Chapter 19

She winced as they pulled the chains harder, dragged her through the dark hallways dripping and leaking and wet and damp. They hadn't yet gotten to the main landing of the castle and Una didn't know what to expect, she hoped it wasn't as beautiful as the rest of Somnium, but she knew that it didn't matter if it was, she hated the place, she hated the owner and almost everyone in it and if she got out - she would make her own vow to never return to the place even if it killed her. Her nightmares consisted of these hallways, though it all looked the exact same as the prison and she tried not to make it obvious that she was in pain.

She didn't think she ever would, but she wished she was back in her cell, it was a shocking thing for it to even wander in her head, but she did. She wanted to talk to River more, and tell him about her dad and maybe learn more about him and spend her dying days with her friends but she knew what was to come, she was going to die, and she would rather go down kicking and screaming than give herself over to someone so vile.

They pulled her upstairs and her legs ached as she bent them, stumbling over her feet when they yanked on the changes without caring if she was hurt. Their orders were to bring her alive, but that was it. There was nothing stopping them from keeping her on the brink of death, hurting her and wounding her and stabbing her and she didn't know if she should be thankful for the fact that they weren't.

She was looking for a way out. Her eyes were on the guard's weapons and if she acted quickly, she might have been able to escape, knock them unconscious and go get her friends and get out of there. It seemed so simple, but it was so terribly risky and as much as she would die for them, she didn't want them to die after her. Every step she took felt as though her body was caving in, she had been fed, she had water, but she was so exhausted, in so much pain that she didn't know if she could handle walking any further.

She had to though, they weren't going to hold back their punishments if she didn't cooperate and she knew that she'd need all her strength if she had any chance of getting away. Her hands were stained with River's blood, dried and dirty and the rest of her wasn't at all different, the putrid smell of the prison had clung to her as though she had become a part of it, and being in there for eight days, it felt like she had.

Though she didn't know if being out was a good thing, she didn't know if being chained and forced to follow was going to help her. If the guards came back and she opened the cell then River could escape, he couldn't have before because of his wound but he could have if they were bringing their poor excuse for a meal.

"Keep up, girl!" the guard barked, and she silently hurried her step. Her mind was racing with what she could do, thoughts that could free her, if she pulled on the chains hard enough the guards called fall, but they would take her with them and she knew she didn't want to end up with a wound like River had, she didn't want to end up weaker than she already was.

Her head spun in pain as they pulled her through the dark tunnels that twisted and cornered, and it reminded her of the maze she had dreams about. Instead of vines and hedges and dirt it was dark brick and high towering walls covered in muck and dirty water and she wanted out of it as fast as possible.

She heard a squeak and jumped in surprise at the sight of a rat scurrying past. She thought it was laughable for her to get scared of something so small when so much had happened to her, she was fearless and angry when fighting with guards, but the tiniest little rat made her jump in fear.

The tunnels felt endless and small corridors broke off into places she couldn't see that she was sure was more cells and prisons. She had been on the ground floor but there were more floors to go and she was already exhausted, trying her best to keep up instead of angering the men even more but it was harder than she thought, it wasn't just walking.

They were yanking the chains they had to pull her along, muttering to themselves something she couldn't hear though wished too, and she even tried to move closer, barely able to see her surroundings and almost tripped over her shoe when she hurried her pace.

Every step hurt her even more, pain seeping through her and clouding her vision and making her dizzy. She could feel every single thing, she wasn't numb anymore and she wondered if her friends were still in the dungeons, if they were still suffering or sleeping or managing to actually walk about after being decently fed.

"Keep up!" the other guard growled, yanking at her chains with so much strength that it was a miracle that she didn't fall to the ground. Her eyes had narrowed to slits and she was silent as she kept closer, her hands curled into fists in the chains and her temper growing as well as her annoyance, she hated the guards with every bone in her body, she hated Elphcoe, she hated Gus.

She didn't know it was possible for her to love being with him, to excitedly await him coming home and to kiss him and hold him to then suddenly clicking to nothing but pure unimaginable hatred.

But that was what she had done.

They reached a large door after what felt like hours later and they pushed it open from each side to reveal the brightest room she had seen in a long time. Her eyes stung, and her head ached at the brightness that she hadn't been used to in over a week, the dungeons that she was in, or the basement, or the prison was drastically different from where she was now, and she was shocked.

It wasn't anything she had pictured, and it was beautiful. The castle didn't look like a castle from where she was, and she wondered for just a second if she was actually in the castle until she had heard what Amelia said, her mother worked for Elphcoe, she was the head cook and stripped from her old life and Una could only hope that Amelia wasn't caught.

The castle was bright, with large high ceilings and detailed windows that lined them. She didn't know which part of the castle she was in, but it looked like it was fit for a wonderful king, not someone as cruel and malicious as Elphcoe. He didn't deserve a castle like this, in her mind, he deserved to rot in the dungeons left for dead.

She wondered how many people lived in the castle. There was the woman in dresses not designed for the modern world hurrying past them as though she was invisible, and men in suits with long coats and top hats and she wondered if she had travelled through time to an entirely different era. It was entirely odd, and she thought back to the dress that Amelia had on, it was a very wide dress, very large and hard to move in and she wondered if that was why they wore them.

Because they could hardly move in them and if Elphcoe wished to he could get them before they escaped. It was terribly sick to think that, and she wondered that maybe they just liked the fashion of older era's but that didn't stop it from being odd. The guards wore clothes fit for warriors, their gear didn't have an era it just showed that they weren't to be messed with, that they would hurt anyone they needed to, and she didn't need to look at their clothes to know that was right after having witnessed it first-hand. Her eyes trailed to the women walking past in the large room, it was a hallway, but it was very large and even just looking at where they were walking felt like it would take her forever.

They had been walking for so long and she could hardly cope with it, and she knew they were doing this for their own twisted entertainment. The guards could transport if they so wished to, but they didn't in order to hurt her, they made her moved and dragged her along and tired her out, so she would be even weaker than before, and she wished to spit at them, flip them off, yell so many curse words that she could possibly think of but she didn't.

She kept silent and walked behind them, thinking of every single step she was taking and making sure not to trip over herself. She wanted a bath, she wanted to rid herself of the dirt and the blood and the memories, she wished to rid herself of the thoughts of Gus, get as far away from the castle as possible and live her life as the teenager she was.

She lived an average life before, even in the city she wasn't important like her friends were and she enjoyed it, she enjoyed being invisible. She enjoyed only being known to her friends because it gave her the peace she liked to bask in, but this wasn't peace, this was torture and she had found herself caught up in something she could hardly think of without feeling sick.

But she wanted an explanation, she wanted to know why she was here, why she was being dragged along and tortured and why her life was important enough that the ruler of Somnium needed to go as far as to capture her. It seemed so idiotic to think that her worries before was sitting in a tea shop named "Tea for Two" and debating if she should ask Raymond if the tea she was drinking could have an extra half of sugar.

It seemed like that was decades ago, that just over two months ago she was alone and getting bullied and repeating the same day over and over again and just over a month ago she was dancing under the stars with the boy she was going to face out of pure anger and hatred.

She turned the corner the same time as the guards so that she wouldn't fall out of place, keeping up with them as best as she could and ignoring the multiple aches of her body. The guards walked in sync and silence with their heads held high now that they were out of the dungeons and she realised that she was a prisoner because she was a criminal.

In the eyes of the residents of the castle she was their criminal and by pretending she was invisible, they were shunning her. She wondered what sort of messed up lies Elphcoe had told about her and her friends or maybe he told the truth knowing that they wanted to rise against him and throw him off his thrown but regardless of that, they couldn't now that he had Gus.

Every thought of the boy sent fury into the pit of her stomach and she had to bite back her glare. She had tried with all of her might to never think of him, but he managed to push his way into her thoughts regardless of if she wanted him there or not and she definitely didn't.

When she reached another room, she could hear voices inside and regardless of her lack of jumper, she kept her head high and her eyes narrowed to slits and her hands in front of her pulled by the chains. The door opened, and she walked in and multiple guards stood surrounding two thrones.

Her eyes almost widened when she saw her friends chained to the wall and she noticed the evident lack of Flynn and wondered if they had thought of a plan. She locked eyes with River who slightly nudged his head to the left and she had to bite back her gasp at the sight of Amelia with her dress cut and the darker blood seeping through a cut in her stomach.

She was alive, but the guards gripped her so tightly and the blood was dripping down her.

"Our guest of honour has arrived!" a man she had never seen before but knew instantly beamed, clapping his hands and standing as they pulled her into the room, he wore a twisted smirk on his lips and a crown on his head that he didn't deserve, and she knew that he could read every thought in her head and not one of them said a pleasant thing about him, "I see you have dressed for the occasion."

At the sight of the blood on her hands and the lack of jumper on her body, Gus shifted, eyes narrowed to slits and as he looked at the guards and said, "I told you not to hurt her!"

"It's a little fucking late for that!" Una snaps at him, her eyes bore into his and he found it hard to stare at the pure hated she was giving him. She was seething with red-hot anger and fury and she pushed the guards away from her when they pushed her to her knees in front of the two on the thrones.

"When subjects don't cooperate, Angus, we must take precautions!" Elphcoe clicks his tongue, looking down at Una with disgust, though it wavered when he lifted his eyes to the rest of her friends, "you must all be wondering why we are here today, I must say we have been joined by a surprise guest how exciting!"

She wasn't listening to a word the man said, she didn't care for him, she didn't care about him or his son but that was who she was looking at. She was looking at Gus and he was trying not to look at her, he was forcing himself not to look at her whilst she tried with all her might to burn holes into his head.

She was furious, no - she was worse than that, she was indescribably angry at him, at both of them on those thrones and she wished most of all to kill them.

"Now, now, Una," Elphcoe says, and her eyes wavered to him for a second, "thoughts like those could get you killed."

"Then fucking do it!" she spat, lifting her chained hand to flip him off. She had passed fear a long time ago, into the reckless territory but she had also passed caring. She wouldn't go down without a fight and whether she said it out loud or in her mind, she wouldn't back down.

"How can I let you die when there is so much to talk about!" Elphcoe gasped, "actually...let me rephrase that. How can I let you die yet when there is so much to talk about?"

She looked away from him, to the ground she was kneeling on and the patterns swirling through it and she kept her gaze there instead of Gus, instead of Elphcoe, she wasn't going to look at them as he spoke because she didn't care about a word he said.

She growled under her breath when one of the guards lifted her head, fisting her hair and yanking her head back so that she would look at him and she ignored the pain as she glared at the man who was waiting to talk. Her friends behind her were silent and she tried not to think of Flynn, she pushed the boy out of her mind as best as she could so that Elphcoe wouldn't notice there was one missing.

"As I was saying," Elphcoe said, "Angus here...my wonderful son used you all!"

He patted Gus' shoulders who was staring ahead out of one of the many detailed windows that showed Somnium in the distance. Una's eyes trailed to him, and she looked at his face for the first time instead of glaring in pure hatred.

He looked exhausted, the crown on his head didn't show any power in Una's eyes, it showed someone broken and that was what Gus was to her. She hated him with every bone in her body, but she wanted to know why he did what he did.

"And you," her eyes snapped to Elphcoe when his voice raised, and her glare returned, "he used you most of all!"

She couldn't think of anything to say that would explain how much she wanted him to drop dead, so she spat, "got to hell."

"You're already here," he replied, looking down at her with the same old twisted smile that she did nothing but scowl at. She couldn't turn to her friends, she couldn't bear look at the sight of them and she wondered why they had been transported to the room and she hadn't been.

"You're...outfit is a little revealing, Una," Elphcoe said, eyeing her lack of jumper and trailing his eyes over his friends. She knew he had stopped on River and she growled out curse words at him, "very...sorry about your little wound."

"He nearly fucking died," Una spat, she uncurled her hands from the fists they were in when her nails started digging deeply into her skin.

"He looks perfectly fine to me!" Elphcoe said, "but I guess that is your doing, isn't it, Miss Gates?!"

His eyes were on Amelia and she winced at the harsh words he spoke, she was growing weaker and weaker and losing more and more blood and Una hated that what she did for them and ended her up here. She wondered how.

"If she didn't help us then none of us would be here for you to enjoy your sick games!" Una shouted. She yanked herself away from the guard who still had a tight grip on her hair, elbowing him away angrily and when the guard went to hurt her, Gus all but growled at them.

"Don't you fucking dare try and keep them away when you are the one who has hurt me the most," she spat at him, her eyes seemingly in a permanent glare every time she stared at him and he sunk back into his seat, and as she stared at him and he mustered up whatever courage he had to stare back, she whispered, "why?"

"We will get to that, later," Elphcoe but in, pushing Gus further into his seat and shifting to look right at Una, "let's talk about you."

"Lets. Not."

"Lovely Una, such a kind girl, isn't she?!" Elphcoe exclaimed, "such a lovely well-mannered girl, of course, we have witnessed such a kind girl! No temper, it seems, either."

"Fuck you."

His smile returned, the sick and twisted smile that she wished to wipe off of his lips. She watched him with fury as his eyes raked her body, taking in what she was wearing and what she wasn't, "you know, Una, you are very lovely. Very nice to look at, yes, I see why my son chose you."

Gus shifted with a scowl, as though his father was lying but saying such a thing would result in his head rolling away from his body.

What Una would do to see that very thing.

He wasn't a powerful son, he wasn't more powerful than his mother and father - he was a coward, a pathetic disgusting coward.

"A little birdy told me that what you and my son had...wasn't professional," he smiled again, every time he did Una got angrier and he knew that she knew he did, "Now tell me...Agnes."

He stopped for her reaction, to see if being called that name that she had left behind would make her more uncomfortable, would make her angrier but she didn't move, she just kept her eyes on him and her mouth in a thin line.

"Do you always give your body to boys you barely know...or was my son the exception?" he looked at his fingernails as he spoke, and she heard multiple sets of chains clanging on the floor, the angry words of her friends shouted at Elphcoe that sounded more like inaudible growling.

She turned to see the glares from them all, and River was trying to pull at his chains as the anger worse than before seeped through him. He was livid, and she could see it but she wasn't fazed, she didn't care what Elphcoe had to say about her, his words meant nothing to her.

"Maybe I'll have to see for myself what you are capable off," his lips turned into the smile again and he bared his teeth and Una couldn't help the swirling feeling of nausea that bubbled in her stomach at his words, at how he said them, how his eyes ran over her body and she felt as though she was on full display.

She didn't care for being exposed, she was glad she had kept River alive and that was all that mattered to her. There were much worse things to show than her body, and if she had to do it with anyone of her friends then she would.

She turned when the yanking of the chains stopped, and she realised that the guards were holding River back as he spat at Elphcoe, struggling against the guards and pulling and yanking on the chains. He wanted to kill him, he wanted to slaughter him for everything he did, everything he had done, but saying those things to Una had set him off, the way he looked at her as though she was prey and he was a hungry predator had sent the anger into his stomach and set him into a fury.

"Maybe Mr Flumen wants you too!" Elphcoe laughed, it was a bitter, evil, humourless laugh and he clapped his hands together and she knew that he was enjoying every second of this, that he didn't care for them or about Amelia who was getting weaker and weaker and weaker.

Una couldn't help but think that name, Flumen, it sounded so familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She hadn't ever known River's last name, he was always just River. Of course, that wasn't his real name and if he didn't want her to know it then she wouldn't but there was something about his last name, she had heard it before.

She turned to River who was still struggling, and she stared at him until he stared back, and she mouthed, calm down, it was the only thing she could think of to say and he did, he slumped away from the guards with the glare still in his eyes and those eyes still on Elphcoe who looked more than entertained.

"I thought this would be so much more fun," Elphcoe tutted, shaking his head as though he was greatly disappointed that their misery wasn't enough to keep him happy. He stood from his throne for just a moment, paced the part of the platform his throne was on and then sat back down as though it had given him an idea.

"Unchain her," he commanded his guards and they moved forward. She yanked her hand away from the guard when she didn't have the chains on anymore, but she didn't dare move, she knew what would happen if she did and she also knew that risking running would get her and her friends killed.

If she was to get out, then she had to be smart about it.

She watched Elphcoe as he stared at her and he then waved his hand, and she could faintly hear the shout of, "No!" coming from behind her and she knew it was Ferris.

It felt as though she was trapped in her mind and her body was moving against her and that's exactly what it was, regardless of it being called mind control she was still in there and she could feel every step she took, and she could feel everything and she knew what was happening, what was going on.

She walked up the steps to Elphcoe's throne silently, she couldn't speak unless she was forced to by him who had control over her and she couldn't do anything about it. She was helpless, she was weak against his powers and the thought made her so incredibly angry.

She had reached him, and he lifted his head to smile up at her. Gus was fuming as he sat on the throne beside them and Una slid onto the man's lap, trying with all of her might to pull herself from the spell she was under, but she couldn't, he had full control over her.

"Let her go!" Delilah screeched. It was the loudest Una had heard her speak in days and as the result of it, the guard smacked her across the head, allowing her to fall to the ground but she got back up again with a glare in their direction and yanked the chains with all of her strength.

It didn't work but it showed just how very strong she was.

She wanted to run, to move and get off of him as his hands ran all over her body, squeezing her skin and trailing his fingertips all over her and she felt disgusted. She was disgusted by him and his hands and how he made her move closer to him and react to his touch.

The moan that fell from her lips was fake, everything was fake and her friends new that and she knew that, but she was still horrified. She felt violated, she felt his touch as though it was leaving disgusting marks in her skin and she didn't care if she had to walk the castle for hours upon hours, she would have rather did that than sit on his man and have him control her.

His lips had trailed to her neck from lower down her body, and he hummed against her skin and he made her let another moan out, but she was able to wince that time, cringe away from him and his words and the disgusting things he was doing to her. He was a sick man, and he was vile, and she didn't understand how the boy on the seat next to them could possibly want anything to do with him, power or not, and the very thought of it just made her hate him more.

"I do need a new pet," he tuts, tilting her head to look at him, and soon shakes his head, "but I was just so looking forward to seeing you on your knees begging for me," he laughed a laugh so horrid that Una could feel the shiver creating terrified goose bumps, "I know what you're thinking Una, I know you want to beg for me.

But I'd rather you beg for your life instead."

She wanted to scowl, and she could hear the chains behind her rattling again and again. She felt as though she was blank, she couldn't do anything against him even if she wished to and that was her only wish, to be able to hurt him the way he was hurting her.

She had to watch as Elphcoe clicked his fingers, and soon a guard brought something over to him which he took. It was a knife.

She could feel her heart drop into her stomach and he had given her full control of her body back. She tried to run but he gripped hold of her so tightly that the yelp that left her lip was entirely her doing. She stayed there, trying to rid herself of his touch, wanting to get as far away as possible.

"Gus, do something!" it was Elysia and she looked at the boy with as much hatred as Una did and he just stared back blankly, allowing Elphcoe to admire the knife.

Ferris was trying to speak, and Flynn was shouting too, and River was screaming at him, but their voices fell silent when the bloodcurdling scream erupted from Una's mouth.

She wriggled and cringed and tried to pull away as the pain seeped through her arm, she could feel every single part of pain as the blade cut deep into the skin of her forearm. The tears had glazed her eyes and rolled down them as she sat there, trying to pull her arm away but he had a tight grip on her and he kept it in place regardless of her screaming, regardless of the screams of pain.

She was sick on the floor when the pain was too much to handle and she was sure she was going to pass out from it. The guard had clicked his finger and any signs of what she brought up had vanished.

It took Elphcoe a long time and she knew he was savouring every scream that left her mouth, but she couldn't help it, the pain was too much to bear that she wished to be dead in that moment and when he was finally done with the blade dripping in blood, finally done carving into her skin, he pushed her off of him and she fell down the stairs.

Her arm was dripping with blood that splattered the ground and she was panting with a somewhat relief that it was over but that didn't stop the aching, that didn't stop her thoughts becoming cloudy as the pain seeped through her.

River had leaned in, trying to see through the blood and with a growl in Elphcoe's direction, he spat, "you're a monster!"

She looked down at her arm as the guards chained her back up, and without caring that the stinging of the pain was too much for her, she wiped away the blood to see carved into her arm;

SLUT.