Lecture

Chapter Fifteen - Lecture.

Stefan rubbed his head, then sighed. Younger brothers could be a pain sometimes.

"Okay then, what do you want to talk about? What about Laurel?" he folded his arms.

Sorren exhaled, then looked at his brother. "You left her in there to torment her, right?"

There was a smile on Stefan's face as his brother forgot to speak in his usual speech pattern. "Yes."

Sorren had misinterpreted the smile as Stefan's thirst to see the prisoner tormented. "Very well. But you've been handling it wrongly."

Was he about to be lectured on how to treat a prisoner? Or was his brother going to tell him he's been too easy on Laurel?

Stefan already knew he had been easy but that was because he couldn't bring himself to go harder. Isolating her till he gathered himself was all he could do for now. "I'm listening."

"Alright." Sorren exhaled again, before listing. "Firstly, to get the best pleasure out of tormenting your victim is to always make sure the victim is returned to better health than you left them. This makes it easy to keep enjoying tormenting them and they last longer under your hold. Now, haven't you been lacking in these, in respect to the princess?"

Indeed he was being lectured. And those were quite descriptive. Stefan rubbed his head and nodded. "I don't know. Have I?"

Sorren nodded. "One, she is in bad health. Right now, she has an aching body, poor air circulation due to the condition of the prison and sores on her legs from cold, blisters and absence of shoes."

Was it that bad? It wasn't even winter yet. Did his brother scrutinize Laurel's body to realize that? Did he take off her clothes?

"Oh." was all Stefan said.

"Two, she is prone to illness and could die, ridding you of the pleasure you'd have gotten, or rather, cutting your pleasure short. Three, she had lost considerable weight and tormenting a near corpse is boring as you wouldn't know when they die. And note, at that point, they wish for death. Never give them." Sorren's eyes narrowed as he said the last part.

His older brother exhaled, getting worried about his mental health. "I hear you."

"Now, four, as per her history of being royalty, she may sometimes contend with the guards stationed around her causing harm to them. This should be prevented by having an official watch her as she's a special plaything to the Alpha. I'd suggest Delta Sigma as the official who should watch her. He'd be arriving in three days with report. That is all. Do you want to hear a solution or you've already deciphered one?"

There was at least ten seconds silence before Stefan slowly nodded. That was a whole speech. He had to break it down slowly to get it into his head.

In other words, his brother was saying the victim was slowly seeping away from life and could die before pleasure was taken from tormenting her.

As a master tormenter, he could see the signs. A part of Stefan felt heavy that Laurel was in such a situation. He had stayed away from her to gather his emotions but it seemed she got neglected.

"What am I even saying? I wanted her to get neglected." He thought as a frown came to his face.

He noticed his brother picking up the pile of books he threw on him earlier, so he cleared his throat, signaling that he wasn't ignoring him again.

"I-I've heard you, Sorren. So, yeah, what can be done about it?" he asked.

A ghost of a smile came to Sorren's lips. "Well, change her living conditions. Prison, food, clothes, cleanliness. A stray dogs smells better than her."

Those words made Stefan frown but he masked it with a chuckle. "I guess we can do that. I'd let you handle it since it was your suggestion…"

"Please." Sorren interrupted. "If I stay another minute there, you could add a deceased brother to your dead family list."

Was that supposed to be a joke, about their dead families? And Laurel smelled that bad? Or he's just avoiding responsibilities? This was his suggestion!

Stefan rubbed his temples. "Tell Cade to… no, just tell the guard. Don't remind Cade she's in there."

"Certainly." Sorren replied, he opened the door and walked out before pausing. "About you and Jade's wedding, it's still happening, right?"

Stefan stared at him for a while before looking away. "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it?"

His younger brother smiled then left the room. He also smiled at Jade as he passed her.

Jade watched him leave. Did he ask Stefan about the wedding because he noticed her outside the door? Did he also notice how badly she wanted to know about it?

Her eyes grew moist and she smiled. "Maybe, next time, I'd apologize for calling him a jerk."

~~~

When Laurel woke up, her senses told her the surface under her wasn't moist anymore. She rolled to her side and felt for the moist ground she was used to, but could only find a hard ceramic tile.

Startled, she jumped to her feet, going to where the door was supposed to be. But there was a wall. The door was father right and the prison… was changed?

"Eh? Eh? How did I get in here?" She looked around. Had Darren come for her? She peeked out of the window and her shoulder slumped. Of course, she was still in Green Valleys.

Only in a different prison that had a bathroom, a bar of soap and sponge, a rack that had dresses and a bed for one. All on a dry ceramic floor.

She yelped in joy, laying and rolling on the floor. At last, no more algae sticking to her skin and worms crawling on her head as she slept.

Realizing, she was being noisy, she stayed quiet. A tear left her eyes and she smiled. First, she got a well cooked meal and then a change in prison.

What was Stefan unto? Or wasn't it him helping her? She left the floor and banged on the metal door of the prison.

It sort of seemed security had tightened as they were three guards outside and none she knew. They all glared at her before one marched to her.

They were definitely not from her pack and were all warriors this time, not hunters.

Their aura was almost suffocating, she didn't even feel this way with Stefan, perhaps because he was her mate. Cade was the only with a suffocating aura. Sorren was just calm and Jade, couldn't be placed.

"I'd like to ask for water to take a bath please." She spoke politely, head down.

"The tap runs water. Use for washing and drinking. Only bother us when you're hungry. And you eat only twice a day so pick what time. Understood?"

His voice wasn't even raised yet Laurel felt like she was being scolded. She bopped her head till he finally left.

She turned to her new prison with delight. So the tap ran? And she got to eat twice a day?

She felt like a princess again. After all, being locked up was her usual routine and food came when it came. "We'd definitely grow stronger much faster in here." Elma came to the surface.

Laurel nodded at her words.

She was on her way to the bathroom but a sharp pain stabbed her head making her lose balance. "Oh goody, it's here again."