Page 34 of Condemned By Pain
I grit my teeth.
How did something so simple become so impossible?Inflicting pain on her had always been easy to imagine; I’d thought of the ways long before I saw her.
And that’s the mistake I made.I saw her.
Her light—so bright it blinds me. But I can’t close my eyes, for that would return me to the dark nights I’ve weatheredfar too many of.
Chapter 10
Elowen
I guess yesterday I got a reprieve from my maid duties because of my hand,today I’m being called back to them. Bruno shifted into human again last night and changed my bandage. And he’s very good at it, maybe Bruno is a dog by day and a doctor by night. Everything is possible in this strange world. You never know.
Exactly—everything is possible. Like it could be your captor who’s your secret doctor.The thought echoes in my mind, nudging me a few steps closer to becoming a textbook case of Stockholm syndrome.
I have to stop thinking about this very thing, or it just might happen. My subconscious will take it as a signal that I’m looking forward to experiencing that whole Stockholm crap.
No thinking of pink elephants, Elowen.
I reach the kitchen, and the same woman who gave me that unpleasant experience the day before yesterday points toward the bread basket.
“Take this to the dining room. Try to make it to the table this time.”
I accept her taunt and the basket, then take my leave.
In the dining room, Antonio and the man with gray eyes—the one who definitely hasn’t been bandaging my hands for the past two nights—are seated. The tyrant presides at the head of the table, with Antonio in the chair to his left, facing the entryway.
I only glance at him for a fleeting second, then place the basket between them and look at Antonio with a smile.
“Good morning, Antonio.”
He nods, giving me a small smile. “Good morning, signorina.”
A maid appears behind me with a serving cart, forcing me to step aside.
I purse my lips.If they have someone to bring breakfast on a cart, why send the bread basket with me? Just to make me do pointless things.
From the corner of my eye, I watch the man who must have ordered them to make me do it. I’ll add this to my list of things I’ll make him do in our house after I get rescued from here.
After the maid leaves, Antonio gestures toward the chair within arm’s reach of where I stand.
“Come, signorina. Sit and have breakfast.”
I glance toward the tyrant and ask Antonio, “Are you sure?”
He nods.
My captor serves himself and begins eating, ignoring me completely.Did he sprout a conscience overnight?
I sit in the chair, leaving one empty to his right, and serve myself breakfast.
After eating in silence, I ask Antonio, “Where’s the washing area?”
“Why?” the always-cold voice answers my question with another question.
I cut my eyes to him. “I need to wash my clothes.”
Why else would anyone ask about a washing area?
