Arielle didn't stop running until she burst out of the forest and then tripped and stumbled down the hill. She rolled over onto her back at the bottom and stared at the partly cloudy sky above. Her chest heaved with each deep breath she took and the spot on her face where Derbith had hit her were beginning to turn a light purple. She got back on her feet and continued running towards the castle. Just as she rounded the back door a massive hand lashed out and grabbed her neck, yanking her towards the body it belonged to. The Kurgan growled and shook the form in his hands, choking them. When her hat fell off her head he realized who it was and let go immediately.

"Arielle?" He asked. She gasped for breath. Enraged at finding her outside the castle he gritted his teeth and grabbed her shirt, swinging her around to slam her back up against the wall. He pressed a knee between her legs and hiked it up, her toes brushed the ground. He pinned her wrists to the wall and she cried out in pain. "How dare you woman?" He shouted at her.

She didn't respond as a new wave of pain rolled over her body and instead titled her head back to rest it against the wall. It was then that The Kurgan saw the bruises blossoming on her face and his whole demeanor changed at once. He dropped his knee, let go of her wrists and shut his mouth, when she was still reeling in her pain he picked her up in his arms and rushed her up to their room. After he put her gently on their bed she let herself finally give in to her pain and closed her eyes for a few minutes to rest from her flight back to the castle.

The Kurgan left her to be alone while he made quick rounds again in the direction that she had come from. Later that night, after tearing off her cannions while her mate was gone and chaning into a simple dress and then falling asleep while waiting for him, she woke up. She found her mate sitting in the same winged back chair he sat in when she had that colossal hang over. She carefully sat up and averted her gaze, looking at the ground rather than looking into his dark, hard stare.

"Will you ever go against my orders again?" He asked quietly.

She kept looking down. "Not any time soon," she said just as quietly as he had spoken to her.

"Who was it?" He asked.

She closed her eyes to remember. "He said his name was Ian Derbith. Long hair, a face that other women would like to look at, red plaid over his shoulder with a big sword and bow."

"Derbith. . ." he contemplated the name.

"You know who he is?" She asked.

"By name. I know he works for Hartmann from time to time, doing his dirty work that the so called noble won't do himself," he growled.

Arielle finally looked up at him from under droopy eyelids. "I'll never disobey you again. You were right to keep me inside."

"I will let you out around the castle but not outside without me," he said sternly.

The woman nodded and then caught sight of her face in the mirror. She grimaced and then closed her eyes and lay her head back down on the pillows. The Kurgan stood, like he did at her hangover, and then crawled over to her on his hands and knees. He sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms.

She buried her head under the pillows and blankets. "Why do you hide from me pretty?" He asked her form under the blankets.

Her voice came out muffled against the fabric. "How can you stand to look at me? It's awful. I did this to myself, I don't want you seeing."

He raised an eyebrow and then smirked. He threw back the covers and saw her curled up, trying to hide her face. "Don't hide from me," he said in a voice of gentle command. He lifted her chin up to look at him and he looked into her deep brown eyes. He gathered her close and pressed his lips firmly to hers. He rolled on top of her and she looked at him timidly.

The innocent look in her eyes she gave that he knew wasn't true drove him mad with desire. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face and looked at her bruised skin. He looked at her with a strange calmness in his eyes that reminded her of a predator watching its prey. He looked up and out towards the balcony doors. He was going to kill the spy if he found him anyways but now he could have some fun. Torture was a talent of his.

She peeked up at him and burrowed closer to his side, taking in his smoky earthy smell. He smirked without looking at her and wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders in a possessive manner, his fingers digging into her arm but she didn't mind. She looked up at him and could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

"What are you thinking Kurgan?" She asked.

"I'm going to go look for Derbith. I'll be in the woods and won't come back until I take his head," he replied nonchalantly.

Arielle sat up and looked at him with a skeptical expression. "And when did you decide this?"

"Just now," he said.

She scowled and then got up and straddled his lap. "Absolutely not. You will wait for him to come to us, do you understand?" Her voice echoed his own from his previous orders to her the day before.

Her skirt had hitched up to her upper thighs and he rubbed his palms against her legs, moving up. "And who are you to give me orders?"

She gave him a haughty look of superiority and looked down her nose to him, "The one woman alive who can hurt you," she said.

She tried to sound menacing but The Kurgan couldn't help but smile. His blue eyes darkened and he saw her composure somewhat falter, the confidence in her eyes flickered. He grabbed her wrists and yanked her closer so that her nose touched his.

He smirked, "Oh course you are."

Suddenly he moved quick and flung her to her back, leaning in close and pinning her down with his body weight. She squirmed beneath him but he didn't move and she couldn't escape. He smirked when she gave up and sighed, her gaze drifted off to the side and he laughed.

From the forest that Arielle had visited a pair of dark green eyes watched the torch light in the master's chambers flicker and cast shadows of the figures within on the walls. His lips pulled back in a disgusted sneer and he turned away. A man on a grand grey stallion was waiting in a glen a few minutes away, he wore grand clothes of a higher status, grey eyes and white hair complete with a beard. Derbith stopped next to the horse and looked up at his employer.

"Hartmann," he said plainly, addressing him.

The other man raised his eyebrows, "That's Duke or Lord Hartmann to you spy." His voice held arrogant authority over the other man.

Derbith smirked in amusement, "I have no lord, only someone paying for my services."

"Well then you'd best address the source of your money properly if you wish to be paid at all," Hartmann said smugly.

The Scot rolled his eyes, "I know where they sleep. All that needs to happen is him to be gone or her lured out here. She's capable of escaping the castle unnoticed."

The duke thought about it, "Going in would be too difficult. He's a demon and demons don't sleep. That's how one of my other spies was killed; caught in the dead of night." He stroked his beard in thought, "We'll have to get her outside somehow."

Derbith was quick to think, "We'll leave them for a fortnight and at the first sign of them lowering their defenses we'll strike." When he saw his employer give a look of contempt at his plan he added, "Yes it'll take more time to wait, but once we have her we'll take her to the castle he doesn't know about. You'll have more than enough time to do what you plan to do."

At that his lord grinned and then nodded and turned his horse towards his castle, flying off into the night.