Chapter 4 #2
He stepped closer. “Say it, Lorelana.”
Ice. Ice and fear filled me like I’d never known before, but I fought it and forced myself to hate. He cursed my people. He served the demon who had caged us. He was a bastard, and I had a bone to pick.
“No! I’ve had enough of this,” I said, rising and hiding my shaking hands behind me. “If you’ve come to kill me, be quick, demon.”
He cocked his head and took one large stride closer, so close I could almost see beneath his hood. I tried to step away, but the bars still held me, digging painfully against my spine. Nowhere to go.
“You’ve had enough, and yet you retreat. You spit insults and still tremble in terror. I fear there may soon be a puddle beneath you.” He laughed, and it grated on my ears.
I never knew I had a line, and yet in mere minutes, this unholy monster found it. I gritted my teeth and took off at him. But my fist didn’t hit his face. Instead, his fingers gripped my wrist. He wrenched me up, hoisting me as if I were nothing more than a doll.
Now I was close enough to see him, and he was more terrifying than at first glance. His eyes were dark as the night sky, and just as void-like—except for a bright blue iris. Rings that reminded me of a clear day and cracking ice.
“Such violence, yet we are the evil ones?”
I tried to hold myself together, but he was close enough that his breath caressed my cheeks, and my body trembled involuntarily.
Fight, don’t fear.
But I did fear. I was going to die. I had made a terrible mistake and would pay the ultimate price by being slaughtered in this cell.
He grimaced, taking in my undone state. “You reek of fear.” His fingers released and dropped me as he recoiled back a pace.
My voice shook even as I begged it to steady. “Leave!”
I would not die afraid. No, he would have to take me kicking and screaming. I felt around for another stone, readying myself. I found one, but too late. He stepped nearer, forcing me against the bars, and when I tried to smash him with it, he knocked it from my hand.
Escape.
There was none as he loomed over me.
“You’re so animated. Looking for any escape from your small cage.” His fingers reached around my cheeks and dug in painfully as he forced my gaze to his. Those demonic eyes bored a hole through me. “And what is this?”
His fingers traced down my neck, tendrils of ice spreading across it. My breath quickened. He hesitated just above my breasts before he ripped the choker away.
The metal stung, and I hissed, but he didn’t notice as he engrossed himself in the metallic carvings, flipping it between his thumb and forefinger.
I swallowed. “Taking trophies? I thought you were going to kill me.”
“You’ve none such luck, I’m afraid.”
“Then why have you come? To consume my soul?” Heat flooded back into me. “To laugh? Break what little remains my father has left?”
Something changed, but I couldn’t pinpoint what. But he still held me tightly.
“No. You summoned me in search of aid, so at your request, I offer a bargain. If I let you go, would you agree to keep your flimsy hands to yourself?”
“You can’t ask me not to kill you.”
His eyes flashed. “I’d love to see you try.”
A chill spread across my body—pure ice.
He must have taken my silence as agreement because he ripped his fingers away, flexing them. “You sing, and cry, and beg for your life. I will release you of this place, in return for one meager price.”
“Which is?” My life, no doubt. A demon like him would sooner eviscerate me than offer an exit. No price would be good enough for him besides my blood.
He shifted just enough that I could see his vile smile. “Your father’s head.”
My heart thundered, matching the sharp inhale as my guts heaved.
If I killed my father—perhaps I’d find a way out of this for both Deldren and me.
I wrung my hands until the skin reddened.
A vision of approaching my father with a raised sword and cutting him down sent a visceral shudder through me.
I wanted to wring and throttle the man, but not kill him.
My father wasn’t always this beast. He was nice. Once.
He was the main reason my mother’s attempts to marry me off were unsuccessful.
And I didn’t teach myself the songs I sang to Deldren; he did.
The demon couldn’t have my godforsaken father’s head.
He’d locked me up, but I couldn’t raise a sword to the man.
And I still had a sliver, a tiny thread of hope he wouldn’t kill me.
Worse, no good could come of accepting a deal with a demon. Especially not those that had tortured our people for so long. They were monsters. And a promise with monsters couldn’t be trusted.
“I’d sooner die here.”
He smiled, straightening to a stand and looming over me with his oppressive height. “Far be it from me to convince you otherwise.”
The hair on the back of my neck prickled. “You’re not going to attempt to sway me?” What was he playing at?
“I have a vested interest in the king’s demise, but not in convincing those locked in prison to take my offer, after they begged for it. Good luck with your sentence.”
My mouth dropped, hanging agape while I grappled with his words. He knew something he wasn’t letting on. I reached into myself and grasped what little bravery I had left. “What aren’t you telling me?” I pressed.
But he didn’t deign to respond, instead giving me a half-hidden smirk. “Should you change your mind,” he said, stepping into the shadows and tapping on the stones. “Knock on the bricks three times. I’ll return, offer withstanding.”
There was more scratching and scraping, and then, as quickly as he came, he disappeared back into the shadows. Gone.
My heart drummed, and though I should check that he left, I’d already used my last reserves of valor. Nothing remained except the trembling arms I wrapped around myself.
“Hello?” I called. But there was no response, only the squeaks of rats and the echo of wet drops.
He couldn’t expect me to kill my father.
Should I?
I couldn’t.
I dug my nails into my palms, drawing blood and biting pain. But neither was enough to quiet the churning of my guts or my strained breaths.
The world twisted around me, spinning as the walls closed in. I couldn’t give in, and I couldn’t give up. I’d have to make a plan.
I spent the rest of the night messing with the lock, but before morning light could lift its horrible head, the rustle of someone coming down the corridor came.
Loud. Angry. Like the gilt suit of armor Hrothgir wore.
But when he appeared with a sick smirk painted across his face, my heart sank.
Once he stopped before my cell, I was a stone tossed into the deepest lake. I’d never see light again.
When he grabbed the bars, I sunk deeper into the cell.
“So big and powerful. But when I approach, you cower like a kicked dog.”
Bastard.
“Why have you come to harass me? Spit it out.”
“I came because I wanted to see the look on your face when I tell you that Deldren is a bastard.”
The words were bitter as oakgreens and sharp as a butcher’s knife, combining to tear me in two. Eating hemlock by the handful would be less painful. If he couldn’t raise the barrier, the Ifrei would come. We’d be waiting for death.
“No.” It was the only word I could find. It couldn’t be true. He’d been raised under Father’s thumb—someone would have come forward had they known.
“Yes, and I have worse news.” His grin only grew. “He’s already debated what’s to be done with you and your family.”
Your family. Not his. Not my father’s family.
I couldn’t speak, for I knew in my guts what was coming.
So he continued. “Your life is forfeit.”
“I’ve done nothing wrong!
His toothy smile grew. “The guiltless don’t die. The King has ordered your beheading.”
“No!”
“Yes. You. Your mother. Deldren. By high sun tomorrow, your head will be decorating a pike.”
“But the wall! He needs an heir. This isn’t Deldren’s fault.”
“Do you think that matters? He’s already chosen a new noble woman to wed, to bring him viable heirs.”
“You despicable prick,” I screamed.
He cocked his head, studying me. The emotion left his features, and my heart pounded against my sternum.
“Do you think your father is here to protect you any longer? To stop me from entering your cage and beating you bloody?” His hand went to his side, and he pulled the whip.
The horrible whip. My cheeks ached at the sight of it.
He cracked it against the wall. I jumped.
He laughed.
I wanted to bait him into the cell, grab a brick, and bash in his skull. But he was a head taller than me, and only yesterday he’d shredded me. If he entered these bars, he’d throw me down and beat me until I ceased breathing. I wouldn’t leave these dungeons alive.
So instead of berating him with the tirade that screamed in my heart, I snapped my lips together and cowered against the far wall. I said nothing and lowered my eyes.
He laughed a cruel sound when he realized he’d won. And after a few more well-placed jabs and explicit threats, he marched back down the corridor. When the metallic sound of his steps quieted, my heart didn’t. If anything, it pounded louder and more painfully.
For now, my death had a date, and it wasn’t in months or even years. It was in hours, and I could count the seconds.
Morning light was coming. By sundown, I’d be dead.
I’d considered my options, and had already exhausted picking this damned lock, and trying to find my way out of this godsforsaken cell. But while I did, my mind was running in circles. My father had condemned me to death, and every passing second was one closer to my head being removed.
I shivered, and my new rusted metal shard snapped.