Delilah woke up in a dark room, sitting in a wooden chair with her hands and feet bound. She struggled to focus her eyes, trying to study her surroundings. It was pitch black. She couldn't see anything. Resorting to trying to shake off her restraints, she pulled her arms and legs until her wrists and ankles were bleeding, but it was a lost cause. Panic set in, making her heart thud and she desperately pulled harder.
"Stop struggling. You won't escape. Those are bonds made by powerful wizards. You will not escape." Delilah looked up, bewildered. Where was the voice coming from? She tried to speak, but her mouth made no sound. Her head was swimming with confused thoughts. Wizards?
There was booming laughter in the room. "I am cloaked by darkness, foolish child. You cannot see me, but I can see you. Yes, yes.." there was a pause and she felt a cold presence around her. "Little girl, why do tears adorn your fearful face?"
She shuddered as an ice cold hand grazed her cheek.
"Answer me!" the voice roared. Tears were streaming down her face uncontrollably. I can't speak, she thought fearfully.
"Ah," the voice said, answering her thoughts. "Of course, the charm. Finite Incantatem." Delilah's mouth immediately began to let out her cries and sobs wracked my body.
"W-where a-am I?" she whispered, hiccuping. "W-why a-am I h-here?"
"I cannot reveal your whereabouts. We can't have you telling the entire kingdom that the Dark wizards have become strong again. As for why you are here, you will find out soon. We must wait until the king and queen enter."
"D-Dark wizards? Y-you're a-a w-wizard?" She stuttered into the darkness.
"Yes, of course. Foolish girl, so are you."
"I'm a-a w-wizard?" She asked, her eyes widening.
"Yes, little girl. Now hush, the king and queen are entering." She heard two cracks and somehow immediately knew that there where two more presences in this room.
"Is this the girl?" a cold female voice asked.
"Yes, your Majesty." the voice answered.
"Lumos," a male voice said, who she assumed was the king. A tiny light burst into view, revealing the cruelly handsome face of the king.
"Is she the one?" the voice asked. Delilah looked around for the voice in the dim light, but couldn't see him still.
"Yes, good. You are dismissed," the king waved his hand hastily. There was a crack and the king advanced on her.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, trying to control her shaking voice.
"You are very special..." the king muttered, bringing a stick with light bursting from it close to her face. If they were wizards, then that was a wand? "My faithful servant tells me you are quite unaware of wizardry, and the fact that you are a wizard."
She said nothing, just stared into his amused eyes with a bewildered expression.
"Answer me, girl. You are not to ignore any member of the Royal family!" he roared.
"Yeah." she answered, slightly annoyed by all the screaming.
"Yes, sir," he corrected.
"No need to call me sir, I'm a girl, as you have so obviously pointed out." Delilah pointed out with hint of a glare. His eyes flashed with rage.
"Keep that mouth shut, girl, or you will face consequences."
A burst of adrenaline shot through her and she couldn't stop my mouth. "Oh yeah? Prove it."
"Do not test me," he growled, raising his wand. "Crucio!" Unbearable pain shot through her body, making her writhe and squirm, screaming. The bonds kept her on the chair, so when the king flicked his wand, the pain ended, letting her slump onto her chair, shaking still.
"Now, you are going to listen and listen well. I am not repeating myself," he growled.
Delilah nodded, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"We have a son in line for the throne, and we need you to marry him."
"W-What?" she managed, before twitching again.
"Are you hard of hearing?" he spat. "You're going to marry our son."
"No way!" she weakly protested. "I'll marry who I want to marry."
"Are you aware of who we are?" he growled, glowering at me. Delilah noticeably swallowed.
"No," she squeaked. "I don't remember much at all. But, I can infer that none of the Royal family are all too nice, based on your actions."
He narrowed his eyes. "Crucio!" Jolts of pain ran through her body again, this time not stopping for at least thirty seconds.
"And I can do worse," he growled. She twitched from the aftershock of the pain, managing a painful nod.
"Of course," the queen spoke, "if you are unwilling to, there are ways to fix that."
Delilah tried to speak, but her entire body was still in pain.
"Shall we give you a taster?" she sneered, gracing her cold face with cruel delight. "Imperio!" she shouted, raising her wand. Her spine stiffened and Delilah immediately began to sing an off-key version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She tried to stop herself, but her vocal chords weren't acting alongside her brain.
"How does that feel, darling? To be under the Imperius Curse? We control you. We can and we will." Relieved, Delilah felt the "curse" being lifted.
"W-what?" she asked wearily.
"It's just that... It's a wonderful feeling to control someone," she said, glancing at her husband who nodded in agreement. "What if we don't give you a choice and... make you?"
"N-no, p-please," she stuttered out, staring at them with wide eyes. It was the most horrible feeling, being controlled like that. "I'll d-do it, I s-swear. P-please d-don't do th-that thing a-again."
"Relashio!" The bonds around her fell weakly to the floor. The cruel king laughed and gripped her arm, yanking her up a flight of stairs. At the same time, she heard a crack as the queen disappeared. She entered a clean, white room, a contrast to Delilah's dirt covered body and clothes. Her free arm twitched.
"Servants!" The king bellowed, summoning two girls who couldn't have been older than Delilah wearing thin, clean dresses.
"Yes sir?" One of the girls asked brightly. She had beautiful red-orange hair, her eyes sparkling with innocence and joy. Her eyes were light hazel color, glinting in the light of the room. The other girl was almost her polar opposite. She had midnight black hair with matching black eyes. Her face was set in a slight scowl, her eyes sparkling with hatred.
"Clean her up and bring her immediately up to Queen Lillian," he ordered coldly.
"And her clothes, sir?" the girl spoke again, giving Delilah a bright smile.
"Burn the ones she has on right now. We don't need that filth following us up to the castle," he said stiffly, looking at me in disgust.
"Oh, sorry, sir, I meant what clothes she should wear up to the Queen," the girl apologized, her smile not faltering.
"Just cover her with a towel or something," he said dismissively.
The other girl spoke for the first time, her words sharp, "It's nearly 20 degrees outside," she hissed.
The king picked up on her tone, narrowing his eyes. "She will endure it, and so will you." They had a mini staring contest until the other girl elbowed her slightly. They broke their eye contact and she continued to glare at the floor.
"Queen Lillian will be expecting her in no less than one hour." With that, he disappeared with a pop.
"Are you alright?" the girl with red hair rushed, her smile immediately dropping to a worried frown.
Slightly taken aback by her change in mood, Delilah hesitated. "Uh, yeah. Well, not really. But I'm not dead or anything. He did something with his stick- wand- and it hurt a lot."
Both girls' eyes widened. "He used crucio on you?" the girl with red hair asked incredulously.
The other girl grimaced but shrugged, "Well, did you expect him to shower her with flowers and sweets?"
"No, of course not, but she doesn't deserve it."
The girl stared at her with empty eyes. "Does anyone really deserve it?" There was an awkward silence until I had an itch in my throat. I coughed quietly, but it was enough for them to look at me.
"I'm sorry! What's your name? I'm Annie Dessen," the girl with red hair said, then pointed to the other girl, "and she's Kimberly Clark."
"I'm Delilah."
"What's your last name?" the girl- Annie- asked curiously.
I racked my brain, trying to sort through the memories I couldn't remember. Then I found it and it clicked in me like a puzzle piece. "Potter. I'm Delilah Potter."