~RUNE
My world stopped at that moment as I stared wide eyed at him.
My body instantly refused to move.
My intake of breath quickened as I stood there, staring up at his towering height.
The punishment.
It was real.
He didn’t forget.
“Don’t just stand there,” he ordered in a threatening voice, the predator in him rising awake.
“Move.”
My entire body started trembling with fear as I swallowed hard.
Then he turned and continued to lead the way.
So many thoughts ran through my mind within split seconds.
I could run.
He wasn’t looking.
I could take the chance.
Run so far away from here.
I looked around.
There were barely any guards.
So no one would stand in my way to freedom.
But I shut my eyes as tears escaped them.
I was smart enough to know that all those efforts would be futile.
I had practically watched this man become one with darkness as he cut down the maddened Orin who had tried to attack me.
I was nothing but an ant beneath him.
It was better not to anger him or he could squash me within seconds.
So I willed myself to move toward my impending doom.
I exhaled shakily as I followed quietly behind him, too terrified to make a sound and risk angering him.
Now I suddenly wished I was back at the dining hall.
At least there, he was less hostile than now.
He led me into another door which led back into the castle but a different part wing.
A part far away from where all of the maids and guards frequent.
It seemed befitting for a punishment arena.
No one would ever hear me scream.
“Stay close,” Uriel ordered.
I nodded automatically, even if he wasn’t looking at me.
He put his hand in his pocket and revealed a lighter which he used to light a burning torch.
He took it out of the wall and used it to lead me deeper into the darkness within.
The fear alone of what awaited me was enough to cripple me.
I was shaking with fear already and so close to wetting myself.
Eventually, we reached the last door at the end of the corridor.
He pushed it open and began to light the room with the torch in his hand.
The entire hall came alive and I was able to see what waited within.
There was a large pool in the center, the water, reflecting the light from all the burning torches. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
A single window rested on the highest part of the wall, closest to the pool.
I stood there in confusion.
What type of punishment was he going to give me?
I had expected to see pikes and thorns and crazy torturing devices.
This was nowhere near what I had in mind.
Uriel finally turned to face me and I subconsciously took a step back.
“Normally, I would punish you with whips or blades, enough to draw blood… But,” he paused when he reached me.
“I can’t have the entire court thinking I am abusing the very wife whom I dote on in public.”
Then he trailed his hand on my cheek before forcing me to look into his eyes.
“For every moment that I had to kiss you, touch you, show you kindness…” He paused again as he brought his face closer to mine.
“You will be punished.”
My heart sank.
And before I could recover, he yanked my Illusion necklace from my beck and pulled out the jades which had been holding my hair in place.
My black hair came falling freely down and I gasped in shock.
“I can’t have you looking like her when I punish you for your filthy sins!” He spat before gritting his teeth hard and pulling away.
Tears filled my eyes from the mere intimidating but I didn’t dare to break into sobs.
I just watched him shakily.
He went to the pool, dipped his hands into it and pulled out a set of chains.
“Come here.”
I obeyed and walked over to him immediately.
“As punishment for your sins, you will have to go into the freezing water and stay there for as long as I wish.”
My eyes went wide when it finally made sense.
I looked closely at the water and saw that it had ice stones in them.
Now that I was standing this close, I felt the cold temperature the water was emitting.
I looked back at him in shock.
If I stayed in the water for too long, I could die.
This was suicide and I naturally didn’t have a good affinity to cold!
“Put your hands forward.”
I swallowed hard.
I couldn’t protest.
I never had the right to from the start.
So I shakily gave him my hands and he cuffed them immediately.
Without warning, he pulled another chain and this forced me toward the water.
I gasped.
The more he pulled that end of the chain, the more it forced me to the freezing pool.
I wanted to resist but I was no match for the Mad Orin King.
The moment he pulled the chain again, I fell into the water.
It felt like a thousand needles pricking me all at once, cutting into me and numbing my body.
Uriel pulled again and I was forced deeper into the water until it was now all the way to my chest area.
My teeth started clattering within seconds.
I felt my muscles clamping down as tears filled my eyes.
I was freezing in agony while Uriel just stood outside the water, watching me with a burning crimson gaze.
My tears finally came free as memories of all the suffering I had to endure in the past few days came back to me.
I felt my body slowly going numb.
I could no longer move.
Soon enough, I stopped trembling and my vision began to blur.
I felt my heartbeat begin to slow.
Voices suddenly started whispering in my ears.
Voices I could not recognize.
Was this what happened when someone began to freeze to death?
The world started spinning.
The image of Uriel’s figure before me began to melt away.
The dancing fire in space started to dissipate.
The whispers grew too loud until sudden silence took over.
I blinked weakly, trying to understand what I was seeing.
There was a large tree before me.
With hanging dark veils for leaves.
I stared in confusion.
Was this real?
Or was I losing my mind?
I looked down and realised I was no longer in the water.
I could move freely now.
I brought a shaky hand to the tree and the moment I touched it, the tree scattered into dust.
I staggered back in shock until I lost my footing and fell back.
Yet instead of landing on the ground, I landed into water.
The darkest water I had ever seen.
I looked around in shock.
What was going on?
I looked down at my reflection.
Something about it seemed strange.
And as I brought my face closer, a hand suddenly reached out and pulled me into the water.
I barely got the chance to scream before I came face to face with me.
Except, her hair was floating like it was alive.
Her eyes were completely black just like the angry veins which scattered across her skin.
Almost like the mad Orin they had brought before me.
She grinned dangerously before bringing her finger to her lips as if to tell me to remain quiet.
“Whatever you do…” She said in a dark whisper.
“Do not wake me up.”