eclipsed nova (UTM Feysand)

2

The next night I was extracted from my cell by obnoxiously two muscular fae who wore matching scowls. Their hands were so large that they enveloped my upper arms like cuffs as they drug me along, not bothering to slow down when I tripped over my own feet. I stumbled down the concrete hallways, desperately attempting to gain any traction under my feet, but they were so much taller than me and yanking me at such an unrelenting pace that it was nearly impossible.

My knees cracked in a way that nearly made me vomit as they suddenly pushed through a door frame and dropped me. A metal bucket slammed to the ground beside me, nearly squashing my toes. I bit back a growl, scrambling to put distance between me and the two henchmen. They looked at me like I was a pest they were forced to dispose of.

"Clean the lentils from the fireplace. If she finds a single one left, she's resolved to cut off a finger for each one she finds in the ashes," the bald one snarled, his pinkish flesh marred with scars. They slammed the door shut behind them, clicking a lock into place immediately. I looked around, desperate to find anything to protect myself. There was a large bed pressed into the corner, black sheets perfectly pressed and topped with an equally dark blanket. The walls were dark stone and barren. The room was cold like it had been at least a few hours since the fireplace had radiated any warmth.

Apparently, now I was a maid and not even one with a useful job. Why the hells were there even lentils in the fireplace? Whoever lived in this room lacked any form of sentimentality. Apart from the bare necessities, there was nothing. Deciding I'd like to keep my fingers, I begrudgingly grabbed the bucket and carried it to the empty hearth. Sure enough, hundreds of lentils lurked there among the ash.

Grumbling a few expletives under my breath, I set to work, pinching the tiny morsels and listening to them clink at the bottom of the bucket where I deposited them. Despite Amarantha's intentions of using this as a punishment, it gave me something to do. I had begun to anticipate I'd go mad down in that murky dungeon from lack of stimulation. It'd been days since the dark-haired fae Amarantha romanced had been down to my cell and had given me food.

Even at the thought of food, my stomach rumbled with hunger. I despised the parts of me that debated eating a few of the ash-covered lentils from the floor, just to ease the ache. Hunger was a rabid and vicious thing. It felt like it was bound to consume you from the inside like a festering disease if ignored. In my case, I had no choice.

I had cleared most of the tiny beans from the easily accessible portion of the fireplace and rose onto my knees to lean into the hearth to begin to extract the ones near the back. A desperate part of me looked up, hoping to find a skylight of sorts I could shimmy up and escape, but I knew better before I even tried. There was some kind of magic filter at the top, capturing the smoke and removing it from the small room and assisting with keeping up the oxygen count. Fucking fae had everything figured out, didn't they? Smug bastards.

"Do I want to know why you're rummaging through my fireplace?" The words startled me so badly that I jerked back, head smacking harshly into the unforgiving stone, sending a sharp stab of pain into my head. I closed my eyes, breathing through the momentarily blinding pain. I crawled back out, ash coating my forearms and likely my face, too.

At the door was the same dark-haired male, smirking like a cat. Of fucking course, the room she'd sent me to clean would have been her mate's. They'd get a good laugh at me later, wouldn't they?

"Gods forbid a girl have a hobby," I snarked, using the back of my hand to wipe the beads of sweat from my forehead. He snorted, the sound odd coming from him. I narrowed my eyes as I took in his appearance. Half of his shirt was untucked, a few more than an average amount of buttons undone. His hair was mussed like someone had been running their hands through it. But he looked like he'd been through hell. Something in his eyes was far away, and the smirk on his lips looked like a mask.