They dragged her into the throne room, the roof towering high above them, their footsteps reverberating off it's golden walls.
Her pained cries were muffled by the ragged piece of material that had been unceremoniously tied around her mouth. Her hands were bound in front of her, wrists chafed, red, bruised from the harsh rope. Her knees connected with the solid marble with a sickening thud as they threw her down before him. Her head remained bowed, eyes trained on the veins of quartz that spider-webbed the floor.
Silence echoed through the opulent hall. Her panic-stricken breathing, the obvious intrusion. The stillness beat around her, oppressive and threatening, the guards behind her motionless, until she thought her ear drums would burst with it.
And then the terrifying creak of leather.
The sound of him rising.
The slow, methodical footsteps prowling towards her.
The predator bearing down on it's defenceless prey.
His boots sauntered into her sight-line. Gungnir let out a solid, metallic thud that resounded through the room as it met the floor in front of her. Yet, still, he was silent. Quiet sobs began to course through her.
"So..."
His deep, growling voice made her jolt with fright.
"This little thing is the reason so many of my men have lost their lives..."
Movement ahead of her made her cringe into herself.
She began to hyperventilate as the cold metal tip of Gungnir softly connected with her chin, raising her tear-stained face upwards for his perusal. Her gaze was lifted to see his cruel, emerald eyes, scrutinising her. A smirk played on his lips as he saw the abject fear which radiated from every inch of her.
Very deliberately, he removed the golden staff and replaced it with his hand, gripping her under her jaw tightly. He laughed breathily as she whimpered against her gag.
"We shall just have to see if you were worth it now, won't we?"