I was lost. I had been chasing him, hunting him, and now I had been caught unguarded in his territory. I was afraid, not of him, but of myself, afraid that I was enjoying myself far too much. I hadn't even thought of her during the chase, only him. I knew I was deep within the labrynth, far away from the shouting soldiers and howling dogs that had hunted with me, and that comforted me. He had lead me to seclusion, and I knew he was near. I could almost feel his breath on my neck in the pitch dark tunnel I crawled through.

I was at a dead end. I pressed my hand to the wall, panic suddenly over riding rational thought. I banged on the wall, my breathing labored with fright, and felt frantically for any sort of doorway or spring that I might have missed. I found a soft spot in the brick wall and pressed. I was rewarded, but only minimally. The brick slid out, falling to the other side, a thick beam of light filtering through, revealing to me the molding carpet of wet leaves I had been walking on.

I closed my eyes, sighing, and leaned back against the wall, still quite afraid, but not as terrified as I had been moments ago. I allowed my body to twist, my back coming flush with the wall, sliding down so that I was seated on the floor, my blond hair being tugged from its restraint.

I felt something brush my cheek, and I reached one hand up. A leaf. I opened my eyes to find it's source and froze at the figure that had been obscured by the darkness and now loomed imposingly above me, his image revealed only by the small amount of light, his features still obscured in shadow. I knew it was him. He who I had been searching for. My heart was gripped in the icy fingers of terror, I felt my resolve shatter like spun glass. He had me right where he wanted me, at his mercy, in his power.

I gasped, realizing I had been holding my breath. He drew his sword, I whimpered, closing my eyes, leaning back against the cold stone.

"Please" I whispered, my voice barely audible, even to myself "Please spare me."

He stepped towards me and my heart pounded. Maybe he hadn't heard me. What would he do to me? I... I was exhilerated with the possibilities. I was at his mercy... and I was fully enjoying myself. He knelt in front of me, and pressed me into the cold wall, his sword threatening to end my anticipation with a flick of the wrist. He spoke, and his voice was low, a sultry growl that made me shiver in spite of myself.

"I will spare you on one condition..."

He pressed his body flush with mine, and I could feel his tension, and I whimpered again. His lips hovered at my ear, his breath hot on my skin.

"And that condition must first be fully met..."