There are many things that get better with time. Fine wine. Some cheeses. Relationships.
But for Udonna, the more time passed, the more bitter she became about her lamentable situation. She wasn't one to pity herself normally, but after so much time of just sitting and feeling more and more concerned about Clare and the rangers, she grew restless.
It was just like any other day, maybe a few days after the Imperious incident, and Udonna mentally admonishing herself for losing a little faith in the rangers.
The vines parted and Udonna looked up sharply. There stood the Knight Wolf.
Udonna felt a little silly with him looking down at her, just sitting on her little bed, foot tapping slightly at the right ankle. She had decided to braid all of her hair over her shoulder, and she was pretty sure the entire mess of it was uneven. It wasn't as if she could really know. No mirror was available to her.
"Sorceress. Come with me."
Udonna glared up at him but obliged after a moment. "Where, might I ask, would you be taking me?"
Koragg didn't answer immediately but eventually came out with, "my chambers. I have things I would like to discuss."
The sound of it wasn't something Udonna particularly liked, but what could she do? She wasn't in any shape to fight back. So, relenting, she walked to him and allowed herself to be lead down a few corridors. To the left. She noted that. Now she would know where this pathway lead.
She was unsure of why Koragg stood so he was guarding her somewhat. It seemed a little excessive to her. But once they entered the chambers, she understood. Her Snowstaff was mounted on the wall. This had been where she was when she had been captured before.
"Sit." He ordered. There was what looked like a table made of a tablet of stone and two chairs. They didn't really seem like Koragg's style, old and made from wood, and Udonna wondered if they had only been brought in for this meeting. She certainly didn't remember them at all.
Udonna wasn't too keen on being ordered around, but of course, the same logic as earlier applied and she sat down.
Koragg sat across from her, and she wondered what he was going to say to her. What he was going to demand next.
Information? She had already let it slip with Imperious. She wasn't going to let it happen again. Hopefully.
"The Great Battle."
It was a statement.
"What about it?"
"I want to know what happened."
Udonna rolled her eyes, irritated, feeling he was feigning this ignorance. "You weren't there, I know. Why do you have an interest?"
"I do not need to answer, sorceress."
"Then I don't find a reason to tell you."
Koragg made a sound, almost like a growl. It didn't really deter Udonna, but he reached out and grabbed her arm, grip vice-like.
"You forget that you are a prisoner. You answer to me."
Inside, Udonna shrunk back a little. But she began to speak carefully.
"The Underworld's gates rose up from the depths by the power of the Gatekeeper before my sister. He believed that humanity was a stain on the earth and decided to raise the gates to let the monsters and demons destroy the humans."
The Knight's grip loosened and Udonna felt her heart rate slow significantly.
"He died as a result and Mystic Mother bestowed the Gatekeeper's duty on to my sister. She had already exhibited the strengths to be a gatekeeper from childhood, but the position had already been filled by the man who rose the gates."
"His name?"
"Isirus. He was the youngest village elder on our council."
The name rang a bell to Koragg, but he couldn't quite place it. The way the woman said it. It was icy, but somehow he could still hear a hint of warmth. It was as if she couldn't shake it. For some reason, he could hear it. Like an echo of the past. What a foolish thought. Every other part of her was able to conceal her natural inclination to nurture, but her voice was one of the things that wouldn't leave him.
"And then?"
"And as the monsters slowly crept from the depths, warrior fought them. They were weak at first, but slowly they grew in power. The Mystic Force rose to the challenge. Mystic Mother blessed them with gifts of the ancient titans."
"Explain the Titans."
Udonna hesitated and she felt the grip on her arm tighten just slightly.
"They're creatures imbued with angelic energy. Before there was Mystic Mother, there was magic roaming freely, sometimes overseen by the Tribunal. The Titans were once ancient warriors who gave their lives to fight the darkness. As a reward, they were immortalized."
Which doesn't seem like a reward, Udonna had always thought. She knew that death was part of the cycle of life. Though, she admitted, some people were taken too soon.
"Continue about the war."
"The Mystic Force rose to the challenge of the monsters. Monsters, as you know, are born with demon's blood. The more blood they spilled outside the Underworld, the more likely it was that monsters could grow and spawn."
"Your husband led the Mystic Force."
"Yes," she said with an edge. The warmth was almost gone, but not entirely snuffed. Koragg believed it was due to her resilient love for her husband.
"My husband led the Mystic Force and fought against the Dark. The armor was different, as were the types of spells used, but the elements were the same. And they fought bravely."
"Tell me more about Leanbow."
And, surprisingly, he let go of her arm.
"Don't you want to hear about the rest of the battle?"
Udonna began to pick at her nails at the order. She didn't want to be discussing her husband with this warrior. He belonged to the side that had killed him.
But she did it anyway.
"He was a great man. Kind. Honest."
Koragg just kept staring at her, and she felt slightly self-conscious to continue.
"He was honorable. Something that you seem to heavily value."
"I do heavily value it."
"Your Empire seems to have a different way of thinking about it. Your superiors do not seem honorable to me."
"They do not speak for me. When The Master rises, I will be his right hand."
"You say that," Udonna taunted, "but with your inability to enact any true plan, will you be able to defend your position?"
Koragg grew angry but restrained himself. "I am The Master's most loyal warrior. I live to serve him. He will reward me."
Udonna did not want to say anything else on the matter, but she nodded. Not in agreement, but in acknowledgment.
"What else about him?"
"He was a good person. What more should I say?"
Koragg wasn't exactly certain what he was expecting. Of course, the woman would have nothing but good to say about him. Death seemed to do that. It would erase the faults of the deceased.
"Is there anything else," she asked.
"Would you like anything to eat?"
Udonna looked up, surprised. "Yes…" She replied guardedly.
Koragg nodded and said, "anything?"
"I suppose anything that's edible."
Koragg nodded and left. Udonna couldn't believe he had. She was left alone? But, in that moment, she didn't want to run. Where would she go? She couldn't face any of the creatures here alone, could she?
So, resigned, she sat and unbraided her hair.
When Koragg returned he was surprised. It was Imperious who had wagered she would try to escape. And when she attempted, Koragg knew Imperious would try to pull something. And seeing her sitting there, a bit nervous from the look of it, he was glad. As she had pointed out, she wasn't much of a thread. Maybe someday he would learn the rest of the story, just to hear her talk.
What?
Koragg couldn't believe he had just thought that. And then the woman looked up at him in the entrance, standing there with a tray of some sort. Koragg also couldn't believe that he had been staring at her.
But there was something that he couldn't quite place. Like he was fighting something off, and suddenly he couldn't think about it anymore. As if he were incapable.
Udonna was still looking at him curiously, and he entered at set the tray down. It wasn't fruit, surprisingly. It was a soup. Like a beat soup of some sort. Red colored. It made sense. They grew underground.
Koragg watched her pick up the antique spoon set beside it and take a spoonful. She didn't have anything to say about it. It was slightly fruity still, but she couldn't quite understand the exact flavor. It was too many fruits and vegetables put together.
While she thought about the food, The Knight thought of something else. Her hair.
Why was he just staring at it? It looked the same as human hair. A rare color, however. Red. An auburn? Not that he was an expert on female hair color. But even with days, weeks, in the underworld, she had managed to break apart the tangles and it curled ever so slightly. She didn't look as visually magical as she had when they first encountered each other. With the braids and elegant waves that turned to curls. She looked more mortal.
"What are you staring at," she asked him, looking up.
Koragg didn't know what to say, so he grunted and said, "I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"It's none of your business what I think about."
"No, it's not. But I'm allowed some curiosity, am I not?"
He wanted to say no, but curiosity seemed harmless enough.
She took another bite as she watched him, but her eyes grew wide as she took something from between her teeth. She immediately turned away from him, hand over her mouth.
"What was in this?"
"Imperious had it made."
The woman hastily dug her spoon into the bottom of the bowl and fished out some solid pieces which Koragg couldn't identify. She poured them onto the tray and a look of hurt crossed her face.
"Pomegranate seeds," she said angrily.
Every time she let her guard down she was deceived. She was good and tired of it.
"Pomegranates are grown in the Pit's hidden garden."
"I'm sure," she replied coldly.
And Koragg wanted to shiver slightly at her tone. The warmth was gone. She was truly angry, icy, so icy that it burned. Her eyes were the same way. Showing a contained wrath.
"I'm sure you know the myth about pomegranates," she stated coldly.
Koragg did not know. "I don't."
"They're used to tie people to The Underworld," she spat. "Once you eat a pomegranate seed, you are bound to return to The Underworld. Depending on how many you eat, you may be confined forever."
Behind his mask, Koragg felt a sense of… guilt? That wasn't anything he felt before. But he knew what it was? That wasn't something he could explain.
She pushed the tray away and bit her lip.
"I could bring you something else," he offered.
Udonna just shook her head and looked at her hands in her lap. Why couldn't Calindor, no, Imperious, leave her alone? Hadn't he done enough?
He was a force of evil now. Nothing from the past mattered. When he gave her flowers for the birth of her son, or when he offered to escort her one night while Leanbow was out. It didn't matter.
"I need to take you back."
"Yes, of course," Udonna said numbly.
"Or…"
"Or?"
"I could give you a cell with more room. And light."
Udonna couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was a weak offer of accommodation.
"Where?"
"Here. Not in this chamber exactly, but close by. I would cast a seal on the entrance to prevent your escape. But there would be light."
Udonna valued light. She didn't want to feel so claustrophobic anymore. "Alright," she agreed, the anger she felt earlier washing away slowly.
"Alright."
And from that night on, she found herself close to Koragg's chambers, sitting in a lighter, larger cell with an entrance no larger than a doorway. Koragg made good on his promise to cast a seal over the entrance. Every time Udonna approached it, she felt a surge of energy that seemed to repel her.
But the difference was every now and again, Koragg would stop to talk to her. And now and again, he would stare at her hair. Wisps. Which she maintained better now that he had granted her a brush.