*It's got to be some plan of Tallan's,* she reasoned. *But what could-* Maeve's train of thought was driven off track as she took in what she saw ahead of her now. There, not twenty feet away, was a sort of bench with her son lying on it, crying out to be held. Letting her guard down, Maeve dropped her weapon and ran to her baby, having not noticed the sinister figure that hovered in the shadows of the corner of the room.
Maeve got about half-way to her child before suddenly chains that had been hanging limp against the wall sprang to life, wrapping around her and dragging Maeve's struggling figure backward toward the wall until she was trapped against it and barely able to move. That's when Tallan chose to step out of the shadows and view his handy-work, first-hand.
Maeve held in a cry that forced its way into her throat as she felt the burning heat of the stone wall against her flesh. The chains, too, felt as if they were scorching her, draining her power so that she didn't have the energy to put up a fight. As Maeve slumped to the floor, the chains, which had previously been anchored about midway up the wall, shifted their position until they were anchored in the ceiling. The chains tightened and shortened until Maeve was dangling helplessly a few inches above the floor.
Maeve looked at Tallan with contempt as he began to speak. "My lovely wife, I see you've come to visit your family!" he exclaimed sarcastically.
"~Sinbad~ and my ~son~ are my family. You are NOT!" Maeve yelled.
Tallan slapped Maeve hard across her face and then cruelly yanked a fistful of her fiery mane. "Never, EVER use the name of that dog of a man in my presence again!" Maeve spat at him, earning herself another slap in the face. "You are MY wife, mine forever, and now there's nothing you can do about it. You can't run away and you're powerless in these chains. My dearest Maeve, you are completely alone here, without a friend to help you. How sad!" he ended with sarcasm.
"I'll still fight you! I'll never give in! Never!"
"Dear, why don't we stop talking and get down to business?" Tallan wrapped one arm around her and caressed her cheek with the other free hand. Maeve jerked away from his clammy touch. "Oh, do we always have to do these things the hard way?" Tallan said as he waved a hand and Maeve's son appeared on the ground, crying at his uncomfortable situation.
"You wouldn't dare hurt him! You'd have no heir if you did!" Maeve proclaimed.
"Ah, but you would be surprised how much pain a human being can live through, even such a small, young one..." Maeve paled and began to lose her composure, realizing that Tallan really had her this time.
"Are you going to CRY, woman!?" Tallan mocked her. "What have I told you about crying? Never!"
Maeve looked at Tallan with as much anger as she could manage and said, "I'd NEVER give you the satisfaction of seeing me cry! I'd sooner burn out my own eyes!"
"Now there's a note-worthy idea..." Tallan drawled. His hands suddenly became like burning coals, and Maeve could feel the searing heat radiating off of them as he drew them closer and closer to her face. "This is for even looking at your precious Sinbad..."
Maeve cringed in expectance of the pain and closed her eyes, believing that there would not be a point to ever opening them again.
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Cloudy Skies - Part 16