Gwen groaned as her head hit the wall, knocking the wind out of her. With her head spinning, she did her best to focus in on her father who stood a good ten feet away. He bellowed, "I warned you to never disobey me again, but you had to try to contact the Varden again, didn't you?"
A tear rolled down Gwen's cheek. She knew that she could not escape his wrath this time; communicating with the Varden and the princess of Alagaesia was extremely risky, but she attempted it anyways, she had to. Of course, her father intercepted the letter and discovered its origins to her. Now, all she could do is helplessly wait for her fate to be sealed.
The King strode forward, his cape flowing freely behind him. His eyes were dark and cold. In his hand, he had a staff with a black gem wound at the top with gold. He pointed the staff at her and commanded her to stand up. Weakly, she grasped the wall to help her catch her footing. Once erect, she pressed herself up against the wall, waiting for him to kill her.
The King started to speak the Ancient Language. Her body writhed in agony as the black magic hit her. Yet, no matter how much pain she was in, she did not die. She opened her eyes and saw that her father grew taller and taller, but never seemed to reach the top of the palace roof. It suddenly occurred to her that he did not grow at all, rather, she was getting smaller. When the spell ended, she was no larger than a thumb, an average man's thumb that is. She was terribly confused why her father shrank her instead of killed her. Probably reading her mind, her father stooped down and scooped her up with his large fingers. Gwen could not hold her balance and collapsed on his palm. She looked up at him as he began to laugh.
"I cannot kill you because your damned mother placed a spell on that deflects all means of me killing you. Anyways, sometimes it is better to torture than kill, and in your case, it proved true. You will spend the rest of your pitiful existence the size of a walnut."
Gwen wept placing her minuscule hands in her face. She wished that her mother never placed that curse in her so that she could escape the cruel world, but alas, fate had a different plan for her.