Chapter 16

A sharp, metallic sound made her aware of how much her neck ached. It had been bent at an angle for a while. That sharp, gritty sound pierced through the last of her magical sleep.

Blinking awake, Cylthan’s heart leapt into her throat. She was bound again, only this time, she was tied to a rough wooden chair. Her ankles were tied to the back legs of the chair to keep her spread and exposed. All she had on was Roan’s tunic, and the cold air was really only a small reason for why she shuddered, bumps rising across her skin.

Roan sat before her, relaxed in a fancy, high-backed throne of a chair. He was just so wickedly smug, leaned back with his legs crossed. The metallic sound rang out again so that her eyes were drawn to his hands. Once more, he drew a whetstone over the knife he held.

“It wasn’t very smart of you to attack a portal wizard,” he started calmly, his steady gaze focused on her while her eyes darted about the dark room. “You’re lucky he even remembered what dimension he put you in.” He gave her a pout. “I would have missed you, kitten.”

“W-What are you going to do to me, Roan?” she asked in a small, trembling voice, squirming against the ropes.

His sadistic smirk stretched to his ear while his voice dripped with honey. “I’m going to get answers from you, my dear.”

Her breathing grew harsher as panic tightened her chest. “Please don’t hurt me, Roan,” she pleaded in a tremulous whimper.

He cocked a brow. Setting down the whetstone on a stool beside him, he picked up a fruit and slowly sliced through without effort, his gaze never leaving her. “And if I told you that you were perfectly safe, would you even believe me?”

Not waiting for an answer, he ate the slice of fruit and stood, stalking closer.

She shrank down in the chair, squirming despite knowing it was useless. “W-Why are you doing this to me?”

Stopping in front of her, he seemed frozen by the betrayal in her quivering whimper. His face became unreadable for a long couple of seconds. Then his brow pinched together and he leaned down to hover in front of her face with a low, disarmingly sincere voice. “Because you wouldn’t want it to be anyone else.”

Straightening up, his boots were heavy against the stone floor as he continued his stalking in calculated steps around her. His voice remained steady and firm. “Now, my dear, I’m going to be the one asking the questions from now on, and you’re going to answer them.”

With a dry gulp, she forced a wry, nervous grin. “W-Well, what do you want to know? I’ve lived in the woods all my life, so I don’t know any secret recipes ... Ahh!”

She yelped, jerking when he leaned forward and sliced her on the thigh.

“But you do have secrets, and you will give them to me.”

Though only a small cut, a dribble of blood rolled down her thigh. “Oh my god, Roan!” Tears sprang to her eyes in an instant. “Please don’t do this!”

His face was so taut, like the tension was what held him together. “I already said you don’t ask the questions. You answer them. Those are my terms. Do you understand?”

The finality in his commanding tone made her shudder. Nodding hurriedly, she couldn’t meet his cold gaze and shrank away from him, her voice still trembling. “Yeah, yeah, okay, no questions. I’m really sorry. Ohm’raha. Please don’t cut me, Roan.”

She whimpered when he put his hand intimately on her thigh, his touch so warm compared to how cold she felt and grew warmer at his murmur, radiating through her flesh. When he moved his hand, the cut was gone.

“That is the last time I’ll heal you, kitten, so be a good girl, and do as you’re told. I’d hate to ruin this delightful flesh.”

He allowed himself a second to stroke her quivering leg before straightening up and setting the knife on the stool. Picking up a long black cloth, he turned back to her and smirked in that awful way of his–like he knew something terrible; like he was waiting for her to figure it out.

“Hold still, my dear. I’m just going to add a little spice to my play time.”

Clenching her teeth so hard that they ached in an attempt to hold in the whimper that escaped regardless, she fought the urge to resist and thrash her head. Her chest heaved for air in harsh gasps. His smug face was the last thing she saw before he robbed her of her most important sense.

“Now, kitten, let’s start with something that should be easy. I want to know why you stole my horse? You had to know there would be punishment for that.”

“I ... I thought you’d forget. I swear, Roan. I just ... thought it would be nice. I never wanted to, y-you know, steal from some poor farmer. I’ve walked everywhere all my life. I-I’ve never even slept in a bed, Roan. I just thought it ... it’d be easy for you to ... g-get another one. I’m really sorry, Roan.”

He inhaled slow and deep and let it out the same way, as though it were a meditation, then fell silent long enough for her to hear her own heart pounding. She flinched at the caress of his fingertips. Making her head tilt up, he glided his thumb over her dry lips.

“That’s a good girl, kitten. You keep telling me the truth, and you’ll be rewarded.”

The pressure of his fingers under her chin tilted her head back, then she felt the cool rim of a cup touch her lips. She expected water, but her mouth was filled with a light, sweet juice that wasn’t like anything she had ever tasted before. He let her have enough to wet her parched throat, but took it away before she finished the contents. At any other moment, she might have savored it, but in this moment, she just wanted the whole experience to be over.

“Now, I want to know your real name.”

She sucked in her breath before she answered, tense and waiting. “I’ve already told you.”

“Cylthaniszatrix?”

She was quiet for a long second as though to gather her courage. Her harsh, erratic breathing was all that could be heard in the room. “I don’t know who that is,” she finally replied, barely above a whisper.

“You’re lying to me, kitten,” he growled in warning, causing her to shrink down at the sensation of his presence.

“I swear I’m not, Roan,” she sobbed, trembling to her ears. “I swear, I don’t know who that is. N-Not anymore,” she added so quietly, he almost missed those last words.

“Not anymore? Then you are a dragon?”

“No!” she sobbed. Her face was wet with the tears that escaped the cloth of the blindfold.

“I know that you’re lying.”

“I swear! Please, Roan...”

“That’s right, kitten,” he interrupted her with a silky voice–a sharp contrast to his cold commands. The caress of his fingers were gentle against her wet cheeks, like he was trying to wipe her tears away without being too obvious. “You do want to please Roan. So be my good girl and tell me what you are.”

Swallowing hard, she steeled herself before answering in a tense breath. “I’m an elf.”

A whimper escaped through her clenched teeth when she felt the cold of the metal and a sharp drag across her inner thigh, followed by a wet sensation that dripped down her skin.

“Are–you–a dragon?” He demanded, each word final.

“I’m an elf,” she insisted in a whisper. She jerked and whimpered again at the sharp feeling on her skin, but she couldn’t hold her terrified sob when he did the same to the other thigh, more intimately, and another dribble of warm liquid ran down her leg.

“I will cut you again if you don’t tell me the truth.”

“God, fuck!” she cried. “You’re crazy, Roan!”

She felt his body warmth near her, and his hot breath against her ear made every hair stand on her body. “And you love it. Otherwise, you’d tell me the truth so I’d stop.”

With a sob, she sagged in defeat. “I swear, Roan. I’m telling the truth. I’m an elf. I ... I’ve been an elf longer than I was a dragon.”

“So, you are a dragon?” She thought he sounded ... disappointed.

“I was a dragon,” she corrected. Her insistence faded in an instant when she felt a cold, sharp metal press to the side of her neck. “Roan, please...!”

“Then why don’t you change back? You must enjoy this if you aren’t changing.”

“I don’t know how!” she sobbed. “I swear, Roan! The panthers changed me! They made me look like this when I was just a child! I can’t change back on my own. I’ve never even wanted to! I’m an elf, damn it! I’ve been an elf longer than I was ever a dragon!”