A big thank you to Reckreator (hope I got that right) and to the Guest that reviewed. So much appreciation and I hope you guys stick around. This fic will be rather long.
Lara screamed.
Teagen pressed further against the wound in her back.
"Please stop!"
Teagen pressed again.
"Why won't you listen," she whispered, pouring more antiseptic onto the rag. "I told you to just...listen."
She was insane. She was bloody insane!
Lara peered over her shoulder, saw Teagens solemn face through the tears. Lara screamed again as the rag brushed against raw skin. They locked eyes and Teagen looked away to wet the rag again.
"Mathias will only allow a small window for your faults. Next time he will be the one to punish you. Then death," Teagen wiped more blood from Lara's skin.
"I would rather death," Lara whimpered.
Teagen opened her mouth to speak, to reprimand, but the door to the small room opened. Mathias cut an opposing figure in the doorway, serene smile on his face; two men flanked him in the hallway.
"How goes the work," his voice was too smooth.
Teagen burst into hysterics, sobbing into the heels of her hands; the room seemed to freeze with tension. The men in the hallway froze, true fear in their eyes.
"She's broken," Teagen wailed, standing on wobbly legs only to crash into Mathias. "She won't listen! She's broken!"
Mathias stared down at the top of Teagens head, closed his eyes and then breathed in deeply. Then Lara saw him smile, hand come to sweep across her back, carressing the sobbing girl. Teagen craned her neck to see him through her tears, arms lost in his coat.
"Broken things can be fixed," he soothed her. "Now, go get yourself cleaned up and I will finish things here."
Teagen stared, almost in awe, then pulled back. She wiped her face as she shuffled from the room, sniffling down the hallway. Mathias watched her back for a moment and then turned a hard glare on Lara. He twosted his staff around, blade down, and eased an inch of it into one of the wounds on Lara's back.
She couldn't even scream.
Her nails dug into the floor and she flailed; Mathias bent a knee, eyes cold and menacing.
"I suggest refraining from upsetting her in the future."
Lara nodded, a sob finally coming from her throat.
She had to escape.
Soon.