* * *
Her hands were not shaking as badly now, her breathing more relaxed and less shallow. The girl’s prayers had a calming effect. In the least, they took her mind off the burning agony gripping her belly, but tonight they seemed to be soothing to flesh and soul as well. The terror of earlier hours when Perk had returned was decreasing and she was starting to feel the dull pain of repeated beatings. Drying blood mixed with human filth left over from previous inhabitants covered her naked body and caked her hair. The airless chamber had already been chokingly thick with that rank smell, but now the stench of sweat and sexual exhaustion emulsified with the other stink to produce a stomach-wrenching odor. She heaved up more bile, but there was nothing else left.
Perk had waited until Treston had retired for the night. Then he had quietly slipped out the side door of the prison chamber. At Perk’s departure, Tanner lit a small lamp and paced back and forth in front of the cell door until he returned. When he came back, four other men accompanied him, all of them filthy and unkempt – men who worked or slaved down in some other part of this hole of a prison.
Perk threw open the door of the girl’s cell and stepped in, holding the lantern high to look over his prize catch for the night. “My, my, whut a dainty we ‘av ‘ere. The gods ‘av luk’d on us t’nite.” He then cooed, “I ‘ear yu got a nam, an’ quite a fan-see on’, too.” Turning his head back over his shoulder, he grinned. “Ish-tar… can yu baleeve it? We g’t us a goddess right ‘ere in ar li’le ‘ome. Ya ev’r see a goddess ‘afore?”
As he clumsily reached for her clothes, the child threw up her hands to stop him. Perk lunged forward, driving his fist into the side of her head, sending her spinning into the far wall. Before she could fall, Perk’s giant paws were around her throat, squeezing the life out of the girl.
Tanner wailed. “Stop it, Perk, or yu’l get us all kild!”
“Shut your friggin mouth you!” Perk growled.
Tanner’s cries did have their effect, though. Perk caught his breath and calmed down. Easing his iron grip, he pulled the girl close, opening his mouth in a sinister grin, cautioning, “Well goddess, yu win fer now. I dn’t want ta spoil th’ goods. Now be nice, or next time, I’l rip that sluttin’ ‘ed of yur’s right off.”
“Let’s ‘av a see at what a goddess looks like…” Perk reached down and ripped Ishtar’s tunic off, the force flinging her across the room. She caught hold of a post in the wall just before falling. Tanner lifted the lamp high to get a better look at the naked girl. A hushed gasp rose in chorus from the men as they watched, staring, transfixed, looking at the most strikingly beautiful form they had ever seen.
Not only did this woman have an astonishingly attractive face, her other features were of equal grandeur. Ishtar’s hair was a brilliant orange-red. In the lantern light, it radiated red, then gold, copper, and back to red. Her perfect figure was enhanced by a silky-smooth, light olive-colored skin, while dancing shadows made the girl’s generous curves and firm breasts appear as those of a goddess come to earth.
Perk was aghast. “Well I …well ain’t that …sooo.” He dropped his eyes pondering his good fortune. Drooling like a hungry beast, he grinned. “I bet you ain’t never had it ‘afore neither, ‘av ya?”
Hooting, Perk turned to the others and asked, “What’s she worth now, gentermen? Clean as the driv’n snow. What will yu pay to be the first driv’r? A goddess, no less...”
What happened after that was a blur. Aside from the explosive pain rending through her head and the burning agony in her belly, she could remember little detail except for Perk. He was brutal. His animalistic abuse was beyond description. The more she cried out, the more intense the pain he would inflict. When she resisted, he would beat her until she would nearly pass out. After he had finished, she lay on the floor, her eyes rolled back in her battered head, oozing blood from her nose and ears.
Tanner was petrified with fear, believing the child would die from Perk’s abuse. Perk shouted for him to shut up and went after the child again.
After thoroughly exhausting himself, he forced Tanner to perform the final insult to her. When he declined, Perk angrily threatened, “You’d better get it up, or I’ll cut it off!” Taking Tanner by the shirt, he pulled him into the cell, flinging him at the crumpled body on the floor, mocking him. “You’ll kill her! You’ll kill her!”
Tanner timidly obeyed, finishing his deed as quickly as possible. The girl quietly moaned but offered no resistance. When finished, he jumped up, and while still fastening his clothes, scurried away.
Laughing, Perk shouted after him, “If the lit’le bitch dies now, you’ll ‘ang for it, too!”
The other men had long since retreated to their own hiding places. If the girl was going to die, they wanted to be a far way from the scene. They were well aware how much value Treston placed on her appearance in front of the emperor’s magistrate the coming day.
Perk lingered a while, staring at the body sprawled in the corner then slowly turned to go, stopping in the door for another look. Ishtar opened her eyes - now filled with malice and rage - only to meet his. He kicked the filth from the floor in her direction, cursing, “And damned be your god, too!” and stormed off down the passageway, taking the lantern with him. Soon a shroud of the darkness enveloped her.
Ishtar struggled to her knees only to be caught in nauseous convulsions. Driven by uncontrolled heaves, hot liquid forced its way up her throat, spewing out her mouth. As the child gasped for air, a shooting pain racked her body, racing up her back, exploding into a million stabbing spears at the base of her skull. In a muffled scream, she pitched forward, falling face down into the filth and dirt.