The day she woke up again was dark and dismal. Under any other condition she liked the rain and clouds but being tied to a stranger's bed while her mate was out there looking for her didn't do anything to help her mood. She was laying on her back with her arms aching in their outstretched position, staring out the window. Following the rain droplets down the window pane.
It had been four days since she was taken and she hated it. For the most part Hartmann had left her alone, he sent a serving woman at meal times to feed her, an armed guard to watch her when she had to relieve herself. Other than that she was left alone. While she liked not having him stare at her being without her mate for the first time since she gave in to him in her last world gave her a sickening empty feeling in her stomach.
She sighed again as her thought turned to the pendant that The Kurgan had given her. Hartmann had taken it and given it to his daughter, but when her brother came to her asking for a gift to give to a woman he was courting she gave it to him. That was unknown to Arielle and shewas heartbroken over its loss.
Suddenly she bolted upright when the door slammed open and Hartmann stormed in, his face red and his expression one of complete rage. He went to the side of the bed and then grabbed her hair and yanked her close to him.
"Your 'mate' destroyed my castle! He laid waste to everything! The village! My home!" He let go of her and stood up looking towards the door. "Enter!" He shouted. A man walked holding a silver tray, on top of which was a green plant and a pewter goblet. He turned back to her and leaned in close. "He killed my son! My second son Angus! That demon killed him!" His hand made contact with her smooth cheek with a hard smack. She fell to the side with a yelp but Hartmann grabbed her robe and yanked her back to him. "My daughter's face was ruined when he threw her through a window, my wife is ill from the horror of it, and my son is dead!"
She glared at him with a look that reminded him of The Kurgan. "And that's not even half of the terror he will cause!" She shouted. "You should never have taken me, you've doomed yourself old man!"
His eyes went as big as she had ever seen them and he ushered the tray bearer forward, a old man who had to be older than Hartmann. The man came forward in a rushed, yet dignified, manner and his lord snatched the root off the try. He grinned wolfishly at Arielle and she looked at the root warily. She knew what was coming and she tried to brace herself to resist. He grabbed her cheeks in one hand and forced her open but as soon as his fingers touched her lips she bit him.
He yowled and yanked his hand back. He looked at his fingers and just as he raised his hand to hit her again someone grabbed him. Arielle looked and her stomach sank when she saw that it was Derbith. He hadn't made a sound when he entered the room and she had been hoping he left, it was obvious he hadn't. He looked at Arielle and smiled.
"Let me assist you Duke Hartmann," he said happily.
The flustered Duke gave the root to Derbith. The other man looked at it and then sat ontop of Arielle and squeezed her jaw open. He bite off a piece of the root and chewed it then put his mouth to her's and as she struggled to push him away he gave her the chewed root and his poisoned saliva. When he pulled away he forced her mouth closed and kept it closed, the root stuffed in her mouth made it difficult to breath and was forced to swallow. She gagged and gasped for breath but as she did he went in a second time and forced the rest of the root into her system.
As she sputtered and gagged and gasped for breath Derbith gently took Hartmann's elbow and guided him to the door where the third man in the room had just exited through to wait for further instructions. Derbith turned to his employer and raised an eyebrow.
"If you're going to kidnap someone, think carefully when you decide to drug them. Don't feed her so regularly anymore, move her to a servant's room. She's being treated far too lavishly for a prisoner. Would you treat a prisonaer of war this way?" His tone mocked the Duke to no end.
The duke sniffed haughtily and glanced back at Arielle. "I suppose you're right. Her rations will be cut to one a day and she'll be moved to the west wing where the servants stay. That bitch of a woman will pay for the death of my son. And you're sure using this over time will do things to her mind? Such as making her forget who she is?"
Derbith nodded, "Put it in her food, her drink. Dry it, crush it, mix it. As long as you give it to her all day every day and keep Von Krohn at bay long enough it'll do thing to her head."
He began walking to the room Hartmann had provided for him when the duke stopped him for a moment. "Why didn't you suffer from the effects of the root? You must had swallowed some yourself."
At that Derbith smiled and laughed, "I am quite familiar with Valerian root my lord. I use it often on women and have grown immune to its effects. She on the other hand is like a virgin to it, it'll work quickly enough."
Hartmann nodded and then turned with his tray carrying man beside him, a few steps respectively behind him. He grinned to himself and thought that he was the genius, his servant echoed his thoughts.
"A wise choice hiring the Derbith man," the old servant said. "He is proving to be most useful indeed."
Hartmann didn't look at him when he spoke, "Yes it was rather smart to take him on for this. He knows how to reign in woman like the Kurgan Woman. Now with his ideas though I won't need his assistance with that particular dilemma. Go to the kitchens and have the cook gather as much valerian root as he can find. Have him dry it and add it to everything that woman eats from here on out." The old man nodded and departed down a servant's stairwell that led to the kitchens.
Feeling proud of himself, Hartmann made his way to his youngest son, Bronson. The youngest in the Hartmann family his father saw him as the smartest of his children and held him in higher regards than even his first born son. Bronson was the one who he trusted with any information concerning the woman and had another idea he needed to discuss with him.
The Kurgan stood by his dog companion. The beast sniffed the air and kept its gaze in the direction its master was looking; west. In the Immortal's hands was the necklace he gave to his woman, his fists tightened as he recalled that day. He spun on his heel and marched back to tent where his Outland clan leaders were preparing a form of attack, they were planning on sending a smaller force to the front of the castle and when all of Hartmann's forces were distracted and concentrated on the front the rest of their armies would attack from the back. Destroying everything and everyone in their path was an order direct from The Kurgan.
He sat on his fur covered cot and began cleaning his sword while he vaguely listened to the other leaders speak. His trail of thought led to the moment he had killed the Hartmann brat after the woman was raped and beheaded. The boy had screamed so pathetically and for an instant The Kurgan knew that Angus resented his father's actions because he knew how it felt to have the woman you loved taken from you. Arielle wasn't dead yet and The Kurgan knew it but he wanted every Hartmann to suffer for the head of the family's actions.
He had plans for the women of the family and the three other sons. The one he wanted most though was the Duke himself. He was going to take his time with that one. Gut him slowly, make him watch his own insides fall to the dirt, watch as his wife and daughter were raped and then strangled by Von Krohn hands. Yes, there was going to be blood, more than what was spilled during the destruction of Hartmann castle. The Kurgan wanted more Hartmann blood, he craved it now. In vengeance for taking his woman his wanted their blood on his hands and he was going to have it.
Finally the Chieftain of the Outlanders, Hargarath, nodded his head. He looked up solemnly and turned to The Kurgan sitting on his cot watching them. He kneeled and placed one fist to the ground, the other hand was draped over his upright knee.
He bowed his head, "Count Von Krohn, my lord," he said. "Our plan is finished, with what the scouts could tell us of the land we know the terrain and can use it to our advantage."
The Kurgan studied the weathered tan face of the Outlander. Outlanders were proud people, strong in numbers and skill and didn't fear death. He felt that they were like a clan of Immortals who didn't know their own strength. He also liked to associate himself with the only people he felt truly at ease around. His blue eyes stared hard at Hargarath and the Outlander felt like his Lordship could see through his very soul. Finally the Count spoke.
"We march at first light, and won't stop until I have what I'm after." He said. His word was final.
Nodding in understanding, Hargarath stood up and the other leaders followed him they left The Kurgan to his sleep and own preparation. As he walked away he heard the whispers about the woman their master was after. They had never seen her but word spread far about the dreaded Kurgan taking a mate. At first it was thought that she was another slave, a glorified one at that and she would be dead after two full moons as he never kept them longer than three. They knew she was different from other women, and that she was beautiful, but what astounded them were the lengths their master was taking to get her back. She had to be of immense value for him to start a war for her.