Fortunately for him, the wine was easy to come by, and it only took a few drinks to make him fuzzy and put him in a good mood. He didn't drink it in front of anyone, and simply snuck off to take a sip or two from a bottle he'd hidden behind a bookshelf in the library. Danarius seemed to approve of his change in mood, and Fenris spent every day in the warm embrace of the wine, doing whatever Danarius asked of him, offering affection to his Master even when he wasn't ordered to do so, and more pleased than ever when his behavior seemed to sour Hadriana's mood.
At night, when Danarius took him to bed, Fenris didn't even make an effort to resist him and genuinely enjoyed whatever the Magister wanted to do to him. Fenris drank every day for a week and a half straight before Danarius said anything about it.
Fenris woke with a throbbing headache, shaken awake by the Magister, and he groaned and covered his face.
"Get up, Fenris."
"Where are we going...?"
"We aren't going anywhere. Up, Fenris." Danarius demanded, his voice more curt than usual, and the elf was forced to stand with blood magic. Fenris groaned, feeling dizzy, and swayed when he was given back power over his muscles. He didn't fall, however, and managed to dress and make himself look presentable enough to be seen with the Magister. Danarius collared him and herded him out the door, seemingly having little patience this morning and no tolerance for Fenris' hangover. Fenris usually fended off the hangover with more wine and breakfast, but right now Danarius didn't give him the chance to run to his hiding spot to sip the wine.
He gasped when a sharp bolt of pain fired up his back, feeling almost like he'd broken his spine, and he staggered into the wall. He touched his back fearfully, but the pain was gone as quickly as it had come. It cleared his head just a little, and he looked back to see Danarius smirking horribly. Fenris abruptly faced forward again and picked up the pace, recognizing that it must have been blood magic again.
The stairs down to the main floor were difficult to navigate at first, but he tried desperately to force his knees to stop wobbling and failed to do so in the time Danarius was apparently allotting to the task, and a shot of pain sent one leg into a spasm. The only thing that kept him from tumbling down the stairs was a well-placed spell from Danarius, which merely eased him to the floor below. Fenris struggled to his feet again, and Danarius gripped his throat.
"Don't think I don't know what you've been doing," his expression was dark and ominous.
"Wh-What do you mean?" Fenris clutched at Danarius' wrist, struggling.
"You've been getting drunk so you can pretend you were with someone else haven't you?"
"N-no! The wine was good, and I had too much!"
"You won't be drinking again," he snarled, "I won't have you faking it in such an obvious fashion again. And what if someone attacked me and I needed you as my body guard?"
"I could still fight!" though Fenris wasn't truly sure if that would've been possible.
"I wouldn't have trusted you with a blade with the condition you've been in. At first I tolerated it because I thought it was a short phase that would pass, but apparently you plan to become a drunk. Why do you force me to punish you still?" he sighed, shaking his head, "You'll be going hungry today. Come," he yanked the leash roughly and Fenris staggered after him. Hadriana was already at the table, waiting patiently and sitting awkwardly beside another man. He was a Qunari, but his horns were cut short and he had a row of dots that had become scars around his mouth, scars from whip marks across his bare chest and likely across his back if he turned around. His pale hair fell just past his shoulders. A long, purple and gold kilt was wrapped around his waist and gold pauldrons rested on his shoulders. His eyes met Fenris', the elf surprised to see a Qunari.
"Indulal. I wasn't expecting you so soon."
"I had nothing else to do, so I decided to join you early."
"It is good to see you, my friend. You'll have to excuse my slave; he's been misbehaving and I'll have to punish him here."
"What did he do?" Fenris scowled when Hadriana looked far too gleeful.
"Do not worry about what he did, Hadriana." He cast a spell and Fenris' leash grew three times in length, "Turn away and kneel, Fenris." His voice was cold and hard, lacking the sweet affection he'd always had before. The elf did as he was told, "Put your hands behind your back." Danarius pulled the leash tight, forcing Fenris to bend his neck back, and bound his wrists. Then he pulled it tighter and bound his feet together, bending him over backward and making him grimace when it strained his back. Danarius shoved him into the corner, facing the guests, chaining him in place. It reminded Fenris far too much of when he'd first come here.
"You may not lie on your side, and if you make a sound I'll make you regret it, am I clear?"
"Y-yes, Master..." Fenris grimaced, finding the only somewhat comfortable position was to spread his knees as far as the bindings would allow, giving him some balance so he could relax his already strained back.
Breakfast had yet to begin and already Fenris was growing sore. His back twinged slightly and his shoulders were pulled back further than was comfortable and his head was throbbing, but Fenris was determined to hold out until his master freed him. He still hoped he wasn't in this position for long.
He practiced breathing exercises to keep his mind off his discomfort, trying to meditate even though the conversation in the room was loud. Danarius was the loudest, and Fenris was certain that was on purpose. The smell of food made Fenris' stomach turn, but fortunately he didn't have anything in his stomach anyway. The ache was impossible to ignore by the end of the meal, but the group left the dining hall, and Danarius didn't say a word to Fenris. It almost made him long for the Magister's overly-affectionate ways.
By lunch, his breath was coming short, his ribs burning with each breath from the awkward position, his spine a tight band of pain, cramps riddling his neck and shoulders. He clenched his jaw but tears dribbled steadily from his eyes. A tremor had started and he was wringing his hands and whimpering softly. He could hear someone coming... Maybe it was Danarius coming to free him.
"Ugh... Maker, no..." he whined when it was Hadriana that stepped in, a skip in her step and a smile on her face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Fenris. Not who you were expecting? Well, you might be happy to have me here. Lord Danarius sent me to untie you."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Well if that's how you feel, I can always go..." she took a step toward the door.
"N-no, don't! Please... Untie me..." Hadriana smirked, circling around behind him with her hands clasped behind her back.
"That looks uncomfortable."
"It is..." he mumbled, "Please, Mistress..." His flattery made her smile and she stroked his hair.
"That's a good dog. By the way, I lied."
"What?" Fenris glared at her.
"Lord Danarius said I could let you go, but not until tonight before I go to bed. I'll be back later!" she laughed and traipsed out the door again. Fenris clenched his jaw and snarled his insults behind his teeth, wanting to scream at her at the top of his lungs. His tattoos flared and his bonds smoked, but he was unable to break them. He adjusted his legs, and fell onto his side defiantly, too angry to care what Danarius might do to him for being disobedient. He fumed on the cold floor, glaring at the legs of the chair. The throbbing in his skull soured his mood further.
A touch of the anger and his headache had faded later that evening and he wrestled his way back up to his knees, deciding to at least pretend he'd been suffering all day, and lucky for him, it must've been getting late because Hadriana sauntered into the room, and this time untied him.
"You didn't eat dinner here...?"
"No, we went to the Rose instead. Lord Danarius didn't want to listen to your whimpering and complaining," she tossed his leash over his shoulder, "And he says you have to find somewhere else to sleep. He doesn't want disobedient dogs in his room with him."
"Thank the Maker for that..." he turned to leave, and Hadriana caught his leash and stopped him,
"You should thank me for even bothering to come down and let you go. I could've just 'forgotten' and just left you here to suffer!" Fenris glanced back over his shoulder and turned slowly, his expression tense. "Now thank me like a good boy or I'll tie you back up again!" Fenris snarled and seized her throat, bending her back over the dining table, snuffing out her startled cry by squeezing the breath from her,
"Don't test your luck, Hadriana. I am afraid of him. Not you. If he ever leaves us alone in a room together again, I will kill you. I don't care what he does to me. Goodnight." He paced quickly from the room, down to the cellar and the slave quarters, finding an empty bed and curling up in it, happy to be alone.
Fenris couldn't understand why he was feeling so anxious about Danarius the next morning. He should've been happy to be ignored, and should've enjoyed sleeping by himself and not being subjected to Danarius' wandering hands. But he didn't sleep very well on the hard, straw-filled mattresses and the thin, scratchy linen blankets didn't keep him very warm. He lie on his back starting at the low ceiling of the slave quarters, wondering why Danarius had decided to treat him this way. He doubted it was only because of the drinking; he'd only done that once. Fenris felt ashamed of himself, both for wishing to be back at his master's side and for failing to keep Danarius interested in him. Keeping his master happy was his only job and he couldn't even do that right apparently. They were returning to Minrathous in a few days, and the Saarebas was apparently traveling with them. Maybe things would be better back home?
Though, if Danarius ignored him permanently and picked a new slave to take Fenris' place, it might mean Fenris wouldn't have to die like Magister Lucrystas had said was possible. He might even be able to sneak out and escape forever... But what if Danarius killed him for boring him? Fenris sighed exasperatedly and flipped to his stomach, covering his head with his pillow.
"Get up, Fenris." The elf peered out from under his pillow, looking up at Danarius questioningly, not sure if he should be happy to see his master or afraid. Danarius didn't look happy. "Don't look at me like that. Get up." Blood magic seized him and he rose clumsily. Danarius led him down, into the depths of the cellar, and Fenris halted when Danarius entered the room with the flogging post where he had been whipped before. He shook his head in disbelief.
"Master... I'm sorry... Please... Don't..."
"Come, Fenris. Now," he snapped, reeling him in with blood magic, and tossed a stool down underneath the post, "Get up on this." Quivering, Fenris did as he was bid, and he stepped onto the stool. It was damp and cold in here, but he was starting to sweat with anticipation. Danarius got his own stool and stood on it, "Arms up, and against the wood. Palms out." Fenris shakily lifted his arms, clenching his fists. He flinched when Danarius reached up to tie him in place, and almost jerked his arms back, but a hissed threat kept him in place. He closed his eyes, but he wasn't expecting what came next.
Instead of tying him in place, with leather straps around his wrists, Danarius took a long, heavy nail and drove it through Fenris' forearm, between the bones just under his wrist, with three swift blows from a hammer. Fenris shouted in surprise and slipped off the stool, screaming again, grasping the lintel of the flogging post and pulling himself up, trying to relieve the pain in his arm,
"Please, please Master I'll do whatever you want! Please stop!"
"Shut it, Fenris," he stifled the elf's voice, "No screaming yet. We've only just begun. Your other arm. Put it up here." He was forced with blood magic, and he writhed and cried out silently when the nail went through flesh and muscle. He found out quickly that if he stood very still he was less likely to hurt. He stood on the stool on his toes, grimacing, and Danarius left him there without a word.
