Hello! I'm back again, this story seems to be going on a rather lot longer than I intended, but I'm just going to go with it. Thanks to my currently lone reviewer Children-of-the-Blood I hope the story remains up to your standard.

Recap:
A hand reached out and stroked her cheek, by this time she was too shocked to scream. As he began to walk around her, she heard a faint whisper...

"Yes... You'll do nicely..."

About to turn around and ask him what he meant, she stopped short when she felt a blinding pain in her shoulder, as what felt like teeth pieced her skin. She crumpled like flower, crushed beneath a boot, with just the tiniest whimper of pain...

The pain coursed through her body, no part of her body remained untouched by the agony which ran through her. Her body writhed on the forest floor, her screams echoing eerily off the trees which surrounded her.

All the while the beautiful stranger watched her with sad eyes; he wasn't as cold as Thayet had thought him. In fact he felt quite a lot, which was why he had been looking for someone to spend eternity with him. Someone beautiful, courageous, someone who he thought he could love.
He ventured closer to her, admiring her porcelain skin, beautiful complexion and her pert lips. He noticed the odd grey hair in her raven locks and slight lines around her eyes and mouth, and smiled to himself. The process that he had begun would rid her on any signs of aging, for this she would surely thank him...

However at the same moment Thayet's mind was preoccupied with one thing, the torture through which she was going. It felt like all her muscles were going into cramp at once, causing every single part of her body to arch. Her fingers curled like claws against the pain, her spine arched and slumped sporadically, her tormented eyes rolled back into her head. Her throat felt like it was on fire, as her anguished voice strained and began to break from the screaming.

The stranger left Thayet briefly to return to her camp. As he stood in the shadow of a tree, he watched the camp which was illuminated by a brilliant moon. There appeared to be no movement, which meant that their guard had not been discovered as missing yet. However, he knew that the humans would awake soon as the first glimpses of the sun's rays were visible against the horizon signifying the end of Thayet's night of terror and the beginning of the day.
He returned to Thayet's squirming body, and picked her up gently in his arms, enjoying how she seemed to take comfort at being in his arms. He caressed her hair gently, and breathed in her lingering heavenly human scent, but he could tell that the smell was fading and being replaced by something else, something stronger. More like him. He smiled at this prospect; he finally had someone to join him, to roam the world with.

Thayet felt someone lifting her, and she thought her salvation had arrived, they had found her surely? The pain too was starting to fade; she felt it only in her shoulders where the pain had originated from. She sensed herself being placed on a much harder surface than she had been on before, more like stone. But once where she may have found lying on stone uncomfortable, she noted that this stone felt like the softest mattress. Her body adjusted to it in a way she did not expect.

Her body gave one final shudder of rebellion against the alien feelings then surrendered wholeheartedly, and the pain that Thayet was experiencing ended abruptly.
She lay still for what felt like a few moments, wary that the debilitating pain may return, however when it did not she opened her eyes and sat up.

Looking down at herself she frowned slightly, she was wearing a beautiful gown of icy blue silk with delicate midnight blue slippers. She had been wearing breeches and a shirt for as far as she could remember. She raised her hands in front of her and gasped. Her delicate but calloused hands were gone, what replaced them were ladies hands. Small, perfectly formed, un-calloused hands, but perhaps most surprising of all were her nails. Her nails had never been beautiful, they were always cracking or ripping; but now they were silver with perfectly rounded edges.
Thayet reached out with one hand, a finger outstretched. She ran her nail against the rock she sat on and was shocked to find that she managed to create a curl of rock with a nail.

"The strength is wonderful, is it not?" The silky voice startled Thayet.

She turned to find the beautiful stranger staring at her, smiling. His appearance was neat and clean, his clothes were of fine thread however they were distinctly out of fashion. As was, she noted, her own gown.
When he noted that she had not answered him, he tried again.

"I am Rufus," he faltered slightly at her expression, "And who, may I ask, are you?"

Thayet was glaring at him, and unbeknownst to her, she had the most terrifying expression on her face. She stood and raised her chin in arrogance to him.

"I am Thayet of Conté," she paused, "Queen of Tortall"

If an immortal could look shocked, he most certainly did.

"You're the Queen? But you have no wedding band, no crown, no sign of royalty at all. And why would the queen be roaming the countryside unprotected?" Rufus spluttered.

Thayet stared at him, not quite speechless.

"What have you done to me," she shrieked, "Why do I have silver nails and different hands? And why did it hurt so?"

She glared at him, he meekly handed her a sliver framed mirror. She looked at him curiously, puzzled by what he wanted her to do. She raised the mirror to her face and let out a blood curdling scream...

Hehehe I love cliff-hangers! Anyway hope its all ok, I've got more of an incentive to write if I have reviews...

Steel
xxx