Alicia blinked. That wasn’t the response she had expected. “What do you mean?”
The woman tilted her head once again. She went silent for a moment. “We found no room for ambiguity in Our query. What allies are you concerned about betraying?”
Alicia clamped her mouth shut. She shook her head back and forth before staring down at the woman’s knees.
The clicking started a moment later.
—
Alicia lolled her head from side to side. Have to keep awake. Have to keep awake. Have to keep awake.
The clicking stopped again. It took but a moment for the wheel to spin up and stop with Alicia facing the black throne.
Alicia closed her eyes with a sigh. Such a welcome sight. A reprieve from the spinning and the water and the turning and the clicking.
But she had to stay awake.
If she fell asleep, Ylva would leave. The clicking would start.
And the turning.
And the water.
She had almost drowned once already. There was still a constant need to cough from some amount of water that made it to her lungs.
“Last time we spoke, you seemed so certain that you would be rescued. How long has it been?”
Alicia shook her head. More than a hundred half-hour long revolutions. She had stopped bothering to count. “I don’t know.”
“And where are these allies of yours now?”
Again, Alicia shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Ylva nodded. For a moment, she was silent.
Alicia loved the dramatic pauses the demon–for what else could she be–often used. As long as she was not spoken to, Alicia didn’t need to speak. She was free to rest. Even as far as shutting her eyes for a few blessed seconds.
“Your allies abandoned you,” Ylva said, voice soft. Sad. Almost regretful. “They know you yet live. They know where you are. None have come to rescue you. None will come to rescue you.
“You are an expendable asset to them. A casualty paid in a meaningless conflict.”
Ylva went silent. She shifted as her head switched its resting spot from one hand to the other. Her free hand came up and gently rubbed against Alicia’s cheek.
Alicia leaned her head into it, savoring the sensation. She hadn’t felt anything except cold water and slowly drying skin in days. Weeks? Months? Lord, Alicia thought. How long have I been here?
“Do you know the reason for your suffering?”
Alicia jerked back from Ylva’s soft hand. It was a strain to keep her eyes focused, but she managed for a few seconds. That beautiful woman in front of her gained corpse-like features as she looked harder.
“You’re a demon!” Alicia shouted.
Ylva withdrew her outstretched hand.
And she frowned.
Just the corners of her lips. She tipped her head up, looking down at Alicia past the tip of her nose.
Alicia’s heart sank. She made Ylva mad again. She was so stupid. How could she have shouted at Ylva.
Ylva stood from her throne. She maneuvered around it and turned her back to Alicia.
“I’m sorry,” Alicia said, not even bothering to hide the desperation in her voice. “I’m sorry. Please, don’t go.”
Ylva stopped. Her head turned to align with her shoulder, not quite looking at Alicia.
“Our servant has been stolen from Us. We will not allow Our servants to suffer. All in Our path will be demolished until Our property is returned to Us.”
Her words said, Ylva turned and walked out of the room.
Alicia hung her head. Some lingering water started dripping from her face at a steady pace.
And the clicking started.
—
A cool hand brushed the loose water from Alicia’s face. It stroked gently, massaging away fatigue. Two arms wrapped around Alicia’s head. It was a cold embrace, but not an unwelcome one.
“We care for Our servants, Our property.”
Alicia nodded into the crook of a shoulder. She had to show she was listening. Had to stay awake.
“We care for those that assist Ourself. Those that help us. Friends, one might say.”
The voice was gentle. Soft. Soothing.
“And We assist Our… friends in return. We protect Our servants. We rescue those of Ours who have managed to place themselves in the hands of an enemy. Because we care.
“We wish We could care for you, Ali. Will you not let Us?”
Alicia pulled back from the fingers, from the voice. Her head lolled side to side.
And the clicking started.
—
Alicia crept along the wall. Keeping her own noise down was far more difficult than she had expected. Her habit was both soaked and torn. Soiled with foul liquids. Most of the fabric around her wrists, ankles, and waist had worn away thanks to her struggles against the restraints.
She slipped out of her robe, only wearing the undergarments. Parts of what she slipped out of were blessed. Tossing them on the floor so carelessly was disrespect almost to the point of heresy.
Caring about such a thing was incredibly difficult. It wasn’t like the cloth wasn’t ruined anyway.
Alicia slipped out of the torture chamber into a massive room. A throne, far larger than the one Ylva had used during their sessions, sat suspended over a gigantic pit.
There were doors everywhere. The walkway was circular and there was a door right next to one another.
The exit could be behind any one of the doors. But if Alicia had built the place, she would have built the throne facing the main entrance.
Assuming the throne couldn’t rotate.
Still, it was a better option than checking every door and stumbling across other people.
Halfway around the ring, Alicia heard voices coming from one of the rooms. A meeting perhaps? She considered stopping by and listening. Shaking her head, Alicia continued on. She had wasted so much time already. It was too important that she get back to the Elysium Order as soon as possible.
She hefted open the heavy doors.
The sun beat down on her.
It had been so long, she just sat, staring.
Smiling.
Voices behind Alicia shook her from her reverie. She sprinted out into the prison compound.
The cold air bit through her damp clothes, giving her instant shivers. Was it still November? December? Could it even be January?
It didn’t matter except to show how much time she had wasted with her foolishness.
She sprinted on, looking for any kind of exit.
Alicia stopped in her tracks and almost broke down in giggles. It had been so long, yet it was so easy.
With a moment’s concentration, Alicia connected. The source flowed through her, warming her cold body. It had been so long. Such a foreign feeling.
With a second thought, Alicia teleported. The prison fell away to reveal a pure, radiant white.
Elysium Grand Cathedral formed up around her.
Priests, monks, nuns, and all manner of other clergy turned as one to her direction.
She collapsed to her knees as the startled gasps and shouts echoed around her. Alicia had to remind herself to keep her hands as still and nonthreatening as possible. The Elysium Order wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if they thought she might be a threat.
“Sister Heiden,” someone shouted. That someone ran up to her, wearing the gold trimmed inquisitorial robes.
Alicia was sure she knew the inquisitor. It was someone familiar. She couldn’t quite grasp the name.
It didn’t matter.
“Water,” Alicia choked out.
—
Once the Elysium Order was certain that she was Alicia Heiden, it didn’t take long for her to find herself wrapped in a warm blanket with a glass of cool water in hand.
She had been sequestered away in one of the cathedral’s side rooms, probably with guards just outside.
The door opened. In walked one of the most highly decorated members of the Elysium Order. He wore black robes with actual platinum weaved in. The light always caught it in strange ways, giving it a shine unlike anything else.