Wow, good Lordy! So many reviews! I love 'em! I love you all for taking the time to comment and I'm so glad you're liking it!

This chapter took me a while and is shorted then the previous two. I wanted to explain the relationship between the Vaako's coz it seemed to me as if very little love was involved in their marriage. I dunno.

Anywho, no Riddick in this one…sorry. But he'll be getting to the Underverse soon. I probably need to have a few more chapters before I get there but I'm not sure. I'm kinda letting this fic flow by itself so whenever inspiration strikes I follow it.

Thankies again for all you great reviews! 18 already! Phew!

lcores- thank you! The next instalment is here!

FitMama- Wow! A writer for the script of Twohy? I WISH! If I had been I would not be working in a sunbed shop and failing my university degree but wow! What a compliment! goes all red

TotallyRiddickObsessed- Yes Aereon is an evil madam! She's a different kind of bed guy. I dunno, in the film I never saw her as one of the good guys…I guess that leads to the argument what is good and evil? It's all just a point of view really…ow! My heads hurting now…

crematoriacon- thankies! Here's the next part. Hope you like!

Silverbloodrain- hee! Thankies! You rock too! Thanks for reviewing!

rebel1203- don't worry, I'll be posting this right through to it's conclusion! I want to get it out coz I've had this fic in my head for a LONG assed time. I love it and I want to get the good bits out.

Tesmoname- Yeah, I noticed them. The bald ones? Hee. That was kinda where the idea came from but it came mainly from the film 80 Days Around the World you know the part where they meet Arnie as that king-bloke and he's all like "You can be my seventh wife!" LOL! I had mental images of Riddick like that. Hmmm…

Riddick: Hey you, writer-girl, you can be my seventh wife! How's Tuesday for you?

Me: Erm, I'm working Tuesday, but Thursday…I'm free ALL day!

Hahahaha! I'm being daft now! Thankies for you review!

a- oh he can't kill 'em…I have big plans for Vaako and the Uber Bitch…

JohnMayer1207- Well, here is the next part. I got that out quite quick if I do say so myself…hope it's up to scratch and thankies for reviewing!

Well, on with the show. I didn't know what Lord and Dame Vaako's first names where so I made them up. Lord Vaako's first name (according to me) is Itheus and Dame Vaako's is Aniva. Sorry if they're poo names…suggestions would be good and I'll changed 'em.

Righteo, Happy Reading!

Gem

xxx

Chapter 3: A Marriage of Convenience.

Dame Vaako peered into the large, oval mirror set upon her vanity table, cluttered and covered with the many gifts of perfume, make up and jewellery that her husband had showered her with over the ten years that they had been married.

It had been an arranged marriage. One discussed and decided upon by their parents in order to better the family name or bring power and importance and riches to them. Love had had nothing to do with it. A marriage of convenience.

Vaako had been young then. They both had, but him more so. He had been a newly promoted Captain, serving under his father's command. All of sixteen summers old, with a bright and brilliant future ahead of him. Many girls had swooned at his feet since he had come of age. Flocks of them had followed him, desperate for a glimpse at his handsome face or a kind word, though they rarely received either. He could have had his pick of any woman in the basilica. Young or old. All admired him…even her own mother gained a certain gleam in her eye when he was mentioned.

Yet Vaako had needed more than just any woman beside him. He needed one of unsurpassed beauty on his arm for the other Captains, Generals and Commanders to covet. Jealousy was a powerful ally within the constricting hull of the Lord Marshal's armada ships and many a man had been promoted simply because the Commanding Officer desired his wife.

And she had been beautiful beyond comparison. A rose among the thorns of the other Necromonger girls. Different to them all, her deep honey-coloured skin standing in exotic contrast to their pale, pallid, pasty faces. Oh how they hated her. The girl who gained favour with all despite the fact that her family were merely average. Her father had been just another face among the congregation all of his life as had his father and his father's father. He wanted a better life for his only child than simply becoming a soldiers wife yet it had been her mother, the cool, calculating woman that she had been, who had pushed her father, given him ideas, a plan to flaunt their daughter's rare gift of exquisiteness before the Vaako's, for it was common knowledge that they sought a good wife for their son.

At first she had protested. She was eighteen and claimed undying love for a newly converted soldier. His eyes had been deep and soft and his hair as dark as her own. She had spent many a day…and a night enjoying his company.

However, after tasting the power that she held over so many men upon that night of her first introduction to Vaako, after sensing every single pair of eyes in the entire grand hall upon her barely dressed body, wanting her, desiring her, she knew that she would thirst for the feeling forever. Her need for power growing with every second that she captivated their attention, turning them away from their own wives, who glowered at her darkly.

And she did not fail in her task of capturing Vaako's attention either. All it took was one heated glance at him across the filled room and he had been hers. A rabbit caught in her snare. A fly in her web. He had wanted her, lusted after her along with the rest of them and she? She had wanted his power. An equal trade if ever she saw one. Her body for his control and supremacy. Her mother always told her that behind every great man there was an equally, if not more, great woman. If she had Vaako captivated by her, she owned him, owned his dominance.

'There are many ways to make a man do your bidding.' her mother had told her upon her wedding day. 'Subtlety. Make him believe that the idea was his to begin with. Make him believe it is he who controls you. Then you shall have the keys to the very Underverse!'

Dame Vaako was startled from her memories by the door to their chamber slamming open, cracking back against the thick metallic wall with a thunderous clap. The mirror before her shuddered precariously upon her vanity table, turning her image into a shivering, blurred semblance of her true self.

Her husband stood in the doorway, pale face livid and his cheeks flushed slightly with anger. One look into his stormy eyes and she knew that she was likely to receive another beating before the day was out.

She sighed, steeling herself for what was about to unfold, returning to inspect the bruise upon her cheek while desperately attempting to remember her mother's words. Her body for his power…an equal trade. An equal trade…

"You went to far today, Aniva!" his voice was quiet, controlled but she knew that would not last for long. He had never been able to control his temper and she had received many injuries at his hands throughout their volatile relationship.

"What's done is done, dear husband." she responded, her voice light as she dabbed a concealing balm over her darkened and swollen cheek. "I did what I did in an attempt to save us."

Vaako snorted, a bitter, mirthless sound as he moved into the room and closed the door behind him, locking it.

"To save us?" he scoffed, stalking towards her across the smooth, slate grey floor. "Like the Underverse you did! You have been fascinated with the Furyan since you first beheld him!" he snarled and she noted the jealousy flash dangerously within his black eyes. After all, he saw her as his prize, his possession, a treasure that was solely for his enjoyment. No man liked to share and Vaako more so than any.

"Please, Itheus!" she replied with a small laugh, turning in her seat to look at him face to face rather than through her mirror. "You really believed that I was offering myself to him?"

Vaako's eyes sparked at her again as he neared, encroaching upon her personal space, intent on intimidating her.

"Weren't you?" he queried, his voice was barely more than a whisper, furious and deadly.

Aniva Vaako met her husbands glare with her own, reaching out her small hand to caress his cheek lovingly.

"Come, my dear, think you so little of me?" she purred, smiling as Vaako's body began to react to her advances against his will. He slapped her hand away and spun on his heel, standing with his back to her, fists clenched at his sides.

"At this moment in time? Yes. You acted like nothing but the cheap harlot he accused you of being. How do you think that makes me look? Lord Vaako, unable to keep his wife from straying!"

Vaako ripped the armour from his chest in a swift, angry motion, tossing it across the room with a great raging crash of noise. His boots followed moments later until he stood bare chest gleaming with a sheen of fury induced sweat.

"Itheus, darling, you're only going to give yourself a headache." her voice was melodious, attempting to sooth his anger. "I was merely testing him. If he had accepted my offer it would have been the perfect opportunity to kill him." she stood, her hands teasing a trail up and down Vaako's spine and shoulders causing him to shudder beneath her touch. "A knife in his back…poison in his wine…I would have killed him eventually and then we could have ruled all the Multiverse together." she slunk around him, her fingertips dancing across his collar bones and resting upon his chest as she stopped in front of him, glancing up into his eyes.

Vaako's hand shot out of nowhere, unexpected by her entirely, catching her across the same cheek the Riddick had wounded and reopening the split in her lip. The power behind his blow was nowhere near as immense as Riddick's had been, only causing her head to snap to one side instead of sending her sprawling unceremoniously across the floor. Still the sting caused tears to form in her eyes, tears that she had wanted to shed when the new Lord Marshal had rejected her and stuck her but her pride had been to great in that moment and she had left with her head high.

"If today's events are ever repeated…" his voice was a low, almost primitive growl deep in his throat. "…I will kill you myself…Is that understood?"

Dame Vaako nodded her head slightly, lowering her eyes and still cupping her cheek with one hand. At least Vaako had believed her nonsense. A small dent to her pride was nothing compared to the fact that she could still make him believe whatever she wanted him to. She still held the power in their marriage.

"Good." he grunted taking her chin in his large, war-scarred hand and turning her head to inspect her split lip. The blood poured freely again and Vaako grinned at her, running his thumb over the scarlet fluid and smearing it over her lip entirely. "Know who you belong to."

His lips caught hers in a split second, almost too fast for her to register what exactly he as doing. But then her instincts kicked in and she permitted Vaako's passion to overwhelm her. That was one thing that she didn't have to pretend in their relationship. Vaako was a good lover. The best. Never would she have to look elsewhere to be completely satiated and it was always better after they had fought.

"I belong to you…" she managed to whisper breathlessly, tearing her lips from his for long enough to take a gasp before he reclaimed her.

-ooooo-

Was that chapter totally horribly bad? Lemme know!