The Mist and the Lightning. Part 11

Nikto again fixed Arel's hands, lifting them strongly up and twisting them a little. Now, any movement caused Arel pain in the twisted joints.

“Please, stop!”

“Calm down!” Lis shouted at him. “Be patient, since he himself wanted it! All of us were in chains for some periods of our lives.”

“Arel, on the whole, withstands movement restrictions very well,” said Nikto. “I’ll weaken you in the morning, maybe not for long. Now, slave, don't even hope! But you can still beg! I love listening to your pleas. The way I bind you, and you pray for the relaxation of trials. Pray to me, Arel, as to your gods, and maybe I will be more merciful. Or maybe I'll make it even more painful so that your current position seems to you happiness. And you begged for it back to you. I can do better, or I can do even worse!”

“You are my God! You are my God!” Arel whispered, crucified on the bed. “I beg you, give me a little rest! Let me breathe a little free.”

“I'll let you rest tomorrow morning! And now you will stay tied up and keep whining how it hurts! Even kids prefer toys that squeak.”

Lis laughed.

“And yet, Arel, remember, if a man did it with you, it would be bad! But I am not a man – I am your God! And that means everything that I do with you is good! Good for you!”

Chapter three

The guest

Nikto still forced himself to return to business. They had to travel a little to the east, to the nearest river, in order to find a good, not deep place for the army to cross the river.

“Will you comb me?” Nikto asked Karina. “Ver doesn't know how to braid all those kinds of braids.”

Karina smiled:

“Do you like them?”

“Well, they get tangled less and you don't need to comb it for a long time.”

“Ah,” Karina held out and took the comb handed to her.

“And I will thank you,” Nikto promised.

“How?”

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

At these words of Nikto, Arel, who was sitting on the floor by the bed, raised his head and looked at Karina with a look full of jealousy.

“No, thanks,” Karina answered quickly and tried to concentrate on untangling the old braids at the temples of Nikto. “Let's do without gratitude.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want it.”

“You want it,” Nikto smiled.

“Why do you think so? I love Lis.”

“So what?”

“I want to marry him!”

Nikto laughed:

“All girls are different, but they always want the same thing! You are already the third in my memory.”

Karina thought about Dony, who helped Nikto, and then married successfully. Did she ask the Demon for this?

“Are you talking about Dony? And who else?”

“Never mind. I have understood you.”

“I was joking!” Karina was scared. “I hope you won’t order him?!”

“No, don't worry. And think about my first proposal, you liked it before.”

Karina's cheeks flushed:

“Is Arel not enough for you? Can you explain to me your relationship? You touch him and do what you want with him, but he doesn't. What is the pleasure of such a relationship? That you won't even let him touch you. He doesn't hug you, doesn't stroke you, doesn't kiss you. Only you do everything. Don't you want him to hug you, stroke you with his hands without gloves? And you don't even let him touch you with gloves on. Shouldn't pleasure be mutual?”

“You don’t understand anything,” Nikto said, “hug and kiss Lis as long as you like.”

“But this is a manifestation of love! Did you do the same with your girlfriend?”

“Who are you talking about now?”

“About Rosa.”

“Oh! You have found a worthy one to remember!” Nikto chuckled. “She's your brother's girlfriend, not mine.”

“If you, if you would really find a way to go into your world…”

“I will find it!” Nikto reacted too harshly. And Karina, frightened, tried to calm him down and somehow smooth out her unpleasant words:

“I believe it! I sincerely believe in this, which is why I say when you leave for your world.”

“Well, then?” He pulled himself together.

“And if you left my brother’s body, I would hire the best doctors,” Karina said, “including doctor Balthazar.”

“What?! Don't remind me of that old asshole!”

“Sorry. He's a good doctor in fact, it just didn't work out for you. And he would have cured my brother. We would find Rosa and they would be happy.”

“What?! You're nuts! Your brother is blind and dumb. What Rosa? How much time has passed?”

“Well, not so much, in fact,” Karina objected, “you know, I haven't seen Lis for many years either. And when we met again, it was as if those years had never happened.”

“Do you think she is still sitting and waiting for him at the portal?”

“For some reason I believe in it. And besides, it's so easy to check.”

“No!” Nikto answered. “When I leave, do what you want with your crazy brother. But only if I can leave. Look for Rosa. I won't care anymore.”

“Can he open a portal to the Upper World without your help?”

“He can, and he opened it. Only he won't, I'm sure. After all that he did to himself. Why does she need a cripple, Karina? Your fantasies will kill me!”

“Me and the doctors, we will cure him!”

“Nonsense!”

“Is it impossible to restore the ligaments? Well? Answer the truth.”

“Maybe. Would you get the tattoos off him too?”

“Yes!”

Nikto laughed:

“How long will you have to mess around! And the scar?”

“We'll come up with something! And in the Upper World, doctors work miracles!”

“She’s just the forester’s daughter.”

“Yes, she is. But I'll become a queen! Do you think I won’t write out the best red, and white, if necessary, doctors for my beloved brother?”

“And he will become as good as new and then open the portal, and Rosa will be sitting there and waiting, huh?” Nikto finished for Karina.

“Yes,” said Karina, “she is waiting for him. I believe it! And my brother, so handsome, healthy, without tattoos and scars, and sighted. He will embrace her, they will hold each other, and he will say, “I promised I wouldn’t leave you and would come back!” And she will cry with happiness. And she will say, “Could you? The demon is no longer in you?” And she will run her fingers over the barely visible scar on his face.”