He should have turned the job down.

Not that saying no was ever an option – Hell doesn’t offer such luxuries – but there were ways, there were favors he could have called in, there were other duties he could have insisted on.

He should have turned this job down.

Who cares about being a god? Certainly not Tristan, though now more than ever he appreciates the freedom he’s had that the archdevils are robbed of.

Now, in confinement, he wonders if he, too, would have tried to break the boundaries of the planes for a glimpse of the bigger world.

The small adamantine box feels freezing. It’s not bad, but in the dark emptiness it’s somehow all he can feel. He isn’t sure how much time has passed, either – the Feywild has messed even with his senses – but it’s been a while since there was light in the little glass window of his prison.

He twists around as much as he can, but the box is small enough that even his miniature form can barely move. His heads meet each other face-on, and he stares into his own eyes, desperate.

How careless of him, to be caught in such indignant manner.

Probably out of lack of anything else to think about – why else? – Isolde and Mark pop into his mind. How would they fare? He’s already been gone for… probably at least a few weeks. Do they remember to send in reports? Did they even get any work done without him there?

Did they cook anything special for Solstice?

It’s all meaningless drivel, of course, but it’s more exciting to think about than his “clients”. After all, of the three of them he’s the only one for whom work is work, and not a fun hobby.

He prefers it this way. Yes, the others only taking on the jobs they enjoy means – meant – Tristan worked the most – but it also gave him the excuse to boss the others around and to fully relax at home.

No more of that, now. No hot baths, no Isolde massaging oil into his hair, no Mark feeding him experimental dishes.

No fine silks and no soft couches.

All Tristan has now is an unbreakable box for a prison.

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More on Tristan in Imprisonment and Rules.