Page 33 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“Well, that’s easy for you to say,” I fired back. “But when you have no idea what you’re doing, let alone that there arerulesabout it, it’s sort of hard now, isn’t it?”
“Not my fault,” he said stubbornly. “Now shut up.”
“Court is now in session,” the dragon rumbled, interrupting my response.
What happened next was almost a blur. The gray-clad man appeared out of nowhere across the aisle from me, announcing the charges against me. I was well aware of those by now.
My counsel didn’t deny anything. He simply argued for the simplest, quickest death.
When I asked him why he wasn’t trying to do something more productive, like find a way for me to live, he shook his head.
“It’s all I can do,” he said under his breath. “Trust me. It’s better than the alternative.”
“Alternative?” I mumbled, wondering what could be worse than death.
The entire thing was a sham. Nobody cared about me or what I was doing. The realization sank in slowly throughout the short trial. Everyone was convinced of my guilt. Nobody cared that I hadn’t the foggiest notion of what I was doing, nor had I meant to hurt anyone.
They just wanted to see me suffer. One of the creatures, a mighty beast of a man nearly the size of Lord Rokk who was draped in furs and with hair braided down his back, actuallyleaned forward almost hungrily, watching me with golden eyes like he could feed off my hopelessness.
“Jury,” Dannorax said eventually. “You have heard the evidence and charges. Please vote.”
I stared, as, one by one, they voted.
“Guilty,” Lord Rokk rumbled, the final voice to seal my fate.
You bastard, I mouthed at him.
“I do enjoy unanimity,” the dragon said, his head rising as he uncoiled his neck. “And these are my favorite types of cases to hand out punishment, as you all know.”
A low chuckle ran around the court, striking fear deep into my bones.
“Are there any here who would wish this woman as their charge to mete out ‘punishment’ as appropriate?” the dragon asked slyly, the hidden meanings behind his tone obvious.
To my utter shock, Lord Rokk was the first to rise from his chair, eyes blazing bright.
“She is mine,” he snarled in a voice that brooked no arguments.
Dannorax laughed. “Very good. Are there any challengers?”
“She. Is.Mine,” Lord Rokk growled defiantly, and the entire roomcrackedwith energy.
No other member of the jury rose to challenge him. But I did notice the fur-covered giant of a man shifting in his chair as if he was considering speaking out. In the end, however, I was handed over to Lord Rokk for punishment.
“And here you said you wouldn’t kill me,” I muttered as the minotaurs removed my cuffs and shoved me at him.
One of his giant hands landed on my shoulder, grabbing at the edges of the jumpsuit.
“Trust me,” he said, ripping the jumpsuit from my body and exposing my body to his greedy eyes. “By the time we’re done here, you might wish I had.”
All around us, the crowd leaned in closer with anticipation, a low rumble of eager energy filling the room.
Chapter Sixteen
Mila
“W-w-what’s going on?” I stammered, covering myself with my hands as best I could. “What are you doing to me?”
Korr’ok loomed above me, larger than ever, it seemed.
