The girl was shaking so hard I could feel the tremors vibrating through my own bones.

 I kept my arm hooked firmly through hers, guiding her toward her room.

 Poor thing was so fragile she reminded me of a fine porcelain doll ready to shatter.

 "Breathe, Amaya. Just breathe. You're inside now. The walls are thick, and the locks are solid," I said, my voice pitched in that soothing tone I used when I needed to disarm someone.

"He was going to hurt me," Amaya whispered.

Her eyes were wide, the pupils blown out with terror.

 "I know. I know." I led her to her room, taking both of her cold, clammy hands in mine.

 "Look at me. Look at my eyes, Amaya."

 She lifted her gaze, her lower lip trembling.

 "You are a Valak guest. In this house, that makes you sacred. Do you understand? That man was an error. And I promise you, on my life, it will never happen again"

 "Okay" she said quietly.

 I signaled to the two maids hovering near the door.

They moved instantly, like shadows responding to a candle.

"Maria! Sofia!" I barked. The girls jumped.

 "Take Care of Miss Amaya while I'm away. Prepare a lavender bath and stay with her. If she so much as whimpers, I want to know about it. If anyone tries to enter that room without my express permission, you scream loud enough to wake the dead. Clear?"

 "Yes, Signora Regina," they chirped in unison.

 I stood up and headed for the exit.

 I looked back at Amaya and gave her a sharp, encouraging nod and then I left.

 The second she was out of sight, the smiling mask I wore disintegrated.

 I turned toward the hallway leading to the west wing.

My blood was boiling and rightfully so.

I didn't knock when I reached Bane's study.

I threw the heavy mahogany doors open with such force they slammed against the interior stoppers with a crack that echoed like a gunshot.

Bane was sitting behind that monstrous desk of his, a cigar in one hand and a fountain pen in the other.

 Nathaniel was standing by the window, his arms crossed, unlike Bane, he looked surprised.

"Get out, Nathaniel," I snapped, not even looking at the young man.

Nathaniel stiffened.

"I'm in the middle of a briefing, Aunt."

 "I don't give a damn if you're in the middle of a coronation," I hissed, turning my glare on him.

 "Out. Now. I need to yell at your uncle"

Nathaniel looked to Bane who only gave a curt, infinitesimal nod.

Nathaniel shrugged, said nothing more, stood up and excused us.

As soon as the door clicked shut, I marched straight to the desk, slamming my palms down on the polished wood.

 "Is there a reason you're trying to break the furniture, Regina?" Bane asked with a bored tone.

"You're men," I spat, the words tasting like acid. "You're indisciplined, absolute gutter trash imbeciles!!! That's the reason!!"

 Bane set his pen down slowly. He finally looked up, his dark eyes narrowing.

"Explain what you're on about. Quickly please, I have a shipment in Livorno that needs my attention."

 "Oh, to hell with your shipment! One of your guards just spent his afternoon harassing Amaya near the isolation block."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.

Bane's hand, which had been reaching for a document, froze mid-air.

 "Which Amaya?" he asked.

The question was a razor blade.

"YOUR Amaya!" I said, "That bastard grabbed her, pulled a knife on her and said she was spoil of war and spoils should be shared"

"Spoils of war should be shared....."

Bane repeated the phrase under his breath and went unnervingly still.

 It was the kind of stillness you see in a predator right before the killing blow.

 "Who was it? The guard?"

Bane asked.

"I don't have a name yet. All I know is he's some stupid asshat with a pocketknife. He was stationed near the gray bunker. Amaya is upstairs right now, shaking so hard she can barely speak. She's terrified, Bane."

 I paced the length of the rug, my hands flying as I spoke.

"What the hell are you doing, brother? You bring her here, you tell her she's safe, and then you let your dogs off the leash? Is this how we run things now? Are we letting these men terrorize women in our own gardens?"

Bane stood up.

  He was a tall and massive man and right now he looked angry.

He walked around the desk, his presence filling the room until it felt like the walls were closing in.

 He stopped inches from me.

 I looked him eye to eye.

As a big woman who was 5'11, I too, was an imposing figure myself.

 It was a family trait.

"Is she hurt?" he asked.

 "Bruises on her shoulder. A few scratches on her neck from where he pulled her hair." I poked a finger into his chest, hard. "If a man touches what belongs to a Valak, what happens, Bane?"

Bane's face was a mask of cold, unadulterated fury.

The veins in his neck were corded, and his eyes were so dark they looked like pits of charcoal.

Bane's voice was a low vibration that I could feel in the floorboards.

"If one of my own thinks he can touch what I have marked as mine... he has forgotten who I am."

 I stepped back.

"Remind him then"

Bane walked over to the intercom on the wall.

He pressed the button with enough force to crack the casing.

"Captain," Bane barked.

"Yes, Boss?" the voice crackled back, sounding startled.

 "Assemble every guard on the grounds. Every single one of them. In the courtyard right now! If a single man is missing, I'll have your head on a spike next to theirs."

 "Right away, sir."

 Bane turned back to me.

The rage was still there, but it was being funneled into a singular, lethal purpose.

 I smiled and nodded approvingly.

 "That's my brother"

The sunlight streaming through the windows of my suite felt offensive.

It was too bright, too cheerful for the way my skin crawled. I hadn't slept all night.

 Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the phantom pressure of rough fingers of that guard digging into my shoulder.

 Regina had told me that all would be well and I suppose it would.

I just needed time to get over it. Besides, it all happened the previous evening.

It was a new day and I had to be strong and push through.

 I was staring at my breakfast; a plate of fruit that and pancakes when a knock sounded at the door.

It wasn't the soft, rhythmic tap of Maria or Sofia or Elena that I had become accustomed to over the past few weeks.

 It was a sharp, military strike.

 "Miss Vancouver," the strong voice came from behind the door, "The Boss is requesting your presence in the courtyard."

My heart plummeted. Bane was the last person I ever wanted to see.

 "Now?"

I asked hoping I would have time to mentally prepare myself to face him.

 "Immediately."

I didn't even have time to change.

I was still in a cotton robe, my hair falling in loose, unbrushed waves.

I followed the guard down the stairs, my mind was screaming.

 Did Regina tell him? She said she wouldn't...... at least, not yet.

As we neared the heavy oak doors that led to the central courtyard, I felt it.

Silence.

A thick, suffocating silence that felt heavy enough to drown any scream.

The doors opened, and I went cold.

"Oh, God," I whispered, my hand flying to my mouth.

The courtyard was lined with men.

At least forty guards.

 The entirety of them were on their knees on the stone pavement. Their heads were bowed, their hands clasped behind their necks.

 It looked like an execution.

Bane was seated in a high-backed iron chair at the head of the formation, looking like a dark god presiding over a sacrifice.

He was dressed in a black suit, his legs crossed, a glass of water on the small table beside him.

Regina was seated to his left, her face a mask of cold, regal indifference.

It was not the look that I had come to associate her with.

But it was Nathaniel who held my gaze.

He was pacing behind the kneeling men, a silver handgun glinting in the morning sun.

He looked like he was waiting for a movie to start.

 "Princess. Come here," Bane said.

His voice wasn't loud, but it commanded immediate obedience.

I walked forward, my legs feeling like they were made of water.

 I stopped a few feet from his chair, my gaze darting between the row of kneeling men. I recognized some of them.

Bane didn't look at the men.

He only looked at me.

 "My sister tells me a member of my staff forgot his place yesterday. She tells me a man here thought he could lay hands on what is mine."

"I... I told her it was fine. I don't want this,"

 I begged, looking at Regina.

 She didn't blink. She just stared straight ahead.

"It is not fine," Bane snapped, his eyes flashing with a sudden, sharp heat. "Identify him."

 I looked at the row of men. I saw him. Third from the left.

The man with the rumpled collar and the cruel eyes.

He was shaking now, sweat dripping off his chin onto the stone.

Our eyes met for a split second, and the sheer, pathetic terror in his gaze made me sick.

"I... I can't," I whispered, shaking my head. "Please, just let them go."

"That isn't how we do things here," Nathaniel's voice cut in.

He stopped pacing directly behind a guard near the end of the row a man I knew had done nothing but nod to me respectfully.

"Amaya," Bane said, his tone dropping to a warning low. "Identify the man. Now."

"No," I sobbed, clutching my robe shut. "It was a mist......"

BANG!!!

 A gunshot rang out and the sound was deafening.

 I screamed, throwing my hands over my ears as the smell of gunpowder filled the air.

The guard Nathaniel had been standing behind collapsed, clutching his thigh as blood began to bloom through his trousers.

He didn't scream.

He just let out a low, wet groan, his face going white with shock.

 "No! NO! PLEASE STOP" I shrieked.

Nathaniel looked at me with those cold, hollow eyes.

He calmly, adjusted his grip on the gun.

 "If you don't point him out in the next ten seconds, I move to the next man. And I won't aim for the leg this time. I'll keep going until the courtyard is painted red, or until you find your voice."

Nathaniel pointed his gun at another guard and began to count.

"Bane, stop him!" I begged.

"He's innocent! That man didn't do anything!"

Bane didn't move.

"Then point out the one who did. Save the others, Amaya. The clock is ticking."

 "Nine," Nathaniel counted.

 "Eight. Seven..."

"Stop!" I cried. My vision was blurring with tears.

 I looked at the man third from the left.

He was weeping silently now, his shoulders heaving.

If I didn't say it, Nathaniel was going to kill everyone.

I could see it in his face. He was itching to do it.

"Six. Five..."

"Him!" I pointed a shaking finger at the man who was guilty. "It was him! The one in the middle!"

The silence returned, sharper than before.

Nathaniel stopped counting.

He walked over to the man I had pointed at and grabbed him by the hair, hauling his head back.

"Is this the one, Princess?" Bane asked, standing up slowly.

 "Yes," I choked out, the word feeling like a betrayal.

 "Yes, just... please don't hurt anyone else. Please."

 Bane walked over to the guard and looked down at the man with a disgust so profound it was visceral.

 "You were given a simple task," Bane said, his voice a low vibration of pure rage.

"Guard the perimeter. Protect the assets. Instead, you thought you were a king because I gave you a badge and a paycheck."

"Boss, please!" the man blubbered, snot and tears covering his face.

 "I was just joking around! I didn't hurt her! I swear!"

 Bane looked up at the Captain, who was standing by the door.

 "Take him. I will come pay him a visit myself later tonight. And captain?"

"Yes, Boss?"

 "Make sure he is kept busy before I arrive"

 Two large men stepped forward and grabbed the guard under his arms.

 He began to scream.

 "No! Please! Amaya, help me! Boss, forgive me! Please! I'm sorry!!!"

 I watched, frozen in horror, as they dragged him across the stone, his heels kicking uselessly against the pavement.

 His screams grew fainter as they pulled him through the heavy iron gates.

 I knew then that this was going to be last time I ever saw that man alive.

The iron door of the holding cell groaned on its hinges, a tortured sound that set the tone for the room beyond.

I stepped into the dim, subterranean space.

The smell of damp concrete and metallic blood hit me instantly.

 In the center of the room, strapped to a heavy wooden chair, was the man who had forgotten who I was.

The animal that had dared to put his hands on Amaya.

My Amaya.

 Three of my senior guards, led by the Captain, were already at work.

One of them landed a heavy blow to the man's ribs, a sickening crunch echoed off the walls. They only stop when I entered.

 "That's enough," I said.

The guards stepped back, breathing hard, their knuckles stained.

The man in the chair whose name I did not remember and did not care to, lolloped his head forward.

His face was a map of purple and red bruises, one eye swollen shut, blood dripping from his chin onto his ruined white shirt.

 "Boss," the Captain muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "He's been talking. Blubbering, mostly. Trying to apologize"

 I walked slowly around the chair, my leather gloves creaking as I curled my fists.

I stopped in front of him, looking down at the pathetic creature.

 "You dare?" I whispered. I reached out, grabbing his jaw and forcing his head up.

 His good eye flickered with a terror so pure it was almost beautiful.

 "You wear my crest on your jacket. You eat the food I pay for. You sleep under the roof I provide. And you didn't know that everything within these walls belongs to me?"

"Please..." he wheezed, a bubble of bloody spit popping on his lips. "I... I was just... talking. I didn't... I didn't do anything to her..."

"YOU TOUCHED HER," I yelled, my voice dropping an octave. "You made her cry. You threatened her with a blade." I looked at the table of tools the Captain had laid out.

I picked up a pair of heavy pliers, weighing them in my hand.

"You used your hands to grab her," I mused, looking at his shaking fingers. "And you used that tongue to humiliate her."

 I grabbed his left hand, pinning it to the arm of the chair.

 He started to scream and beg before I even did anything.

 "Please....please," he was crying now, "I am so sorry" "Shut him up," I commanded.

The Captain shoved a thick rag into the man's mouth, muffling the scream into a frantic, nasal groan.

I placed the man's fingers between the pliers and squeezed as hard as I could. The sound of bone snapping was clean.

 The man's body jerked violently against the restraints, his eyes bulging.

I didn't stop.

I moved to the next finger, and the next.

I wasn't just punishing him; I was erasing the touch he had left on Amaya.

 Every bruise he had given her, I was returning tenfold. "You like to play with knives?" I asked, setting the pliers down and picking up a thin, surgical scalpel.

I leaned in close, the tip of the blade resting against his cheek.

 "She's a princess. Do you know what that makes you?"

He shook his head, tears and blood almost splashing against my clothes.

 "It makes you the dirt beneath her boots. You're the rot in the foundation." I cut a thin, precise line down his cheek.

He thrashed, the muffled sounds coming from behind the gag growing more desperate.

 I moved to his shoulder, the same spot where Amaya said he had gripped her.

I drove the blade in deep, twisting it slowly.

He screamed but the gag prevented any sound from escaping. I wanted to kill him.

Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until the light left his eyes.    

  My pulse was a hammer in my ears, the darkness in my gut demanding a finality.

I raised my fist, ready to cave in his temple, to end the pathetic noise he was making.

But I stopped.

I looked at his ruined face, at the way he was gasping for air, his body a trembling wreck of agony.

If I killed him now, it would be over. His pain would stop.

"No," I muttered, pulling my hand back. "Too easy." I turned to the Captain. "Get the medic in here. I want him stabilized."

The Captain blinked, surprised. "You're letting him live, Boss?"

 "I'm letting him exist," I corrected.

 "I want his wounds cleaned just enough so they don't fester. I want him kept awake. Give him no painkillers. I want him to feel the pain of those broken fingers"

I leaned back over the man, pulling the gag from his mouth.

"You aren't going to die today," I whispered. "You're going to spend the next two days thinking about how lucky you are that I haven't started on your legs yet."

The man let out a broken, sobbing moan, his head falling back against the chair.

 I turned away, peeling the blood-flecked gloves off my hands and tossing them onto his lap.

I walked out of the cell and into the hallway, where the rest of the security detail was standing at rigid attention.

They looked at me with a mixture of awe and absolute, paralyzing fear.

I walked down the line, my eyes scanning every face.

 These were men who had seen war, men who had killed for me, but today, they looked like children waiting for a lashing.

"Listen to me,"

 I said, my voice carrying through the stone corridor like a death knell.

"Look at what is left of that man in there. Take a good, long look."

 I stopped in front of a guard who had been with me for five years.

 "Amaya Vancouver is not a prisoner. She is not a target. She is certainly NOT a 'prize' for you to discuss over cigarettes." I raised my voice so it echoed into the rafters.

 "From this moment forward, she is off-limits." I raised my voice.

 "If you see her walking, you look at the floor. If she speaks to you, you answer with respect. if I even suspect that a single one of you even THINKS about crossing her, I will kill you."

 I leaned into the space of the nearest guard, my shadow looming over him.

 "I will destroy everything you have ever loved. I will find your families and burn your histories. I will erase you and yours from this earth. Am I understood?"

 "Yes, Boss!"

 the shout was immediate, a choir of terrified discipline.

"Get back to your posts," I snapped. "Captain, I want a two-man detail on her door twenty-four hours a day.

 Different men every shift.

If she leaves her room, I want to know within thirty seconds."

 "Yes, sir."

 I turned and walked toward the stairs, my boots heavy on the stone.

 I had sent the message and I had marked my territory in blood.

 As I climbed the stairs toward the main house, I thought of Amaya sitting in her room, probably crying.

 She would hate me for what I had done today.

 She would see the blood on my hands and call me a monster.

 She wasn't wrong.

 But as I reached the top of the stairs and looked toward the East wing, I knew I would do it all again.

 I would burn the whole world down if it meant she could walk through the ashes without being touched.

 This monster had found something to guard.

 God help anyone who tried to take it from me.