Fenris stared out the barred window, hands clenching and unclenching like an angry cat. This latest humiliation was only the last in a long line, but it still had him wanting to rip of Hadriana's face. Preferably with his teeth. He shivered as a cold gust of wind whirled through the window and wrapped itself around his body, which was still nude. As nude as he had been when the guards had burst into the room and overpowered him and Anna, dragging them both off in chains. They had both fought, of course, him with his fists and the power within him, she with her sword. A shiver of arousal slipped through him as he thought of how she had looked with her sword and shield, a whirling dervish of death, without a stitch of clothing on her body. At least they had wrapped her in a shroud before they were dragged off. He didn't know where she was now, or what had become of her. He had been thrown in this cell immediately upon their arrival at Danarius' mansion, and all he knew was that Anna had still been in the grand entrance hall by then. He had not had any visitors yet, so there was no one he could get information from. All he could do was hope that she was alive. He huddled in the corner furthest from the window, trying to make himself as small as possible. His body ached from battle, and bruises were starting to appear over most of his body. Some of them, though, were pleasant to look at: the marks that Anna had made in her passion. And oh, what a sight her passion had been! He could almost sense her hands, even now, and the feeling of rightness as they touched him. The chill permeated his bones, turning his mind sluggish and tired. Even though he struggled, he soon gave in to the exhaustion. He fell asleep, cheek pressed against the cold stone, arms wrapped around his knees. He dreamed of Anna.
Anna winced at the soreness in her shoulders, knowing the pain to come, but she still would not scream even as the chains were wrapped around her slender wrists and they were slowly raised over her head. Soon she was standing on her tiptoes, and still the chain tightened until she hung from her wrists, forcing her arms to support her entire body weight. Her arms screamed in pain but she clenched her teeth and refused to show the tormentor any weakness. She could survive this, she would survive this, she had to survive this - and free Fenris. That was her mission and she would not fail her mage now that she had finally found him. The man who had tormented Anna on and off for two days walked over to stand in front of her, running one of his grubby hands down the length of her nude body. She tried, but could not suppress a disgusted shudder. It made her feel filthy and used, and she wanted more than anything to kick him as hard as she could. But she remembered what he had done to her when she did just that, so she grit her teeth and endured.
"Pity the master wants you untouched" he lamented. "Ranted something about you quickening with the source's seed, and that the vessel mustn't be sullied." He leaned in and Anna couldn't avoid smelling his foul breath. "Pity, that, I bet your quim is nice and tight." Ah, to the void with the consequences, Anna thought and spat in the bastard's face.
The satisfaction at seeing the look of shock on his face vanished quickly, though, when he picked up a wooden staff and struck her, hard, in the chest. Anna cried out as she felt something inside snap. The pain was agonizing. The last thing she heard before she passed out was the torturer's mocking laughter.
The door to the cell opened slowly, and Fenris carefully stretched his aching limbs. The cold muscles screamed in protest at the motion but he would not face whoever was going to enter huddled up like a child. He would stand tall, even if his legs were shaking.
Danarius stood in the doorway and looked at him with barely restrained disappointment in his cold grey eyes.
"My sweet little wolf" he chided, "how you sadden me. Have I not given you everything? A home, clothes, power. I've even turned a blind eye to you cavorting with my apprentice. And this is how you repay me? Run of and rut with a dog lord?" Fenris said nothing. When his master was in this sort of mood it was best to do so. It was only a matter of time before the rage simmering beneath the surface would be released and then the pain would begin. Danarius shook his head, clucking his tongue like a mother chiding his child.
"Well" he went on, "At least it brought one good thing with it. You chose well - she's strong, and at the height of her cycle, too. There is a distinct possibility that she's already quickening. I've always wanted to breed you." Fenris' brain was a whirlwind of confusion. Quickening? Breeding? He was too cold, too exhausted, to think. Danarius calmly went over to him and attached a silver chain to the collar around his neck.
"Come now, little wolf, let's get you fed. And dressed. And later, maybe I'll let you breed your little bitch again." He led an unresisting Fenris out of the cell and down the stairs. He came obediently, ready to do anything to get out of the cell, out of the cold. His thoughts again went to Anna, and this time something so shocking happened that he lost his footing and stumbled on the staircase. The chain around his neck tightened painfully, but he was barely aware of it. He had thought of Anna - and she had answered him!