Author's Warning: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of someone getting tortured. I will put stars where the scene begins for those uncomfortable reading it. You can skip until the next set of stars if that makes you feel better.
Anna's POV
"You better behave for the King," said the bossman before slamming the door. I looked around the room and it was some sort of bed-chamber. Everything was blood-red coloured. I was leaning against a chair that was in the middle of the room. What an unusual layout for a bedroom I thought to myself. Then I noticed that I was bleeding from my lip seeing as my blood was on the chair. Great. Just then the door opened and someone walked in.
It was a man, who was about six feet tall and well built. He had a sword by his side and a crown on his head. His hair was dark brown and his skin was fair. He gave a signal to some guards that were standing post and they got up and left. It was then who I realised was in front of me. It was Adam. "Why hello there," he said in a deep voice
"Hey?" I replied, confused as to why he was being polite to me. I mean I was his prisoner after all.
"I'm sorry you're all tied up my dear. But I wanted to talk to you first before we get you all cleaned up and fed. Did my horsemen treat you alright?"
"Umm... If you count tying me up, throwing me around on a horse, and hitting me, as alright. Then yes, I'm fantastic,"
"Ah. Well, I am sorry about that. They were following orders but they could've treated you better. I'll speak to them about that." He said, actually sounding apologetic. I just nodded and he continued, "So I was hoping you would do me a favour,"
"Depends on what you want"
"So you see, I'm not sure if you noticed but there's a war going on and my sister is causing me issues. I was hoping you could tell me some information on that matter," he said with a sickening smile
"And what makes you think I know anything?" I asked knowing that he knew I was part of her army
"Don't play games with me. Otherwise, this will become more painful"
"Alright fine. But what actually makes you think I'll tell you anything even if I did know something"
"How about this. In exchange for your information and intel. I will grant you your freedom and comfort here at my castle. Don't you want to be on the winning side?"
Ok, I have to play this as if I'm part of her army but have no idea what she's planning. I CANNOT tell him anything. I thought to myself. "No. I don't believe your side is the winning side. Ariana's is thank you very much. Now, I believe that you are wasting your time here,"
"Oh? You know nothing about The Children of New?"
"Umm...who?"
"The Legend of the Children of New? No? You know nothing about it?"
"Should I?"
"Yes, you should. Everyone knows the legend at this point. Which is why I think you're LYING!!!" he yelled at me before hitting me across the face.
I was on the floor again. The cut on my lip had begun to bleed again. I looked right at Adam and spit blood and saliva at the floor. "You better get it into your head, I'm not telling you shit. Even if I did know something, I would never betray Ariana by telling you. You piece of --"
"GUARDS!!! Get in here!" he shouted and then I heard the sounds of footsteps nearing. Then two guards dressed in black armour came running in. They bowed to Adam. "Guards, take this filth to the dungeons! Get her out of my sight. I'll be there in a second to deal with her"
"Yes sir" said the first guard. The second one just looked at me, then I realised that it was John. But he followed his orders and grabbed me up. They took me out of the room. I screamed back at Adam.
"YOU WILL NEVER GET ANYTHING OUT ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!! I WILL NEVER LISTEN TO YOU!! YOU KNOW NOTHING AND YOU ARE NOTHING!!!" I tried to get out of the guard's arms but I was weak from lack of food, sleep, and just plain energy. "Let go of me!"
Adam laughed and then smirked, "we'll see about that. We'll see about that"
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I was led down many staircases and each one seemed darker than the last. Finally, we reached the bottom of what could've been the whole castle and town. It was dark, damp, and very cold. I shivered. I was then taken to a room where there were chains hanging from the ceiling and blood already all over the walls. There were many torture instruments all around the room. There was an Iron chair, Rack, Parrilla, an Iron Maiden, and a whole bunch of random torture devices that were scattered throughout the room. The guards took my wrists and untied me. They chained me to the chains that were hanging down and then yanked me up so that I was dangling in the air.
"You will hang here until Adam arrives which won't be too long," said John
"Can I at least have some water?" I asked him. He hesitated.
Then the other guard said, "No talking!"
After a few minutes, Adam reappeared but dressed in more casual clothes. He snapped his fingers at the guard. "Out. I want to do this alone," and the guards left, slamming the door on their way out. Adam turned to me with a sickening grin, "Now. Are you going to talk or will I get to use one of these lovely tools?" he said while gesturing to the table full of torture devices. I just glared at him. He sighed, "Very well. This will be fun"
He then picked up a whip that had barbed spikes on the end of each string. It already had blood on it. I braced myself for impact as he raised his arm to strike. CRACK! The whip hit my back and I screamed out in agony. It felt like I had just been hit with a strand of fire all down my back. I could feel the barbs getting stuck in my back and then being yanked out. He whipped me two more times before turning back to me. "Now that you know what'll happen to you if you don't talk... would you like to talk?"
I spat at his face, "You think I'll break that easily? Ha! You're sadly mistaken," I said, then screamed after he hit me two more times. I could start to feel the blood run down my spine onto the floor. I'm not going to give in. Not EVER. Come on Anna, you're stronger than this. I could feel some of my skin starting to peel and there were definitely long scratches, for lack of a better word, all over my back now. Adam and I continued the same conversation for at least an hour, but I lost track of time. I looked up to see Adam setting down the whip. "So we're done then? That's nice, so if you could bring me down from here that would be lovely," I managed to get out despite the pain I was in.
"Shut up. I'm nowhere near done with you. GUARDS!!! Get in here!!" He cried out. Two new guards came into the room. "Let's work on your punches, shall we? Every time she won't answer, beat the living shit out of her," the guards looked at me and nodded. They then put two additional chains on my feet so I wouldn't swing too much when they punched me. "What do you know about the children of new?" I just looked back at him and said nothing. He nodded to the guards who then started to beat me up. One hit my face a couple of times the other punched my stomach. Adam raised his hand for them to stop. "Let's try a different question. Where is Ariana?"
I laughed and said, "Didn't I tell you I wouldn't tell you shit?"
The guards beat me once again. This time when they stopped, I had to spit out the blood that had developed in my mouth. Adam spoke, "You might say that now, but you'll talk eventually" The beating lasted a long time. I'm not sure how much time had passed, my head was beginning to feel fuzzy. "TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!?!?!" yelled Adam who was now in my face, annoyed we still haven't gotten anywhere. I just stayed silent. I was too worn out to have a quirky comeback. Adam was pissed. "Get her out of the chains and put her in The Chair!" he yelled at the guards who were worn out from beating me up.
I looked up to see what chair he meant. It was an Iron Chair. Shit! No no nooo! I can't go in that, I just can't. Wait no get it together. Plea for mercy? No. Fight back I thought to myself as I struggled to get out of the guard's grip. The Chair was an Iron Chair with spikes all over it. Back in the day, they would use it to roast some of their victims alive. "No! Please no! Haven't you had enough fun for one day?" I asked Adam
He held up his hand, "Well, are you ready to talk?"
I put my head down and shook it sideways. I started to feel the tears roll down my cheeks. Adam scoffed and told the guards to proceed and put me in The Chair. They made me sit down and the spikes went right into her skin and her back started to bleed again. I cried out in fear and agony. My wrists, which were already pretty damaged from all the chains, got the worst of it since the spikes were thicker and longer. It also didn't help that I tried to get my hands loose. Adam came over and hit some sort of button that caused the spikes underneath my legs and butt to go away. But the armrests and back still had the spikes. He picked up what looked to be an electric cattle prod. He then walked right up to my ear and whispered, "Now, I have a meeting in about half an hour. So I won't use the fire or full spikes on you just yet. But be ready because I won't hesitate next time we're in here. Now where, were we... Ah! Yes, are you a Daughter of Eve?"
I looked at him and just glared. He laughed. Then turned on the cattle prod, sparks flew from it. He then stabbed me with it. "AHHHHHHH!" I scream as the pain of being electrocuted shot through my whole body. I twitched and that caused the spikes to go deeper into my skin. It was so painful, I wanted to give in just to get the pain to stop and go away. But I knew I couldn't. So, Adam would ask a question, I would glare, he'd stab me, then I'd scream. This cycle of endless pain continued for what felt like a damn eternity. It finally stopped. I was exhausted and felt like my life force was draining out of me. Adam got up and put the cattle prod down. I hadn't noticed before but now I was that since I was in only my bra and a pair of spandex, I was covered in bruises and other marks. When on earth did they take my clothes off? I must've passed out or something I thought to myself. I looked up to see Adam cleaning off his tools. I tried to make a quirky or quick comeback, but nothing would come out of my mouth.
I saw Adam snap at the guards. "Get her out of here. Take her to Marissa. She'll know how to clean her wounds. Also, tell Marissa to get her ready for a performance. I want her to be part of my show."
"Yes sir," said the first guard who then started to undo my chains. I could feel the spikes reluctantly leave my wrists and then back. I turned and saw my blood all over the chair. I'm surprised I'm not dead yet. I fell to the ground immediately. "Stand up!" yelled the guard. I tried but ultimately failed at doing so. So then the guard picked me up and half carried half dragged me out of that dark room.
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I honestly had no idea where we were going but we entered this room that was still underneath the castle, but it wasn't as cold or dark as the other one. There were medical supplies and herbs all over the room. In the middle of the room sat a girl reading a book. She had darker skin than Adam and long brown hair. She jumped when we entered the room. The guards threw me to the ground. The girl jumped up. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked the guards.
"Marissa, the King wants you to fix her up and get her ready to learn some routines for the shows. However, I wouldn't use the serum on her just yet. I know how awful that stuff is and I don't think she needs it yet. I have a feeling that this will continue for weeks and it's stupid to waste it on her right now," said the guard who tried to carry me
"Of course. But who is she?"
"A prisoner brought back during the battle against Ariana"
Marissa gasped. "Well put her on the table then leave us," she said while grabbing what looked like medicine. They nodded and placed me on the table. They then turned around and left. It was just me and the girl they called Marissa. I looked at her scared because I had no idea what she was going to do to me.
"What are you going to do to me?" I asked in a quiet voice
"Try and heal you. My name is Marissa. I was a lady-in-waiting for Princess Ariana before all this chaos happened. But Adam forced me to stay during the escape Ariana made. I'm his only healer. So that's why they brought you to me." she said. Then she paused, "You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm just here to help you."
I nodded at her as she began to apply some cream to my back. "What are you going to do about the scars and bruises that are all over my face if I am to perform?" I asked her
"You aren't the first that's been in this position. They make up ladies will cover them up and your costumes will hide them too. For about a week you will learn the routines and maybe even get your own piece. But I also know that you will continue to get tortured even if you are performing. So this won't be an easy process. When worse comes to worst and you are too weak to perform, I have to give you what's called the Strength Serum. It makes you strong for a limited amount of time but after it wears off you lose more strength than you were given. But more of that later." she said as she started to wrap my back up in bandages. In order to do that I had to sit up.
I grunted as I got up, I was in so much pain. I looked at Marissa, "Thank you. You're the only one that has been kind to me since I got here. If I ever get out of here, I'll make sure you get out too."
"I'm not sure Ariana would take me back, to be honest,"
"She will. And I bet she would be so proud of you right --" I was cut off as the door opened and a little girl, no older than eight was standing there. She looked at me wide-eyed.
"Princess Natalie! You can't be down here!"
"But they said I could find you down here," Natalie said as she approached me. She came right up to me, "Who are you?" she asked
"I'm--" I started to say before the world started to go black, but before I passed out I managed to say "I'm Anna". Then the world went black.