Author's Note: The story contains depictions of unrealistic, graphic sex between a human and a dragon. Just a quick disclaimer.
I hope you enjoy your read! I love feedback and messages regarding the story. Chapter 06 is about half complete and should be out soon. Thank you for your likes, votes, comments and messages! Since this is the first version of the story, I have felt like going back and erasing everything and starting over with more detail. I'm not going to do that though, instead I am going to continue on, complete the story and THEN go for a rewrite. Also, just a tease for anyone interested, I actually started the sequel to this story first... one day I hope to share it with you all!
*****
Solitude. Little food. Little water. Plenty of wine. Drunk rages filled Silya's first few evenings alone, and then she became aware of her temper and realized how much of a waste of energy it was to scream and break bottles when no one was there to see or hear her act out her anger. It never made her feel any better, so she convinced herself to stop. She settled into the quiet nights and buzzing days.
She returned to the high opening of the cave every day, hoping—praying—that she would see Rok and could catch his attention. She had never thought that he would act the way he had, a potent mixture of possessive and feral. She had not had a moment's peace since she had foolishly lost her temper and smashed the wine bottle over his head (which had led to several cuts on her hands and feet), her mind racing and leading to disturbed sleep, extreme irritability and bouts of depression as the days passed.
She wondered if he had been planning to keep her all along at the start of each day and at the end of each day. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced, and the more she was convinced, the more she became angry that he could even think of something like that despite everything that had happened between them; from him saving her to their copulation, it had been a wild, confusing and emotional ride. She knew she owed him her life, but at the same time, she had little desire to belong to someone again, treated like property and not a person. Askar had given her enough of that life.
Exasperated, she ruffled her hair before she returned to her room from the high opening, no sign of Rok. As mad as she was, she still felt that being in the cave, far away and likely in a different country, was the safest place for her. Askar could not get to her here—but she could not leave on a whim either. Leaving home again had been hard, and every step towards Rok had felt like lead in her feet as regret ate away at her for leaving him without a word. She knew it was wrong. She knew she had been raised better, and she felt sorry and wanted nothing but to apologize to Rok.
On the other hand, she was infuriated beyond imagination that she was being held captive. And more reluctance and heartbreak consumed her when she thought of her family she had left behind without a word, as she had done with Rok. There was a tumultuous mix of emotions that felt as if they were threatening to eat their way from her mind into her skin and leave nothing in their wake as the days flew by. She wanted peace, but not the quiet and loneliness that had been forced upon her.
Silya missed home, and she wanted the chaos to disappear that had started the moment she married. She wanted her marriage to end. She wanted to live with her parents, and see Alek grow into a fine young man, and take his place in society. Perhaps politics. He was definitely bright enough, and he had a good heart and there was a good chance he could change their city and government for the better. She dreamed that she could go home and somehow figure out her place in the world. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself as she sat in the high opening the next evening, tears streaking her face.
The thought of leaving Rok again didn't frighten her as much as leave her with a hallow place in her chest, a feeling she did not care to examine. Everything felt strange, foreign, and broken. She wanted to run away out of contempt for his behavior, but she didn't want to leave.
As she rekindled the fire upon returning to her room after the sun had set, she huddled close to it and warmed herself as evening settled over the land once again. She dozed with the cow hide covers from the bed draped around her shoulders for about an hour when a noise startled her at the high entrance. She let the covers fall from her body, and ran to see what it was, some part of her hoping it was Rok returning. Although she had let her temper get the best of her, she wanted Rok's presence and company.
She was disappointed to find that he wasn't there. The light from the half-moon shone in, illuminating a basket of provisions that had been left for her. When she took it back to the den, she saw it contained chicken meat, skewered on sticks, dried meats, a water skin and fresh vegetables—food that could be made to stretch for a few days at least. As she settled around the fire, she began cooking and drinking a bottle of wine.
Her last coherent thoughts before she passed out had her reason that enough was enough—she would find a way out starting as soon as she woke up and stop feeling sorry for herself. It was time to take action.
*****
Exploring, Silya realized, had been a terrible idea. After dead ends and finding her way to the sealed off entrance, she had gone lower in hopes that there was another way out, but the path had gotten almost impossibly narrow. She could easily get stuck, and she puffed out her cheeks as she considered the pros and cons of making her way through where the walls of the caves were so close together.
On the plus side, she just might find a way out. On the down side, she didn't know where she was, there was no telling what kinds of creatures lurked, it was increasingly dark, and worst of all, she could be stuck until Rok decided to rear his ugly head. She shook her head at herself, because she wasn't listening to her instinct to turn around. "Well, here goes nothing..."
Dropping the torch she had used to light the way, she shimmied her way between the walls, her breasts pressed so tightly against her chest it was hard to breathe. The walls were slick with water, which made it easier to slip through. As she watched the light grow farther away and almost disappear, her heart began racing when, very suddenly, there wasn't solid ground for her foot to touch with the next step. Having taken too great of a step to her right, she couldn't get her leg back where she needed, and it dangled freely above what could have been an abyss.
"Oh, gods! Please don't tell me this is how I die. This is embarrassing!" She whimpered and tried to rock back in the other direction, but there wasn't enough friction, and her hands were slipping along the wall as she groped in desperation. She moved wrong and pushed herself farther right. Every movement was working against her so that she was falling in slow motion, until finally, gravity won and she fell a short distance before she hit the sides of a very steep and slippery wall. She was no longer confined, and she was sliding down the wall rapidly until she came into contact with the cave floor—a smooth landing, as the cave lacked the formations of stalactites and stalagmites. At the sound of her body making contact with the floor, the whole area was suddenly flooded with a white glow as the algae that lived there detected the sound of her body meeting the cave floor.
As she looked up, dazed and grateful that she was unhurt, she saw she was in a room with a pool of water. There was plenty of room around it to walk, and as she got closer to the circular pool with the clearest water she had ever seen, she couldn't help but think about jumping in since she was covered in grime and her own filth. She could see how deep it really was the closer she got, and it made her so dizzy she had to sit down take it in, rubbing at her sore hip and shoulder that had hit the cave wall when she had slipped.
She stared at the water for a few minutes before she looked down at the state of her poor dress. It was full of dirt and mud, and she wrinkled her nose at it. The well was inviting considering she had not bathed since she'd been sealed in. Although slightly terrifying because of its depth, she could see ledges all along the sides, some long enough to sit on around the edges of the pool, starting just beneath the water. It looked easy to climb out of, and it lessened her fear.
As she took a step towards the water, the small lights of the glowing algae pulsed, just as they had when she landed. The sight made her smile, and somehow less afraid of going into the water. The room was extremely warm and humid, and she quickly freed herself from her dress as the soft fabric began to stick to her skin. As she got a closer look at the well, she saw no bottom to it, but it didn't stop her from removing her undergarments and sliding into the water.
The water was cool, almost too cold, but considering the general warmth of the cave, it served as a nice contrast. Her skin crawled with goosebumps, and her nipples puckered into tight buds. She bathed herself and rinsed her hair and scrubbed at her teeth, and as she soaked in the water she looked around the room to take it in fully, and she could see where there was another room connected to the one she was in. As she finished up, she hopped from the water and wandered towards the other room, wondering if there was another water source within. Perhaps a larger pool of water, or even a way out. She was hopeful of the latter.