The way back to the hut was like walking through a nightmare again.
Liliana made her way over the hills with aching limbs, actually limping rather than walking, and the muscles in her legs and feet were burning like fire while a sharp, throbbing pain began to spread through her temples, making her want to wince with every step she took.
He followed her close on her heels, shoving her roughly whenever she needed to change her direction, his anger still radiating strongly from his tense form. Whenever she cast him a glance out of the corner of her eye, she could see him stalking behind her with a dark and foreboding expression on his face, now and then reaching up with one hand to absentmindedly massage the spot on his shoulder where she had bitten him, and his eyes narrowed so dangerously whenever he caught her staring at him that she quickly averted her gaze, concentrating her attention on the path before her until they finally reached the hut again.
He grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip as soon as they crossed the threshold, forcing a pained yelp out of her while he dragged her roughly towards the chains in the wall, and with another forceful shove, he made her fall down on her knees, and his voice was an angry growl as he spoke.
"Take off your shoes."
Liliana hastened to comply, trying to open the laces with shaking hands, but in her exhausted and panicked state, she just fumbled with the knots rather than undoing the laces. She heard an impatient growl escape his lips, and then he kneeled in front of her, reaching for her half-opened shoes and forcefully pulling them off her feet, making her yelp in pain again.
As soon as he let go of her legs, Liliana pulled them near to close her arms around her knees, trying to retreat as far against the wall as possible. He followed her and reached with one hand for her neck, pulling her sharply towards him, and her heart started to beat frantically again as she saw the look in his eyes.
"I will have a short look around, see if I can find some wood that's actually dry enough to use for the chimney.", he growled, his voice harsh, hinting at the anger that still seemed to be raging strongly inside him.
He stared at her with his cold, unfeeling eyes, and Liliana shivered again as she felt him tightening his grip around her neck, wondering for a long, painfully frightening moment if he was debating right now whether he should break it or not. His hand started to slowly stroke her soft skin, and his voice became even deeper as he asked her in a mockingly light tone.
"You know what I'm about to say to you now, don't you, mousie?"
She gulped, trying to fight her fear, but couldn't keep her voice from shaking.
"Don't worry, I… I won't make any trouble."
His eyes seemed to pierce her with their burning stare, and his voice was low and menacing as he spoke.
"Good. Don't forget what will happen if you do…"
For the length of a heartbeat, his eyes wandered deliberately from her face to her neck-line, and Liliana couldn't keep herself from shuddering as she understood the threat behind this meaningful glance. She shook her head fervently, deliberately avoiding his eyes while a part of her was wishing desperately now that she had followed Nerdanel's lead and had chosen a different kind of dress this morning, feeling so terribly naked and vulnerable all of a sudden.
His hand continued to stroke the soft skin of her neck, and then slowly began to follow the rim of her neck-line, down to her collar-bone… but then she felt him tensing all of a sudden, and with a vicious-sounding curse, he stood up to walk swiftly over the wooden planks towards the door of the hut, his pace still stiff and angry. She heard the door creak on its hinges, and then he was gone, and Liliana buried her face in her hands, trying to muffle the sound of her sobs as her tears started to flow freely again.
Oh merciful gods, please, release me from this nightmare…After a while, her tears finally ebbed away, and as Liliana lifted her still shaking hands to rub her face, her eyes suddenly fell on the dolphin ring on her left hand, now covered with dirt. With a hasty move, she pulled the ring from her finger and started to clean it frantically on her dress until it was shining and sparkling again. The sight of the ring alone was enough to miraculously ease her pain, and as she slipped it back on her hand, she felt the warm feeling of hope spread through her, helping her to clear her mind.
Somewhere, Cedric and her family were looking for her now. Sooner or later, they would find her, and until then, she had to fight her fear and try to keep her mind focused, had to try to play by his rules to keep him from hurting her or…
No! Don't think about it!But almost instantly, the images returned unbidden to her mind - he, lying on top of her, his lips on her mouth, moaning longingly, and his one hand caressing the soft skin of her neck, while the other…
The sound of an axe connecting sharply with wood echoed loudly through the shabby cabin and made her almost jump out of her skin in fright. The sound came again, and Liliana suddenly realised that he must have started to chop wood for the chimney, just like he had told her.
Liliana listened to the rhythmical sound of the axe, and frowned. She had watched Miller and the other man servants of her family chopping wood long enough to know that he was using the axe very fast, and with much more verve than he needed to chop the wood.
A part of her knew that she should be glad that he was venting his anger on the wood instead of her, but the knowledge couldn't do much to ease her troubled mind. The memory of his usually cold, amber eyes, burning with fury, was still enough to make her shiver, but Liliana let her newfound feeling of hope and confidence help her fight her fear. She would be rescued, she had no doubt about that. But until then, she had to keep her head down, had to try and smooth things over between them, until she would finally be free of him again…
The door creaked ominously on its hinges, and then he entered the hut, carrying an armload of wood in his arms, his cheeks slightly flushed and sweaty from the exhaustion. He passed her without casting her as much as a glance, putting down the logs beside the fireplace, and then turned around to stare at her again, the expression on his face still dark and foreboding.
"I don't think you know how to start a fire, princess?"
Maybe it was the sneering tone of his voice, or the disdainful look on his face, but something about his last words ignited a simmering anger deep inside her chest, and so Liliana felt her shoulders stiffen with indignation as she replied, her own voice sounding surprisingly sharp all of a sudden.
"My grandfather has a hunting lodge in the Cloak Woods, near Baldur's Gate. He showed me how to make a fire when I was a little girl."
He snorted.
"A hunting lodge. Well, what else.", he replied derisively, and Liliana's shoulders stiffened even more as she saw his eyebrows lift in mock surprise. Who did he think he was, treating her like she was nothing but a spoiled child who couldn't be trusted to handle even the simplest tasks? He walked over to the place where he had laid down his belongings, and rummaged through his backpack until he pulled out a small leather pouch, and his voice was still mockingly sweet as he threw the bag in her direction, its contents clinking ominously in the process.
"Fine, then. Show me what you've learned about making a fire, mousie."
And with that, he simply stood and walked back towards the door of the hut. He turned as he reached the threshold, the light of the setting sun circling his head like a halo once more, but there was an undertone to his teasingly light voice that made her shiver.
"By the way, should I catch you trying to lay a hand on my bow or quiver…", here he cast her neck-line another meaningful glance, which sent another wave of terrified shivers down her spine, "well, you know what will happen then."
And with that, he turned around and left the hut. She heard him move around the building and huffed, anger and fear now mingling confusingly strong in her chest as she reached for the pouch, only to find flint, steel and tinder in it. Oh, she would show that arrogant prick how to make a fire!
The wood smelled musty, as if it had been stored in a dark, damp hovel for quite some time, but it was dry, and after she had removed the heavy iron pot from its chain in the chimney, Liliana took her time to set up the single logs like tentpoles, while the sound of the axe began to echo through the hut again, showing that he had truly started to chop more wood.
There was no touchwood around, and so she gathered some handfuls of the dried leaves and twigs from the ground to use them as a first hearth to nourish the sparks she would strike up from the steel.
Her stomach gave a sudden, grumbling sound, and her gaze wandered hesitatingly from the wood to his backpack, her hunger gnawing at her. For a long moment, she listened intently to the sound of the axe. Then, with a furtive glance towards the door, she quickly made her way across the wooden floor to kneel beside his bedroll, her mind screaming at her to go back to the chimney, but the hunger drove her forward.
He did not tell me to keep away from his backpack, she tried to calm herself as she opened the laces with trembling hands and started to carefully rummage through its depths, looking for his provisions. Her hands closed around the bread, her stomach giving a another loud, grumbling sound, and for a moment, she truly fought with herself whether she should eat a small piece to assuage her hunger, but then her common sense finally kicked in.
He was bound to find out that she had laid a hand on his backpack when she ate another piece of bread, and as she really did not want to know what he was going to do to her if he did, she finally let go of the bread with a sigh, her stomach churning painfully, and as she pulled her hand out of the bag, her fingers touched a large piece of parchment that had been hidden under his provisions. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, her curiosity sparked by her mysterious find. He did not seem the reading type to her, and so she carefully lifted the parchment out of the knapsack, holding it in her trembling hands.
For the length of several heartbeats, she paused to listen intently to the regular sound of the axe before she carefully unrolled the parchment, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. There was a soft chiming noise, and a locket fell out of the parchment and into her lap, masterfully crafted and with a long, silver chain.
She lifted it with trembling hands, surprised that someone like him had such a valuable-looking piece of jewelry in his possession, and then cast another curious glance at the parchment. It seemed to be a kind of map, the ink old and fading, and strangely enough, it seemed to be written in elvish and dwarvish runes, another artifact that she had never expected to find with a man like him.
There was a word written across the centre of the map, and Liliana lifted the parchment a little closer to her eyes to try and read the elvish runes.
Merdelain.
The slow-marching Court. The word sounded somewhat familiar, but not familiar enough to stir a memory. There was a small note on one side of the map, written in an elegant writing, and Liliana held the piece of parchment even closer to the light, trying to decipher the inscription.
Bishop-
I thought you might find this useful.
Riana
There was something strangely familiar about that last name as well, a woman's name, but it was the first word that suddenly caught her attention, making more shivers run down her spine, but now in a strange kind of panicked excitement.
Bishop.
Finally, she could put a name to her mysterious captor, and somehow, that simple fact was enough to ease her fear a bit, as if he had become more real now, a person instead of a phantom - still dangerous, but more human somehow and therefore not so terribly frightening anymore.
Now that her curiosity had been ignited, Liliana carefully put the parchment away and lifted the locket on its silver chain, studying it closely. It was small, not much larger than the back of her thumb, and decorated with beautifully engraved ivy runners, hinting at the silversmith's excellent craftsmanship.
She turned the locket admiringly in her fingers, and saw that there was an inscription on its back, the words so small that she could barely read them in the dim light.
Forever yours,
Riana
She stopped, and her eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at the jewelry in her hand in utmost disbelief. The thought that there was actually a woman in all Faerun who would give a token of her love to a man like him was more than bizarre, and carefully, she tried to open the locket, wondering what such a woman would look like…
A loud, chopping sound made her almost jump out of her skin, and she froze with her hands around the locket, listening intently while her heart started to beat frantically in her chest. But the chopping continued, and so Liliana hastened to roll up the locket in the parchment once more, before she shoved it back into his bag, closing its laces with trembling hands.
What had she been thinking? The thought of what he would do to her, should he ever catch her with her nose in his possessions, and such private possessions on top of that, was enough to make her whole body tremble violently, and so she hastened to pick up the pouch with flint and steel and went back to the chimney, forcing her attention to return to the wood and her attempt to get a fire going.
It had been a while since she had made her last fire, and so it took her some time, but finally, she leaned back, feeling strangely pleased with herself as she watched the merrily crackling flames in the chimney, relishing the warmth that now spread through her aching limbs.
"Not bad for a prissy little princess such as you."
She jumped at the sound of his deep voice, for the crackling of the fire had covered the sound of his steps, and Liliana turned around, her anger returning almost instantly as she heard the mocking undertone in his voice - and couldn't keep herself from inhaling sharply as she looked towards the door and saw him there, still standing in the doorway.
Chopping wood was a strenuous work, and so he must have pulled off his tunic at one point, for he was now holding it loosely in one hand, his naked chest glittering in the light of the setting sun and offering her a good look on his tanned, well-shaped body, the place where she had bitten him clearly visible on his shoulder. He seemed to have washed himself after his sweaty work, for his hair was wet again, and she could see single droplets of water run down his chest, following the line of his taut muscles and then down to his well-trained stomach…
Her cheeks suddenly felt like they had caught fire, and she quickly averted her eyes, her pulse pounding strongly in her ears. What had she been thinking, staring at him like that? And what had he been thinking, returning to the hut in such an inappropriate way?
She heard him throw the tunic in the direction of his backpack and leave the hut again, only to return a few moments later, carrying more logs in his arms. Liliana quickly fled to her corner of the wall, clearing the way for him, and her grip around the small leather pouch tightened unconsciously as she watched him lower the logs onto the ground, the view of his broad, naked back and the sight of his muscles, rippling powerfully under his skin, making her feel strangely uncomfortable all of a sudden.
He stood, and she quickly averted her gaze again, the feeling of sudden discomfort actually intensifying as she heard him coming towards her, his voice set in its usual sneer.
"The pouch?"
She quickly shoved the bag in his direction, but tried her best not to look at him, her cheeks still flaming red. No man with the slightest bit of decency would ever have the nerve to present himself in such a way in front of a woman! She heard him bend and pick up the pouch before he stopped in his tracks, staring at her, and the sudden sound of his amused laughter ignited in her the desperate wish to make herself truly invisible, knowing that he had finally discovered the source of her discomfort.
"What, mousie, have you never seen a man before?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him saunter closer towards her, the light of the fire reflecting dangerously in his amber eyes while his catlike moves reminded her strongly of a predator, circling his prey, and the sound of his purring voice sent another wave of shivers down her spine.
"Or do you just like what you see, and that's what got you all hot and bothered?"
At these words, her head snapped up, and she glared at him even despite her fear, her sudden anger making her voice sharp and steady once more.
"Don't flatter yourself, you have nothing I haven't seen before!"
He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, his cold eyes now alight with amusement, and lazily lifted one hand to caress her cheek, and for the first time, Liliana was too angry to be afraid of his touch.
"That so?", he said with a crooked smile, and then leaned a little closer to purr softly into her ear.
"Tell me, mousie, has dear Cedric been giving it to you good?"
His scent invaded her nostrils again, rich and heady, and she felt heat rush into her cheeks, but whether it was from anger or embarrassment, she couldn't tell, and her voice became even sharper as she made a disgusted face.
"You're despicable!"
He chuckled, his hand still stroking her cheek, amusement now very prominent in his voice.
"You wound me, princess.", he said, mock hurt in his voice. "I guess that was a "no" to my question. Can't say I'm surprised. Your Cedric struck me as the boring kind."
She stared at him, seething, and the look of the arrogant smile on his face made her itch to slap him on the face. How dare he say such things about a man like Cedric, miserable, worthless thug that he was?
"I would offer to show you what a real man can do – but then again you have nothing I have not seen a hundred times before as well, mousie."
And with these words, he let go of her and walked back towards his corner of the hut, reaching for a new tunic from his backpack and starting to pull it over his head. She watched him go, and felt a sudden, irresistable desire to throw something at him, just to wipe that arrogant smile from his face, while her anger was still simmering strongly inside her chest, getting sick of the poor little nicknames he had chosen for her. Why couldn't he speak her name, just once, and acknowledge that she was a real person, someone who lived and breathed, and not just a thing that he had chained to a wall for his amusement?
"My name is Liliana.", she replied icily.
She heard him chuckle again, the sound a little muffled through the thin cloth of his tunic, and his voice sounded still highly amused as he replied.
"Oh, I know. How fitting. A flower, just as prissy, fragile and useless as you are. Good for nothing but decoration."
She never knew what made her do it in the end. But at the sight of this prick standing before her, daring to throw one caustic reply after another in her direction, and that after a day of hunger, fear and exhaustion, made the anger inside her well up in hot, strong waves, and so Liliana couldn't keep herself from lifting her chin and replying haughtily.
"You know, for someone with a lifestyle such as yours, I would be very careful before I allowed me to judge people by their names, Bishop."
The moment the words had left her lips, Liliana knew that she had let herself get carried away too far. She saw his shoulders tense at her angry reply before his head snapped around, and there was an expression on his face that made the blood in her veins run cold. He slowly made his way back towards her, his graceful moves and unusual eyes reminding her uncomfortably of a predator again, and his voice was deadly calm as he spoke.
"What did you just say, little mouse?"
