Chapter Thirty One: IN DUCIMUS, WE TRUST!

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It was bright. And sandy. I was parched and I needed to shampoo my hair; a nice lather and a cool rinse followed by a savory cup of Ogaz’s soup. Then I’ll dress up in my sexy red top and kiss Demon. He really shouldn’t breathe down my neck like that. It tickles.

“Stop it.” I pushed his face away. But the breathing didn’t stop. I smiled and opened my eyes.

I was lying on a sandy patch in broad daylight near a big cage confining something – an animal of sorts. It was huge and gray and had long muscular limbs; a horned head, scarlet nostrils, and naked except for hairy patches over shoulders and shins. The stench from its thick breath blew loose strands from my ponytail and scorched my cheeks and neck.

I reckoned it was a troll. It stared at me with its beady red eyes and growled, baring blood stained jagged teeth. I jumped back and collided with somebody behind me.

“Take it easy, Princess.” A frosty voice spoke in my ears. I turned around and came face to face with a bronze skinned, shirtless man wearing pearly pants and a blue crystal amulet. His thick silver hair stood up in spikes, complimenting his chiseled features and reminding me of thin icicles.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked. My head was thumping and it sounded like a thousand voices cheering in unison above me. I looked up and discovered that I was standing in an arena, surrounded by bleachers full of the Ducimus, screaming and chanting, as if awaiting the start of a good game.

Oh, God! I swallowed.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the man said with a frosty voice. “I am Nivis, the Ice Sorcerer, and this is Castle Ducimus. Queen Arela and the Enchantress would love to see you kill,” he pointed toward the cage holding the beast, “that!”

I noticed the cage was too small for the creature and it fit in there all balled up, crouching and roaring.

“Why?” Demon had never asked me to kill anything ever.

“Why?” Nivis laughed at me maniacally. “Because it’s fun!”

“Yeah? It doesn’t seem so to me!” I looked back at the monster.

Before I fully realized the looming danger, the cage latch broke and the troll came roaring out. I looked for Nivis but he had vanished and I was left alone to face my enemy. The monster was three times my size. He held a short hammer that he swung at me. I jumped sideways and the earth shattering impact of hammer to ground knocked me off my feet. I rolled back off my stomach just in time to escape another hit. The ground where the hammer had hit crumbled into a wide hole.

If you keep rolling on the ground like this it’ll be nothing but a big hole with a hammer-hitting troll in the middle. Brain talking.

Bang! Another hit. Another escape.

The monster stood up to his full height, lifted his hammer in the air and roared to the spectators. The crowd went wild with cheers. Just then, I swung my leg and kicked his feet from under him. He didn’t fall, but took a few awkward steps backward to steady himself. I grounded my hands in the sand and flipped, slamming a kick into the troll’s chest.

The impact was forceful. He dropped his hammer as he fell flat on his back. His fall sent tremors through the dry earth and I nearly lost my own balance as well. I suppose the troll saw this because he punched the ground before he got up. Then, he ran towards me, stomping on the earth until the tremors made me fall.

He stopped running and jumped into the air. I scrambled out of the way just before he landed at the same spot where I’d fallen. I could almost see my crushed body. I needed to think quickly and win! The beast roared to protest his failed attempt and reached out a giant hand to grab me. I dashed out of reach again but fell as he smashed another fist on the ground.

He grabbed me by my feet and dangled me in the air near his face. He stared at me with dark, evil eyes, breathed his foul breath in my face, and tossed me up in the air. I’d never screamed so crazily in my life as I fell back into his enormous hands inches away from the ground. He held me in his nasty grasp and this time he began to squeeze me.

I was trapped. I had no weapon and my arms were pinned. I didn’t know what to do so I bit him. Purple blood oozed out of his finger as I ripped off a piece of it.

The monster squealed and dropped me like a hot brick. I fell back to the earth and spat! Before I could react, the troll was attacking me again.

Fists, feet, and howls. He tried to grab me again but I kicked him in the shin. He buckled and I climbed over his back and punched him in the head, then face. His nose started to bleed and he shook me off of him. I fell back to the ground and prayed for more strength.

The crowd around us continued cheering maniacally. The beast was injured and not as agile as he was at the beginning of the fight. He had begun to sway a little as if he was dizzy. He paused for a second and then brought his palm crashing down on me.

His aim failed him and his palm landed inches away from me.

I mustered up enough strength to kick his wrist. A crackling sound indicated some breakage and his screams confirmed I had fractured his wrist. Yay me! I rolled away and got up to regain focus while he danced around in pain. Just as I took a few random steps backward, my feet touched something hard and I tripped.

His hammer lay next to my head.

I picked up the weapon, lunged forward and smashed his foot with it. The monster howled and buckled. I wasted no more time and bashed his bowed head, then his back as he fell to the ground with his face in the sand. Purple liquid oozed from his broken body, staining the parched earth beneath him. The crowd froze into silence as my enemy slipped into the stillness of death.

The momentary silence was once again broken by loud cheers from the roaring Ducimas as the poor troll spat out the last bits of life.

I threw up.

There wasn’t much in my stomach to puke up and the mere act of heaving was unpleasant. But as I kneeled there on that unfriendly soil under the burning sun, I realized how stupid I had been to come here. I wished I was back at Sikri with Ogaz and Azure – and Demon.

Would he not come for me?

“Well done Princess,” I heard Nivis from behind me. “That was very impressive.”

I glared at him but did not stand up. “I hope you know I’m not a gladiator and the next time you ask me to kill anything or anyone, I will start with you.”

“Oh, I absolutely apologize for the non-royal treatment but one has to make sure of the authenticity of things in question, Milady.” He smirked.

“I’m not a thing and not fond of being in question either.” I got up. “What was the meaning of all this? And where are Aoibheann and Arela who wished to see me fight?

And shut that crowd up!”

“But of course,” he said obediently and held up both his hands to the cheering crowd. A silence fell over all the screaming Ducimas. “Game over. You are now dismissed.” The women began to leave quietly and within seconds the entire arena was empty except for the two of us. “Come now my dear. It is time you enjoyed your stay with us. I’ll show you to your room.”

“Where is Aoibheann?” I didn’t move an inch to follow him.

“Patience, Milady.” He smiled. “All good things come to those who wait.”

I followed Nivis into the castle, through countless corridors and stairways before he reached a big room decorated in black.

The entire castle was a depressing palette of grays. The only description I can give for the décor is gloomy stone-cold and deathly haunting. Eerie torches burned in bleak corners to give what little light the place had. It was hard to believe that a perfectly golden sun glared outdoors when the indoors were so dull. There were no colors, flowers, or art. No artistic arches or aesthetically appealing wallpapers. The hallways were stuffy and dim; the stairways narrow and uncomfortable; the walls mossy and the windows dirty.

By all counts, Castle Ducimus was one of those houses where day and night and seasons never happened. So yes, it was well suited for those unsightly Ducimas.

The room that Nivis had brought me in was, in comparison to the castle, fairly refreshing. Mostly because it wasn’t as dull, courtesy of the color black. Black – reminded me of Demon. Oh God! I closed my eyes and sighed. Could I not forget him for one second?

“You must be tired.” Nivis mistook my sigh and frown for fatigue.

I looked around but didn't reply to him. It was a big room – not huge but nice sized – all black like I’ve said before. Black drapes; black bed, tables and chairs and fireplace; a black candelabra holding unlit black candles (wonder how much light that would give); a gray stone floor and walls; no artwork; no flowers or vases or decorative items, but a nice airy balcony on one side with a full sun smiling on it made it all somewhat cheerful.

Nivis showed me the bathroom where a hot tub was waiting for me. Oddly enough the bathroom was a very soothing shade of gray. Very clean too – thank God for that or I would’ve slept in my filthy shorts and gooey hair!

“I hope everything is to your taste, Princess.” Nivis bowed. “You must rest a little before meeting with the Queens.” Then he bowed slightly and left.

It was only after he was well out of the room that I remembered he hadn’t given me any towels or clothes nor told me where to look for them. Well, I was already in the bathroom so how hard should it be to find a towel there? I mean how many people could you have in the universe who kept their guestrooms as brilliantly neglected as Demon did?

I quickly scanned the bathroom for a linen closet or something and found a small dressing room to the side. A fortunate find for it had a closet and a mirror and a dressing table with combs and everything. Hmm, so the Ducimas were very hospitable, actually.

I grabbed a bath gown, white this one, from a shelf and headed for the tub. The warm water and its deliciously fruit scented bubbles seemed to sing to me as I immersed my exhausted body in. The creamy, soapy salts washed all my fatigue down the drain as I lay there with my eyes shut and mind blank. I washed my hair. I enjoyed the return of silkiness to my skin and hair and spirit. I felt rested.

Too bad the dressing up session ruined all that calm. Minutes later I stood gawking at the awful wardrobe in that small dressing room. What in hell did these women do for a living? And what in hell did they think I did? All I could see in the sorry wardrobe was one small black tutu style miniskirt, laced with fur on the hem and a long sleeved black top.

“I can’t wear this!” I dropped to my knees and elbows rummaging through the scanty closet for anything dignified. All I could find were long leather boots – black of course. Hence, it was time to dress for Halloween once again. This time as a Vampire Pixie or something!

I donned that outrageous outfit and the boots. It fit me like a glove.

I walked up to the dressing table and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Demon would laugh his head off if he saw me now. And then hit on me just to make me mad. Random thoughts floated through my head as I mindlessly picked up a hairbrush and ran it through my damp hair. Would he have been proud of me today? The way I killed that monster – was that vicious enough?

Memories of our last encounter began to sting my eyes and I pulled out of the dressing room without a second glance at myself.

The bedroom was not entirely unwelcoming but it reeked of despair. I looked at the balcony and realized that the same sun that had looked so cheerful a while ago seemed dismal and dull now. But then it wasn’t the sun that was gloomy, was it?