Free Shattered by Alexia Foxx

though.  “I take responsibility for that.  I put you in a situation that practically demanded that you disobey me, when I knew that you don’t have that kind of control.  But that doesn’t excuse the rest.  Do you know what else you did?”
    “No Mistress,” he whispered again.  His mind was muddled by his arousal and while fear and confusion had dampened that some it still clouded his thinking.  Nathan tensed as he heard her rise off the stone ledge.  She left him there, waist deep in water, as she moved around the room and got dressed.
    “Get out,” Robin commanded .  She was somewhere near the entrance.  Nathan followed her voice, spreading his hands in front of him to feel his way out of the water.  He dripped still and cold air flowed over his skin from the door left ajar.  Robin thrust his robes into his hands.
    “ Outside of my quarters no one needs to know you’re here.  Put it back on.”
    Nathan gave a short little nod as he slipped the robe on.  Any discomfort he felt then he hid as she yanked the hood up over his head.
    The way back was shorter it seemed, or Nathan was just more distracted.  He stopped focusing so much on what was outside the blindfold and the times he stumbled were no more than blips in his thoughts.  Robin had told him a lot.  He was so much closer to home than he would have ever guessed and the people here, whoever they were, didn’t know who he was.  If he could get word to the castle they would send men after him.
    By the time they reached her quarters they weren’t alone.  Two hallways ago they gained company.  Nathan already knew Robin had some signals worked out with his handlers , but it unnerved him how well she could communicate with them without speaking.
    Robin left him with them and stalked off towards the door.  The distinct click of her boots faded as hands fell upon him.  They stripped away the thin sheet of cloth that divide him from nakedness.  They moved with a singular aim, like a cohesive unit without voice.
    Nathan waited until they had the leather cuffs back on his wrists and were tying knots over them before he worked up the courage to defy Robin.  It was strange – now that he didn’t know what he had done wrong, now that he couldn’t determine what she wanted, he finally felt free to exhibit his own will again.
    “Stop it,” he commanded, as firmly as possible.  He was in Surnat still.  These were his people.  “My brother is Trent Dorthorial, King of Surnat and all her surrounding providences.  I am the second heir and I demand you release me.”
    H e did his best to hide his uncertainty, his fear, but something was odd about these people.  They were too quiet.
    And t here was no change.  He felt his arms being drawn up over his head by the rope tied to each wrist.  He began to panic.
    “Whatever she is paying you I will triple. One letter to the castle and you will want for nothing ever again.”
    The tension on the rope continued to increase until Nathan hardly made contact with the floor at all.  His handlers were worse than cruel, they were indiff erent, and no amount of struggling or pleading got any reaction at all out of them.
    “Say something,” Nathan shouted at them, frustrated by how diligently they worked within that silence.
    “That’s enough prince,” Robin said from the doorway, and Nathan felt the blood drain from his face.  Her voice was flat, emotionless, just like it’d been on that first day.  “Your handlers are deaf, all of them.  Didn’t I just tell you that I deal in secrets?  Did you really think the men that serve me would be able to hear them?  You can plead and shout at them all you like, but I’d much rather you save your voice.  You’re going to need it today.”
    Nathan felt that last shred of hope disintegrate.  What little slack he was afforded he slumped against.  His chin went to his chest and he found no will to raise it.
    Robin moved around but the sound barely