Daughter of Ziva Ch. 04

There were words like hiding, valley, and eight that she caught, giving her wisps of hope that some of her people were hidden away. Maybe even that they had only captured eight of her people.

Then there were words like ass, slut, and body that made her skin crawl and an anger that harboured violence to grow in her gut. She knew they were talking about their captives, and the heat of that violent fury was enough to scare her. It made her want to hurt and damage and ruin, things so far outside of the realm of her previous life it brought tears to her eyes. She buried the voice that told her this wasn't what she wanted. It didn't matter.

Sienna had stopped doing things that could end in her hurting herself, like she had promised Sergei, and before yesterday had been too weak to act on the plan she had to escape. Throwing that fit with Sergei the night Maria and her daughters arrived had wiped her of all her energy. She had slept for most of three days, Sergei waking her twice a day to feed her and take her on a walk, only for her to pass out within moments of returning to the tent.

Though she was disappointed in herself for wasting three days she could have been gathering information and attempting escape, she had to admit today she felt more alive than she had since she had first been captured. Her stomach only hurt if she moved too quickly and she could take deep breaths without pain. Her bruises were still abundant, but they looked scarier than they felt. Her hands were still unhappy with their previous treatment, but the small cuts had crusted over and were well on their way to healing.

Yesterday she had started working on the metal stake that held her foot. She noticed the small dislodging of dirt on the far side of the stake from when she had been kicking it and knew if she tried that again and failed to escape before Rorik returned, he would notice. She wasn't sure he wouldn't notice the dislodging of dirt as it was now, and it scared her enough to pack to the dirt back down.

The only way she could figure she could escape was pulling the stake straight out of the earth. That way she could work on it, tugging and pulling in the time she was alone, and there would be no way to tell. The day before she had spent most of the day tugging the stake straight up until the pain started cropping up in her back and stomach again. She had done the same today after she had come back from her walk with Sergei. It had shifted only slightly, but streams made rivers made lakes made oceans. She just needed time.

Sergei appeared in the space between the two tent flaps. He met her eyes and flicked his fingers towards her furs. She scowled. More people were coming in.

"Come on," Sergei ushered. "Onto the bed."

Every time this happened the same urge to explode towards him, take his eating knife and stab him with it got stronger. She had stopped talking to him, knowing her humanity wouldn't allow her to hurt a man she could have liked if circumstances had been different. She took a breath and stood, making sure her face showed exactly how she felt about it.

They walked to the bed and she kneeled on it. Sienna could feel him staring at the side of her face as he locked the chain closer to the stake. He had asked her a couple of questions throughout her self-compelled silence, but given her space for the last few days. Now though, it seemed he wanted to say something. She could feel him trying to work up words to give to her.

"Your people are safe. They are all being left in peace," Sergei said.

Sienna turned to look at him. He was trying to make her feel better, but that didn't stop the indignation rising in her chest. "They were safe. They were being left in peace."

She bit her tongue from threatening him, not wanting to give him anything else to pass to Rorik. If vengeance was coming their way, she didn't want the Gavali to see it. She needed as many freedoms as they would allow her, and running her mouth would only damper that plan.

Sergei did the forced neutral face he put on when he didn't like what she was saying and finished securing the chain. He left, dropping the tent flap so she couldn't see anything.

Within minutes she heard horse hooves and someone crying. Her heart dropped and she let her head fall. She fought the tears that gathered, grasping onto her determination and praying Sergei was telling the truth about them being left in peace. She pictured them in a tent, hugging and holding each other, consoling the ones who needed it.

Enough time passed that Sienna wondered if Sergei had forgotten her dinner. She tried to pretend that she preferred it to his company, but she was hungry. If she were honest, she was always hungry. In her village, she was always snacking on berries and nuts and taking as much of each meal as men twice her size. Sienna loved eating, and though the heavy stews and bread they had started giving her were good, she missed her snacks.

God, I sound like such an idiot. She snorted and a small smile tipped her lips upwards. She wasn't taking it back though. Sienna missed her fucking snacks.

Two men were near having a conversation, moving slowly towards her tent. She couldn't hear them quite yet, but she understood the lowered tone and the feeling of agitation that settled in her stomach. The snickers made her gut twist.

"...sweetest tits, that one."

"Lord Almighty, I know."

"Might steal that one away for a bit once we get back."

"If she's not a Daughter, you'll have to fight me for her."

They paused, close.

"Think any of these are Daughters, really?" This one had a higher pitched voice. "I mean, having more than the ten sloppy pussies we have to choose from now would be fuckin' awesome."

"I hope so," the lower register spoke. "I know having kids is important and shit but you know how hard it is to get it up with them? Fuckin' a dozen kids each don't really help with elasticity if you know what I mean."

They were talking about the Daughters of Ziva they had in Gavali territory. Rage and shock burned inside her. How dare they disrespect the women that kept their people from dying out?

"I totally call the short busty one while we're here. Blondes get me going."

"She has lips I would kill to see around my cock. Natalya, I think they called her. A slut's name if I've ever heard one."

Sienna's nails bit into her fists. Natalya was 19, much too young to be defiled by these men. She was the kindest, most nurturing soul Sienna had ever met. Natalya had made it well known that any woman who wanted a day off from mothering could drop their children off with her and she would happily take care of them. Her boyfriend had been Evander. Evander with the knife sticking out of his chest. They probably passed by his dead body on the way back to the camp.

Sienna was shaking, breathing deep to try to calm herself down. This type of fury was unknown to her. She had been angry at the injustices Rorik was doing to her, but to hear these men talk about Natalya like she was something to be used had her very close to shaking.

Breathe. Right now is not the time. The stake won't move yet.

"All I can picture is those big eyes looking up at me, ya know?"

What the fuck are they standing so close for? Fuck off!

"I bet she'd love it, if you think about the men she's had to deal with her whole life. Those dumb fuckers coming after us with stone weapons was almost painful to watch."

Sienna barely registered scrambling up to start tugging at her stake with all her strength.

They're dead. Fucking dead. In her head, she pictured stabbing them with the stake that kept her hostage. Those dumb fuckers were her family. How dare they!

Two shadows on the tent canvas outlined them vividly. They were right beside her bed.

"Is it sick I just wanna fuck her on top of my bloody sword? Show her exactly how I feel about making us chase them across the ocean and shit-"

As if the disgusting words shifted the very Earth, the stake slid right out of the ground. Sienna was moving, her arms back, and she swung for the head of the shadow with a scream.

The clang the metal stake made when it connected with the man's skull was muffled by the tent, but rang like the purest bird call Sienna had ever heard. She tore underneath the tightly stretched tent fabric, ignoring the other man's cry, and straddled the groaning human on the ground.

Fury tore at her very core. Sienna saw the dazed man beneath her, his hands limply outstretched in a defensive maneuver, and saw a pathetic man who didn't deserve to breathe Natalya's air. Clutching the stake with her right hand, she swung at his face. The crunch and the spray of red the connection of metal and cheek made was beautiful and justified.

Someone yelled, "Holy shit," as she back-handed the stake across the other side of his face, his head whipping the other way. A hand landed on her shoulder - the other man in the conversation. Her arm swung back, dodging his other hand, and connected with the side of his knee. His knee jerked and he yelled, but he let go of her shoulder and stumbled back.

"Fucking bitch!"

The rage on his face just fueled her ferocity. Sienna repositioned the stake in her hand and turned to the man moaning underneath her. She stabbed the tip of the stake right underneath his jaw, right where she imagined his pulse would beat after a long run.

The other man, who had taken a step towards them, froze. His face was a perfect mix of anger and confusion, like he was just figuring out Sienna wasn't the type of woman he was used to dealing with.

"You vile, sick, horrible humans!" She screamed at the men, her head swivelling in between the two. The man underneath her was barely conscious, but if there was a chance he could take in what she had to say, she would take it. Sienna's voice didn't sound like her own. She had never heard her voice so destructive - so angry.

The man who stood away from her steeled himself and stood straighter. "Woman, get off him and kneel!" He moved to step forwards and Sienna pushed ever so slightly on the stake, enough to make the man underneath her gag.

The standing man stopped again.

"BACK!" Sienna hollered. "NOW!"

His trepidation as his eyes flickered between Sienna and his gagging friend was obvious. When his friend's eyes rolled, he finally stepped back. Sienna only let up a bit of the pressure. The man underneath her needed to know why he was going die, and he wouldn't if he passed out.

A small voice in the back of her head reminded her of the pieces of her soul that she would be throwing away when she took this life, but the faces of Yasim and Natalya and every other female she had grown to love overshadowed that doubt. She had made the decision days ago, and this was a perfect place to start.

"You DARE talk about Natalya like that! About my people!" Shrieks tore past her lips, and through her tunnel vision, she saw men gathering around her and the two men she had assaulted. "You soulless pieces of shit! People are not toys - they are not fucking disposable!"

The standing man tried to speak again, this time much tamer. "Woman, you need to get off him. You've hurt him-"

Sienna hit the moaning man across the head with the stake again, the noise clanging through the semi-circle of men, drawing winces from the onlookers. "I've hurt him?" She shoved the tip of the stake back into his neck, his gags echoing in her ears. Or was that just multiple gags?

She couldn't tell if the tip drew blood - the man was covered in it - but she knew she was damn close. "I'm going to KILL HIM, you stupid fucking animal, so you know exactly what will come of you if you ever even think about touching one of my people again!"

"Sienna."

She looked left, towards the sound of her name. The man with the ponytail, the man who sliced through Georgy like a knife through hot bread. And right beside him, amongst all the men, she saw the tracker.

Nikolai.

Standing, breathing, and alive.

The disgusted, furious look he was giving her barely touched the riot of emotions that exploded through her. He was supposed to be dead. She had watched him take an arrow in the neck. Her arrow! How?!

Fine, Sienna snapped to herself, turning to the being whose life she held in her hand. Seeing Nikolai kicked any and all doubt of her next action out of her mind. If an arrow through the neck wasn't enough, a stake should do the trick.

Intending on using her body weight to drive the stake through, she put one hand on the end of the stake closest to her and threw her torso towards the man beneath her.

A whisper of the tent fabric was all she heard before an arm caught her and wrenched her into the air, just as her chest grazed the top of the stake to finish driving it into his throat. She was swung away as the crowd dove in, swarming past her and the arms that enclosed her, to help the gurgling man on the ground.

"NO!" She flailed, horrified. She hadn't landed on the stake hard enough. Sienna knew, even without seeing how deep the stake had inched in, that the contact of her chest and the stake had been much too brief to kill the hateful man. If Sergei had been able to heal Nikolai from an arrow through the neck, a small puncture wound wouldn't give him any trouble. "LET GO! NO!"

"Calm down, little wildcat."

Rorik. The rough voice through her into an even heavier panic. She threw her body in every way she could, haphazardly tossing limbs in hopes he dropped her again. "HE'S GOING TO HURT HER!"

"No one will hurt the woman, Sienna." Sienna was honestly surprised he could understand her, with how high and desperate her voice sounded.

"NO!"

Rorik continued to walk as he fought through her limbs to press her back to his chest. Sienna thrashed, screaming as loudly as she could, trying to get back to the man who said he'd hurt Natalya. Whose disgusting words burned in her stomach.

"Breathe, Sienna. I will take care of this. You need to relax."

She didn't care how soothing he made his voice. She wasn't stopping until that piece of shit was dead. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and her breaths came in short puffs. They were moving out of the camp, into the forest. As they reached the tree line, Rorik succeeded in pressing her knees to her chest, and her back to his chest, so she was folded in half. His giant arms crushed hers to her sides, making her immobile.

"Let me GO!"

"No." He was stern but still calm. She jerked a couple of times to check the effectiveness of the hold he had on her. No purchase was made.

"He's fucking dead." Her voice was cracking and her face was wet. She was still squirming, trying to get back to the man who dared talk about Natalya that way, but knew deep down her chance was over.

They were out of sight of the camp now, deep enough into the woods that no one could see them. Rorik chose a tree and sat at its base, holding her in his lap like a child, still folded in half. "It's okay Sienna."

A bubble rose in her throat, telling her she was crying. "It's not okay!" She cried. Her people were being kidnapped by savages. They had been at peace not even a week ago, alone and happy to have their stone weapons and simple lifestyle. "It's not okay, it's not okay." She was sobbing again, rocking herself. Or was he rocking her? Sienna spit out small bits of prayers, the emotion in her chest too much to take by herself.

A hand was falling through her hair. "Breathe, wildcat, breathe."

She couldn't. She couldn't breathe.

Suddenly she was being turned and pressed into a warm chest, her face tucked under a chin, her legs spread around his waist. Sienna shoved and pushed at Rorik, at the comfort he was trying to offer her. "All of this is your fault! It's your FAULT!"

He grabbed her hands and put them at the small of her back, pushing her harder into his chest. "Breathe with me."

A couple tugs at her hands reaffirmed his grip would be immovable. Her potato sack was much too high on her legs, but being pressed against him hid everything.

"In and out. In. Out."

He was taking deep breaths, following his spoken pattern. She found herself trying to follow in between her sobs.

"Good girl. In and out." She shivered, inhaling harder.

When they breathed out her head followed his chest, and when they breathed in every inch of her was swallowed in his warmth. She stopped herself from pressing her face into him. The only reason he was calming her down was because he couldn't fuck her in her madness.

As they breathed together, Sienna calmed. It didn't matter why he was doing this, the physical touch was what she needed. She was astounded to recognize that, even from a man who touched her solely without her permission, the comfort was incredible. His smell surrounded her. His fingers drew on her wrists and his giant hand pressed gently on her back, keeping their chests connected.

Her breaths evened out, and his hand came up to press her head into his collarbone as she focused on each inhale and exhale. She tried to push away the feeling she got at having him wrapped so efficiently around her. If he had been a man she had allowed into her space, she would have felt safe, protected, and cared for in a way she had never felt before. Bitterness cropped up, knowing he was evoking these feelings from the human part of her that wanted love and affection and protection. Rorik wasn't capable of those things.

"Tell me what happened, little wildcat." His voice was still quiet. He didn't seem angry.

Sienna vaguely remembered his assault before he left, and the way he had thrown her down as if she had burned him. She couldn't understand where this calm, understanding version of Rorik had come from. After she told him what happened, would he rub up on her and toss her away again?

She sniffed. "Why?"

"Because I told you to," was his answer. She stiffened, and when she moved to push herself off of him, he held her still against him. Her cheek was on his collarbone and she could feel a couple of his chest hairs tickling her skin.

"That's not an answer." She said to his chest.

The hand pressed to her back moved to her chin to turn her face to look up at him. His eyes were serious, but they didn't have her brain screaming Run. "I am being incredibly patient with you right now." Sienna knew what demanding, lesson-teaching Rorik looked like, and she wasn't sure she could handle that right now. She tucked her face back down. Looking at him made her much too aware of everywhere they touched, and the sack that barely covered her ass. Meeting his eyes changed the would-be feelings of safety and affection to a fluttering stomach and a nervousness akin to panic.

"That man said bad things about Natalya."

xxx

Rorik rested his chin on the top of her head, trying to get as much of him touching her as he could. She was shaking against his chest, but wasn't fighting their closeness. But maybe that was why she was shaking - he couldn't tell. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her hands held at the small of her back, but she seemed relaxed, which was a big contrast to her behaviour five minutes ago.

God, little wildcat, you are perfect.

"And what things did he say?" He could feel her shift. She sniffed and breathed onto his shirt. She could feel the warms puffs on his chest. She remained quiet for a couple moments, until she responded, her voice shaking along with her body.

"He called her a slut, and said he was going to... to have sex with her on top of his bloody sword." The way she didn't say fuck almost made him smile, especially after she had screamed it as she came on his fingers. His dick twitched against the fabric of his pants.