Zarek dared to look up at Carlia, unable to believe her lie. After all he had done for her...
After the beating he'd received from her lover to protect her. How could she do this to him?
"My lady-"
Theodosius had viciously kicked him in the head, cutting off the rest of his words. "Silence, you worthless dog." He turned on his wife then. "I told you you should have left him in the cesspit. See you what happens when you feel sorry for creatures such as this?"
Then Theodosius had called for his guards.
Zarek had been summarily pulled from the room, and taken to the authorities. He'd tried to protest his innocence, but Roman justice followed one basic principle: guilty until proven innocent.
His word as a slave was nothing compared to Carlia's.
Over the course of a week, his Roman judges managed to torture a full confession from him.
He would have said anything to get them to stop their painful torture.
He'd never known more pain than he did that week. Not even his father's cruelty could match the instruments of the Roman government.
And so he'd been convicted. He, a virgin who had never touched a woman's flesh in any way, was going to be executed for raping his owner.
"They dragged me from my cell and led me through town where everyone was gathered to spit on me," he whispered woodenly to Astrid. "They jeered and tossed rotten food, calling me every name you can imagine. The soldiers untied me from the wagon and dragged me to the center of the crowd. They tried to stand me up, but both my legs were broken. Ultimately, they left me there on my hands and knees so that the crowd could stone me. You know, I can still feel the rocks raining against my body. Hear them telling me to die."
Astrid struggled to breathe as he finished his tale.
"I'm so sorry, Zarek," she whispered, aching for him.
"Don't patronize me," he growled.
She leaned against him and pressed her lips to his cheek. "Believe me, I'm not. I would never patronize anyone with your strength."
He tried to pull away from her, but she held him fast. "I'm not strong."
"Yes you are. I don't know how you stood the pain of your life. I've always felt alone, but not the way you have."
He relaxed a degree as she leaned against his side. She wished she could see him now. See the emotions in his dark eyes.
"You know, I'm not really crazy."
She smiled. "I know you're not."
He let out a long, tired sigh. "Why didn't you go off with Jess when you had the chance? You could be safe now."
"If I leave you before the judgment is complete, the Fates will kill you."
"So what?"
"I don't want you to die, Zarek."
"You keep saying that and I still don't know why."
Because I love you. The words lodged in her throat. She wanted desperately to have the courage to say them out loud to him, but she knew he wouldn't accept it.
Not her Prince Charming.
He would growl and push her away because in his mind such a thing didn't exist.
He didn't understand it.