Aly sat in the divine pavilion. As she looked around, she thought she could make out clouds among the ceiling beams. Pillows and jewelry littered every bit of wall or floor Aly could see, and several crows gathered around her. And the Trickster god stood a few feet in front of her.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he yelled, shaking the building. Aly covered her ears and began to tremble as he continued, "It's all ruined! Ruined! You bumbling, blind, oblivious mortal! How could you let her slip away? I leave to do one little thing and I return to find everything in ruins!"

As thunder rolled and lightning sparked in the ceiling, Aly stood up and carefully concealed her fear.

"I thought you'd be gone for a while," she replied casually, shrugging, "I thought you were preparing for a trick of your own."

Suddenly, she was pinned against the nearest pillar with an invisible force. She struggled against it, but her attempts were futile. She could barely even move her head more than an inch or two away from the column.

"Give me one good reason," Kyprioth growled, approaching her and grabbing her chin, "why I shouldn't cook you where you stand. You, the clever one, can't even keep an eye on one lone, lovesick chit!"

"You need me," she shot back bravely, "If you didn't have me, you would have never even gotten this far."

"You overestimate your importance, little one. I could replace you in a minute if I wanted to."

"Then why haven't you yet? Why haven't you found a spy who's just as talented as I am? One who's more docile, less sarcastic, and gets things done quicker without overlooking details like this?"

"Maybe I should," he snarled, letting his hand drop to her neck and squeezing slightly.

"Perhaps it's because you've grown so attached to me," she teased as she felt her throat constrict, "Perhaps it's because you like having me as your little, mortal pet."

"You mock me!"

"Well, you're making it difficult to have a proper conversation. But honestly, Kyprioth, how long would it have been before that lovesick girl lost the throne you schemed so to get her? How long before she got angry and insulted someone, or married the wrong noble and started the Haiming rebellions all over again?"

"That's it. You die," he said, squeezing her throat more. Out of reflex, Aly's hand came up to his own, as if she could stop his godlike strength if he suddenly felt inspired to snap her neck.

"You'll lose your wager with the crows. You never said the bet didn't count if it was you who killed me, so you'd still have to pay them. And I know you hate to lose wagers," she choked as her vision swam with black, fuzzy dots, but a moment later, she felt him free her.

"This is what I wagered," he snapped from the other side of the room. Aly's vision cleared just in time to see a long, jagged necklace flying at her face. She whimpered as the shrapnel attached to the string buried itself in the skin of her face. Carefully, she removed it. She could feel the blood rolling down her face, and she saw more red beads of it on the necklace.

Aly raised her fingers to touch the number of small, stinging cuts.

"I know," he mocked, watching her, "I messed up your pretty face."

Another necklace flung at her and connected with her jaw. This one was sharper, and it was thrown with much more force. Force enough to knock her down and create two, deep slashes in her skin.

"Stop it!" she yelled, glaring up at him, "Why don't you ask the Graveyard Hag where I was when Sarai ran away with Zaimid?"

Suddenly, Kyprioth's eyes narrowed and grew dark with rage and he disappeared.


It was hours until he came back. For much of the time, Aly either slept or conversed with the crows. Once, when she awoke, she was face to face with Kyprioth's leg.

"You were right," he sighed, gently touching her hair, "The Graveyard Hag admitted to it readily enough."

"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you," Aly grumbled before Kyprioth patted her cheek.

"I would have been very sorry to have killed you."

"Yes, I know."

"You are a very amusing mortal," he continued.

"So you have grown attached to me?" she giggled.

Instead of answering, he ran his fingers across her face, finding each little or large mark he'd left on her when he threw the jewelry and healing it.

"Thank you," she whispered as the stinging went away.

"In the mortal realms, those cuts would not follow with you, but I'd rather look at your pretty, unmarred face."

"How kind," Aly replied dryly as she sat up, "And how long do you plan to keep me from the mortal realms?"

"Until I'm done with you."

The cold fear found its way back into Aly's gut, but she forced a careless smile, "I thought you weren't going to kill me."

"I'm not, but I still feel the need to teach you who's in charge. For some reason, you seem to think that you have some kind of power over me, which has been a problem for as long as I've known you. Don't misunderstand. Your wit is always amusing, but I don't want you thinking you have any kind of control over me."

"No, I never said that I thought I had power over you," Aly said quickly, struggling to keep her calm attitude, "I said you need me, implying that I'm important to your plan. I'd be hard to replace."

But he was no longer listening. With a flick of his wrist, Aly was pinned back to the ground.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, chuckling, "I can deal with torture surprisingly well."

"Because you've been tortured so often?"

"I have a high pain tolerance."

"I'm sure you do…but I don't plan on hurting you," he drawled, loosening her sash and pulled it away. Sudden realization hit, and her careless armor melted away.

"Nawat-," she began anxiously.

"-will never find out."

"But…"

"And I do not plan to take your virginity. I'll leave that for your crow lover."

"This is wrong," Aly whispered as Kyprioth worked on removing her sarong.

"Since when have you cared about wrong or right?" he asked, running a hand up her bare leg while removing the rest of her clothing with a snap of his fingers.

"I love him."

"Oh darling, this is not about love. This is about control. Now, relax," he ordered, "If you forget about your crow for a while, I think you'll find that this will be enjoyable."

Aly had been trying to push Nawat from her mind ever since he left with his crow army, and she had been, for the most part, successful. But now, the prospect seemed impossible…until Kyprioth twisted her nipple.

She let out a yelp as her eyes jumped to meet his. His eyes were neither filled with attraction nor lust, but she hadn't expected them to be. This was about neither to him. He would show her how much power he had over her.

"When I'm finished with you, you'll be begging me for more," he finished her thought.

"I don't beg," she retorted with an arrogant smile.

"We'll see. I'll have fun ripping my Aly apart until she's nothing more than a whimpering, quivering whore."

"And I'll have fun watching you fail."