“I am so glad that worked.” I let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you sure it worked?” Matt asked me, but his eyes were on Rhys. Rhys stared blankly at the floor, looking more out of it than he had last time. “Rhys? Are you okay?”
“What?” Rhys lifted his head. He blinked at us, as if he’d just noticed we were here. “What? Did something happen?”
“You’re standing up.” I pointed to his legs, and he looked down.
“Oh.” He lifted one of his legs, making sure it still worked, and didn’t say anything for a minute. Then he looked at up at me. “I’m sorry. Were we talking about something?”
“You couldn’t stand up. Remember?” I asked, but my stomach twisted up. I might really have broken Rhys.
“Oh. Yeah.” He shook his head. “Yeah, I remember. But I can stand now. Did you do that?”
“Wendy, I don’t like you playing with this,” Matt said quietly.
Matt faced Rhys, but he gave me a sidelong glance. Matt tried to keep his face hard, but his eyes betrayed the fear he had.
I had scared Matt, and not in the same way as when I’d run away. He had an actual fear of something I could do, and it made a painful knot in my chest.
“I’m done now.” I stepped away from Rhys.
My dark curls hung around my face, but I had a hair tie around my wrist, so I pulled them up into a loose bun.
“What?” Rhys asked, sounding alert.
He had fully come out of the trance I’d had him under, but I didn’t even really want to look at him. Matt made me feel ashamed about using persuasion, even if Rhys was aware of what I had done.
“Sit down,” Matt suggested.
“Why? I don’t wanna sit down.”
“Sit down anyway,” Matt said, more firmly this time. When Rhys didn’t respond, Matt repeated his command. “Rhys, sit down.”
“I don’t get why it’s so important to you that I sit down.” Rhys grew more agitated as Matt pressed him, and I’d never really heard him sound irritated with anyone. “I’m fine standing up.”
“You can’t sit down,” Matt sighed, looking over at me. “You broke him a different way, Wendy.”
“Wendy did this?” Rhys furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand. What did you do? You told me not to sit?”
“No, I told you to sit, and you couldn’t stand. Then I told you to stand, and you can’t sit,” I said. “Now I don’t know what to say! I don’t really wanna say anything anymore! I might make it so you stop breathing or something!”
“Can you do that?” Matt asked.
“I don’t know!” I threw my hands up. “I have no idea what I’m capable of!”
“I can’t sit down for a while,” Rhys shrugged. “Big deal. I don’t even wanna sit down.”
“That’s probably a side effect of the persuasion,” I told him as I paced our cell.
“Whatever, I don’t care if it is,” Rhys said. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not in a situation that really calls for sitting down, anyway. The important thing is that you know that you can do this. You can use this, we can get out of here, and somebody in Förening can fix me. Okay?”
I stopped pacing and looked uneasily at Matt and Rhys. Rhys was right. I needed to get us out of here. It wasn’t safe here, and Rhys’s inability to sit was a secondary concern. If anything, it just made me want to get us out of here quicker.
“Are you guys ready?”
“For what?” Matt asked.
“To run. I don’t know what’s on the other side of the door, or how long I can hold them off,” I said. “As soon as they open the door, you have to be ready to run as fast as you can, as far as you can.”
“Aren’t you just gonna Star Wars them?” Rhys asked, completely unfazed by the idea. “When Obi-Wan’s like, ‘These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.’”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how many guards there are, or how dangerous they might be.” My thoughts flashed back to Finn and how he hadn’t been at my house. I shivered involuntarily and shook my head. “Let’s just get out of here, okay?”
Matt didn’t look convinced, but I don’t think anything could’ve convinced him. This whole thing had turned into a giant horrible mess, all because I hadn’t wanted to stay in Förening and be a stupid Princess.
If I had, none of this would’ve happened. Matt and Rhys would be at their respective homes, safe and sound, and Finn would be… Well, I didn’t know where he’d be, but it had to be better than whatever really did happen to him.
With that thought burning in my mind, I pounded on the door, knocking as loudly as I could. My fist hurt from how hard I hit, but I didn’t care.
5. Hobgoblin
“What?” A deep, craggy voice asked, and a slot slid open in the middle of the door.
I bent over to peer through, and I saw the hobgoblin that had come in with Loki. His eyes were buried under bushy eyebrows, and I wasn’t sure if I had a good enough view to persuade him. Or even if it worked on actual trolls. They appeared to be an entirely different species from me.
“Ludlow, is it?” I asked, remembering the name Loki had shouted when sending for help.
“Don’t try to sweet talk me, Princess.” The hobgoblin coughed, retching up phlegm and spitting it on the ground. He wiped his face on the back of his sleeve before turning to me. “I’ve turned down far prettier girls than you before.”
“I need to go to the bathroom.” I dropped any pretense of being friendly. I had a feeling that honesty and cynicism would go farther with him.
“So go. You don’t have to ask me for permission,” Ludlow laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound.
“There’s no bathroom in here. I’m not gonna squat on the ground,” I said, genuinely disgusted by the idea.
“Then hold it.” Ludlow started to shut the slot, but I put my hand out. He pushed hard, but I stopped it easily. If it came down to it, I could totally overpower the hobgoblin.
“Can’t you get a guard or something to take me the bathroom?” I asked.
“I am the guard,” Ludlow snapped, sounding huffy.
“Oh really?” I smirked at him, realizing this might be far easier than I thought.
“Don’t underestimate me, Princess,” Ludlow growled. “I eat girls like you for breakfast.”
“So you’re a cannibal?” I wrinkled my nose.
“Ludlow, are you harassing the poor girl?” A voice came from out of sight of the slot. Ludlow moved to the side, and I saw Loki swaggering towards us.
“She’s harassing me,” Ludlow complained.
“Yes, talking to a beautiful Princess – what a rough lot you have in life,” Loki said dryly, and Matt snorted behind me.
Ludlow muttered something, but Loki held up his hand, silencing him. He was too close to the door for me to see his face. The slot was at Ludlow’s eye level, which was about at Loki’s waist.
“What seems to be the problem?” Loki asked.