The Thorn in My Shed-Chapter 19: I Am...

Eilownia squinted against the bright sunlight as Marix led her outside. She had to keep them practically shut, positive the sun would burn her eyeballs to nothingness. For three days, he hadn’t come to question her.

A light blanket of snow had fallen in that time and already melted away. The weather was beginning to warm up now that winter’s breath was fading away.

The heat from the sun felt refreshing against her skin, a welcome change from the cool atmosphere of the underground, stone dungeon.

As they walked, the faint sounds of ’clinking’ grew louder and louder.

The scent of smoke, metallics and sweat assaulted her nose, causing her to wiggle it to prevent herself from sneezing.

She could hear a loud creak and suddenly the bright sun rays disappeared into darkness.

When she opened her eyes, she blinked a few times, trying to adjust. It was blurry at first, but then the scene became clear.

Multiple men stood around, their muscles rippling as they hammered away at weapons on anvils and checked the temperatures of the forges.

Sweat glistened on their bodies as they worked, a result of the hellish temperature from the flames.

Eilownia couldn’t help but fan herself with her hand.

While Marix seemed to have a solemn look on his face, despite being seemingly unaffected by the heat.

He led her to a chair that had already been prepared for her arrival and tied her wrists and ankles to it.

The cloth was soft and smooth against her skin but very sturdy.

"You don’t use rope anymore." She said, looking up at him.

He avoided eye contact with her.

"It’s too rough." His voice was barely audible over the sounds of everyone working around them.

Eilownia smiled as she looked down at her wrist, wiggling it against the restraint to feel the softness of the fabric.

Marix turned his back to her and put his hands on his hips as he stared into the flame.

"Will you not tell me your identity? Are you going to keep quiet forever? Haven’t you had enough yet? Or do you want this to be the rest of your life? Imprisoned here for eternity, everyday facing pain and fear."

She wiggled her lips a bit before pursing them.

"It’s not that I want to be imprisoned forever. I want to see the sun and feel the grass on my feet again, but I can’t tell you what you are asking me......I can’t." Her fingers curled around the arm of the chair and gripped it tight.

He lifted a long metal stick with the letters "VZ" on the end of it. It was burning bright red.

"Is that so..."

His eyes stared at the letters, his eyes half-lidded.

For a moment he stood there, just staring. Then, his knuckles turned white, his grip tightened around the end of the stick.

"I’ll ask you once more..." He turned to face her and held up the stick in front of him. In his other hand, he held an extra piece of cloth to use as a gag.

Eilownia’s eyes widened as she inhaled sharply.

"I-Is that....." She gulped hard, "A cattle b-brand?"

He just stared at her, not answering. There was a pain deep in his eyes.

Her mouth slowly fell open as she looked up at him.

For a few moments, they were in a stand still. Neither wanted to make the first move.

Finally, Marix sighed and moved to put the gag in her mouth, his hand trembling ever so slightly.

As he got closer, she yanked her head back, "WAAAAAIIIITTT!!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Marix’s eyes widened as the chair began to tilt back. Without a seconds hesitation, he dropped the brand and grabbed onto the front of her shirt and one of the arm rests.

He pulled her back down, the two were panting from adrenaline.

Marix couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye. He turned and grabbed the brand, placing it back into the fire to heat up again.

Sweat beaded down the side of her face, sweat that had nothing to do with the heat from the flames and all of the working bodies.

’A brand? A cattle brand? He intends to use it on ME?! As if I am...just a piece of livestock?’

Tears filled her eyes as her breathing picked up.

Marix’s eyebrow twitched downward as he stared into her glistening eyes.

’Is she...crying? She’s crying? Don’t cry. Don’t cry, Little Flower. You can’t cry. Not now.’

She started to quickly inhale as hyperventilation set in.

’If he uses that on me, that’s it. It’s permanent. It’ll never go away. I will forever have the symbol of livestock. I’ll be cemented as nothing more than that. Destined to be stuck behind a wall, never able to venture out, always having someone deciding my fate.’

Marix looked away and grabbed onto the branding iron again.

"W-Wait! Will you....will you let me stay here if I tell you who I am?"

He stared at her for a moment, the gears turning in his head practically visible on his expression. After a few moments of hesitation, he responded. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"You want to stay? Here? Where is here?"

She gasped a few times, trying to gather her breath.

"In the dungeon. Let me stay there....or wherever. I’ll do whatever you want, just please let me stay."

She wanted to stay in the dungeon? That awful place? Even after he’s been torturing her?

’Is she too afraid to return? Of course, a captured spy being returned will most likely be killed. I suppose living in a dungeon may be better...at least you would be alive.’

His eyebrows furrowed as he took a deep breath.

"I’ll allow it. Go on then, Little Flower, tell me who you are. Tell me your identity and I’ll allow you to stay in the dungeon, for eternity."

She sniveled as she eyed the branding iron, "And you won’t brand me either!"

Marix tossed the brand iron aside, "And I won’t brand you either."

"I am the illegitimate daughter of Lord Evans...from Sola." She hung her head.

"The illegitimate....daughter?"