Page 6 of The Queen's Serpent

My grandmother turns with one last appraising look at us, and starts to walk out of the room. “What about my horse?” I question with desperation.

“She was never going to take your horse, Issy. Come on, get it together and grow a pair. You ratted us out for nothing,” Mia huffs with disdain, before following my grandmother out of the room without a backward look in my direction.

I snap out of the memory, releasing my hold on the remaining fruit in my grasp and watching, as it rolls to the palm leaves-strewn, dirt floor. My body shakes as I lean my head against my knees and try to stop the tears that are already trailing down my dirty and itchy face.

I was weak then, and I’m weak now. The difference is that I don’t have my sister or grandmother to fight my battles. I’m utterly alone and powerless out here with my monsters now. I prayed for a hole to hide in, and it looks like fate decided to play some sick joke with me years later. Here I am now, trapped in the ground.

A Stratford never lets anyone hurt them; that’s what my grandmother drilled into us all these years. That we need to fight and keep our heads held high. Yet once again, I prove that I am nothing but a defective Stratford, a waste of a name and body. Maybe I should just die in this hole after all. The world might be a better place without me in it. Who really would miss me? I’m a burden and a disappointment to everyone I know.

Not everyone. There was once someone who thought you were the best thing that ever happened to him. He thought you hung the stars and the moon, and would have done anything to stay with you.Glimmering bright blond hair and blue eyes try to rise within my mind, but I slam a door on the attempt. No, I won’t allow my mind to go there; it will only lead to further madness.

Maybe I should let Diego keep me trapped in this hole. Be his captive for the rest of my life; at least I know he truly wants me.

Chapter four

Diego

“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.”

Voltaire

“Jefe,“ Santiago clears his throat as he fidgets from one foot to the other in front of me. The older man is so agitated that beads of sweat trail down the side of his face. It’s strange because I have known him most of my life, and never given him a reason to fear me, at least not directly.

He has been one of my father’s loyal men for as long as I can remember, but now he answers to me, out here in this dangerous jungle paradise rather than my father, who is back tending to our business affairs in the States. I wonder if he regrets agreeing to come out here with me?

“Speak,” my eyes narrow on him as he continues to shift before me.

“Sir… it’s theseñorita… I… ummm… how long are we going to keep her in that hole?”

I lean back against my wooden desk with my ankles crossed in front of me, my eyes trailing over him as tension-filled seconds turn into minutes, while I assess why he might be asking me about my precious treasure stuck in the hole I placed her for safekeeping.

It’s been four days since I fucked her raw, filled her with my cum, and then dragged her out of our new hidden jungle residence and threw her into a fucking hole in the ground, for her brattiness, disobedience, and inability to stop fuckingfighting me. As if there was ever a chance of her escaping me once I set my sights on her.

“Has something happened?” A tinge of apprehension creeps up my spine with concern. Did something happen to her out in that hole? Has she gotten sick, perhaps from the oppressive heat she’s not used to?She is delicate, like a piece of the finest spun crystal, just waiting to shatter.Has one of the predators of the jungle attacked her?No, I am the only predator who can get close to her.I made sure to station men around that hole to ensure no beasty gets their claws on myPrincesa.

I’ve had to physically restrain myself from going out there daily to watch her, knowing full well that her tears and distress might have had me caving on my need to punish her. I need her to understand that I’m all that she has now. That she has belonged to me since that first moment I laid eyes on her back in that hospital in Casbury. I also need to ensure that I don’t show weakness before my men. If they realize how important she truly is to me and her hold on me, how many of them would use it against me? How many of my enemies would try to take her from me?I’ll kill them all if they try.

“No disrespect,Jefe,but she is too fragile to be out here like this. She… she stopped eating yesterday morning. I brought her the bucket and food again today, and she never stirred from her position against the wall of the hole. She hasn’t eaten or drank anything today, her food from yesterday is lying at the bottom of the hole, and the bucket was not used.“ He rubs his large, meaty hand across his forehead, swiping away at the sweat, and his dark, penetrating eyes meet mine, filled with worry and confusion.

“Maybe she is sick? The heat is very strong during the day, and the bugs must be biting her down in that hole.” For a moment, I watch as disapproval crosses his face before he wipes the sentiment away, and his features once again become neutral.He’s been loyal to my family for years; would he betray me to save my girl from her current fate?

No, he knows what we do to traitors. His fate would be far worse than Issy’s down in that hole. He wouldn’t risk it to save some spoiled, wealthy princess from Manhattan, would he? Shadowed doubts start to plague my mind, and I have to stop myself from seeing betrayal in every corner. Santiago is loyal. The men I have out here with me were handpicked by me to be faithful, and follow through with my plans.

The thought nags at me that she might actually be sick, and as much as I want to break Issy and put her back together again, I don’t want her ill, and I know she is not used to this type of environment. She’s useless to me if she dies out there in that hole of dehydration or something worse.

It irritates me, though, to bend my will. I wanted her to beg me to release her. To promise me that she will never try to leave me again. I wanted her to break, her fragility and weakness left in that hole, and my strong queen to be reborn.

Maybe she will never be strong enough.The thought crosses my mind, but I refuse to let it sink its sharp claws any deeper into me. Isabella Stratford will become Isabella Cabano, my greatest possession, my wife, my fucking queen, and for that, she cannot waste away, but she also can’t be weak.

I straighten and move away from the desk, not bothering to utter a word to a worried Santiago about my intentions as I stride out of my den, down the stairs, and out of my jungle compound. As I approach the hole, my men nod in restrained greeting, each placed strategically around the compound, and the hole, to prevent any unwelcome visitors, both of the animal and human variety from making their way inside.

No sounds are heard around us other than those native to the jungle. The wind rustles the thick leaves, birds call to each other, and far in the distance, the sound of water can barely be heardover all the other noises. I lean forward, staring into the twelve-foot hole and my captive queen. She’s filthy and ragged, her skin covered in angry red bumps, and all scrunched in on herself up against the furthest wall of the hole. Her arms are tightly wrapped around her raised knees, her head is braced against them, and her thick, sweat-matted hair covers most of her body.My prize.

She looks utterly defeated, broken, even. Is it a facade, or have I truly managed in four days to bring her to the realization that she is mine, and no one is coming to save her? I know her grandmother is out there frantically tearing the world apart, searching for her. I’m aware the bounty placed on my head right now would help fund a small third-world country for years. That doesn’t frighten me, even though it should. That knowledge won’t deter me from my plans. No one is going to find us unless I want them to.

“Get the ladder,” I order my men, and Juan scrambles to grab the rope ladder and throw it over the hole’s edge. He makes a move to start climbing down, but a feral growl leaves my throat. No one is going to fucking touch Issy. Not him or any of my other men. I will be the one to grab her and hold her naked body in my arms. Her flesh is mine to touch, bruise, and leave my imprint on.

He steps back immediately with his hands raised as if to ward off an attack, as I move closer to the ladder, preparing myself to climb down and rescue my precious captive. “Grab a sheet from inside of the house, Santiago, and have it ready.”

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