Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ALINA
My eyes darted from window to window. If only I could get to one, then I could transform. But as if knowing what I was thinking, both soldiers tightened their grip on my arms, nearly dislocating my shoulder. I cried out.
“Careful now. We want her looking presentable.” Corliss turned her head, giving me a cold, appraising look.
I was not planning on making it easy for them. I lunged, trying to break free.
Then my gaze landed on Sally, who obediently followed Corliss with her hands clasped together, as if already bound.
“Why are you staying? Run!” I shouted.
She turned her head slightly, her glassy eyes still brimming with fear. She reminded me of an animal trapped by a predator. One who already knew that death was near, and forgot how to fight, surrendering to their terrible demise.
A couple of servants pressed their backs to the wall as we passed them. One woman blessed herself with a shaking hand. No one, not one person, was willing to stop Corliss.
We went up stairs that did not look as clean or well kept. Then my legs almost gave out and I was partially carried upstairs. I grabbed onto the railings and tried to kick one of the soldiers as they dragged me forward.
“What’s wrong? You don’t want to see your queen?” Corliss asked, her quiet voice full of poison. Instead of answering, I attempted another wild, desperate move. “I thought you wanted to see the queen,” she insisted.
“What are you planning to do with me?”
“It was a crazy idea from the start, to bring you here. They should have left you to rot in that prison. But Adger got soft, sentimental. And who was stuck cleaning everyone else's mess? Me!” Corliss shook her head.
“Does the queen know what you’re doing? Is she a part of it?”
“Maybe you should ask her.” Corliss turned to face me.
Sally sobbed even harder behind me.
“Go now! Get to the window. What are you waiting for?” I shouted, but she only averted her eyes.
The hall was partially lit, the walls looked dusty, the carpets were missing, and there was no furniture. It looked as far from the royal quarters as it could possibly be.
“What is this place?” I pushed against the sentry and my voice broke.
“Open the door.” Corliss commanded.
One of the soldiers produced a set of keys. When the door was finally opened, a heavy moist scent hit my nostrils almost at once.
“Take them in.” Corliss commanded.
With a last attempt to resist, I dug my fingers into the side of the wall, but still got pushed inside.
The space looked smaller than it probably was, divided by a worn and soiled, red carpet leading up to an empty dias. A movement made me turn my head and I watched Sally just walk in obediently.
“Why are you even listening to them? Get out of here!” I struggled against the two burly men.
“She knows there is no place to go.” Corliss responded, giving me a complacent smile as she led the sentries toward the back of the room.
“Why bring me to Talman? Why not just leave me where I was?”
“Because the rumours about your existence had made it all the way to the heads of clans. We could not afford one of them getting ideas of claiming you for themselves. The kingdom needs to be ruled by a strong head, there is no room for the ambitions of any of the clans.”
“But there’s plenty of room for ambition – if the council is involved.”
“What do you know about ruling a country? There are no simple decisions. Everything we do is for the good of the dragonborn.”
“Then prove it. Let me go, and I will go back to where I came from. I don’t want the crown. I don’t want to rule.”
“That would be a good solution. A great solution, indeed . . . but there is no guarantee that you will not change your mind one day and unleash war and chaos on us all. The blood of the red clan should end with the queen.”
I was pushed close to a metal door that was behind the dias. Corliss pulled out a key that she wore on a chain around her neck.
Sally fell to her knees sobbing and grabbed the older woman’s skirts.
“Let her go. Why is she even here?” I shouted while my legs almost gave out under me.
“She had only one job; to make sure you took the whitebane.”
“Please, please, milady. I will do anything.” Sally chanted as if not hearing anything.
The door clanged open, and my breath caught in my chest. With one violent shove, I was launched forward.
I tumbled to the stone floor, bruising my knees and scraping the palms of my hands.
I got up. The place was cold and damp, as though the windows had never been opened.
A nauseating smell of something putrid filled the air, making me want to cover my head to block the scent.
Every sense screamed in protest. Slowly, I lifted my head.
The room seemed vast, I could not see the walls.
There was no furniture – just the bare floor and a throne standing in the center.
Almost immediately, my eyes distinguished a figure atop of it.
I could hardly recognize the silhouette because the window curtains were drawn, coating the whole space in inky black shadows.
My blood ran cold, shallow breaths escaped my lips and I was sure that whoever it was, they could hear the violent beating of my heart.
Somewhere behind me, the metal door closed. Sally scrambled to her feet and started banging on the door. Dull metallic clangs filled the whole room in an instant. They had locked us in.
My head snapped back to the body on the throne. It leaned forward,and something crashed onto the floor. It sounded metallic as it hit the stone.
Something was not right.
Why would they keep this person in complete darkness? With no lights, no furniture?
I lowered myself to the ground, trying to stay as quiet as I could, trying to slow down the savage pounding in my head. The figure moved, taking two unsteady steps toward the door. Slowly, I inched closer to the window, cold, sticky sweat soaked my dress as my hand brushed the thick black curtain.
Behind me Sally screamed. I turned my head just in time to see two shadows by the door. Low, guttural sounds filled the space between us and my heart stopped.
I pulled on the curtain, but the light I hoped to find never came. Under the fabric, I saw the unfinished wood boards that were nailed to the window frame. Strips of unbearably bright light pierced through the narrow cracks without penetrating the darkness around me.
“Help! Help me!” Sally cried out.
With all my strength, I pulled at a wooden board, but it would not budge.
Sally’s pleas turned into wild screeching, and then I heard something else; the sounds of teeth tearing through flesh and bone.
My fingers scraped the wood, breaking my nails and splintering my hands.
I placed the ball of my foot on the wall and heaved with everything I had.
Suddenly, the board came loose from the window, and I fell to the ground.
A thick ribbon of unbearably bright light blinded me for a moment.
Around me everything fell silent. I could hear nothing.
My head snapped toward the door; the figure was gone.
I could barely make out a body on the floor, and nothing else.
But then I noticed the clean, milky white bones of different sizes swept to the sides, closer to the walls.They had done this before!
They brought people here, and this creature, this thing, fed on them.
I slowly got to my feet. My mouth went dry and my eyes burned from the effort to find the monster. I stilled trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness one more time. I could see nothing without moving away from the beam of light that obstructed my vision.
The figure was gone, it was watching me from somewhere, waiting.
I lowered my eyes, clenching the board with all my strength. In the thread of light from the outside, I could clearly see the metal nails that were sticking out of the board.
My eyes returned to the shadows and I waited.
And I waited some more and then waited even longer.
Drops of sweat rolled down to my eyebrows as I forced myself to stay frozen to the spot.
My face was highlighted by the sunlight, but whatever was trapped in the room, did not make any attempts to get to me.
I did not know if it was movement or sound that triggered it.
Suddenly, I spotted movement by the door.
It was Sally, she was still alive. I fought the urge to call out to her, and kept watching the dark corners.
Then a faint whisper of sound chilled the blood in my veins.
The wood I was clenching in the palm of my hand scraped the floor.
I looked down for only a moment, but a sudden swoosh of the air made my head snap up.
Involuntarily, I staggered backward, and my back struck the wall.
What I saw revealing itself in the warm hue of the daylight made me cry out.
Moist skin, and a bald head with patches of matted hair; enormous, bulging, crimson eyes with broken blood vessels and licorice-colored skin around them.
The artificially twisted mouth with rows of stained, rotten teeth covered in bits of freshly torn flesh; and a strip of flayed skin with hair still attached, curled down to its neck.
It was my turn to scream. With all my strength, I lifted the board up from the floor and pushed one foot forward. The creature roared, taking a step closer.
“Stay back!” I shouted, but the monster took another step forward.
I grabbed the wooden plank with both hands and when the figure got closer, I swung with all the force I had. Its head snapped back, but the beast did not fall to the floor, only its head sat at an odd angle.
“Stay back or I will hit you again!” I screamed.