"The judge in this case has committed much worse crimes than any my father has...."
Cleo stared at him, at first in complete shock, then anger and defiance. At the moment there was no way she as going to take the blame for what he was doing. Maybe if she lived long enough her guilt would erode away at her conviction in that, but it would not be today. He had promised torture, pain, and death long before she had hurt his feelings by calling him a liar. The only thing she would accept is she had just shortened it from weeks or months to a matter of days.
"It’s been well over twenty years since my father took over, where were you then? Where were you fifteen years ago? Where were you ten years ago? The Emperor can not care that much if he let my family be here this many years. Surely father was not that good at hiding his activities. What example are you setting, conqueror the Emperor's land and you have twenty years before he cares enough to send somebody.... " There was a little more strength in her voice.
It did not seem right that he could twist their words so they better suited his twisted plan. He damn well knew what she had been asking for during the agreement. She had told him that she was going to give him the treasure in payment of their lives. Maybe she was too young a naive. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut and let her parents have negotiated this. Then again if her parents had, they would have only choose to save her life, not their own.
"We are all dead anyway.... I have nothing left to give.... it’s just a matter when you get done toying with us...."
Hearing the first of her father's screams, Cleo turned her head away from him and Kong. Shuddering, she took a deep breath. Closing her eyes tight she tried to block out and ignore them the best she could. It was impossible to completely block out those kind of screams, and she found her body shuddering at everyone.
It was little more than thirty minutes before a new solider walked into the room. Whispering something to Kong. Not that she noticed any of that. What first caught her attention was the order for the torture to stop. Lifting her head slowly from where she was looking at on the floor. Her face was soaked with tears. The defiance had left her about 20 minutes earlier. The sound of her parents screamed rattled her to her soul. There had been little doubt in her mind that once they were broken and dead, he would move on to her torment. She was fairly confident she was going to be mentally and spiritually broken long before he even touched her.
Eyes unfocused she looked around the room. The sight of her parents after such a short time almost made her sick. The only thing that made her determined not to throw up was that she was securely bound, the only thing she would have been able to do was get sick on herself. Looking away, her eyes found Kong. Looking for a reason why there was a sudden halt. He still had his back to her, talking to the new soldier.
In disbelief, Cleo watched as her parents were ordered taken to their cell. This was another one of his tricks, she knew it had to be. Staring till they were out of sight, she could not help but feel like this was her fault. Next two guards unsecured her, pulling her up to her feet and toward the door. At the last minute she came out of her shock enough to try to talk to Kong one last time.
“Please… just… let my… parents… go…” The door shut. Instead of shouting, her voice dropped to a whisper. “You… have… me… that’s… all… you… really… need…”
The guards escorted her back to her room. Stepping inside for a long moment she did not move from the spot that they put her in the middle of the room. Standing confused and numb. One of the guards moved to stand next to the window, staring outward. The other walked back out of the room, shutting the door. Cleo knew he was standing guard there. The one by the window was probably making sure she did not try suicide. Smart. Now knowing there was nothing she could do but die painfully there was no reason for her not to have tried a quicker end.
For a long while, Cleo stood in the middle of the room. Not that it really mattered. Not much mattered. Numbly she finally walked to her bed. She had meant to only sit down but found herself curled up in the middle, curled up in the fetal position. Awake, eyes unseeing, unfocused, she laid perfectly still as time slipped past. Waiting. He would send for her eventually.