This time, Joralf can’t hold in his scream. As the knife slices through the tissue and muscle hanging between his legs, his lips split and he emits the most anguished sound I’ve ever heard. He pants through the agony, his eyelids tight as he struggles to find his control. Finally, a minute or more after the guard attacked him, his breathing slows. And he smiles.
“It always grows back bigger,” he gasps out, his eyes hard as they focus on the man who’s caused both of us so much pain. “When I take yours, it won’t grow back. And mark my words. I will carve your cock from you and shove it directly into your gut before I leave this world. You will know every bit of the pain you’ve given me.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the guard responds, flicking Joralf’s penis toward the rest of the skin and tissue he’s stripped off while we’ve been in here. “Big fucking words from an elf who’ll never be free again.” He rubs his hand on his grimy pants. “Take them where the Dróttning wants,” he directs as he strides out of the cavern.
I can only watch as they free Joralf, their hands causing even more pain everywhere they touch. He collapses, sucking in breath until someone kicks him. “Stand up. We ain’t gonna carry you back to your cell.”
“I’ll stand when I’m ready.” Joralf’s voice is firmer and more controlled than mine would be. He waits a few more seconds before lifting himself to his feet. “Be strong, Sifa,” he murmurs before turning to walk away, his back straight and shoulders pushed back.
A male and a female remain, waiting by the entrance for someone to return to take me to the Dróttning’s rooms. I desperately want to let my mind wander—to search for Fhord, much as I hate to admit it to myself—but I can’t. Even if I weren’t wearing the manacle, the Dróttning could exploit any opening in the shield I’d create around my mind. I can only keep her out if I hold an impenetrable barrier whenever she’s around.
They finally come to retrieve me, laughing as I drop to my knees after so many hours stretched out on the rack. I want nothing more than to pause on the floor, let my body rest even for a minute. But before I’m ready, a hand grasps my hair to pull me to my feet.
“We can’t keep the Dróttning waiting,” a guard snarls in my ear as he pushes me forward.
They don’t give me clothes, but I hadn’t expected they would. This place stripped me of the shame of a naked body a decade ago. I lift my chin and take a deep breath before I stride into the caves. Anger swirls through me as leers and taunts follow me down the hall, but I refuse to let myself care. The disgrace they should bear for being part of this is so much greater than any I’ve ever known.
I’m surprised when we reach a door that must belong to the Dróttning. For some reason, I hadn’t thought they’d really bring me here, despite her command. I spent weeks in this place last time and never saw her, barely felt her presence. She’s apparently decided to take a special interest in me now.
The guard swings open the door, and I struggle to hide my disgust. The Dróttning wears the only color in the room, a robe as red as the blood she craves. Gray and black furniture is scattered throughout to create different sitting areas, but it all looks uncomfortable. Her rooms are as sterile and cold as her, weapons adorning the walls but nothing else. My gaze lands with surprise on shackles I wore when I came from Midgard. I’d nearly forgotten about them—although I’ll never forget which bones my captors broke to squeeze my hands through the cuffs they couldn’t unlock.
“Leave us,” she commands the guard who shoves me into the room. Her head cocks to the side as she looks at me, a puzzle she’s never been able to solve. “Sit,” she says after a moment, waving her hand at a couch in the center of the room.
I return her gaze, examining her as she just did me. And then I smile and stroll toward her, plopping down on the cushion. The material feels like burlap, rough and dry against my bare skin. I glance around and my smile grows more broad as I realize she’s placed me on the only piece of furniture covered with such an uncomfortable material. She’s petty and cruel even in the little things.
“Why am I here?”
The corners of her lips lift in a curious sneer. My heart beats a dozen times before she responds, while I focus on keeping my hands still. I won’t let them shake in her presence.
“We didn’t meet when you were here before,” she reminds me at last.
“We did not.”
“Do you know why I kept you here? Instead of sending you to one of the camps that holds your kind?”
“Camps? Is that what you call the prisons?”
Her expression shifts to frustration for a moment, a flicker of anger rising before she smothers it. “Answer me.”
I watch her in silence, wondering why a simple question would draw such ire. When she seems like she’s ready to ask again—or perhaps strike me—I respond. “I have no idea.”
“Let’s have no lies between us,” she snarls. “We both know you’ve been hiding something—or someone—since you landed in this world. I need to know where I’ll find it. Or her.”
The fear that trickles down my spine doesn’t surprise me. I hope she can’t hear my heart, which is growing frantic in my chest. For ten years, I’ve barely let myself even think about this secret. I may have been the one who broke out of this prison, but I’ve become convinced that something about her brought us here from our worlds, then carried her away from the Nest before the Dróttning could find and imprison her. If I’m right, she’ll be key to us returning when I find the path.
Nobody knows. Not even Toffer. It’s why I won’t let myself break now. The Dróttning can’t have her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I declare, my voice as steady as I can make it.
The Dróttning shakes her head, adopting an expression that’s supposed to look like disappointment but doesn’t hide the anger in her eyes. “I already know more than you think,” she says, her voice growing low. “If you want to save her life—yes, I know it’s a girl,” she adds as she sees the reaction I can’t hide—“you’ll tell me where you’ve hidden her. Don’t make me take it from you.”
A knock interrupts whatever she’s about to say. Smiling again, she turns toward the door. “Come.”
And then Fhord walks in, a sneer on his perfect lips. My breath catches in my throat, my chest expanding as my body responds on its own to his presence. He’s so achingly beautiful. I can’t believe I thought for a moment he might be mine.
He turns his eyes directly toward me. I see something that looks like alarm or fear in them before he shutters that emotion. A leer emerges, his eyes softening as he looks over my naked body, pausing at my breasts and the tips of my thighs, then roving back up. Slowly.
And of course, my gods-damned nipples stand to alert like Fhord’s their fucking commander calling them to salute. My center grows hot, the flames spilling out in a wash of desire as Fhord fucks me with his eyes. Even here in one of the coldest rooms in these caves, my body responds to Fhord with a heat I’ve never felt before.
