Chains of Moonlight: Chapter Three

“You are alive, they are not.” Veremund tilted his head. “If you obey, you just might stay that way.”

Could the valkyrie be reasoned with?

She just shifted her head, closing her eyes as she leaned against the cold ground. “You’re not going to kill me today.”

Veremund kept his expression impassive even as his blood started to boil at her so clearly dismissing him. She had no idea who he was, did she?

“What makes you so sure?”

One eye cracked open and her lips twitched up in a smirk. “Just a feeling.”

What an interesting creature. Were all valkyries like this, or just her?

She turned her head to face him again. “You wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of healing me just enough to keep me alive, but still in pain, if you didn’t have some sick purpose in mind for me.”

She was clever too.

“You have me there.” Veremund could already tell this was going to be fun. She might still be more trouble than she was worth, but Veremund couldn’t say he minded any more. “Tell me, what’s your name?”

“What use do you have for my name?”

“In my land, it’s polite to refer to people by their names.” He was growing weary of just calling her the valkyrie in his head. He spoke slowly, partially because he was translating what he wanted to say in his mind first and second because he was taking care to enunciate the rougher language as best he could when he was used to a smoother, lighter language. “I can’t do that until you give it.”

“I’m your prisoner.” Her filthy blonde hair was sticking to her face, moving along with her jaw as she asked, “What do you care about being polite to me?”

“It’s simply good manners.” Veremund paused and tilted his head before continuing, “I’m actually surprised your people have a word for that.”

Her teeth bared and she bristled, but her furious response was cut off by her own hiss as she jostled her injured wings and ducked her head.

If she wanted to last any longer than a few days, she was going to have to not let him get under her skin so quickly. She wouldn’t have a choice if she wanted to keep her princess’s secrets.

She wouldn’t be in the end, but Veremund liked a challenge.

She rolled her shoulder again. She said, “If you think so little of me and my people, why did you bother taking me?”

And that was why she was even bothering to talk to him when she hadn’t the other elves. She wanted to know what he wanted with her, just as much as he wanted to know why she’d been in the skies in the first place with her princess. But Veremund couldn’t make it so easy for her.

“We will come back to that, little valkyrie.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and stayed silent.

“Oh, you didn’t like that one, did you? What would you like instead?”

Still no response.

“Your people do have little pet names for each other, don’t you? Between family, friends, and lovers?”

She didn’t even twitch.

“Tell me then, what does your lover call you?”

She took a deep breath, and then leaned forward, the hair that wasn’t clinging to her, a bloody mess hanging in her face as she said, “You can call me the exact same thing he does. Nothing.”

And then she spat in his face.

Veremund closed his eyes, reaching up with his sleeve and wiping the disgusting display off as she sat back, a victorious little smirk threatening to come over her.

“That’s a pity. I’ll just have to stick to little valkyrie then. Although, it’s a futile endeavor. I know you’re Captain of the Guard for Princess Ragna. It won’t be hard to find out your name, and it’s not like keeping it from me does you any good or me any harm.”

Her jaw twitched as she ground her teeth together, and he bit back his smirk as he watched her realize he was right.

“Fine. At least call me by my proper title if you know who I am then. I am Captain Aesira.”

Aesira.

He didn’t even attempt to repeat it because he was certain he would butcher the pronunciation with his foreign tongue.

It certainly wasn’t a Moon Elf name. Did it have a special meaning? Any familial significance?

“If you insist then, Captain. Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way. I know you’re not dying, but you are certainly in a lot of pain, and I know you’ll answer my questions better if you’re not half distracted by your injuries.” His eyes skimmed over her, taking stock of the bruises and blood. “What hurts the worst?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not saying that because you believe it, but because you think you can win points with me and loosen my tongue if you feign compassion.”

He opened his mouth to deny the accusation, and lie through his teeth. But before she could, she scoffed. “Don’t bother. I’ll gladly take the pain, if it means our conversation leaves you unsatisfied. And at that, I think you’re done here.”

She was most certainly a bold thing. Although he supposed she would have to be to have earned the position she held.

“You think you’re in any position to dismiss me?”

But she just sat back trying to flex the muscles in her back again, but only wincing in pain because there was no relief to be had.

She would not even pretend to play along with him long enough to get some relief and to discover what he even wanted to know in the first place. Fine. If she wanted to play, he could entertain himself a little bit longer.

“Your poor lover back home. I don’t envy him, having to deal with this frigid silent treatment.”

Her jaw clenched, and she let out a long breath through her nostrils. His words weren’t quite enough to loosen her tongue, despite the clear fury they incited.

He mentally filed that away.

Whether this nerve was easily agitated was because she did have a lover back home, or because she was sore about the fact she didn’t remained to be seen.

If there was one, he wanted any information he could get about him.

Nothing made any mortal being break faster than their love. If she was attached, that could be the key he needed. But he wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t, not because she wasn’t beautiful, but because she didn’t seem foolish enough to give her heart to anyone. She seemed wise enough to know how easily it could be turned against someone in her position.

She did not look like the type for foolhardy romantic attachments.

So he was going to need another angle.

“Come on, little valkyrie, don’t be so stubborn. Are you really going to let your pride keep you in pain?”

Her head shifted in the tiniest, briefest nod before she stopped herself, pressing her lips together tightly.

“Fine, then won’t you at least have some fun with me while we travel?” Veremund looked down at his hand, examining his nails. “Make a bet with me, our spies will send us the answer soon enough, and if I win, you answer whatever I ask. If I win, I’ll answer whatever you ask. Tell me what are the odds right now of your princess already having replaced you?”

Aesira leaned her side against the rock, her jaw loosening, but not opening, and her eyes beginning to glaze over. The pain of her injuries was taking over the clarity she had.

He could almost read the thoughts spinning around in her mind, but she wasn’t giving voice to any of them.

She was committed to her silence then. A pity, given how fun he’d been finding the challenge.

He looked up to lock eyes with her. They were such a rich, warm brown, so very unique compared to the silvers, grays, and blues amidst his people. Fascinating. Were those flecks of gold?

But instead of letting himself linger, he asked, “How long until they put your name over an empty grave?”

She only closed her eyes.

Now the silence was getting under his skin.

He reached forward, taking her jaw in his hand, fingers splaying out over her neck and he tugging her head forward, forcing her eyes to open again and focus on him. He had seen correctly. There were little flecks of gold.

“Wager with me, little valkyrie, what will it be? A day? A week? A month? A year?” His voice darkened as he leaned into the guttural language. “How long before they finally give up on ever seeing you again?’

But she still didn’t stir fully.

She just looked at him, blinking slowly. He tightened his grip, and she leaned forward her eyes sparking briefly as she whispered, “You and I both know I’m not making it to a year.”

She was right about that. In one swift move, earning a sharp, vivid cry from her lips, he unchained her wrists. Then he pulled them in front of her, attaching the cuffs together once more to tether them together in front of her stomach now.

Her wings immediately moved, relaxing and spreading out across the stone. She glanced over her shoulder at them, a bitter wince on her face as the wounds reopened. When she turned back to face him again, his face was right in front of hers, leaving almost no space and his other hand came up her back. The valkyries’ immodest clothes especially exposed so much of their back, not just leaving room for the protruding wings, but swathes of skin too.

If she wasn’t a valkyrie or a prisoner, this would be the kind of scandal that could get him to the altar, but thankfully, she was no Moon Elf, and they were surrounded just by soldiers who all had done far more scandalous things, even just in the towns they’d passed by.

Not that Veremund ever lowered himself to witness it personally, but he always heard them whisper their stories before falling silent when they noticed him nearby. His reputation was a carefully crafted image meant to invoke fear first and respect second; he would not risk being gossiped about as a man who took advantage of a loose skirt.

He pressed his palm flat against the small of her back, right between and the gap right between her wings. A soft, stuttering gasp left her lips. The glow from the marks on his face illuminated her bruised and bloodied features as he summoned his magic and with the moonlight that ran through his veins.

His spell cut through her and the shimmering moonlight marked her back with the glowing binding lines.

She jerked against him, but his hand stayed firm and in place, palm burning against her hot skin. She let out a choking guttural noise as all the movement in her wings ceased and they sagged, completely paralyzed.

He pulled his hand away, brushing it across his knee, as if that would cleanse him from the indecency of touching a woman like that, even if she was just a valkyrie. She jerked back looking at her wings, as if she could will them to move with her eyes, and most likely trying to move them with her muscles and failing. The pure horror in her eyes as she turned to face him shifted into fury. “What have you done?”

He sat back, smirk overtaking him, even as his palm still tingled. “Isn’t that better? I win. We both win. I can be certain you won’t try flying off. You won’t be in quite as much pain as we travel.”

She opened her mouth, and he could almost hear the question on the tip of her tongue, but she pressed her lips together tightly and sat back once more, her feathers framing her on the ground.

She closed her eyes, her mouth screwing up tightly as she buried her head into her knees.

He shifted closer again. He grabbed her at the back of her head, pulling it so she faced him again. Her hair was ratty in his grip. Was it from all the fighting and traveling, or was it simply coarse and rough by nature?

His voice was low as he put a sharp point to every word. “The correct response is ‘Thank you.’”

She jerked her chin up as much as she could with his tight, almost bruising grip at the base of her skull. She whispered, “What do you want with me?”

It was a good question.

Why was he keeping her alive?

He moved her head to face up slightly as he licked his lips, tilting his head as he ensured she noticed the way his eyes skimmed over her, taking her in like she was nothing more than a prized stallion. His grip loosened, and he dragged his hand back, letting it brush over her cheek for the slightest of seconds. Then he reached down and ripped the badge off her armor. “What can I say? I’m quite fond of trophies.”

She jerked back at that all the color leaving her skin. She’d be foolish not to be afraid of what was going to come next, now that she’d proven she was not going to fold easily. Which meant Veremund could not play his hand so quickly.

“Who are you?”

He grinned as he stood back up, towering over her, his long, silver and black hair spilling over his shoulders. He tightened his grip on her badge.

“Did I not introduce myself already? It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain Aesira.” He placed his hand over his heart and gave her a short mocking bow. “Prince Veremund. The honor is truly all mine.”

Her mouth parted as she sank her fists into her clothes and the light of hope that had been sputtering like an ember in her eyes died.

He turned on his heel, gesturing for the guard to take back over as he left his little valkyrie in the dirt. A good captain like her would be highly aware of her enemy’s reputation.

Let her sweat in the threat as they traveled and it just might soften her up. Soon enough, she’d be begging for mercy and spilling all her princess’ secrets.

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Thanks for reading Chapter Three of Chains of Moonlight! Read Chapter Four here!

Find all the chapters here!