Zoo (24 page)

“
No!” I try to scream as a
hand falls over my mouth. I try to fight the man that’s holding me,
but he’s twice my size. Like the other man, he’s also wearing a
brown top and leather pants. I struggle against him again, but he’s
so big that he doesn’t budge at all. I look around for some kind of
help.

And then, I see the most unexpected thing
ever.

YOU SON OF A . . .

Oh my goodness . . . the profanities that
would be coming out of my mouth right now if it wasn’t covered up.
James saunters over to me with the cockiest grin I’ve ever seen.
He’s dressed in all new clothes: new blue jeans, a red and blue
plaid shirt, and nice leather boots. “That’s her.” He points toward
me. “You can leave that one,” he adds, pointing toward Victoria.
“She’s of no use to anybody. Got herself knocked-up.”

I’m going to kill him!

I try to shout at him, but the rough hand
that’s partly shoved into my mouth muffles my words.

“
Let her speak,” he tells
the man holding me.

The first thing I do is
spit at him.
Score!
It actually reaches his cheek. I learned that from the
fleeing woman the Keepers caught in the pine forest. I’ve never
thought to do something so unladylike, but there are certain times
when you have to throw such values out the window—or
forest.

Unfortunately, I receive a slap across the
face in return. And oh, it stings like a giant rubber band popped
me. I may actually be seeing stars.

Yeah
, still worth it.

“
What do you want James?”
I ask, my cheek burning with pain.

“
You, of course.” He paces
back and forth in front of me, like an evil dictator of his own
country. “You see, when y’all kicked me out, I went over to the bar
in the next town. There were rumors there that the King was looking
for a virgin bride, and well, I knew just where to find one. So,
I’m trading you for a nice, cozy spot in the castle and all the
food I can eat.”

“
What? I don’t
understand.” I shake my head, trying to make sense of what he told
me. “What happened to the guy that misses his mother and
sister—that took care of them when his father died? How can
that
guy turn into
this?” Just like I said, I don’t understand.

“
You stupid girl. I just
told you what you wanted to hear. I was alone and bored, and I
could tell the second I laid eyes on you that you were in love with
me. I don’t have a mother named Helen or a sister named Rose. It
was always just me and my horse and the whores in each town I
passed through.” James nods and shoots a glance over to Victoria,
insinuating she was just one of his whores.

Victoria looks like she wants to kill James
for his hurtful words. She is furiously trying to wiggle out of her
captor’s hold, but she’s so tiny she can’t break away. She looks
like a fish dangling on a hook with no chance of freedom. She will
get her freedom back though. It’s me James wants, not Victoria.

“
Screw you!” I scream at
him.

He orders the man behind me, “Gag her.”

The man ties a thick band
of material around my head and tucks it into my mouth.
Yuck.
It tastes like
salt and dirt and smells like B.O..

I have murderous thoughts when the other man
shoves Victoria. She clutches her belly as she falls to the ground.
James walks over to her. “Tell Kale that if I ever see him again, I
will chop his feet off at the ankles and let him bleed to death for
taking my boots,” he states. He makes his intentions known before
dragging me away.

“
Oh, I’ll tell him all
right.” Victoria’s hate for James drips off her every
word.

I refuse to walk. James’ helper gets tired
of dragging me, so he throws me over his massive shoulder. I lift
my head up and see Victoria getting smaller and smaller as we get
further away from her. She’s weeping. “He’ll come for you!” she
screams. “Don’t worry Emma! He’ll come for you!”

I’m trying to yell “No! No! No!” as I
furiously shake my head. One man is no match for a castle and a
King with an army.

THE CASTLE

I think I might puke.

I was totally over bouncing around on James’
lackey’s shoulder after the first fifteen minutes of our journey.
It’s really not an enjoyable experience. And the bad thing is, if I
do puke, it won’t have anywhere to go because I have a gag in my
mouth. So naturally, I start to wiggle around on the guy’s back and
try to talk—beg really.

Finally, James gets annoyed enough with me
that he makes everyone stop. “Pull that thing out of her mouth and
see what she wants,” he demands. “Hurry up. We’re almost
there.”

The man hauling me puts me down. He loosens
the too-tight gag, causing it to drop around my neck. The corners
of my mouth are already sore, and I feel like a fool as my words
haphazardly fall out of my mouth. I may even be drooling. “Please
let me walk. I promise I won’t run away. I’m going to be sick if
I’m upside down any longer. Please.”

“
Fine. Let’s go. But put
that gag back on her. I won’t hesitate to shoot you if you try to
run away. Got it?”

I nod a quick
yes
.

The burly man looks relieved that he doesn’t
have to lug me any further, but he has no problem covering my mouth
back up. He spins me around and pushes me in front of him. “Walk,”
he grunts.

I stumble forward but don’t fall over. And
even though I was warned, I look around for any possibility of
escape, something to use to my advantage; be it a person, a weapon,
or a jeep to commandeer (wishful thinking)—anything at all.
Unfortunately, there are only trees and more trees behind, to the
sides and in front of us.

Eventually, our destination comes into full
view. The stones forming the castle’s walls and the rocky
mountainside seamlessly converge. I can’t tell where one ends and
the other starts. It feels cold and oppressive here.

The feeling of dread washes over me when I
see the first head on a bloodied spike. Its mouth hangs open in
horror, and its body is missing. We pass two others before we reach
the castle’s entrance. I start to get nervous as the iron gate
rises. We pass under a gatehouse before entering a courtyard.
Guards watch from above as we pass under them, their bows visible.
I wonder if they’ve ever dropped hot tar on insurgents from up
there. It would suck to go out that way, almost as much as it will
suck to go out the way I foresee my light dimming—as a virgin bride
to some scary King.

As we walk into the courtyard, it’s like
I’ve been transported back in time. There are women chasing
chickens and children wearing handmade clothes. There are also some
men dressed like my captors in brown leathers. Some are dressed in
the full knight getup with chain mail and a metallic, sculpted
helmet. I suppose they are the guards.

Everyone pauses to stare at me. I feel like
folding into myself and hiding behind one of my captors, but that’s
not how I was raised. I keep my head held high and look each of
them in the eye. Some stare back at me, some turn their heads, and
some bow, knowing I am to be their queen in the very near future.
It’s a mixed bag of reactions.

My captors usher me forward into the largest
stone building at the back of the courtyard. There are stone stairs
as soon as we enter, winding up and down. To the left is a large
room as well as to the right. We pass by too fast for me to really
get an idea of what they are used for. We go up one floor. The
pounding of our feet echoes off the walls and fills the air, like
drummers drumming for a prisoner before he’s executed. And again, I
feel like I’m marching toward my death—or at least the death of my
soul.

Oversized wooden doors line a short hallway.
We head toward one on the right. It creaks as James pushes it open.
Inside the small room, I see a chair, a bathtub, linens, one
massive window, three burning candles, and two women waiting for
us.

James grabs my wrist and pulls me in beside
him. I jerk my arm away from him as soon as I’m standing beside
him. I never want him near me again, and I hate him so much that I
want to peel the flesh off of my arm where he touched it.

He looks down at me as if I’m a child. “Now
these women are here to clean you up so you don’t repulse the King.
You will meet him tonight and wed him in two days. You had better
be on yer best behavior, or I will make you pay. I’ll go back and
do something nasty to your friend Victoria,” he threatens.

After yanking the gag from my mouth, he
storms away and slams the door behind him. The boom it produces
echoes through the room.

I turn and look between the two women, who
are looking at me expectantly. They are waiting for me to get naked
and hop in the tub. “Look, the only way this is going to happen is
if you turn around,” I say to them.

THE KING

I am so pissed. Those women wouldn’t let me
put my jeans and t-shirt back on, so now I’m sitting here at a
banquet table wearing this ridiculous gown. I mean, who thinks this
stupid thing looks good? Well, maybe it looks a little good, but I
can barely move in it.

I’m sweating up a storm and I can’t breathe.
There are under skirts and who knows what else under there. The top
is corseted and pulled as tight as they could get it. I think one
of the women actually put their leg up on the side of the tub to
get more leverage. But I guess my posture is pretty amazing right
now, because it’s impossible to slouch.

The dress is a deep teal
on the bodice and the top skirt. There’s a split in the center of
the skirt revealing a tufted underskirt that’s charcoal grey. Okay,
so I’ll admit it. It
is
actually beautiful, but so what. I have to get
out of here before Kale gets killed trying to rescue me, and before
I have to bed down with a stranger.

Maybe I can sweet-talk this King guy and
fool everyone into thinking I want to be here. Then, I’ll slip out
when I can. Piece of cake.

Someone adjusts one of the braids in my hair
before sitting next to me at the table. I move my head away when I
realize that it’s James. “You look stunning,” he compliments
me.

I don’t respond. He’s trying to make me
angry.

It’s working.

There are two ornate doors in this room.
Each one has a male servant flanking it. The servant furthest from
me reaches over and opens the door. He must have ESP or something,
because the King walks through.

He’s exactly what you’d expect some pompous,
middle-aged king to look like. He’s wearing his finest, dark green
robes with gold trim. He’s got a potbelly, pudgy round cheeks, and
bushy red eyebrows. But the things that stand out most are his
crooked nose and the jagged scar on his right jaw—battle wounds of
a brutal king.

James stands up beside me and nudges me to
do the same. I comply and rise for the King of the super-zoo. He
walks toward me and takes my hand, pulling me away my chair. He
wants to inspect his prize. “Turn,” he commands me. His “R’s” sound
weird.

I spin slowly for him, the whole time
wishing I could punch him in his fat gut. But I don’t. I even smile
when I face him again.

“
Very nice. A little thin,
but very beautiful. She will do just fine.” The more he speaks, the
less I hear the English accent I was expecting. I’m pretty sure
he’s Scottish. I look at him again and realize that he, in fact,
isn’t some bloated man that was born with a silver spoon in his
mouth. He’s actually a burly warlord playing dress up at a dinner
party for his new bride.

This may not be as easy as I thought.

***

For dinner we have some kind of roasted bird
with little potatoes and green beans. I eat greedily, which seems
to please the King. But when I get close to full, I feel guilty. I
know Kale and Victoria will be scraping for a handful of anything.
I remind myself that I will need the fuel when I get the
opportunity to run very far from here.

The King and James speak about James’ reward
for providing me as a virgin bride. “Yes. Yes,” the King says.
“You’ll get to keep your room here in the castle so long as you
continue to earn your keep. You’re to tend to the five horses that
the castle has procured. You’ll feed them, water them, and exercise
them. And you’ll do whatever else I tell you to.”

James seems pleased with this deal. “Yes,
King. I’ll start tomorrow.”

The King isn’t finished yet. He has a
warning for James. “Now, James, should this girl not be a virgin
upon our wedding night, I’ll have your head on a spike.
Understand?”

James nods, his fear evident on his handsome
face. I watch him swallow hard. Seeing him so scared makes me
smile.

“
Why do you find that
funny, girl? Are you not a virgin as James has promised?” The King
is beyond angry as he questions me.

“
Oh, no sir. No. I mean
I
am
a virgin,
but I smiled because I like the idea of James’ head on a spike.” My
face is engulfed in flames. I want to crawl under the table. I want
to beg him,
please don’t kill me
yet
.

This seems to satisfy the King for now.
“Well, we shall see won’t we?” he says.

Gross! Gross! Gross!

Just as the conversation and accusations
die, a male servant I haven’t seen before enters the room. He
whispers into James’ ear. James jumps up from his seat and bows
before the King. “Please excuse me, my King. I have some urgent
business to take care of.”