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«What the hell happened to you in there?» Hunter burst out, angry to see her so distant and cold. «Answer me, damn it!»
«It doesn’t matter.» Serena stumbled a little, but caught herself on the wall, freezing for a couple of moments, as if trying to gather her strength to continue her way. «I need rest.»
«Serena, please…»
«I need rest. Stop bugging me, Hunter!» she wasn’t even looking at him.
Lindon walked behind, noting every bruise and cut on her visible skin, and wondering what exactly happened to her in prison, if the Empress arrested the men, who brought Serena to the trial. Even though he saw a lot with his keen eyes, he still couldn’t really understand what she could have gone through behind the doors of the Veluthian prison.
«Did they feed you?» Lindon asked, watching the woman curl up, tensing from the sound of his voice.
«I’m not hungry.» Serena retorted.
Hunter jolted forward and stood in front of her, forcing her to stop.
«Talk to us!» he demanded. «What the hell, Serena?»
She kept looking under her feet, not raising her eyes to look at him. For a second he noticed her gritting her teeth, before she stepped aside to walk around him. The man grabbed her arm to stop her, but he wasn’t ready to face what happened next.
Serena twisted with her body, shoving him into the wall:
«SHUT UP!» she screamed, still not looking into his eyes. «Leave me the fuck alone! All this can wait! All your measly questions, all your worries – they can wait! SHUT UP! Leave me alone, will you?!»
She pushed him aside and hurried further on, leaving the men puzzled at this outburst.
Lindon saw Hunter’s expression turning sour – the man was definitely suspecting that something terrible had happened to his woman, and he was definitely feeling helpless, because Serena wasn’t in the mood to open up to them all as to what exactly happened to her while she was held in confinement awaiting the trial.
Before Hunter would dart after the woman, Lindon caught his arm, stopping him. He knew that if anyone would try to talk to her again, it could make her fury take over. He didn’t know if they would be able to handle whatever she could do then, as she was obviously distraught and incapable of keeping herself calm, even though she tried hard to remain calm around them.
«Give her a little space, Hunter.» Lindon said quietly.
«Let me go, Lindon!» Hunter tried to free his arm, but Lindon held him tight.
«Don’t do anything stupid. She’s in no mood to be subjected to our questions.» the Veluthian shook his head.
«But…»
«I know!» Lindon hissed, feeling anger rising within. «We have to give her time! I know how badly you want to help her, but right now she wants none of us to approach her!»
Wolfin walked on, wondering if his ward would be able to at least tell them if she needed any medical attention or not. Lindon met Hunter’s frustrated and desperate gaze and let go of his arm.
«We need to give her time.» Lindon said. «Please respect her enough to give her this.»
Hunter gritted his teeth and hurried after Wolfin, aching for the woman he loved. Lindon stood for a moment, before following the man.
They caught up to Serena as she approached the captain’s quarters and opened the door.
«Serena…» Hunter called out and she froze for a second.
«I’m in no mood for company.» she replied.
Serena walked into the captain’s quarters and immediately shut the door, locking it from inside. Hunter tried to reason, but no response reached him through the communication device near the door. The man turned to Lindon and Wolfin, standing there with very concerned expressions:
«What the fuck did those Veluthian prison guards do to her?» he asked, his voice cracking from worry and desperation.
Both Veluthians stayed silent, not really knowing what torment she could have lived through inside the prison walls.
Chapter 7. Attempt
Hunter sat at the dining table, barely touching his food and grasping at his head.
«Give her time, alright?» Wolfin sat next to the man.
«Oh, fuck off.» Hunter growled.
«Don’t push us away, Hunter.» Lindon sat on the opposite side. «We’re here to help.»
«What help, huh? She’s been locked in Cipher’s quarters for a week now!» Hunter bared his teeth at the Veluthian. «And you can’t even tell me what those prison guards could have done to her.»
«She suffered defeat, Hunter.» Wolfin shook his head. «To her it’s a bitter thing to go through. She lived her whole life trying to be the best of all of Veluthian and Laithorian warriors.»
«The best warriors stand up and continue fighting.»
«We know that. But give her time to heal, her pride was wounded greatly.»
«Then why doesn’t she want to see me? Or even you? Don’t you think our company wouldn’t help her heal from whatever blow to her pride she took?» Hunter was becoming angry with each word he said.
«Look…» Lindon leaned over the table. «You have to understand that she had never suffered defeat. Never. She was always stronger than all her peers, all her comrades and everyone who ever wanted to take a swing at her. She exhausted herself in ways none of us thought reasonable. And she really became the best. Veluthians love to become stronger, but she made it her life’s goal. And now she was forced to surrender and be taken prisoner for the things she hadn’t done.»
«And what do you propose I do? Give up on her? Forget it and act like nothing happened?» Hunter hit the table.
«We propose you be there for her when she finally comes out.» Wolfin sighed. «She will come out, trust me. She just needs a bit of time to come to terms with what happened.»
«There has to be something we could do to help her through it.»
Lindon glanced at Laneth, who walked into the dining area, engaged in something on the information tablet in her hands.
«Maybe… we could ask for a favour?» Lindon said.
Wolfin and Hunter saw him looking at Laneth and exchanged glances.
«You think Serena would see Laneth and not us?» Hunter growled angrily.
«Well… think about it. If she won’t see us, maybe she would be open to at least speak to Laneth?» Lindon shrugged. «I’m grasping at straws here, Hunter. Don’t blame me for it.»
«Wolfin?»
«It’s a good thought.» Wolfin sighed. «Just… don’t push Laneth to do something we can all regret, alright?»
«I’m regretting allowing Serena to come here in the first place!» Hunter hit the table with his fist.
Wolfin noticed how Laneth looked their way.
«Look, we all know it was her decision!» Wolfin said. «We had to trust her…»
«And look where it got us!» Hunter jumped to his feet.
Wolfin sighed and stood up, stepping aside:
«She’s been cleared of her charges. The son of the man we were investigating is arrested. Her assumptions towards her surrender were correct.» the man headed towards Laneth, who stood there, watching the heated discussion the men had.
Lindon breathed out:
«No matter what happened in prison, Serena was right to put her trust in the Empress.»
«But it does matter, Lindon!» Hunter leaned over the table, gritting his teeth. «I can’t just allow her to be locked up in the captain’s quarters all this time! I have to know what happened…»
Laneth slowly and cautiously approached the men.
«Wolfin said you wanted to ask me something?» she said.
Lindon met her worried gaze and stood, stepping closer to her:
«Look, I won’t be tiptoeing around. We need your help.»
«Is it about Serena?» Laneth seemed to become tense.
«Yes. She locked herself up in Cipher’s quarters, and none of us really know what happened to her. Hunter is worried, we all are, and we need answers. We thought, maybe, you would be able to help us reach out to her?»
Laneth glanced at Hunter and saw him closing his eyes.
«You know I’d be happy to help, I’m just not sure if I can do anything…» she shrugged.
«It doesn’t matter if you think you can… she doesn’t want to see any of us. Just… try and talk to her, maybe? It would mean the world to us.»
Hunter straightened and looked into Laneth’s eyes:
«Laneth, I really need to know what happened to her. Please. Help us. I can’t bear the thought she’s been locked up in that room for a week now!»
«Just… talk to her.» Lindon asked, pleadingly looking at Laneth, who stood there, lost to what she could do to help. «That’s all we ask of you. Talk to her.»
«I mean…» Laneth sighed. «I can try, but… I’m not sure she’s up for conversations right now.»
«She loves fireball…» Hunter gritted his teeth. «Maybe, you can break the ice with that? Offer her a drink?»
Laneth sighed again:
«I’ll try.»
Lindon smirked, but his smile faded, when he understood that even with all their efforts, Serena might not be open to talk to anyone yet.
It didn’t take them too long to let Laneth have a meal, before grabbing a bottle of fireball and heading to the captain’s quarters. The men gave her some space, keeping far behind, and watched her walking up to the door cautiously.
Laneth slowly approached the door and hesitated, glancing over her shoulder, seeing Hunter, Wolfin and Lindon standing ways away, by the corner, watching her.
«Captain?» Laneth called out. «Can I please speak with you?»
«Leave me alone, all of you.» they heard Serena responding, her voice quiet and seemingly pained.
«Serena, please.» Laneth pleaded. «I wanted your input on some new designs I made…»
«This can wait.»
«I… uh… brought you some of that fireball whiskey you love so much. Can you at least open the door so I could give it to you?»
A silence fell for a good minute, before the door slid open and everyone saw Serena standing there – eyes looking down, her – now short – hair ruffled like it hadn’t been brushed all these days. She was wearing the same clothing she had on when they released her, which made her friends think she hadn’t once used the shower.
The woman offered Serena the bottle, seeing tracks of tears on her face:
«If you don’t want to talk… I can just keep you some company?»
Serena silently took the bottle and made a step back, shaking her head and declining. Laneth looked down, defeated, and suddenly noticed a very small detail no one else has – a few blood stains on the inner thighs, long dried on the clothes. The door slid shut again, leaving Laneth outside in a harsh realisation to the reasons behind Serena’s wish to remain alone all these days.
She turned, glancing at the men and thought if she should be telling them about her terrifying assumption.
Chapter 8. Dinner
Serena watched the helper bot cleaning up the shards of glass left after she smashed the empty bottle against the wall, and the thought of her being all alone, silent and distant from her crew, made her feel even worse than she did before.
She stood, heading to the bathroom and began ripping off the clothes she was given in prison. The helper bot chimed, noting the new field of work.
As soon as she walked into the shower and switched the water on, she felt the need for the water to be scorching hot – to wash off everything that her body had left on it after being under investigation. She spent a few hours curled up on the floor, soaking, thinking of how humiliated and defeated she felt.
When she finally forced herself to her feet and washed the remaining filth off, she got out of the shower and looked at her reflection in the mirror, seeing the jagged, uneven haircut she was given. Grabbing a pair of scissors, she gritted her teeth and began cutting bits of hair, forming a better length and form she could pull off. Though, once the most part was finished, she glanced at the extremely short bits of hair running on her right temple and threw the scissors down, grabbing a trimmer.
Finally, she finished her haircut and looked at herself in the mirror, seeing a shortly shaved right side and the rest of her hair combed to the left side, forming long locks falling to her cheekbone and jaw that made her look like one of the women who fought in Dharna Nole.
Serena looked down, swallowing a lump in her throat.
The defeat hit her harder than everything else. And the raping she had endured was all the more hurtful.
All that humiliation, all that pain… and for what? To get her name cleared? To have a few scumbags incarcerated? She knew not if her effort was anywhere near to finishing the group of Veluthian traitors that seemed to have gotten into things that shouldn’t have been shared with the rest of the Human Universe. However harsh the punishment may be, there will be none that will help her wash off the shame and memories of her body being defiled again and again while she was kept in the prison that was supposed to be up to code.
She walked out of the bathroom, shivering and deciding to distract herself from the uneasy thoughts, and thought if she could borrow some clothes from Cipher, who had a number of Veluthian outfits, but never used them, preferring something he purchased himself. Glancing into his clothing station, she noted the captain’s black and blue outfit Cipher hadn’t put on once, and chose it, altering it to fit her with the help of the automated appendages that were meant to help adjust or fix clothing if it was damaged.
When she dressed up, feeling a little bit more collected, she thought if she would be strong enough to finally face her crew.
«Captain Serena, you are being hailed by a representative of Empress Alathea, High Counsellor Nifin Dal Jalaar.» the deep male voice of SS Growler made Serena flinch. «Will you take the call?»
