Lunara woke to the grating of wood on stone. Someone opened the door to the room she was in and dim firelight flooded the unlit space. A man stood in the doorway, his face silhouetted as Lunara blinked her eyes, trying to adjust them to the light. He crossed the small room in three steps and squatted down to better see his prisoner.
"Did you really think you could escape from me and no one would pay for your treachery, princess?" the man said.
Lunara shook her head. It can't be, Valuxus can't be here. This is a terrible dream, and I need to wake up. The throbbing pain in her head was more than enough to know that she was, in fact, awake. She pushed herself against the back wall of the cage as he stood and unlocked the door. He held his hand out to her, but she didn't move.
"Come now, don't make me angry, princess. Surely you haven't forgotten what happens when I get angry," his voice was soft. But the memories of her previous capture made her shiver. She decided she had no other viable choice now and reached out a trembling hand. He gripped her hand hard and jerked her out of the cell and into the larger room.
Lunara glanced around the room and stifled a gasp. It's a gods-damned torture room, she thought, taking in the shackles on the opposite wall and the two racks that stood in on the left side of the room in opposite corners. There was a table and two chairs in the center of the room covered in dried blood. On the right side of the room, a door stood open and there was a hallway leading to somewhere beyond it.
Valuxus jerked on her arm, pulling her toward the shackles. They were sticky with what Lunara only imagined was fresh blood. He turned her to face him and grabbed one and tried to clasp it around her wrist. He fumbled with the key in the dirty latch, muttering curses. Lunara brought her knee up and hit him in the groin. He doubled over, groaning and cursing, and the keys clattered to the floor. He came toward her, his teeth bared, and with her right arm still stuck in the shackle, she drew her left hand back and punched him in the face as hard as she could. The force of the connection sent a jolt of pain all the way to her shoulder and he stumbled backward, blood flowing from his nose.
He stumbled over a loose floor stone and fell, hitting the edge of the table with a sickening crack and he lay still. Lunara waited a few seconds, not believing her luck. When it looked like he would not get up, she looked for where the keys landed. She stretched her screaming shoulders and could just touch the tip of one key.
"Fuck," she said, then relaxed her body. Taking a deep breath, this time she stretched her leg as far as it could reach, and she touched the cold iron with her toes, scooting the keyring closer. She gripped it between two toes and twisted her leg to grab the keys with her free hand and jammed the key in the lock, trying to turn it. It refused to budge even as she jiggled the key. Lunara forced herself not to panic and twisted the key with all her strength. The lock gave, and Lunara jerked the shackle off her; she was free. She watched Valuxus for a few moments, rubbing her wrist. He was still breathing, but he showed no signs of movement and she wondered if it was a trap.
He had done it before and the punishment to those who ran was a slow death. Memories filled her mind of the torture she'd endured after she tried to escape him once, not so long ago. He hadn't killed her, though because he'd thought of her as a toy he liked to play with. She spat at him, then turned and ran out the open door. The hallway was dark with only a few torches spread far apart. The stones on the floor of the hallway cut into her bare feet, but she kept running. It had only just occurred to her that even if she escaped; she had no clothing. She almost smiled at the thought of her appearance frightening someone, but she kept running. Survive first, worry later. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to stop as she pushed herself to keep moving, and she ran straight into a stone wall.
"Shor's fucking balls," she cursed, rubbing her abused head. She panicked. There's no way out! She slowed her ragged breathing and forced herself to think. There had to be a way out; this was the only door in the room other than the room he'd dragged her from. She felt along the wall but couldn't find anything. She leaned against the hallway wall under the last torch, taking deep breaths. Frustrated and exhausted, right now the only thing she wanted was a bath, some clothes, and a never-ending river of wine.
She turned her head to look at the top of the hallway and something about the torch sconce caught her eye. She pushed herself off the wall and turned to inspect it. Yes, one bolt that held the torch was loose. Lunara pushed it back into his spot, and with a grinding shriek the wall lowered into the ground. She stepped through and found the matching torch sconce to close it back again. At least if Valuxus followed, she'd hear him coming.
She was now in a large room that served as a meeting hall of some sort. She still didn't know where she was or how long she had been here, but the long table, covered with missives, wine bottles, and silver goblets, looked like a meeting had been held recently. The wanted posters of her caught her eye. So, he had been hunting her. Her eyes scanned the walls of the wanted posters with red X's on them. Her eyes fell on the posters of Silas, Captain Pelus, and then her sister. She almost broke then, and it took all her strength to not go back into that room and kill Valuxus with her bare hands. She had no qualms about taking that man's life, after all he had taken from her and most likely everyone else who had the misfortune of dealing with him. Instead, she swallowed the fury that rose as bile in her throat and looked around the room for something she could use as a weapon.
She looked around the room in a frenzy, finding nothing. Her eyes landed on a small desk littered with rolls of paper, quills, and inkwells and she saw the edge of something sticking out from the litter and lifted the rolls of paper. Her dagger lay there, still covered in Sinnir's dried blood. Lunara snatched it up, thanking whatever Divines were listening for her luck. The muffled sound of voices coming from the hallway caught her attention and she pressed herself against the wall she had come through into the shadows, but it wasn't dark enough. One man glanced up and saw her.
"What are you doing here? Where is Valuxus?" He started toward her, his features contorted with hatred. She said nothing, frozen to her spot. There were eight men behind him of varying sizes and races, all waiting for the same answer. The first man opened his mouth again to demand an answer from her, but before he could get the words out, his blood splattered Lunara's face, an arrow sticking out of his open mouth.
The other men turned to look which direction the arrow came from. Four of them pulled daggers and the other four had flames or lightning flickering in their palms as the wall behind her moved. Damn it to Oblivion, why can't he just die? She tried to move away, but Valuxus was quick and put his own dagger to her throat.
"No, no, princess. Unless you want me to paint the walls with your blood, don't move," he growled. Lunara froze as the icy steel dug into her flesh. She could feel a warm trickle as her blood dripped from her neck.
Lunara heard shouting and clashing of steel as the other men fell one by one. It distracted Valuxus just long enough that Lunara jerked her head back and hit him square in his already broken nose. He howled, and the dagger dropped from her neck. He started swinging the dagger in wide, sweeping strokes, unable to see her. She jerked away from him, only to feel her flesh tearing open as white-hot pain coursed through her, and she looked down to see a steel dagger sticking out of her side. Lunara looked in the direction it had come from and she saw a grizzled old warrior run a blade through the chest of the dagger's owner. She swayed on her feet as blood poured from the wound.
"Wath you gonna do now, printhess? I win, and you die," Valuxus mocked her, holding his broken nose with one hand.
Lunara could feel herself growing weak and knew if she got too close, Valuxus would finish her. She flipped the dagger over, holding it by the blade. Swaying and struggling to stay on her feet, she threw it with all her might. Valuxus fell, her dagger sticking out of his eye. She staggered over to him, standing over his body.
"Don't fucking call me, princess," she growled as she buckled to the ground. Strong arms wrapped around her, slowing her descent. She looked up to see ice-blue eyes staring down at her.
"We have to stop meeting like this," Vilkas said, brushing a lock of matted hair from her forehead.
"I'm sorry," Lunara breathed, closing her eyes and slipping into unconsciousness.