There and back again, a journey to love.

Chapter 16 - Enforced captivity.

    Guy's surliness continued for several more days and he railed especially about the pail he was forced to use for his bodily functions, though she emptied it whenever necessary. She fed him, brought him water in which to shave and wash himself and several changes of linen, but his demeanour continued unchanged.

    He eventually broke his silence early one morning and cried out to her that he felt less than a beast in his captivity and that it was more than a man should have to endure. Upon seeing his very real distress, she decided eventually, after spending another day when no discourse whatsoever was forthcoming, that she would have to unshackle him.

    She wondered somewhat at the wisdom of this decision, but reasoned that even if he should escape from her, there was  no place t which he could safely go. Consequently when she took him his breakfast the next day, she sat down before him in the straw and put forward her argument, hoping that he would at least listen to what she had to say.

    It was hard to believe, looking at him now and feeling the hatred emanating from him, that he had once claimed to care so deeply for her.

    "I will strike a bargain with you my lord", she said, "I am willing to unchain you, but there are conditions that you must meet."

    "I will not bargain with such as you," he answered, his eyes flashing, "you keep me tethered here like an animal. I am a man, worthy of respect and I thought better of you than this".

    "If you do not agree to the conditions," she said, "then you will remain here at my pleasure, until it is time for us to journey to Wales, and with the knowledge that I have given you, I do not believe that you would be willing to travel unprepared for the dangers that we may face. You must at least keep yourself in the best physical and mental condition you can and remember that you are still recovering from your injuries."

    She went on, "I can feed you and ensure your wellbeing, as indeed I have done thus far, but you must play your part, there is no going back for me."

    He looked hard at her and said, "There will be no help from this quarter, I will rot here before I render assistance to such as you".

    "Then you will rot sir," she said, getting up and slowly walking away, "I thought you were a man of courage, but like all of your race, when the road darkens you are nowhere to be found and it would appear that you lack the courage and strength of character to assist me in my quest."

    She halted as she heard his sharp intake of breath and he called out to her in his rage, "Then you know nothing of me, madam, and if you were a man I would draw swords with you now and show you otherwise, damn you !"

    "Then think on this my lord," she replied, "my strength is diminishing and I may have only a scant year with my magical powers at their present potency. Unless we retrieve the Artefact and release its contents, I will be unable to summon the power that will allow you to return to your own time, and then what of you, trapped here, rotting in your captivity, but with your precious pride intact!"

    "What use will it be to you, this Artefact that you so crave, without the child that you expect me to father," he answered angrily, "the act of conception requires passion and a measure of affection and I feel neither, because you disgust me. You claim to love me, yet you keep me here, tethered like an animal in its stall. Would you take me by force perhaps, for in truth, such a union could never be fruitful".

    "I would ask you to cast your mind back, Sir, to our brief intimacy on the day of our arrival here", she said, "your response to my touch, though involuntary, was very strong and I know that you will respond to me again."