Shrouded in Dakran's loving arms, the sleep that had evaded Maya for days on end had finally graced her with the relief she was looking for. Dreams filled of him, the man she deeply loved and cared for; the pledge of a life lived well, filled with countless joyous moments filled with laughter among their loved ones. Drifting further, letting herself be carried away by the illusion her mind had conjured up. All of that faded, when his voice echoed in her head once again, haunting, and taunting her just like every other time she'd tried to get a shut-eye.
' You're mine' Haren's wickedly hollowed voice rang all around her followed by a peal of snickering laughter. His hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing the life out of her as he began taking form in front of her. Frightened, as she was that day when it all happened, trapped in the toils of crippling fear. Unlike that day, she kicked and thrashed at Haren desperately hoping to free herself from his strong hold, but no matter how hard she hit him with her fists and kicked him with her feet, it was a futile struggle. Haren was far too strong.
" Shhh. You're safe. It's just a bad dream." the warmest and gentlest voice reached her from somewhere, and everywhere. Maya stilled and closed her eyes. As the voice began again " It's just a dream, little red." She opened her eyes and watched as Haren faded before her, leaving behind nothing, but a small shadow, her shadow.
"Follow my voice, little red" Maya heard Dakran whisper in her ear the moment she opened her eyes.
" I did" She looked up at him with a weary smile as he raised his head to meet her gaze.
" There you are beautiful" Dakran leaned in to kiss her forehead " I was wondering how long I will have to wait before I can see those green eyes again," his soothing, serene tone was grounding her to reality as he pulled away and lowered his head on the pillow.
She took a deep breath " I heard you, in my dream" she wiped her forehead and noticed she was drenched in her sweat.
" What was it about? You were struggling in your sleep. Was it a bad dream?" Dakran asked as he pulled on a lock of hair stuck to her cheek, keenly watching and waiting for her to answer.
Her gaze went downcast " Him" she raised her eyes to meet his eyes, unsure if she should continue " and about what happened that night" she finished her thoughts, but that wasn't all. She wanted to know why Haren believed, he was right in his claim and delusional rampage. Haren's words made no sense. So much had happened since they left the citadel.
Dakran placed his finger under her chin " What happened that night, Maya?" Dakran asked with all the calmness he could gather together. Worn out, bearly managing to hide his umbrage to what Haren had done to her.
She rolled on her back, looking at the glowing stone ceiling under the faint light of the dying fire, and covered her face with her hands. A gesture meant to help her clear her disarrayed sanity. Crying over spilt milk was meaningless. The only way out was through it.
With a heavy heart and a knotted throat, she decided that he deserves to know " He came into the room. I think he was drunk" Maya began recounting in a voice quiet as a mouse " He walked and spoke as if he was, anyway. He said that I was his and you just happened to be there at the right time. He pinned me against the wall and said that he would fuck me senseless. He kissed me and" Maya paused, with her hands on her face while, Dakran listened quietly but he was far from being calm " Then he got his thing out, got in between my legs and squeezed my neck because I wouldn't let him shove his disgusting tongue in my mouth" Maya lowered her trembling hands " I was scared. It happened so quickly." her voice faded further " I don't even know how I was able to pull myself together to bite his tongue and stab him. " Maya closed her eyes, feeling a little better to have spoken about it. Dakran was his brother but also the man that she loved. He, of all people, deserved to know the truth.
" After, all I could think of was to run and hide until all of this was over. I knew about these quarters from Sala. So, I knew I would be safe here." Maya shared the reason why she hid in the quarters " I was afraid if I open the door, he will come after me again. Rom, Edýia and the others would try to fight him. I didn't want to put them in danger. So, I waited " Maya looked up at Dakran whose expression had clouded over and something dark simmered behind those brown eyes, simmering anger. She'd seen that look before, it wasn't easy to miss.
" For your return" Maya finished her thoughts and turned onto her side, waiting for him to say something. Dakran's jaw ticked, lips set in a thin line, stiff as a plank, unblinking, staring into space. Desperately trying to control his raging fury.
She placed her hand over his " Dakran" she curled up next to him " Say something, anything." his speechlessness was a little terrifying. He needed to snap out of it.
Dakran slackened, unclenching his fists and let out a shaky sigh " When we met Rom in Belendren village, he spoke of you. Haren likes reds, like you, a rare thing. But he put a lid on it when Rom told him that you were promised to another man. When he found us in Vellai he had a full-blown tirade about the fact that I'd stolen you from him. And I think from that day, everything he did was to dissuade me from being with you. He has gone as far as to point out that you weren't a maiden any longer and I shouldn't take you as my wife." Dakran cut the story short, folding his arms around her shoulders.
She fell silent, quite a revelation, but if he liked women with red hair then why not charm her rather than go as far as trying to force himself on her? Even though, she wouldn't have given him a second thought. Nonetheless, it made no sense. His animosity was pretty evident and he made no effort to hide it.
" Why go to such lengths then? If, he likes women with red hair, then why not court me?" she voiced out her thoughts pulling away from his arms, expecting an answer. He didn't have one. Haren had done many foolish, and unlawful things, but never had beaten a defenceless woman. Just for kicks. With all that in mind, the crude truth was right next to him, watching him with a curious eye.
" That's not how the nutter thinks, little red. He is pretty straightforward, he catches a glimpse of something he wants, and he goes and gets it. He doesn't like to work for it. But in truth, he has never gone this far when it came to women. Usually when it does not pan out the way he expects. He just moves on to the next one, who has no idea who she is dealing with." Dakran shared a glimpse into Haren's habitual life. This was out of sorts even for the crazed Haren.
" Then, I wonder what had happened?" Maya pensively asked, and now he knew that it was time to share some of his past mistakes.