“Perfection,” Otaso rumbled, fingers under Aida’s chin drawing her to stand before him. Keeping her face up towards the warm glow of the many candles, his thin lips curved into something resembling a smile. Hand traveling a steady path down her neck and bare shoulder, his fingers wrapped around Aida’s upper arm. A sharp tug pulled her into his body, her waist and hand enfolded in his grip.
Aida stifled her gasp, hiding her grimace behind a tight smile as an electric charge shot down her spine. The intense crackle of Otaso’s magic arced between them, a static jolt multiplied by thousands until she tried to arch her back to ease the painful prickle from her spine. No use as the corset kept her straight, his arm at her back pulling her closer.
“Come, my little jewel. It is nearly time.” Otaso’s lips broadened into a vicious slash, the gleam of his teeth making more promises for this night.
“W-We’re to dine… down there,” Aida asked as he led her towards the outer door. The soft slippers she wore refused to find purchase on the smooth wood, gliding across the planks as it brought her forward as if by an inexorable force.
“We are.”
“Sir, I don’t mean to—”
“Do you like your new dress?”
Aida snapped her mouth shut, glancing down at the river of bloody hues dancing around her mincing steps as he guided her towards the staircase that ran a circular path from her tower to the main wing of the castle.
“It’s… very lovely, sir.”
“You dislike it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, sir,” Aida whispered, fumbling through the words as her tongue grew thick and unwieldy, the taint of acrid fear blooming beneath the heavy scent of roses. “It was… unexpected. I of course appreciate your endless generosity, but it is quite—”
“You would do well to remember how generous I have been, Aida,” Otaso said through a growl, the shuddering resonance echoing through the oppressive space.
“Yes, sir. I do.”
Falling into silence as they descended, Aida felt the walls closing in. Charcoal black stone soaked up the light dancing in the sconces, yet the space remained illuminated to a drowsy golden hue. Bright enough she could pick her way out beside him, it left far too many shadows. Each one reaching, grasping for her hem. By the time the first window appeared, signaling their journey not even half done, Aida was molding herself to Otaso’s side. Hiding away from the imagined terrors even as he took her towards a whole wealth of them. Cowering in his shadow to keep her safe as foreign scents and sounds drifted up the stairs towards them.
By the time the raucous din of male voices became a wordless roar, the clang and rattle of metal and wood shivering through her bones, Aida was near to tears. Arms wrapped tight around Otaso’s, he corrected every attempt she made to dissuade his course. Maintaining the long strides that kept her scurrying along, his arm firm at the small of her back, hand firm on her hip.
“S-Sir, please, I… I’m frightened,” Aida whimpered when the glow from the main hall extended its spindly fingers up the stairs. She would have tucked her face against his chest, begged him with sobbing entreaties if she didn’t think he would grow angry with her at mussing her hair and paint.
“Do you think so little of me, that I’d have my sweet doe dine among the crass filth of my army?”
His sudden stop left Aida lurching, his hand at her shoulder shoving her into the bitter stone wall driving the breath from her lungs on a caustic rush of panic. Jaw caught in a cruel grip, he jerked Aida’s face up, lengthening the line of her throat to leave it bare and vulnerable as he brought his face close.
“Answer me.”
“I don’t know!” The words came out on an airy sob. Her hands fluttered in anxious sweeps, reaching for him only to wheel away. Rushing on in a pained whisper, she hoped to appease. “Sir, you said only that I would dine with you. A testament to your power! I do not know what that means.”
Aida held what little breath she could drag in around the churning knot lodged in her throat, watching, waiting for him to explode in a rage. This close to his men, they would come running. Abyss take her, she didn’t want to know what would happen to her then. Surprise squeezed her chest all the tighter as Otaso’s jaw softened, one corner of his mouth tipping up as he came ever closer. Mellowing as his breath mingled with her shallow pants, he rubbed his nose along hers and made a sound she did not understand at all. She did not enjoy it, felt no easing in her panicked dismay, but at least he wasn’t yelling.
“No, you wouldn’t, would you, my sweet little jewel. So innocent and pure.”
Otaso gathered her closer, angling her body away from the wall. One hand cupping her hip, the other at her back, he lifted Aida to his chest to bury his nose against her neck. Dragged in a noisy breath and let it out in a growling thunder before the wet heat of his mouth closed over the patch of flesh where the line of her neck swept to her shoulder. A smacking, open-mouthed kiss laid there, his hand rustling the heavy layers of her skirts to grip high on her backside.
“S-Sir?” Joints locked in jagged ice, she remained stiff and frozen as Otaso pawed at her. His hands strayed no lower, skimming over the rounded edge of her curves before grabbing at some other part to keep her aloft. His sounds becoming darker, deeper, pressed against her chest
