THE LINES OF LOYALTY
Anybody here remember my story "Friends and Foes"? If not, I'm not surprised; it's been over two years since I wrote that story. (You'll find it wa-a-a-ay at the bottom of my story list. I need to go back to it and revise it.) Somehow, I got this powerful urge to delve into that story again. This time, I decided to flesh it out more, go into deeper detail, include stuff that was not included in the original. (Deleted scenes, if you will.)
It feels weird to take this up once more after leaving it alone for so long, yet strangely gratifying at the same time.
Enjoy yourselves, and as always, reviews are welcome and expected!
Characters (with exceptions) © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media
Story © unicorn-skydancer08
All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 1
"Again!"
Another sharp crack resounded through the dungeon as the giant minotaur lashed its whip, followed by another piercing cry from its victim as the blow landed.
"Once more, Flavius," commanded the man-wolf, who was the overseer of this cruel torture.
A young man with white hair and a scraggly white goatee, dressed in splendid clothes that were reduced to filthy, tattered rags, hung half-dead from the chains that upheld him. A solid layer of blood covered the back of his head and coated one side of his gaunt yet extraordinarily handsome face; on his back, where his garments were torn, a shocking number of bloody welts marred his once smooth, flawless flesh. As if the marks on his back from the lash and his head wound were not enough, his whole body suffered from terrible wounds, from bruises to much more grave injuries. Considering all he had been through within the last three days alone, it was a miracle he was still alive.
As he was ordered, the minotaur Flavius drew back his bulky arm one more time, and flung the cable at the youth's brutally battered back with all his might. There was yet another dreadful crack, and the poor boy uttered yet another wail as the unmerciful cable cut into him. When the man-wolf finally signaled for Flavius to cease, he strode up to the boy himself, who was shaking all over like a leaf, his face drenched with sweat and tears.
"Now, Terence," said the man-wolf, in his low, sinister growl of a voice, "I shall ask it yet again. Where is Tumnus?"
Very slowly, the youth lifted his face to his opponent's, which ranged somewhere between the face of a man and the face of a wolf. Blood-red eyes with ominous black slits for pupils glared at him, gleaming in the dimness like a pair of lit coals.
Despite that evil face looming over his, despite the torture he'd undergone, Terence rasped, "I'll never tell, Ardat."
Ardat growled at him, revealing a mouthful of deadly yellow fangs. "Even now, you continue to defy me? I tire of your arrogance, boy!"
Terence managed to raise his head somewhat higher, and his voice was slightly stronger as he replied, "You and your mangy minotaur minions can do whatever you like with me. You can keep me in this hellish place forever, you can break and destroy my body—you can even kill me if you so choose. But I'll never betray Tumnus. Never!"
The coarse fur along the back of Ardat's neck prickled unpleasantly, but he forced himself to remain in control. When he spoke again, his tone was considerably calmer, though it still held an icy edge to it. "So, you think you can outwit me? Well, we shall see which of us ends up outwitting the other. For I am patient, and even you cannot endure this forever."
To Flavius, the man-wolf said brusquely, "Take him away. You and Avicus keep watch over him, until I summon you again. No food or water."
Flavius merely grunted in reply, but he promptly released Terence from his chains, only to pin the boy's arms behind his back and bind him with rough cords.
Terence hadn't the strength to resist, and he glanced back at Ardat but once as he was hauled away.
How Ardat got someone like Flavius to correspond with him, Terence hadn't the faintest idea, as Flavius was at least twice Ardat's size, and no doubt twice as strong. Yet, somehow, Ardat maintained an iron hold on his henchmen, and they heeded his orders without hesitation or fail. One thing, however, was certain: when Ardat knew what he wanted, he stopped at nothing to obtain it. And at that time, it was Tumnus he wanted, more than anything else.
As terrible as it was for Terence, Terence could only imagine how much more it would be so for Tumnus, if Ardat ever got his paws on him.
Terence could never put his best mate through it, just to save his own life.
If one of them had to go, if one of them had to suffer Ardat's cruelty, he would rather it be himself than his beloved faun.