| Chapter 4 Gamer and Lanom ran off towards Mari's home. It was late at night and the kingdom was silent. They did not know what to do with Mari when they confronted her; they knew not what Rathkanar wanted. The two guards arrived at Mari's home and knocked on the door. Corsine let them in and they woke Mari while she lay in bed in her nightgown. "What do both of you want?" Mari asked, stepping out of bed in her thin, white sleeping dress. "His majesty requests your presence in the stronghold," Gamer said. "We can only tell you that much. Mari was happy to go with them. She simply went as she was, still dressed in her nightgown. Gamer and Lanom led Mari to the stronghold and to Rathkanar's quarters. Mari kissed him and greeted him appropriately. "Good evening, my love," Rathkanar muttered, concerned. "I'm glad you have come here tonight, for I must perform an act so unbelievable that I may one day pay with my life." "What is that, Rathkanar?" Mari asked, intently. "I have had bad dreams," Rathkanar said, "about the downfall of our kingdom. They will kill us all...." "What are you saying?" Mari complained. Rathkanar began to moan. He held onto his head. "They're coming back!" he shouted, falling to his knees. "Rathkanar!" Mari cried, trying to comfort him. Rathkanar looked back up at his guards. "Gamer! Lanom!" he cried. "They will wait no longer! Restrain my love!" At that moment, Mari found herself seized by the arms and legs by Rathkanar's guards. Mari tried to struggle free of their grip. "Quickly!" Rathkanar cried. "There is no time! Tie her to my table!" Lanom almost didn't follow his orders. In a fit he deployed a short rope from his waist and bound Mari's wrists behind her back tightly, knotting the rope several times; while his companion Gamer held her legs together. While the young girl struggled, the guards brought her to the table and spread her out on her back, her legs toward the corners of the table. Finding any sort of restraint they could, they bound Mari to the tabletop; they tied her ankles apart from each other to two legs of the table and her shoulders seperately to the others. Mari's body jerked and writhed on the wooden table; she could not seem to move and felt scared out of her wits. Her hands and feet had been tied so tightly that the situation seemed hopeless. Mari, in desperation, turned to Rathkanar. "What are you doing to me??" she cried. "Unbind me, please!!" Rathkanar lifted from a drawer a small dagger that had never been used. Mari saw his blade and gasped in horror; she continued to jerk and pull at her bonds to try to escape. The king turned to Mari. He was crying. "Mari, my love," he whispered, "you are so beautiful and wonderful to me; you are the love of my life. But now I must bid you farewell...." "Please don't hurt me," Mari begged. "I know you love me...." "I do," the king said, "but if you are not sacrificed all of us will die. My dream is true; there are spirits in this world that want to murder us. They want my most treasured cat warrior, and she is you." "But cat warriors don't believe in spirits!" "They do. We never accepted it. But now, since I know there are, we must, or we will all surely perish. Do it for me, the one who was your best friend in childhood, who loved you all your life. Most of all, do it for your people. Can you, Mari?" "You are mad, Rathkanar. You are mad." "Please, Mari. I must. I am sad to have to do what I am about to." Rathkanar then turned to his guards, prompting them to leave the room and never come back for the rest of the evening. He then found a few cloths; he folded one of them and placed it inside Mari's mouth to gag her, then wrapped the second through her mouth and tied it behind her head. She could not speak, only moan and emit muffled cries. Rathkanar raised his dagger over his head. "Goodbye, Mari," he weeped. "I didn't mean for it to be like this." The king placed his hand over Mari's eyes so she would not have to endure the horror that would befall her. Rathkanar took a deep breath and swung; the dagger pierced through Mari's heart, and from her gagged mouth came a hidious muffled scream. Blood rushed from her torso, all over her nightgown, onto the table. She breathed a few more times, slower and slower, until, finally, she died silently. Rathkanar was not sure of her death; he then rested the dagger on Mari's neck and swiped it towards him, slitting her throat. Rathkanar collapsed on Mari's body. "I'm sorry," he bawled. "I'm sorry, Mari. Forgive me." The young king spent a few moments trying to set his eyes upon the body of the one he loved most. Mari's eyes had closed, and her body was bruised and scraped from bondage and bleeding from the neck and chest. Rathkanar wiped his dagger off on Mari's rumpled nightgown, then used it to cut her free from the table; first her ankles, then her shoulders. Next he removed the clods of cloth from between her teeth and tossed them aside. He then turned Mari onto her side and cut the ropes that tied her hands, freeing her body completely. Now what should I do? Rathkanar wondered. She was the one who loved me and I adored her more than any cat woman. He arrived at the decision to bury her in the most beautiful area of trees in the forest. He did not build a coffin for her; instead, he dug a grave for her all night and laid her body in it, then unceremoniously filled up the hole. He returned home that evening sad and disgraced. Chapter 4, part 2 |