brought her to a mirror.

One of the women stepped forward and brought out a veil. She held it up to Lily’s face, and then tied it around her head.

“Look how beautiful you look.” The woman said, as she draped Lily's arms with a silver choker. Then she added a pair of earrings studded with rubies. Finally, a tiara was placed upon her head.

She had no choice but to obey their orders. Timur’s grasp on her mind was too powerful, no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

Timur pushed the curtain aside, and let himself in. He took in a long, slow breath and spoke softly to her.

"My, my. You clean up rather nicely, don’t you?” He stared lustfully at her, “Now, I want you to give your groom a good luck kiss."

Lily felt her heart sink. She tried to object, but her lips didn't respond to her command. She dropped her gaze.

"Come now," Timur chuckled, "don't be shy. Kiss me like you mean it.”

Lily tried to say no, but she couldn't bring herself to disobey. He forced her to lean in and kiss him passionately. His power over her overwhelmed her senses. He wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her tight.

"Good girl,” he purred, "you look so lovely."

Lily felt her heart breaking. She had never felt so used in her life. She was being forced against her will to pretend to be his bride.

It seemed that she had been right about Timur all along. He was just using her for his own purposes. But for what exactly? Why did he chose her of all women to be his queen? She barely knew him.

With each passing moment, she felt herself becoming angrier. She couldn't believe that she was being put through so much humiliation. The one thing that she had always taken pride in was her independence. Yet here she was, being made to act like some helpless victim.

Timur stepped back and gazed upon her with a satisfied smirk.

"Now, get yourself dolled up. We have a big night ahead of us.”

Her head was spinning. Everything that had happened since she first met Timur had been a horrible nightmare, and yet here she would soon be walking down the aisle with him against her will.

----------------------------------------

© Copyright 2022 R.M. Mulder. All rights reserved.