AN: Don't own UW or any of its characters. 

Anya and Lucian's footsteps were the only things to be heard in the dark wilderness. The forest's wildlife tended to give werewolves a wide berth; they left behind only an ominous silence. Lucian waited patiently, which in itself was rather uncharacteristic, for the baroness to speak. They walked for a good ten minutes before Anya stopped abruptly and whirled to look at her companion. To say that Lucian was startled to see her tear streaked face would be an understatement. He began to ask her what was wrong, but Anya beat him to it.

"Before I begin, I must beg your pardon for my earlier behavior. I must admit that I was taken aback by the Nubian's transformation."

"That is understandable. It is probably I who should be begging your forgiveness. But may I ask?"Anya cut him off.

"Don't ask anything. Just listen to me please; I will explain myself in good time." She took a deep breath. "I was told that during the massacre of Castle Corvinus you… that is, I was told that the lord of the castle had died by your hand." Her wild, dark eyes sought his own. "Is this true? Did you kill Viktor?"

Lucian was taken aback. This was the last thing he expected to hear. Why would this young noblewoman, who had probably not even met his nemesis in her life, be interested in Viktor's death? He debated for a moment whether or not he should tell her the truth. In the end, he was moved by her obvious distress and decided to be honest with her.

"I did", he said simply and soberly. Her reaction to his words was also not what he expected. She gasped loudly and threw her arms around his neck, laughing joyously at the same time. Lucian was frozen in place. A red flush spread from his neck to his ears and cheeks. What in the world is this woman doing? She must be out of her mind, he thought to himself. She let go of him suddenly.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I should probably explain myself." She was mortified. Anya never showed her emotions to people, much less in such an undignified way. "My father, the previous baron of Cachtice, was sworn to Lord Viktor as his vassal. As such he was obligated to pay tribute to him every year, and in exchange Viktor provided us with his protection against the werewolves", she gave him a wry smile. "Your brethren, I suppose. In my fifteenth year, my father's silver mines became overrun with the beasts; most of his workers were infected with their curse." She hesitated for a moment. "That year my father decided to go to Viktor, without the tribute. I asked him to stay, no I begged him to stay. He did not listen. Why should he pay tribute to a lord that could not even offer his protection to his vassals?" She gave a bitter laugh at this. "Why indeed? Well as you can imagine, this did not go over very well with Lord Viktor, especially when my father accused him of being less than human. So the inhuman fiend took my father, raised him by the throat, and threw him across the room into a wall, shattering his skull in the process."

She had been staring into the distance as she spoke, but then she turned to Lucian with a sad smile on her face. "Do you understand now? I cannot but show gratitude to the man who killed my father's murderer."

In another part of the forest, members of the Lycan band were discussing whether or not to send someone after their leader.

"Mark my words", said Sabas to the rest. "That woman is a lunatic. She'll probably try to stick another hidden dagger into Lucian's back." His companions nodded in assent.

"Watch it, mongrel", Gedeon warned. Sabas responded by baring his teeth and growling deep in his throat.

"That's enough", rumbled Raze. His eyes searched the woods before him. "I think I see them coming."All of them turned in the direction Raze was looking. A few seconds later, both Lucian and Anya emerged from the darkness. Anya's men wondered what the animal had done to their commander to have possibly made her cry. She was not known for being an emotional woman.

"Are you alright milady?" asked Kardos, one of her best swordsmen.

"Yes, of course", she responded curtly, and somewhat annoyed that they had noticed.

Lucian looked somberly at his men. "There has been a change of plans. We will head for Cachtice Castle with the lady and her men tonight" he said with a look on his face that dared them to protest. They immediately began to pack what little they had. "And give them back their weapons, the will be our associates, of sorts, for a while." Raze walked over to Lucian, a concerned expression on his face. "What is this Lucian?" Lucian looked at his second in command in a sort of resigned manner.

"The lady has invited us to stay with them. Apparently she owes me a debt, I'll explain later. Anyway, I think this will be good for the men. They are in sore need of a respite from this wretched war. "

"But can we trust them?" Lucian thought for a moment before answering.

"Yes", he said, staring at Anya who was having a similar conversation with Gedeon on the other side of the camp. "We can trust them." Raze was not convinced but he did not protest. Lucian was his alpha; he would follow his orders unconditionally. He had kept them alive thus far.

Lucian turned to an equally perturbed Sabas. "You and Istvan are to stay behind to await Xristo's return. Meet us at the castle as soon as he arrives." Sabas nodded once. "Good", he turned to the rest of the men. "Move out!"

In Ordoghaz the three vampire Elders sat convened. They debated what was to be done for the campaign against Lucian and his rebel Lycans.

"We must destroy them now, before their army grows more powerful!" exclaimed Viktor. He wanted nothing more than to crush the dogs as soon as he could. Markus remained silent while Amelia shook her head.

"We must first rebuild the Death Dealer army. We are too weak now", Amelia was exasperated. She had been arguing this point for hours. How could Viktor not see the wisdom of her words? She had always been the most reasonable of the three.

"Amelia is right Viktor", Markus spoke for the first time. "They would crush us without the Death Dealers."

"Crush?! We still have warriors at our disposal, and I doubt that they can stand before the might of three vampire elders!"

"Need I remind you, Viktor, that Lucian has defeated you once before? And at the time you had an entire army of Death Dealers at your disposal", Amelia stated dryly. Viktor hissed in response. Markus rolled his eyes.

"Fine", Viktor spat. "We shall wait. The Death Dealers will be our first priority for now." Viktor remembered, though at the time he was closer to death than to life, the way the scribe Tanis had pulled him out of the river after his fight with Lucian. He stood abruptly, still furious. "In two weeks time Markus and I will return to our slumber. It is Amelia's turn to rule. For now I must take care of some pressing matters." Neither Amelia nor Markus had any idea what he was referring to. Without waiting for a reply, Viktor swept out of the room. He was fuming. He could not stand the thought of Lucian, his hated enemy, still alive. He wanted revenge with every fiber of his being. The animal that had defiled his daughter could not be allowed to live for long. He vowed this to himself as he walked the halls of Ordoghaz. First he must take care of the mortal locksmith that had crafted William's prison. With the key in Lucian's possession, he could not risk letting the mortal or his family live. He smiled maliciously; at least he was to have this consolation. He would feast tonight.

AN: Seriously people. I need some reviews. Actually I just wanna know if anyone is actually reading this crap. So, I would love you if you reviewed. If you do I promise I'll try to go review some of your fan fiction ;D