Queen Lydia

Chapter Seven: My Choice

His room was dark, with one window in the corner that let in natural light. His bed was twin sized, and his closet was set into the wall by the window. There wasn't a dresser, I noticed, but he did have a corner of the room lined with several rows of wire that went right in front of the window as well.

The wires almost looked like an electric fence that people put in their yard to train their dogs to stay within the property line. I almost whimpered like a scared puppy, but stopped myself from looking so weak.

"Your Royal Ex-Majesty," he started, gesturing with his right hand towards the corner with electric fences his other hand still gripping tightly to the leash, "that will be your 'quarters'," he used air quotes around the word 'quarters'. "I am your new master, and you will do exactly as I say. If I say jump, you will not ask how high, but instead, simply jump. Understand?"

I wanted to glare, but I wasn't sure how he would react. "You will stay within the confines of your quarters until I see fit that you may roam about the room."

"What-what if I have to use the restroom?" I asked. This was a very important question to me.

"If that is the case, you will use that," he said pointing to a toddler training toilet. I grimaced. "Next, you will not speak unless spoken to. Am I clear?" I nodded, frightened at his intensity. "If you speak out of turn, the first time you will receive x number of whippings; to be decided when the time arises. A second offense will result in the loss of a tooth. And the third offense will be the removal of your tongue."

I blanched, goosebumps prickling up and down my arms.

"Am I understood?" He asked, holding my gaze, making my toes curl.

I only nodded, afraid that my voice might crack with fear.

Then he nodded, and shoved me into the corner, my head bouncing off the wall, my body falling to the ground. He flicked a switch, and a buzzing could be heard all around me. The electric fence had been turned on.

He turned and exited the room, leaving me to my thoughts in the silence. The only semi-upside to this was that my hands had not been bound, or handcuffed, or restrained in any way, and that there was a small bow of cereal just beside the potty. I nibbled on that before I did anything else. I realized that I hadn't eaten since Saturday night, and it was now Monday.

My next order of business was to get this dog collar off. Gingerly, I felt around the collar he had placed on my neck, looking for some sort of buckle, or maybe a clasp, but there was nothing. Just a large cube in the middle. I assumed that this was what would enact the electric shock. The collar also seemed to be really old. I remembered a news article saying that newer ones were less painful than the older ones. This one felt pretty old.

I was still in a sitting position against the walls in the corner, so I leaned my head against the walls. The cool surfaces almost soothed my aching head.

In the past 24 hours, I had banged it on something at least three times; I had run away at least twice; knocked out once. I'm sure there were other statistics I could think about, but the cool wall against my head made me tired, and all of the running was catching up to me.

It felt like forever, but it could only have been seconds and I was out like a light.

• • •

It was another dreamless sleep, but this time I felt more refreshed when I awoke; the late afternoon light had turned into dark grey dusk.