The Lights Under the Lake

Chapter 9 - Escape

THE FIRST THING BRI felt was the pain. It started subtly, but grew in fierceness until her head was pounding like a hammer against her skull. She remembered, vaguely, the griffin, trees, branches scratching her face.

She tried to move, but her arms were lead weights at her sides. She was sitting in some sort of chair, her feet sitting squarely on the straw strewn floor.

Bri blinked disorientedly, and tried to focus on the figure who was swimming across her vision. Gradually it cleared.

"You." Bri groaned, squinting at the person in front of her.

"Me." said Keres, leaning forward and cupping her chin with her hand. "I was wondering when you'd wake up."

Bri pulled her face away. "You're the princess - I remember - princess Keres."

"Thats me."

"Have you been doing this?"

"Who else?" she sounded affronted. "I was doing fine until I heard about your little escapade... It was quite an unpleasant shock really, I thought I sorted your boyfriend out about half a century ago. Turns out he was harder to squash than I thought."

Bri glared at the woman. She was more of a girl really, with blonde hair pulled back into some sort of braid, wearing a deep red dress. Her lightly freckled nose scrunched up as she looked Bri up and down.

"In with the wrong crowd - Brianna is it?"

"Don't call me that." Bri growled. The scratches on her face stung painfully and her hair was falling into her eyes. She tried to move her hands again, but they were still trapped. There didn't seem to be anything binding her, but it seemed any sort of movement was impossible.

"Is Bri better?" asked Keres, leaning against the wall. "Nicknames have never really been my thing. Come to think of it, your sister worked at the palace didn't she. Alizah - such a lovely girl."

Bri ignored her.

"Ah, I know your sort. You spoil all the fun." Keres tutted. "But, back to business as it were. I need information from you, or you're useless to me. Fancy telling me something?"

Bri remained steadfastly silent.

"If you really don't want to." Keres sighed. "I could force you, but that's really no fun at all."

She twisted her finger in the air, sending a tendril of golden light towards Bri. It slithered through the stillness, glinting gently in the half-light.

Bri jerked backwards, but she hadn't regained motion. She couldn't move.

The gold light vanished. The pain started.

Bri screamed, feeling the burning wrap itself around her throat and mouth. It clung to her skin, blistering with it's white hot agony, wrapping itself around her arms, her fingers.

As soon as it had started, it stopped. Bri could see the red marks it had left on her skin, but they didn't hurt anymore.

Keres smiled.

"I lied." she said. "It's very fun. Anything to say now?"

Bri didn't say anything. She shivered, staring resolutely at Keres.

"I'm not going to tell you anything. I don't care what you do. Why do you even care? What's in it for you?"

Keres smirked. "I knew that this was going to happen. Considering your lifespan as of today, and meeting me, it won't hurt to fill you in on the details. In short, I don't want anything to change."