The Prisoner Princess

The Tower

The first thing Nereida noticed when she came to was that she was completely dry. Her breath came in the cold tightness of air rather than water.

Disorientedly, she looked around. She was chained next to a roaring fire in a strange, rounded room. There was a window that gave way to brilliant sunlight shining over the tops of trees. She was somewhere high up, and by the looks of it, nowhere near water.

This was not good. Nereida started to pull on her chains, but almost as if on cue, Vidarr walked into the room.

He glanced at her futile attempts and tsked. "Now, princess, I thought you would have been smarter than to waste your energy on something so trifling." His hand swept across the room.

"Where am I?" she asked angrily.

He smiled, and she remembered how there can be nothing more sinister. "You're in one of the kingdom's most fortified towers, as I'm sure you've already guessed." He pulled out a chair, straddling it backwards like he hadn't a care in the world. "We won't be disturbed here, and you and I can continue our little chat."

Cold dread crept down her spine. She shook her head, "My answer hadn't changed. I'll never give you the ring."

"If you're afraid of doing the dirty work to retrieve it, princess, all I need is the location." He offered, in that moment once again seeming desperate. "I will happily get it myself."

But again Nereida refused. "It is not meant for the likes of men. For the likes of anyone." she added. "Let me go, Vidarr, find another way for peace. I will not give it to you."

His grin returned. "But you will, after a few days from the water." He stood up, pausing at the door. "All I have to do is wait."