I knew that I had made a huge mistake, I knew I was in a precarious situation, and still, my lack of judgement had gotten me into trouble. I didn’t fear for my life, I was sure that I would be able to get out of the situation, the problem was that I wasn’t sure if I was going to escape without damage, and I feared for what they could do to me. I knew what Faakir wanted from me, he had never denied his intentions, but I had promised myself that I would never be used for someone else pleasure, and I wasn’t sure how far I would go to avoid that situation, all I knew was that if he raped me, the damage would be greater than any damage I had received while fighting for him.
“I’m very disappointed in you,” Faakhir said, with fake sadness. “I can’t understand why would you betray me.”
“I didn’t betray you, I just wasn’t willing to participate in your orgies or sick fantasies,” I said, trying to make him focus on that, so he wouldn’t think of questioning what else I was hiding from him. “I have a very strong mind, I could have destroyed you, but I didn’t, I joined your forces and worked by your side, just because I don’t want to sleep with you, doesn’t mean we can’t work together.”
“I am the King, and there’s nothing you can deny me. You belong to me and I can do whatever I want with you.”
Faakhir made a signal and I felt something in my back, that’s all the warning I got before they tasered me again, as the electricity ran through my body I lost control of my limbs. Before I could recover, Faakhir’s guards got rid of my uniform, leaving me just in my underwear and they they tied me to the chair. Faakhir kept eating his breakfast as if nothing was going on in front of him.
“You made me believe you were sleeping with me, you lied to me, and I can’t help but wonder if what else have you lied to me about,” Faakhir said, his eyes going over my exposed body, another sign and one of his guards cut my bra off, leaving me even more exposed to him. His leer made me feel sick. “After this betrayal I can’t trust you anymore, I have no option but to go into your mind and see by myself all your secrets and make sure your loyalty is still in the right place.”
“Don’t do this, you will regret it. If you go into my mind it won’t matter if I have a suppressor, I will be able to fight you back, and you could get hurt. Stop now and let me go, we can just pretend this didn’t happen, I will still work for you and fight your enemies.”
“You have done a lot of good things for me, your work has been exemplary, but you already did your part, I don’t need your powers anymore, I need your body. You will be more useful in my bed than guarding my back.”
“You will regret this. I won’t let this go, I won’t forgive you. If you keep doing this I will fight back,” I threatened, but they only laughed at me, believing that they had covered all their bases and that I wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop them, when all I needed was time.
Faakhir threw his napkin on top of his plate, signaling the end of this breakfast, and with a sign, his men moved the table away and then pushed me closer to him. Faakhir smiled at me, just before they electrocuted me again. My heart was beating too hard, but it wasn’t just because of the torture, it was because I was afraid, the situation was affecting me and I was close to losing it. Faakhir had seen my memories and he knew my fears, using electricity and stripping me naked were his weapons to break me, reminding me of my days under Agmong’s rule. I had been able to remain calm, but if he kept going, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to stay calm.
“After I finish with you,” Faakhir said, his hand going to my neck and then down to my breast, he started kneading it, his eyes on it, “you will go back to being the same obedient and submissive girl that I saw in your memories. You will do everything I say, you will give me everything you have denied to me.”
“Never,” I challenged him, but I knew that at the moment he was winning, the feeling of his hand on my body calling memories I had no desire to remember.
“You don’t have a choice, this is going to happen, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
He moved his hands to my thighs and moved even closer, our faces just inches from each other. I considered butting his head, but before I got the chance, I felt hi entering my mind and he fell back, deep in trance.
I knew that the easier, faster way of defeating Faakhir was turning both minds’ focus inside, but I couldn’t do that and leave my body without protection. Einar and Jacob were dangerous and I knew that it wasn’t a good idea to leave them unchecked. Besides, I just needed one mind to keep Faakhir occupied as I prepared for my next step.
Faakhir’s mental representation appeared in the same place as his shadow used to be, since that was the part of my mind he had used for the last few years, I knew it was familiar territory for him. My own mental representation moved to the same place, close enough to see what he was doing, but not close enough for him to be able to fight me directly.
‘I was very surprised when I was able to see these memories,’ Faakhir said, ‘I had never imagined that you were one of your clan’s whores from the way you act, you made me believe that you were really a princess.’
‘I have always been and will be a warrior, one of the best. What you saw here is just a short period of time that I won’t repeat ever again.’
‘I liked who you used to be,’ he said, using his powers to open the doors around us, waking the memories inside. I tried to stop them, but all I could do was close the doors he was opening. ‘Open your eyes, remember your past, embrace who you are. Once a whore, always a whore, get used to the idea.’
‘That’s not me anymore!’ I yelled, fear almost taking over. I couldn’t go back to being Sklave, I couldn’t go back to that life, without control or freedom, I didn’t want to feel powerless and vulnerable to others. I couldn’t go back to being an object for their pleasure.
Faakhir used his powers to attack me, making the labyrinth shake and my mind hurt. Momentarily blinded by pain, I didn’t notice he was opening the doors again, faster than before. I tried not to pay attention to the memories and closed the doors as fast as I could, but by the time I was done, Faakhir was gone. It took me just a second to find him again, he had gone to the main part of my mind, looking for more information and my secrets, but before I could go after him, I needed to make sure there were no other surprises left by him. I had already decided that I was going to kill him, the moment he put his hands on me he had forfeited his life, bus still, I couldn’t allow him to find any incriminating information, I couldn’t risk him sending anything to his allies. Once I was sure everything was ok in that part of my mind, I went to where he was.
I needed to buy some time. If I had been able to activate the necklace that Kimball had given me, then I would have been able to recover my powers, but that wasn’t the only way to make it work. In the years since he had given me that, Kimball had added many new characteristics to it, at first it was only able to deactivate power’s suppressors, but then it became a power’s suppressor, something I could use when I had a psychic headache and needed to rest my mind. Then he modified it again so it could monitor my powers and detect if something was blocking them. I knew that it would take it no more than half an hour to activate, and once activated it would start working on the suppressor. Not all suppressors were the same, some were easier than others, but Kimball had assured me that it would deactivate any kind, it was configured in a way that if it wasn’t able to deactivate it in half an hour, it would produce an EMP and disable any electronic that was in contact with my body.
One hour, tops. That’s all I needed, and despite the actions of Faakhir’s guards, I knew they wouldn’t go too far, as long as Faakhir was inside my mind, so all I needed to do was keep him busy. So all I needed was an hour, and after that I would have my powers back and I would be able to escape and kill the bastards that had dared take my powers away, the beast that wanted to turn me back into Sklave.
Faakhir was my main concern, I needed to keep him in my mind, and at the same time stop him from finding something or hurting me. I found him trying to pull some crystals from the ground, but I wasn’t sure why he wanted to do that. A memory of my father doing the same came to me, and I wondered if Faakhir knew how to hide memories and reprogram a mind. I didn’t like that possibility, and I wasn’t going to allow him to do it. Faakhir’s actions also reminded me of something else my father had done, the one memory I had never been able to recover, that was hidden inside a chest, one I had used as a weapon ever since I found it.
I needed to trick Faakhir, and I knew it was going to be easy, he could feel my presence, and he had to know I was close, so I called the chest to my hands and moved closer to where he was in one of the labyrinth open areas. Once I was sure he had seen me and was aware of the chest on my arms, I started to run. Faakhir tried to tear the walls of the labyrinth down, but no matter how strong he was, there was no way he could change my mental landscape while I was conscious, so he had to follow me. I tried to keep away from the areas where most of the memories of my plans for the Dominion were, but at the same time, I needed to keep him close, and distracted long enough to set a trap for him. I knew that I needed some time so I could set a trap and as soon as I got some time and distance I went to a dead end in one of the labyrinth halls. The strongest element in my mind was the memory crystals, and I used some of them to set a cage, using some of my best memories, happy memories, where I was strong and in control, images of my children, memories of Kimball and everything he had done to help me and keep me safe, showing me how much he loved me despite our problems and misunderstandings. I saw Faakhir’s mental representation turning the corner and looking at me, but then he started to walk backwards.
‘Do you think I’m that stupid?’ He asked me, keeping his distance. ‘This is your mind, you would have never brought me to a dead end if you didn’t have something already planned, you know this place better than anyone.’
‘I have to recognize that you are smarter than you seem. You are right, I’m not here by accident, I have a plan, and despite your awareness, you fell into my trap,’ Faakhir took another step back, stepping into the cage I had set up, I used my mind to close it, trapping him inside. ‘Did you find anything interesting in my memories, if you want I have a few others you may like to see while we wait.’
‘What are we waiting for?’ He asked, but his attention was focused on finding a way out, looking for a weak spot he could use to escape.
‘We are waiting for the power’s suppressor to be deactivated, I’m waiting until I can get my powers back so I can kill you and your guards, then I will kill your wife and I will take over the Dominion.’ Faakhir started to fight me back, trying to get out of my mind, and I was surprised to see that he was taking my threats seriously.
‘My men won’t let you do that, you can’t escape, no one knows you’re here, no one is coming to your rescue, no one knows you need rescuing.’
‘You are wrong, someone is already helping me, I have all the help I need. I gave you a chance, you could have let me go and I wouldn’t be forced to kill you. That was a promise I intended to keep, not because I had promised you, I promised someone else I wouldn’t kill you, but you had to do this, you changed everything, and I have no other choice. Are you still interested in my memories? Why don’t you start with my memory of Agmong’s death, so you can see what happens to men who think they can use me.’ I moved the crystal with that memory to a place where Faakhir could see it. At first he tried to ignore it, but his curiosity made him see. ‘That’s the first time I did something like that, that I impaled someone and left him to die, but then I modified that technique and used again, until it was known as a Tree of Pain, the worst punishment I could think of for my enemies, the worst fate I could think of. Congratulations Faakhir, you are one of the few chosen ones that will die in one of my trees, experiencing one of my most feared techniques, you will have a slow and painful death.’
‘I am not afraid of you, my guards won’t allow you to hurt me. Your rebellion won’t end well. I’m the one in control, and you will do what I tell you to do. Before this day is over you will be mine in all sense of the word, and when I get tired of you, I will let my men use you until they are tired of you.’
‘And that’s why you have to die.’ Everything was under control inside my mind, but outside the situation was getting complicated and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could resist. Before I had the chance to panic I heard a metallic sound and felt my powers coming back. I started to act immediately, inside and outside of my mind. ‘Would you like to see what I have in this chest?’ I asked him, trying to sound innocent, but Faakhir knew it was a trap, he wasn’t stupid.
‘No matter what your plan is, it won’t work. You are done.’
‘You are not the first person to try to destroy me or control me. Once they were able to hurt me, but not anymore. There is a reason I am this strong, I became this powerful so I could end people like you. Goodby Faakhir.’
I opened the chest, letting the light and the energy consume my mind. As always the chest’s power consumed everything around me, consuming Faakhir and destroying his mental representation. Faakhir’s cry reached me from outside my mind, and I knew that the agonizing pain would keep him occupied long enough for me to finish him, after all, my body was full of energy and I was back in control, I felt like I could defeat anyone who dared cross me. The fear that had been pushing me was gone, all feeling of powerlessness was behind me, and once again I felt confident that everything was going to go according to plan.
Kaiserin Novel 