The Naiad and Her King

Chapter 8

The Naiad Trilogy

Part 2: The Naiad and Her King

Chapter 8

Ava awoke spluttering and coughing as she was doused in some kind of liquid. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it wasn't water and it smelled of alcohol. She was lying on cold stone in a dark room. Confused by her surroundings, she tried sitting up. Her head throbbed with immense pain and she was flooded with a sense of dizziness, nearly passing out once more. She tried bracing her head in her hands, but she could only raise her hands about a foot off the ground. Her wrists had been chained to the floor, and no matter how hard she tried pulling on her chains they would not budge.

"You'll only 'urt yourself doin' that," a voice sneered. Ava looked around but in the darkness she could see nothing.

Suddenly a row of torches were lit, illuminating her surroundings. Ava squinted as the harshness of the light temporarily blinded her. When her eyes finally adjusted, she noticed first why she felt so cold; her red dress had been removed and now she wore only her underdress. She was scared and confused. She couldn't remember where she was or how she had gotten there. But as she looked up into the obsidian black eyes of her captor, Maligor, Ava suddenly remembered what she had done, and she hoped her friends were all right.

"Oh, now she holds her tongue," another voice said; it belonged to the head slaver. Ava later came to learn that his name was Pug. Along with Pug and Maligor, there were two other slavers in the room.

"Per'aps she is thirsty," Maligor suggested with a nasty grin.

"Well then, let's give 'er a drink."

At Pug's signal the two unnamed slavers stepped forth. One grabbed a hold of Ava's head and forced her mouth open, while the other poured some kind of brown liquid in. They gave her too much and once more she began to splutter and cough. This only made the slavers roar with laughter. Their laughter reverberated off the stone walls making Ava's head swarm with pain and dizziness again.

"Now, you will tell us what we want to know," Pug said

"And what is it that you wish to know?" Ava asked.

"Who is your King?"

Ava's lips turned up in a defiant smile and she chuckled softly. "My King is a great man. He will come for me, and you will pay for your crimes."

Pug gave Maligor a nod, and Maligor brought the back of his hand down across Ava's face. It stung and Ava tasted blood on her lips, but she bit back her cry of pain. She would not give them what they wanted.

"I'll say it again. Who is your King?"

"My King is a fierce man. He will come for me, and you will cower at his feet."

Pug ushered one of the unnamed slavers forward. He withdrew a small dagger and ran it across Ava's arm slowly. She could not stop the hiss of pain this time. Pug grinned smugly.

"Who is your King?" he asked again. He was growing impatient, as was evident by his raised voice.

"My King," Ava fought past the pain still surging through her head and arm. "My King is a noble man. He will come for me, and you will... Ahhh!" Ava cried out as her arm was cut once more this time a little deeper.

XOXOX

"'Ere's your royal suite, Your 'Ighness," Maligor jeered as he opened a large wooden door and tossed Ava inside the room.

Ava's body was weak from the hours of questioning she had endured, and it could not hold up; she collapsed to the earthen floor. The door was quickly closed and locked behind her. Ava didn't have the strength or the will to move, her whole body throbbed with pain, and so she lay there breathing silently. She didn't even have the strength to cry.