Page 97 of Owned By the Fae
I don't know how long it goes on, but when the agony finally ebbs, the floor beneath me is wet.
She’s chuckling to herself, and I’m silently begging the Harbinger to help me. But it stays quiet and it doesn’t come forth.
‘Did you think there would be no comeuppance, swine?’ she asks.
She comes closer and turns me over with her silk-slippered foot so that I'm looking up at her. She laughs at my wet dress, where my bladder gave up during her torture, and then puts her foot on my neck, keeping me anchored to the floor.
‘Answer.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I rasp.
The foot digs in. ‘It doesn't matter what he does with you. He’s mine. He’s always been mine.’
This is because of Dane’s visit tonight, I realize. I should have known that despite her words to the contrary, I’d still be punished for ‘taking’ what was hers. It doesn’t matter that I have no choice.
I say nothing, and she lets out a small sigh. ‘Still, Varrik’s orders must be followed for now,’ she says airily, looking at her fingernails, ‘and so must mine.’
My face must show my confusion.
‘Did you forget my words so quickly, piggy?’ Her foot disappears, and she moves around me to step between my legs, forcing them wider as she leans over me. ‘Gods only know how your kind procreate so rapidly,’ she sneers. ‘I told you that when he seeds you, you’re to stay in the bed at least an hour after.’
I grimace. ‘I-I forgot.’ I swallow the words I actually want to say to her. In the absence of any real power over Fiana, I only have my words to ensure my safety and that means biting my tongue.
‘I’m sorry,’ I choke out, finding it harder to cajole her than anticipated.
Her shoe presses on my thigh hard, and I’m sure I feel the bone bow.
‘I WILL have my babe, Harbinger,’ she hisses. ‘Must I order Skith to watch each time and tie you to the bed after Dane is finished?’
I shake my head. ‘I’ll stay in the bed,’ I tell her.
Her eyes narrow, and she nods, removing her foot from my leg and stepping away. ‘See that you do.’
I successfully keep my angry tears at bay and listen as she leaves the room with a sniff of derision, bored of me now that she’s punished me for my transgressions. Sitting up a few moments later, I note that Fiana has left no evidence that she was here. There are no new marks on my body from her torture, not even on my leg, just a lump coming up on the back of my skull where I fell to the ground.
Perhaps she doesn’t want anyone to know, after all.
Torpidly, I get to my feet and strip off the soiled dress, my movements slow. Resigned. I put it over one of the chairs and don the long-sleeved chemise that appeared today along with the dresses. I get into bed and stare at the wall.
‘How much longer?’ I whisper to the Harbinger.
But it doesn’t have an answer for me.
‘As soon asI break through this binding, I'm going to kill that bitch!’
I give the Harbinger a rueful look as we sit beside the Black Lake. It’s been three days since the banquet, and an unwritten schedule seems to be in effect.
Every morning, Dane comes. He ensures food has been brought and the fire is lit. He gives me the tea, which I drink. Even if it’s too hot, I force every burning drop down my gullet.
Then, he does what he’s there to do, and each time, he seems angrier than the last. When it’s done, he leaves without speaking, and then I stay in the bed as Fiana has ordered. Although I may be downtrodden at the moment, I’m far from broken. I take a perverse joy in knowing that her edicts will make no difference and that she will never have a child from me, no matter what.
She usually comes almost an hour after Dane leaves, as far as I can tell, poking her head through the door as soon as she’s opened it to catch me out. She delights in my obedience, walking around the room and telling me in great and sordid detail what she and Dane have been up to in her room across the way.
I loathe listening to her words, hate hearing how he finds joy in her arms ... and she in his, of course. She describes all he does to pleasure her, the time he takes with her, how sweetly he takes her, and all the positions they’ve done it in.
Yesterday, she brought the healer with her, and they spoke about me as if I wasn’t there, as if I couldn’t hear them or was too feeble-minded to understand them. I stared at the wall as I felt his revolting hands on me and listened to their snide remarks about my human body. Fiana told Skith that she was sure ‘the slave’ wasn’t keeping to the bed after she was mounted, and he told her about a special stopper used on human females that don’t have time to lay about in bed all day. When he was finished with me, she gave me a vicious smile and told him to send for one from the Dark Realms for her wayward human.
It didn’t shock me that she believes that I’m hers to do with as she wills, just as I’m not surprised by anything her cruel and depraved mind comes up with.
