Thank you new and returning readers alike! Like I said the tone is changing. Let me know how you feel about it. Be prepared for a rough few chapters. And don't say I didn't warn you.
I decided to join these next two chapters even though it makes for a longer post. Enjoy!
Ch. 9
Consciousness returned to her slowly, allowing her time to feel every pain in her body one at a time. The most pressing was the radiating throb from her temple. It felt like even her teeth ached in time with the beat of her heart, the pain was so intense. Then the pain in her shoulder called out for attention as she became aware that her hands were chained above her head, the muscles screamed after supporting the weight of her unconscious body for however long she had been there. Her legs were twisted underneath her and she couldn't tell immediately if they were also restrained. The metal collar still sat heavily around her neck, an unfamiliar and threatening weight. Voices made their way through the pain to claim her attention.
"—But I still have no access!" an angry voice was saying. "The collar has simply contained the magic within her. And more than that I have no control, as I should. It has weakened her but her body is still free to move of her own volition."
"Well, find a solution," a harder, calmer voice spoke out. "We are all curious why she attacked the soldiers. The king arrives tomorrow. See if you can get him answers by then." The heavy steps moved away from her and she heard a door close.
The owner of the angry voice started muttering to himself, shuffling around the room. Anna was sorely tempted to open her eyes and learn the identities of her captors, but the angry man's muttering got louder. And she chose to remain impassive a moment longer despite the complaints of her body.
"After all I have done. Politics, politics, politics." He continued with something intelligible before crying out in surprise. Anna managed not to jerk at the sound but she did start somewhat. "By the gods, Orlith, why do you insist on sneaking up on me every time?" the angry man snapped.
"I believe our guest is awake." The voice of the northerner sent a shock of fear through Anna as she slowly opened her eyes.
She was chained in the corner of a large tower room, the rounded walls and winds whistling through the shutters gave it away. The room was packed with tables covered in all nature of things scattered in no discernable order. The walls were lined with books, bottles, dried herbs and animal skeletons, brightly colored tapestries and glass work, stones of every conceivable mineral in all shapes and sizes, utensils of familiar use and some that looked rather ominous. In the center of the room a large fire pit that burned with an eerie green flame. This was a sorcerer's room. And the sorcerer himself stood with the northerner at the far side of the fire, both of their eyes fixed on her.
Anna was set off from the room on a low stone platform that was about knee height to someone standing before her. Her arms were secured in metal shackles almost directly to the wall above her. Her ankles, she could now see, were secured by a short length of chain bolted to the floor. Next to this bolt was a drain-way, which was crusted in dark stains sending a chill up her spine.
Her eyes returned to the pair of men in the room and she saw the northerner move around the fire so silently that she would not have known he had moved if she hadn't see him do it. The other man was a pale, skinny man whose face was narrow and pointed in a most unfortunate arrangement and topped with long white tufts of hair. The hair added to the unsettling quality about him as he did not appear old enough to own such a color. He had a sort of frantic energy about him that jarred with his appearance. He ambled over towards her as well, a gleam in his eye that she found decidedly unnerving.
Anna did her best not to pull back from them as they approached. She would not show these men her fear. The northerner eyed her; Orlith, the thin man had called him. She felt a tremor run through her, despite her attempts to suppress her fear and her weakness. It felt as though her body had been dragged from the depths of the ocean, her energy was entirely depleted in a way she had never quite experienced before.
"Welcome, welcome," the thin man said with a smile that turned her stomach. "We were beginning to think you'd never wake up." Anna made no answer. The cold collar on her neck felt oppressive. The proximity of the thin man seemed to make it chill further. "We are thrilled for you to be here," he continued. "Despite the fact that you left quite a bit of destruction in your wake."
Anna's eyes shifted to the northerner's smooth face. His expression was unreadable but his eyes were burning into hers as he held her gaze. His silence seemed more natural than hers; he could out-wait her. But still she said nothing.
"My name is Evo," the thin man said, drawing her attention back. "And we have much to discuss, starting with your name. So let's have it." His fingers moved in a strange pattern before her and she felt a bit of the strange magic inside her worm its way towards her throat, grasping at her muscles and jaw, as if to force it to move. The pressure began to burn as the icy magic clamped down on her but she refused to loosen her jaw. The pain radiated through her neck, along her skull and down her back, but the magic was slipping and finally it gave up, sliding back to its place deep inside her, guarding her magic from her reach.
"Interesting," Evo said, the gleam in his eyes undiminished. Anna breathed hard as the feeling receded. She felt nauseous again from the pain; her head was still throbbing from the blow she'd sustained. She tried to right herself against the chains, drawing her aching arms forward as she leaned her head back against the wall, only managing to rest her forearm on her head for a bit of reprieve. But the dizziness did not abate. She tried to force herself to remain present but black spots danced in front of her vision. Without thinking, she reached for her magic to heal some of her hurt, but the moment she touched the icy sphere around it she called out. Her muscles locked under her skin and for a moment she felt as though she was turning to ice. And then it was gone, and she was still in her sorry state, clinging to consciousness by a thread.
"We can't question her if she's out again." Orlith's voice sounded far away. "I may have hit her harder than intended. Can't you take care of this?"
Evo's voice came from farther away, "I don't heal. Get the Ionian from downstairs." Anna was slipping and for a brief moment all the pain was gone and she was far from the sinister room.
But then she came back to full, screaming awareness as another's magic ripped through her. She called out again as a fresh wave wrapped around her brain and squeezed, lights danced in her vision and she felt as though it was ripping through her skin. And then it was gone entirely, and so was the pain in her head and shoulder from the fight, and even the lingering soreness in her muscles from her exertion and confinement. Her vision cleared and she saw a sandy-haired man in his middle age standing before her. His face was wide and a small smile touched his lips but didn't extend past them.
"Sorry about the pain," his voice was heavily accented but deep and soothing. "I can only speed up the healing, it still—" his mouth snapped shut and his words were cut off.
"I had you heal her, not present a thesis on magic." Evo sounded at once thrilled and exasperated. Anna's eyes slipped down and saw the man was wearing a collar that looked to be the same design as the one she wore. Her eyes flew back to his and she could see him struggle though his face remained immobile. "That's all for today, Marek, go back to your room." With the command, the man's body moved away from her. Despite his casual gait, Anna knew he was not moving of his own volition.
Anna took stock of her surroundings once more. Was Evo the "he" Leena's husband had threatened her with? It seemed to make sense, given the sell-sword's uncanny familiarity with magic, that the two of them might be connected. Or was it Orlith? The man knew the soldiers, would he have known the other men who attacked the village? There must be a connection. The soldiers she had attacked were in her village, someone here must know why.
Evo was muttering to himself again. Anna focused her eyes on his movements. She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. The question of her village's fate suddenly seemed a bit less pressing. What did they want from her exactly? The man who was speaking when she first woke up had mentioned answers for attacking the soldiers, or did they know about the others as well? If they found out she was from the village they had sacked, what would they do? And now it seemed this sorcerer was looking to enslave her to him as he had with the blond man, Marek.
But the king was coming. Did it really go that high? She was missing something very big. She eyed Evo again. He seemed a chatty type, one too pleased with himself to keep silent about anything for too long. She regarded her situation again. Staying silent might not be the best way to glean the information she needed.
Her thoughts were disrupted, as the northerner entered the room through the only door on the far wall from where she was bound. She suppressed the fear that shot through her when his icy blue eyes fell on hers. There was something in his gaze that unnerved her greatly. He seemed to be looking at and through her all at once. She knew at once that though Evo held the leash to her magic, this man, Orlith, would be much harder to escape.
The thought of escape brought her mind back to Dev. She hoped desperately that he had seen reason and run. If it was true that the last man had informed the others about her, they must have known about her companion as well. The two men spoke in low tones, though Evo was decidedly less careful about the volume of his voice. Orlith seemed to be trying to convince him of something but Evo was having none of it, shaking his head.
"No need, no need," he was saying as he approached Anna. "Soon enough I'll have her under control." He stood before her, a crude cup in his hand. "Drink this, now," he spoke to her, holding the cup out towards her. Anna looked at him incredulously; did he really expect her to listen? And if he did, how was she supposed to take the cup with her hands held above her head?
