"For now," he said, stepping back and licking his lips, "let's have dinner. And after that... we do it. Make sure she's properly prepared by then."
That was when it hit me—this place wasn't just hell.
It was only just beginning.
And there was nothing I could do.
For now, I had no choice.
I had to grin and bear it.
***
After dinner, the Earl's wives—naked and eerily graceful—gathered around me in silence.
Their movements were synchronized, almost ritualistic, as they gestured for me to follow.
Meanwhile, Earl Prisk had departed in the opposite direction, accompanied by another group of women.
Marka, the one he'd slapped earlier, was among them—walking as though nothing had happened.
The women around me moved without words, leading me through dim hallways lit only by faint, flickering lanterns embedded in the stone walls.
The path narrowed, then widened into a vast chamber ahead.
Steam curled thickly in the air like rolling fog, heat hanging in every breath I took.
