Heir to the Empire

28. Captivity - Loldirr

Her arms ached, her wrists chaffed. It had been some time since Loldirr had been thrown into her lightless cell. The rancid smell of vomit, faeces and urine had been almost too much for her senses to endure and it had taken all her might not to add to it.

She had initially used her hands to feel around the structure of the cell, painting a picture in her mind where everything was. That was until her hand landed in something squishy and repulsive. Loldirr dared not smell it to identify what it was, instead, immediately crawled over to the pile of hay she remembered laying in one of the corners and wiped her hand furiously in it.

So much time had passed since the door slammed behind her and the darkness enveloped her like an overbearing hateful relative. It could be night, it could be the day, it could be that any moment she would be dragged off to her execution.

Every attempt to sleep on the cold hard floor ended with thoughts of her death and how she didn't feel ready to have her life taken away from her so quickly. Yet every time the thoughts fogged her mind, they were quickly replaced with the people she killed and whether they felt the same during their last moments on earth.

It was cold too. Still, in only her nightgown, the floor felt like daggers piercing her skin as she laid on it. The heat from the pyre couldn't come quick enough as far as she was concerned.

To bring solitude, she hummed a song Mrs Billingslea used to sing to Willis when he was anxious. The walls absorbed the sound like a sponge but what little sound bounced back to Loldirr was something of comfort.

If there was an afterlife, she would meet Willis soon. They would embrace and tell tales of venison pie and blueberry tarts before being interrupted by a stern Edric complaining of Loldirr not completing her studies.

Loldirr was not ready to die, but part of her embraced it.

The loud jingle of keys rattled against the door. Perhaps now was the time for her to finally meet Willis once more? The door groaned open, bringing with it a blinding piercing light causing Loldirr to instantly cover her eyes. As her eyes struggled to adjust she turned her head towards a still darkened portion of the room. With her vision gradually returned, she looked around to see if her interpretation of the room was indeed as accurate as she had hoped.

Apart from the small bucket in the corner, near where her hand had landed. It was very accurate.

Loldirr raised her hands in anticipation for her guards to take her to her execution, the rattle of her shackles seemed to only encourage the person in the room with her to laugh.

The laugh was familiar, but not friendly. Its high pitch sequel sounded like a pig on helium, it was annoying, it was irritating, it was Kirken Merrithorpe.

"I'm surprised the Emperor is making it a public affair. But then I think him and Lady Nimue have a thing for burning redheads in public. I believe it reminds them of what they were, and what they are now." Kirken commented, his voice high pitched and stringy.

Loldirr winced at the voice. Apart from her humming and the shackles, she had heard nothing else for some time. Kirken's voice brought on an unwanted pain to her forehead.

"If my execution is now, be done with it. I'd rather deal with that than deal with you!" Loldirr responded.

He knelt down by the edge of the door, a couple of metres from where Loldirr sat exhaustedly. "There it is, the Aex-Igh frustration. I wasn't sure when I shared my concerns to the Emperor and Lady Nimue, but you certainly look and talk like your mother. Well, a much more common version of her obviously." he chuckled, pushing a strand of loose hair from his face.

Loldirr didn't respond. Unsure if this was some trick to confirm her guilt, she refused to make eye contact with him. Instead, her face filled with anger.