Prince Nuada did not slumber for long. According to him, his war against human kind had already begun and he would not allow himself to sleep more than was necessary. Stretching, he got up from his bed. Even though his body had rested, his mind still pondered the female captive human he would soon be dealing with. Firstly, he needed to discover what variety of powers she might possess.

He pulled on his boots and proceeded into the outer area of his lair. The woman was still out cold. It had disgusted him to have to bring a human to his living quarters, and he decided that if she proved troublesome, he would transfer her to the fearsome dark dungeons that still existed on the outskirts of Bethmoora. These had been constructed by the goblins some thousands of years ago, at the start of the Great War. Their walls and floors had been equipped with surfaces of cruel, jagged barbs, which were intended to afford prisoners the least mobility possible. The jutting spikes would cut and pierce all flesh coming into contact, and indeed most human captives did bleed themselves out as their only way of escape. Nuada's eyes glittered with his dark memories, and then fell with scowling clarity on the tattered mat covering the woman.

He went to look for Wink and found him in the adjoining chamber, hovering over a large cooking pot as he prepared a breakfast.

"Mr. Wink, I need you to fetch me some things from the market," Nuada informed. Wink turned to him to listen and nodded. Nuada leaned over the scrubbed wooden table and began to write out a long list. When he had finished, he handed it to Wink. "I need all of these," he said." If you cannot find some of the items here, feel free to travel to the black markets in the city of New Orleans. I need your arm to be mended as early as possible".

"Thank you, my Prince." Wink nodded and bowed, but stood there looking as if he had something more to say. He wondered if he dared ask his prince to show mercy to the woman.

Nuada impatiently thrust a large sack into Wink's uninjured hand and ushered him to abandon his activity at the stove. This errand, he thought, would keep the troll out of his way for at least two days. He wished to interrogate his captive in private.

After Wink had left, Nuada rummaged around a trunk in his chambers. He came out of his chambers holding a long length of a thin silvery cord and used it to tie the woman's hands. All this done, he seated himself comfortably on a chair and waited. Within the hour, the woman stirred. Slowly, her eyes opened a fraction, and Nuada saw the strange gleam of green under her lids. She blinked several times to adjust to the darkness and tried to move her arms, but quickly realised that they were tied to her front. With difficulty, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked around the chamber until her eyes fell on the known figure seated cross-legged on a chair. A startled cry escaped her lips.

Nuada smiled, his eyes glinting with malice. "Hello, human," he said very smoothly. "Welcome to my den".

If one was unfamiliar with Prince Nuada, one would take it as a genuine warm greeting, but Emerald, unfortunately, knew better. She was struck by his topaz eyes glaring through the dark lining of his lids, and his black lips curled in a menacing smile. He frightened her, but she tried to calm herself. Appearing weak would only cause him to attack her sooner. Looking about her, she tried to figure out where she was being held. It had the look of an underground cave, and the only source of light was a small fire in a grate at the far side of the wall behind the prince. She heard a familiar lurching and grating sound like that of a train running, and her location became apparent to her.

"Am I in the subway?" she asked warily. Nuada's smile tightened, but he nodded. She slowly got to her feet and took a few small steps. Apart from her hands being bound to her front and the soreness in her body from lying on a cold stone floor, she sensed that she was unharmed.

Nuada went on watching her. He was giving the woman free rein for now, to see if she would reveal some form of magic to free herself. He took especial notice of the brilliant spring-green of her eyes, which reminded him of the emerald isle of Ireland. They had a certain elven characteristic to them. He wondered if she might be part elf. However, even a part-elf could not perform such feats of magic, he thought before dismissing the idea.

Emerald had expected the prince to lurch to his feet when she moved, but he just sat there watching her. She explored the room, seeing that other chambers led away from the place of her awakening. There was even a staircase set into a corner. She looked at the prince again, but he remained motionless. She had no idea of where this underground was located, or of why she had been kidnapped.

"Do you want to trade me to the BPRD, for your sister?" she asked.

The prince gave her a cold look and said, "I do not need to bring filth into my den to reach my sister."

Emerald was confused for a few seconds until she realised that he considered her to be the 'filth'. "Then why have you kidnapped me?"

Nuada left his chair and walked up close to her. Much too close, thought Emerald, as he had come near enough for his breath to fan the stray strands of hair on her forehead. She took a step back, but he continued to closely circle her, eyeing her up and down. Emerald tried to keep the fear from her mind. She could handle him if it came to that, she told herself. She twisted her wrists inside the binding of rope, but the more she struggled, the tighter it seemed to get.

Nuada gave a soft laugh. "It's no use, human. You are bound by elven cord. The harder you struggle, the tighter it will hold, until it cuts into your wrists." Emerald stopped moving immediately.

"Why have you kidnapped me and brought me here?" she asked.

"Last night, I saw your trick...and would like an explanation," replied Nuada. "Tell me; how does a hollow-hearted creature such as yourself, create such magic?" He held an unblinking gaze on her.

Emerald immediately froze. She didn't know what the crazy elf prince would do to her if he found out about her powers. Would he use her in his war against the humans or for revenge against the BPRD agents? She did NOT want the Bureau to learn of about her uniqueness. She feared that they would use her in the same way, as a soldier instead of an historian. Not to mention the extensive and painstaking medical procedures and experiments that she would have to endure. She decided to risk it, and lie. If she could convince him that she was just an ordinary human, he might let her go. She had survived his mayhem on two occasions and she prayed that she had one more lifeline to bet on.

So she said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've done no tricks. I'm sure you're just mis..."

"Do not lie to me!" the prince shouted. "I saw with my own eyes what you did to the forest god. You made it shrink back into a seed!" He again approached so close that she felt his breath on her. And he allowed no escape with his arm catching hold of her waist. He looked into her eyes such that he saw himself reflected in her green glassiness. "Tell me how you did it!" he demanded, "And do not lie!"

Emerald tried to look away from the hard cold eyes, but found that she could not. She twisted her body, fighting to break away. Nuada's hold did not slacken.

"Let me go!" she shouted back. The cords cut wounds across her wrists, but she didn't care. She had to get away from the elf prince, whose eyes had taken on the look of a predator.

"Tell me what other secrets you hide!" he commanded.

Emerald tried kicking at him, but Nuada was too fast and easily avoided her moves. But he returned a kick to the back of her knee, collapsing her leg painfully. Before she could recover, the prince had pushed her down to fall squarely on her back on the stony floor.

"Oww!" she moaned, rocking in pain. He landed himself on top of her, forced her arms up over her head and gripped them hard. Emerald struggled against him, but he kept her pinned down under him with his weight. "Let go of me! Please, please, please!" Emerald was screaming now; her brain warning her of a new danger. Nuada's face was now so close to hers that their noses almost touched. She hadn't stopped struggling and twisting, and her tears poured from the corners of her eyes and dripped downward into her hair. The elven cords were still cutting into her, as promised.

Nuada lowered his lips to her ear. "Tell me," he whispered softly, but his voice made Emerald's heart freeze with cold dread. She had no choice now. The prince would continue to hurt her until she revealed her secrets or died. She knew her life was worth as much as that of an ant's to the elf prince.

She tried to take a deep breath to calm the sobs that were threatening to explode out of her. "I can feel the trees...and they can...understand me..." she said falteringly.

Nuada raised his head. He had observed that the form of her ear was narrow and pointed and oddly leaf-shaped. Even elven ears did not appear that way. He was also somewhat distracted by her scent for a moment. Now he looked at her tear-stained face, her eyes screwed up in pain and fear. "I can...channel the energy of the earth into them...make them grow..." she was saying.

Nuada wanted to shout at her for lying again, but as much as he disbelieved humans, he didn't feel the woman was lying now. He had managed to terrify her into confessing, but this was not what he had expected. He had expected dark sorcery and illusions to fool the mind. And so he listened.

"Last night...the forest god spoke to me.." she whispered. "He said he was the last of his kind, and he asked me not to let you waste him." She couldn't believe that she was explaining her secret to someone other than her father. Saying such things would have assured her a personal ward at the city's best mental institute.

Emerald opened her eyes then, to peer at the prince's face which now held a very different, pained expression. She shifted slightly and Nuada looked down at her, and realised that the slick wetness on his hands was her blood. In the low light of the chamber, it looked almost black. He let go of her wrists and lifted himself off her body. He sat nearby and waited for her to continue speaking.

"The god asked me to drain away his life force and turn him into a seed again...and that's what I did," she said. She moaned as she slowly tried to sit up.

Nuada leapt to his feet, startling her. Involuntarily, she scooted a few feet away from him. He looked down at her again as if measuring her words. Emerald's heart sank. "I don't think he believes me," she thought in despair. Nuada walked away from her and disappeared into the inner chambers. Emerald sat cradling her bleeding wrists, and trying not to think of how long she would live.


...

Author's note: The idea of the elven cord came to me while watching the Lord of the Ring II movie where Frodo had bound Gollum with it and he couldn't escape.

I know the description of Emerald's ear is confusing, but I want them to look like Tauriel's from 'The Hobbit'. Nuada's elven ears are a bit different from those of the elves in Lord of the Rings.

Reviews are my fuel to write...so please send some my way!

Beta reader: Flint and Feather

I also want to thank Crazy Norwegian from Deviant Art for letting me use her sketch of Prince Nuada as the cover for this story. I love how real and intense his eyes look in the sketch. I don't know if it's allowed on the site but until someone points out, here's the link to it:

art/Prince-Nuada-399203221