Thirty-Nine

*WHAT is it now?*
It was still dark when Adalene was jarred awake by a commotion outside and by Odette clutching at her shoulder, shaking her awake at the same time, trying to see through a slit in the window what was happening outside.
Odette’s frightened face turned to her. “Something is very wrong, My Lady. I think there are thieves outside an—”
There was a scream that was abruptly cut, and we stared at each other, shocked and scared.
That sounded like Olivie.
She could now hear the sounds of swords clanging at each other and men shouting and fighting.
She thought of Fabian fighting out there and she turned towards the door.
“My Lady!”
“We’ve got to get out of here, Odette. We have to hide. Thieves know we’re here and if they find us, we don’t even know how to fight!”
She opened the door a little and looked out.
Men were fighting outside and cursing, shouting. The other carriage was lying on its side with the horses neighing on the ground. Hurt.
They’d hurt the horses.
Where is Fabian? she asked, sick with worry. And as soon as that, she saw him, swinging his sword at two ragged-looking men encircling him.
“Oh no!”
“My lady, I always hear the royals say the Baron and his men are one of the best fighters of the Duke. I know he can defend us.”
“I know that, too, but I am not going to make us easy targets again,” she said, gritting her teeth and finally opening the doors widely so they could jump out.
But, as she started to do so, the horse from their carriage suddenly reared on its front legs, upending the box and she found herself flying towards the ground, Odette screaming behind her.
Adalene landed painfully, grazing her hand on a rough rock before rolling towards the bushes.
She coughed, winded when she finally stopped. She couldn’t open her eyes right away because she felt like everything around her was spinning, like when he hit her head on a rock in the garden earlier in the evening.
There was grunting and footsteps, and someone was pulling at her hair.
“I got the whore. Quick! Grab her legs. Tie her up. Let’s go before the Baron sees us!”
Terror engulfed Adalene when she heard what was said by that guttural voice. Someone was already trying to tie her hands.
She pushed and kicked, screaming.
Someone slapped her on her face and she stopped, shocked by the pain. The sting was painful and there was a throbbing inside her head.
There was another slap, and then she was too disoriented to avoid the next one after that. And the next one.
She was going to faint.
Someone thrust a foul-smelling handkerchief to her mouth and then tied it tightly behind her back.
Someone else had already tied her feet together, and her flailing hands were worthless.
Soon, she was being carried on somebody’s shoulder, her head upside down and hitting her carrier’s back while they ran away with her.
And she lost consciousness…

“LOOK at that. She’s a real beauty. I don’t mind having a taste of this before we give her back after we got our coins, Jean,” a desire-laden voice slurred into Adalene’s consciousness.
“Lady Veronique says not to hurt her. You have already beaten her up, *imbécile*!”
“Oh… this will feel good, I guarantee you. She’s going to like this very much!”
The moment she felt the hand that cupped then started to knead one of her breasts, she screamed herself into consciousness.
But she found out soon enough she could not scream that effectively with the smelly handkerchief barring her mouth.
They were in the forest and it was dark. She could see the silhouette of three men hovering before her, one of them on the ground and playing with her breasts.
Someone had slashed the fabric off the front of her gown because she could feel that brutal hand on her skin, the coldness of the night, and his breath as he stuck his face to her neck.
She screamed again because of the sheer terror of it, and because he bit her.
The other two were laughing. Someone took a knife out and she fought not to faint again as he slashed at the rope on her feet, and then hands were forcing her thighs to open wide.
The first one who’d attacked her had one of her nipples deep inside his mouth and she was trying to buck him off again as her hands were tied behind her back and she couldn’t use them.
Her shoulders hurt because of her fall.
She felt she was going to die.
She wanted to die.
She would rather die than go through what these brutes have in store for her.
It was because she was moving too much that she received another hit to her face.
The world seemed to stumble as her eyes closed and she struggled to breathe. She began to cry as she felt hands violating her body, going where they shouldn’t go. They had ripped her undergarments off.
*Fabian… where are you? My Baron…*
Then she heard him screaming… or she thought it was his voice. Or she was dreaming…
Did it call her name…?
She didn’t know, wasn’t sure… She was disconnecting… blessed disconnection… she thought.
She didn’t want to feel anything…
She wanted to die…
“Adalene… Adalene… hey, hey… she’s still breathing, *merci dieu*!”
She thought someone was crying. Was it Odette? Someone was trying to untie the handkerchief from her mouth, and it was pulled free.
She could breathe better.
But she was scared to open her eyes.
She knew she couldn’t bear what she would see…
“Why is there so much blood on her chest?” Odette was asking.
She felt something covering her. She was shivering, but not only because of the cold.
“They cut her when they slashed her clothes off,” I heard Fabian’s bitter voice. “Oh, *ma bichette*. *Ma chérie*… open your eyes. It’s me…” He gathered her in his arms. “It’s me. You’re safe. I have you.”
She tried to move. Her face felt so painful. Her hands were untied but she could barely move them as they were cramped.
And yes, she could feel the pain of cuts on the skin on her chest.
She could smell blood.
When she finally opened her eyes, she did not seek Fabian’s face first. Her eyes sought for her attackers.
She couldn’t hear them.
Some of the Baron’s men were there. Odette was crying but less loudly now, standing by Sir Thibaut’s side. It was dark and she could barely see their faces, but she could feel shock and pity coming off of them like
it was a solid force. She could feel a wall dividing her own emotions from her.
She felt numb as she saw the still bodies of the thieves on the forest floor.
“Let’s go. You need a doctor,” she heard the Baron say in a broken voice. He stood up, his arms carrying her and pinning her close to him. "Ah, mon coeur!" she heard him cry in a whisper near her ear.
She closed her eyes thinking she never wanted to open them again.