AN: Trigger warning for rape

Lyris's eyes cracked open. The first rays of sunlight filtered through the small barred window in their room. Nerissa was already gone.

The door banged open, and in entered a plump human woman. Her thinning grey hair was scrapped back into a neat bun. Her overly large bosom nearly spilled out from the corset she wore over her simple dress. She wiped her calloused hands on her apron as she glared down at Lyris.

'What, do you think your on holiday? On your feet, girl!'

Lyris slowly stood, the grogginess of the early morning still clutching her.

'Oh, for goodness' sake!' The woman stalked over and wrenched her upright. She was stronger than she looked. 'Follow me, elf. You'll be working in the kitchens with me today.'

'Where's Nerissa?'

'Never you mind. You don't ask questions. You speak when you're spoke to, understand?'

Lyris said nothing as she scanned the open rooms they passed, hoping to spy her golden hair. A sharp slap on her burned arm brought her attention back to the woman standing in front of her.

'I'm speaking to you, knife-ears! Just because I'm not one of the soldiers don't think you're off to hook. I can and will whip you into obedience.'

In her mind Lyris heard the snap of the whip, and felt the unwelcome sensation of her skin tearing underneath its strike. 'Y-yes.'

'Yes ma'am. Where are your manners?'

They started walking again, through the large dining room and into the kitchen. Nerissa wasn't here either, but there were several servants there. She knew they weren't slaves because they weren't in chains. She was sure it was no coincidence none of them were all human. It did give her pause to wonder, though, who Andro would bother hiring servants when it was clear he wasn't opposed to slavery.

'Don't just stand there gawking!' snapped the cook. 'Start with the pots!'

What followed was the contender for the longest and dullest days Lyris had ever endured-and perhaps one of the most painful. The cook didn't use a whip, but she had a mean right hook she used on Lyris several times when her pace slipped behind. For every pot she finished washing, another were immediately piled next to them. She was at least spared the job of serving the dinner to Andro or any of his guard-force. But when the day was done, her back ached and her wrists were sore. By the time she returned to her sleeping quarters, she was too exhausted and hurting to even give Nerissa's continued absence a second thought. She passed out within minutes.

They came for her in the middle of the night, Brigfen and his men. Put a sack over her head and marched her through the castle. She was too exhausted to even word her protest, to even feel enraged. With her eyes covered and Lyris not yet given the chance to learn the layout of the map, she had no idea where she was being taken, but when the cold stones underfoot was replaced by cool, dry, soil she knew she was outside.

The sack was pulled off her head. She stood in the middle of the outdoor courtyard, the guards forming a circle around her. Lying on the ground in front of her was Nerissa.

Lyris dropped to her knees and turned her over. Her face was covered in bruises and cuts, as were her limbs. Her dress was covered in dirt and blood.

'Nerissa?' Lyris shook her. She didn't respond, only breathed haggardly. 'Nerissa!' Lyris glared up at the guards. 'What the hell did you do!?'

Brigfen held out one finger. A key attached to a ring dangled from his finger. 'Know what this is?'

'A key,' Lyris snapped.

'Aye. Not just any key. To key to your salvation. Your freedom. Nerissa has never had any dreams of escaping. Not till you came along. Now she told me it was her own idea. But I don't believe her.'

Lyris looked down at Nerissa's broken form. Her eyes slid open a fraction.

'Nerissa?'

She mumbled something intelligible. Lyris lowered her face, and heard Nerissa whisper: 'I'm sorry.' The words wrenched at her gut. Nerissa was not the one who needed to apologise.

Lyris lowered Nerissa's head gently to the floor and turned to Brigen. 'She was lying to protect me. Escaping was my idea. I instructed Nerissa to steal the keys. Even though the plan was my own, I gave the riskiest task to Nerissa, because I knew the consequences of getting caught. I didn't want to face those consequences.'

With a sigh, Brigfen pocketed the key. He stepped up to the two of them and met Lyris at eye-level. She wanted to flinch away, suddenly nervous at his proximity. She was not eager to yet again experience the pain he was capable of inflicting.

Thankfully he backed away first, with a deep, throaty laugh. 'I don't think she's lying. What a heartless bitch. Poor Nerissa here, even as we beat her to an inch of her life, begged for us not to hurt you. If you're really the orchestrator though, I fear we will not be able to grant Nerissa her wish.'

Two men were already seizing her arms and dragging her away from Nerissa. Lyris kicked and struggled, but her aching, exhausted body was not strong enough to put up a fight. They bent her over the fence circling the training yard. Two men held her down as she heard Brigfen undo his belt. Lyris squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared for what came next.

Once it was over, Lyris was pushed onto the ground. She felt as broken as her friend looked. She wondered if she had been put through the same. She wondered if she would ever wake up. Brigfen paused as he passed Lyris. He looked too smug after his victory.

'Now perhaps you'll think twice, or I will find you and do the same thing. Understood?'

Lyris didn't respond. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the face. When she did, she felt it all over again. The humiliation. The agony.

Brigfen and his men left the two of them bleeding into the yard. Lyris dragged herself up to Nerissa. She laced her fingers through hers, and passed out.

She awoke to gentle humming and the sensation of fingers running through her hair. Lyris's eyes opened, and was greeted by Nerissa's face, haloed by the morning sun. She smiled down serenely at her, then winced and brought a finger to her split lip.

'You're awake,' Lyris croaked, sitting up.

'I should be saying that to you.' Nerissa dropped her gaze down to her lap where Lyris's head had been a second ago.

'I was worried. You were gone for an entire day.'

Nerissa cringed. 'I'm sorry. It was not my intention to worry you. Nor did I want to drag you into my mistakes. I wanted us to escape. Together. But I got caught. And you were punished.'

She remembered it all to well. The torture. The pain revisited itself between her thighs, burning, searing. The degradation that came with it. Nerissa's sympathetic eyes made it all the worse.

'You should have told me. I would at least have liked to know I need to prepare for some kind of fallout.'

'I made a mistake. I know. I truly am sorry.'

'Now it's going to be all the harder to escape, you know that? Our chances would have been better if we worked together.'

Nerissa rung her hands. 'I'm sorry.'

The door leading out to the courtyard banged open. Brigfen swaggered outside. Nerissa immediately took Lyris's hand. Lyris was unsure who it was supposed to comfort. All Lyris felt was icy dread as the human stepped towards them.

'Well isn't this adorable? Did the two of you spend the night together out here? Can't imagine you had too much fun. I exhausted this one before the night ended.' He pointed to Lyris.

'Please, leave us alone,' Nerissa mumbled. She squeezed Lyris's fingers.

'I merely came out here to give you your duties for the day. Kennel duty. Current kennels need cleaning, as do the hounds. And one of the empty spaces needs preparing for the new wolf we caught.'

Lyris stood, pulling Nerissa up with her. As she went to walk by Brigfen, he groped her ass.

'Last night was fun. I hope we can do it again sometime.' His laughs chased her into the building.

Nerissa watched Lyris with worry in her eyes.

'I'm fine.' Lyris dropped her hand.

'You don't seem fine.'

'What happened happened. There's no taking it back. So stop fucking apologising and stop treating me like I'm made of glass!' Lyris stormed ahead to the kennels, not knowing or caring if Nerissa was following.

The kennel master was a crotchety man in his mid-forties. He wore a sleeveless shirt to show off his beefy, tattooed arms. When Lyris reached the kennels, he had them folded over his chest in a show of impatience. He glared at Lyris then glared past her shoulder at who she could only assume was Nerissa trailing after her.

'The fuck kept you two? You were due here ten minutes ago.' His words were barely audible over the constant barking.

'We're here now,' Lyris said.

Nerissa hovered just behind her shoulder.

'The name's Wade. I'm the kennel master, in case you don't know. The new hound has been giving us some trouble. Barking non-stop, refuses to get in his cage. Last fella that tried to go near the beast ended up in the infirmary. Caught the mange, apparently. Let's see if you slaves have better luck.'

Nerissa gasped. 'Sir, we are not trained for-'

'Step aside.'

Wade bristled at being given orders, but he couldn't hide his impressed expression. 'By all means be my fucking guest.'

He opened the kennel door, then immediately locked it behind her. Nerissa ran forward, hands clinging to the bars. She stared through them solemnly. Lyris just nodded at her then started forward. Either side of her were cages housing huge dogs of war. They barked, growled and threw themselves at the doors. Lyris wasn't even worried if the metal would rend under their weight. Perhaps she was being self-destructive right now, but she didn't care. She felt safer here surrounded by war hounds than she did with any man.

Ahead of her lay the slumbering beast. Not a hound, but a wolf. She could tell from its size, snout and the hue of its fur. As she approached, it ears pricked. The beast stirred, and raised it head. Its golden eyes met Lyris's, and it stood on all fours, growling, warning for her not to take another step. So she didn't. She stopped, and crouched down so she was at eye-level with it. The wolf didn't relax its stance, but it didn't grow more aggressive either. It just watched her, growling.

'I'm not going to hurt you.' Lyris said. As she studied the wolf, she noticed blood sticking to the end of its fur on his side. A wound. 'You're hurt.'

The wolf whined, like it understood.

Lyris turned to look at Wade. 'Is there any medical supplies?'

'Why?' he asked.

'The wolf is injured.'

'Why should I care?'

'If this wolf can be tamed, it would be a boon for his lordship. Letting it die from an infection would be a waste of resources.' Lyris though appealing in this way might get results.

He tossed her a small brown satchel. 'It's your funeral.'

Lyris grabbed the satchel and turned to the wolf. He was watching her cautiously. She approached him slowly, satchel in one hand. She was not close enough to the wolf to touch it, but she didn't dare reach out a hand. It was bigger than she originally thought.

Now she was close enough to see the wound, she noticed an arrow shaft poking out of its side. Slowly she extended a hand, keeping her palm out. The wolf raised its head. It bared its teeth, but made no sound. She held out one hand and waited, letting the wolf approach in its own time. Eventually, he took a whiff of her palm. She stayed still, allowing him to grow accustomed to her scent. Lyris gestured to the wound.

'Can I?'

The wolf seemed to let out a gruff sigh, as if reluctantly agreeing. She gentle skimmed a hand over its back. From its expression it wasn't particularly enjoying her touch, but she took the fact he didn't attack her as a good sign.

Lyris moved her hand down to his side. The wolf's hair raised slightly.

'This will hurt. I'm sorry.' Lyris grabbed the arrow shaft and yanked it out. The wolf howled and thrashed. Its turned its head to Lyris and slammed its jaws down on her arm. Lyris let out a cry as the teeth sank into her flesh. She heard Nerissa shout something, but the pain blocked her senses. Her free hand groped for the satchel at her side. With shaking fingers, she opened the clasp. Her hand wrapped around a poultice. With as much delicacy as she could muster, she slathered it onto the wound. It must have some soothing properties, as its jaws went lax, allowing Lyris to free her arm from its grasp. She studied her forearm, and saw the bleeding imprint of each teeth. She dearly hoped the wolf wasn't a carrier of the mange as Wade suggested.

She gritted herself through the pain and wrapped a bandage around the wolf's stomach. He licked her arm as though apologising. It stung like the nine circles of hell, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

Lyris heard hurried footsteps behind her and turned to see Nerissa running towards them. The wolf growled. She placed herself between the two of them.

'It's ok,' she told the wolf. 'That's Nerissa. She's a friend.'

Nerissa wordlessly grabbed Lyris's arm to study the wound. 'That needs medical attention.'

'It's fine,' Lyris lied. It was throbbing, and the edges felt hot and sore. 'We have work to do.'

Nerissa ripped off a strip from the hem of her dress and wound it around her arm.

'Thanks,' Lyris said.

Nerissa's eyes darted up to meet hers. She wordlessly squeezed her wrist. She felt strangely light-weighted from the gesture.

'We...we have work to do,' Lyris stammered after an awkward minute passed.

Nerissa drew back, face flushed. 'Of course. I'm sorry.'

The next few minutes the spent scrubbing the kennel floor, laying down hay and fetching water for the wolf. He didn't listen to Nerissa's orders for him to enter his cage. He lowered his head and glared at her. Lyris stepped forward.

'Listen to me. I know it's not the best, but this cage will give you your own room. People won't be so eager to bother you there, and if you obey, you will be safe from harm. They won't hurt you again.' Lyris skimmed a hand over the covered wound to punctuate her point. The wolf gave her face a lick before he stepped into the cage. He curled up on the floor.

'I think he likes you,' Nerissa said.

'We just understand each other.' Lyris shut and locked the cage. Her arm throbbed.

'Now I'll get this seen to.'