[Suggested song for this chapter – We Belong Together by Ritchie Valens]
Delphi wondered briefly whether she should fight or just go along with this madman; the result would probably be the same in either case.
In the end she discarded the idea of going along with him, because she thought she probably couldn't do it, even if she wanted to.
She ignored his command to strip off, and walked over to the library, coolly sitting in the comfortable reading chair and plucking a random book off the shelf. The Cruel Prince. Very apt, she thought.
He watched her through his predatory eyes. If she'd bothered to look at him, she would have seen them flash with delight.
"Excellent. We're doing this the hard way are we?"
He clicked his fingers, and four large female guards ran into the cell through the still open door.
"Strip her and manacle her in the shower," he ordered the women.