The delicate white frock's material cried as its torso was shred apart by the desert's unforgiving prejudice. The desert hated all things pretty, and the delicate pale skin of a woman was no exception.
"Help. Help," Wheezed the woman desperately as she hobbled through the shifting sands, clasping at her mud-stained dress to cover her exposed, bleeding mid-riff. "Please," her dry throat managed to scrape out, "Maniac. Monster." Finally she collapsed into the searing embrace of sun-soaked gravel. It was no use. As she felt her beautiful milk skin, the same skin that made her parents so proud of her, slowly peel away from her arms and face, she accepted her fate. The cougar that had slyly been stalking behind her had finally caught up and panted heavily onto her head, blowing apart her luscious locks now knotted and frayed. The rumble of its purr marked her end. Some princess she turned out to be.
Consciousness came to her before her sight did. Her head was bobbing up and down like a rag doll's on the base of her slender and delicate neck, and by the wind scratching at her open flesh she could tell that she was still moving. She was being carried. The growl of that cougar was still there, but she felt neither bites nor claws. Wait, that wasn't the growl of a cat. It was an engine, rumbling in the distance. She was safe! No. The memories of her other pursuer hit her in the chest like a bullet. The person that would be in that truck wouldn't save her. That monster would grab her by her bruised wrists once again and drag her back to the altar if he had to. The sharp sting of a fly landing on her face and spewing its acid onto her burnt flesh reminded her that she was probably disfigured. That's one less use that he had for her, but she knew he wouldn't relent. It wasn't really about beauty or love but about power, and it was power over her that he loved the most. Upon her cheek she could feel the fly's diseased sponge-like mouth lapping away at her liquefied blood, but just as she strained to muster up the strength to swat it away, something else did. That's right. If it wasn't a cougar carrying her, then what was? She could feel no pain besides that from the wind and dust on her front, and all the nerves on her back had been scorched away by the blazing sun. Cautiously she broke the pussy ooze that had caked her eyelids in order to catch a glimpse of what might as well be another gruesome fate awaiting her, but she saw neither monster nor beast as her eyes adjusted to the light of the Nether Regions. What welcomed her was not Death's skeletal visage, but the chiseled, ebony face of a man she did not know. His jaw stood out confidently against the azure-blue sky, dust-red eyes fixated determinedly on the horizon ahead. If her missing skin hadn't already exposed and seared all of her blood vessels, she would have been blushing profusely.
Her arid lips cracked open to mutter a word of gratitude, but the man swiftly covered her mouth with firm, a moisture-soaked hand. It was then she realised that the groan of the engine was coming ever closer. Her eyes widened in panic, and this man must have noticed her slight squirming. He gazed deeply into her soul, calmly and confidently, soothing all of her protests. Even given her dire circumstances, she could not resist being pacified by his gentle stare. And so without reason or logic, she decided to trust the strange native, and allowed her body to relax in his arms.
Her savior came slowly to a halt as the sound of gravel shifting on rubber tires indicated that the car had pulled up right next to them.
"Savage! Mongrel! Release my beloved, or the muzzle of this gun will not stay cold for much longer." It was Aldrich. Damn him. Even through all that he had subjected her to, she felt secure in the arms of the "mongrel", and risked the bravery of cursing him in her mind. That bastard had come to take her captive once again, but she knew that this kind stranger would not hand her over so easily. From the small time that she took in his countenance, she knew that he was a substantial man of honour. He would never...
Her arms dropped to her side as she was placed against the sticky leather of the Land Maverick's back seat.
She lay silently, stunned. Was she wrong? Had her savior abandoned her? Perhaps it served her right. She lived a sheltered life in her cozy castle, never meeting a person that might harm her. Maybe she was just as naive and stupid as her oppressor had warned. Once again she placed her faith in someone that betrayed her. Perhaps she deserved to be forced back to the ceremony, deserved the punishment she would get for running. Maybe she was better off just...
The metal vehicle swayed as she witnessed the strange man gracefully leap, muscular legs slicing through the air, behind the driver's seat, slipping his arm between her oppressor's chin and throat, pinning him against his seat. The cruel brat of a nobleman spasmed in his seat trying to resist the vice grip, to no avail.831Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvWakL8cNC
"Cur! You dare lay a hand on Prince Aldrich? You shall pay with your life!" he wheezed as his jugular was almost crushed.
The native glanced back at her, signalling silently that she had nothing to be afraid of.831Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2fMCXnWG7
"You're not prince yet!" she thought, as she defied him once again in the sanctuary of her thoughts. Her confidence was returning. She hadn't placed her faith wrongly after all.
The dark-skinned hero pointed towards the horizon with the swift stroke of a musclebound arm, directing without hesitation towards the East. Of course, she thought. The ocean! What little she learned of the Nether Regions she had learned from travelers' journals, and what they most vividly described was the fierce and horrific wildlife that inhabited the inner desert plains, the ones that she had blindly sprinted into. The beasts could easily out-pace a Land Maverick at full throttle, and could take down a War Horse with only a pack of three. And there were hundreds of them out there. If they could get to the coast and take the long way back towards safety, perhaps using the freshwater ocean to hide their scent, they could escape their predicament without being devoured alive. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, immediately convulsing from the pain that racked her ribs. She didn't know if she could make it. Once again she glanced towards the ebon for assurance, and his thick brown dreadlocks with golden strands intertwined between them, billowing like a flag in the wind, gave her the answer she needed. She would put her faith in him.
She closed her eyes and prepared for sleep, ignoring the satisfying curses and swears of the wretch Aldrich.
In her dreams she saw the native once again, standing proudly on top of the ridge of a mountain of sand, gazing into a sunset.831Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqShtGVEhOC
"What is your name?" she called out into the dusty winds.
Without turning to look at her, in a smooth, baritone voice he replied: "Ubuntu."831Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlgHJjsbTw
"'Buntu," she murmured, as she fell into a dreamless slumber.
Note: I'm not a lady, so I don't know what ya'll like, all that I know is that he was one handsome man.
And no it isn't discrimination, because I was the lady. I felt all that pain, I'm just telling it like it isn't.
ns 15.158.61.45da2
