Sapphire, by lyradaemon

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visitor

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Anne Bishop. Please don't sue

IT IS SET BEFORE THE DAEMON/SURREAL THING MENTIONED IN 'DAUGHTER'

The bitch was dead.

Daemon Sadi slowly looked around the ruins of the Court with an appraising smile. The after-scent of dark psychic power lingered heavily, smothering the foul stench of the corrupt former Queen. Everything now lay in desolation and destruction; there was nothing recognizable, neither object nor human.

Daemon's smile grew.

"W-what have you done?" A high, shrill voice interrupted him.

Daemon turned to see a Rose-Jewelled Warlord cowering pathetically behind the remains of a marble pillar. His eyes held terror and disbelief at what he saw in front of him. Daemon felt the anger welling up inside again.

"What does it look like?" He asked silkily, gliding towards him.

The man trembled and backed away a few steps; into a crumbling wall. "Where's the Queen?" He demanded, voice shaking.

"I'll give you three guesses," Daemon smiled.

The Warlord stared at Daemon. "Y-you killed her?" He stuttered, barely audible.

"She annoyed me. And come to think of it, you're starting to irritate me too." Daemon paused and looked thoughtfully at him with sleepy golden eyes. "Tell me, do you know what I do to people who annoy me?"

There was an audible gulp.

"Exactly. So I suggest you get out of here before you irritate me any further. There's no telling what I might do to you." His voice was a seductive purr, but it held an icy edge which only an idiot would miss.

The Warlord paused for only a second before he scampered around to what used to be the door. "Dorothea will find out about this," he said sounding shrill but with a vindictive smile on his lips. "She'll find out, and then she'll punish you. You won't get away-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a blast of Black power. The man's mind disintegrated into grey dust.

Daemon laughed, a cold, cruel laugh. "I can get away with whatever I damn well want to," he smiled. "Dorothea can try all she likes, but she'll never stop me." He surveyed the room one last time before striding out the door, stepping over what was left of the Warlord in disgust.

He caught the Winds and left the aftermath of his destruction behind him.

Several hours later Daemon stood outside the door to his house. Casting a searching psychic probe around him, he quickly opened the door and slipped inside.

He stopped dead.

Someone was here who shouldn't be.

A feral anger rose up, his eyes glazed and his beautiful face set itself into it's familiar mask; quick as lightning he descended to the Black, ready to use it on whoever was in his house and wasn't meant to be.

He glided towards the door to the sitting room, hands casually in his trouser pockets; he paused briefly before reaching for the handle.

The door flew open to find Surreal standing there. Her eyes blazed with barely-suppressed anger and Daemon could instantly sense that she was on edge. He lifted one elegant black eyebrow in question.

"Come in and I'll explain," was all she said.

Daemon hesitated, unwilling to enter somewhere was there was an unfamiliar person; these days he didn't trust anyone, knowing full well that if he fell in with the wrong one, he could end up back with Dorothea. He wasn't going to risk that.

"Daemon, just come in would you?" Surreal snapped impatiently, hands on hips.

He went in and cast a quick glance around the room until he found the source of the discomfort.

"There's a witch in my house?" He practically shouted, not taking his eyes off the person standing by the fireplace.

Surreal looked taken aback. "Daemon, there's no need to get angry about it," she said, slightly puzzled. "She isn't here to hurt anyone."

"Who is she?"

"Noelle. She's a witch; I found her a few days ago and decided to bring her here. I didn't think you'd mind."

"I don't want strangers here Surreal. You know that. Do you remember what happened last time?"

Surreal shuddered; the memory of the – redecorating – Daemon had done with the Warlord who had unfortunately come into the house still made her feel slightly ill. And she was an assassin.

"She needs help Daemon. Our help." There was a question there, a request.

"You want me to help her." That wasn't a question.

Surreal nodded. "Yes," she said simply.

Daemon stared intently at Noelle. She had long, blue-black hair – longer than Surreal's – and dark, golden eyes which were full of wariness. Her skin was the same colour as Daemon's; he guessed her to be half-breed, or perhaps from Dhemlan.

Then his eyes widened.

"She's a Sapphire-Jewelled witch?" He demanded, sounding surprised, although his face gave away nothing.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Noelle asked softly, but neither Daemon nor Surreal missed the threat held there.

Surreal groaned. Things were not going to plan. "No, Noelle, Daemon doesn't have a problem with what Jewels you wear. Do you Daemon?" The last part was aimed rather strongly at Daemon.

He smiled, one which held no warmth at all. "Of course not, Lady."

Noelle looked at him with an appraising eye. "And who are you, Prince?"

"Daemon Sadi," was her only reply, but it was enough to make her eyes widen. But before she could say anything Daemon carried on. "You're hurt," he said bluntly. "Someone has hurt you. Why?" It sounded stilted, emotionless.

Noelle hesitated and looked cautiously at Surreal. Surreal turned to Daemon. "She was…used…by a man. That's all."

Daemon snarled. "That's not all. Being used is not all."

Surreal knew she had hit a sore spot. "Daemon, Noelle doesn't want to talk about it. It's not easy; she doesn't know us and, understandably, she doesn't trust us. Just give her time."

Daemon seemed to ignore that. "I've been used too, Lady," he said too softly; Surreal didn't know who he was talking to. "Did you know that?"

Noelle opened her mouth, but Surreal cut across her with a warning look :Be careful.: To Daemon she said, frustrated, "She'll be alright Daemon. It's nothing serious; I took her to see a Healer. No permanent damage." Mother Night, why was he being like this?

He seemed to consider this before turning back to Surreal. Some of the coldness had left his expression. "If she causes any trouble, any at all, she's leaving."

Surreal nodded; she understood Daemon's need for secrecy and concealment. If no one knew where he was, he was safe. For a while at least. "I understand."

Without another word to either of them, Daemon turned and left.

Both women were speechless for a moment. "Well," Noelle finally said, shock registering clearly on her face, as well as puzzlement. "What was that all about?"

Surreal just shook her head. "I have no idea. But something's happened. He's never like this." She thought about that before changing her mind. "Well, not usually anyway."

"Is he alright?"

"It's hard to tell with Daemon. He never reveals what he's thinking."

"I noticed," Noelle replied tartly. "He's certainly beautiful though."

Surreal laughed but there was no emotion in it. "Don't even think about mentioning it. His looks have made him the person he is now; a please slave. And don't try to make any move on him either; he won't think twice about killing you."

Noelle shuddered. "I'm not going anywhere near a man again," she whispered, pain filling her eyes.

Surreal regarded her with a mixture of sympathy and interest. She still hadn't heard Noelle's full story, and she doubted she would for a while yet. "He won't hurt you unless you give him reason to," she soothed kindly. At least, I don't think he will. There's no telling with Daemon.

Noelle said nothing but nodded briefly. She obviously had very little trust in men. Surreal could guess what the cause of that was.

Surreal sighed heavily before curling herself up in one of the armchairs; she needed to think about what she was going to do. She had a Sapphire-Jewelled witch who was hurt, was terrified of males, and yet refused to talk about it. She had a Black-Jewelled Warlord Prince who was so volatile at the moment she couldn't even guess what he would do, and who loathed almost every female in the whole of Terreille.

Surreal's options were looking pretty slim.

A/N: There's the first chapter; hope you enjoyed it. Send in those reviews and let me know what you think! Lyradaemon x