Chapter 7 - The Queen Unchained
Solene grunted the eighth time as she felt another tug on her chains. Gardon had been doing this for the past four hours of their trek from the bunker down to a snowy hill. She was sure it was deliberate and not because of his difficulty managing the walk too. All of them were, but he specifically took his sweet time bullying her.
Twice or thrice did she end up falling face flat on the snow. No one laughed about her misfortune, save from Gardon himself, throwing a mischievous grin on her way.
In reply to this, she threw him multiple sharp glares and in the back of her mind; she was going to make this man pay once she gets her voice and spells back.
Gehenna’s weather and topography sure were unlike Earth. From a crimson desert earlier, they passed by an area with a bubbling lake and sulfuric steam. Then, they entered a tunnel of some sort minus th
Chapter 8 - The Queen Finds HopeThe longer her feet dug into the snow, the longer it numbed her skin. Solene already acquired blisters from her earlier trek with her captors. With her situation now, her blisters would easily worsen, and her legs would soon give out. She dreaded that from happening. Her increasing fever and dizziness were already a hindrance. She couldn’t afford to have more.Her aim was to cover a great distance from her captors as much as possible, but with this limitations, she couldn’t be sure to fulfill it anymore.Still though, Solene persisted. She shivered and her lips shuddered a great deal as she advanced into the snowy forest. Embracing herself and rubbing her hands together were the actions she could do to cut the cold even for just a little.So far, there were no monsters in sight—at least none within her line of vision. Under the soft
Chapter 9 – The Queen ListensNot to hurt her? Solene’s mind scrutinized the words.It was a big promise, especially from a stranger who lived in Gehenna. Solene couldn’t immediately believe it. She could never be sure it was this land’s way of messing up with her mind. Fooling her. Playing with her. Making her believe there was hope when, in reality, there was none.Maybe the woman was just acting? Maybe this was just a dream? But Solene figured this wasn’t judging from the very pain she was feeling inside her bones now, the continued fever she felt and the stinging pain of her superficial wounds.The woman, Hope, had an unusual name. It definitely didn’t fit with the place they were in, but she had no less been tremendously helpful with her poor, fragile situation. She had placed her inside this suitable bedroom. She had kept her warm. S
Author's Note: Trigger warning. Some of you might not be comfortable reading this kind of relationship so please skip it if you must. Thank you.Chapter 10 – The Queen MoansFor two more days, Solene slept and slept. Her body was just too weak, too aching for a rest that she couldn’t fight it off. She knew she wasn’t supposed to stay unproductive, unguarded like this, but the memory of the woman—Hope’s words filled her with comfort. Made her feel safe for the first time since she arrived in Gehenna.When she did briefly wake, she saw blurry pictures of Hope tending to her, giving her a sponge bath, putting ointment on her blisters, and even sometimes sleeping next to her, on the edge of the bed when she could have slept on the couch nearby where it had a larger, comfortable space to sleep in.In these peaceful times, Solene
Chapter 11 - The Queen Laid BareSolene was sure this was what Hope meant. A kiss. Lilith did it to her to take away her voice, and it was only reasonable to undergo the same in order to retrieve it.But Solene couldn’t deny it was a heavy request. One that weighed far heavier than a boulder, and this made her shoulders slump. Without thinking, she retracted her hands from Hope’s touch and rerouted her eyes on the floor. A deep blush painted her cheeks then, much to the latter’s chagrin.“I’m sorry!” Hope quickly exclaimed; her face a picture of deep concern. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. What was I thinking...fuck. We are both females, after all. I’ll put that in my head again and again.”Solene didn’t understand her words. It was as if her newfound friend didn’t know which gender orientation she was
Chapter 12 - The Queen’s Admirer‘Dreams…’ Solene muttered in her thoughts. Her dreams with him… Would it ever be possible to experience them again?And then, whatever caused it, the room they were in darkened. She couldn’t see Hope anymore or the steam that surrounded them, but she could feel every brush of mist on her skin, the heat around the room, and her sweat trickling down her forehead.“Solene…”Without warning, a man’s voice filled her ears. Warm fingers touched her nipples then. It pinched and rolled them in a sensuous way that Solene let out a sharp but quiet gasp.‘Ah!’She threw her hands forward expecting to feel a man’s body, but she found no one. Yet, the fingers were solid and daring against her pink tips.“I missed you
Lilith took Hope’s answer as a blow to her pride. Nobody had said that word to her, ever. She always got what she wanted and more. So much more. Obviously, this woman knew who she was since she called her by name—and with conviction at that, but despite this, the woman still held her ground, clearly protecting Solene.“You have a death wish, maybe? I will oblige you here and now, bitch,” she said, her nails retracting.A slow grin formed on Hope’s face as she heard the words. She felt Solene hold her elbow as if saying to back out, but that wasn’t in her vocabulary. There never was.“Go ahead, Lilith, and make your movements count,” she encouraged in confidence. She stepped forward twice, doing a fighting stance, and then held Lilith’s gaze—one that was soul deep, literally.Lilith in response gasped. She saw something in this woman’s fierce eyes that she couldn’t deny.
Evening came, yet Hope still didn’t return. Solene had deemed her to be a good friend, so she couldn’t help but be worried for her. Dinner came also, brought by a female hotel staff. She tried to ask about Hope’s whereabouts, but the staff only shook her head.Despite not having an appetite, Solene ate the served meal on the table. One thing she learned while in Gehenna, it was the scarcity of food. It was a luxury here and to be served one in a cozy room, in a warm bed, was a miracle already.Once done eating, Solene contemplated going down and search for Hope herself but opted out of it in the end. Zaraat and his lackeys might still look for her, and there was no telling Lilith would pinpoint her location. Plus, it was already nighttime. Hope said so herself there were still monsters roaming around even in a pardoned place like this.The waiting time was long and lonely. Solene tried to be as determined as she could, but drowsin
Chapter 15 – The Queen in DistressThere it was. Finally. The answer to Solene’s many questions.The color of Hope’s hair—a silken shade of obsidian—and her gray-green eyes that stare right through her soul; her height and the way she behaved...these were all telltale signs that Solene was in fact mingling with her supernatural husband.They were all real and not a dream anymore.But Solene couldn’t help but question too, was this just another mind-twisting attempt by Gehenna? Make her believe of hope when there was actually none?Make her think her husband—Henri, the Rantzen Lord who was in fact the King of the Underworld—came to save her? It would make sense if he did. He was the ruler of this wretched land, after all.But why disguise as a woman? Why would he let them stay here any longer than they have now when he could have just whisked her away easily the mo