Chapter 6
Magic sucks! Just sucks! That’s all there is to it.
Audrey had resorted to talking to herself during her down times, also known as her ‘BTB’ – between the beatings.
After the first good thrashing Adramelech gave her, the princess thought her death was a forgone conclusion.
She’d said her goodbyes to the man who owned her heart—even if it was only to the glimmer of the bond they shared buried deep in her soul, told the Universe thanks for the opportunity—sorry it didn’t work out—and had given a big ol’ zerbert to the rest of the world, who she wasn’t really thrilled with anyway.
Words could not describe Audrey’s fury when she woke up chained to a stone slab and well on her way to being completely healed.
To say she was livid would’ve been the understatement of the year.
She’d thought for sure her days in hell with the Chancellor and his many inventive forms of torture had come to an end.
Had welcomed it. Prayed death would be the eternal equalizer she’d always been told it was.
But for some reason, Fate or the Universe or just the same stupid dumb luck she’d had her entire life had seen fit to allow Adramelech to work his magic to keep her alive.
Once she’d come to tenuous terms with her deliverance from the afterlife, the mysterious absence of the Chancellor for the next seven days became glaringly obvious and very welcomed.
At least she thought it had been a week.
Time moved differently in the Underworld; it was one of the many things Audrey had never truly gotten used to.
But before she’d been caught sneaking topside, Adramelech had always made sure she had a calendar.
It helped to know days were actually passing and she wasn’t in some sick time loop that never ended.
Not that my life is all that different from a never-ending circle of insanity. Cue the maniacal laughter.
She knew it was just another mind game in his vast bag of tricks.
He’d even told her so and said he had hoped that if she couldn’t count the number of days she’d been under his control, she would eventually give up her fight and become a willing servant.
What he didn’t count on was the passing of time actually fueled the fight within her.
Luckily, since she was away from her room and her calendar, and lost as to how long she’d been comatose, Audrey heard a random demon say the Full Moon Celebration was still two weeks away.
Simple math meant that on top of being strapped to a rock for the week she’d just lived through, there was the week before that, in which she’d been unconscious and healing since she’d been flogged on the night of the last full moon.
She was shocked to find out the Chancellor had left her alone for so long.
Of course, no sooner had she thought it than he showed up and the beatings resumed.
He was back to being careful of her face and only beating her to the point where, with the help of his nasty black magic, she would be fit as a fiddle and ready for more abuse in four days.
Today would mark the third day of rest for this round, and if she was keeping up with her dates, the full moon was only five days away.
“Well, aren’t you looking no worse for wear, princess darling?” For the millionth time Audrey prayed to be deaf to the sound of his voice. It truly was the most irritating sound in the Universe.
Deciding to play along and get the beating over with, she snorted. “It was nothing a little rest and black magic couldn’t cure. Of course, we could avoid all this nastiness if you’d just finally kill me. I mean, what’s the problem, big guy?”
She gave her best imitation of Mae West and even winked when she called the Chancellor big guy.
Audrey may have been locked in hell for a century, but if there was one thing the occupants of the Underworld loved, it was pop culture.
She’d been kept apprised of every trend from the flappers of the nineteen twenties to the Cosby kids of the eighties and most recently texting on an iPhone.
Naturally, Adramelech would have none of it.
He kept her in petticoats and wanted her to retain the olde world style of speech, but to the latter, Audrey had flatly refused.
When the Chancellor didn’t answer, the princess pushed harder. “Don’t have it in ya’?”
Adramelech took a long, slow breath. Audrey could almost hear him counting to ten to keep from striking her where she lay.
One more stab should do it.
Sticking her bottom lip out and batting her eyes, the princess delivered what she hoped was the final blow to push the Chancellor into a full-blown rage. “Afraid of being alone? Afraid none of the other demons will play with you after I’m gone?”
Faster than she could track, Adramelech was across the room, had ripped the chains from her naked body, and pulled her to a standing position by the hair on her head.
Audrey’s scalp burned like fire. The pain made her eyes water, but she refused to cry out.
There was no way she would give the bastard the satisfaction.
Praying he would snap her neck where she stood, the princess groaned in frustration when the Demon Lord grinned a sarcastic grin and snickered. “You’re wasting your time, princess. I’m to going to kill you.”
He let go of her hair with one last jerk, causing Audrey to stumble before regaining her footing.
Then added with dramatic flair, complete with his paw across his chest and a look of utter shock on his face, “As if I could do that to my favorite human in all the world. After all, we’ve been together so long. I would be lost without you.”
Turning to leave, the Chancellor called over his shoulder, “Come now, dear. How could I let you go when all we’ve worked for is about to be realized.”
A sick feeling settled in the bottom of Audrey’s stomach. The bastard was up to something. Something that would hurt her more than the beatings. She couldn’t put her finger on it but it was bad…really bad.
Following Adramelech up the winding stone staircase, the princes paid little attention as he prattled on about getting her new clothes and maybe even a new hairstyle for the upcoming Full Moon Ball.
Audrey’s sole focus was on figuring out what the Chancellor had planned.
It had to be a doozy if he’d given up flogging her for whatever he had cooked up, because there was no way he’d forgiven her for what he saw as her betrayal.
He never would. But the princess didn’t care.
Not if she could keep him focused on her.
If the Demon Lord was messing with her, he was leaving everyone else alone.
Entering Adramelech’s study from the hidden entrance behind his desk, Audrey was again surprised.
A man who could only be described as a well-kept zombie, who was dressed in a butler’s uniform, bowed before wrapping a red silk robe around her and politely instructing with his wheezy British accent, “If you will, please follow me to the lavatory where I have prepared a bath for you, misses.” His putrid breath stung her noise as he bent his arm for her to take.
Carefully placing her hand in the crook of his elbow, afraid he might fall to a pile of ashes if she pushed too hard, Audrey followed the butler’s lead. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as Adramelech called to her back, “Don’t be long, sweetling. I have more surprises.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Audrey mumbled under her breath.
“Pardon me, mum?” Jeeves, the only thing she could think to call the zombie butler since she hadn’t been and didn’t want to be formally introduced, asked.
“Oh nothing. Just thinking out loud.”
“Yes, mum.”
Entering a room she’d never seen before, Audrey had to do a double take. When that didn’t work, she closed her eyes, shook her head, and opened them again, thinking the mirage would be gone. But no! It was the same as when she’d entered
Instead of the huge stone cavern decorated in early demon that she’d been assigned upon her entrance into hell, Audrey stood looking at a beautifully decorated, obviously feminine bedroom.
Tears filled her eyes as she recognized the elegantly carved bed designed by the most renowned artisan in their kingdom and given to her by her father for her eighteenth birthday.
“A bed fit for a queen,” her father had said when he presented it to her.
The tears she’d tried to hold back wet her cheeks as she took in the white eyelet canopy and matching drapery, exact duplicates of the ones her Auntie Mae had hand stitched for her.
She ran her fingers along the jewelry box and ceramic figurines atop the armoire as she slowly made her way around the room.
The dirty bastard had copied every detail from her past. Brought her long gone youth back as yet another move in his endless game of demented torture.
Jeeves had entered what Audrey could see was a bathroom on the left. She heard water running just before he called out, “Just warming the water for you, mum. I won’t be but a moment longer.”
A willowy okay was the only response the princess could give as she took it all in.
Spying another door beside the bathroom, Audrey slowly approached, testing the knob before turning it.
Cautiously opening the door, the princess gasped at the huge walk-in closet full to bursting with every imaginable style of clothing and shoes.
After a quick inspection, she was stunned to find not even one petticoat in the lot.
He’s pulling out all the stops. Can’t wait to see what’s coming next.
Jeeves appeared at the open door. “Your bath is ready, mum. Please come. The Master has plans and was very clear that you not be late.”
“Well, the Master can shove it up his…” At the stricken look on the decomposing butler’s face, and not sure where her new companion’s loyalties lay, Audrey changed direction. “I’m sorry. You’re right. We mustn’t keep him waiting.”