Miriam sensed someone’s mind outside the door. Initially she thought they were bringing her food and water again, but she heard the lock in the door being worked. The door opened and a bright light filled the room. For the first time since being thrown, naked, into the room, she could see what it was like.
It was windowless, about four yards wide by six yards long and had a high arched ceiling. In the far corner, she saw the drain; she had found it by crawling around the floor shortly after her arrival, and had used it as a garderobe, otherwise the room was featureless.
The light grey limestone from which the room was built reflected the light, and it took some time for Miriam to realise that it was coming from a single oil lamp held by woman dressed in leather armour.
Miriam also felt grateful for the presence of the woman’s thoughts. The room must have been deep below the main citadel and too far away for her to feel any of the inmates’ minds. Not only had they deprived her normal senses of stimulation, they had also deprived her supernatural senses. Without the background warmth of other people’s minds, she had never felt so alone.
She did not know how long she had been kept like this, but she felt the revulsion in the guard’s thoughts. She looked down at her naked body and she was horrified to see how filthy she was. The worst were her legs, which were streaked with dried excrement and blood.
She had completely lost track of time. The guards had fed her at irregular intervals. Sometimes she felt as if they had left her unfed for days, at others she was convinced that they had waited only minutes before shoving more food into the room. She estimated she had been here for several weeks, the dried blood confirming that she had been through one of her monthly bleeds.
They had kept her in complete darkness, her food shoved through a small hatch cut into the bottom of the door. She had no idea what she was eating. A gourd filled with water accompanied most meals after she had quickly learnt that by leaving it empty by the hatch it would be taken away and refilled.
This visit there was no food, only light; a precious commodity that she thought she would never see again. The guard was peering into the room as if she had difficulty seeing. Miriam realised that what seemed like a blinding light to her was just a pinprick compared to daylight. She instructed herself to bear this in mind and to cover her eyes should she ever be released from this prison.
The guard stood in the entrance for a while before calling her over. Miriam cautiously walked towards the woman, unsure what was to happen next. She saw that the woman was several years older than herself, maybe twenty-five or twenty-six years old. It startled Miriam to see the woman carrying a wooden stick sharpened to a vicious point.
‘Come with me,’ she demanded.
Miriam followed her out of the chamber and up a passage. Fortunately, Miriam was short enough not to have to duck, but her escort was not so lucky and edged slowly along the dim corridor. Miriam sensed the woman’s uncertainty at the gloom, and wondered what she feared. Soon she felt warmth inside, then realised that she must be getting closer to the main part of the building and she was sensing the minds of the citadel’s inhabitants.
The passage joined up with another, slightly larger one and the guard was able to walk upright. Miriam did not feel comfortable; something was missing.
The twisting and turning of the corridor made it hard to keep any sense of direction. Miriam thought she must have been deep underground as she had not passed any windows, then she remembered not seeing any in the external walls when she arrived.
The guard led her through a door into what appeared to be an antechamber. Miriam could see no other purpose for the room; a heavy barred door blocked the far end, about ten paces away. Two more guards stood inside the chamber. The first dominated the room with her presence and Miriam recognised her as the guard who had asked for her on her arrival. She was tall and muscular; she had her blonde hair cropped short and it lay in tight curls against her head. Miriam could almost feel the woman’s piercing grey eyes cutting through her. The woman walked towards her with a mannish swagger, her thumbs hooked into the belt of her leather armour.
‘Well, my little one, let us see if you have changed your mind about cooperating,’ the woman said. ‘My name is Galien and this is my kingdom. Help me to run this place and you will have a long, if man-less life,’ Galien smirked and looked at the guards for support.
They laughed back, but Miriam sensed this was to please Galien rather than with amusement. Then she realised what Galien was referring to. There were no men in the citadel. Maybe they were not allowed and that was why the guards who had brought her from Lahbland had remained outside. That must be why she felt something was missing; all the minds she could sense nearby were feminine.
‘Tell me what I am thinking,’ Galien demanded, ‘Let me see how good you are.’
Miriam felt Galien’s disgust at the sight of her still naked, filthy body, and she saw through the woman’s eyes how emaciated she had become. She remained silent and stared defiantly at Galien.
‘My friend Sela here, I wonder what she really thinks of me,’ Galien suggested, and looked at the tall blonde guard standing with her.
The girl had been caught off guard and her thoughts were uncontrolled. Miriam was confused at the images she saw, and the emotions she was feeling. Self-loathing was the predominant sentiment, Sela thought of herself as a whore, but there were no men in her thoughts. Miriam was untrained and all her life those around her had insisted she suppress her abilities. Her home country did not approve of people using any supernatural abilities. People with the gift either suppressed it or fled across the Thoresen Mountains. Miriam’s mother had promised to train her to smother her abilities, but the outbreak of war had separated them.
‘If you do not cooperate,’ Galien said, ‘how am I to know whether you truly have the gift. You are inside the corps’s quarters, I cannot send you into the Harem if it turns out that you have no magical abilities, I will have to send you straight to the Dragon.’
Miriam remained silent. She did not wish to cooperate with the Runedorians, but neither did she wish to be sacrificed to the Dragon.
‘I will explain to the Lord High Selector that you met with an accident. He knows that these accidents are often arranged by prisoners with a grudge, as is often the case against members of the corps. If the culprits are identified then they are sacrificed; there are a few I would like to get rid of anyway.’
Miriam felt a sensation of terror. It was not coming from anyone in the room. The sensation increased. The person must be nearby, but they were not close enough for Miriam to make out their thoughts.
‘Ah, that looks hopeful,’ Galien said.
Miriam realised that Galien must have seen a change in her expression. The terror grew so strong that it threatened to take control of Miriam’s mind. She forced herself not to scream. Then the terror was replaced by hope, but some fear still remained. Then the hope quickly faded, and the fear turned to terror again. Then she felt the worst pain she had ever known. It was in her right arm from just above the elbow downwards. This time she could not stop herself from screaming. She noticed that Sela had collapsed and that Galien was nursing her own right arm, but was still grinning at her. The other guard moaned and ran from the room.
‘Good, now we get to see what really happens,’ Galien said, before turning to Sela.
‘My arm,’ Sela moaned, as she tried to sit up, ‘it feels as though it has been crushed.’
Galien crouched beside her and lifted Sela’s right arm.
‘It looks unharmed,’ Galien said. ‘I can feel the pain too. The Dragon must have bitten it.’
‘Is she dead?’ Galien asked Miriam.
‘No,’ Miriam replied realising that Galien was referring to the person she was sensing.
‘What is happening to her now?’
‘I don’t know, she’s too far away. I can only feel her when her emotions are high. She has calmed down, I can barely sense her.’
‘I wonder how long it takes,’ Galien said.
Miriam felt the terror again, but this time it continued to build. It drowned the sensation of pain in her arm. She screamed, and screamed again. Then she saw it, a hideous apparition filling her field of view. The image was so strong that she lost sight of the chamber she was in. She felt hot moist breath upon her face, and then she lost control of her body. She spasmed uncontrollably, a bright light exploded in her head and then darkness.
***
Miriam opened her eyes to see Galien standing over her, a triumphant grin on her face. Miriam looked around and saw Sela lying motionless nearby.
‘We can not have you working here when the Dragon kills,’ Galien said, before moving towards Sela. ‘She is dead.’
‘What happened?’ Miriam asked, as she sat up.
‘You killed her.’
‘Me, how?’ Miriam stood up and gingerly approached Sela’s body. Galien looked back at her.
‘You not only experienced what happened out there,’ Galien said, nodding towards the heavy door, ‘but you sent out the experiences to us.’
‘But it didn’t kill you.’
‘No,’ Galien replied with a sinister smile. ‘She was weak, she had tried to hide her true nature, but I could see through her tricks easily. Many try to earn my favour, but none are honest with me.
'It was an interesting experience, though. At last, I have a glimpse of what happens to the women sacrificed to the Dragon. I wonder how far you reached; did many of the others feel what happened too? Would you like to return to your cell?’
‘No,’ Miriam replied.
‘Then will you join the corps?’
Miriam did not wish to, but the prospect of being on her own in the dark again terrified her.
‘What would I have to do?’
‘As you have seen I wanted to use your gift to find out what happens when the Dragon feeds, but it looks just a dangerous as being out there in the pit.' Galien pointed to the heavy oak door at the far end of the antechamber. 'So we cannot use you to help with the sacrifices, but maybe you could help with the new arrivals.’
‘Doing what?’
‘You could start by searching them. We can only carry out a physical search of them, but you can see what they are thinking. It would speed things up.’
‘What if I continue to refuse?’
‘You rot in your cell. I would hate to think of the effect your mind would have on us if you were to be killed. We would have to weaken you, maybe starve you to death.’
That made her mind up. She could not face being kept for the rest of her life like that, and she was going to be deprived of a quicker alternative.
‘I agree,’ she conceded.
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