Edda didn't know which feeling was worse, she felt as if the muscles lining her neck to her arms were going to tear from the pressure of hanging from her shackled wrists for so long, she felt thirsty and a hunger so great that she'd attempted to chew at her sandy peppered hair that fell on either side of her face in an attempt to sate her hunger. There was a constant cold within the dungeon and her naked body shivered relentlessly. But even so, her physical discomforts couldn't qualify as the worst of feelings.
Emotionally she was bleeding from a wound she could not see or tend to but only feel. Whenever she glanced to her left there was a corpse hanging from the wrists just as her body was. The corpse was decapitated and male but it lacked its manhood for in its place was a gaping wound where it used to be. They hadn't bothered to remove Ingah's corpse, they'd left it there for her to see and when the dungeon torches started to dim someone would come and replace them, ensuring that she would always bare witness to what Ingah had been reduced to.
Mentally she believed she had gone insane. Hearing Ingah choke on his cock and slowly bleed to death was enough to drive her to the brink of insanity. Edda loved him, and it was that love that fueled her to talk to him as the man slowly perished. She'd told him about how much he meant to her and how she'd always cherish the moments they had spent together regardless of how short lived they were.
She'd also told him that the Gods were watching, always vigilant and would never allow what he'd been put through to go unpunished. But did she believe her words? Did the Gods really care? It was ironic that people all over the realm always swore by the Gods and talked of the gods but when it came to worship and when it came to tradition the only deity ever exalted was the Goddess of order, Meena. The one who'd blessed the Binorian Kings of the house of Vigon, giving them power beyond measure. Something that has never been witnessed before.
One of the Kings of Binoria, with the blessing of the Goddess herself had instituted the torture of Ingah. So, wasn't telling him that the gods would avenge him very absurd? The only deity that has ever availed itself to man was Meena. What other Gods were there? If other Gods were present would they just sit back and watch as the Binorians placed an iron fist on every nation around them? Would the God of the Kolotians relax as the nation got wiped off of the face of the realm? Edda was going insane under the burden of endless questions.
The cell door clanked open and two men dressed in silk grey robes stumbled into the dungeon room carrying a wooden table between them and placed it in the middle of the dungeon cell. Behind them followed two men dressed in the same silk grey robes but each of them held a wooden chair and placed the chairs on either side of the table. All four men departed and left the cell door open. Edda started thinking her insanity had reached its peak and had transcended into hallucinations when a figure stepped into the dungeon's torchlight and cut her train of thought short.
The figure was illuminated by the torchlights revealing a young woman of exquisite beauty. She had closely cropped golden hair and an oval face with large grey eyes and full lips. Her nose was pointed but bluntly so and was placed in the middle of her face as a gesture of symmetrical marvel. She was all shapely curves and bust that showed through a heavy and large red coat that fell to her knees. She walked in a musical fashion with each step calculated and her white dress that reached mid thigh gave view to very shapely pale, white legs. She stood an arms length away from Edda and met eyes with her.
"Will you attack me if I let you free, Remu woman?" The stranger asked in a lilting voice. Edda just stared at her. She had given up trying to comprehend whatever it was that was happening and she'd resorted to taking comfort in the belief that silence would be preferable to indulging in anything that might lead to more torture whether mental, emotional or physical.
"I want your word that you won't attack me if I set you free, swear it on the Goddess Meena whom I serve." The woman said. Edda wasn't going to speak but one of the men who'd brought in a chair walked into the dungeon and dangling from his hand was a large basket. He placed the basket on the table, opened it and emptied its contents onto the table piece by piece. She smelt more than saw roasted ham, butter, bread, cheese and a pitcher of ale. Her eyes were transfixed on the table and a primal need tore at her insides.
The woman standing before Edda glanced at the mutilated corpse of Ishar with faint contempt etched on her face and then made her way to one of the chairs and sat down with her large grey eyes fixed on Edda. The man finished placing the food on the table and departed the cell after bowing slightly to the woman and two men dressed in dark leather appeared and took their places on either side of the cell door.
"Are you deaf?" The woman asked. "Or dumb?"
"I swear on the goddess Meena that I won't do you any harm if I am set free." Edda said. She suddenly felt like laughing, who was this woman to think that her, Edda, gave a flying fuck about a Goddess who'd single handedly ensured the suffering of all the nations within the realm? But her stomach rumbled. First, I'll eat then I'll attack. Edda decided.
"Set her free and dispose of the corpse." The woman said and one of the guards started making his way towards Edda. She observed him, he carried himself like a man who'd seen more than his fair share of battle. He had broad shoulders and his movement was fluid despite his bulk. Edda saw the handle of a knife upon the man's belt. If she were freed she'd be able to grab the knife and take him out easily, a quick slice to the carotid artery ought to do it. The second guard was a little far off but a knife throw from her position could prove lethal.
Edda was certain the woman sitting before her wouldn't be able to defend herself when it came to hand to hand combat but then her stomach grumbled and she remembered that she'd have to eat first before anything else. The guard stood before her and took out a key from the inside of his leather coat. He methodically opened her shackles and Edda on instinct made as if to reach for his knife but her arms wouldn't respond. She was so weak. She was so tired and her arms felt pricked as if by a thousand needles. Her weak legs gave way and she collapsed onto the floor that was ridden with Ingah's spilt blood.
The woman on the chair stood up and made her way to Edda. She took off her coat and wrapped it around Edda's naked frail form on the floor. She then helped her up and sat her on the chair opposite her. "Eat, drink, regain your strength." The woman said. Edda complied and slowly tried to move her hands towards the food before her, it was terribly difficult to do so and it occurred to her that she'd really overestimated her combat capabilities in her current state. Edda worried for a moment whether she'd lost motor functions completely but her limbs slowly started to obey and she was able to pluck a piece of warm bread and stick it in her mouth.
She chewed the bread and was overcome by the sudden hunger that had plagued her for so long. She took a sip of ale that had been poured into a cup and noticed the water in a another cup beside the ale. She downed the water in one long gulp and turned her attention to the roasted ham. Edda devoured the meat like a ravaged wolf pausing only occasionally to breath and take huge bites of the bread, her mind completely ignored the butter and cheese before her in favor of something solid.
"Wow!" The woman exclaimed while peering at Edda across from her. "You were starving, weren't you?"
Edda nodded, she paused, suddenly wondering why the woman wasn't indulging in the feast as she was. Was the food poisoned? Was poison how they'd choose to eliminate her? It seemed highly unlikely but she shrugged and took another sip of ale. At this point she didn't mind dying.
"You must be wondering who I am and why I am here." The woman said. "I am Princess Dahli, daughter of King Vayin of Binoria and Queen Lamical. I am here to fulfill my duty as a servant of the goddess Meena and to ensure you're well prepared for the trial of Nula Anyl."
Edda choked on the ale, she let out a cough and breathed with difficulty. The hairs at the back of her neck stood on end and her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She'd said she was ready for death, heck, she'd even craved it. But the Nula Anyl? The most brutal means of trial that was also spectacle to thousands of Binorians wasn't how she wished to go.
Dahli saw the look on Edda's face and smiled. "Don't be afraid, you're a woman hence one closest to Meena. If you die during the Nula Anyl then you will transcend to the realm of the Gods and if you survive it means that Meena smiles on your mortal life and you may get anything you ask of from the King, including your freedom." Dahli leaned forward across the table, reached out and tucked a strand of Edda's hair behind her ear. "Once I heard they were holding a woman in the dungeons I begged my father to be wary of such action for it was against the sanctity of Meena for a woman to be treated so."
Two things crossed Edda's mind when Dahli touched her face, the first was This woman is a religious fanatic who is most likely insane. The second thing was. She's the daughter of the King, I can extract vengeance for Ingah' s death. Edda observed the table before her, she was aware of the lack of utensils save only two cups and the pitcher of ale. Everything else was served on a large silver tray. Could she use the tray as a shield and the wooden cups as a weapon? She doubted she was strong enough to handle the guards and the Princess but maybe if she reacted fast enough she could take out Dahli and suffer her fate in the hands of the guards.
Edda was about to reach for the tray when Dahli spoke. "It's a pitty what my father did to your partner." Edda turned to look at Ingah's corpse but found it gone. She had been distracted by her ravaging hunger and unquenchable thirst that she hadn't noticed them removing Ingah's body from the cell. "He would have been your second in the Nula Anyl but don't worry, I will find a worthy enough partner who will help you win the trial. Anything to help a fellow woman and for the glory of Meena." Dahli said.
The Princess suddenly stood up, her lack of a coat showed slender delicate arms. Edda wanted to react somehow, extract revenge in some way but there was a sense of tranquility that was brought about with food in her stomach and the red coat that offered warmth that was very much needed plus Ingah's mutilated body was no longer there to torment her thoughts and her limbs were no longer strained from being shackled to a wall. Dahli may be the enemy but her brief visit had come with a comfort too grand to be ignored.
"I will leave you with the food and I will occasionally visit with more, be well Remu woman." The Princess turned and began to depart the dungeon cell.
"Thank you." Edda said. She didn't know why the feeling of gratitude overwhelmed her but it had been days since she'd seen any glimmer of humanity and Dahli had provided just that.
Dahli stopped in her tracks, turned her head slightly to observe Edda from the corner of her eye and spoke. "Don't thank me, thank Meena." And with that she left and the guards locked the cell door behind them.
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