Chapter Text
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear …
- William Blake
Job 1: deliver the letters. An easy enough job to complete. Running from door to door, she dropped letters at the food of each one, not caring much for their presentation or condition. The stuck-up sorcerers behind each door could handle a few creases in their little memos, she was sure.
The breakfast bell rang through the grand halls of the castle, but she made no move to follow their bellowing chimes to the room where food was made. She wasn't allowed luxuries such as three meals a day. So she had to be strategic about when she ate.
Breakfast was too early. It was held from 6am to 8am and she couldn't justify eating that early if it meant going without for so long. Dinner was held at 8pm to 9pm however, so she could go the day without food. No, she'd quickly learned that lunch, which was served from 11:30am to 12:30pm was the easiest time to eat.
And to drink, if she got lucky.
She placed the final three letters in front of their rooms with precise care. She wouldn't have cared normally, these men hadn't earned her respect, but she'd been harshly punished every day until she learned her lesson about these three specifically, so she made do with banging on each door as loud as possible before running away.
Job 2: wash up in the kitchen.
She hated this job. No one had taught the others how to scrape their plates after meals. Usually, there weren't any scraps; people were too hungry for that, but occasionally, someone would leave something on their and she'd have to plunge her bare hands into the water and take the soggy food out. It made her gag.
The staff weren't nice per say, but they weren't hostile either. They were in the same situation after all; slaves who were helpless in the castle of the generals. She didn't understand half of what any of them were saying; many were from other countries and were being taught Irish, but they seemed to find her decent.
Sighing, she rolled up her torn red sleeves and plunged her hands into the scalding water to fish up the first plate.
Job 3: Go to the day job.
Valkyrie let her ever-ready scowl settle onto her face as she walked into Lord Vile's chambers. Five large rooms, each with a purpose, or that's what she was told anyway; she didn't truly care all too much about Vile's private life. Nor his public life. Or him in general. Just like she didn't care for anyone.
Not like she had a family to love anymore.
This was a new thing for her. For the past seven months, Valkyrie Cain had been nothing. A servant girl who was forced to work in the castle in return for her continued survival; not that she had much of a will to live. It had been China's idea apparently. She'd told Lord Mevolent that Valkyrie was a natural at magic and he hadn't wanted to spill the blood of someone with potential, much to Serpine's displeasure.
So Valkyrie had worked in the castle day and night, turning thirteen without anyone noticing and improving her magic to the best of her ability with no help. She'd only set fire to a few curtains, and Serpine typically got blamed for that.
Lord Vile marched out of one of his rooms; the library if she remembered correctly. She'd spied on him once, back when she first started this third job, and found him reading Game of Thrones. She was relatively sure he was catching up on the new literature but she wasn't entirely sure it wasn't a one-off.
Lord Vile stared at her for a moment before his armour shifted, shoulders drooping. Valkyrie restrained rolling her eyes at the gesture, the last time she'd done that he'd slammed her into the corner of a wall and left her wheezing. She wasn't too eager to repeat the experience.
Then again, there was a reason she was placed with him instead of Serpine of Vengeous, they'd kill her immediately.
Vile walked straight past her and Valkyrie bowed her head and turned on the heel of her feet to follow.
Vile walked aimlessly, not seeming to know where he was going or what he wanted. One moment they were inside and staring at paintings and the next they were outside 'admiring' the sea. The sea that Valkyrie had once swam in with her friends. Her friends who were dead now. Not many people in Haggard had survived the takeover.
Vile knew these things. He did this on purpose. To break her down and make her obedient. It didn't work very well, Valkyrie was too stubborn and full of hatred to be oppressed by people she had no reason to respect or obey. If she was killed, at least she'd die sticking to her beliefs.
She never wanted to be transformed into something she wasn't.
The sea glistened as the son shone on it. It wasn't very sunny at this time of year usually, but apparently the universe had allowed her to enjoy something. She appreciated it. Closing her eyes for just a moment, Valkyrie let the rays of sunlight hit her face and heat it up. Being stuck in the castle as long as she was, she'd grown quite pale; her mother would be threatening over it if she was still around.
She curled her toes in her thin shoes and felt the sand slip inside. It wasn't a nice sensation, it was quite awful actually, but it was new and exciting to feel after so long.
Vile seemed to agree with how still he was standing. They never stayed in one spot for more than five minutes unless he was forced to; sometimes Valkyrie wondered if his brain moved too fast for anyone, even his own body, to catch up. Perhaps quiet on the beach was soothing.
Valkyrie wanted someone to come and ruin it for him.
"What do we have here?" Never mind, Vile could enjoy anything he wanted if that voice left. "How novel, I rarely see either of you anymore!"
Valkyrie turned with a barely repressed snarl. Serpine leered at her, amusement in his hollow, emerald green eyes. He was wearing a deep purple Victorian style suit today, hair slicked back into a pompadour style. He actually looked rather nice, but the sight of him made Valkyrie want to wretch.
Vile didn't move, ignoring his fellow general or simply lost in his own mind. Valkyrie narrowed her eyes before following his indirect lead, ignoring the revolting man behind her.
"Miss Cain, be a good little girl and have Vile in the courtroom by 10am, we have a meeting." He huffed. "I don't see why I have to pass around such announcements, I'm sure there's someone around here who isn't terrified so much they can't speak that could do it."
You killed them all, a voice in Valkyrie's mind spat. But she kept her eyes staring at the sea, at the shimmering waves and gentle ripples that flowed towards them like a mare cantering towards them at her own pace.
Serpine leaned his right arm on Valkyrie head and she couldn't suppress the feral growl that erupted from her throat. Immediately, distressing, tormenting agony overtook her body and she heard herself scream in agony as Serpine pointed at her with a saccharine grin on his smug face.
He curled his finger and Valkyrie felt sand seap into her mouth as she howled in tormenting misery.
Within moments that felt like hours, the pain left her body and Valkyrie felt herself go limp on the course ground as she panted. One arm lifted her easily and set her on uneven feet before putting the right arm back on her head. Valkyrie only whimpered.
Serpine nodded in self-importance. "Good, that's better. You're a lot more likable when you aren't trying to emulate Skulduggery… Maybe emulate me! I'm around the same age, I'm much better looking and I have an amazing sense of humour! You just have to get to know me, honestly, I'd be an amazing person to emulate."
Valkyrie let him prattle on, the pain slowly turning to a dull ache as her legs whined in tiredness but stayed somewhat steady. Her hands trembled as she slowly clenched and unclenched them to regain feeling. She'd done this enough times now. Serpine enjoyed riling her up specifically to torture her.
Vile's armour made a heavy sound and Valkyrie winced as she turned on her heel and followed his foreboding steps. Serpine ruffled her hair as she left and Valkyrie bit her lip, trembling with rage.
She had no choice in the matter.
"These Mortals in America seem to think they can hold up against our forces," Mevolent said, lip curled. "See to it that there are as many casualties as possible."
Baron Vengeous nodded, the one from Mevolent's dimension. "Of course, my Lord."
Mevolent eyed Valkyrie with a hint of glee at having her stuck in a meeting about the death of her world. "Any comments, Miss Cain?" Valkyrie shrugged. "Your words, Miss Cain."
"I don't know a lot about America, just that they've done a lot of things. I'm no help to you-" Vile pressed the sharp tip of a shadow to the small of her back. "My Lord…"
Mevolent apprised her for a moment before focusing back on the others in the room. "Serpine, how is Russia's break-in going?"
"They are falling to our command swiftly, Lord Mevolent," The slimy little serpent grinned. "They've been quite forthcoming since that little show you put on."
"Sometimes, people need a little motivation… Vile, your tasks?"
Vile made a deep grumbling sound in his armour and Mevolent turned to Valkyrie expectantly. Because that was her job now. Learn Vile's quirks and translate. Taking a deep breath, Valkyrie took a paper from inside her robes. "Nearly the entirety of the United Kingdom is falling to your will, but we have yet to make Scotland fall into line, due to the multitude of necromancer temples fighting back." She swallowed the bile building in the back of her throat at the reminder of what she saw two days prior. "Most of the Mortals are killing them, believing that they are on your-" Mevolent narrowed his eyes. "Our side, so their defence is dwindling."
"You can not have the Necromancers back down, Vile?"
Vile turned his helmet to the side, and Valkyrie read from the notes Vile had handed her. "They're being led by Solomon Wreath, and were hostile towards us when we approached."
Mevolent let out a withering sigh and glared at the two of them. Valkyrie shrunk under his harsh gaze. "Fix that issue immediately."
Vile bowed his head and Valkyrie followed suit. "Of course, my lord."
She'd leave that to Vile.