Prince of Cats (20 page)

“She lies!” Bray’s s
narled
response had Neomee eyeing him.  Sharp pinpoints of fury exploded in
the depths of
his eyes
warning her to be silent before his furious gaze flashed over her shoulder to Ottah.
  Bray stared at his fellow Cat for long moments.

“You forget little dove that I have seen with my own eyes your Prince Cat enjoying your sweet, slick treasure.”  He eyed her crotch.

Neomee
inwardly cringed
as the Priest continued to leer at her body.

“Get her out of here!” Bray growled
.

Ottah
pulled
Neomee
toward the door
, his hold much more gentle than it had been earlier
.
 

“WAIT!” The command of the Priest was bellowed through the temple.  “Perhaps,” he turned his attention from Neomee to Bray, “she’ll become more submissive when she witnesses what her disobedience costs
another.  She clearly has no concern for her own well-being, but could she possibly care
for him?”
  His thin lips curled into a derisive smile and when his cold eyes found Neomee’s she shivered involuntarily.  “
Make
her watch.”

“NO!” Bray boomed
.  “She belongs to me and
I
want her returned to my quarters.”

Neomee could only watch as the Priest’s evil smile
widened.
  She knew what he’d decided before he even formed the words.

“She
’s disobedient Prince, but it has been my experience that the best way to break a willful slave is to punish another for their transgressions. 
I think she’ll endure the spectacle of your pain to ensure she never attempts to
leave our House of Cats again.”

Now
forced
to stay, Neomee was certain she’d have preferred to leave. 
Ottah
shoved her
down and she crashed
painfully
to her knees as Ottah
clamped
his hands
firmly to her shoulders. 

Bray roared at the Cat before his arms were stretched wide by the ropes tethered around e
ach
wrist. 

Remembering the torturous pain in agonizing detail, Neomee began to tremble as she watched the Cats prepare Bray
. 
I can’t watch this!  I have to do something!
  She tried to get to her feet, but the Cat behind her shoved her back to her knees.  She cas
t
a quick sneer over her shoulder before she turned back to the Priest, “Please!  If you…”

“SILENCE HER!”

When Neomee opened her mouth t
o
argue
Ottah
slipped a length of cloth between her teeth and secured it behind her head.  Quickly reaching up to yank it down, her hands were next forced behind her back where they too were bound.  Panic began to overwhelm her but when she looked up Bray was staring at her.  She could feel the intensity in his gaze and she knew he was willing her t
o be silent
,
to
be submissive.
 
And I should…shouldn’t I?  He’s about to be beaten because of me.  The least I can do is respect him enough to endure the sight of his suffering.
 

The Priest was rattling off a list of commands to the other Cats, but his words were just an annoying buzzing in Neomee’s ears.  Bray’s dark eyes continued to hold hers and as he tried to
silently
convey
to
her to be strong
.
S
he tried to
silently
atone
for her foolishness
with a look
of
pleading despair
. 

She tried to blink back the tears of guilt and regret that flooded her eyes, but they would not be stemmed.  When one large drop fell from her lashes to her cheek Bray slowly shook his head.  Neomee knew that he didn’t want her to cry for him and with a steely resolve conjured up by the Gods, she sucked in
a
deep breath and squared her shoulders. 
If he can endure then so shall I.
 

***

With all that had transpired between himself and  Neomee, Bray had been too preoccupied with her well-being to care whether the Priest had returned from his sabbatical.  It was a foolish oversight.

The sight of Neomee trussed and on her knees had Bray fighting mad but aside from that he held no other emotion.  There was no fear in him for what he knew he was about to endure, in fact he felt relieved.  It was relief that he wouldn’t again have to witness Neomee’s suffering.
  He’d gladly endure a thousand lashes to save her from one. 
 

He blinked slowly, keeping his eyes pinned on her.  For some reason her reaction to the whipping he was moments from receiving piqued his curio
sity. 
She shouldn’t be this upset over my suffering…should sh
e?  Not when she’s clearly so determined to be free of me.
  For inexplicable reasons the sight of her tears bolstered his spirit and made him want to show her that he would take the beating like a true guardian Cat
…like the Prince of Cats!

Watching a tear slip free from her panicky eyes, he had to force back a growl.  He didn’t want her to weep, not for him.  Slowly, he shook his head hoping she understood his message.  When she drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders he couldn’t help the hint of approval that lifted one corner of his mouth. 
Good girl! 

He listened as the Priest droned on about service and righteousness, how it was everyone’s duty to sacrifice for the will of the Gods. 
Amon, let’s get it over with!
  He wanted to get Neomee back to his quarters to make sure that she was okay and to console her
.

***

Everything after that happened so quickly that it felt like a dream.  One minute the Priest was making preparations, then all-too-soon the whip was cracking and
then lashing at Bray’s exposed back. 
They had come full circle
.  E
xcept now instead of Bray watching her suffer it was the other way around but all for the same
reason
…
her futile attempt to gain her
freedom.

Bray didn’t take his eyes from Neomee, nor did he call out or even wince for that matter.  He accepted his punishment as effortlessly as if he were getting a massage rather than hav
ing
the flesh torn from his back.  Watching him
suffer, Neomee
realized she’d never be free.  It was one thing to cost herself in the attempt, but to cost another, to cost Bray…she realized now it was more than she could bear.
  It pained her to see him suffer and she knew it had little to do with the fact that she was the cause.  No, it had to do with him and the place he’d created for himself in
her heart.
  He’d protected her when he could, he avenged her when other
s
had injured her, and he’d been willing to fight to gain them their freedom. 

More tears slipped free and her resolve began to crumble as she realized she loved him and she’d only been running to keep from admitting the fact.  She’d never been in love and the concept while scary for everyone else was terrifying for a slave.  When you were a slave
everything
could be taken from you.  It was
the reason slaves
not only had few
possessions but didn’t
want
many
.
  They didn’t want to cherish something only to have it ripped away.  She thought of her family then. 
She had few memories of
her mother
,
father
,
and younger brothe
r but the ones she did have were of love and great loss. 

She’d only known them until she was a young girl then the family had been divided and sold to the highest bidders.  She remembered her mother screaming and fighting to get to her
children as they were chained
and led out of their small village like goats being led to slaughter.  Her brother, who’d been younger, was
shackled
and taken a separate direction.  Neomee’s mother ran back and forth unsure who to chase and Neomee’s father had disappeared into their small dwelling only to return with a weapon.  He’d had intentions of fighting to keep his children, but the last memory she had of her parents was her mother’s wail of agony as she fell
to her knees frantically pulling at the arrow that stood erect from the center of her father’s chest.

She’d lost her life that day and had vowed never again to know love because to know love was to know unbearable loss.  Now, as she kneeled and watched Bray ble
ed for her
she realized that she’d been trying to hide the truth from herself.  Foolishly she’d fallen in love and had pretended it wasn’t so.  She didn’t want to admit her feelings for Bray because to do so meant she could lose him
or that he wouldn’t love her in return.  His actions now proved that perhaps he did.  He was willing to sacrifice for her…so she’d do the same for him.

She felt something inside her break then.  Her eyes dropped from his as her head fell forward to stare at the dusty ground. 
I am a slave
. 
I am Bray’s slave.
  The bright
hope
of freedom that had burned so brightly within
her had finally burned itself out.  She would submit to her Prince of Cats. She would allow the claiming and in turn
become his.
 

There was no sadness at the thought of never being free
just a giddy excitement at sharing her life with her Prince of Cats
.  She looked up to find Bray watching her. 
He was the most handsome creature she’d ever seen…and he was hers.

C
hapter
21

“ENOUGH!”

The
bellowed
word had both Neomee and Bray looking toward the door
...
 

Madu stood with thick arms crossed over his chest a
nd a
wild smirk on his lips.

“How dare you intrude!” The Priest waved his hand dismissively at Madu, “Be gone to your duty or face your own penance.”  Ignoring the intrusion the Priest snapped impatient fingers at the whip man.  “Continue.”

Madu roared and the sound startled the Priest as he jumped then
glared furiously at the disobedient guardian. 

“How dare you!”

“How.  Dare.  You!”  Guardian Cats flooded the room the
n
.  They surrounded Madu and lined the walls
spilling up onto the altar steps
.  “
We
are the Guardian Cats of Thebes. 
We
provide the people with protection, and
we
are the keepers of the word.  You have used us Priest.  You’ve used us to gain position, authority, and power.  Without us you are nothing.”

Bray smirked at his best
friend’s
use of his own words.

“I-I am the Priest of this temple.”  The Priests eyes shifted uneasily as th
e Cats holding Bray and
Neomee
released their holds
and slowly backed away
.

Madu smiled at Bray, “Brother, I believe you’ve earned the right.”  He extended his open palm toward the Priest who upon seeing the action dropped to his knees and
clasped his hands together. 

“You cannot!  The Vizier…the
Pharaoh
won’t allow it.
”  The Priest’s eyes shifted from Madu to Bray.  “My Prince, please!”

Neomee could only watch in mute fascination as Bray stalked closer to the Priest.  Sweat glistened on his hard lean frame and he dipped his head as his eyes transitioned from black to yellow.  She gasped when his incisors lengthened, his lip cu
rling back as he advanced
.

“P-Prince, you
must not
!” 
His
hands trembled
as he held them up
.

“I am
not
your Prince!

When Bray got within reach of the cowering
Priest,
Neomee turned her head to the side
not needing to see how her Bray would dispose of the man who had abused them both.  She heard a roar followed by a scream and then silence.  She still had her head turned to the side and her eyes tightly closed when a gentl
e
hand grabbed her chin.  Looking up
she swallowed hard as she stared at Bray.
  Her eyes darted to the left and she saw the lifeless body of the Priest lying in a heap.