Kit paused as she traced a finger down the length of her right arm, lost in the violent memory. Jarmok looked upon the broken young girl, outlined in the glow of the fire. He noted that there was no scar.
?So that?s how it remained for over two years. My pain was his control over me. I was never free of him, always with me, even as I slept. I was a prisoner in my own mind. He controlled my every move, every word and every deed. For two years Markell used me to perform chemical experiments in a laboratory of Drakyr?s keep. We did nothing but alchemy, without a single day of rest. Birthdays, days of festival throughout the year, the comfort of my home and family and growing up with my friends in Mandin, all the pleasures in life had been taken from me.? She stopped again, wiped a new tear from her eye and sighed. She was summoning the strength to go on.
?Then a few months after I turned fourteen, I had my first chance at freedom. One day in the lab, Markell had simply fallen off me, lapsing into unconsciousness. I later learned that he had fallen ill from a disease,? a rare smile had touched Kits lips, it was malevolent.
She quickly broke from it. ?The shock of my spirit rushing back into my mind, and the sudden ability to control my own movements threw me at first. But as soon as I regained control, I bolted from the lab and went to my dungeon bedroom to collect my things, leaving the slug behind on the lab floor.?
?As I was about to leave the bedroom, a girl named Jordan, who I thought was a fellow slave, betrayed me. She entered the room and shot me in the leg with a crossbow. She left me on the bedroom floor, bleeding to death. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I desparately wished for it.?
?But I was damned, for I awoke many hours later, chained to my bed, with the wound dressed and Drakyr standing over me.? Kit paused again, taking a breath and steeling herself.
The next statement she attempted quickly, as if to get it over with. But she failed. ?He announced that I was to be punished for my attempt to escape. His minion, Leech, the man who killed my father, he entered the room and?and he...?
Kit covered her face with both hands and shook as she wept, not able to continue.