*creeps in* So. I haven't abandoned this, I swear. Hope you enjoy it, even if it took, like, years to upload.
The dungeon had been dark and wet and disgusting, and she'd been alone with her thoughts for far too long, but whatever this was now, it was worse.
After what seemed like a week, two Redhoods fetched her roughly from her prison cell and brought her up to the palace. Her first guess had been execution, and she wasn't as afraid as she probably should have been about this – rather resigned, actually. Looking back at her life, it felt almost ironic to die like this, as a prisoner. She'd fought against maniac villains and immortal gods, and she had always believed her life would end in a battle, not in captivity. Her expectations were dashed, however, when they led her away from the throne room, further into the castle, through more and more extravagant looking corridors. In front of a fancy double door they finally stopped, unlocked it, threw her in unceremoniously, and locked it again behind her. Valkyrie immediately swirled around and gripped the doorknobs, but she still wore a pair of magic-binding handcuffs, so any chance of escape was most unlikely. Instead, she turned again and took in her surroundings.
There's always something to work with, Skulduggery had told her once, you only have to find it.
The room wasn't as small and narrow as her cell, which had nearly given her panic attacks, but not too large either. What it lacked on space though, it made up with it's beauty. The first thing she noticed was the large window to her left. It had a wide sill, filled with colourful cushions, and was framed by heavy red curtains. The wall beside it was held in a light violet with a faint golden pattern. Valkyrie took a few steps towards the window and pushed the curtains further aside to take a look outside, and a marvellous garden was revealed. There weren't any guards visible, nor any passers-by, and it laid in the shadows of her side of the building and a high hedge. Behind it was still palace ground, but she could see the outer wall, and she knew a passageway hidden there that would lead her right into the city. Valkyrie tried the window catch, but of course it was locked, too, so she turned back to the room again.
The right wall was completely taken in by a large wardrobe, white with golden frames. On the left next to the door stood a boudoir of the same style, the surface filled with various bottles and cases, a hairbrush, and a some make-up brushes in a round holder. The centre of the room and the most impressive piece of furniture was the bed, though. It was a large four-poster bed, the silky covers in the same colour as the curtains, and her knees went weak just from looking at it. After weeks of sleeping at a hard stone ground with only few hay as poster, this seemed like heaven.
Upon further inspection though, she spotted something laying atop of it. A dress? Dark red, heaped under the chest with a golden lace, flowing skirts going down from there on, and wide sleeves with golden embroidery at the ends, it just looked breathtakingly beautiful. She'd loved to touch it and see if it felt as smooth as it looked, but didn't dare to. Whoever it belonged to most probably was about to arrive, or maybe behind the door in the left corner next to the bed. Valkyrie suspected it to be a bathroom.
She decided to search the boudoir, as it most probably wasn't likely to find a weapon, but maybe something to at least distract any potential threat with. Just as she pulled open the first drawer, the door opened and two women came in. Apparently maids, judging by their clothing, and they immediately approached her after locking the door again. The younger one with a brown bun went to work on her chains, while the elderly blond one gripped her face and inspected it. Valkyrie was too surprised to react. For a moment, she felt her magic rushing through her as the bounds were gone – only to be overridden with emptiness once again shortly afterwards. The young brunette had put a bracelet around her left wrist which apparently replaced the chains, but even though it was much more comfortable, it didn't console her the slightest. The women inspected her another minute, then the blonde motioned towards the bathroom door and while the other rushed away, she finally spoke, still pulling and replacing strands of Valkyrie's hair. "Not bad indeed. Still, we have a lot to do before we can let the Master see you."
Oh, okay. What?
A short look at her confused expression, and the woman rolled her eyes and explained: "You are to meet the king. We're here to prepare you. Call me Constance, child. The girl's name is Anna. She'll be your personal maid from now on."
Oh, okay. What?
Before she could ask any further questions or even complain about being called child, Anna's quiet voice came from the door. "The bath is ready now, Miss." Valkyrie looked at Constance, who shoved her into the other room's direction.
"Wait, me?"
The elder snorted. "Of course you. Do you see anybody else here?"
"Uhh..."
Another eye-roll, then she shut the door close, leaving Valkyrie with Anna. "Um. Hi," she started, trying a smile, but the other girl only looked down.
"Please get out of the dirty clothes, Miss," she said, looking embarrassed. "And get in the tub. We need to scrub off the dried blood and dirt." Valkyrie could only stare. After noticing she wouldn't react, Anna finally looked up. "Please. We are short of time."
"You're not going to tell me what's going on, are you?"
If possible, the servant's voice only grew thinner. "I don't know what you mean, Miss. Please get ready now."
Closing her eyes, Valkyrie tried counting to ten to calm herself. She came to five, noticed it didn't work, and gave up. "Fine. Get out."
"Excuse me?"
"Get out. I can bath alone, you know? I'm a big girl, and I promise I'll hurry. Now get out."
Taking a bath surely felt weird, after all this time. To be quite honest, Valkyrie couldn't remember the last time she'd felt truly clean. She would cherish the feeling now, the hot water filling her with warmth and the rough sponge scrubbing off the dirt of the past few months. Beside the tub, she'd found something remotely reminding her of soap, and although it was a little more sticky than she was used to, it served it's purpose, just as the thing she'd guess would be shampoo. At some point, Constance came in despite her protests, grousing about how much more time she was going to need, and threw her two towels before slamming the door behind her again. Valkyrie wasn't even completely dry yet when the insufferable woman came back and pulled her out, ordering her with a motion to put on the dress she'd admired earlier. Her glare was quite impressive, and with an annoyed sigh, Constance turned her back on her so she could change.
Once she was done, she was shoved roughly towards the boudoir, and Constance mauled her slowly drying hair with the brush. With the way she yanked at it, Vakyrie already felt a headache coming on, and it didn't get better when the maid stopped and Anna returned, now apologising for every harsh tug when she pinned up her hair. While she waited for them to be finally done, she briefly wondered how she ended up here again. Valkyrie still couldn't quite wrap her head around what was happening, but she wasn't dead yet, at least – although she couldn't be quite sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
It was a bad thing. It was a really, really bad thing – Valkyrie would've never thought she'd wish for something like this, but in retrospection, she would have very much preferred to be executed a few hours ago, because this – this was just abnormally crazy. It was weird and creepy and uncomfortable, to sit here and be expected to eat completely calmly, while he was watching her with an unsettling, unreadable expression. She didn't even lift a hand from her lap, simply returning his stare across the large table with as little nervousness (or fear) as possible in her gaze. It probably didn't have the desired effect.
Understanding her silent protest rather quickly, Mevolent leaned back in his chair with a smile. When he opened the conversation, his tone was casual. "You're special, did you know that? You are meant to be. It's not only your name, but It's in your blood, too. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Might have mentioned it a few times," she muttered darkly, though he probably heard her anyway. If not, her scowl must have given away what kind of response she gave.
He chuckled. "No need to feel insulted. It was a compliment."
He tilted his head, a movement reminding her so much of Skulduggery she wanted to claw his eyes out and rip him apart.
Darquesse approved.
"You know," he eventually continued, "your abilities are quite impressive. Not even close to what I can achieve, of course, but there's always room for improvement, right?"
She didn't answer.
"You're aware of your true name. It's rare, it's unlikely, but it's obvious that you do, anyway. There's truly no other explanation for that marvellous outcome of the last battle you fought, is there?"
Again, she stayed silent, and his smile widened.
"I will take this as a yes. You should get used to answering if I ask you questions, though. It could become very uncomfortable for you if you won't." A tilt of his head, and she just barely noticed shadows swirling to her right out of the corner of her eye. Mevolent's expression had turned somewhat expectant, and she begrudgingly forced out a "Yes." No titles, no complete sentence. She didn't feel capable of anything more than this one word. It seemed to be enough for him, though, judging by his satisfied smirk.
"It's good that we understand each other. See, you are here because I decided to help you."
She raised an eyebrow, which only seemed to amuse him further. "You are a powerful Sorceress. Or Darquesse is. It's magnificent what she, what you, can do – it's just that you can't always access this kind of power, can you? You're not – how should I call it? - whole. Not yet."
She could feel Darquesse emerging in her mind, curious, and it took her every ounce of self-control she could bring up to stay focused. A terrible suspicion was striking her, and the question escaped her mouth before she could hold it back. "What's your point?"
He ignored it. "As far as the Sensitives could tell me, your dimension is completely different from mine. Though I'm sure Darquesse would prefer this one."
Somewhere within in, she felt the urge to smile, to nod, to agree; but she stomped it down, knowing it wasn't her own. She began to feel sick.
"I'm sure Darquesse would like a world where she could do anything she likes to do. I'm sure you could grow to like this world, too," he continued. "We'll just have to get you there."
"I fail to see what you're going to get from this."
"You've spent a lot of time in the wrong company since you arrived here, my dear. Maybe I'm not as terrible as you make me out to be. Maybe I really just want to help you." There was a meaning behind his words, but her head was throbbing and it took her embarrassingly long to decipher it.
"The Resistance."
"Clever girl."
Valkyrie suppressed a sigh. She was tired, and while she'd never admit it, she was also scared. There was no one to help her out of this one, there was no one left to come for her. She was completely alone, and she'd have to deal with this all on her own. "I won't help you. And she won't, either." Although in all honesty, she wasn't too sure of this anymore. "You're keeping me prisoner. If you free her, she'll rip you to shreds, and this whole dimension with you. Because she can."
"It won't be quite like this, I think." He sounded terribly self-assured, and something inside her went hollow. "How about you don't view yourself as a prisoner, Valkyrie. View yourself as a patient who will be cured and as soon as you are, you will be my guest."
Mevolent waved his hand and her chair pushed back by itself. She stood up without having eaten anything, and Lord Vile silently escorted her back to her new prison. When the door shut behind her, Valkyrie slumped down at it, feeling more desperate to go home than she had ever before.
