The corners of Vor’s lips curled slightly before he murmured, “You and he are not the same, Little Prince. Had you’d been like Klaus, the offer of help would’ve never been made.”
Snow blushed as Vor took his foot again. As Shen and Vor continued to pick at the many thorns and briars, a question circled loudly in his mind. “Am I now a prisoner here, as well?”
“Hold your peace,” Vor murmured softly. “Only the wizard can curse you to this prison. He comes rarely to the cottage. In all my years, he’s only stepped foot inside this abode thrice. You’ll be safe tonight.”
Snow wasn’t sure he felt safe. “You have a jailor who rarely inspects his prison? That makes no sense.”
“Nothinghere makes sense,” Hwa replied.
“The only times I’ve seen the wizard are when Hwa and I were first captured and when one of us has made an attempt to escape,” Shen said. “It seems that as long as we remain here and do what we are tasked, he leaves us alone. If not, he’s upon us within minutes.”
“What are you tasked?” Snow asked.
“Chopping down trees,” Vor replied.
“Trees that reappear by the morning, fully grown,” Hwa snapped, his face contorting into an angry mask. “Our punishment is never-ending, our freedom a myth.”
Snow’s frown grew. “I don’t understand.”
“Nor do we,” Owan replied.
“I was the first,” Vor said. He pointed halfheartedly towards the door. “After my capture, I was handed that axe and told to clearthe forest for the wizard’s new tower with promises that I would be freed when I’d finished. I refused to do his bidding, though. As I walked away, he cast a spell upon me, one where either I chopped down his trees, or I endured a pain so great and terrible, it would be like Hell itself. Even after I was bewitched, I fought against it, but the pain grew excruciating.” Vor winced. “It broke me. I thought I might die then and there. It only stopped when I gripped his silver axe and plunged it into the trunk of a tree. I kept cutting to avoid feeling that nightmare again.”
Vor paused, scrubbing a palm over his face and scratching at his stubble, his unfixed gaze traveling past Snow, as if he replayed the evil in his mind. The others remained silent, their expressions suggesting they understood that pain all too well.
“Once he seemed assured I would work diligently, he left me alone to my labors. I thought him senseless and laughed at his foolhardiness,” Vor said, his gaze returning to Snow’s. He scoffed, his chuckle dry and without humor. “Straightaway, I attempted escape, chopping down trees along my path to avoid the pain, but I found invisible barriers on all sides imprisoning me to one part of the forest. I couldn’t break through to the other side, to freedom. So I focused on cutting down his trees as quickly as I could, in hopes I’d free myself that way, but that ended up an impossible feat, as well. The trees grew back.”
“There must be a way to break the spell,” Snow said.
“Perhaps, but without magical knowledge, what are we to do? None here have the skill.” Vor said. “Escape, on the other hand, seemed more probable. It took me years and the help of most of these men, but we’ve mapped the entire boundary, searching for weaknesses. We’ve yet to find a way out.”
“We haveallsought escape in a myriad of ways, trying everything imaginable to spring us from this trap,” Hwa said. “Nothing we’ve attempted has worked thus far.”
“Either we cut—or we die,” Owan muttered.
Snow gasped. “You’dactuallydie if you stopped?”
“Ask our eighth alpha,” Hwa said. “Oh, wait—you can’t.He refused to cut one day, claiming he was stronger than the pain. By the time we returned to the cottage that evening, his body was as cold as the winter’s ice.”
Snow stared at Hwa dumbfounded.
“So we chop down the trees,” Shen said, pulling Snow’s focus to him. “Hoping for the day we find a way out—or the day we choose to end the suffering for good.”
Snow cringed. That they might choose death over the life they were forced to lead caused the blood in his veins to turn cold. “But his purpose? What is it? He wanted to build a tower on the cleared land but can’t if the trees return. There has to be something else. Something he gains from your continued imprisonment and labor. Learning that might lead to its undoing.”
The alphas shrugged, clearly as confused by that as Snow.
“Besides breaking our spirit?” Vor asked before his jaw set tightly.
“Control?” Owan asked. “Perhaps alphas wronged him in the past and he’s taking his vengeance out on us. He didn’t have power then, but he does now.” Owan shrugged. “Your guess is as good as any of ours.”
“Hendrich, the alpha who died, attempted to woo the wizard. He pretended escape over and over again, flirting with the omega each time he appeared,” Shen said. “He hoped to seduce the wizard to reveal all of his secrets—and finding some sign of weakness he could exploit, of course. The wizard was too smart to fall for his traps. Hendrich ended up with his cock, knot, and balls removed.” Shen pointed to the side of the chimney, to a plaque that appeared to display Hendrich’s parts. “The wizard mounted them here as a reminder of Hendrich’s folly.”
Snow winced, looking away from the cruel sight.
“No wonder he gave up and chose death,” Owan lamented, grimacing. “I’d rather die than lose my favorite bits, too.”
Snow thought on that a moment, sure the alphas were fulfilling some need the wizard had—but what? “Has the wizard beddedanyof you?”
