Rhada doubled over in pain at the blow from Daren’s foot. She grasped at her side and curled up in a fetal position, trying to regain some of her breath. She heard the chains being lifted from the ground and shuddered at the thought of being shackled again.
The pain was not as fierce this time. The shackles were in place and she was being raised to the ceiling. This time, however, she was cold and naked and when Daren and Clunk left the room, they extinguished all the lights and left her in the darkness.
Light came again but Rhada was not conscious enough to see it. Gunston moved through the room like a ghost, lighting each candle with a torch. When he came across the body of the woman dangling from her feet, he stopped short, gasping in fright. He knew she would be there, but he was surprised at how startled he was to see her like that; naked, upside down and bleeding. He turned his head slightly to look at her face and saw the look of death about her. He wondered if hers would be the next body brought to the kitchens to be butchered and fed to the other prisoners. It was not uncommon for a prisoner to die in this chamber, before they ever had the chance to be taken to their cell. He smiled a little, wondering how much meat he could scrape from her bones. She was not much thinner than the other half-starved prisoners.
Suddenly her lips parted and a small, sorrowful sigh escaped on a tiny breath. Gunston stepped back, hoping she would not wake while he was there. He hated when she looked at him. He hated when any of the prisoners looked at him. He was there simply to do his job, not to sympathize with the prisoners. So many of them begged him for their lives; begged for him to help them escape. He always ignored them and left quickly, leaving it up to Daren to silence them.
As Rhada began to twist her head and moan, Gunston turned and quickly lit the last few candles and left the torture chamber. He hastily made his way to the stateroom where he knew Daren was resting and tapped lightly on the door.
“Yes?” An irritated reply came from the other side.
“T…t…the p…prisoner is w…w…waking, my l…lord.” He managed to say through his stutters. Most of the time, his stuttering was so bad, he could not completely form a sentence.
“Thank you, Gunston.” Daren’s voice changed from anger to a cheerful note. Gunston smiled at the closed door in front of him, placed the palm of his hand on it and closed his eyes for a moment, picturing the man on the other side. He could plainly see his face and wondered when he would make a journey to the kitchens to visit him next.
“W…w…would, me l…lord l...l…l…like d…d…dinner?” He took a deep breath after trying to speak, knowing the warden would understand his meaning.
“I am very busy today Gunston, but I will see what I can do.” Gunston smiled again, turned and quickly jogged down the corridor to make as fine a meal as he could, just in case he had a special guest join him.
Rhada was lying amongst the heads now, no longer disturbed by their presence but annoyed at their endless, agonized cries for help.
Shut up already! She shouted. She closed her eyes and pressed the balls of her hands into her eye sockets, angrily trying to rub away the fatigue that rested behind them. All she wanted was sleep. She wanted to disappear into the blissful blackness of unconsciousness and never wake again.
She was vaguely aware of Amag’mar, laughing at her ridiculous attempt to fall into death.
You know it won’t be that easy. He said. She knew he was sitting next to her, Mayvard’s head resting in his lap. When she reopened her eyes to stare at him- he was stroking Mayvard’s head like a puppy.
She glowered at him. Why are you even here? You’re supposed to be dead!
I am dead. He replied, smiling at her anger. This is what death feels like. There is pain for the living and pain for the dead. He lifted Mayvard’s head and set it aside, then stood and walked over to where she lay, sprawled out on her back in the mud. You now know the pain of both.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Rhada vanished and she was falling before she could try to grab hold of something. Her head hit the stone first, followed by the rest of her. She heard the sound of her shackles and chains smack against the floor and her eyes flew open.
Daren was standing over her, and Clunk was behind him, one hand still resting on the large wheel that had released her from the ceiling. She gasped and choked on air, then turned to her side and vomited. She wasn’t exactly certain what she had in her stomach that she could possibly lose but there wasn’t much and whatever it was, burned in the back of her throat and nostrils.
“Gunston has invited us to dinner. Isn’t that nice?” The warden asked with a sheepish grin. Rhada closed her eyes and shook uncontrollably. She cared nothing for the prospect of food or water. Daren could let her starve to death and it would not matter to her.
“I believe he had some fresh meat brought to him this morning.” His sheepish grin never fled. “We’ll have to get you dressed, of course.”
Rhada moaned, turned, and vomited again. She wasn’t certain if her stomach could hold any meat. She knew it was water her body needed.
“I’ll be back to fetch you when the time comes.” He spun on his heel and left the chamber. Clunk stepped around Rhada clumsily. She thought, for a brief moment, that he would misstep and crush her bones beneath his massive feet, but he stepped over her without touching her and made his way to the other end of the torture chamber. She noticed, however, that he still had the ends of her chains in his hands and he gave them a hard tug. Rhada cried out and was pulled across the floor by her ankles and wrists. Clunk lowered the ends of her chains to a large iron ring on the wall and locked them in place before leaving the room.
When Daren and Clunk returned several hours later, Rhada had not moved. She was lying exactly where Clunk left her, slipping in and out of her fitful nightmares. Clunk leaned forward and lifted her up by the back of the neck. She moaned and opened her bloodshot eyes to look at him, but when it was Clunk’s face that filled her vision, she quickly closed her eyes again.
There was the smell of something rotten, then the feel of a dingy cloth being pulled over her head. She gasped as her head was pulled through the sweat-filled shirt. Clunk lifted her arms and pulled them through the sleeves, dragging her chains through like thread through a needle. She squirmed under the pressure of the shackles cutting deeper into her wrists. Clunk released his grip on her and let her fall back to the floor. They began pulling her legs through a pair of trousers but Rhada kept her eyes closed and did not watch. She whimpered when the shackles on her feet pulled at her ankles as the chains were threaded through the pant legs, and again when the giant’s hand grazed across her tender toes.
“Lucky for you, these clothes were freed up this morning.” Daren said. Rhada did not respond.
The next thing she knew, she was being dragged by the chains across the room. She felt the cold air of the next chamber lick at her bare arms and then the sound of their footsteps and her chains bouncing off the confined walls of the corridor. She could not open her eyes; she did not want to look at the inside of the fortress. She did not want to see the gray stones and impenetrable walls that held her captive and would never let her go. She floated along the floor as though she were a corpse, unmoving and unflinching.
Another chamber opened before them; Rhada could feel the pulsing walls of the corridor spreading into an open chasm. It was in here they stopped and Clunk lifted her off the floor and sat her in a hard chair. Rhada leaned forward for a moment, barely able to hold herself in a seated position, and clutched at her twisting stomach. The smell of the room was even worse than the torture chamber; metal and mold and decay. She breathed through her mouth and let the air out slowly through her nose, hoping she would not taste the fetid air.
Finally, she opened her eyes. She saw Clunk first, shuffling to a corner of the room and sitting cross-legged on the floor with a thump. The giant would not have been able to fit at the table which was hardly big enough for four guests. The top was square and made of oak. The chairs were small, f
limsy things that rocked beneath their occupier. On top of the table were two plates, two glasses already filled with what appeared to be wine, and a large candelabrum, holding eight candles in total and centered on the table as their only source of light.
Daren took a seat at the table and folded his arms in front of him. He looked to a door at the opposite end of the dining room and waited patiently for something. Rhada turned her gaze to the door as well, wondering if the man she had seen lighting the sconces in the torture chamber would emerge. She was right in her assumption and watched as the gangly man appeared holding a round, covered tray. He smiled when he saw Daren but the smile quickly vanished when his eyes fell upon Rhada. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her, frightened as if he was staring at a ghost.
“I have brought a guest with me, Gunston. Would you be so kind as to provide a plate for her?” When Gunston did not move, Daren shouted; “Now!”
Gunston set the tray on the table and quickly turned back to the kitchen to fetch a plate for Rhada. He set the dingy, chipped thing in front of her with a snarl and backed away quickly, as though he feared she would try to touch him. He stood for a moment, glowering at Rhada through the dim candlelight and only stirred when Daren prompted him.
“You may begin serving, Gunston.” The servant peeled his eyes away from Rhada and took a step forward towards the table. He lifted the lid of the tray and Rhada was surprised to see a delicious looking meal before her, carefully prepared to look appealing.
There were carrots and potatoes and green leaves scattered about the edges of the tray, forming a ring around a roast of some sort. The meat was still steaming when Gunston began carving through it.
Rhada began to shake once again and her lips pursed. She wanted to jump across the table and start shoveling the food in her mouth but lacked the strength to do so.
“Ladies first.” Daren said to the servant as he was about to place a slab of meat on the warden’s plate. Gunston’s face turned grim as he turned the meat to Rhada’s plate and slopped it down carelessly. He scooped a few carrots and potatoes and threw them on the plate as well. Rhada licked her lips as she stared at the food before her and tried to reach up for her fork. Her hand shook violently, however, and she found it difficult to hold.
Daren’s portion was given to him and he gently lifted his fork with a smile and picked up his roast to nibble at it. Rhada shoved the fork into the meat and lowered her head so that she would not have to bring the meat to her mouth. She took a small bite, then another and another and before she knew it, she was gnawing at the meat ravenously. Daren watched with an amused grin and said nothing as she pulled the meat apart with her teeth. She was so occupied with the meat; she did not notice the servant throw something at the giant in the corner for him to begin snacking on.
“You seem to be enjoying that.” Daren said to her. She stopped chewing for a moment to look up at him. “I find it rather tasty as well. Gunston here is a wizard in the kitchen. He can turn even the most unwholesome creatures into a decent meal.” The warden smiled while shoving another mouthful into his face.
Rhada released her grip on the fork and lowered her gaze to the meat. She had assumed, as she began shoveling it into her mouth, that is was duck. It smelled nearly like duck and was greasy like the water fowl. But as she looked to the meat now, something in her stomach began to churn uneasily. The meat was grey, with green tinges marbled throughout, and it no longer resembled the scent of duck. Instead, it smelled foul, like it had spoiled, and the scent of death lingered about the air like a poltergeist.
“He was butchered this morning.” Daren said, noticing her hesitation. “The poor sob was sick for a month and finally succumbed. Apparently, he had had the squirts for some time and I did not even take notice!” Daren chuckled. “You should have seen the walls of his cell. They were splattered like paint.” He laughed loudly now.
Rhada lunged forward, her stomach rising into the back of her throat, and vomited everything she had eaten onto her plate. She choked and spit and gagged before leaning back in her chair, away from the atrocious meal before her. Gunston slid his chair out and backed away from the table in disgust while Daren laughed at her.
“Now Rhada, that is no way to show your appreciation of Gunston’s hard work.” Daren turned to Clunk and snapped his fingers, making the giant abandon whatever he was eating and jump to his feet.
“If you cannot eat like a human being with the rest of us, you may eat on the floor with Clunk.” Clunk grabbed the ends of her chains and pulled her from her chair. She cried as she was dragged across the floor and forced to sit against the wall where Clunk was having his meal.
Rhada watched in disgust as the giant lifted a half-eaten human carcass from the floor. The arms and legs had been stripped of all the meat and what remained was a heaping of cracked bones and veins. The ribs protruded from a mass of red mush, picked clean of the meat. Clunk grabbed them in his massive hands and pulled them apart, sticking them between his teeth two at a time and biting down with a loud crunch. He grabbed the head next, which retained some resemblance of a man. The eyes had been popped and oozed down the exposed skull and when Clunk grabbed the skull in both hands, he began to squeeze until the bones cracked and the brain began to slide out. He dipped his fingers into the grey lump and began pulling bits off. The last thing Rhada saw was the giant shoving a handful of it into his mouth before she slid down to the floor and closed her eyes, losing awareness of everything around her.
“Enough of this!” Warden Daren shouted at no one in particular. “I had high hopes for you, Rhada, but you have proven to be a disappointment. You are as boring as all the other prisoners and I think if I have to look at your face one more time, I will be tempted to cut it from your skull and feed it to Clunk.”
Warden Daren snapped his fingers and Clunk pulled a large, overfilled key-ring from the pocket of his pants. He fumbled with the small copper keys with his giant fingers and finally, finding the right key, bent down next to Rhada and began unlocking her shackles.
One-by-one they slid from her flesh like meat from a bone, tearing at the deadened skin as they were pulled away. She would have rejoiced in this moment had it not been so painful to remove them. She could not, however, cry out like she wanted- her voice had been lost to her.
Once she was free of the shackles, Daren leaned forward and wrapped a ratty cloak around her shoulders. Clunk followed the warden out of the dungeons, dragging Rhada by a tuft of hair behind him. She could do nothing but watch her purple, bloodied feet scrape across the stone as she was pulled through the endless corridors of Stonehill.
They traveled down a long flight of steps- her feet painfully hitting each step as they descended. Then they were in a large hallway that at one time housed all the guests who had paid to stay here. The elegant oak doors that once lined these halls had been painted black to hide the intricate carvings on their face, and reinforced with heavy iron hinges and locks. Each door had a hole in the center, covered by a small, iron grate that could only be removed from the outside. This was to allow the passage of food and waste buckets.
Seedy eyes began to peer out through the iron grates as they passed but Rhada thought it strange that none of the prisoners made any sound as she was dragged through the hallway. All watched in silence as their new house-mate was taken to her room.
The hallway turned and they began to descend a spiral staircase that was even longer than the first. Rhada wondered briefly how deep the chambers of this fortress went when she was dragged through another, smaller hallway with cells lining either side and then she was dragged down another staircase. This staircase was so narrow, the giant had to slouch as low as he possibly could and walk sideways, taking each step with slow caution.
The bowels of this fortress go deeper than I ever thought they could. They now entered a very small hallway that seemed to Rhada like it had been built as a secret passage, perhaps for the purpose of escape in case of invasion. The giant had to con
tinue his sideways step as they trudged through the nearly impassable corridor.
Finally they stopped and Rhada could hear the screech of iron hinges as a door was pulled open. The giant lifted Rhada to her feet and held her up by the shoulders, knowing she could not stand on her own. The sight that met her eyes filled her with such dread, she wished she could drop dead right there.
The door to this room was the same as the doors above, thick with an iron grating that could be opened from the outside. She would be able to look through it but her eyes would be met with only darkness. Aside from the corridor being void of any other cells or prisoners, it was also void of windows and wall sconces, telling her that it was always pitch black. The room itself was no bigger than a closet made for storage- the walls of which were also lacking in windows and sconces and dripped with sea water. The water pooled in the corners of the room and the rats that had been bathing in them scurried away at the sudden light that penetrated their sanctuary. The smell of human waste dug deep into her nostrils and she turned her gaze to the far-most corner of the room where a small hole in the floor was located. There would be no passing of waste buckets through her door. A sudden weight pressed down on her as she realized she would be locked away down here alone in the dark for the rest of her days. The fear she felt then crippled her completely.
Rhada’s legs gave way and Clunk had to pull her up by the arms and thrust her forward into the tiny room. She fell, face first onto the cold, stone floor and cried out in agony. She lifted her head and turned to look back at the warden. He stood in the doorway with his torch held high, sneering down at her with disgust.
Rise of Darkness (The Watchers Book 2) Page 41
