Hold Me Never (Holding Never) by Natalie Kristen Read Free Book Online

the steps, his gaze unwavering and unreadable.
    The doors seal shut and I am led along a winding blood
red carpet, under glittering chandeliers, past gilded, intricately
carved pillars, deep into the Palace. I catch my reflection in one
of the mirrored walls I stumble past and see a pair of dazed, vacant
eyes staring back at me. The tear stains at the corner of those
wide, empty eyes have already dried and the face of the girl in the
mirror looks a decade older. But suddenly the face that I glimpse in
the mirrors is not the face of a hopeless, helpless girl but the
fierce, strong, protective face of my mother. My mother's face
morphs into a young girl's face, mine—as I watched her
relentless, brutal attack.
    A young girl screaming.
    A young woman smiling through her tears.
    I force myself to smile into the mirror, and
instantaneously, my mother's face becomes my own. A young woman
smiling, but this time, there is no love and no tears. Just a grim,
cold smile.

CHAPTER
FOUR

    The two guards stomp to a sudden halt in front of a
wall. One of them releases his iron grip on my arm and I raise my
hand to rub the sore spot on my upper arm. If he wasn't wearing
those thick, black leather gloves, I bet his nails would have gouged
into my flesh and drawn blood.
    The other guard has his heavy hand on my shoulder,
holding me in place. I stare up at his dark, expressionless face and
back at the elaborate painting covering the whole expanse of the wall
in front of me. The painting depicts the Emperor walking on what at
first glance appears to be rippling water. On closer inspection, I
see that the shadows and shapes in the water are actually naked human
bodies. Hundreds of writhing, naked bodies, their faces contorted in
either pain or ecstasy. The women have their hair streaming out to
form waves, their limbs and bodies undulating beneath the Emperor's
feet.
    In the painting, the Emperor is portrayed as a great
warrior, in full military regalia, his military uniform crowded with
gleaming medals and purple and red sashes with gold trimmings. His
crimson cloak fans out behind him, partly obscuring a bloody battle
scene in the distance. The look on his face is one of triumph, a
slight smile suffusing his narrow features. In one hand he wields a
sword that is dripping with blood. I'd expected him to be holding a
human skull in his other hand. Instead, he is grasping a swollen
fruit in his pale hand, his greedy fingers digging into the folds of
the fruit. The protruding, pink tip of the fruit is drawn to
resemble a nipple, but the image is hardly erotic. I feel bile rise
up my throat and I turn my head sharply over my shoulder.
    Behind me, on the far wall directly opposite, is another
painting. The Empress's white face stares back at me from the
painting. She is dressed in her royal cloak and gown, but instead of
water, the Empress appears to be walking on fire. I squint at the
painting behind me, and can barely make out the human shapes in the
leaping, twisting flames at the Empress's feet. She walks on that
burning sea of naked, male bodies, a barely perceptible smile on her
thin, red lips.
    With a forceful tug, I am spun back round to face the
Emperor's lascivious image. The guard has one hand pressed against
the painting, over the hilt of the Emperor's sword. When he steps
back, I gasp and blink rapidly. The image seems to be humming to
life, the background vibrating ever so slightly.
    The vibration becomes even more pronounced, until I can
feel the ground shuddering beneath my feet. There is a soft beep and
I stagger back as the wall before me slowly rotates and opens like a
revolving door. I am bundled through the opening, and the wall
groans into motion behind me. I turn back just in time to see the
wall rotating back into place. I stare at the narrowing line of
light and contemplate making a run for it. If I am fast enough,
maybe I can just squeeze through that ever narrowing space. And if I
don't make it, I'd be squashed to a bloody