Don’t Teach an Eagle to Fly – 3. chapter
First time here? Start with Chapter 1.
They reached the castle shortly before dawn. Stone walls rose out of the fog, and in the dim light they looked like a fortress carved straight from the mountain itself. The main gate opened without a word. Guards stepped aside and the column passed into the courtyard. Kaelan dismounted before the cage wheels had even come to a full halt. Just beyond the gate, he issued rapid orders to his men.
“Wake the steward and the blacksmith at once. Prepare one of my chambers. A bed and water only. Everything else out. Have the soldiers secure the area. No one approaches that captive without my order. Not even with a glance. And reinforce the castle defenses!”
The guards moved. Servants began gathering in the corridors, some still in night tunics, but without a word. Orders were not questioned.
The cage was opened once the room stood empty and ready. Kaelan went there in person to make sure there was no weapon inside. Nothing sharp. Nothing breakable. Nothing at all she could use. And then he went to her.
Several guards stood around the cage. The captive sat with her back against the side bars. Casual. Relaxed. That calm was beginning to irritate him.
He held a rope in his hands, thicker than the one currently binding her wrists.
“Come here!” he ordered when the cage was opened.
She didn’t move at once. As if she were weighing whether she would obey him at all. But in the end, she did what he wanted. He took her hands, untied them, and immediately turned her sharply with her back to him.
“Hands behind your back!” came the second order. He could almost feel her gaze sweep over the guards around them before she obeyed.
He wrapped the rope tightly but not painfully. With practiced ease, he tied the knot and pulled it aside, out of her reach. She wouldn’t get to it on her own. The knot wasn’t meant for her. Only he knew where it began and how to loosen it.
Without another word, he took her by the shoulder and led her through a narrow stone corridor to the chamber. The guards followed them in silence. The door opened and he shoved her inside. He entered after her and only then sent the guards away.
Without a word, he took her by the shoulder again and led her toward the back wall. There was no resistance. She didn’t fight him, but she didn’t help either. The armor, the helmet, the stance. All of it strangely distanced him from the fact that she was a woman. He was simply leading a nameless soldier, an enemy he had the right to treat however he pleased. Perhaps that was why he shoved her a little harder than necessary. She staggered and fell to her knees. He remained standing. Only after a moment did he realize she wasn’t moving. She didn’t lift her head. She didn’t try to rise. He stepped back and understood. While she had feigned casual ease during the journey, while she had irritated him with her calm, she hadn’t slept. And now she had to be as exhausted as he was.
He bent down, moved to the chain, and checked the hook set into the wall. Then he took the chain and threaded it through her wrists bound with rope. No new knot. Just a simple fastening that allowed no escape. The chain gave her no chance, no matter how hard she tried. He straightened and watched her. She knelt, but her head was raised. He was acutely aware of her armor. The armor alone must have been unbearable. Heavy even for a strong man, let alone a woman. And she had worn it for an entire day and night. Without rest. Without relief. Without a chance to take it off. For some reason, a trace of humanity stirred in him. Not weakness. Just the cold realization that if he meant to keep her conscious and question her effectively, he couldn’t let her go rigid inside the iron. At least that was what he told himself. He decided to remove the weight.
“Stand up!” he ordered.
She didn’t move. She didn’t utter a word. She didn’t make a show of defiance. She only shifted slightly. Just enough for him to know she had heard him. But she didn’t rise. In that moment, anger flared. He stepped to her at once, seized her bound wrists behind her back, and with a single jerk hauled them upward. The armor creaked. Her body folded forward instantly, and the helmet struck the floor with a sharp clang.
“When I tell you to stand up, you do it!” he hissed through clenched teeth.
He bent closer, his voice low but sharp as a blade.
“I know you’re used to being obeyed. But here you are nothing. You are a prisoner of war. And I am the one who decides what happens to you.”
He released her slowly, but his gaze stayed on her. She didn’t move. She didn’t rise.
“I can keep you chained in darkness for days. I can make you stand until your knees give out. I can order that you not be allowed to sleep. Or I can bind you to the wall and simply watch how long you last.”
He leaned against the bedframe.
“And that’s before I begin to be cruel. If you don’t cooperate, I can turn you into nothing but a name in a chronicle. Or you can force me to find …more creative methods.”
He paused.
Her silence provoked him. Shadows lay in his eyes. Tension throbbed at his temples. He leaned back toward her ear and continued.
“All of that would apply if you were a man. But you are a woman. And that opens up a wide range of other possibilities.”
His voice dropped lower, slower, almost intimate.
“I can leave you to the soldiers for their amusement. Don’t worry. Only enough that they don’t kill you. I can keep you for myself, and that won’t be much easier. I can do anything I want with you. Your life belongs to me.”
He straightened and looked at her in silence. Then without warning, he grabbed her and with one powerful pull hauled her to her feet. He didn’t wait for her to recover. He turned her sharply and forced her toward the bed. He shoved her hard until her armored body collapsed into the blankets. The bed bowed under her weight. Metal scraped against wood. He moved quickly, without hesitation. He caught the end of the chain hanging from the wall and without a word fastened it to the metal hook at the head of the bed. He pressed her wrists against the wooden frame and bound them so she couldn’t rise. She could only turn onto her side or her back. But she couldn’t escape. Couldn’t defend herself. He stood over her, breathing hard. The armor gleamed on her back. Her shoulders were tense. She still didn’t give him a word. But he knew she felt every movement. Every pull of the chain. Every movement that robbed her of choice. He watched her for a moment longer. Without pity, though he was afraid it might surface. And so he turned and left.
