The Heir of Kings

Chapter Seven: Imprisonment

Relma awoke, feeling very sore with an aching back and hair in front of her face. As she roused herself, to her surprise, she was lying on a clean linen bed rather than a wolf den. Her arms and legs were unbound, the ceiling above her appeared to be wood, and an earthy smell was in the air. As her vision cleared, she saw that it was living wood.

As though hundreds of trees had been grown together to form a building. Though there were no twigs or growth inside, only bare packed earth.

She stood up. "Where am I? "The question left her lips. Depending on the answer, she could have a serious problem.

"In the domain of the wolf god, Telix," said a voice. Relma looked up to see a brown-haired girl her age. "I'm Marsha. Who are you?"

Relma looked around. She was in a large room. The floor was of packed earth, and dozens of other women were within it. They were going about various mundane tasks for the most part. Many were chores such as washing and cleaning.

"Are you alright?" asked Marsha.

"My name is Relma Artorious," said Relma. "What is this place? I mean, is there any way out?"

"We're in the underground tunnels where they keep the women they've taken," said Marsha. "Nobody knows what they intend to do with us, but we haven't been able to escape."

"Ajax told me he intended to marry me," said Relma.

"Well, you're luckier than most, then," said Marsha.

"What do you mean?" asked Relma.

"Well, I mean, have you seen Ajax?" asked Marsha. "I mean, I know he has those wolf ears, but-"

"You're joking?" asked Relma. "Have you never heard that beauty is only skin deep?"

"Sure, but it's still beautiful," said Marsha. "And real beauty takes effort to keep that way, so it speaks of character. He certainly is well-groomed."

"How long have you been here?" asked Relma, suspecting the answer was long.

"Erm, three days," said Marsha. That short a time? "There were others who were here, but they were taken away. We thought maybe they had been eaten, but Telix wouldn't do anything like that. So we're to become part of the pack."

"Pack?" asked Relma.

"Telix is a son of Baltoth and a wolf," said Marsha. "His children take on both traits. Or that's what Ajax says, anyway. He claims that we'll all join them soon."

"You don't seem very upset about it," noted Relma.

"Well, we should feel that way, I suppose. But... something stops us," said Marsha. "When you come here the first day, you'll look for ways to escape and be terrified. But then, as time passes, you realize it isn't all so bad."

"We're being held captive by demon wolves who may or may not want to eat us," noted Relma.

"But Ajax said he'd marry you," said another girl, sounding jealous.

Something was wrong here. These girls were not well. "He said nothing about you, though. So let us try to find a way to escape."

"Well, if he did eat me, well, I suppose there are worse fates," said Marsha. She sounded wistful. "I mean, someone that beautiful deserves to eat who he likes."

"Okay. I'm going to look around," said Relma, deciding she didn't want anything more to do with this. "Is there anything strange about this place you can tell me?"

"Well, I'll show you around," said Marsha. "Very nice and comfortable. They set aside beds for everyone who comes here. Most of us are lucky if we have a bedroll or straw. And meals are brought in every so often. They're much higher quality than anything we've eaten at home.