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In his daze, he wasn’t sure how much time passed. The ship got underway at some point in the night, and the rocking grew worse. Some of the people sobbed as if that made it real. They were being ripped from their homes, their families, and their lives as they knew it. Nothing good awaited them.
Aspen didn’t have anyone now.
He closed his eyes when the first sailor came down after a few hours.
“Get away from him,” Oriel snarled. It was the first thing he’d said since he’d been brought down.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Don’t you fucking touch him.” Oriel’s chain rattled.
“What are you going to do like that? Huh? One more word, and I’ll fucking cut off his balls.”
Aspen wanted to scream at Oriel. How dare he pretend like he gave a fuck now? He’d tried to hold onto his lost Kingdom and hadn’t given a fuck about anyone but himself. He had refused to say a word until they threatened his cock.
Even for Aspen, who he had once said he loved, he hadn’t revealed where the seal was. It had all been fake. He kept his eyes shut and tried to pretend he was elsewhere as he ignored whatever else Oriel said.
The sailor used oil, but it wasn’t enough, and he didn’t bother to properly stretch Aspen. He tried to keep himself locked away in his head, but he felt everything and heard every grunt. He started to sob only when the sailor went back up even though he tried to hold it back.
"I'm sorry," whispered Oriel. "Elira, help us."
Aspen begged the Goddess Elira for help for two days. The sailors only came down to feed and water the prisoners, rape him, clean up the piss and shit, and to dribble water and broth into his mouth to keep him alive.
He stopped praying. Elira wasn’t listening to him.
“Aspen,” Oriel said on the third night in a cracked voice. “I’m sorry.”
Aspen stared at the ceiling. No, he wasn’t. He was only sorry that he was here and that he'd lost everything. He didn’t give a fuck about Aspen, and he never had.
Aspen kept his head turned away and refused to listen when Oriel tried again on the fourth day.
Being chained down became agony since he couldn’t shift his arms much or even lay on his side. That didn't matter to the sailors.
When they tried to give him water and broth on the fourth day, he clamped his lips and teeth shut. They forced his mouth open anyway and poured it in, not concerned if he choked. As long as the liquid was in him, that’s all they cared about. He almost wanted to sob since they wouldn’t even let him die, but he didn’t have the strength left to cry.
By the sixth day, he didn’t feel it anymore when the sailors raped him.
Chapter Four
King Taven hadn’t spared Lork. Fires raged on one side of the city, and dead fairies lay in the street when Oriel was taken to the docks. Ships lit with lanterns were coming in the distance, and Lork’s fleets were under his control.
Oriel imagined all the preparation that had gone into this and felt sick. They’d never suspected such a thing. King Taven had always been pleasant, but wealth mattered more to him.
In the hold, he recognized some citizens and servants. They didn’t look to him for help and knew he was just as helpless as them now. The sight of Aspen chained to one side and clearly spread out to be used tore at his guts.
When Oriel snarled at a sailor to stay away from him, the sailor threatened to cut off Aspen’s balls and drew his knife. The look in his eyes said the threat wasn’t empty. Oriel offered himself, but the sailor said no and that he better shut up or the “whore” would get it.
Oriel had only backed off because he was desperate to spare Aspen even more suffering.
It wasn’t like he could stop the sailors anyway. He didn’t have much slack in his chain and couldn’t hope to reach them. With the collar, he had no magic, and they’d probably do worse things to Aspen for the whole trip if Oriel kept making useless threats.
When he sobbed and tried to apologize to the one he still loved, Aspen ignored him.
Not once had he looked at Oriel so far during the trip.
Aspen tried to refuse water on the fourth day, and Oriel knew that meant he’d given up. He wanted to die. The sailors didn’t care about Aspen’s wants, and they pried open his mouth. When he choked, they didn’t care. Bit by bit, they got enough water and broth into him to keep him alive.
Oriel was given dry bread and a skin of water like the rest. The bread wouldn't have fed a child, and hunger soon became everyone's companion. The water was never enough either since the heat was smothering down here, and that didn’t help the odor.
