Her memory was improving. When she awoke the next morning to see him standing at the end of her bed, she remembered all his talk about wedding days. She tried to run away. She hated this Stalker. She didn't want to be in any kind of marriage with him.
The room was full of invisible hands which stopped her and arrayed her in a red dress which was cut low at the front, though it did cover her breasts. It was slit in several places in the skirt however, so that her legs were displayed. As she struggled with the invisible hands feeling desperate and trapped, five creatures like humans, but with fangs, seated majestically on thrones, looked out from the mirror laughing. It was the stone beasts in bodies of flesh. She longed for the calm of past days.
Outside in the hallway stood Zorzar and five of the cruel-faced men in black she had seen whipping the slaves outside. She tried to run back into the room when she saw them, but Stalker caught her and pushed her along before him and the men formed into a guard on either side.
She had a very bad feeling, which turned to terror when she saw that they had come to the hall of pillars. She threw herself against the nearest man and tried to break through the cordon of them, but all that happened was that they caught her, several people stood hard on her bare feet and Zorzar twisted her arm painfully behind her back. She was not sure why she was so afraid, but she could see her fear gave them great pleasure and she promised herself that she would try not to show it any more.
They took her to a pair of thrones on a dais at the end of the room of pillars and seated her forcefully in one of them. A little way off through the pillars she could see the other dais, the one with the altar on it. She saw that it was empty and the sight made her feel obscurely comforted.
Escape was still in her mind, but the black-clad guards had arrayed themselves all around the dais and it would not be easy. So she bided her time. Stalker sat down beside her. Like her, he wore a red robe, though his covered more of his body. He took her hand. She snatched it away, giving him another chance for laughter.
He pinched her cheek.
"Why so cross? A woman should be happy on her wedding day."
He paused as if expecting the obvious retort, so she did not make it.
He went on, "You need not be so afraid. I will not hurt you today of all days."
He looked very sincere as he said this, but she could not bring herself to believe him. She tried to seem calm, though the fear sat like blackness in her mind and would not let itself be forgotten.
Behind them the arched windows let in a hard grey light. There was a statue crouched beside her throne - a huge statue of a giant toad. Its grotesquely long thin legs were almost level with its face and the long splayed fingers on its skinny arms rested on the ground before it. Its mouth was a huge full lipped grin. Its eyes glowed red. With a grinding sound its head turned and it leered at her. She looked away quickly.
"For your pleasure, my dear Queen, I have arranged some entertainment," said Stalker. "Bring them in," he shouted.
The stone beast gave a rumbling growl and the huge iron doors at the other end of the room swung open.
A large group of people scuttled in like a swarm of fugitive beetles.
"More of your subjects, my Queen," said Stalker with such a revolting look of satisfaction that she felt like hitting him.
The newcomers wore bright peasant costumes of red and blue, all embroidered with leaves and circles and flowers. That was all that was cheerful about them. They were walking skeletons; their skins grey and covered in sores, their hair shaved. She remembered the people laboring in that quarry the previous night. Where these the same ones? Had they been up all night only to be brought here? She felt certain something horrible was going to happen. She thought that the people did too.
Yet after they had scuttled nervously across the floor to stand before the dais, and after Stalker had nodded, one of them took out a little pipe. The others formed up into circles and as the piper began to play, they danced to his tune
The music was familiar to her, making heart-turning sadness well up in her heart. She suspected it reminded her of some great happiness in the past, but all she could remember was spicy scented sweetoil trees stretching tall towards a blue sky.
There was a thump. A faltering of the pipe music bought her back to herself and she saw that one of the dancers had fallen. She leapt up from her chair and ran over the floor to pick the poor woman up. None of the other dancers had stopped to do so. The looks of terrified effort on their faces made a horrible parody of their light and cheerful movements. A hand caught her just as she reached the fallen woman and jerked her back. At that moment, a man turned in the dance and tried to pick the woman up and a couple of the black clad guards stepped up to him and punched him in the belly so that he sprawled backwards.
The dance came to a confused stop. One of the men in black picked the fallen woman off the floor and, slinging her over his shoulder, took her away down the hall towards the altar.
"No," she screamed when she saw this, but hard hands dragged her back. The one who had hit the man, reached out to pick him up too, but he had already scrambled to his feet and skipped unsteadily out of his reach. He griped his partner and began to dance again. The pipe took up his movement in music and the dancers began to circle and turn again. She was dumped back in her throne. Stalker shot her an amused look.
This time she watched the horrible dance. As the dancers hopped and hobbled about like very badly made puppets, the guards leered with amusement and began to thrust feet and the ends of whips out to trip them. Several stumbled and eventually another one fell and was dragged away.
It was too much for her.
She turned and shouted at Stalker, "Stop it. Stop it. Let them rest. Can't you see how tired they are?"
"Doesn't this dance please you then, my Queen?"
"No, let them rest," she cried.
He clapped his hands. "Enough! The dancers do not please my lady. Take them away!"
The dancers screamed and a couple of them tried to run. Their faces showed abject terror as the men in black closed around them and began to herd them down the hall towards the altar.
In that moment she realized she'd done the worst possible thing.
"No. Don't hurt them," she cried "Let them rest."
"They're going to get plenty of rest soon," said Stalker.
The stone beast beside him sniggered.
"Please don't hurt them," she begged, taking his hand "I liked the dance. It was just they were so tired."
"You soft-hearted creature. How amusing it is going to be. I have something very sweet for your soft heart now." He clapped his hands and the iron door open.
A little boy of about seven came hesitantly in.
"Come child, come over here," said the Stalker. "Sing for the lovely lady. Yes that's right."
The boy halted before the dais. He was so thin and small that with his shaven head, he looked like a skull on legs. He had beautiful dark nervous eyes.
Her mind was still full of those unfortunate dancers, but she did her best to pretend to listen. Her hands trembled in her lap.
The boy opened his mouth and began to sing in a wavering voice. But his voice steadied and the fear in his eyes disappeared in his concentration on his song. His voice was as thin and pure as spun glass and he sang a song that would have charmed birds off the trees.
When each silver note of that song was finished, he sang another one even more beautiful. They were songs praising some being called Tansa. She listened and though the blackness of fear did not recede, her hands ceased trembling. She wanted to hold this little child to keep him safe with her
"You like this little child?" asked Stalker
"Yes," she said.
"You could have him as a little page."
"She'd like that," said the stone beast, its red eyes avid. It was grinning. Both of them were grinning.
"Come closer boy," said Stalker. "The Queen likes you and wants to make a pet of you." The child came forward. She took his tiny fragile hand and squeezed it tight. He smiled trustfully at her.
In that moment the stone beast's great splayed hand darted forward, seized the tiny boy, lifted him to his mouth and with a great snap opened his jaws and bit off the child's head. Blood sprayed out, splattering all over her and ...
****
I screamed and screamed and flung myself back over the chair. Terrible thoughts and images filled my head like an attack of carrion birds. Darmen Stalker and the stone demon were laughing with the cruel hearty laughter of tormenting boys. Blood still ran from the demon's lips. It was a joke to them. They had taken that child's life as a grotesque joke. A red killing hatred seized me.
I flung myself at Stalker screaming and flailing with fists and claws, a ripping tearing hurting machine. I bit him and got a few good blows in, before a stone hand gripped me round the waist and pulled me off.
"I'm going to kill you," I shouted, kicking at his laughing face as I dangled in the bloody hand of the demon. I was mad with rage and hatred and a big grin spread across his face.
"You are so amusing, my Queen."
The demon squeezed me hard against its body, and rubbed its stone toad's head against my cheek and shoulder, smearing me with gore. It purred.
"Let her go," ordered Stalker. Amusement had vanished from his face.
"Master" whined the toad, but its arms loosened and I leapt away from it quickly only to be seized by the guards. Stalker peered into my face.
"So you've come back to yourself. I'm impressed. How strong you are, Dion. You're just in time to enjoy your own tapping."
He ordered the guards to manacle my wrist to my throne.
"I must leave you to see to some things, my sweet Queen, but fear not I'll be back before you have a chance to miss me."
The stone toad had reached out a hand and was running it dreamily up and down my arm.
"And you can come with me, Smazor," said Stalker sternly "Unless you want to be punished by missing out."
The red light blinked out of the stone toad's eyes leaving it just a particularly grotesque and bloody statue. Stalker followed by his men walked away down the great hall till they were lost among the pillars.
They left one, thankfully not Zorzar, to guard me.