I am Reborn through Revenge

Memory of Livinas

I hate going to sleep when something is bothering me. Especially when it’s something serious. Now, it was midnight. Alone in my room, my mind engrossed in something, something vague. My eyes were heavy yet my mind was restless. I didn’t feel like sleeping but yet I couldn’t seem to control it.

Slowly, I kept drizzling away. Far away. Who are these all people?

I found myself in a cage—an iron cage, driven by a black horse. My hands were tied at my back and my hair was shorter than it had grown to be. It was tied in a ponytail at my back. My butt was hurting and the heat from the sun shone through the uncovered spaces at the roof of the cage, scorching on my skin. If I keep my head straight, it would be hitting the top of the cage so I had to keep it slanted to prevent my head from poking repeatedly on it— caused by the rough terrain with lots of gallops. My neck was causing me severe pain but yet I had no choice. There was a man beside me(on a horse) outside the cage. He was short, broad, and heavy-chested. His head was balding and his chin was fat. His age was hard to tell. His arms and legs were huge and he had a monster look. He looked like a soldier but more like a hired mercenary except that he didn’t wear any uniform. He had a long whip on one hand and his sandals were looped about tightly from his feet to his knee.

“Faster, useless horse,” said a husky voice at my back. I thought I was alone with the monster-looking man but it wasn’t quite true. Slowly, I managed to turn around my head, looking behind me. I saw another group of men, maybe six or eight of them, well-armed. It was as if they were all born of the same parents. Same height. Size. Ferocious look. Name it, they looked alike. I couldn’t even differentiate between the men. I don't know if it was because I had been hurt so badly. I don’t know if it was because I was thirsty and hungry. But I knew those men were brutal and their expression doesn’t look like people that joke around. I looked carefully inside the second cage being led by a horse behind me, I saw Brady. He was looking dead-dead. He lied on his back but his eyes were closed. He looked like he had been beaten and whipped. Blood welled down from his nose, and his clothes were stained in red. I pitied him.

The ferocious man beside me took notice of me. “You are awake?” he asked with a smirk on his face. A mischievous smile manifested as he eyed me.

I grumbled, growled, and squealed. I couldn’t even answer him and even if I could, I didn’t want to. “You little piece of s**t, I thought they said that you were a Prince?” he asked, his voice scornful. The other men in the back laughed at me mockingly, muttering different words that would hurt me even more if I had listened to it.

“Where are you taking us to?” I asked, summoning one of the last energies remaining in my body. He laughed. It was long and loud.

“You don’t know?” he asked with a smirk on his face. “We are moving straight to Livinas. Your new home. It’s a pity that we may not make it there today.”

Livinas? I overheard Veronica saying something about Livinas to some guards just three days after my mother had been killed which was the same day I was taken away. I understood that there was some sort of connection between what she was discussing with the guards to what I was passing through.

“My friend? Is he dead?” I asked him, my voice was pale. If I was this tired, then what would be of Brady? I was concerned.

“Oh! The foolish servant?” he said and turned around. He stopped his horse and stopped mine too. “If I had killed him, then I would have had one less of a problem. The only reason why he is still breathing is that he intrigued me. I mean a lot. He took a lot of whipping in your place. Who does that? Who would love to be bashed for an offense he didn’t commit? Honestly speaking, I wish I had a friend who could do that for me. He is a loyal slave.” His voice became surprisingly soft. He made the horses move again.

I imagined how much pain Brady might have passed through. I also understood that the man who was speaking to me was the leader of the gang. For him to spare Brady, if what he said was true, then he must be their leader, I thought.

It was dusk and Brady wasn’t still awake. I became overly worried about him. But what can I possibly do? I don’t even have enough energy to untie the rope used to wrap my hands together let alone finding my way through the cage. Thinking of breaking outside the cage wasn’t even an option at that moment, and even if it was, I wouldn’t even try it. I was cocksure that there was no way I could hold off one of these men even if I spent the whole day eating and drinking.

“Halt!” the man beside me yelled. “We’ll make tents here. We will pass the night here and continue our journey tomorrow,” he added. He got down from his horse and the other men did the same.

They gathered dried tinder and sorted them into different clumps. I watched them as they lit a fire with some of the tinder, brought out some meat from their bags, and simmered it. They sat in a circle with a fire burning in their middle. I heard them chanting, singing, grumbling, and talking. Their laughs were very loud and sometimes the reasons for laughing didn’t make sense to me. It was getting darker and Brady was still lying helplessly in the cage. My heart started to beat so fast. It was beating against my chest and I could hear it. I was so-so worried.

“That one had been sleeping. Ha-ha.” One of the men said, laughing.

“Or perhaps dead!” another man said, laughing so hard even more than the first one.

Oh no!

I mumbled the word “Please” but it seemed like I was talking to myself. None of them heard me. I wanted to beg them to tend to his wound—Wait! I mean to first check if he was alive at least.

I watched one of the men stand up, picking up a metallic cup. I couldn’t tell what was inside. He walked towards Brady, opening the chains gaging the iron door. He emptied the content of the cup on Brady’s face.

Brady coughed. I sighed in relief. At least he was alive. The man looked at me, his eyes were horrifying. The edges of his mouth ended in lines. The lines were not natural ones. It looked more like tribal marks. His chin was round—looks like he got it from too much beef. His stomach sagged and puffed out but it doesn’t in any way discredit how balanced he looked. As I said, the men looked like they were born of the same parents therefore, they share the same physical characteristics.

“Hey you cunt!” the man yelled at me. “How are you feeling? Comfortable I guess?” he asked. I was looking at him with heavy eyes. My vision was becoming blurry but I was able to read his shaking lips—he was chewing the meat they had simmered in the fire.

“Water, please,” I told him.

He laughed so hard that even a vein appeared in the middle of his forehead. His mouth was wide that you can easily read the number of teeth he had.

“Your wish is my command, Princess,” he said mockingly and bowed. I saw him making a walk to where they had assembled, just close to the fire. He fetched another water with the cup and he came walking toward me.

He opened the cage and grabbed the back of my neck with one hand, forcing me out of my position. He regarded me with those horrible eyes—like a cat about to eat its prey. “Drink, Princess.” He yelled at me.

I tried to avoid his gaze, which was frightening. I just wanted to quench my taste and believe me, I didn’t want to make him change his mind. So I thought that avoiding his gaze by all means necessary would be the right thing to do.

Perfect! Wise Anon!

“Open up” he ordered. He pressed his strong fingers on my teenage, delicate lips., forcing my lips to open. He then spat inside the cup of water and forced me to drink it. At first, I grudged but then I decided to take it. Once I noticed enough water was in my mouth, I splashed it all on his face.

His eyes flamed with anger. He furrowed his chin in a frown. His eyes dimmed and his lips widened. I could tell from his look that I was in big trouble. “Ahhhhhh… ahhh!” he screamed, calling for the other men's attention. They all immediately gathered around him.

“What is it?” one of the men asked. And then another again. And the another asked. He didn’t even answer the question. He just forced me down from the cage and made me lie on the cold floor and began to match me with his boots. Others joined in the crusade without even asking him me or him what I did wrong. They hit me so hard in such a way that it began to feel less painful. I was seeing my body moving and responding to their kicks but I felt no pain whatsoever.