From the Depths

Chapter 10 - Elves and Mages.

It had happened in an instant and she knew she had screwed up. Henry's hand firmly clasped her throat, squeezing tightly. He slammed her back into the wall of the short corridor. The wind left her lungs with his grip tightening around her neck, she couldn't breathe. A light ringing began in her ears as she forgot about the bread she carried dropping it to the floor and began flailing in an attempt to get his hands off her. He could have just denied the statement, but this adverse reaction? She had clearly hit the nail on the head.

"H-Hen..ry." She croaked. Instead of struggling she relaxed in his grip and lightly tapped his hand around her throat. The initial attack had shocked her, but she needed to play this the right way. She needed to calm him down, this wasn't aggression toward her, this was more like fear. She'd seen it many times in the animals she'd treated, they'd lash out without meaning to.

His eyes bored into her, there was no denying that this man terrified her, maybe even for then the King at times. His grip loosed only enough to allow her to take a sharp inhalation of air.

She gasped several times, finally able to breathe again, closing her eyes for a moment to catch her bearings, her eyes still seeing stairs. She decided it was best to keep her voice low.

"I didn't mean to offend..." She watched as she saw him thinking, his brows furrowed as his gaze searched her own for answers. She wondered if he was toying with the idea of killing her and if he could get away with it given the King needed her.

"I have no reason to spread rumours or let secrets out. Perhaps I could be of some assistance..." She spoke calmly and low enough that only he could hear her.

He released her stepping away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really! And these red marks on my neck mean what exactly?" She snapped. She shouldn't have, but for him to just deny it after that reaction, that annoyed her.

He shot her a stern look, she returned his fierceness with her own.

"Look, I see nothing wrong with it-" She tried.

"Good for you." He cut in. Not wanting to finish the conversation he yanked her along, leading them outside.

She sighed heavily, he was certainly being stubborn. She decided not to press the matter any further, at least for today.

"Where are we going?" She asked for a second time.

"To see the mages." He wouldn't look at her, his eyes trained forward as he continued to forcibly move her faster than her feet wanted to move.

She rolled her eyes, that much she already knew. "But where!?"

"At the cliffside by the beach."

Once outside the castle he hurriedly pulled her to a side entrance, one that surely led to the cliffside. Way he really going to through her off the cliffside? Possibly claim it an accident, oops she slipped!

However when she saw the steps that they were to take, maybe being pushed off would be easier. They began their descent on steps that appeared as though they had been carved from the cliffside itself. The lower to the ground they came, the windier it seemed to become.

Henry had to tighten his hold on her as there were no railings to hold onto, only a small lip to stop your feet from slipping over the edge. If she was blown off the rocks it'd surely be her death. She instinctively grabbed at the back of his shirt to catch herself as a large gust of wind rushed by them.

"Who made these!?" She gasped as her body was blown into the side of the cliff again, knocking her slightly off balance. "They are utterly terrible!"

"We did." He grunted.