The Sprinter

Chapter 26

The shaft opened. Light poured through, illuminating her cell. Despite that, it remained dark, the gloom permanently lodged in her mind; a memory of this place. Of what it had done to her. Of what it was.

The door clunked open, sliding off the step. He came in, his shadow falling over her, just as it truly did. She was always in his shadow. In his grasp. Nothing else mattered.

“Will it be today, Eloise? Will today be the day that you crack? Or shall it be tomorrow? Or the day after that?”

The same question - always the same question. A repetitive effort to get her to break. But - something was different today. His serpentine eyes gleamed with triumph, dominating his usual bored greed. She started to tremble. He looked - he looked like him. The Commander. No, she was imagining things. It was him - just him. Not that he was ‘just’ anything - King Jotkur.

“I think,” he said, his words twisting through the dark, slinking into her ear. She shivered.
“I think that it will be today,” he brought his hand up, now more calloused and wrinkled than ever before - from what she didn’t know.
“Do you know why, Eloise?”

His fingers grabbed her chin, softer than before. Something was wrong. He cocked his head, his gaze focusing onto hers, more intense, more searching than ever before. She suppressed a shiver.

“I said,” his nails dug into her cheek, biting into her flesh, “Do. You. Know. Why?”

Each word carried more force than the last, the rhythm of his voice matching that of his heart. Eloise shook her head frantically, more of a tremble than a shake. She didn’t know what to do. She never knew what to do. He had complete power - complete control, in a way that even kings didn’t have. Not usually.

“It’s because I’ve brought a guest. A very special guest. I believe you already know him.”

Eloise fought to control her shaking body. Why, why was it always when she was around him, that her body decided to betray her? It didn’t make sense; when she needed it most, when she needed to appear strong, to stay above it - she started shaking. With the King, and with him. The Commander. Something about him - Eloise couldn’t figure it out. He just - wasn’t.

He gestured towards the door. Someone walked through, once more blocking the dim candles from doing their job. He came closer, and knelt down beside the King. She didn’t believe it. It was him. Him. Her guard. The first person to ever help her, to ever show her kindness - it was him. He was here. With the King. What was he doing? Why was he here - with the King? What was he -

“Hello, Eloise”.

His voice sounded exactly the same as it always did, gentle, understanding, as if you could talk to him for hours on end. His brown eyes seemed duller, sucking in the candlelight where they would’ve otherwise shone with them. He was different - but how? Why was he -

“I’m afraid your friend here,” the King said, his words poised in anticipation, phrased carefully, ready to deliver the full impact of it’s meaning, “has a problem. You see, he wasn’t supposed to talk to you. And now,” he brought his other hand up, grabbing the guard in a hold that mimicked Eloise’s own, “he will pay the price. But first, I think you would both like to know a few things. Or at least,” he said, his eyes gleaming with the cruel amusement that she was so accustomed to seeing - but not in his face, “I would like you to hear it.”

A creak sounded as the door opened again. Eloise looked up, peering between the two men now crouched in front of her. Him. No, not him. Please not him. She knew what he meant. He meant pain. He meant torture, and cruelty, and horror, and pain.

The Commander smiled.

She screamed.

{~**~}