Authors: Heather Manning
"What were you doing inside the captain's cabin, you blasted little trollop? Are you his new mistress? Is this how you are paying for your voyage? I know your father told me none of his money was missing when you left so you had to have paid for your voyage in some other way."
Clive sneered at her, and she wished she could slap him in the face. But the last time she had done that, it had only triggered a rather harsh beating from the monster. How could she stop him from saying such horrible things about her character? She had done nothing to deserve these atrocious, degrading words.
"Why you… how dare you?" Her voice cracked, it was so terribly dry.
She could not scream. Her throat failed her. This was a nightmare, and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening. She was forced to go through this horrible experience yet again.
Lord Rutger seized her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder like he would a sack of potatoes — a battered sack of potatoes.
Eden kicked and clawed, trying frantically to obtain her freedom. Her nails dug into his skin, drawing blood, but he did not budge. Even though she used all of her energy, she was no match for a man's strength. She had learned that fact months ago when this exact same man had overpowered and abused her. The only hope she had of survival was to outsmart Lord Rutger, but she saw no opportunity, and right now her mind felt so weak… so weak with terror.
Even if she had it in her to scream, she could not. If she did, Reed would wake up and try to save her, and she knew Lord Rutger would hurt him without a second thought. She could not let that happen. Reed’s life was much more important than hers, so she watched helplessly as she was dragged to the top deck of Caspian's ship.
Clive positioned her differently in his arms and a ship moving directly next to Caspian's was brought into her line of vision. The deck bowed underneath them, causing Clive to stagger. Rutger caught his balance and threw her to the deck of the other ship. She realized she was too far away from the cabin to wake Reed, but she could still cry for help and maybe one of Caspian’s sailors would come to her aid.
Her weak scream was strangled.
She hit the floor with a thud. Pain knifed through her shoulder, and the breath was knocked out of her lungs.
Clive jumped beside her. Eden struggled to rise. The second she filled her lungs with air, she screamed with all of her might. It was a pathetic little noise, but at least it was something. She could only pray Caspian had heard her.
She knew he had not.
Rutger slapped a hand over her mouth and dragged her away to what she assumed was his cabin. She tried to grab at the bulkheads along the way, but her hands kept slipping.
He opened a door and threw her onto a bed.
She screamed.
He gave her a violent backhand that sent her sprawling from the bed onto the floor. She cowered as the ship lurched. They were speeding away. Away from hope. Away from life. Away from Caspian.
****
Gage was not sure why, but he had trouble falling asleep that night. He rose from his hammock and patrolled the companionways of the ship.
His stomach was queasy. Was that a cry he heard echoing around the ship? He rushed above decks only to notice the reflective white sails of a ship was speeding off into the night. The scream had probably come from the other vessel. Maybe an amputation was occurring over there. It was odd that another ship was sailing so near to them, but under the cover of night, he supposed it was easy to accidentally drift next to another ship.
Gage headed back below decks. There was no sign of a struggle there. The noises were most likely just his imagination.
However, on his way back to the crew’s quarters, the heart-wrenching sounds of sobbing emanated from the captain's cabin. He paused at the door. Was it Lady Trenton? Had Caspian somehow upset the poor girl? Should he interfere? Maybe not.
Gage knocked on the door anyway. Caspian might be angry with him for interfering, but if the man was treating Lady Trenton poorly for some odd reason, it would be best for Gage to put a stop to it, whatever it may be.
"Lady Trenton? I trust all is well, milady?" He called, resting his forehead on the rough wood of the door.
The sobbing continued.
Gage opened the door a crack. When no one objected, he moved it an inch further.
Reed was face down on the bed, weeping into a pillow.
Gage shoved the door aside and sat down beside the distraught child. The boy spun around to face him. His blond curls were soaked with tears. His blue eyes sparkled, and his little cheeks were stained red.
"Whatever is wrong, little man?" Gage brushed the hair away from the boy's eyes. Reed threw his skinny little arms around Gage's neck.
"I… I had a bad dream, Mister Gage," he murmured shyly.
"What happened in it?" Gage urged gently. He loved children and was glad to interact with one whenever he could. If only he could find a suitable, respectable woman to marry, he would have a little family by now. But, unfortunately, that was not the case, at least not yet.
"In my dream, Miss Eden was… she was taken away by someone bad. A very bad man. He was hurting her, and when I woke up, she was gone. Papa isn’t here, either. No one was here."
Gage awkwardly hugged the boy. "It’s all right, Reed. Lady Trenton is safe: I am sure of it. She is off somewhere with your papa, I think. I have not seen either of them in a while, but I am certain both of them are safe."
The boy studied him for a moment, and then let out a sigh. "Mr. Gage?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think Papa and Miss Eden like each other, Mr. Gage?"
Gage squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "Yes, I believe so, Reed. I pray both of them will only realize that.” He patted Reed on the back. “Now go back to sleep. I will stay here by you until you do. The captain and Lady Trenton will be back here soon, I am sure. You just relax."
****
Lord Rutger sauntered toward her.
Eden backed away, screeching, "Get away from me. Please, let me go!" She did not know why she begged him so. No amount of pleading with the man ever seemed to work. He actually seemed to derive pleasure from hearing her terrified pleas.
He loosened his cravat and removed his coat. “Well, my intended, are you excited for tomorrow? I know how utterly anxious you have been to become my bride.” He sneered down his thin nose at her.
Eden shivered. She could not become this horrible man’s wife.
She had vowed never to marry a man, but she… she discovered she would marry Caspian the second he asked her if only he cared enough to ask her. But of course he did not. He probably roved from one woman to another with how often he left on all of his voyages. Why, he probably did not want to commit to a woman any more after what had happened with his poor wife.
“I believe I have made it clearer than crystal that I will never consent to marry you as long as I live.” Eden sent a cold glare his way.
"And why would you care if you marry me or not? You have no right to object. In all reality, you should be glad I will have you, soiled goods that I know you are.”
Tears stung her eyes at his dig to her character, but she chose fury in place of self-pity. "How dare you speak like that? Nothing about me is soiled, and you know that for a fact, sir!"
"Says the captain's whore." He sat down on the edge of the bed.
Eden felt herself blush; knowing she had kissed Caspian and let him hold her… and told him she loved him. She still found that last part rather shocking to believe.
Yet she had done nothing wrong! There was absolutely nothing immoral with innocently kissing a man as she had done. Besides, there was no way Lord Rutger had of knowing what had happened between her and Caspian. He was assuming far too much.
Eden raised her hand to slap him, but he rose and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her violently. She bit back a cry of pain at the sharp shock that riveted through her.
"Now, listen to me, my
intended.
We shall marry tomorrow, and you will obey me and be mine for the rest of your life." He sank his iron-like hands onto her waist so tightly it felt like he was crushing her insides and her bones. “Ah, you are not used to obeying a man, are you, my little flower?”
"I would not marry you even if you were the very last man on this wretched earth!" she spat at him, seething with anger.
Eden tried to wrench her arm free from his grasp, but he struck her yet again. She sucked in a deep breath to keep the tears from spilling out of her eyes. Long ago she had learned that her tears only gave the man’s twisted mind pleasure, although maybe if she just gave into the tears, the beating would finally come to an end.
“You have no right to choose whom you marry, and you have no right to speak to me like that,
my little flower!
You will marry me or your little captain from that ship will die. That little boy who was sleeping in your cabin, also. I will make sure the boy’s death is especially slow and long.” He chortled. “You know that you and your father need my money. You know no other wealthy lord will propose to you when they hear what you have been doing, whoring yourself to this… this…
pirate.
" His nasally voice shook in anger.
Eden found herself backing away.
That tone of voice meant she would be struck yet again. She wanted to go cower in a corner, let him hit her again and again just so it would be over finally. But no. There was no way she would back down and be some weak little thing he could bully anymore. All that had ever led to was her running away from life… from everything, and she would not have it anymore. Eden had done enough running, whether it be from an argument with a friend or a life and death situation with Lord Clive Rutger. No. She would cower in the shadows no longer.
"I will die first, and there is no way you could ever overpower Caspian, I can promise you that!"
"Ah, the blasted man’s name is Caspian, then. How
sweet
of you to use his Christian name. And you just proved to me you do hold some affection for him! Well, I assure you I will make him regret ever taking you aboard his ship if you refuse to marry me. You just mark my words, little flower!” He roared, shaking her by the shoulders until she felt dizzy.
“I—I…” Eden found it impossible to say anything more. How could she have given Caspian away? Why, she had virtually just forced herself into marrying this… this fiend by revealing that she cared even a little about Caspian. She knew if she refused Rutger’s proposal he would stop at nothing to track down Caspian and Reed and kill them… after he beat her to near death, most likely. There was nothing to do to avoid this fate anymore. Nothing.
“Yes. That is much better, woman. I think I rather like hearing nothing from you.” He leaned closer to her, a cruel smirk on his face. His emerald green eyes sparkled. “Now while you are being silent, how about you use your pretty mouth to give a nice little kiss to your dear husband,
my flower
?”
Eden recoiled in disgust. The foul man had forced her to kiss him many times before and each time she hated it even more than the last. She certainly did not want to relive the experience.
Eden decided she would never let her lips be tainted by another man’s touch, and she would definitely not be spoiled by Lord Rutger. She wanted to save everything she had for Caspian and Caspian alone, if he would have her.
Rutger leaned his head down toward hers, his mouth slanting downward. His hands grasped her waist, and his thumbs roved around her body, taking far too many liberties. She had to stop this. Immediately.
Sucking up all of the saliva she could find in her mouth, she spat at the monster as hard as she could. The thick liquid hit him square in the face, dripping down into his eyes.
Clive sputtered for a moment, a look of pure disgust and anger on his face, before he raised his arm and struck her across the mouth, hard. He spun on his heel and stormed out of the cabin, practically growling in anger.
Although Eden felt the sting and the sharp, bitter taste of blood where her teeth had cut her lip from his strike, she could not stop herself from giggling. He had seemed horrified that she had even thought of spitting on him.
And the man most certainly had deserved it.
Chapter Seventeen
Lord Clive Rutger stood at the bow of his ship, fuming. That fool of a woman was not to be tolerated. How dare she be so disrespectful of him? No woman spat upon him and got away with it. No woman ran away from him and got away with it. The last time someone had acted like that, it had been his father. Clive deeply regretted he had been too small then to make the man pay for his thoughtless actions.
He sometimes wished Lady Trenton did not force him to beat her, but if he did not do it, she would be more than out of control.
The reckless woman’s father should have disciplined her more when she was a child. Really, she had to learn she needed to obey the men in her life because they were only put there to help her. If only she had just done her father’s bidding, Clive himself would not have been forced to hurt her. She just needed to learn how to obey, and they would have a long, happy marriage.
If it worked out differently than his parent’s marriage.
But it would, because he would force Eden to obey him.
Since Clive could remember, his father had beaten both him and his mother. He told him it was just to teach them a lesson and that once they learned it, the beatings would stop. But they did not. Whatever lesson it was, they seemed to fail in learning it. The beatings had just gotten worse as he got older and his father picked up a drinking habit.
One night, when Clive was eight years old, his father had come home, reeking of whiskey. Clive had mistakenly not done his chores that day, and his sire was not happy with that fact. He thrashed young Clive until he was sobbing and bleeding, and his mother woke. His mother came into the room and begged her husband to stop… but instead, he had turned to the woman, and in a fit of rage for defying him pulled out a knife and stabbed her to death. Right in front of Clive’s young eyes, he murdered the child’s mother and taught him how to be a man.