Chained To Him [Editing]

Chapter Six

"Are you going to glare silently at me all night?"

Jayde looked away as Aragon took a step closer to her. They stood in the study—the king's old study—set off down a hallway from the front of the palace. Even after the rebellion the palace had stood empty, a pale ghost overlooking the town. The surfaces had been cleaned as Lord Greywood and his guard settled in, and the walls hung with the gold and purple velvet of the Empire. Lord Aragon had taken this place before as his headquarters when he was Lord of Aésadel. And now he had returned—as who? As far as she knew, Lord Greywood now ruled over her town. 

He had taken her shackles off, but several of his guards still remained in the room, flanking her with tense muscles. Did they think she was dangerous? Perhaps she was. But so many weeks of hard labor and malnourishment had left her weak. The most she could do was keep her silence. 

"It is alright," he murmured, suddenly resting his hand against her collarbone. "I like you better when you're mute." She grimaced but didn't flinch away from him. He was trying to scare her, to make her submit as he always did. But even as she shook with fear on the inside, Jayde let her face remain placid. "Perhaps you want to know why I am here." He stepped away abruptly and paced toward the open window. "I will oblige you, I suppose. You see, after your shoddy rebellion, I suggested to his Majesty that we rest easy and give land. I called for aid from across the sea, and many men answered at the promise of gold." He turned to smile at her. "The Emperor appointed me as his Advisor. And Lord Greywood was trained to reclaim Aésadel in my place. So far I have succeeded, don't you think?"

Jayde shifted uneasily as he neared her once again. She cursed the gleam in his eye, knowing that he watched her every movement.

"And you? You've become a slave." He leaned towards her until his nose brushed hers and she stumbled back. Advancing until he forced her back against the wall, Aragon slid his hands around her neck. "You know, Jayde, I've decided that since I'm rather fond of you, I will help you. I'm going to find you a place among the pleasure slaves, and Madam Maigi will accept you because she owes me a favor or two." When he pressed against her to whisper in her ear, his stubbled cheek brushed her jawbone. "You'll be safe from the soldiers there, and I'm sure you'll find yourself right at home among the whores."

When she tensed, Aragon's hand tightened slightly around her throat in warning. Jayde fought to control her anger, but found herself shoving Aragon from her with all of her strength and instinctively relaxing into a defensive stance. The guards in the room took a step towards her but Lord Aragon raised his hand with a laugh.

"You seem angry, Jayde, don't you like my proposition?"

"You bastard!" she managed to whisper, but said no more.

Aragon's jaw twitched and he rolled his eyes. "Ungrateful as ever. But no matter. You'll begin training tomorrow morning." He motioned to his guards to take her, and she surged against them when their fingers gripped her arms like talons. "Take her to the holding cell and give her a meal, preferably something more nourishing than gruel. She'll need her strength."

*****

She laid stiffly on the straw mattress on the floor of the cell, glad at least that she had been properly fed. She wasn't able to finish the meal, as weeks of not eating enough had shrank her appetite considerably. The holding cell was set in the cellar of her father's home, next to wooden shelves which used to hold cured meat and root vegetables. Now, the room beyond her cell was empty, and dark, although the sturdy foundation prevented it from becoming too damp. As a prisoner, she didn't have the worst accommodations. Aragon had given her sandals and a clean dress of simple beige linen. He had demanded that she make herself presentable in the morning for when he presented her to Madam Maigi. Did he know that she had already disrespected the awful woman? Perhaps Maigi wouldn't be willing to take her. But something told Jayde that if she owed Aragon a favor then perhaps she was equally vengeful as him. If she did take her, Jayde would not find an easy life. She wondered what training Aragon spoke of, and shivered. She had heard stories, but only tall tales certainly of the brutal training and brainwashing that occurred to palace slaves. While field slaves could be rebellious under threat of punishment, palace slaves occasionally had direct contact with the Lord or Lady, or even the Emperor. They had to be pliable and docile, tame enough that even the threat of punishment was enough to keep them in line. But Jayde had heard even darker rumors of the psychological terrors inflicted on people who required special attention to mold them into slaves. These were the stories that terrified her the most. Stories of humiliation and degradation, of torture not of the body but of the mind. Jayde could be beaten, she could suffer for Aésadel. But if she lost her mind, what would she have left?