Page 39 of Thief of Roses
Did you forget?She sounded amused.
“Yt hath been some tyme.Tyme doth soften the memory.”
He ran the pad of his finger over one of his horns, over the monster’s horn, tracing the ridges of the bone.Even the reflection of his hands repulsed him, gnarled and massive.The snout, larger than ever, caused him to wince.He ran his claws through the curls again that had gone from hair to fur.
“Woldest that Y could do somethyng with thys.”
Perhaps a horn and hoof polish?She jibed.
He snorted.He covered the mirror again, thereby relieving himself of the dull but insistent ache which nestled itself under his left rib.
You are so unaffected by it now, you let me jest at your expense without protest?
“Thou mockest me for Thy handywerk.After centuries, Thou hast desensytized me to the payn.Thou hast made of me an anymal.”He shrugged.“And lyke an anymal, Y just am.”
.
XVI.
His body screamed,but the low throbbing aches commanded his attention.He bled from intimate places.His back accumulated a wealth of cuts and bruises.His eye swelled shut.His jaw would sport the telling signs of his nightly activities.This was the fourth consecutive night of Her visits, Her rage knowing no bounds in the aftermath of Rivani’s forgiveness.He had even offered to submit, hoping it would diminish the retribution She would take upon him.She wanted no such offer.She preferred a more violent demonstration of Her dissatisfaction with him.
“I beg Thee.”He pressed his side against the wall and cowered, protecting his face with his arms and letting his shoulder and back receive the blows.It took a few moments for the welts to begin to burn.The onslaught did not stop.The blood welled from the wounds.It was useless to plead, but he still did even after all the years.“Pray, no more.”
You need to remember Whom you serve, She told him, the lash having stopped with Her response.
His arms dropped with the cessation of the assault and he struggled to his knees, fighting to move against the hobbles that hindered his movements.He kept his head lowered, both in humility and in wariness lest She resume Her corrections.
“Thou art the Object of mine obedience.Yet, through Thy mandates, Y must serve others.”
The Shadow lifted his face and held his chin in a grasp that could easily have snapped his neck, despite the increased bulk gained from recent gifts.
What should I take from you next?She purred.Should I take away what remains of your voice?Or perhaps....She regarded him, dropped his chin, and ran Her hand over the chain tether that attached to the irons around his wrists.Perhaps I should give you new hands,She mused.What do you think?What would make you less human to her?
He studied his hands, palms up, and shuddered.They were already monstrous and unnatural, but the threat of losing them in some new transformatively debilitating way knotted his insides.
“Y beg Thee no,”he whispered.
