Yes Master 2

Chapter Twenty-Three

Loki unlocked and then opened the door to Nicole's chambers and entered. He expected to see Nicole in her usual spot, on the bed. But she was not there.

"Slave?" he called out.

When he happened to look down, he noticed a golden knife with a black handle at his feet. He bent over and picked it up. He observed it, curiously. It was not one of his knives. Frowning, he slipped it into one of the pockets on his black, leather-like pants.

He looked around the room. "Slave? Where are you?"

He finally caught sight of her. She was sitting in a dark corner, her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth, her head down.

He slowly began to approach her. "Slave?"

She did not respond. As he got closer, he noticed that she was trembling.

"What is the matter?"

She did not acknowledge him in the slightest, much to his displeasure.

"Answer me, slave. Now."

Now standing over her, he knelt down in front of her.

"Answer me or there will be consequences."

A few seconds after he said that, she looked up at him, terror in her chocolate brown eyes.

"What is it?" he demanded.

After a short time of silence, she finally spoke in a low voice. "What did you do to me?"

"What are you talking about?" he questioned.

"What did you do to me?" she repeated.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Why can't I cut myself?"

At last, he understood. That explained the knife. His frown morphed into a smirk. "I was beginning to think that you would never realize what I had done."

"What have you done?" she asked.

"Nothing, really. I simply put a spell on you to prevent you from harming yourself. I really dislike it when my property gets damaged."

"How long has this spell been over me?"

"Two months. The night I came here after watching my other slave make...amorous glances at that stupid boy. The night I told you I adored you."

Nicole trembled harder, remembering when he said those words to her. They still haunted her.

"When I was just about to enter the room, I decided to listen in on your thoughts. What I heard did not make me happy. You wanted to harm yourself. Again. So, when we were laying in bed together, I waited for you to fall asleep. Once you did, I put the spell over you."

"No..." she whimpered. That was all she could manage to get out.

"I would have done it sooner but I was hoping you would be smart enough after the last knife related incident to understand that you can't harm yourself. But I suppose not."

The incident he was referring to was about a year ago when she had attempted suicide by slitting her throat with a knife that Loki had left behind by accident in her room. It did not work because he saved her with his sorcery.

"I really thought we had gotten past this, slave. I can't see why you want to do such a vile thing to yourself."

For her, self mutilation was a coping mechanism. It had been since she was in eighth grade. And now that she was stuck in Asgard, it was one of the only coping mechanisms she had besides whittling soap and experimenting with sorcery.