Chapter 17

"Home sweet home," Circe sung, her hips twisting from side to side as she sauntered through her temple, slaves taking Diana's shield and weapons and storing them away in her trophy hall along with so many other "gifts" from her conquests. Her swagger filled steps carried her to the central room of her temple, a combination luxurious entertaining and bedchamber area, filled with all kinds of debaucherous delights.

She took her spot upon her central dais, where instead of a throne sat a large divan for the lounging of the queen of the castle in excessive comfort.

Circe summoned her mirror to let her view what was going on in Diana's bedchamber, laughing with delight as the mirror showed a close up of Diana's pain filled expression of disgust at the advances of Triton. "Oh good, we didn't miss the good part," she chuckled down at Arthur as he swam in his cup. She was almost certain the little fish was giving her cut eye.

"You can't really see well in there, now can you, my little pet?" she beckoned for two of her other man toys to come forward with a snap of her fingers. "Now, I don't normally do this, but I want you to watch your little Queen get stripped of the last shred of dignity she has..." Circe spoke, casting a reversal spell over the goblet, returning Arthur to his human form.

Upon returning to his natural state, Arthur's first instinct is to attack Circe, but with her two servants there he was immediately intercepted, arms locked behind his back as his knees were knocked out from under him. As strong as Arthur was, as he was no mere human when it came to strength, possessing the strength and durability of an Atlantian, Circe's henchmen were stronger, locking his arms behind his back with a sharp, stabbing pain burning through his shoulders.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," she said with a laugh. "Not only is your little queen going to be defiled by Triton, then live the rest of her life as his perpetual slave, she's going to go into that bondage thinking your last act as her partner was to betray her and make love with me, in the very bed she has longed to share with you..." She broke off into peals of laughter and the rage boiled to the surface.

"You witch!" he hissed.

"You say that as if it were an insult," she cooed, coming around to stroke his cheek. "Besides, it's not like you actually loved her, did you?" she teased him, knowing full well that while Arthur's feelings for Diana were complex, and perhaps he had never thought of her in the same manner he had Mera, that she was not his true love, he cared deeply for her, he always had, even during the most bitter parts of the war, if he was given the chance to turn back the tides of conflict, to undo everything, and save both his own soul and Diana's, he would have in a heartbeat.

He wrenched his head away from her, trying to twist away from the grip of her man slaves, but it was useless; strong as he was, they were stronger, especially with two of them.

"Foolish man," Circe chided. "Just watch as your beautiful Diana is devoured by your hated rival, then you'll see how much you really meant to her." The purple haired sorceress sauntered around him and took her spot on the dais, lounging comfortably and settling in to watch the show as a slave brought wine and food.

Violent blue eyes burned up at the purple haired sorceress, his normally full mouth pulling into a tight, thin line. "You evil whore," he spat, eyes on fire.

Circe merely laughed as she crossed in front of him. "Oh, you're so much better than me," she rolled her eyes, gripping his hair tightly, her nails digging into his scalp as she stretched the hairs' grip on his scalp. "You haven't even seen the main show yet," she laughed, moving so he could view the events unfolding in Diana's bed chamber, on the bed he should have taken her to if not for the war between their countries. She laughed, directing a third slave to hold his head in place so he could not look away.

"Diana!" he shouted, trying to lunge forward. Fueled by anger and hate he succeeded in gaining an inch on his restraints, but not enough to free himself.

He saw the trident's blast connect with her square in the chest, throwing her body limply back into the sand and surf, before the rounded edge came crashing down against her head. He physically winced; the force which Triton was using on her seemed excessive, even to Arthur. Unbidden, the corners of his mouth turned down into a frown, his brow furrowing. He was to watch the rape of his … what would he call Diana? Former love? But had she ever loved him? Really loved him? He remembered her soft, shy admittance of love, a blush, a sigh and a whisper in the night, but had she known what love was then? Certainly now there were emotions between them, things left unsaid after years of mutual abuse and aggression, but in the miasma of emotions, was there really anything left that could resemble love?

"Oh, don't you worry, she's not going to be thinking much about you right now, except how you betrayed her with her sworn enemy in the marital bed you should have shared with her," Circe laughed, letting the mirror pull out to expose the room, torn asunder by what Diana would assume was the passions of the two. "Worry not my little fishy lover, you will get your chance to please me for real soon enough, but I could not trust that you would obey so soon. After all you were able to see through the spell I cast and my disguise as Mera…" Her voice sounded almost hurt as she stroked his hair, walking behind him and up to her divan.

"Bring him to me," she said, crooking her finger to her pets, having Arthur dragged like a piece of meat up the steps to her feet, where she continued to stroke his hair, correcting the angle of his head every time he tried to look away.

He did not want to watch; he didn't want to bear witness to Diana's submission and humiliation at the hands of his rival. Why she did not attack back was a question he could only answer by suggesting some part played by Circe. If she could cast a spell that hypnotized him so to her charms and one that disguised her as Mera, Arthur was confident that she would be able to subvert even the will of Diana.

"Oh you will watch, my dear," she cooed to him, stroking his hair, grabbing a handful of the still short cropped blonde locks, wrenching his face to the mirror, simultaneously calling for the mirror to be brought closer. "Watch your flower get plucked from the ground and have her purity taken by a man you both despise..." Circe hissed.

She wasn't sure what she enjoyed more, the humiliation of forcing Diana to submit to the dark desires of Triton, or the exercising of control over Arthur, forcing him to watch. The pain reflecting in his eyes let the sorceress know that her spell had worked its charm; he had forgiven Diana her sins against him and had seen in her now the same charming traits he had adored when they were in their youth.

"Oh, don't worry little king," she cooed, scratching behind his ears as if he were a dog. "You'll get your chance to prove your loyalty to me."

His mouth turned down as Triton spoke and he heard the words as clear as if he were in the room, listening to Triton give Diana details of a false plot between him and Circe, the lie that he had taken Circe in her bed, which he kept referring to falsely as "their" bed. They had never slept together, even during their time courting.

"You don't like his lies?" she called to him, eliciting a sharp look from her prisoner. "Oh, you can't be remembering when you lied to her, can you? When you told her you loved her, when you said you would leave Mera if only she'd ask, knowing she never would ask you to give up the person you loved more than anything?" She taunted him, but he did not react. This bored Circe, causing her to smack him in the back of the head, more of a swat, really, with her finger tips.