It was nearly two in the morning when Illyan and the others returned. Esla sat on a stool right in the middle of The Great Hall when the huge wooden door swung open. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a defiant grin on her face, she chuckled as she dangled the large iron key ring from one finger.
“What have you done?” demanded Ayis.
“It is none of your concern,” Esla mocked her, using the same phrase Illyan had slung at Ayis several hours earlier.
“Why you wicked little…” Ayis began, starting to head toward Esla as though she would attack her.
Illyan grabbed Ayis by the arm and said sternly, “Leave us. Now.”
Ayis smirked at Esla, knowing Illyan would handle her insolence. She and the others headed toward their quarters, leaving Illyan and Esla alone in The Great Hall. When the last chamber door closed upstairs, Illyan turned his attention back toward Esla.
Although Esla was fearful, she still secretly hoped he would kill her. A life without his love now seemed far worse than an eternity in darkness. For the first time since she was turned, she did not fear death. She welcomed it.
He stared at her for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was only seconds. She showed no contrition or remorse. She showed only mocking disdain, and he was confused.
“Why?” he asked.
Esla said nothing. Instead, she crossed her arms defiantly in front of her and thrust her chin upward in a mocking motion.
“Answer me,” he said sternly.
Still, Esla remained silent.
“Esla…,” his voice practically begged.
She looked at him. For a moment, she felt penitent. The befuddled and worried look on his face concerned her. Just as quickly as the feeling of repentance came, it disappeared again. She was angry. She flashed a scowl at him and turned away again.
He sighed. He could not allow this type of defiance. It would be a sign of weakness, and he could not allow that during such a critical time. Still, he needed her now more than ever. She was the only one with the gift of foresight, and he needed that to fulfill The Prophecy.
Angrily, he grabbed her by the wrist and forced her to stand. Her eyes snapped as she glared at him, and she dared him with her eyes to kill her. In a moment of passion and rage, she lashed out at him, slapping him across the face with all the force she could muster. Her razor sharp fingernails slid through the soft skin of his cheek, drawing blood.
He turned back to look at her, searching in her eyes for a clue to her behavior. He couldn’t understand this human emotion, and he was frantically trying to figure out the motivation for such an action.
He twisted her arm and started to drag her down into the cellar. She did not struggle as he marched her through the cellar and down the hallway of the dungeon. Instead, she held her head high – clearly proud of what she’s done. He opened the cell in which Richard had spent the last few days and threw her to the ground, slamming the door.
“You’ll stay here until you’re ready to tell me what happened,” he said hastily.
Esla stood up and slammed her fists against the wooden door, glaring at him through the opening in the door.
“Why don’t you just kill me and be done with it!” she screamed, her voice echoing down the hallway and ringing in Illyan’s ears.
“I have no intention of doing any such thing,” he informed her.
“Please! Just kill me! Do it!” she shrieked in a pleading voice.
Illyan shook his head in amazement. He couldn’t understand her. He felt he would never understand her. Still shaking his head, he headed down the long hallway to leave the cellar.
“I said kill me, damn it! Kill me! Please!” her voice followed him down the corridor and up the stairs, and it did not stop until he slammed the door behind him.
Illyan climbed up the long stairway to his chamber and entered the room. He changed into his nightshirt and got into bed. It wasn’t quite time to sleep, but he was exhausted. Esla and her bizarre behavior had worn him out, and he fell asleep with a strange feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Meanwhile, Esla was curled up in a ball on the cold, hard floor of the cell. She wanted to cry and scream, but she would not give Illyan the satisfaction. She bit her lip to suppress the emotions, and wondered what he would do if she never gave in. Would he leave her down there starving? Would he finally give her the release she wanted by killing her?
For a brief moment, she wondered what he was doing. Perhaps he was in bed. She longed to be there with him. Then she shoved the thought out of her mind, annoyed with herself for even thinking such a wretched thought. Her stomach churned as emotion raged throughout her, but still she kept it inside.
She lied down in the musty straw, which was damp and reeking with the waste of prisoners that Ayis felt it was beneath her to clean up. She curled into a ball and shivered, trying to keep her mind clear of all thought. She simply couldn’t bear to think of him.
Many hours later, she heard the dungeon door creak open. Footsteps echoed down the hall, and her cell door opened. Illyan looked down at her – small and pitiful on the floor.
“Are you ready to tell me what happened?” he asked Esla.
She glared at him through narrowed eyes.
“Please don’t do this. Just tell me what happened,” he pleaded.
She scooted herself around to face the back wall of the cell, refusing to even look at him.
“Very well,” he said.
The door snapped shut and the footsteps grew quieter and quieter until the cellar door closed with a reverberating clang.
She was growing hungry. The last thing she’d eaten was the scrap of bread she had before she found Richard in the cell. Her stomach gnawed with a mixture of emptiness and anger.
Ayis met Illyan at the top of the stairs. She had a look of bemused satisfaction on her face.
“So you finally put her where she deserves to be, eh?” she said smugly.
“Not now, Ayis,” Illyan groaned.
“No, now is the perfect time,” Ayis argued. “I told you she would betray us to the humans. She let one of them go!”
“I said not now!” Illyan hissed, flashing her a look that dared her to continue.
“Fine,” Ayis snarled. “But you know it’s true. She’s still just as human as they are, and she always will be. She’s disgusting, and why you keep her around I will never know.”
Ayis tossed her hair and turned to leave, but Illyan grabbed her elbow and twirled her around to face him.
“I keep her around because we need her gift,” he growled, looking deep into Ayis’s eyes. “Not that I need to explain this to you yet again, but I’m growing tired of having to get into this with you over and over. We need her, and as long as she is useful, she will be here. So get used to it!”
He shoved her away, and she almost lost her balance. She started to scream at him, but the look on his face told her she was better off letting it go for now. She skulked away to get ready, as darkness was coming and feeding time was almost at hand.