Read Online The Gingerbread Dungeon by Elizabeth Thorne - Free Book Online

though was that she should leave and come back later, but it had been a long walk after an even longer day, and so she decided to just sit and wait instead. When she flopped down on the first chair, a red corduroy lounger, the cushions were so soft that she felt like she might get swallowed up whole. Climbing out was actually a chore, and she sat more gingerly on the next chair – a black leather recliner – but the seat was strangely hard and uncomfortable so she moved on to the third chair. That one was a soft, suede chair-and-a-half, and it was so welcoming that Anna curled up into a ball and soon fell right asleep.
    She woke up to the feel of cold water dripping on her forehead, and the sound of Greg’s voice saying, “Someone’s been sleeping in my chair.”
    Opening her eyes, she saw three men looking down at her – Morden, Greg, and a short, round man with black spiked hair who she assumed was Mama Bear. Heinrich? Greg was holding a cold cloth above her head, which was the source of the drip.
    “Um…” Anna started to stand up, but then she realized that there was no room to do so. “Your door was open?”
    “So you came in and made yourself at home?” Heinrich looked at Morden and sighed. “I can’t believe you invited such a rude little girl over to visit.” His voice sounded particularly disgusted with the word girl .
     “You really don’t make things easy for yourself, do you?” Morden looked down at Anna with dismay. “Goldie, meet Heinrich. Heinrich, meet Goldie.”
    “Pleased to meet you?” Anna held out her hand hesitantly.
    “I haven’t decided yet,” Heinrich said and then stomped over and began clearing the plates from the table.
    “Your turn.” Morden looked at Greg and gestured with his head towards where Heinrich was vigorously cleaning the spotless table.
    “But…” Greg started to object and then subsided when Morden’s look morphed into a glare. “Yes, Daddy.”
    Anna watched as Greg walked over to Heinrich and started to talk to him. Heinrich started to shrug him off, but then Greg started nibbling at his neck, making the shorter man smile. In short order, Greg had Heinrich by the hand and was leading him up the stairs and away.
    “Maybe I should go…” Anna started to stand up.
    “Sit.”
    There was an air of command in Morden’s voice that Anna could not ignore. She sat.
    Morden paced fitfully around the room.
    “When you noticed we were out, you couldn’t have left and come back another time?” He glared at Anna, making her shrink back in the seat. “Of course you couldn’t. You’re long on balls but short on sense. How else would you have the guts to walk into The Eagle, stare at the men there like they were everything your heart desired and talk of discipline? Why, why do I never get stuck with the easy ones? I guess there’s nothing for it then but to go about this the traditional way.”
    Morden stopped in front of the chair when she sat and looked straight at her.
    “Get on your knees,” he said.
    Anna was so shocked that she couldn’t move.
    “You want discipline? Then get on your knees.” Morden picked her up by her hair and dropped her onto the floor where she scrambled to follow his commands.
    “Not like that! Back straight. Knees apart. Hands behind your head.” He jerked Anna’s body into position until it suited him and then just stood there and looked at her for a moment as she struggled to stay just as she had been placed.
    “You can walk out at any time,” Morden said as he paced around her, occasionally hitting her with the slender rattan stick he’d pulled out of the container standing beside the door in order to adjust her position closer to one that pleased him. “But if you do, that’s it. Discipline means that you respect your elders and you do as you are told. Do you understand? If you do, the correct answer is, ‘Yes, sir.’”
    “Yes, sir! I understand, sir.”
    “You will do anything I, or either of the other