I was staring at Lord over my plate of food. He would occasionally glance at me, but I think the way I was staring at him made him a little nervous. I suppose that's what I was going for. I don't like this situation and I don't want to be here. I don't give a damn if I was promised to someone. . .if it wasn't my decision then I don't have to go through with it. I didn't make the promise. I decide what happens to me in my life.

I didn't eat much since I was so aggravated. Lord finished his food and looked at me.

"You seem that you have a lot on your mind."

"I want to go now."

"You've only just arrived."

"So what? I feel like leaving now. Ass hole."

He scowled at me, presumably because I called him an ass hole.

"People don't speak to me that way, no matter who they are."

"I would have you say you're wrong about that. So I'm going to go home now."

"You don't have a home. You forfitted that when you ran off with Ya'uta."

"I did not run off with him! He kidnapped me! He wanted to hold me against my will just as you! I don't like being contained."

"I thought you understood that you belong to me."

That pushed me even further. I jumped out of my seat and caused the chair to clatter to the floor. I slammed my hands down on the table and growled for a moment.

"What's wrong now?"

"I don't belong to anyone. I'm not going to marry you and have your litter. . .I'm going to leave this place."

"How do you think you're going to get away from us? You only know your Lynen side. . .Your wraith side is a mystery to you. You wouldn't even know if you hadn't come here in the first place."

"I would have done just fine without that information. It never bothered me. What I was and who my parents were didn't ever cross my mind, well maybe once. . .My point is, I hate you, you're a fuckhole, and I want to get out of here."

Lord stood up and walked around the table towards me. I backed away as he advanced. He stopped, realizing that I wasn't going to hold still. He grinned a little and disappeared. I sensed something behind me and whirled around just in time for Lord to get his hand around my throat. He lifted me up and slammed me down onto the table. I kicked at him with my back paws, but he didn't seem to care much. I suddenly stopped and listened to what my mind was telling me. This whole thing had been a set up. My mother had never promised me to him, instead, she had vowed to one day destroy him. He had been lying. I don't know how I caught this so fast, but if I had been conned into marrying him, that would have been a big mistake. He grinned.

"I see you've uncovered my plot. I did lie to you, but I have a good reason. You alone have the power to destroy me. If you and I had been wed, I would have been able to control you easier, you would have been more compliant. Like putty in my hands."

"We are just too different you and I. Oh and it's not me, it's you that is wrong with this relationship. . ."

He squeezed my neck tighter for a moment, then he let up again. I was a little mad at myself for letting my realization show on my face. Generally I can hide my revelations from people until I feel they should know what I know.

"I don't suppose crushing your windpipe would do much damage. . .it probably doesn't even hurt you, does it?"

I shook my head as he reached under his robe. My ears pressed against my head. I hated it when people reached under their clothing. . .it could only mean one thing. When I saw what he was holding, I realized I had been right to worry. He lifted up his whip. I watched as it unraveled. He lifted me up again and threw me over the table this time. I hit the floor and managed to dodge the whip for a few minutes. At least until he started teleporting around the room sporadically. I felt a searing pain in my back and fell to the ground. I couldn't move. I felt as all four of my paws twitched and all my muscles tensed. It was quite uncomfortable and hurt like hell. He knelt down next to me and smiled.

"You can save yourself the pain of this and agree to marry me."

I managed to raise my paw just a little bit, enough to get it into his line of view and gave him the middle finger. He scowled at me and stood up to his full height so he could loom. For some reason the "bad guys" always have to loom.

"I see. . .so it's going to be like that, is it?"

He unfurled the whip again and I closed my eyes thinking that it would be a nice reprieve to just die. After the third strike, I was unconscious.

I was back in my cell lying on my stomach, not moving at all because every time I did it would send bolts of pain throughout my entire body. I was so used to being impervious to pain that this came as quite a shock to me. I should have just stayed in bed. . .

A few times I was checked on by a wraith that wore a white robe. I figured he was some sort of medic due to his clothes and the fact that he would tranquilize me and poke and prod at my back as doctors tend to do. They never seem to understand that poking and prodding does not bring about happy sensations to a wound. As the days went by and my back healed, his visits were less frequent and I was alone more often to plot or feel a little self pity and a whole lot of loathing for the entire wraith race.

One day I was lying on my stomach feeling especially pathetic and wishing I had someone to talk to when I looked around at the other cells and noticed they were all empty. Well that's unsettling. When the hell did that occur? I thought of the dagon and felt a stab of pain. Poor Fahu. If I make it out of this with my wits still intact, I'm going to go back to that temple and tell him I'm sorry, again.

After another week or so of no food, and only a little water I could lap off the ground from a puddle fed by a leaky pipe, I was extremely pissed off. I decided I was going to tear apart the next being I came into contact with. The wraith that walked into the room that very moment must have known what I was thinking because he had a whip much like the one Lord had accosted me with. I growled at him and backed into the corner of the cell. Maybe I'll attack someone that isn't carrying a whip of doom.

"Lord told me that he didn't want me to use this on you, but if I have to I can."

I growled again.

"Is the animal side of you taking over? Are you losing your reasoning capabilities? Good. We were hoping for that."

The nice thing about being alone and having a mind like mine, you figure things out a lot faster. Wraiths can read minds when a person is broadcasting. To prevent that, I learned a way to shut them out, to stop broadcasting my thoughts. And here he is thinking that I'm loosing my reasoning capabities. Hah hah hah. I kept my mind shut, but to myself I said 'fuck you buddy'. I can reason just fine. I, unlike some creatures, wont become a wild animal. This jack ass is going to get a nice surprise when I kill him. That's after I figure out how to get that whip away from him, of course.

The wraith slowly opened the cell door and held the whip at the ready. I stayed immobile in the corner. I wanted to seem as dispirited and compliant as I could. He tossed something at my wrists and it wrapped itself around tightly. Fuck.

I was drug out of the room, down a long hallway, through a door, and then secured to a device that held my arms outstretched from side to side. This left me completely unable to defend myself. As soon as Lord walked in the room, I knew I was in for a hellish time. Where's Samanosuke when I need him? I would even settle for Jubei right now. Lord grabbed my face and made me look at him.

"I'm sorry for the way you've been treated."

"Yeah right, you instructed it, fuckwad."

I snapped at his hand, but he moved it before I could take off his fingers.

"It's not my fault. You just need to loosen up. Forget the past. Let's have a future together, Lena. We could be so happy."

"Fuck that."

He scowled at me and pulled out his whip. As I watched his face muscles contort, I realized that scowling seems to be the only expression he knows. All other times he has a completely blank look on his face and an almost vacant look in his eyes. The wheel is turning. . .but the hampster is dead.

"Just like your mother. She never listened to reason either."

I felt it was about time to get something cleared up. It had been bothering me for a while.

"You know, I'm starting to think that everything you've said about her was a lie. I don't think that wraith was my mother. And that vision I had about my father, I'm not a lynen, that was all bullshit. You've been trying to program me since I arrived here. I think you have no idea what I am and that's why you want me so bad. You want to learn what I am and what I can do."

He looked at me and grinned. I knew it. I was thinking that it was too conveinient that I showed up on a random planet that happened to be my birthplace. All lies.

"So my secret is out. . .no worries. You'll find that I always get my way no matter what."

He walked around behind me and I closed my eyes waiting for the searing pain of the whip. I felt it hit my back. I let my body go limp after a few minutes of hard lashings. I can't take this anymore. Lord stopped whipping me and walked around in front of me again.

"So how about now?"

I just glared at him.

"Take her back to her cell. We'll try again next week."

I was unchained and two wraiths began to drag me out the door. I looked back over my shoulder at Lord and slightly grinned. The expression on his face almost made me laugh. He had been totally clueless that I was feigning pain. He was going to say something, but it was way too late for that.