Blood Debt

At this point I would relish any visitor that was not my captor. I stood up gingerly from my bed, carefully put a sweatshirt on over my nightshirt and grabbed a pair of jeans. My guard didn’t flinch. I turned the doorknob cautiously to be sure it wasn’t some sort of a trick.

  I recognized him from the pizza place the day Bianca hatched her “brilliant” plan. It was the man who would become my warden in a month. His voice was confident and his expression told me he was pleased to see me, “I thought I’d stop by to acquaint myself with my fiancé.” He looked handsome. He wore a black t-shirt, a size too small for his biceps, his jeans were well worn but clean, his goatee and mustache were nicely trimmed, and he gave me a willing smile.

  “Hi, Gage.” I found the strength to mumble, “Nice to see you again.”

  “I thought we could get to know each other. Maybe go for a drive or something.” He gave a startled look at the guard who had spent the night standing at attention. I could tell Gage didn’t know what to make of him, so he added, “We could take your escort along.” He had recovered quickly from his surprise, as if every single Centauride just happened to have a guard posted on her 24 hours per day.

  I shook my head, “I’m not permitted to leave the estate.”

  “Even with an escort?”

  I shook my head a little more vigorously. When I did, the necklace rubbed one of the sores on my neck, and I winced. Gage saw me wince, but I’m sure he didn’t know why. “How about a walk in the garden?” he offered.

  I looked at the guard to see if he would object. He continued focusing his attention onto the opposite wall. “Okay.”

  Gage seemed nice. He complimented the gardens that I also once thought were beautiful, the statues of the Greek gods that lined each section. The guards hadn’t changed over like they normally would have. I began to wonder if something had happened to Phineas. He should have been here by now. Could Zandra have found out that he shared information with me? He said she would go after his family. If she was somehow listening to us yesterday, what would she have heard?

  “Camille, did you hear me?” Gage was staring at me.

  “I’m sorry, my mind was wandering. What’d you say?”

  “I asked if you had chosen the gardens for our ceremony?”

  “Uh, Zandra hasn’t told me where.”

  It was obvious that Gage was trying to be charming, “If I get a vote, I’d like it to be next to the statue of Zeus.”

  My spirit was nearly broken, “I’ll ask her if she minds.”

  “Camille, is there something wrong?”

  I couldn’t answer him. His question was wrong, on so many levels. When he realized I had no intention of answering him, he said, “Camille, you’re supposed to be excited. We’ll be united in a few short weeks. You don’t seem the least bit interested.”

  I had cried my eyes out last night until nothing was left. I knew there was no escape, and I would be forced into exactly the life my mom never wanted and had carefully sheltered me from, hiding me away for twenty-two years. All her sacrifices for me had been made in vain. Gage grasped both my hands in his, “Do you not want to marry me?” There was a hopefulness in his voice, and I was too emotionally drained to try to figure out if it was hopefulness that I did or did not want to marry him. It didn’t matter what I wanted. It wasn’t my choice. I had no options.

  “I . . . just had a rough night last night. I’m sorry if . . . I don’t seem into it.”

  My lack of enthusiasm didn’t diminish his, “I think Dad and Zandra are enthused enough for both of us. The invitations will be going out tomorrow.” My only response was a solitary tear dripping down my cheek. I tried to wipe it away quickly before he could see, but Gage was far too perceptive.

  “Talk to me, Camille. There is something bothering you.” If I hadn’t been subjected to the last two months, the kindness in Gage’s voice wouldn’t have had such an effect on me. But the absence of any human contact, other than Zandra, combined with the emptiness of emotions and the horrible night last night left me broken. It left me needing comfort. I leaned fully into Gage, sobbing silently against his chest as he gently wrapped his arms around me. He told me it’d be okay, and I got the impression he had no idea why he was comforting me, but he held me anyway.

  When my emotional meltdown had subsided, I looked up at him with blurry eyes and tear-stained cheeks. I could see he was at a loss, unsure what to say. Finally I took my eyes off of him and found a very interesting patch of grass to concentrate on while he still held me in his arms. The words were out before I realized they had come from me. “What about, Bianca?”

  Gage let go of me as if my skin burned him. He took a step away from me and said slowly, “I don’t want you to mention Bianca to me, ever.”

  I was confused, “But she loves you. Why would you agree to marry me?”

  His voice was harsh and his eyes angry, “Bianca is engaged to another Centaur. Never speak of her to me.”

  “But, Bianca is my friend . . . I don’t. . .” the necklace must have decided my question constituted disobedience because the wounds that had been caked over with scabs overnight were just reopened by the new zap of electricity. I fell to the ground on my hands and knees and screamed like a Banshee. Gage stood, dumbfounded.

  The necklace of horrors was hidden from view under my sweatshirt. The freshly opened wounds seeped blood through the sweatshirt as Gage’s eyes watched helplessly. I saw him look at the guard, who paid no attention whatsoever to me writhing in pain. Gage knelt down beside me and saw the streaks of blood from the freshly opened wounds. He instantly tried to remove the necklace from me, but that only resulted in a second zap to us both and a shriller scream from me.

  The guard seemed to have no problems talking to Gage, “The necklace is enchanted. It requires her obedience to Zandra and to you. You will be permitted to remove it from her after you are married,” he added sadistically, “if you choose to.” The guard’s voice held no sympathy for me. His comment, “If you choose to,” wasn’t lost on me either. I’m sure if I had been betrothed to this guard, he would never remove it.

  Gage’s voice was full of volume when he yelled at the guard, “Are you insane? She’s bleeding!”

  “She is fully aware of the power of the enchantment. As your fiancé, she should have listened to your warning. The necklace does for you what you are too kind to do to her. She will not run away. She will not change her mind. She will be an obedient wife.”

  I could see the horror on Gage’s face. He commanded, “Guard, leave us.”

  “I’m under orders from Zandra. You two are not to be left alone. I serve as her guard and her escort while you are on the premises.”

  Zandra appeared from around the hedge closest to the house. I knew she had witnessed what had happened or at least pieced it together. She flashed Gage a warm smile and held out her hand to him, “Gage, so glad you could stop by this morning. I’m afraid Camille has lessons in the garden every morning. You’ll have to come back later to acquaint yourselves with each other.”

  “Miss Zandra. I believe Camille needs a doctor.” I could see he struggled momentarily for the right words. “Her necklace has rubbed her neck raw.”

  Zandra’s warm smile broadened when she said, “The necklace teaches her lessons more effectively than either you or I could teach her. She is not in need of a physician. Camille is in need of better manners. I believe she’ll find them soon, don’t you agree?”

  Gage reached down, took my hand in his and politely asked Zandra, “It’s really a beautiful day, and we’ve hardly had time to acquaint ourselves. Would it be all right if we spent some time getting to know each other now?”

  Zandra eyed him suspiciously. “Very well. Do not leave the gardens.” The polite tone she used with Gage disappeared when she addressed me, “Camille, we will continue our lessons tomorrow morning. I suggest you use this time to fine tune your manners.”

  Gage showed no fear, but an overt respect for her authority, “Uh, Miss Zandr
a, would it be possible for her escort to give us some privacy? I understand that we need to stay in clear view, but I’d like to get to know Camille a little better. Could he watch us from the garden’s entrance?”

  Zandra agreed and motioned for Aragon to move the fifty feet toward the elaborate entrance, in between two marble centaurs. Gage still held my hand but motioned for me to sit down. “What has she done to you?”

  “She’s been teaching me about Greek mythology, mainly.”

  “What’s the story with the necklace of horrors?”

  “She didn’t like some of the things I had to say, and I tried to escape. The next thing I knew I was going through some twisted version of electric shock therapy.”

  “I’m going to have to leave for a few hours, but I’ll be back, I promise. Is there anything I can get you?”

  “Could I . . . I mean could you . . . I’d really like to see . . . Never mind.”

  “Who? Your dad?”

  “I can’t say her name.”

  Quietly, he nodded that he understood. “I’m saying this for the necklace’s benefit more than yours, okay?” He waited for me to nod, then said, “You may say anything you want to me. An opinion or a question is not disobedience. You should not be punished for being inquisitive. It pleases me that you have a strong spirit.”

  “Thanks.” I was so embarrassed of the position I was in, it was hard to look him in the eye.

  “So, now that is out of the way. Why did you choose me for your husband?”

  “Zandra chose you. She didn’t tell me why other than she really wanted my mom to marry your dad. Mom ran away before the ceremony. I just found out that we were engaged last night.”

  “Last night? But she and Dad have been talking for over a month. You had no idea?”

  I shook my head, still nervous about talking out loud. Gage breathed a huge sigh of relief. I wasn’t sure why, and he didn’t explain. “Is there anything I can bring you when I return?”

  “A cell phone. I haven’t talked to anyone in like forever.”

  Gage nodded. He stood and took both my hands in his as I remained seated. “I’ll do my best to smuggle it in, although mine was confiscated when I arrived this morning. I was told that the marriage was your idea. You’re saying that isn’t true?”

  I started to answer but stopped myself before I could say the word. Telling him the truth might be construed as disobedience to Zandra. I shook my head in response.

  He bent down and kissed my hands. It sent shivers through my body. I’d had more human contact with him in the short time he spent with me than I’d had the whole time I’d been here. It felt good to be with someone who wasn’t trying to manipulate me, someone who didn’t believe kindness to be a character flaw.

  “I’ll be back soon,” he promised.

  As I watched him walk away, I wondered if he’d really be allowed back. Zandra could change the enchantment on the gate to ban him as well. I wasn’t sure if I could make it another month living like this. I looked back at the guard and wondered where Phineas was.

  Chapter 29

  Camille Benning – Florida