A/N - You're about to read a short, symbolic, smutty, dream sequence chapter, which I wrote as a celebratory thank you to my followers and everyone else who supports this tale. (I wanted to have it published on V-Day, but clearly that didn't happen.) A special thank you to those that review - I am very appreciative for your input and eagerness. Thank you!
A cage of blackened steel, large enough to hold a mare, contained two siblings instead, a man and a woman both with fiery hair. Lon and Dianthra each sat slightly hunched over, their ankles shackled together. Lon stared straight ahead, not at Dianthra, nor at the cage. Rather Lon stared into nothingness, as if he were made of stone. Dianthra sobbed silently beside him, her hand covering her face, her fingernails splintered and bloody. She knew it was pathetic to weep, but she could do little else. Questions echoed into the emptiness surrounding their entrapment, but Lon remained unaffected. Dianthra could not escape the questions, just as she could not escape the cage. Why had this happened? What would become of her?
Dianthra ceased her sobbing at the sound of a great wooden door, scrapping against a cobbled floor. She lowered her hand from her face, but kept her gaze downward. Dianthra willed herself into prayer. And then she looked up.
Beyond the cage, stood the unruly form of Agi, who ignored Dianthra's existence, while her sooted hands prodded at a map spread out on a table. Dianthra stared upon Agi, the warped reflection of herself, draped in Floki's leather coat. Agi's hair was hacked short above her shoulders, unlike Dianthra's flowing mane. Agi's face was harder, crueler, a permanent glower furrowed her brow and a sneer puckered her lips.
Dianthra crawled to the front of the cage, but Agi still did not acknowledge her. "Don't..." Dianthra whispered, grasping the bars of the cage. Agi tilted her head, her gaze fastened to the parchment.
Dianthra watched nervously as Ragnar walked up behind Agi, his face masked in smugness. Dianthra tried to warn Agi, but her words tumbled lifelessly from her mouth. Dianthra rattled the cage feverishly in the hopes of getting Agi's attention. Instead Ragnar glanced at Dianthra for a brief moment, freezing her with his icy stare. Ragnar smirked, his eyes flicking onto Agi once again. His hands unfurled Floki's coat from Agi's shoulders, dropping it thoughtlessly between them. Agi did not seem aware of Ragnar, until he pressed his lips against her neck. Agi shuddered. Dianthra pounded both fists against the cage. Ragnar pivoted Agi's head in his direction, his mouth engulfing hers.
Disgusted and distraught, Dianthra shrank sideways, casting a feeble glance at Lon. Her brother remained stationary, though his blank face appeared to have transformed into a frown. The hopelessness Dianthra regularly endured, ate at her. "Lon...Lon please..." she begged quietly. "...I have to escape.."
A darkness loomed over Dianthra, the lanky shadow of Floki who was now resting his weight against the cage. When Dianthra gazed up at him, Floki began to giggle, his face turned in the direction of Agi and Ragnar. Dianthra peered through the bars. Ragnar had mounted Agi onto the table, his chest hair lapping against her shoulder-blades. Dianthra could not see Agi's face, but the moans emitting from Agi's throat weren't ones of distress, but of hunger.
Dianthra buried her face in her hands, amid the sound of Floki's voice. "Like the waves of the ocean crashing to meet another..." he commentated.
Dianthra's fingers burrowed in her ears, blotting out the heightened pantings of Ragnar and Agi. "St-Stop." Dianthra murmured mutely. "Stop...Stop! STOP!" she snapped, blindly springing to her feet. Their panting ended.
Dianthra reluctantly opened her eyes. Ragnar was retreated from his perch atop Agi. Agi, her face flushed with execration, began crawling across the table toward Floki. Panic snaked within Dianthra, as she noticed Floki's eyes were deadlocked with Agi. Floki took a step forward, and Dianthra's hand clambered between the bars, grabbing his wrist. "No!" Dianthra blurted angrily.
Floki paused, and gazed down at Dianthra, gawking a bit. Dianthra could feel the tendons in Floki's wrist beneath her grasp. "Let go." Floki told her. Dianthra slowly shook her head, then hurriedly raked her jagged fingernails against the tender underside of his palm. Floki recoiled, giggling childishly as blood dripped from his severed wrist. Still giggling, Floki shook his hand as if he'd stubbed his thumb, then faced Agi. He ran his fingers lovingly through Agi's hair, smearing blood upon her cheek. Then Floki propelled Agi's legs around his waist, cast a devilish look over his shoulder at Dianthra, and entered Agi. Thrusting vigorously, Floki cradled Agi's neck, and Agi enclosed her hand around his bleeding wrist.
Lowering her gaze, Dianthra sank to her knees. Defeat bubbled in her stomach, rage curdled her blood. Dianthra felt the steel against her ankles give movement, and she meekly looked behind her. Dianthra became shell-shocked. Lon had vanished, and in his place sat Ragnar, with the chain to her shackles nestled in his rough palms. "What is your name?" he greeted cordially, from his corner of the cage.
"Get. Away." Dianthra snarled, though her voice wavered with the second word.
Ragnar tsked her, smiled coyly, then reeled Dianthra's legs out from under her. Dianthra's arms instinctively enveloped around the bars of the cage, her thumbs clawing into the grooves. Dianthra's torso remained steadfast in its corner, though her legs were sprawled near Ragnar's lap. "Tell me your name." Ragnar requested, looping the chain around one of his knuckles.
"You will have to beat it out of me.." Dianthra spat.
A laugh peeked from Ragnar's lips. "Is that what I was about to do?" he challenged, curiously.
Before Dianthra could breathe a word, Ragnar had maneuvered her shackled ankles over his head. Dianthra's shoulders crumbled, the gown of her dress cascading past her knees, exposing her thighs. "Please. Kill me." she requested fruitlessly.
Ragnar smiled, pressing a kiss into her right calf. "But this is killing you." he replied.
Closing her eyes, Dianthra grimaced plaintively as Ragnar's mouth descended onto her womanhood. Dianthra's back quivered against the cage, her hands grew slick with sweat. Then the bars of the cage grew soft, became flesh beneath her flimsy grasp. Dianthra's eyes flew open, and she found herself, on the lap of Floki, one of her hands holding his bloodied wrist. Dianthra screamed in alarm. Ragnar withdrew, wiping his mouth. Floki hooked his arms across Dianthra's chest, his palms hugging her breast, his blood soaking into her cotton dress. "The priest knows nothing about pleasuring a woman." Floki began. "But you know something about killing...doesn't she, Lon?" Floki queried, craning his neck to the right.
Dianthra saw, much to her dismay, Lon seated beside Agi, alongside the grand table. Both were sharpening a sword with a flint. Lon nodded gravely, though his eyes remained pasted on his work. "We had to, sister.." he murmured.
Agi also kept her gaze on her sword. "I know." Agi stated emotionlessly, but the corner of her lip twitched upward.
"You enjoyed it." Ragnar remarked, sitting on his haunches at Agi's feet.
"No." Dianthra hissed, tears swelling in her eyes.
Smirking Ragnar leaned forward, placing his face close to Dianthra's. "You lie." he retorted. Dianthra's hand snapped to his throat, her busted fingernails digging into his jugular. Ragnar did not react. Dianthra held him for several seconds, her gaze brimmed with hatred.
Floki nuzzled Dianthra's ear. "You belong with us. That is why I took you and spared your brother..I saw it in you." he said, igniting a sob from Dianthra, who begrudgingly released Ragnar from her chokehold.
Dianthra's gaze swept toward Agi. Agi however, was already staring at Dianthra.
A/N - I really debated whether or not to add the line about 'the Seer never lies', but I thought a cold hard stare at herself was more bracing. Also if you're curious about the title, (most likely the one and only chapter title) it's a piece from the musical The Devil's Carnival. Shortly after I heard it, I wrote the oneshot that evolved into this story. (Terrance has a glorious voice. I mean gah.)