cass + niichaad + candidates + hatching + weyrlings + adults
beach shards weyr + quinalt weyr
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Niichaad numbly went about his work, mind still trying to process what had happened that night. His shift had ended, but his mind was too restless for him to fall asleep. He was busily cleaning the main oven, still puzzling over what his time with Cass meant, when footsteps on the stairs made him flinch and bang his head on the top rack of the oven. He swore softly and rubbed at his head. "It's not nice to swear in front of a lady." Niichaad stiffened and nearly banged his head again as he recognized Princess Nalerah's voice. "What are you doing up so late, your grace?" Niichaad asked, conciously keeping his voice from wavering. "Oh, just a bit hungry, I didn't eat much at dinner," Nalerah said with a wave of her hand. "Prince Cass' absence spoiled my meal." "I'm sorry to hear that," Niichaad apologized. He wished he could have climbed inside the oven to get away from her. "You didn't seem very sorry when I walked in on you two," Nalerah chuckled, seating herself in a chair at the rickety table the servants ate at. "Could you make me some tea, please?" Sure, I'll just stand on my head while I'm at it, Niichaad answered in his mind. "Of course, your grace," he replied, every bit the good, docile servant. "Thank you," Nalerah replied. "So tell me, was that the first time you've been with a man?" Niichaad nearly dropped the pitcher. "Ex-Excuse me?" "Oh don't play innocent with me, servant," Nalerah's voice was suddenly hard and business-like. "You don't expect me to believe that you walked into his room to give him his meal and ended up..." she shuddered, "and this was the first time it's happened. How long has this been going on? Are you the reason he won't marry?" "This... isn't any of your business, your grace," Niichaad managed, unable to keep his voice from shaking this time. "No, not really," Nalerah admitted. "But I am going to make it my business. Besides, you don't really have a choice, now do you? If I tell anyone, you'll be beaten to death before you can so much as give Prince Cass a peck on the cheek." Niichaad gripped the handle of the pitcher. "You wouldn't ruin Prince Cass' reputation," he said as bravely as he could. Nalerah laughed. "You're smart for a servant. But I don't need to ruin his reputation, only yours," she purred. "What could you do to ruin my reputation without ruining his?" Niichaad asked with a laugh that bordered on something wild and hysterical. The spoon he mixed the tea with hit the edges of the pitcher as his fingers trembled. "Oh, there are many, many things," Nalerah told him. "It is so easy to ruin the reputation of a servant. It can happen," she snapped her fingers, "like that." Niichaad poured her a cup of tea and willed his hand to be still as he set it down. He poured one for himself and sank into the chair opposite from her. "What do you care about Prince Cass anyway?" he asked boldly. If he was going down, he wasn't going without a fight. "Servant, do you really need to ask?" she laughed softly. "Only the care every princess has for a handsome, unattached prince. Many women have tried to win over Prince Cass and failed. But I do not intend to fail." "Well, sometimes we don't always get what we intend to, do we Princess?" Niichaad asked, anger pushing aside fear now as he heard Cass' words come true. "What's that supposed to mean?" Nalerah snarled. Niichaad's turn to chuckle softly. "You know what it means. Who honestly cares about a lowly servant? Now, a princess, everyone cares about her reputation don't they?" Nalerah's knuckles turned white as she gripped the mug. "What could you possibly do to me?" she challenged, though there was fear behind the brave words. "Well how would this look, mmm princess?" he purred. "A princess sitting here, talking like equals with a mere kitchen servant?" "And how would this look?" Nalerah snarled, then lunged across the table and, pulling him onto the table and on top of her, kissed him soundly. "What the hell are you doing?" Niichaad whispered angrily after pulling away, suddenly terrified about how this would look should someone walk in at the moment. He tried to push himself up and off of Nalerah but she pulled him back down. "Well ruining your reputation, of course," Nalerah whispered back and then kissed him again. "This isn't ruining my reputation at all, if anything it's hurting yours!" Niichaad told her as soon as he could talk again. "Oh ho, is it?" Nalerah whispered. "Help! He's trying to rape me!" Nalerah screamed at the top of her lungs. "It's Ni-!" she didn't get any further, because Niichaad clamped his hand over her mouth. "Shut up before someone hears you!" Niichaad growled. Nalerah bit his hand. "Help! Someone! Anyone! He's going to rape me!" she screamed even louder. Niichaad's heart jumped as he thought he heard muffled footsteps in the distance. "I'm sorry, I'd really never hit a lady," he murmurred, and then slapped her as hard as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't hard enough. "I could have you killed just for that!" she threatened and pushed him off of her and onto the floor. "Help! Oh somebody please help me!" she wailed. Niichaad lay on the floor, too dazed to do anything but watch as Nalerah slashed her dress with a knife and let her hair down, messing it up to make it look as though there'd been a struggle. She gritted her teeth and drew a thin line of blood at her throat and then tossed the knife back on the counter. "You bitch," Niichaad managed. Nalerah kicked him in the side. "Shut up, servant." When the guards arrived, followed by servants wiping the sleep from their eyes, Nalerah lay a few feet from Niichaad, looking every bit like the victim of rape, and the knife a few feet away from her. One of them knelt next to Nalerah. "Princess Nalerah?" he asked. "What happened?" Nalerah groaned. Niichaad wished he could have spat on her. "Just...came down...for tea," she sobbed. "He... raped me!" While the first guard was gently helping Nalerah to her feet, a second grabbed Niichaad roughly by the wrist and hauled him to his feet. "Is this true, servant?" the guard snapped. Niichaad's groan was not faked. "Of course not!" he said through gritted teeth. "Liar!" Nalerah gasped and reached for him. The guard supporting her held her back, telling her not to worry, he would be dealt with. "I didn't rape her!" Niichaad insisted. "It's your word against hers, servant," the guard barked. "Until we can get this worked out, you can have your own cell downstairs." Niichaad paled. "But I didn't do anything, honestly!" "Sure you didn't," the guard scoffed, kneeing him in the back to pin him to the ground in order to bind his hands. "Prince Cass will sort this out in the morning." At the sound of Cass' name, Niichaad felt a glimmer of hope. Cass would get him out of this mess, he'd know what had really happened. "Yes, I'm sure he will," Niichaad said a bit too confidently. The guard chuckled. "I don't know why you think he'll help you any." Niichaad fanned his glimmer of hope into a bonfire as he was prodded down into the darkness of the dungeons. Even when the heavy door was closed, leaving him alone in the complete, suffocating darkness, the thought of Cass made him smile, curl his bruised body in on itself, and fall asleep. |
