"Master of Light, Part 2" by Laura Beth Levinson

The clash of swords echoed through the marble hall. Auriana looked to see Airestorm and Merdock facing each other in combat. She tried to run to them but she found that she was frozen in place. Why was Aire using a sword? He always fought with magic. The large room she was in was also unfamiliar. Her eyes widened as Merdock knocked Aire’s sword from his hand. Why wasn’t he using his magic? Anya’s scream rang through the hall as Merdock raised his sword bringing it down on Aire’s head…

Auriana bolted straight up mid scream. She fell back down on to the bed. It was only a dream. Her face was wet with either sweat or tears, she wasn’t sure which. The night had been filled with strange dreams. That was probably why her head felt like it was going to burst. Nightmares were more like it. One stuck out in her mind clearer than they all did. Merdock had surprised her in the woods pretending to be Aire. She remembered his hand coming up and…Anya panicked and tried to move her arms. No! It can’t be true! They stayed stubbornly behind her, the rope not budging. Well, that explains the headache. She gave up. No use wasting my strength.

Sitting up, Anya looked around her. She sat on a comfortable goose down mattress that was lying on a large, dark oak four poster bed. The rest of the furnishings were no less grand. The oak dresser and wardrobe across the room were ornately carved, probably worth a fortune as was the soft rug that looked as if it had been imported from across the sea. Her reflection in the large mirror over the dresser showed her a large bruise on the side of her face. Auriana winced. That was going to take a long time to heal. Something shiny caught her eye. A small gold crown inlaid with rubies sat on a purple cushion on the dresser. She had to admit that it was beautiful.

"Do you like it?" Auriana jumped and looked over to see Merdock standing by the door. She didn’t hear him come in. The room started to spin and she collapsed back onto the pillow. Not waiting for an answer, Merdock came and sat on the bed beside her. He brushed a few strands of her hair from her face. "I had it made for you. When we are married you will have only the finest things of the land." His voice was quiet and gentle. Auriana supposed that he was trying to sound soothing, it wasn’t working.

"You actually think that I’m going to marry you? I’m afraid that you must be delusional." Her head hurt too much to give him a nasty look.

Merdock chuckled, "My dear, I’m not giving you a choice in the matter. This can go." He flipped her on her side so he could remove her engagement ring from Aire. He flung the silver, aquamarine, and emerald ring carelessly across the room. He replaced it with a gold and ruby one, which he produced from his pocket. "There. Gold is the only suitable metal for you Princess." Out of another pocket he brought out the largest diamond Anya had ever seen. She gasped despite herself. "And this is my engagement present to you." The diamond was perfectly shaped and was a little smaller than her fist. Merdock placed it on the dresser and then came back to her.

Auriana looked over at Aire’s discarded ring and then glared at Merdock. "Bastard. I hate you!"

Merdock’s expression darkened and his soft words became harsh. "I have tried to be kind. I thought that perhaps gentle words would soften you toward me." He traced her bruise with his finger. "You got this because you defied me. I plan to punish you for that. One thing you will learn, never, I repeat, NEVER defy me. It’s time to show you how cruel I can be."

Auriana yelped as he grabbed her hair and dragged her out of the bed. With her hands behind her back she couldn’t brace herself and she hit the carpet hard. "Get up." Merdock stood over her but she didn’t move. "I said, GET UP!" He kicked her in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. She was still gasping for breath when he picked her up and shoved her out the door in front of him. He prodded her down the cold stone hallway. Servants looked at them in fright and broke into a run as soon as they passed. Eventually they came to a large wooden door with a steel grate for a window. He unlocked it and pushed her down into the dungeon.

The torches on the wall gave off a meagre amount of light that was swallowed by the darkness of the dungeon. Auriana looked with disgust at the plethora of torture implements that lined the walls. After what seemed like forever Merdock finally stopped in front of one cell and went in.

Auriana gasped. A bruised and battered R’yin was chained to the wall. He didn’t look conscious. "R’yin?" she asked hesitantly taking a step closer to him.

R’yin lifted his head. His face, a large purple mass of bruises, sickened Auriana. "I’m sorry I failed you Anya, so sorry."

He finally called me Anya. It wrenched her heart to see him like that. "It’s all right, R’yin. There was nothing you could have done."

"Both of you shut up." Merdock untied her hands and pressed her against the wall opposite from R’yin. He lifted her arms up to either side of her and snapped manacles around her wrists. "Now, I would have let him die quickly and I would have spared you watching it, but you had to use your power on me and now both of you will pay. I promised punishment and this is it." Merdock’s hands sparked with dark energy and a purple bolt hit R’yin.

R’yin started shivering and his skin turned first purple then blue. "I’m so cold," he managed to chatter out. Then he started to scream.

Auriana thrashed at the chains trying to get to him. I have to help him! He can’t die because of me! The screams echoed in her ears and she desperately tried to block them out. Suddenly, they stopped. Auriana looked at R’yin horrified. He was frozen, literally frozen. Ice encased his entire body. His mouth was open in a scream that had been cut off. Merdock undid the chains holding R’yin up. R’yin’s body fell forward, the ice shattering into thousands of pieces.

As some of the ice hit her feet, tears streamed down Auriana’s face. Merdock walked over to her. "What a pity. I can’t wait to do the same to your precious Aire. I plan to devise a worse death for him though." His hand went under her chin and lifted her face. "Tears? Good. Tears are a sign that you’re breaking. I am going to break your will Highness, though I do enjoy your spirit. Right now I only own your body. I want your soul too." I will never cry in front of him again! Never!

Merdock unlocked one cuff and when he went to undo the other one Anya hit him as hard as she could across the face. "Monster!" she screamed. Anger flared back up in Merdock’s eyes and he hit her right back. Her head snapped to the side and the side of her face stung like she never thought it could. She struggled against him furiously. I can’t let him bind me again! Merdock was too strong for her. He managed to pin her up against the wall gripping her wrists in both his hands. She thought he was going to hit her again. Instead the anger left his eyes and was replaced with another emotion she had never seen before. He pressed her against the wall and kissed her hard. Anya’s eyes widened and she struggled in vain to get away. He retied her hands behind her and shoved her back up to the bedroom with an urgency she didn’t understand.

Once in the room Merdock threw her down on the bed and was on top of her immediately. Realisation dawned on her and Anya struggled harder. He kissed her even harder pressing her into the feather mattress. "Get off of me!" she screamed as he started to kiss her neck. No! He can’t! He moved back to her lips and jumped back with a yelp.

A small amount of blood oozed out of his lower lip where she had bit him. She braced herself for the blow that was sure to come. Instead, the fire in his eyes left and he looked down at her calmly. He kissed her forehead and left locking the door behind him. Auriana just laid there, finally letting her tears run down her face. I hate him! Oh, light, R’yin! I’m so sorry!

Anya didn’t get up until a few hours after the sky had darkened. Merdock had left a few oil lamps burning in the room giving her a small amount of light. She forced herself up and headed to the window. She had to be at least five hundred feet up. I could get down there if only my hands were free. She scouted the room as best she could but didn’t find anything that could cut the heavy rope. Merdock had done a good job of removing any means of escape. With a sigh she sat on the edge of the bed and scanned the room again. Something sharp. I need something that will cut these ropes. Her eyes fell on the diamond.

A smile formed on Auriana’s face. Merdock had looked over one thing. Diamonds were the hardest stone and would cut through anything. She stood back up and backed into the dresser. She fumbled her hands around until she felt the precious stone and was able to get it in her hands. She then started to work at the ropes with the bottom point of the diamond.

The moon glowed high in the sky when the final rope was severed. Auriana’s arms protested as she moved them in front of her. I’m free. Not safe yet though. She rubbed her wrists frowning at the bright red marks encircling them. Anya moved back to the window. Now, how to get down? A story her mother used to tell her when she was little came into her mind. It was about a man who fell in love with his enemy’s daughter. He secretly climbed the vine outside her window to visit her. There was no vine there now, but Anya could easily take care of that. She closed her eyes and felt the power of Light flow through her. Auriana waved her hand and vines sprung up from the ground below climbing up the wall to her window. When she thought the vines thick enough she stopped the flow of power. She took off the ring Merdock gave her and put Aire’s back on. Auriana then climbed down the vine.

Auriana silently hit the ground and pressed herself against the wall waiting for her eyes to adjust. She made her way along the castle walls until she heard the soft nickers of horses. The stables. This was what she was looking for. She kept to the shadows as she cautiously entered them. She was moving down the corridor in between the stalls when a hand clamped over her mouth and a knife leapt to her throat.