As the Storm Passes
Soft sobs in the darkness ... a female’s moan of pain and agony. Silence… a scream and more crying… Sheeba.
Atoka approached cautiously, a bit unsure of why the Saurian Lady was crying alone, in the dark, in his apartment. Things had changed so much between the two of them since Dragaunus had returned to Puck World…
“Sheeba?” He called out softly, seeing her curled up into a ball on his bed. “What’s wrong? Did Dragaunus do something to you?”
The thunder outside helped to silence her soft whimper a bit. “He.. took Venessa earlier by force… I tried to stop him like I have before…but he…” A flash of lightning lit up the room, and she didn’t need to go any farther with her words, jagged, bloody claw marks ripped down both sides of her face, he robe and the comforter on Atoka’s bed were stained with blood… it looked as though someone had done their best to remove all of the flesh from her face.
“Oh Sheeba…” he gasp, taking her gently in his arms and comforting her through the night.
***
Sannah was awoke by a loud clap of thunder in the early morning hours. Shivering under her blanket, she glanced at her digital read out clock. 1:03 in the morning. Another loud clap of thunder followed by lightning was enough to send the girl screaming into her father’s room. “Daddy! Daddy, oh Daddy, can I stay with you tonight?” An unfamiliar form rested in her father’s arms, a scent she didn’t know, a stranger.
With a click, a soft light came on in the room, Sannah’s father and a white Saurian female, Sheeba, relaxed into each other’s arms. “Daddy, who’s she?” The girl, roughly three, and a hybrid asked.
“Sannah? Is that…really you?” Sheeba murmured, struggling to sit up.
“Daddy…who is she?!” Sannah cried, making her way to her father’s side of the bed.
Atoka looked away, unable to confront his daughter.
“Can it be child, that you’ve became so beautiful over the past four years?” Sheeba asked, trying to coax the child to stop avoiding all eye contact with her.
“Sheeba, no.” Atoka said firmly, interrupting.
“Atoka, she has a right to know.” Sheeba whimpered in an almost scared voice.
“To tell her would be putting all our lives in danger.” He replied coldly.
“Then we’ll just have to take that chance.”
Reaching out, Sheeba placed a trembling hand on Sannah’s shoulder, the child trembling and crying out as a response. Sighing, Atoka began. “My precious daughter… I told you when you first asked that your mother died giving birth to you, do you remember?” She simply nodded, keeping her face buried in her father’s sleeping robe. “I wasn’t completely truthful. You see.. your mother is Lady Sheeba, or this Saurian here… I never told you because if Dragaunus ever found out, he’d have you and I killed, and possibly even Sheeba.”
The young girl raised her head, staring in disbelief, until a loud clap of thunder shook the apartment once more. “Why she not stay with us?” Sannah whimpered, staring up into her father’s cold steel-silver eyes.
“When you were born, Dragaunus was on Earth… Sheeba was in control of the Empire… not long after you were born, the Empire fell, Sheeba and I were separated, you with me, and Sheeba by herself on the streets. She was then taken to Earth…by the time she returned, Dragaunus had already ask her to become his mate, and she’d accepted… if anyone ever knew you were hers…” Atoka’s voice trailed off as he hugged the girl.
“Please understand, I would have stayed with you if I could have…” Sheeba sighed, taking Sannah from Atoka’s lap and holding her like a baby. “There wasn’t a day that went by that I never thought of you… my first child… my precious baby girl.” Sheeba could go no farther for the tears in her eyes, and broke down sobbing, just holding Sannah there close like she’d been unable to do for a good three and a half years.
“Venessa!” Sheeba yelped, recovering from the rush of emotion that came with holding her child for the first time in years. “Atoka… I have to go check on her... Dragaunus could of killed her, or worse. He’s just so very unpredictable anymore…”
“Be careful Sheeba, that’s all I ask.” Atoka answered softly, taking Sannah back into his arms.
***
Fading into Venessa and Darqe’s shared quarters, muffled crying and Darqe’s lecturing of her sister confronted Sheeba. “Venessa, if you would have just played along like I told you to and let him do as he pleased with you, he never would have hurt you this bad…”
“He hurt her?!” Sheeba gasp from the shadows, frantically scrambling to where Venessa lay on her bed. “Oh Venessa I’m so sorry. . I never should have left you I tried to stop him...please Venessa say you’re all right!” Sheeba cried as basically one long word.
“I understand Sheeba…” The small female replied, raising her snout up out of her pillow. “It isn’t your fault… he did it because he could, I’m just lucky he never did it before.”
“Venessa, it is her fault! If Sheeba wouldn’t have ever told you to fight back, Dragaunus wouldn’t have gotten so enraged and he may not have forced you to do anything you didn’t want to!” Darqe shrieked, glaring at Sheeba as if she was trying to kill Venessa.
“Well…” Sheeba replied softly, casting some sort of sleeping spell over Darqe. “Come on Venessa, Dragaunus will return before long, and when he does, he can have Darqe. I know of a safe place was an stay until this whole thing passes over, an old friend of mine’s home. ” Sheeba whispered softly to the spotted female, tracing her soft velvety ears with her claws, and kissing her cheek gently before teleporting herself and Venessa back to Atoka’s place.
***
“Now tell me Venessa, what happened?” Sheeba asked softly, wrapping the young Saurian in a blanket and offering her a cup of warm milk.
“I’ll try Sheeba, I really will.” She replied, almost in tears. Sheeba’s hand on her shoulder helped to calm her a bit as she began. “At about eight or so, one of the servants came in to get me. He said that Dragaunus was requesting my presence in his private chambers at about nine. He’d told the servant I was to be made presentable, or whatever. So I was cleaned, fed and put into a next-to-nothing night robe.”
Venessa stopped, looking up at Sheeba, the first and only one she’d met so far that she trusted.
“Go on child, I have to know what happened to know how to try and prevent it from happening again.”
Smiling softly with a nod, Venessa continued. “Anyway, I figured nothing really bad would happen, you know? Just like those several times before when he cornered me in his quarters. When I arrived, I found Dragaunus…err…less than sober…after a while of resisting his advances he attacked me, and you heard my screams and walked in…and”
“I’m sorry…” Sheeba sighed, holding the now-crying Venessa until her sobs were quieted. “I’m so sorry. Poor girl, you sleep now. I’ll confront Dragaunus about it later on when he’s in his right mind again.” Sheeba said with a heavy sigh, resting her head against Venessa’s shoulder and holding her until she was asleep.
***
The next morning Sheeba reluctantly found herself a long side of Venessa back in the main control tower, Dragaunus and Sheeba’s shared chambers.
Even though Sheeba had taken a severe beating the previous night at the hands of her mate for trying to defend Venessa, she still stood up to him.
Venessa was extremely grateful for this, no one had ever protected her before, not her father, mother, sister. No one. For the same reason she was afraid. Afraid Dragaunus would hurt the both of them again, possibly even worse. Sheeba had respect and love for the Overlord, but absolutely not fear.
“Dragaunus, if you’re not going to talk to me, at least tell Venessa why. Why you had to go and hurt her like that.” He only snorted as he sit with his hear in his hands at the only small table in their quarters.
Venessa quivered involuntarily, and took sudden interest in the floor.
“Aren’t you at least going to say something in your defense?” Sheeba growled in a low tone.
He looked up at her, eyes glowing softly in the morning light which flooded the room. “You. Venessa. Darqe. You are mine to do with as I please. When you act like you did last night Sheeba, I have no choice to discipline you. I can’t have mass chaos among my females.”
She lowered her head, seeming both shocked and hurt and walked out, followed closely by Venessa.
“What are we gonna’ do about him?” Venessa whimpered.
“I’m not sure...he’s changed…” Sheeba replied, sounding absolutely lost.
