Daughters of the Deep: a Dark Depths Companion Novella by Lani Lenore

Author:Lani Lenore [Lenore, Lani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-17T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Perfect One

1

A decade passed.

The time slipped by her, the years like weeks, like days. Innominata spent her time in silence, in darkness, feeling weak from blood loss. And all the while, she watched.

She watched as the Mistress gathered reports, as different sorts of nymphs from across the sea brought her information. They spoke of sightings, of moon phases, of the voice of the sea. Innominata saw much from her spot at the Mistress’s throne, where she had become a fixture—a prized pet. She watched everything, even if it meant little to her.

All that she saw went directly to Bliss.

The two of them had not been together in quite a long time, separated in the lives that had been planned for them, but they were always connected. Over time, Bliss’s sight had returned, but it was a testament to the exhaustion of her power. Bliss was not all powerful, after all—not as Innominata had wanted to believe.

When the girl was feeling especially alone, she would try talking with Bliss inside her mind, but the dark one did not always respond. Innominata did not know whether she was listening, or if she simply couldn’t be bothered to answer. When she did, it was usually vague.

“Do you see what is happening?” Innominata would ask, seeking a hint of verification. “Is it helpful to you?”

“De time is growing closer now,” Bliss would say, but the golden one did not know how she knew, or what exactly she was waiting for.

The girl was resting by the throne as she thought through these things, the iron brace about her wrist rubbing her skin raw. The Mistress was in good spirits on this day, a little smile about her lips as she sat on the throne, simply enjoying her place there. A choir had come to sing for her, and she had been pleased. She had spent the day in leisure, drinking from the slaves beneath the throne among the company of the greatest warriors in the kingdom. Innominata herself had fresh marks on both sides of her neck. There was blood in her hair, and she was feeling quite sickly as she rested there. At least she was allowed a place on the platform. The others were forced to swim or else hang by their necks below.

Turning her face toward the throne, Innominata still felt fear to look upon the Mistress. Her imposing size, her cruel stare. She was truly terrible. She had inspired hatred in the rest, and there was no limit to the damage she could do. The girl wished that she was invisible to the ruler. She was not.

Though Innominata could be content enough in her own silence, thinking she might pass the day in the Mistress’s good humor, an interruption shattered that hope.

“Mistress, we caught this one trying to escape.”

The guards flung the escapee forward on the platform before the throne. With her arms bound, the imperfect slave was unable to balance herself in the water, and sank like a stone.

Innominata’s muscles seized immediately.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.