Black Rose by K.L. Bone

in its proper place. Her lips were a ruby red.
    Sandra
started to walk forward, but was stopped by pressure on her right arm. She
turned to find a tall man standing beside her with short brown hair dressed in
black. The man shook his head and held Sandra’s arm firmly. He leaned forward,
placing his face by the side of hers. “I’m sorry, my Lady. It will be worse if
you fight.”
    “What
is going on?” She heard a sharp gasp and turned her head back towards the bed.
The woman held a large silver knife in her left hand. Blood was running from a
shallow gash along Edward’s left side. “What are you doing?” She tried to move
forward, but was again restrained by the man behind her.
    The
woman raised her silver blade. Sandra watched in horror as she slid the side of
the knife over Edward’s upper chest, cutting into the top layer of his skin.
Blood swelled to the surface and began to run in thin rivulets down his chest.
Sandra’s heart began to beat frantically. “Why are you doing this? What is
going on?” Then something hard crashed into the back of her skull.
    “Liza!”
She heard Edward’s voice in the background as she fell. Tears sprang to her
eyes from the pain as her vision blurred from the force of the blow. Then the
same guard leaned down and picked her up, planting her firmly back on her
feet. 
    “Please,
Princess,” the guard whispered again. “I don’t want to be forced to harm you.”
    “I
don’t understand,” Sandra said, her vision slowly clearing. 
    “Liza!”
Edward fought the hands that held him, but it was to no avail. “Please,” he
said to the dark-headed woman holding the knife. “Just let her go.”
    “I
don’t think so,” the woman replied, her voice singing through the room. “She
will watch, and she will do so silently.” She took the knife, now painted red
with Edward’s blood, and slipped the metal expertly between the layers of skin
on his side, removing the flesh from his well-toned frame. He cried out, a
sickening sound between a sharp hiss and a suppressed scream. 
    “No!”
Sandra screamed for him. The sadistic angel gave a nod. The guard hit her with
brutal force, this time across her upper back. She fought to stand against the
stinging pain, but was hit a second, then third time. She fell to the floor
with a harsh thud, her body crashing against the cold stone floor. 
    “I
did this!” She heard Edward’s voice again, though it seemed distant to her
ringing ears. “Punish me, my Lady. Not her. It was my doing.”
    “I
wish I could believe that,” came the soft, feminine reply. “But it would simply
not be true.”
    Sandra
was pulled to her feet once again, but could not stand on her own. The guard
placed his arms around her, holding her upright.  She fought not to vomit
as she turned back to Edward. Unshed tears glistened in his eyes. “Liza.” He
again called her by the unfamiliar name.
    “Edward,”
another’s words poured from her lips. “Please, my Lady. Stop this. Let him go!”
The words poured from her lips uncontrollably. “He is the most loyal of all
your knights! The Captain of your Guard. Please, do not do this.”
    The
woman stepped across the floor and walked toward where Sandra was being held
upright by the guard behind her. When she finally reached them, the dark woman
leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “The most loyal of knights you say.
Well then, we must reward him for his loyalty, mustn’t we?”
    She
nodded toward the guards and as Sandra watched, they began to remove the rest
of Edward’s clothing. “What do you say to…an experience he will never forget?”
Her voice put a chill in Sandra’s heart.
    The
two men began to move Edward toward the large bed. He struggled in their
grasp.  The woman moved the silver blade to Sandra’s throat. “You will
cooperate,” she instructed him,  “or else.” 
    “I
don’t understand. Why are you doing this?” Sandra looked uncomprehendingly into
Edward’s dark eyes.