Come In Here, Beauty

Blaire's Pov

Having treated Indrik's back, I handed him a jar of water which he gulped greedily. I grimaced as I watched him. He had never been one to joke with his belly and now, he was restricted to eating only once in a day? Keeping this in mind, I had packed lots of energy food like legumes and whole grains.

I watched contentedly as he gulped them down. Soon, he was done and he grinned his thanks. A fuzzy feeling consumed me and suddenly, all of the stress was worth it.

"I'll just go attend to the others." I muttered half-heartedly. Even in the semi-darkness, I could see his eyes grow darker but I had to, for his sake. Picking up a sackbag, I headed out.

Reaching the first cell that was not his, I was hit in the face by a horrible stench. A mix of dried sweat, rotten food, and a whole lot of other things that I felt much more comfortable not thinking about.

"Hey!" He drawled and it took everything in me to not kneel over and puke all over his face. His breath stank like rotten eggs that had been mixed with festering mud. In the dim light of the torch, I could manage to see his face or what remained of it. He hadn't had a bath in what might have easily been forever and his beards had grown so long and twisted that I feared for the razor that tried to go through them. Being a wolf, I was able to see better in the darkness but I wished I couldn't because that meant I could see his black teeth that had chipped and cracked, leaving uneven pieces looking lifeless in his mouth. He got off his haunches, an unseemly sight of skin desperately holding onto bones and crawled toward me. "Beautiful." He whispered, inhaling deeply. "And fresh too."

The thought of being checked out by this smelly man irritated me to no end as I reached into my bag and pulled out a small bowl. I did not dare to open the door so I bent it slightly so it would fit in the crack between the iron bars. Luckily, the plate was not too big. I was about to withdraw my arm when I felt something huge and scaly close around it. It took me a moment to realize that it was his arm which was not any less scary than the first thought that crossed my mind of it belonging to a massive rodent that ate flesh. "Come in here, beauty. It's been so long since I've been with a woman."

I wrestled against his arm which was surprisingly strong for a bony man such as himself. "Let me go." I cried as I dropped to my bum on the floor, struggling with all I had against this dirty monster.

"Come on beautiful. It will be good. I promise." His voice was hoarse, like he hadn't spoken for ages and now his vocal pipes were only starting to become used to the exercise again.

"Let me go, you bastard." My voice rang even louder and for a moment, I wished I had listened to my friends and stayed away from this dastardly place.

"Blaire? Are you okay?" That was Indrik.

"Help!" I called without thinking. This man seemed to have the mind to smash me against these iron bars till I was crushed into jelly.

Indrik rushed out and quickly found me with the aid of the light that had fallen to the ground. He reached me in a flash and stomped on the hand as hard as he could. The man inside snarled as he withdrew his hand. I hurriedly crawled backward, as far away as I could get from that horrible monster. Indrik picked up the torch and walked toward me. I shivered and shook his hand away when he first touched me. "It is me!" He whispered softly. Looking into his sad eyes calmed me as I allowed him pull me into his arms. I remained there for a while crying my eyes out. "You should go!" He said when my shudders finally started to get better.

I couldn't have agreed more as forgetting everything else, I barged out of the cell ignoring the annoyed cries of the other prisoners. I almost ran past Ulo before he grabbed me and pulled me toward him. His worried eyes ran over my panicked ones.

"Are you okay? Did something happen in there?" He questioned, his right hand tightening around me while his left reached for his sword.

"Let's just leave!" My voice was cracked and I could see his nostrils flare as his eyes dilated. He could see that something was wrong but thankfully, he figured that I did not want to talk about it. Not here, at least.

"Fine!" He muttered softly as he guided me out of the dungeon. I was still shaken from my experience when we met Jamil. Ulo shook his head and he nodded grimly, understanding that something had happened. We didn't have any interruptions till we reached our quarters. I still couldn't speak as I opened my door and started to walk in.

"Will you be okay?" Ulo questioned, placing a warm hand on my shoulder as his eyes fell to my right arm which had taken the brush with the prisoner. Luckily, it had not been a very deep wound and had quickly healed but there were still bits of mud that I had a feeling was not just that as well as a horrid smell which my sensitive nose made even more prominent.

My eyes were blank as I stared back at him. Would I be? I gave him no response as I slipped in completely, shutting the door behind me.

I walked into the bathroom and prepared myself a bath, clothes and all, wanting nothing more than to wash that stench off my body but something told me it would not be that easy.