The next morning Zarale was slow to wake up. He had spent most of the night trying to decide what to do about Marlene. She was beautiful and kind, and would give him whatever he wanted without him having to force it from her…but she was an endless annoyance. She was always chattering about some frivolous thing in her life or playing tricks on him, trying to be funny.

          He never found it funny.

          This had to end, and it had to end today.

          Sitting up he scratched his bare stomach and slowly stood, walking over to a dresser and opening a draw. Rummaging under some clothes he came across a box, which he removed and placed on the bed. He carefully removed the top and smiled at what was inside. Reaching in, he pulled out a Daqtagh. He had purchased it years ago and had never had the chance to use it, until now. Gripping it gently in his hand, he lifted it, smiling at the gleaming surface of the blade, imagining the red blood of a Human dripping from it.

          He set it back in its box and went back to the dresser to get a change of clothes. Once changed, he took the Daqtagh and stuck it in his belt and went downstairs to find Marlene.

          She was on the back patio in a bikini, reading a book. Zarale stood inside and watched her a moment, his mind void of thought. He then reached to open the door, stepped outside and walked toward her. A friendly smile on his face, he stopped over her and looked down. She shielded her eyes and looked up, a small smile on her own face.

          "Mar, I'm sorry for the way I acted last night."

          "It's okay baby, I forgive you." She put her book down and sat up, still looking up at him.

          "I'm glad." He reached down and pulled her up to him, smiling all the time. "Come with me."

          She gladly followed him into the house until he stopped in the kitchen and turned to her, the smile gone from his face. Reaching around her, he unclasped her top and pulled the straps over her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor at their feet. She looked into his eyes, and thinking she knew what he wanted, leaned up to kiss him. He quickly put his hands to her shoulders, pushing her hard to the floor. With a gasp she found herself suddenly sitting on the floor, her head suddenly slammed to the floor by an unseen force. She tried to stand, but everything went black.

          When she awoke, the first thing she saw was the ceiling, then glancing around the room, Zarale's smiling face looking down at her.

          "Glad you finally decided to wake up. Now the fun can begin." He was kneeling on the floor beside her, a crooked grin on his face. Reaching behind him, he pulled the Klingon dagger from his belt, bringing it up in front of him.

          She tried to scream but was unable, so she tried to stand instead. He had the dagger to her throat in an instant. "You move…you die." He waited until she relaxed to move the dagger away.

          "You have caused me nothing but grief. I don't know why I ever asked you to stay here, Mar." He watched the fear grow in her eyes, heard her breath grow erratic. Suppressing an evil laugh, he held the dagger above her chest, ready to stab her. Bringing it down in a quick motion, he stopped right above her breastbone, just barely pricking her skin, allowing himself to laugh at the fearful scream that came from deep within her.

          Her chest heaved and she whimpered with every breath, her eyes those of a hunted animal. She moved to sit up, but he caught her hair, wrapping it around his hand. She stopped in a sitting position, watching him. "Why…why?" He just laughed and sliced with the blade, dangerously close to her scalp. She screamed again and he pulled his hand away, dropping the mass of hair to the floor. "You…sadistic bastard!" She tried again to get away, but he grabbed her arm and laughed again.

          "You know nothing do you? You hadn't even heard of Cardassians when I first came here, much less seen one. I told you my people were peace lovers who would never dream of hurting other beings. You were stupid enough to believe me." He pushed her back to the ground and pressed the dagger to her throat. "If you move again, I'll stab your eyes out, cut off your tongue and leave you here. We'll see if you can get out alive." Her eyes grew even wider, her breath came faster.

          Still smiling slightly, he positioned the blade right above her collarbone and slowly drew it down, barely touching her skin, between her breasts, over her stomach, stopping at her navel. He heard a sharp intake of breath at the pain he caused her and his smile grew wider. It took a moment, but slowly the line from the blade became red with blood. He grinned, and moved to straddle her, the knife still in his hand. Leaning down he put his tongue to the fresh cut, moving up till he came to the collarbone where he stopped and quickly kissed her mouth. She resisted so he stabbed the blade an inch into her side. She hadn't seen it coming, and she screamed, moving away from the sudden pain. He removed the knife and tried kissing her again. This time she didn't dare refuse him, and kissed him back, tears streaming from her eyes.

          He then moved off of her, kneeled back at her side. He saw a pool of blood forming on the other side of her, and he began to wonder if he'd done too much too soon. "Get up."

          She was quick to sit up and push herself against the counter, bringing her knees to her chest. A thick trail of blood followed her. Zarale watched her, a frown on his face, unsure of what to do with her next. He was ready to leave. Sticking the blade back in his belt, he went to her and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. He then took the stairs two at a time, heading up to the tower where his writing room was. Marlene cried softly but was still, letting her body fall limp as he carried her. Once at the top, he dropped her on the floor in a corner, and went to gather some of his things.

          She put a hand to her bare side and pulling it away, gasped at the amount of blood on it. Quickly scanning the room, she saw a broken chair nearby, two of its wooden legs resting beside it on the floor. She looked to Zarale; his back was turned to her. She slid over just enough to grab one of the broken legs, and with all her strength she snapped it in half, creating a dagger of her own. Within seconds she had raced over to him and thrust the piece of wood into his back, under his right shoulder blade.

          He simply turned to her, pulling the makeshift dagger from his back. It had only gone in an inch or so, not enough to cause a lot of damage.

          "Nice try, but you should know how thick a Cardassian's hide is." With a grin he threw the bloodied piece of wood to the side and mustering all his energy, backhanded her. She was flung, unconscious, to the floor. Growling, Zarale continued his work, ignoring the slight stinging in his back.

          "Stupid girl…" He took a box from under the table and opened it. Inside was a stack of papers, the beginning of his book. He took the last unfinished page from the typewriter and set it on top of the stack, closing the box. Walking to the back of the room he rummaged in a large chest and found a travel bag which he took back to the table and placed the box and the typewriter in it.

          Putting the bag over his shoulder he looked down at Marlene. "It was a good five years, Marlene. A shame it had to end this way, but you did it to yourself." With a foot, he pushed her over on her back, watching as the blood ran from her nose and her side. Shrugging, he left the room and made his way to his bedroom where he changed his bloodied clothes, bandaged his wound and put a few extra clothes in his bag.

          He sat down with the Daqtagh in his hand, holding it up to the light, smiling at the nearly dried blood on the blade's surface. He then wiped it carefully on the bedspread, replaced it in its box, and placed the box in his bag.

          Finally closing the bag, he flung it over his shoulder and nonchalantly left his castle.