Chapter 5
Isnapped my fingers and conjured light while recalling marketplaces. With nothing else to do, I’d just been practicing my fairy light the way Lobikno had encouraged and daydreaming of the bright, noisy world I knew and loved. Marketplaces were a distilled example of everything I missed; bright colors, the bustling noisy crowds, and the smells, good and bad, that came along with it. Food, unwashed bodies, colorful pottery, culturally significant trinkets that varied region to region, the echo of unfamiliar languages, music, dogs that barked in the street and the squeal of children at play were all part of that lively tapestry.
All this time in the dark had been good for my light, as much as I hated to admit it. Zelfek’s refusal to simply provide some forced me to rely on my own. I didn’t need it as often since the sparse room was getting easier to navigate in the dark, but my little candle glow lasted longer now and appeared much more stable.
I was distracted enough by my own musings that I didn’t realize anyone was coming until the door opened. An unfamiliar soldier came into my prison and sighed unhappily at the light flickering at the end of my finger. He grumbled in his tongue and approached where I lounged in bed. I held the light between us, not just to be an ass. I needed to see his face and body language. There were tired green eyes over dirt streaked, gray cheeks, the scent of autumn leaves clung to his leathers. Perhaps he’d just returned from some work outside. I closed my eyes and tried to subtly take the pleasant, familiar scent deeper. It stirred memories of cool air and warm sunlight on my face. The crunch of leaves under my feet and the sound of a gentle chill breeze stirring them. A curious tension let out of my neck and shoulders that I hadn’t been aware of. Was the absence of this place so hard on me that just the tangible scent on someone’s clothes have that much of an effect on me?
I moved to sit up and get to my feet, but the elf looming above me raised a hand to stop me.
“Be still, woman,” he said, his accent so thick I could hardly understand him. “I was sent to care for the child.”
I shook my head. “I want Zelfek to do that.”
“It is he who sent me.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Do you want your child or not?” he asked as if the answer wouldn’t bother him one way or the other. Like he was prepared to turn around and leave.
I searched his face for even an inkling of ill intent but could find none. Just impatience and weariness. And what would I do if he tried to hurt me? As a male, he was stronger than me even at my best. Would it be more prudent to take the chance that he might do the job and leave without making me waste my energy on a fight?
“Fine, just don’t be a creep.” I sighed miserably and made just enough room for him to sit. He gave me a flat look. I gave it back to him. “These are clean linens. Wear clean clothes next time if you want to lay down.” Just because I was accustomed to sleeping on the ground didn’t mean I wanted dirt in bed when I had access to one.
He rolled his eyes and tugged the blanket off before settling his weight beside me. It took him a few moments to find a way to sit comfortably and reach my hips. Once situated, the warm pull of his current rolled across my abdomen.
We sat there in silence, the scent of earthy magic filling the room. I played with my light. Conjuring it and extinguishing it, to the apparent annoyance of my new friend. His scowl deepened with every flash. It also just so happened to give me a clear view of the dagger that rode on his hip. The sheath appeared in good condition and likely hugged the blade well enough I couldn’t just slip it out un-noticed. I had to try, though it would have to wait until he was about to leave.
Before long, I had difficulty keeping my eyes open, so I gave up on my game of irritate-the-elf. I was so warm and comfortable after who knows how long in the cold, damp dark. It was easy to forget to be on my guard, so I didn’t realize the soldier was leaning over me until his tongue was in my mouth. Startled into full consciousness, I bit down on the offending appendage and made a fumbling grab for the knife while he screamed in my face. He pulled away, leaving a bloody chunk of flesh in my mouth. I sat up and spat it in, what I hoped was, his face. There was a commotion of shuffling and unintelligible speech before the door slammed shut and locked.
I brought my light back with a big, bloody grin and examined the simple, serviceable knife I’d slipped under my thigh during the commotion. The tongueless elf probably wouldn’t notice its absence until after tending to his wound, so finding a good hiding spot was imperative. It would be tricky, though, in such sparse surroundings.
It wasn’t until I leapt out of bed to search for a hiding place that I noticed the mess he’d left behind. Blood soaked my tunic front, and large spatters trailed all the way to the door, though there was no sign of the tongue itself. I cursed and pulled the shirt off. It would be stupid to accidentally mark a hiding place with blood.
I rinsed the tunic and then used it as a washcloth to clean my face, chest, and arms. Even as a sponge bath the water was too cold for me. I was shivering by the time I got to actually search for a hiding place. Under the straw filled mattress was too obvious, same for the pillow. There were no nooks or cracks in the stone. Then it came to me. I got down on the cold floor and shimmied under the bed. My light lasted just long enough to let me jam it, halfway to the hilt, into the sturdy leg, hidden by the rest of the bed frame. They’d have to crawl under and look to find it.
I fumbled blind to pull the bloodied linens off the bed and find where I’d dropped the tunic by the drain. I rinsed it again before wringing it out and draping it over the footboard. Then I found my blanket and wrapped it around my shivering body before falling into the bare bed. The realization that someone else would be coming to deal with me soon started to settle heavy in my belly. No doubt the violence would draw Dulanzo’s attention.
In the silence, I thought furiously about what I ought to do. It was too soon to attempt escape. Lhoris wouldn’t be near enough to aid me, and I needed one more day of rest, at least. But should I take Zelfek’s advice seriously and just let Dulanzo do as he pleased? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d let a villain rut me as a means to an end, but this wasn’t quite the same thing. Back then I was the wolf in sheep’s clothing. I held all the cards and … it had been fun, honestly. But Dulanzo wanted the wolf. I couldn’t afford a setback in my recovery. Presenting him with the sheep instead might be the only practical solution. Would he injure me more or less?
Damn it, that would have been the right question to ask Zelfek yesterday.
I laid there, bundled up in the blanket and breathed. And waited.
And waited.
Keys jangled in the corridor, and I held my breath when the door opened. A red light shot to the ceiling and Dulanzo stepped into the room. They must have summoned him from his bedchamber. He was wearing dark, snug-fitting breeches and a gray lace-up cotton shirt, though his hair was still in an immaculate braid. There was an immaculately coiled bundle of rope in his hands and a gleeful smile on his face.
I swallowed hard but didn’t offer him more than a lethargic blink.
“You like to bite?” he asked.
“Not particularly,” I murmured. “But one shouldn’t put body parts that one wishes to keep in an unconscious person’s mouth.”
“Poor Avry,” Dulanzo shook his head, brows pinched in a mockery of empathy. “He drowned in his own blood, you know. He was just trying to help your baby.” He clucked his tongue at me.
“Last I checked that didn’t require his tongue in my mouth,” I grumbled. But this was good news. They probably wouldn’t realize he was missing a knife. “I thought I was supposed to be your pet, not Avry’s.”
“Get up,” Dulanzo demanded with a grin.
So I did, bringing the blanket with me. The stone floor felt colder than usual under my bare feet.
“Lose the blanket.”
It slid off my shoulders and the chill made my skin tighten to goosebump while I tossed the blanket on to the bed. I couldn’t resist crossing my arms and curling in against the cold.
His eyes dragged over my exposed flesh. “Do you think you can buy mercy with willingness?”
“No,” I shook my head and met his eyes for a pair of heartbeats before lowering them again. “But it’s been made abundantly clear that I’m not getting out of this room. Why waste energy I don’t have in fighting?”
Dulanzo sneered at me. “Weak,” he spat.
“No, just practical.” I shook my head and sighed, already regretting the words I was about to speak. “I’m all yours, Dulanzo.”
He frowned and returned to the door, opening it to murmur to someone in the hallway.
Had that guard been there earlier? I couldn’t recall hearing anyone before now. Surely they wouldn’t waste the energy to generate silence while just standing guard.
Dulanzo’s frown was still in place when he turned back to me. “Take the rest of your clothes off, then. Let me see what’s mine,” Dulanzo said in a concerningly neutral tone. Was he guarding his reactions?
I undid my pants buttons and slid them down my thighs, kicking them aside, careful to avoid any of Avry’s blood. Dulanzo circled around me, his eyes scorching up and down my form. I stared into the middle distance and tried to look bored. “I suppose you’re … adequate,” he grumbled.
Adequate?!While thoroughly offended, I wasn’t quite stupid enough to fall for his goading.
Dulanzo finished his prowling and stood before me, still frowning. Perhaps there had been something to Zelfek’s advice after all. Dulanzo raised a hand and wrapped long fingers around my throat, slow enough I could have stepped away, but I didn’t. He pulled me toward him and pushed my jaw upward with his thumb and forefinger, snarling, “Look at me!”
Instead of meeting his gaze with fury, I gave him what I hoped looked like a resigned grimace. It wasn’t natural for me, and perhaps he could tell. He yanked me closer.
“Where did you go, little fighter?” My skin crawled as his words wafted over my face and my thundering heart demanded I act. I was weakened, but not helpless! “I know you’re in there, I’ve seen you—tasted your fury and fear in the same breath.” He lifted me slowly onto my toes by the grasp on my throat. I grabbed his wrist and pulled upward, taking some strain off my neck. I gasped and almost moved to slip away, my nature forgetting for a moment that I was supposed to be compliant.
Then he rubbed his groin against my hip. Wrath burst through caution, burning its way through my belly and straight into my throbbing head. I was going to lash out and rip his face to shreds with my bare fucking hands!
I was on the very edge of acting when two things happened. First, I locked eyes with Zelfek as he burst into the room, complaining loudly at his commander from the threshold. Second, that Dulanzo, despite all his effort, wasn’t even a little hard.
Dulanzo’s frustrated scowl twisted into a cold smile. He gave me a rough shove and I careened backwards onto the bed. “It’s rude to speak a language our guest doesn’t understand, cousin,” he said and turned to face the other elf.
I propped up on my elbows and watched them. Zelfek must have seen the murder in my eyes and gave me a meaningful look.
The subcommander held his ground, though, jaw clenched, and arms crossed over his chest while Dulanzo approached him. The air between them all but crackled with unspoken, nearly tangible hatred for one another.
“He demanded to know why I summoned him since he has better things to do than stand here and watch me defile you,” Dulanzo translated for me. “But I beg to differ.”
“I do have better things to do, like actual work,” Zelfek said in the trade language. His gaze slid over the blood on the floor, the pile of bloody linens, and the bed before settling on me for a heartbeat. “Not watch you engage in your … hobby,” he said and gestured at me.
Dulanzo tipped his head to the side and nodded, “Yes, but my new pet isn’t what she was yesterday. I have to wonder what might have brought on such a change in disposition.” He peered at his subcommander with narrowed eyes. “You’re the only one to speak to her since she arrived. Do you have any idea?”
“I haven’t a clue,” Zelfek drawled in answer with a roll of his eyes. “I attended the pregnancy and explained why it had to be done. She asked a few questions about the process but wasn’t otherwise talkative.”
“Hmm.” Dulanzo approached the door as if leaving. Zelfek moved to step back into the hall to allow him, but the commander paused and gestured for Zelfek to come further into the room. “I’ll have to consider how to reignite her fire,” Dulanzo said, thoughtfully. “But you’ll need to attend the baby again.”
Zelfek groaned but did as ordered. “I suppose the blood is Avry’s?”
“Indeed.” Dulanzo nodded. “You’ll need to punish her for killing him.”
I swallowed and pulled the blanket to protect myself from the chill before I started shivering again.
“Don’t even think about covering up,” Dulanzo ordered over his shoulder. I glared at his back and pushed the blanket away. At least it was easier to do what he said when he was further away. “I can’t defile her as she is, so I’ll leave it to you, my trusted right hand.”
“Me?” Zelfek asked with a grimace. “Commander, I truly have more pressing business.”
“I’ll see to it.” Dulanzo waved off Zelfek’s rebuttal. “Consider it a trade. Your aides are adequate, and my morning just opened up. Just don’t put anything in her mouth that you wish to keep.” He left and closed the door behind him.