*ABUSE WARNING*
Zarah felt her cheek burn as the Madam slapped her across her face, tears welling up in her eyes.
After the guards had informed the Madam, they dragged Zarah by her hair to the Madam's chambers.
Zarah had screamed in pain, begging to be let go of and repeating again and again that she didn't plan to run away.
No one believed her.
Now the Madam fumed with anger and stared at Zarah with ice cold eyes as Zarah begged at her feet.
"Madam, I swear I wasn't trying to escape! Madam, please! Please forgive me" Zarah had grabbed onto the Madam's feet in desperation.
The Madam kicked Zarah without hesitation as Zarah fell back crying.
She grabbed Zarah by her hair picking her up.
"You little filthy pest on what grounds shall I believe you, huh?" The Madam scowled as she slammed Zarah's head on a wall.
Zarah gasped in pain and cried but the Madam didn't stop nor did she listen to Zarah's begging.
"Madam...please...I swear I wasn't trying to escape..." Zarah murmured weakly as blood flowed down her forehead and stuck her hair to her face.
The Madam huffed still raging as she ordered the guards, "Prepare the punishment room"
Zarah's head shot up in panic,pain surging through her at the movement, "Madam please! I swear I wasn't trying to-"
Before Zarah could finish her sentence the Madam kicked her again, shutting her up.
Outside the room Demi,Lyra and Iris were listening in worried,as they heard the Madam ask to prepare the punishment room they visibly paled.
Demi and Lyra pulled Iris away from the chamber door and hid in a corner as the guards dragged a crying Zarah away.
Iris was crying worried about her friend, "Lyra ! Demi! Is there nothing we can do? She wasn't running away"
Lyra and Demi felt their hearts clenching into knots.
They weren't ready to see another child be beaten to death again....
Lyra picked Iris up in her arms trying to soothe her.
Demi patted Iris's hair in an attempt to calm her down.
Demi's own heart was racing in fear and anxiety but now was not the time to worry about themselves.
"Iris...darling calm down and think carefully...is there anything Zarah would take with her if she were to leave?" Lyra asked Iris trying to think of a way to save Zarah.
Demi nodded in agreement, "Iris think carefully...anything she likes? Any favorite clothes? Toy? Something?"
Iris sniffed as her tears fell trying to think.
"That hairpin....the one Yuvi gave her last year before leaving with the other flower maidens for the castle,she likes it and all her things are still all in the room" Iris said in between sobs.
Lyra and Demi exchanged glances.
It was worth a shot. They wouldn't let an innocent child be killed again if they have a way to prevent it.
"Demi bring a few guards to be present as witnesses as we enter the children's dorms" Lyra said looking at Demi with urgency.
Demi didn't waste a second and rushed to find guards.
In the punishment room the Madam had Zarah's hands chained to the ceiling to hold her body up.
The Madam took her whip out, a sadistic smirk dancing in her lips as she landed the first hit on Zarah's legs.
Zarah's legs turned red in seconds as she screamed in pain.
Every part of Zarah's body hurt as the whip moved up and the Madam started hitting her body.
She trembled in pain screaming in anguish.
She was six....this body was six...
Oh God....
Zarah's tears flooded her eyes each hit feeling like it cut through her skin more.
Her eyes blurred and for a second she thought she could see Tiana....
Tiana....she finally knew what happened to Tiana....
Each hit left her skin more raw and her screams grew more broken,her body red with marks.
Is this it?
Was this the inevitable death?
Is this where the webcomic Zarah had died? Like this? Misunderstood?
Zarah's eyes blurred as she lost focus her throat tightening.
It hurt...it hurt her so much like...she was being punished for a sin she hadn't committed...
Just as the Madam was about to raise the whip and hit her again Lyra and Demi burst into the room with Iris in Lyra's arms and 3 guards behind them.
"Madam ! Wait!" Lyra and Demi said at the same time as they fell to their knees.
Lyra put Iris down who also fell to her knees.
The Madam scoffed in annoyance at being interrupted, "What is it? This better be important or the three of you are next"
The Madam's tone was cold devoid of any human emotion.
Zarah could barely register what was happening, she was on the verge of losing consciousness. The chains on her wrists that she was tied to were the only things holding her up.
"Madam, Zarah wasn't trying to escape we can prove it" Lyra said voice filled with fear as she kept her head down.
The Madam raised an eyebrow in annoyance, "You can? Prove it and if it's not true I will have all three of you sold to the slave traders"
Iris,Lyra and Demi felt chills run down their spine at that.
Demi finally looked up, "Madam, she wasn't leaving....Zarah didn't even take her birth certificate...yes I know like all of us the birth certificate doesn't have our parents names as we don't know who they are but it's still proof we were born in and are citizens of the Caelthra Empire"
Demi's tone was afraid but firm.
"She also took no clothing or food with her Madam" Lyra said feeling a little confidence return.
Iris finally looked up still crying, "The guards saw Zarah had nothing? Madam please"
The Madam's face remained stoic as she asked the guards who confirmed Iris's words.
Then she turned towards the three guards who were witnesses as they searched Zarah's room and they agreed with the girls words.
The Madam finally dropped her whip snapping her fingers.
"Release Zarah and make sure nothing like this happens again" The Madam spat with a glare, "I won't be so lenient next time"
With that the Madam went away.
As the guards unlocked the chains on Zarah's wrists, her body collapsed limply to the floor. Every part of her burned with pain.
The girls rushed forward, Demi taking Zarah in her arms.
"Are you okay? Hey Zarah?" Iris asked worried as she hugged her best friend.
Zarah winced in pain from the touch.
She couldn't answer Iris's question, her throat burned in pain from the hours spent screaming and begging for mercy that wouldn't be given to her if Lyra,Iris and Demi hadn't arrived.
"Why did Zarah flinch like that?" Iris asked worried.
Lyra frowned scanning the blood covered injuries and red scars, "Oh Zarah...." Lyra caressed Zarah's hair before looking at Iris, "Zarah is hurt now that's why darling" She explained to Iris.
Demi looked at Zarah and stated, "She must have broken a bone or two....let's take her to the physician.."
The other two nodded.
Demi picked Zarah up in her arms and the girls walked out of the punishment room going towards the Physician.
Zarah felt herself burning, not only from the pain but also from the intense need to find a way to slap that Madam.
Zarah realized she couldn't survive like this....today she would have died the fated death which killed webcomic Zarah if not for Iris,Lyra and Demi.
This wasn't luck, this was a very slim survival.
She would have to do better.
She needs to be stronger.
She needs power.
She will shut this damn brothel down even if that's the last thing she does.