[castle darkness; charlie]

[signed_sabrina]

What had been difficult to pull off to help Rosie-- playing the imperious, bratty possible bride-to-be, bored and not at all willing to commit to the Lord of Darkness just yet-- seems an even taller order when it comes to getting Charlie brought to her without arousing suspicion.

It means letting them take Rosie back, for one. Sabrina makes threat upon threat, compliments the goblin that seems to have had the idea to bring Rosie at all, tries to give him a sense of responsibility in this.

It also means setting aside her actual feelings so that she can tell the goblins that her appetite is whetted and that her pretty songbird had sung to her of a most lovely boy in the dungeon. She tells them that she wants him, that she wants to play. She says, the words sour in her mouth, that perhaps she's getting used to this life.

So they go, and Sabrina sits on her massive bed, waiting with her heart in her throat.

Comments

[teenagerenegade]

Before they bring him, they strip him and they scrub him and they put him in changes. He shuffles into the room with his head bowed, stripped to his underwear, bruises spangling his spine and ribs.

"Here he is," hisses one of the goblins that's holding his arm. "Toy for you, Majesty."

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina almost loses the whole gambit in that first moment, when she sees Charlie, her Charlie bruised and broken looking. She almost cries out; she has to curl her fingertips into her palms to remind herself not to set the little monsters on fire.

She forces herself to stand as tall as she had with a golden crown on her head, and take slow steps toward them. "He pleases me, though your treatment, as ever, does not. Am I to suppose that should I rule you in truth, I will have all the things meant to please me brought with signs of your mishandling? If he pleases me as much as I think he will, you will take better care of him, or I will become very personally involved."

God, she feels sick.

"I wanted him unchained and free to move. And privacy." Oh god, she wants to be sick. "I may be no blushing virgin for your Lord, but I am certainly not for your eyes." She makes herself turn and stride away toward the bed, pinching her palm as hard as she can to keep from shaking or giving herself away.

[teenagerenegade]

Relief floods through Charlie at the sound of his voice, but he almost doesn't recognise the poised, arch, cruel girl in front of him. The creatures chitter and panic, unlocking the heavy chains and shoving him forward so abruptly that he stumbles down onto his knees.

"Best place for you, mortal," it hisses, before, grovelling and scraping, both guards back out of the room altogether.

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina waits, as difficult as that is, counting in her head before she's rushing over, tearful and frightened under the make-up and clothes. "Charlie, Charlie, I'm so sorry," she breathes, pulling him up and over with her to the bed, dragging him into the massive thing and then crawling in too. "Charlie, are you okay? I'm sorry." She's ready to dissolve into tears, but won't allow herself.

[teenagerenegade]

Boneless with relied, Charlie just lets her pull him where she wants him, unless he's collapsing into the first soft thing that he's lay down on in he doesn't know how long.

"I didn't know..." He says, a sob turning his voice ragged. "I didn't know if I was ever going to see you again."

[signed_sabrina]

"Of course you are," Sabrina breathes, pulling the covers up over them, most of the way, and winding her arm around him as carefully as she can. "I'm here. We're going to get you out, I swear, no matter what I have to do." She kisses his forehead, and tries to get some warmth back into his body.

"See, feel, I'm okay, and I'm working to get you back for good."

[teenagerenegade]

He is, he realises, shivering violently, and he burrows in closer to her, pressing his face against her, his arms around her, holding on for dear life.

"N-Nick...he...said you were here. He said he and Salem were causing as much t-trouble as they c-could and that you were going to b-b-bring it all d-down." He takes a deep and shivering breath, tries desperately to calm down.

[signed_sabrina]

Her heart hurts to see him this way, and she wraps all of herself back around him, stroking his skin, pressing her mouth to any bit of him she can find. "I'm here," she whispers. "I'm going to do what I have to do. I would do anything I have to do, to make sure you're safe, to keep you."

She thinks she might be finding out what anything means soon.

"I have you for a few hours, I think. I want to try and get you warm."

[teenagerenegade]

"It's so cold down there," he says, burrowing into her some more, unable to get as close as he wants to be. "They...I..." He drags in a breath through his nose and tries desperately to calm down. "I think they think you want me as a sex slave or something."

[signed_sabrina]

She continues to try and rub warmth back into his skin, pulling his face up so she can press kisses to his forehead and cheeks and nose. "I'm so sorry, I know it's bad. Rosie told me, I'm going to-- listen, I have a plan, but nothing is worth putting you through this. I bet-- we could get you out. I might need to stay, because I think I can stop this."

Her cheeks turn a little rosy, warm against his chilled skin as she admits, "I kind of... led them to believe that. It was the best way to get you up here and get privacy. I mean, would I complain about hours of getting to have sex with you? That sounds amazing, but not here."

[teenagerenegade]

"Not here," agrees Charlie, nodding as a little bit more warmth leaches into his chilled skin. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to, right now." He frowns at what she says next. "No way, Sabrina. I'm not going without you and Rosie."

[signed_sabrina]

"No one gets to see-- know that part of you, not here," she whispers fiercely, but she does kiss him on the mouth this time. And then she smiles, because she had guessed as much. "I didn't really think I'd get you to agree, but-- seemed fair to ask."

She's quiet a while.

"The creature who caused this, who's the owner of this castle, another Lord of Darkness, I don't know if he knows exactly what I am, but he's got a good idea. He's interested in me, he thinks he can-- seduce me or something."

[teenagerenegade]

Charlie frowns, a neat crease appearing between his eyebrows.

"I just...be safe, Sabrina, okay? Don't let him..." He clings to her. "Don't do anything stupid. I can't lose you."

[signed_sabrina]

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," she says quietly, but then gathers him as best she can, trying not to let her eyes get too wet with emotion. "And I can't lose you. I won't. I refuse to lose you, and if I have to bring down this whole place I will."

She pulls his hands up, kissing each palm. "If what I am will keep you safe, then I'm glad for it."

[teenagerenegade]

"Just don't take any risks you don't have to, okay?" he says, rubbing his cheek in against her, breathing her in so that he'll be able to live on the memory of the way that she smells, the way she feels in his arms. "Try."

[signed_sabrina]

"None that I don't have to take," she agrees, forcing herself not to let her heart just crack open at the way he nuzzles at her, the way he holds her like he doesn't know how long it will have to last as a memory.

Because they don't know, yet.

He's been so strong for her, though, so many times, that she's able to keep it together, to reach behind her and undo the top of the dress enough that she can peel the lace down a bit. "Less itchy," she murmurs, and presses her face into his hair. "Think you could rest here? Like this?"

[teenagerenegade]

He presses his cheek against her smooth skin when she pulls the dress down a little, sinks into the softness of her. His eyes drift closed, and he nods.

"Is it safe?" he says, already stifling a yawn, still clinging to her. He feels like he hasn't slept properly in days. Weeks.

[signed_sabrina]

"I'll keep you safe," she says, like a spell being cast, a promise. "I'll stay awake while you sleep." Even as her heart aches not to simply be able to take him somewhere safe and stay there, she needs this more than rest, the reminder of the stakes, the realness and sweetness of Charlie.

"I love you so much," she whispers. "And I'm going to keep you safe. Rest for a while, please."

[teenagerenegade]

Charlie's eyelids are heavy, so heavy, and, for the first time in days and days, he feels completely safe. He curls up in the circle of her arms, his cheek pressed against her, and he stays as close as he can.

"Wake me up when I need to go," he says, his voice already soft and vague.

[signed_sabrina]

"Of course," she whispers, willing herself not to let even one tear escape until he's asleep. Instead, she hums softly, breathing in the scent of his hair and taking what solace she can.

She will see this place crumble to the ground, she swears.