Oliver (she thought that was his name) came over to her and picked her up off the ground. Daine was surprised at his boldness, especially after what had just happened. He started to carry her into the keep.
"I think I know where we can keep you," he mused. "My great-great-grandfather inadvertently married a madwoman, and built a tower for her to stay in. We can put you there, since you won't be able to go out and it will be much more comfortable than the dungeon."
Daine nodded and let him carry her through the castle. He brought her to a door in the middle of a corridor filled with doors. He produced a key from his pocket and unlocked it, still holding Daine.
He opened the door to reveal a pretty room, much nicer than anything she had ever stayed in before. It was a round sitting room, with a fluffy rug on the floor, a chair, a desk, and a chaise. There were bookshelves on the walls and it looked very comfortable.
"You should be fine here." Oliver said, gesturing at the room after setting her down on the chaise. The bedroom is up those stairs."
Daine looked around to find a spiral staircase concealed behind a hanging. She turned back around to thank Whatever-his-name-was, but he'd already left.
She shrugged and went up the stairs to find a cozy little bedroom. It had a daybed in pushed against one wall, and behind a changing screen there was a door to the privy.
She lay down on the bed and tried to go to sleep, having nothing better to do, but was interrupted from a doze by a rough voice inside her head.
-This is not good-
She looked over to see a large badger on the bed beside her. He looked angry.
"What?" she asked in wonderment.
-You, kit, have gone badly astray. You shouldn't be here.-
"Who are you? And how do you know I've done something wrong?"
-I am the male badger god. Your da set me to watch over you and I haven't been doing my job.-
"What? You know my da?"
-Of course- he said, - And since tings have gone so badly, I guess I will have to train you myself-
"Train?"
-You have wild magic, kit-
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Daine worked with the badger for the rest of that day. He told her about her magic, how she could heal, and maybe even shape shift. However, when it started to get dark, Badger looked around.
-It is time for me to leave, kit. I'll come back when I can. Time moves differently where I live.-
Before Daine could even open her mouth to ask what he meant, he had disappeared. She sat down on her new bed and went over everything she had learned that day. She was lost in thought when a knock sounded on her door.
Oliver came in with a tray of food. He sat it down on the small table beside her bed, and then turned to look at her.
"I brought you dinner," he said shyly. Daine grabbed the roll and took a bite out of it. "Thank you," she said, her voice muffled by the bread.
Oliver sat down on the bed next to her and watched as she ate her food, wondering what they had fed her in the dungeons to make her so hungry. But then, she is a country girl, he thought, She might eat like this all the time. When she was done, she wiped her mouth and said, "I'm sorry, Ma would kill me if she saw me eating like that." She seemed to realize what she had said, and her face crumpled. Oliver felt horrible for even thinking she had no table manners.
Daine began to cry softly, covering her face with her hands. After a moment, she felt arms go around her, and her face came up against a warm chest. "I'm sorry too Daine, none of this ever should have happened. I will try to make it better, for you, even if my father says you have to stay in this tower."
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A week passed, and Daine found it harder and harder to stay in the two rooms allotted to her. She had never liked closed spaces, and being trapped in one like an animal in a cage was almost too much. She didn't know what she would do without Oliver and the badger, who had visited twice more that week to give her lessons. Oliver came every day to deliver her meals, saying that all the guards were afraid of her. He would often stay to talk, and she started to enjoy his company during the long days.
She was sitting in the chair she had moved over to the window for lessons and talking to the People in general when a panicked cry came from the woods that surrounded one half of the castle's walls. At first she thought it was Lord Ilar, whose horse had a habit of stepping on his toes, but she soon realized that she had heard the anguished wail inside her head.
She frantically cast out a net of her magic, searching for the hurt animal. After long moments of searching she found a horse that had broken its leg on a hunt. Its mind reeled in pain and confusion as its rider pointed his crossbow at its head. Daine entered the horse's mind and tried to soothe it, knowing what was going to happen. When the huntsman released the quarrel, she planted an image of green pastures and juicy apples in the horse's mind.
Daine wished she could have gone down there and helped the horse. Badger had said she could heal, so maybe she could have saved the poor animal. Instead, the walls of her prison seemed to compress around her, making her feel as if she were in a small box. She started to breathe hard, feeling trapped, and ran to the window to try to get some air. She knew through the haze of fear that panicking wasn't the best way to go about overcoming a phobia of being in small, closed spaces.
The window was stuck. She had no way to get fresh air, no way to get out, and no way to move. She was in a cage, albeit a fancy one. She ran down the stairs to try the other windows, but found that they were stuck too. She tried hauling against them, banging on them, and throwing candelabra at them, but nothing worked. Eventually she sank to the ground and closed her eyes, wishing she had someone to put happy, open fields in her mind like she had put in the dying horse's.
Daine had no idea how long she sat there, trying not to be a baby and cry, when Oliver came up to give her dinner. Once he saw her on the floor though, he came over and put his arms around her, trying to comfort her. Daine leaned into him, calming down with the knowledge he was there.
"Are you alright, Daine?" Oliver asked. "You look horrible."
"I'm alright," she replied. "I just don't like closed spaces. I mean, it was really nice of you to put me here, and I love the room, but nobody likes being in a cage. Especially me." She saw Oliver consider what she had just said, hoping he could do something.
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The next day, Oliver brought a metal collar and a leash up to the room with him. When Daine saw it, she immediately recoiled against the headboard. "What is that for?" she asked.
"You," Oliver sighed. "I can take you outside, but only if you wear this thing. Father's orders. Please, Daine, I know you hate being trapped, but maybe we can go out in the woods and then I'll take it off." Daine stared at him for a moment, then flung herself at him, making him blush a deep red.
"Thank you Oliver! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I didn't think you would do something so sweet for me. It must have been bad for you to get your da to let you take me anywhere!"
Oliver shook his head. "If I had known that a walk outside would make you this happy, I would have asked Father long ago."
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Daine walked out of the castle and into the courtyard, taking breaths of fresh air and trying not to act like an idiot. It was just so nice to be out in the sun again. Even if she was wearing a collar and Oliver was on the other end of the leash attached to it. They received a few funny looks from the guards on duty, but they made it into the shady cover of the woods without anything crazy happening, and for that Daine was grateful.
They came to the side of a pond, where Oliver put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. He reached up and put a hand on her neck, muttering a word in a language Daine didn't understand. The collar came off in his waiting palm.
Ok, Ok. I know it has been AGES since I updated this, but I would definitely like you to know that I haven't abandoned it. In fact, it's my favorite of my fics so far. You just have to be a bit patient. However, hopefully you won't ever have to be as patient as you were waiting for this chapter ever again. If you're still here, I formally apologise and hope you can leave a review with...well, anything really. You can even yell at me for waiting so long, I don't care. But hopefully you can tell me wether you liked it or not. :)
Starling