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Post by eragon on Aug 19, 2019 21:01:23 GMT
Eve watched the sunlight glinting across the cement floor with practiced eyes. The small grate in her cell allowed just a square through, and the bars along it cast shadows into the square of light. Each day, she sat in the corner of her cell, stared at the sunlight on the ground, and thought about her former life. The thoughts were passive, without feeling. She was simply Eve now. She had accepted this, but still, the memories of the woman she used to be lingered. She never voiced these thoughts aloud though; if she did, she would be punished. This was something she had learned over time.
She had been trapped in this place long enough to fall into a routine, and she knew to expect Destrian's arrival soon. He visited her everyday when the sunlight square had shifted two-thirds of the way to the cell door from the point it was at when she was given food each morning. The thought of his arrival elicited no feelings in her. It wasn't good or bad anymore; it simply was, like the rest of her life. She lifted her gaze toward the bars and the hallway that stretched away from them and waited.
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Post by Val on Aug 21, 2019 20:45:33 GMT
When it had come time to assign a guard to oversee Eve, Destrian had been the obvious choice for a number of reasons. First, he was a soldier who followed orders without question. He didn't know who this prisoner was, and he didn't care to find out. Secondly, he was no stranger to imprisonment, slavery, and torture. He'd endured such things throughout most of his life and was desensitized to the atrocities involved. Third and most conveniently, Destrian was truly a terrifying presence. With pale skin marked from head to toe with ancient markings, eyes as black as night, and a formidable panther that acted as his shadow, he appeared to be straight out of a nightmare.
Seemingly out of thin air, he appeared in Eve's line of sight, the bars casting dark shadows over him. He unlocked the cell, stepped inside, left the door wide open, and placed a simple wooden stool directly into the square of sunlight. There, he sat and didn't so much as look at her as Jinx, the panther, prowled in the dark hallway, her jet black pelt looking like somewhat of a mirage within the shadows, "Hello, Eve,"
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Post by eragon on Aug 26, 2019 20:51:31 GMT
Eve had grown used to Destrian's ability to materialize from the shadowed hallway without warning, so she was not alarmed by the sight of him. She watched as he opened the cell door and sat down, then turned her attention to Jinx. Sometimes, she thought about running through the open cell door toward the panther; she wondered if it would have enough control to yield Destrian's command not to kill her, or if it would provide her with her only possible escape from this prison. She didn't have the will to find out.
Destrian's rather intimidating appearance had never frightened Eve; Eve didn't really feel things, including fear. She could remember how he had frightened the before-Eve though. The before-Eve had felt a lot of things.
"Hello, Destrian," she answered, shifting her gaze back to him.
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Post by Val on Sept 5, 2019 21:51:57 GMT
Destrian watched the way her eyes followed Jinx and he locked onto her with a frigid stare until her gaze eventually shifted back to him, "Eyes on me. Always," he stated slowly and quietly. His tone was emotionless, but he'd conditioned her for some time now to perceive emotionless as threatening.
He shifted slightly to remove his sword from its sheath, followed by a small stone. He rested the weapon over his knee and began to slide the stone over the blade, creating an eerie grating sound that filled the small cell. He continued sharpening the blade over and over for an indeterminate amount of time before he spoke again, "Tell me who you are." It was a command he'd uttered many times before. Her answer, though, offered her a tiny, rare opportunity of free will.
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Post by eragon on Dec 31, 2019 0:26:24 GMT
"Yes, sorry Destrian," she said quietly, acknowledging his command. Destrian's words, his commands, were her religion; they were what she lived by now. He was her master.
She watched as he removed his sword and began sharpening it against the stone. This wasn't out of the ordinary. The grating sound filled her ears, and she recalled how uncomfortable it had made the before-Eve feel. How silly she had been.
"I'm Eve," she said simply. Any answer but this was met with punishment, she had learned. She had learned to accept being Eve with equanimity. Eve wasn't bad. Eve didn't get hurt.
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Post by Val on Jan 1, 2020 23:34:27 GMT
Destrian paused the sword sharpening as she answered and nodded once as a way of praising her. He slid the sword back into its sheath and reached into the pocket of his jacket, removing a shiny red apple. He tossed it in the air a few times and then dusted it off on his sleeve, "I brought you something, Eve," he told her quietly, "A treat,"
He paused and then took a large bite out of the fruit, chewing slowly, "But first, I need you to answer some very important questions for me," He pointed to the space on the floor directly in front of him, "Come. Sit," he ordered softly. This was different from his usual visit. But, for Destrian, things had changed since the wedding massacre. He'd grown suspicious and curious of the happenings of the kingdom. Ever since he'd met Ari, it seemed the fog around him had lifted. No longer was he a mindless soldier- he'd begun to care.
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Post by eragon on Jan 1, 2020 23:58:21 GMT
Eve knew the nod meant that she done well. She watched as he reached into his jacket and produced the apple, and for the first time, her expression seemed to hold a trace of interest. As a prisoner, her meals usually consisted of scraps from the kitchen or items that were near spoiling and would be thrown out otherwise. The apple was clearly in prime condition, crunchy and full of sweet juice. "A treat?" She echoed, watching him bite into it. If he planned to eat it, it couldn't be for her. Perhaps this was simply a new form of punishment.
Obediently, she rose and moved to sit on the space he had indicated. "What questions?" She asked, looking up at him. She noticed that this was out of the ordinary, but their routine had changed before as he came up with new ways to torture her.
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Post by Val on Jan 2, 2020 2:39:17 GMT
Destrian appeared to hesitate, considering his words very carefully. He knew that he probably had the most control over Eve out of everyone, but he had to be careful that she wouldn't speak to anyone else about their conversations if he were to start trying to dig for information, "First, I need you to promise me that anything we discuss stays between us. Eve and Destrian. Do you understand?" he asked calmly, slowly extending the apple to her as a reward for her cooperation.
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Post by eragon on Jan 2, 2020 2:51:17 GMT
Eve had almost exclusively interacted with Destrian during her time imprisoned. In making Destrian Eve's primary captor, the king had given the other man significant power over her, more power than Alister himself possessed over the woman. Destrian was the one who ruled Eve's life, who decided if she would be punished. As a result, she had learned to follow his instructions over anyone else's.
She looked between Destrian and the apple and nodded slowly. "I understand," she said, holding her hand out for the apple but not taking it from him. She would never be so bold as to do that.
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Post by Val on Jan 2, 2020 3:50:02 GMT
Feeling confident in their bond, Destrian gently dropped the apple into her palm and nodded, giving her permission to eat. He leaned forward slowly, studying the woman with endlessly dark eyes, "Has anyone ever come down here and spoken with you, Eve? Someone besides me? If they have, I want you to describe them to me and tell me what they said to you," he explained slowly and carefully, keeping his voice ever so quiet. He was convinced someone else would have taken up fascination with this strange prisoner. Perhaps Alister had said something strange to her. Or Roman...maybe Bram.
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Post by eragon on Jan 7, 2020 2:04:29 GMT
As the apple dropped into her hand, Eve looked at it with reverence for a moment. Then, she bit into the apple eagerly, savoring the sweetness as the juice ran onto her tongue. She couldn't recall an apple ever tasting so good. After that first bite, she paused to look at Destrian, considering his question. "Yes," she answered. "Guards, often. They're just bored, I think; they jeer at all of us for amusement." Us being prisoners, of course. "The king has visited me several times, but not recently. He liked to gloat when I was first here. He told me I was his now for the rest of my life and that I wouldn't remember who I was." His predictions hadn't become entirely true, she reflected. She did remember who she had been before, but she had no desire to be that person anymore, and she felt no regret at having lost that part of herself. "Another man too, but I don't really remember him."
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Post by Val on Jan 7, 2020 4:20:54 GMT
Destrian listened carefully, his expression remaining stone cold and unreadable. Her answers made sense, which gave him hope that she was not completely useless. She was still aware; traumatized, but aware. He wondered who the other man might be, but decided to focus first on Alister. The man who had put him in charge of this prisoner, no questions asked. Perhaps the king would regret his decision one day.
"And do you remember who you were? Before you were brought here? Before Eve?" he asked simply, staring down at her with endlessly dark eyes, willing her to remember. He feared that her conditioning wouldn't allow her to remember. But what was done, could be undone. He knew that first hand.
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Post by eragon on Jan 7, 2020 21:37:59 GMT
After speaking initially, Eve had returned to the apple, and she paused now, looking up at Destrian. She felt compelled to tell him the truth, but she knew that any mention of the before-Eve was met with punishment. After a few moments, her loyalty to him won out, and she said, "I remember... Some things." She made a vague gesture. "It's not a whole story. Fragments." It was enough to know who she had been by name and title, but not enough to really know her previous self: what she had been like as a person, the things that had driven her, and so on. If he did punish her for remembering, she deserved it, she thought. It was bad to think about the before-Eve.
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Post by Val on Jan 8, 2020 4:43:04 GMT
Destrian's fist involuntarily clenched as she relented and spoke of her past self. Even he felt compelled to punish her against his own will. Conditioning was a bitch. He took a rather unsteady deep breath and glanced behind him as though to make sure they were alone, breaking the emotionless facade that he always kept up around her. His panther still sat in the shadows, amber eyes glowing dimly in the darkness. Finally, he looked back at her and relaxed his fingers, "Good. Can you tell me your name? Where you came from?" he pressed quietly.
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Post by eragon on Jan 9, 2020 17:32:16 GMT
Eve watched his fist clench and shrank back, waiting for him to hit her for what she had just said. She didn't fear it like a normal person might, but her body still reacted in an attempt to avoid the anticipated pain. When the blow didn't come, she slowly lifted her gaze to him once more, regarding him warily as he pressed for more information. Again, she was conflicted. She wanted to obey him because he was her master, but every fiber of her being willed her not to for her own self preservation. "I-I'm not supposed to talk about her," she said hesitantly.
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