A World Of Treason and Tides

Chapter 23: Keep your Bones to Yourself

The inside of the tavern was dark--darker than the tunnel it was in, which I thought was not possible; and there was a stench--a stench of alcohol mixed with the smell of rotten moss and dead sea-creatures.

I wanted to vomit. It would have been great if I could vomit all over those two faeries holding me, maybe they would have released me or maybe they would have projected me into some great torture, but all that would have happened if I could actually puke on them. I could not. I could sense a nauseous feeling engulfing me, but nothing came out of my mouth.

A faerie kicked me and made me lose my footing. This time they did not hurl me upwards and I stumbled forward, slamming onto the sea-floor. Had it not been the thick, rotten layer of moss and seaweeds covering the sea-floor, my legs would have been in the same condition as my arms--or it could be worse.

I mentally smacked myself for imagining foolish things like what would have happened if I had puked, instead of being more careful. I tried to get up but my foot was caught in sea-weed---

---I fell again.

The faeries held me by my hair and yanked me up, all the while laughing like monsters. I tried to bend and free my foot but one of the faeries caught my hands and pushed me forwards. I fell again---my foot still wrapped up in sea-weeds. They laughed louder, their voice booming and echoing in the almost empty tavern.

No.

Not empty.

Not the echo of their voices.

I looked around, adjusting my eyes and realized that the tavern was packed and it boomed in the laughter of all those faeries present there. In the darkness, it was almost impossible to see them but I could hear them laugh and I could feel their delight in seeing me--a human, different from their own species--in her hands and knees infront of them. They rejoiced in my misery.

Those heartless faeries tightened their grip on my hair and tried to drag me over the sea-floor. I screamed in pain as my foot was still within the grips of those dangerous sea-weeds.

"Fragile humans," one of the fae growled and slapped me.

I was repeatedly trying and failing to get up from the slippery, moss-covered sea-floor when I heard the footsteps of another faerie coming towards me. I could not see his face, though I glanced a sight at his bright, polished boots--a stark contrast to the dull, dark and filthy tavern. He touched my palm with the tip of his boot and pressed hard on my fingers.

One. By. One.

I brought my other arm, immediately, to my mouth and let out a muffled scream. One of the faeries who had brought me to the tavern tried to grab my arm and separate it from my face, but I mustered every bit of strength I had and held my arm to my face. I could not give them the satisfaction of seeing me in my agony anymore.

I watched those boots move from in front of me and sighed in relief. In a moment, I sensed a cold but firm finger tracing down the spine of my bare back. I sucked in a breath. I should have understood that in Odalis, relief was extremely short-lived. I tried to sit up and take my hands behind me, in a failing attempt to cover my back, but a fae slammed my head down onto the sea-floor.

The fae wearing those shining boots opened the knot at the back of my neck. At that point, even tears refused to come out of eyes, instead, I almost laughed at my situation--a laughter mixed with sadness, anger and desperation. I tried to tie it back but he placed a foot on my hands--hands that were brave enough to let themselves graze the back of my neck, and pressed on them. I bit my lips in an attempt to prevent screaming. My hands flapped like a fish caught in the net--they gasp for air and I gasped for my decency.