So, here is the next one :D This is pretty amazing... and I am happy for every review :)

6.

Surrounded By Darkness

Deep down in the cold, humid and gloomy dungeons of Blackdown Stronghold, Rolanda and Alannah had lost track over the amount of time that had passed since they had been brought into their tiny cell after arriving at the castle.

It could have been only a few hours, but it could also have been at least a few days – nor their cell neither the hallway between the cells had a window through which they could have seen the sky outside, taking the sun's position as a indication of the time of day.

The guards were no help as well – they came past their cell in irregular intervals and the time the guards changed shifts could have been morning or evening alike, they greeted each other with a simple "Hello" instead of "Good Morning" or "Good Evening". Maybe they were doing this on purpose, because these circumstances caused Rolanda to feel more than uncomfortable, as she hated to not know what was going on and not to be in control.

Every few hours, a guard would shove a jug of water through the bars, and twice he had also thrown two pieces of stale bread onto the dirty floor to the sister's feet.

They were always gone too quickly for Rolanda to be able to ask them if they could tell her why they were here and were treated like criminals. Never had they done any harm to others, they were normal, peace-loving people...

There were so many worries swirling through Rolanda's head that she could barely sleep, or even find some rest at night – or at least they thought that it was nighttime when they cuddled closely together on the small haystack that was serving as a bed to them. They covered themselves with the moth-eaten piece of fabric that obviously was supposed to be something like a blanket.

But not only her mind kept Rolanda away from the sleep she could have used so much...

Alannah's fears were only adding to her restlessness, and Rolanda could not even think badly about the way Alannah clinged to her, falling asleep with her arms literally crushing Rolanda's rib cage, only to suddenly wake up with a jerk, ripping Rolanda out of whatever state of rest she had reached.

Every few hours, Rolanda would have to comfort her, and tell her that she could sleep, that she would watch over her.

Also were they still in their nightgowns, as nobody had bothered or found it necessary to provide them with a few pieces of a little bit more appropriate clothing, or at least a cloak. Additionally, there was no fire anywhere near their cell, one that could have warmed them at least a little bit with its flames. Actually, Rolanda was pretty sure that the icy cold was never leaving the thick walls of the dungeons, not even during the most hottest summer months.

She feared that Alannah could catch a cold down here and seriously fall sick in this environment, a thought that caused outright panic inside of her. Mainly because of her grandmother maternal side, a stern woman originally coming from the greater island to the east, where, according to her, the kings were not as merciful as in Ulidia. When Rolanda had been a child, her grandmother would always tell her horrifying tales about the prisoners of the big fortresses, who would be slowly killed by illnesses, a sentence that was found appropriate by the monarchs – letting their criminals miserably perish to throw their dead bodies into the river. Always on the edge to starving, her grandmother had told her, they were so weak that they could barely hold up against any diseases that infected them.

As a child, these tales had caused her nightmares and some of them had been so intense that her mother had to stay with her the whole night – and the next morning, Mrs Hooch would go and scream at her own mother, forbidding her to narrate things like that to her small daughter.

After growing up, she had believed that something like these conditions would never happen in their kingdom, and especially not under the reign of the members of their beloved royal family.

But now, she was facing a situation just like from her grandmother's tales.

Their stomachs felt empty, but they did not dare to eat all of their bread at once, fearing that the guards could suddenly stop providing them with food.

Hunger and the constant anxious sobbing of Alannah were straining Rolanda's nerves, additionally to the worries she already had.

She payed a lot of attention to Alannah's health, knowing that her little sister was not the strongest in withstanding illnesses, even under normal circumstances with enough food available and therefore, despite the younger girl's protests, she handed her at least half of her own bread and wanted her to be wrapped into their blanket all the time.

And as they cuddled close, holding on to each other as if one of them could be ripped away any moment, Rolanda's thoughts wandered to their parents.

They were missing in this moment in which Rolanda could have used the encouraging smile of her mother to lift up her spirits or the wise words of her father, who always seemed to find a solution, no matter how complicated the problems were or how unsolvable a situation looked to anyone else.

She felt incredibly alone and helpless without them and she was terrified that she could possibly do everything wrong. What if she failed in taking care of Alannah, in keeping her safe in here?

They would surely be disappointed if anything happened to Alannah while she was responsible for her, and after they had trusted her to do anything in her powers to protect her.

How she wished they could be here with them right now, because then she would at least not have to worry about their well-being too.

Where were they right now?

Had they been captured as well and were on their way right now, brought to the castle by soldiers just like they had been?

Were they maybe standing in the middle of their burnt-down village, surrounded by smouldering ruins, facing the fact that their house was empty, the door standing open widely. Would somebody be there to tell them that their daughters had been taken away during the sudden attack on Waterhal, and that nobody had heard a single word about them since that evening? Or would there just be stunned silence and a pile of questions nobody was there to give an answer to?

Would they be searching for their daughters, or would they assume that they had been killed during just as some of their neighbours?

But maybe they had not even returned to their family home, maybe they had somehow been able to escape the soldiers, or had not been found important enough...

Though Rolanda assumed that her parents must have some kind of value to the new king and his men, as they had only taken Alannah and her in custody after they had heard their last name. However, what could they want from a simple merchant and his family? Why would this new, mysterious king want to see the Hooch family in his dungeons? It seemed to be the central question that everything revolved around.

Suddenly, the heavy sound of the footsteps of a guard ripped her out of her thoughts and them man stopped in front of their cell, shoving a new jug of water and a half loaf of bread through the bars. This time, Rolanda acted fast enough, jumping to her feet and closing the small distance between her hand the bars, looking at the man with a proud look as she demanded:"Tell us why we are here! What did we do to you to deserve this?!"

The man looked at her for a short moment after picking up the empty water jug somebody had brought them earlier, and he looked as if he was considering to answer, but then he just turned away and left, ignoring her completely.

Rolanda released a frustrated sigh and was about to burry her head in her hands, feeling like she was loosing her hope, but then she remembered that Alannah was paying attention to every move she made. Therefore, she tried to act as calm as possible, hoping that the signs of her concerns would not show to her little sister.

oOo

Many floors above, far away from the cold and depressing atmosphere of the dungeons, the hastily prepared feast that King Severus had demanded was in full swing. Servants had carried two additionall long, wooden tables into the dining hall, so that every single one of the about fifty guests, all loyal henchmen of the new king, would have a place.

The tabletops were creaking under the weight of the heavy plates that were filled only with the most delicious foods – all sorts of game, like deer or wild boar, freshly baked bread that was still warm, fish, dumplings, different soups, and also fruits and vegetables from the castle gardens.

But the most important thing for the men was of course the alcohol – about a dozen maids were carrying heavy jugs filled with wine, beer or mead around, constantly refilling the mugs of the guests to prevent them from feeling thirsty.

Loud laughter was filling the room and mixed with the loud conversations of the men who obviously enjoyed themselves.

On the far side of the room, a colourfully clothed group of musicians had gathered, men with bagpipes, a hurdy-gurdy, flutes, shawms, drums and lutes, whose joyful melodies filled the dining hall, adding to the noise of the guests and thus creating a festive atmosphere.

King Severus was seated at the head of the whole table arrangement, on the heavy oak chair his father had used to sit on in his living days. Grease from his favourite dish, grilled deer, was covering his chin and fingers, but he did not seem to be bothered by his own manners, that were so much different from those that a king normally had.

The king actually looked like he could not get enough, as if he had been starving over the last years as he stuffed food into his mouth without having finished chewing on his last bite.

The golden liquid of the mead mixed with the grease when he took big gulps from his silver goblet, emptying it to the last drop only to gesture to a servant to have it refilled again instantly.

In comparison to his other guests, he was outright avaricious and pretty excessive – he had already ordered more game twice and the cooks of the royal kitchens were struggling to fulfill their king's wishes.

Though he was surrounded by people, he still looked quite isolated – he may have ordered to have as many men invited as possible, but still it was as if he did not quite like to be involved into conversations. Since the feast had started, he had not spoken to anyone, had kept to himself, and he actually had a whole small table to himself. As if he did not wanted to have anyone too close to him.

Just now, as he rose and opened his arms widely, causing the whole crowd of those who were present to fall silent and look at him curiously, he was speaking for the first time of the evening.

"Eat, my friends! Tonight, all of your desires shall be fulfilled! Never shall your goblets be dry and may your plates never be empty. All these years, we have been denied what we deserved, what was rightfully ours, and today, we are celebrating that we were finally able to claim it! Without your support and sponsorship, this would never have been possible, and you shall be receiving your reward!"

The men jumped to their feet, cheering and applauding loudly before raising their goblets, hailing their king for his generosity. A tall, broad-shouldered man nodded at his king before speaking up:"Your highness, we would like to thank you too! We owe you more than our lives for giving us all this power, and we organised a gift for you, my king, to show you how grateful we are!"

"Thank you, Lord Runcorn," Severus answered, making an approving gesture and Runcorn waved at one of the servants that guarded a side door. Instantly, the man opened it and a group of young women entered, about a dozen in numbers. They were all clothed in low-cut, scarlet red dresses that revealed more than they concealed, and some of the man laughed dirty as the girls lined up in the space between the tables.

"Slave girls, from the realms of the vikings," Runcorn explained shortly, and for a second, the king's face seemed to be made of a stone, but nobody saw his slightly disapproving expression, as it was seconds later replaced by a fake grin. The king nodded towards the musicians, who started to play again, and the eating and drinking commenced again, while the girls started to dance to the music.

Severus took his full goblet and leaned back, his eyes gliding over the women that twirled and ogled with the men around them. He did not particularly like this "present" - women were not exactly his biggest interest, and he also had other things to think of than the other gender.

Just as he considered to think of an excuse to leave his own feast earlier, one of the women catched his attention anyway.

Her intense gaze was fixed on him, and her pale eyes reminded him of those eyes that he just could not forget. She smiled as she turned once, her platinum blonde hair flying around her head, and then her hips swayed as she came closer a bit, dancing seductively.

With her next turn, her face seemed to change, transforming to the face of the young woman from the courtyard, and Severus felt greed flow through him as he eyed her hungrily.

He wanted to possess this woman, he wanted to know her secrets, why she mysteriously stayed in his thoughts even though he tried everything to forget her.

His heart beating fast and hard in his chest, he gestured a guard to come to him, totally falling for the illusion of his own mind, and whispered:"Do you see that woman over there? Bring her into my chambers, instantly."

"As you wish, master," the soldier answered, bowing his head slightly before he walked around the tables, grabbing the young woman by the arm without hesitating. Everybody stared at them as the woman started to scream in fear in a foreign language, struggling against his grip and the gazes also shifted to Severus as he stood up, ready to leave.

"Why are you all staring?!" he screamed, glaring at the crowd that had fallen silent. "I am the emperor! You gave me these girls as a gift! And as I am the monarch, I may do everything with this gift, everything I please! Go on! Drink! Eat! Enjoy yourselves!"

Nobody dared to protest and those who had their origins in other kingdoms had not really payed attention at all, as they seemed to be used to scenes like this and were not bewildered at all about the king letting his guards take a woman away.

Severus turned around, his cloak billowing behind him as he followed the guard and the still protesting and now also sobbing woman out of the dining hall. Within seconds, everything and everybody returned to normal, and they celebrated like nothing had happened at all, even though some of the remaining women hesitated before they continued to dance, shock and fear written on their faces. As they started twirling again, their smiles appearing to be incredibly forced, but none of the men seemed to be bothered. Actually, some of them looked a little bit like they wanted to follow their king's example, no matter if the monarch was approving or not. After all, he had ordered them to have fun and have their desires fulfilled tonight.