Chained By Fear: 2 by Jim Melvin

She screamed repeatedly, her back arching, but she finally lay still as if in a trance.
    “Return to your position, child,” Invictus said firmly.
    Bhacca opened her eyes slowly, then struggled to her hands and knees and crawled weakly back to Laylah’s feet.
    “You see? I can provide pleasure as well as pain,” Invictus said proudly. “The vast lore of the demons is at my command, but that lore pales in comparison to my true strength. I am Akanittha . Before you discard my advances, consider well the words I have spoken.”
    “You call that pleasure?” Laylah said. “As for your words, there is nothing to consider. You’re insane. Kill me, or set me free.”
    “You stubborn bitch ,” Invictus said, finally losing his patience. “Neither is an option.”
    A second explosion of light filled the doorway, and the floor wobbled. Laylah was temporarily blinded. When she was able to see clearly again, her brother was gone.
    Beneath her, Bhacca attempted to regain her composure, but she trembled.
    Laylah walked to the door and inspected the hallway. The other chambermaids remained on the rug, tears in their eyes.
    Laylah slammed the door shut. Then she went to Bhacca and knelt beside her. For a long time, both were silent.
    “I’m as frightened as you,” Laylah finally said. “Will you be my friend?”
    “I would be honored, my Queen,” Bhacca murmured, her face still flushed.
    “Good. Let’s start with my bath. Afterward, I’d like to walk in the gardens. Will you join me?”
    “Yes, my Queen.”
    “While we walk, I’ll tell you stories of my life. Will you do the same for me?”
    “There’s little to tell,” the young chambermaid said.

11
     
    As evening approached, Laylah and Bhacca strolled through the interior garden on a walkway of white marble squares. Ingrained in the marble were traceries of gold spun into the outlines of suns. The room was no more than fifty cubits long and thirty wide, but the ceiling was tall and the plants cleverly arranged, including several dozen species of flowers and shrubs. But all had one thing in common: either the bloom or the foliage was yellow.
    Laylah recognized some of the plants, some of which had grown in the Mahaggata valley she adored. She now stood next to one of Takoda’s favorites. He had called it a butterfly bush, and it was aptly named. Hundreds of butterflies and bees flocked to the honey-scented nectar in summer and fall. Takoda and she used to sit near the bushes at sunset and watch the delightful conglomeration of insects swarming around the yellow flowers.
    Laylah also recognized a shrub she remembered her parents calling golden bell, but in her memory it only bloomed in early spring. In this garden, it remained in full bloom in midsummer.
    Something else puzzled her. Most of the flowers and shrubs in the garden required a lot of sun. The room had many windows, but not enough to provide the kind of light these plants needed to thrive. They should not have grown well indoors; yet, they were perfectly healthy.
    As if in response to her bemusement, the gold traceries in the marble began to glow, and Laylah felt a surge of warmth rising up beneath her dress. Without warning, the room became as bright as the noon-day sun. Laylah and Bhacca were forced to squint.
    “It does this four or five times a day,” the chambermaid said. “If you visit here often enough, your skin will darken.”
    “It is great magic, is it not?” came a baritone voice from behind them. Laylah jerked around, expecting Invictus to confront her. Instead, she saw the soldier she had met at the banquet the previous night, although he had discarded his armor in favor of a gold doublet with a jeweled belt. His cape and hose were matching crimson. Like Invictus, he was clean shaven with shoulder-length blond hair and brown eyes. His jaw was square, his teeth flawless.
    “Pardon the interruption, my lady,” General Lucius said. “I wander the garden every day, yet this is just a