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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Evermark Chapter 5

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-Chapter 5-
March 6, 1609
-Liam-

Several times Liam lost his footing and hit the ground behind the horses’ trotting hooves. Guards were quick to strike him with the hilt of their swords, all the while hurling insult after insult upon him, forcing him back to his feet. He mustered what little strength he had left to pull himself off the ground as he was towed through the muck behind the moving horses. He knew he deserved every bit of it.
The verbal attacks of the guards were greater than the physical ones, for they played to his guilt and his shame. They mocked and scorned him, letting him know that he was scum, and he knew they were right. He was no better than the horse manure through which he walked. He had never craved death more fully than he did at this moment.
               Avendale’s dungeon was located a mere twenty minutes by foot from the docks on the outskirts of the town. The twenty-minute walk felt more like twenty hours to Liam. He looked up to catch a glimpse of the ghastly towering stone fortress standing menacingly before him—the Cirian Guard dungeon. Tears started to well up in his eyes as reality took hold. He knew enough to suppress the tears. Guards beat prisoners for showing evidence of weakness, and he had been beaten enough for now.
As they pulled to a stop, one of the cloaked guards dismounted and released the chain from behind the horses. Seizing the chain in his hands, he gave it a tight jerk to force Liam to scramble after him. The shackles around his wrists and ankles cut into his skin, causing blood to drip down his feet and hands. The guard gave a cruel chuckle.
“Get used to it,” he spat.
The guards marched him through the entrance of the dungeon and down the pathway that led to the cells below. They led him deeper and deeper into the underground labyrinth. Liam could feel it getting colder and darker with each step. He knew they’d reached the bottom when the pathway opened up into a large circular room. Torches lined the walls.
The guards wasted no time. Shoving him to the center of the room, they tore off his clothing piece by piece until he stood naked before them.
“You messed with the wrong young lady,” one sneered. “Lucius Shade’s stepdaughter? You’ll be lucky to see the dawn of day.”
They pulled him by the chains down an adjoining corridor. Soon they had reached the quarters where the prisoners were housed. Mockingly the guards paraded Liam before the rest of the prisoners, chanting before him, “Here before you walks the filth of the earth, the scum who molested our head guard’s stepdaughter.”
Yells and bellows of disgust rippled through the hall.
“Have your way with him,” a guard scorned as he shoved Liam to the stone floor.
Fear paralyzed him. In a flash he foresaw his life coming to an end. Is this how it’s to be? Beaten to death by an angry mob of inmates? But he was no molester. Nothing could be further from the truth. It had been consensual. And they had come to him and seduced him. He thought back to Opal’s pursuits and advances. He had tried to resist. Oh, how he had tried.
Then again, at this point, what did it matter, anyway? He had nothing left to live for. If this was how his life would end, then so be it.
He wouldn’t have to wait for long. To Liam’s surprise, a large man strode over and picked him up off the ground.
“Anyone who touches this man will answer to me,” was all the man said.
The prisoners shouted obscenities, but they knew better than to lay a hand on Liam.
“Thank you,” Liam whispered.
“I can help you,” the man murmured.
Liam nodded in gratitude.
The guards returned an hour later. To their disappointment, they found that Liam had no additional wounds other than the ones they themselves had inflicted upon him. Gruffly they dragged him away and put him in a cold, isolated cell of his own.
One flickering torch on a wall outside his cell shed light to his surroundings. Once his eyes had adjusted to the dimness, Liam pulled himself to his feet and strained his eyes to look around. Not that there was much to look at. He could reach out his hands and touch the opposing walls simultaneously. Looking down, he beheld a dirty, cold stone floor. The smell of human excrement filled his nostrils. With it came a new wave of nausea. He grabbed for his stomach, but the act of doing so caused a searing pain to shoot through his wrists. His wounds. He looked around to see what he could do to ease the pain, but as he had suspected, there was nothing in the dank cell but soiled straw. He sank to his knees.
This life had nothing left for him. His family was gone. His marriage was gone. His business was gone. All was gone.
Giving up, he curled up into a fetal position on the foul floor and wept. With not a soul around, the sobs came relentlessly, and his entire body shook.
“Please, Abba,” was all he could mutter.

Facedown in filth, Liam wept until he could weep no more. Out of sheer exhaustion, he began to doze. Broken dreams came in the night—dreams of home and the life that he had ruined.

Christian Historical Fiction
Available Formats: Hardback, Paperback, Ebook
Written by:
Annie B. Carwyn
Published By: WestBow Press 
Based on true events in the life of Jill Sousa

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