Alyssae had just dozed off a little when there was a loud bang. With a pounding heart she sat upright, just to see how the door was slammed shut again.
"Thorin," she uttered when the dwarf stepped through her room. He looked frightening, so she pulled up the blankets over her shoulders, not knowing what she could do else.
Thorin however snatched the blankets away and threw them on the ground so that Alyssae crawled anxiously backwards, although a hard wooden wall stopped her.
Before she could think of something to calm him down, his rough hand grabbed her throat and squeezed her windpipe.
Alyssae was too blindsided by Thorins behaviour to get into action. Diligently she gasped for breath, but the dwarf ignored her dyspnoea and brought his face close to hers.
His breath blew in her face and a sharp cider air tickled her nostrils. "You would tell him you felt nothing for him!" He snapped.
He gave Alyssae no ability to answer, as if he wanted her to take her reasons with her into the grave. Her fingers crawled over the coverlet of her bed until she found her pillow.
She tried to pull away Thorins arm, but the grip on her throat only became firmer. With the pillow she hit his head. It didn't change a thing. She slammed her fists against his chest, but he seemed to be made of stone.
Her ears started to rustle and her vision was blurry. The suffocating feeling was terrible, she felt her life slowly slipping away.
Her lips formed words, but her voice had already faded away. Like the rest of her organs, which seemed to turn off one by one.
Alyssae froze when someone touched her throat, causing a severe pain. She hit her arms around wildly, until someone muttered kind words in her own language.
"It's okay. You are no longer in danger."
She looked anxiously at a red-haired elf, who carefully covered the welts on her neck with a strong smelling balm. Her gaze was fixed on her throat.
"Do not move," she said as Alyssae wanted to turn her head aside.
"Where is he?" she murmured.
"The dwarf? I've beaten him down, tied him and pushed him into a corner."
Alyssae stared down. She felt weak because she had not been able to defend herself. She had not even tried!
"I will bring him to the dungeons once your injuries are treated."
"No, not to the dungeons," Alyssae answered quickly.
The elf looked at her puzzled.
"He was drunk. Otherwise he never would have done this."
Alyssae noticed that she doubted her own words. It was not the first time he had hurt her, but she was still looking for other explanations.
"He cannot get away with this," the red-haired elf responded stunned. "You were already unconscious when I found you! And if I had not heard you clattering, you probably would have been dead! "
"I want to talk to him first," Alyssae insisted. She stood up and touched her throat. She winced when she touched the wounds. "He had a reason to be mad at me."
"Not a reason to murder you," the elf growled, shaking her head. "I am in the next room if you need me."
"Thanks," Alyssae whispered, who understood this situation had to be very strange. She sighed softly as she walked towards Thorin and knelt next to him. His arms were tied behind his back and there was a wound on his head, which was bleeding steadily.
She sat down before him, waiting until he regained consciousness.