Into the Devil's Eye

by Akularz-Shati

DON'T KNOW THE LORE? NO PROBLEM! (see note in chapter 1 for details) Drukhari invade our reality and capture a young woman. She uses her vast knowledge about the Dark Eldar and her sharp mind to stay alive. Will she be interesting enough to be more than just a torture slave? It seems as if fate is smiling upon her... or is someone smiling in particular...? Image by Dmitry Brushray.

15. Chapter 15 - A Friendship tarnished

Big thanks go to all my numerous reviewers (truly nice to see that more and more people find it in their heart to leave a comment) and their kind words:

Lord Mortem (don't be so sure about some busting out ;) )
Samatha Carter-Potter (thank you so much, being told as an artist that you inspire others is the biggest compliment you can possibly get)
overlordevil (faithful as ever, thank you)
ReaperScion (a heartfelt thank you to you, this is a huge compliment; as to the detail in torture... I have to tread very carefully with that, but I will try my best)
killroy225 (I had a ball reading your review - thanks for making me laugh, but, I'm a girl ;) )
BIBOTOT (also faithful as ever, thanks a ton)
Tarja86 (thank you - and especially for your PMs!)
CapitalClassShip (also faithful, always love your comments)

Each and every review made my day and motivated my GREATLY in writing along. I never thought that this story would be so popular. Thank you all so much for that.

Also, my proof-reader and co-author, SindelV, helped me greatly in improving this chapter (and things to come but that is a story for another chapter, right? ;) ) and I'd also like to thank her at this point.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 15

A Friendship tarnished

"No, I don't want everything. I want two of everything!"
— Archon Kh'err'akh'an, of the Kabal of Shadow

I AWOKE IN DARKNESS.

I blinked, oblivious to where I was and for the first few seconds. I thought I had gone blind, since I literally could not see a thing. There was not the faintest source of light around here, so there was nothing my eyes could adjust to.

Then I remembered that I probably still was in Vlokarion's quarters. At least I guessed so, because the bed I was lying in, felt the same.

I winced as I merely heard a door opening and I rather felt that someone entered the room; I did not hear the person moving.

I was frightened so hard by the gentle touch on my face that I let out a small shriek and shoved myself backwards in a reflex-like reaction.

I relaxed again as an all-too-well-known laughter filled the room and a very familiar voice said, "I sometimes tend to forget how frightful you humans are when you are deprived of your visual sense."

Still panting and with a quick heartbeat, I gasped, "Maester! You gave me quite a turn there!"

Vlokarion gave a snigger – I found this kind of laughter just so unfitting for this old monster – and replied, "Yes, it was easy to see that, my child." I felt him sitting down on the bed. "Though I would love to experiment on you a bit longer, especially now that you are blind, I fear I lack the time. Maybe the Overlord can be swayed once more at some point to give you to me, so I can deepen my research in this matter, but for now, our time is over." I heard him shifting his position. "Here, let me help you with your visual problem."

With his words, I could see again, because he lit a small glow-globe, which he held in one of the metal hands of his mechadendrites. The faint, bluish light of the device cast long shadows and gave Vlokarion's white, waxy skin an unnatural, unhealthy sheen. His black eyes reflected the cold light also in a rather eerie manner.

I needed a second to realise that he was holding my clothes in another of his mechadendrite-hands and had the artificial limb stretched into my direction, so I could take them. His actual arms were folded in front of his chest.

Though I had seen quite a lot of him the last day and night, he still managed to creep me out. With a shy "thank you" I took the clothes, slipped out of bed and put them on. That I could feel his cold stare between my shoulder blades while I dressed, did not help in making me feel comfortable.

I turned to him once I was done, nodded and said, "Alright, I am all set!"

Vlokarion smiled mysteriously, nodded and with an unearthly smooth movement, he got up. Without making a sound – this time, I noticed that he was absolutely silent as he moved, though I could see – he slithered towards me. I only now realised that he had taken off my collar while I was sleeping, as he produced it with the attendant chain. He noticed my confused stare, his smile deepened and he said, "You slept very deeply and astonishingly peacefully. It was easy for me to not wake you during my tests."

Though he had told me that he would try some things while I was asleep, the notion still creeped me out. Carefully, I asked, "May I ask what kind of tests you were conducting?"

"You may, but I doubt that you would understand when I explained them to you. Let me just say that the results were… interesting," Vlokarion stated rather cryptically.

That did not answer any questions whatsoever.

Therefore, I kept my mouth shut, and held still while he attached the collar around my neck and the chain to something hidden in his wide robes. Without saying another word, he turned around and led me outside.

Though I had crossed my fingers that I did not have to meet Urien Rakarth a second time and found myself holding my breath time and again as we climbed the stairs out of the tower of the two Master Haemonculi, my concerns were needless. The journey back to the Black Fortress was surprisingly uneventful and Vlokarion kept rather silent and to himself; I figured he was still pondering the results he had gotten from my nocturne observation.

I expected him to lead me back to the throne room, but I was surprised to find that he led me right to Vect's currently empty quarters.

Inside, he took off the chain and the collar; he placed the latter carefully on the washstand beside the bowl. Then, he turned to me and said, "This is where we part ways again, my lovely child. I shall find another time to probe your skin and flesh with my instruments. But before I go, I demand one last kiss. I found that I enjoyed them greatly."

Though he once more creeped me out, I smiled and said, "That can be arranged, Maester." I drew close to him and relaxed as he took me into a multiple-limb embrace with his mechadendrites and arms. Our lips touched, I let him take the lead, endured his kiss silently, returned it obediently and looked to it that he felt entertained enough, as his pointy tongue slid into my mouth.

I winced as, this time, he bit me after he had finished the deep kiss, and continued kissing me and licking my blood off my lips. I felt his body shudder as he tasted my life fluid; it did not surprise me, my blood seemed to have a fantastic taste for every Dark Eldar. I had no idea as to why, but there was not one of them, who had kissed me and not bit me at some point and loved the feeling and taste of it.

Vlokarion took his time, giving my wound time to heal and relishing each second of it.

As he finally drew away from me, he stayed close to me, his actual hands at my cheeks and whispered, "Don't forget about me when you call in your favours at the Carnival." With this, he let go of me, winked at me – which I found, somehow, highly disturbing – turned around and left. The sound of the door snapping shut behind him had somehow something final.

After Vlokarion had left the room, I took a deep breath, this time, happy to be rid of him and I wiped my mouth with the back of my left hand, for I felt tainted by his kiss. The time with him surely had changed my view about him and had made me painfully aware that he had shown his utterly gentle and playful side to me until now. I wished I had never been forced to look into this black, sordid abyss, which was his soul.

I found it suspicious not to be received by my master, who would surely have loved to immediately ask me how it went, with a half-scrutinising, half-threatening stare and there was also no sign of Lisbeth. I sighed. I dearly hoped that he had not taken her to the throne room again.

Everything was tidy in the room, the bed was freshly made, the table was newly set – I figured that the cleaning crew just had been here.

Since I had not showered during my time with Vlokarion, I went into the bath, since I felt a bit filthy and this was no condition to meet my master under.

Inside of it greeted me a view I had not expected.

The tub was filled, hence, the air was humid and very warm and the scent of the bathwater was pleasant and relaxing; I smelt a mixture of lavender and rose. Lisbeth was sitting in the tub, alone.

Something died in me as I beheld her.

I could not yet see her face and much of her body, since she had turned her back to me, but her posture showed me that something was terribly amiss.

"Lisbeth?" I said softly.

She apparently had not heard me as I had entered, because as I spoke, she jumped so hard that she splashed some water out of the tub and as she turned around in this jump, I could see pure horror in her eyes, before she recognised me.

Breathing heavily, she said, "Temira! I am so happy that it is you! I had feared that he was back again!"

Then she started to cry.

Though I was afraid that Vect might lurk somewhere and punish me for helping Lisbeth out, I hurried to her and hugged her from the rim of the tub and stroked her hair gently. She tried to speak through her sobs, but I said, "Calm down first, and then tell me what happened."

It took her quite a while to do so. I held her all the time, stroking her hair, hugging her tightly and telling her that it was alright. This terrible lie was all I could tell her to comfort her.

As she had calmed down a bit, I made her look at me and said, "Now, do you want to tell me what happened or do you rather keep it to yourself?"

She shook her head. "No, I think I will go mad if I don't tell you." She snivelled and wiped the tears off her face with the back of her right hand. It looked quite helpless.

I tried to loosen up the situation a bit by saying, "Mind if I join you? Baths are rare at Vlokarion's."

Lisbeth showed a sad smile and shook her head. I took off my scarce clothes and joined the bath.

"You don't have to look at me if that makes it easier for you to tell me," I suggested.

Lisbeth nodded. Then she started to talk, staring into thin air, "Well… you heard what he did to me two days ago…"

I nodded.

"And, because of the truth serum, I spat everything at him I was thinking and I was quite impolite, to say the least… he did not take it well." She took a deep breath, then continued, "I had hoped that he was done with me after he had made me scream my skull out and beg him for forgiveness, but…" A shudder ran through her slender body. Trembling, and stuttering she continued, "But… but he wasn't… oh god, Temira, he wasn't…" Then, she drew close to me. I gently laid one arm around her and I felt that she was trembling all over. She closed her eyes and her lips close to my ear, she whispered, "He raped me while you were away." She buried her face in her hands, and spoke now so quietly that I could barely understand her, though she was close to my ear, "After he had cracked me, he used my body against my mind. Oh god… oh god… I liked it, Temira…" Suddenly looking at me, she cried, "How can I look at myself in the mirror ever again?" Once more, she started to sob uncontrollably.

I gently hugged her now with both arms, as she curled up to a trembling, hyperventilating ball, and told her, "Lisbeth, this is only natural…"

"Natural?!" she cried, "It is NOT natural to enjoy rape!" I could almost feel her shame and embarrassment.

The notion frightened me.

"No, it is not, but you have to understand, though it is rape, that he knows exactly how to use your body against your mind. And no matter how much you hate what he does, he will always find a way to make you enjoy it, and he will make an effort out of it, because he knows that you will punish yourself the most afterwards, because you enjoyed it. Don't go there, Lisbeth, don't punish yourself for something you can't fight! And, for the love of whatever god may hear me, don't try to fight against an eleven-thousand-year-old predator, who has torn millions of girls like us apart!" I tried hard to talk some sense into her there.

It took her a while to calm down, but I felt that she understood what I said and most likely even acknowledged it.

As she had stopped to spasm with sobs, she looked at me, nodded and said still with a breaking voice, "You are possibly right, as always."

Though I hated myself for it, I told her another terrible lie, but I knew that it was right now what she needed to hear, "He now has done the very thing to you which you have feared the most until now. What can now possibly bring you down?" I hated myself for closing that sentence with a warm smile.

She needed it.

Possibly, the lie would destroy her at some point.

But she needed it right now, or she would break here and now.

I needed her to stay sane. I needed a bit of moral support before I had to fend for myself in the Crucibael.

And maybe, just maybe, she would now be able to adjust to her situation and reach the status I had right now.

Lisbeth went absolutely still as I had said that. I knew I had her with this. For a while, she stared into thin air again, then, she looked at me and I rejoiced silently as I saw something in her eyes I had missed until now: determination. My friend said, "You are right, he has done his worst to me. Since he has raped me, there is little left to fear for me. No sense in fearing each encounter with him and each day."

I smiled again, now the smile was sincere, because I was relieved, stroked over her cheek, and said, "That's how I know you! That's my girl!"

"I'm sorry that I was such a crying whinger until now. I will now stop that and I will be there for you as you were there for me. I will no longer tremble in his presence, as you tried to teach me, this is no good." It seemed as if I had given her confidence wings.

Nevertheless, I had to make her also cautious, and said, "Just don't tell him that he can't do any worse things to you, ok? The last thing you should do is daring him – in any way."

Lisbeth nodded. "Of course! I have learnt my lesson concerning caution towards him." She shook her head, then continued, "Remind me to thank the cleaning crew the next time they are here."

"Why is that?" I asked, sincerely confused.

"They found me lying in bed quite catatonically. They helped me into the tub and ran the bath for me with the relaxing herbal mixture. I don't know whether I would have been even able to speak if they hadn't helped me," Lisbeth told me.

"Huh. How very nice of them," I said, surprised. At this point, I noticed that I never had to be picked up by them in the first place. This just encouraged my thoughts about something being severely off with me.

Lisbeth now drew away again and said, "Thanks for picking me up once more. I promise you that I will try very hard and hope that this was the last time."

I smiled. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It is a lot to take in."

We both jumped and shrieked shortly, as each of us was hugged by a strong arm from behind and an all-too-well-known voice said, "You do charm me, Temira! I would like to think that I am a lot to take in… in more than one way. Am I not right, Lisbeth?"

Panting, I let my head sink backwards, unto the upper arm of the Overlord and was greeted by his tender kiss onto my forehead. I saw out of the corner of my eyes how Lisbeth blushed… his innuendo was pretty clear this time. He graced Lisbeth with a similar kiss, then let both of us go.

I turned around – now seeing that he was kneeling stark naked on the rim of the tub – barely-so calming my heartbeat again and said, "My lord! As always, you can be incredibly quiet!" I shook my head, then continued, "Seems as if today is the day of people giving me quite the turns."

Vect smiled mockingly and said with the same inflexion, "Oh, my poor Temira! Did Vlokarion scare you too?" He reached for my face and stroked my cheek with his thumb once. That gesture only added to his mockery.

"Let's just say that I am bad at perceiving when I am blind," I told him truthfully.

Vect chuckled, then added, "I enjoyed listening to your little talk, my children!" He turned to Lisbeth, gave her the same mocking touch as me, she received it a lot more frozen than me, and said to her, "So much shame for something so… delicious." His chuckle was pure scorn. "Ah, well! Enough repetitions of this delectable game and you will get used to it!"

I almost felt Lisbeth dying with shame right now.

All of a sudden, it made me angry. I had tried so hard to pick her up again and all he did was now ruin all my efforts again and push her harder and harder. I did not know exactly what she had said to him while under the influence of the truth serum, but he was punishing her unnecessarily.

Therefore, I said, with a snappier voice than I intended, "I think, Lisbeth has learnt her lesson and you have punished her enough, my lord."

I realised the mistake as the words had left my mouth.

His neck cracked around and I had his enraged stare upon me, which seemed to pierce right into my skull. "You think?" he hissed.

I tried to jump back to evade him, but, of course, I was way too slow.

In a lightning fast movement, he was in the tub, towering in front of me and he held me by the throat, lifting me off my feet. "You – think?" he repeated, dangerously slowly. Squeezing my throat so hard with a sharp drawing of his breath, that I let out a strangled yelp because he hurt me so badly, he continued, growling, his voice rolling like thunder through the bathroom, "What have I told you over and over about thinking for yourself? Hmm?!" I had never known that this last word could feel like a knife to the heart.

Strangled and dutifully, I replied, "That I… should… leave it… be…"

Lisbeth jumped in, "My lord, please, she…"

He cut her off by backhanding her without even looking at her. With a pained grunt, she hit the rim of the tub. Vect hissed at her, "Do yourself a favour and stay out of this, you little whore!"

Then he turned his deadly stare onto me once more. "Good, really good, Temira! Now, do you care to explain to me why you are still trying it again and again?"

He knew there was no useful answer to that. I could just stare into his relentless obsidians, fighting for what little air he allowed me to have.

Nevertheless, he shook me and barked at me, "I am not hearing an explanation, Temira!" He drew me very close to him, brought his lips to my ear and hissed into it, "Yes, because there is none. Did you think you were privileged enough to shield your idiot friend from me? Were you really that stupid?"

I still could not answer, frozen in fear.

However, this time, he demanded an answer.

The Overlord slapped me in the face, so hard that my ears rang and then pushed me underwater. Since his hit had forced quite some air out of my lungs, I struggled as he held me underwater, but, of course, it was futile, he was way too strong.

I thought he was going to drown me.

My struggling got weaker, as the urge in my body to draw that fatal breath full of water got overwhelming. My sight grew dim, stars danced in front of my eyes and only as my mind and body gave in, in the millisecond as I just had to breathe, Vect dragged me to the surface and let go of me.

Coughing water, yet fighting for air at the same time, and coughing even more because of it, I emerged, yet fell to my knees immediately, because I had no strength left in my tormented body.

However, my master did not give me any time with that.

The Overlord grabbed me by the hair, threw me through the water towards the rim, so I hit it painfully with my back, was over me in a split-second and immobilised me down on the rim with fiercely grabbing my hair and burying my wrists under it, nailing it all down with just one hand and he fixated my legs with kneeling on them.

Then, he hit me in the face once more – I felt my lower lip burst – and boomed at me, "Were you really that stupid?!"

I just needed a moment to catch my breath. For a minute, just Lisbeth's suppressed sobs – I saw from the corner of my eyes that she was bleeding – and his and my panting filled the room.

Trembling and with a shaking voice, I answered as soon as I could, "Yes, my lord, I were. I will await my punishment for my insubordination and can only beg for your forgiveness at this point."

I yelped as he slapped me again.

Fear crept up in me as he leant down to me, so close that our noses almost touched and for a while that felt like an eternity, he just stared down on me. I made a frightened sound as he reached for my face again, but he just resorted to gently stroking over the cheek he had hit repeatedly. Tears were in my eyes. He had reduced me to a crying mess once more. This would not end so lightly for me; that I was sure of.

"Temira, Temira, Temira," he started, making me wince as he patted my injured cheek repeatedly, "have I not told you that you should not destroy yourself by trying to shield your friend, hmm?" He ran the fingertips of his free hand fanned-out over my face, so I had to close my eyes with a gasp.

Vect shifted his weight on me a bit, but only to hurt me with it and he relished my pained grunt as he did this; I could see it in his eyes.

An evil smile started to grace his features; apparently, a mean idea had struck him in this second. With a sly and cruel tone, he said towards Lisbeth, "Child, what do you think? Does Temira deserve a punishment?"

Lisbeth looked at him, eyes wide with horror, blood running down from her cheek where her head had hit the rim, and she answered, stuttering, "Y… yes, m… my lord, I… I s… suppose she d… does. However," she swallowed, visibly giving herself a push, "however, I would like to ask you to punish me in her stead. After all, she just tried to protect me and she should not suffer for my failings."

An evil laughter submerged itself eerily slowly from the Overlord's body. It was by far the most bloodcurdling laughter I had heard around here, even from him. He always managed to outdo himself in sheer malice. "Ah, you mon-keigh and your indestructible need to look out and to avow for each other! Tell me, Lisbeth, what hinders me from chastising you both?"

With pure horror and torment in her voice, she said, "Nothing, Overlord."

Vect laughed again, the viciousness and cruelty of this ancient Dark Eldar showing once more. Tossing back his glossy, black hair, but without loosening his grip upon me one bit, he said, with full relish, "Yes! Yes, that is it! That is what I live for! Nobody and nothing tells me what to do and what to leave!" With pure scorn, he added, "Good girl! My newest pet is learning its lessons so… nicely!"

Calming down instantly again, his face an unreadable mask once more, he looked down on me again and said, "As to you…" Another slap in the face and my receiving yelp, then he pushed his right index finger hard against my chest, without causing a wound, but it still hurt. "You misbehaved. However, since you are leaving for the Crucibael soon and I want a good and strong competitor, I will have to restrain myself right now. Nevertheless," a wicked smile crossed his face, "I will let Lady Hesperax know to give you a lot of attention. I am sure that you will behave much better when you return."

Once more, Vect leant down to me and hissed into my face, "Nonetheless, one tiny mistake and I will take out that Agoniser-whip again. And you do not want to make me do that, now do you, Temira?"

Now having found my breath again, I replied, "No, Overlord, I will behave!"

With a mocking smile and inflexion, he replied, "Let us see about that, shall we?"

I let out a relieved sigh as he got off of me.

However, that relief was swept away, as he said, "Good. Since you are so eager about shielding each other, and I have seen such dedication usually only in lovers, be two good slaves and kiss!"

We both looked at him as if he had spoken our death sentence.

As his eyes narrowed, I took action. I was not fond of feeling that Agoniser-whip again.

I moved over to Lisbeth, who looked at me in bewilderment, laid one hand around her shoulder and one onto her cheek and put my lips upon hers.

It felt utterly strange.

I had lived through so many things with her, our friendship for each other was true, but this just took it a step too far. I was pretty sure that he only made us do it to humiliate us and to twist our friendship, not because it aroused him. I was pretty sure that he was beyond such blatant entertainment.

I tasted not only Lisbeth's lips, which were rather sweet, but also her tears and blood, since she was still shaken from the quite fierce hit and the following concussion she had received from him earlier. I was used to extreme tastes by now, so I took the mixture of sweetness, saltiness and bitterness quite calmly.

At first, Lisbeth was just frozen in my arms, but as I continued the kiss, she started to return it, hugging me, trembling. It felt utterly wrong, though it was not the first time for both of us to kiss a woman. At least, I was sure that I did not have to feel pain from her whilst kissing her; though both of us were injured, we took great care to keep the kiss gentle enough not to hurt each other. We exchanged a long and tender kiss, and we both could feel from the other that we tried hard not to let it be too awkward.

At some point, an evil chuckle made us halt in our efforts. We both looked at the Overlord in bewilderment as he let out an amused and relished sound and said with pure enjoyment in his voice, "Ah, some of the most bittersweet emotions I came to taste in a long time! Enough, children, otherwise, I might get drunk from it!"

Though he just had broken a bit of what we were, we both were relieved to see a gentle smile on his face.

"You did well, children! Now, leave me, I will join you shortly for dinner. We have to discuss some things still."

He did not have to tell us twice. We got out of the tub, dried ourselves and put on some clothes – quickly, but not too quickly, so we did not insult him. He had done enough to us for today.

After we had left the bath, we sat onto the bed beside each other, not looking at each other.

I could no longer stand the silence after a while and asked Lisbeth in a lowered voice, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. You?" she replied.

I nodded. "I think so, yes. Let's better get used to it."

Lisbeth nodded too.

No more words were necessary on what just transpired between us. Forced or not, we both knew that on the one hand, our friendship had changed, on the other, he surely would use it against us.

However, we both knew that it would take more to destroy our friendship. Change was not necessarily a bad thing. And we would have to change our view on it too, if we wanted it and us to survive around here.

I was glad that I could be sure that Lisbeth saw that too.

I made a head movement to the table and we both went and sat down at our usual places, waiting for the Overlord to join us.

Not having to talk because you knew the other one so well was really a blessing around here.

Then it hit me. "Wait a second… did he say 'dinner'?" I asked Lisbeth, profoundly confused.

She frowned, then answered, "Now that you mention it, he actually did!"

I shook my head. "Damn. How long have we been out? I mean, I guess you were unconscious, right?"

Lisbeth nodded.

"I was just sleeping," I stated. A terrible suspicion crossed my mind. What if Vlokarion had drugged me to keep me sleeping longer and deeper, so he could do whatever he wanted to me?

Lisbeth saw my worried expression and said with an understanding smile, "It's not like you can change a thing about it."

I nodded. "You are right. We got other people to worry about." Then, I saw a very distinct expression on Lisbeth's face. "He just entered the room, right?"

She just nodded.

I sighed deeply, buried my face in my hands and said, "Alright, my lord, I will await that Agoniser-whip now… I am such an idiot."

I froze as I felt his hands upon my shoulders. Trembling, I looked up and into his blank face, him just staring silently down on me for a while.

It hurt that I saw disappointment in his eyes.

However, it did not hurt because I was afraid that he would punish me. It pained me that I had disappointed him. The notion frightened me. Why did I care so much? Why was it so… vital for me to have his appreciation and to please him?

I eyed him very closely, as he took his hands off my shoulders and seated himself at his usual place. I could no longer see the disappointment now. I tried to calm myself with thinking that this maybe had been all.

I winced, as he said, "Temira, fetch me some Shaa-doman wine!"

I received his order with bowing my head, got up and hurried to the topmost platform in his quarters. On the way, I was wondering my brains out what this could mean for me. Then, I realised, I would see in a minute. If he wanted to have Lisbeth's blood in it, I could be sure that he was severely disappointed with me. If he decided for my blood, and disliked it, then also something was amiss. At this point, I sincerely hoped that he would like it, as usual.

At the topmost platform I once again wondered about the whirlpool. Not even once had I been in there, with him or otherwise. I really wondered by now whether this was reserved for special occasions.

I did not let myself be slowed down by that, rather poured the wine into the appropriate glass and saw to it that I got back to my master. I had tried his patience enough for today – keeping him waiting was the last thing I should dare right now.

I handed him the glass with a slight bow, and as he had taken it, I asked carefully, "My lord, whose blood would you like to have today?" My heart pounded heavily as I said these words. There was no point in hiding my dread, he and I knew that I had fucked up big time.

Again, he stared at me for a bit, tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes. Then, an evil smile graced his features and he said, "Yours."

Obediently and a bit relieved, I offered him my left wrist.

Without altering his smile, he took it and bit into it, sinking his obsidian fangs into my flesh. Only a small flinch of the corners of my mouth betrayed the pain I was feeling. He let a bit of my blood drip into the glass with the wine. As he had enough, he sealed my wound with a gentle lick.

I quickly looked at Lisbeth, who had watched the whole scene with an unsettled expression. It only now occurred to me that it was the first time that she watched a scene like this. That the Overlord enjoyed some of the Shaa-doman bloodwine was a rare occasion; in general, he did not often taste blood. I figured that his supply of souls was of good enough quality, so he did not have to resort to such crude means of nutrition.

So, I shot Lisbeth a reassuring look and I could see that she relaxed. I was happy that this was taken care of.

I turned my attention back to my master and looked at him with anticipation. I jumped as he said, "Temira, do sit down again! You know that this wine is certainly a dessert wine, so let us eat first!"

I nodded, bowed slightly and said, "Of course, my lord, forgive me."

Vect shook his head. "What is it with you today? Forgetting all rules of conduct, being unusually insolent… one might say that your time in the Underworld has decreased your intelligence and wiped your memory."

"No, my lord, the Maester was very kind to me, there is absolutely no excuse for my behaviour."

Again, the Overlord shook his head and started eating.

It was a silent meal, Lisbeth and me exchanging looks, me eyeing Vect inconspicuously from the side and him brooding quietly. I did not need to communicate with Lisbeth to pass her food and drink according to her needs, and the other way around. However, we did not always get everything right; I figured that it was better this way, otherwise Vect might have wondered about whether we actually were psykers, which would have gone really bad for us, and especially, for me, because the Overlord had suspected me to be a psyker already once. I did not want to reinforce that notion for him.

Nevertheless, I noticed that our master noted this nonverbal communication with a slight frown. The idea hit me that he might be indeed a bit puzzled about that. Unconditional and deep friendship was something that might be completely new to him. Yet, he did not say a word, but his stare almost showed the gears working in his head.

As he was done eating, a vicious smile graced his features and he said towards me, "Maybe you need some time to let the lessons come back to you, hmm? Go, dry your hair and think about it for a bit!"

I got up and bid my meanwhile farewell with a slight bow towards him.

As I turned and went to the bathroom door, I was almost exploding emotionally on the inside. I wanted to be present when he tasted the wine, to know whether I had completely ruined his mood or not!

I blushed as I had to let out an audible, relieved sigh as he said, shortly before I entered the bathroom, "Oh, and, Temira: your blood complements the wine perfectly, as always!"

Before leaving, I said, barely holding back the tears of relief, "Thank you, my lord!" Then, I left the main chamber.

In the bath, whilst blowing dry my hair, I took some deep breaths and meditated over the monotonous sound of the hairdryer. I still was amazed anew that this thing worked quite similar than in my world, bearing the difference, that it was somehow far more efficient and it took only half the time to get my hair dry. I could not figure out what was different about it, but it worked.

I was really glad for the break and I loved blow-drying my hair. It always relaxed me greatly and this was exactly what I needed right now. I found my calm again, on one hand, because I was able to get my wits about again, on the other, and to the biggest part, because I apparently had not fucked up too hard. He still liked my blood. It was not as bad as I had thought.

I jumped a little as Lisbeth entered the room. I looked at her interrogatively, she just passed me, fetched the soft-bristle brush and waved it meaningfully at me, while she went to leave the room. I just nodded in an understanding manner.

As I was done, I returned to the main chamber, feeling far more confident, and was shortly startled as Lisbeth came my way again. She just pointed at her damp hair, I nodded. Without a word, she left for the bathroom and I went to my master, who had placed himself on the couch. I saw that Lisbeth had already brushed his hair. Vect still had the wine glass in hand, which was still half-full, and he now rested his head on the rim of the backrest of the couch, so he stared at me upside-down.

I said, "I take it that you require a head massage, my lord?"

His upside-down smile was somehow highly unsettling for me. "Ah, my clever girl is back! I could have Lisbeth do it, and though she manages quite well, she just lacks that indefinable certain something you have in your technique."

"I don't deserve your praise, my lord," I replied obediently.

Vect chuckled. "Temira… you were insolent; I gave what I wanted to give you today and nothing more. We are done with that."

I gave what I wanted to give…

Clearly, he did not see it as punishment, but education. I just took it in, but it left a cold feeling in my stomach. If now my education looked like this, I did not want to know what my punishments would look like from now on.

Again, he flashed this creepy upside-down smile at me and said, ripping me out of my pondering, "Now, come here and kiss me!"

I obeyed, came to the couch and kissed him, upside down as he was. I winced as our lips touched, because I was reminded of my bruised lower lip and cheekbone. I shuddered as he ran his fingers over my injured cheek, administering only slight pressure, but it still hurt and I had to keep myself from backing away. For a while, he enjoyed my kiss while he made me flinch as he hurt me at my cheek with his fingers and at my lower lip with putting pressure with his tongue onto it.

As he allowed me to stop, he laid the hand he had had at my cheek into my nape, inhaled my scent, and whispered to me, "Mmh, I should hit you more often before I kiss you. Your small waves of pain and your inner fight to stand it without backing away make this tenderness oh-so-much sweeter." He bared his fangs with his predatory smile, then continued, "Now, child, do what we discussed earlier!"

I nodded, not able to say a word, since his cruel enjoyment unsettled me once again. Somehow, I liked when he talked to me like that, but he also creeped me out profoundly with it.

Yet, he was a Dark Eldar and possibly the cruellest of them all, so I had to stop being spooked about it.

I, therefore, started massaging him and soon could be relieved as I heard his relishing sounds because of my work. I, by now, knew his head and its points so well that I did not have to concentrate too much on it and I let my mind wander in a relaxed manner.

Lisbeth also came back after a while, and he had her sitting beside him, one arm around her, while I continued massaging him.

As I was done, he sent me off to bed, but had Lisbeth stay with him still.

I undressed and slipped under the covers, but remained in a sitting position and eyed what transpired between them critically. He examined her face and head, also checking her senses, since she had hit her head pretty severely beforehand. As he was done, he said to her, "Do not worry, child, these are just light grazes. You will be fine again tomorrow." Vect then kissed the graze on her head, then went to her lips. Lisbeth did not stay as clam as I did, she winced and tried to back away, since he was hurting her too, but the Overlord was not in the mood for games, because he grabbed her firmly by the hair and around her waist and forced her to endure the pain and his kiss. As he had enjoyed her wincing and squirming enough, he drew away a bit, but not letting go of her, and hissed at her, "You might want to stay calm during the thing I am going to do next, or your time with me alone will start out more hellish than you could ever possibly imagine."

She nodded and said shyly, "Forgive me, my lord! I know, I have a lot to learn, still!"

I was relieved to see a soft smile on his features. Vect let go of Lisbeth, stroked gently over her injured cheek and said, "Yes, you have, child, yes, you have."

Then, he grabbed her wrist, bit into it and I could see the delighted ripple that went through his body, as Lisbeth yelped beside him, her blood filling his mouth. Lisbeth shot me a scared side look, I portended her to stay calm. That she needed so much reassurance from me, worried me, because I would be gone for a long time pretty soon. She just had to learn, one way or the other…

Vect only drank a few sips of her life fluid, then he sealed the wound in the usual manner and said, lost in thought, "Hmm, for your flavour we will need another wine. The Shaa-doman bloodwine would not mix with the bitterness of your blood…" He chuckled as he noticed Lisbeth's horrified stare. With cruel tenderness, he caressed her hurt cheek once more and said to her, "Very good, little one. Go to bed, I will be with the two of you shortly!" Lisbeth nodded and obeyed his order.

Lisbeth also undressed and joined me under the blankets. I hugged her shortly and whispered softly into her ear, "It's alright." Then, I let go of her again and raised myself to my elbows, and saw that my master chugged the last sip of wine. He got up and then stretched himself luxuriously, looking very much like a cat as he did this. After that, he went to the cupboards, took off his clothes and came to us.

Again, he demanded his place between us; we, of course, obeyed. For a while, we just laid there with him, as usual, on his shoulders. Then he said, all of a sudden, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, children!"

We both looked at him quizzically.

Vect chuckled, then said, "You both will join me tomorrow in the throne room. Another Circle meeting is at hand."

"That soon again?" I said. The words slipped out. At this point, I began to ask myself whether Vlokarion had not done something to me to make my tongue slippery.

However, I was lucky, the Overlord did not seem to mind. "Yes, Temira, sometimes ruling this city requires more than just regular meetings. Besides, the timing is good; it will be necessary that you show Lisbeth how to behave towards the members. After all, she will be your replacement when you are away. I have postponed your departure for one day. You will teach her tomorrow in the throne room, and on the day after tomorrow, you will leave for the Crucibael," he explained patiently.

"I will, my lord. Thank you for explaining," I replied courteously.

"Good, since this is settled, sleep now!" he demanded.

Lisbeth and I exchanged an unhappy look, but did as he had bid us, after wishing him a good night.

It was an uneasy night for both of us.

---

Lisbeth woke up in the middle of the night.

As she did, she found that she was lucky, because Vect had let go of her and rather turned towards Temira. Though she did not want to leave her friend alone, she was grateful right now, because she had to leave for the toilet.

As silently as possible, she made her way there, though navigating in the almost dark room was, as always, a complicated thing.

As she entered the main room again, her heart almost skipped a beat, because Vect had apparently woken up, now towering over Temira, who still slept deeply and Lisbeth gasped as she saw that he had an injector in his hand, which he now used on Temira's neck. She only saw all those details, because the lights of the bathroom shone into the room and lightened it enough for her to see properly.

Of course, he had noticed her and, while he still was hunched over Temira, stared at her from under his brow with his black, paralysing demon-eyes and a slow smile started to show on his features. Vect laid his index finger of his right hand onto his lips, to tell Lisbeth to be quiet, then portended her to come back to bed. As Lisbeth did, she was able to witness his superior agility, because he leant over Temira, moving so controlled, that he did not move her, though he shifted his weight, and he let the injector vanish in one of the drawers of the right nightstand.

With great dismay, Lisbeth joined the widely awake Overlord in bed, who drew her close to him and whispered softly into her ear, "You will see the effects on her in the morning."

Too scared to answer, Lisbeth just nodded. She froze as he caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead. Then, he let go of her and let her lie down again. However, he laid his arm around her and drew her against him, whispering into her ear, "You will find your place soon enough, child. And if you do not," his eyes flashed, "it will be my genuine pleasure to form you into the mould I want you to be cast in."

Lisbeth knew all too well what he truly meant by that.

She could not take him chuckling into her ear without flinching. "Sleep now, little Lisbeth, tomorrow will be a straining day for you and you would not want to fail as hard as you did the last time, hmm?"

Lisbeth just shook her head in answer.

Another kiss on her temple, another flinch. Though he gently stroked her hair and belly, she tried hard to relax and sleep again. It took her a while, but finally, she could slip back into the oblivion of sleep.

---

It was pain that woke me on the next day, an agony, I knew all too well.

With a tormented grunt and rolling myself to a ball, I acknowledged the dull, cramp-like spasms that greeted my abdomen; and with palpable wincing I acknowledged the gentle kiss on my temple and the soft, yet callous whisper into my ear, "What a delectable way to start the day!" I felt him inhaling my scent. "It seems as if your body has an impeccable timing when it comes down to the Circle meetings." A soft, cruel chuckle. "Go now, child! You do not want to bleed all over the place, now do you?"

I didn't have to be told twice.

I got up, without looking at him, slipped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom, careful to reach it before the bleeding started. I managed that, but another spasm engulfed my body before I could step through the door. I tumbled against the doorframe and dug my nails helplessly into the cold stone, only able to bear the pain with a whimper. Tears shot in my eyes. Vertigo and nausea hit me.

This was way worse than usual.

I had the dreadful notion that I could feel how he fed off my pain. This seemed to be delicious even for him and that certainly meant something.

I could hear that he whispered something to Lisbeth, but I could not understand the words. Right now, I was busy, so I no longer thought about it; I took some strained breaths and entered the bathroom.

Inside, I stumbled to the washstand, took some deep breaths and splashed some cold water into my face, to clear my thoughts. It helped a little.

Knowing that nothing else would really help, I turned to go showering. It was this second the door opened. I turned around, expecting to see a gloating Vect coming after me, but I was relieved as I saw Lisbeth. With a worried look on her face, she came to me, laid one hand on my back and asked, "What's wrong?"

I snorted a joyless laugh and replied, "Menstruation. It hurts like shit around here." I smiled equally joyless at her. "Well, it seems, you are in this case lucky around here."

It was a rather tactless statement, but the pain almost made me go insane. Lisbeth did no longer have a uterus – the rape she experienced in her childhood had destroyed her female organs completely. Only through luck she had been able to survive the injuries she had suffered and the operation which patched her up and removed her reproductive organs. She had also had to undergo a severe hormonal treatment in her young years to express secondary sexual characteristics and some long-term therapy to understand and face what had been done to her.

Yes, her father had been a bloody bastard, but luckily, he had also got what he deserved. He was left to rot in prison for the rest of his life.

The bloody bastard around here would not share this fate.

I realised what I had said, shaking my head weakly and said, "Forgive me, that was really uncalled-for and tactless! I just have a hard time thinking clearly."

Lisbeth's face turned into an angry grimace and I feared that I had overstepped my rights. However, she hissed, "It's not your body that has a good timing."

I blinked. "Come again?"

She repeated, "It isn't your body." To underline her words, she nodded in the direction of the door.

Of course.

I looked at her, completely taken by dreadful surprise, slowly realising what she wanted to tell me without saying it. "What?" I just managed to say.

She nodded with a sad face. "I thought you should know."

I sighed deeply, breathing the pain down once more and said, "All of this now makes much more sense."

Lisbeth looked at me, puzzled.

I flashed another joyless smile and added, "This is my prolonged punishment." I shook my head. "It now really makes a lot of sense. Most of the time when I was menstruating, I had made a mistake the day before."

On one hand, I was relieved, because I understood some things a bit better now, but on the other, the realisation of how much control Vect had over me hit me hard. There was absolutely no escape from him, he still could surprise me; that he could play with my body that much also took me quite aback. Of course, I had known that Dark Eldar had a variety of means to agonise humans, but it seemed as if I just scraped the surface of that.

I was ripped out of my pondering, as Lisbeth hugged me and said, "But you are no longer alone. I will help you every way that I can with the Circle today. You helped me so much already, it is my turn to return the favour."

I smiled and replied, "Right. Thanks for being with me."

She snorted a sarcastic laugh and said with a lopsided smile, "Not that I had a say in this, right?"

I chuckled and nodded.

Lisbeth then let go of me and said, "Okay, I gotta go now again. He only allowed me to check on you, now I have to go back."

I nodded and Lisbeth left again.

With a low growl because of another spasm, I went into the shower. The hot water raining down on me felt good, and as so often, it helped me meditate and breathe easily and I was able to dull the pain a bit through sheer willpower. Vlokarion had saved my ass so many times with his teachings, it was really astonishing.

After showering, I applied the sealing gel and put on clothes, which had been prepared and laid out for Lisbeth and me on the sofa in the bathroom.

Now clad in blackened white gold and crimson, I got back to the main room of the quarters.

As I did, I saw that Vect and Lisbeth were already sitting at the table, having breakfast. Almost shining in malicious glee, the former said, "Sit down and eat, Temira! It will be a straining day for the two of you."

One look into his eyes was enough to realise that he was aware that I now knew what he had done. He had counted on Lisbeth telling me. I smiled a false smile and agreed with a slight vitriolic ring in my voice, "Indeed, my lord. It will be."

I tried really hard to not show any pain whatsoever during breakfast, just to defy him a bit, but it was simply not possible for me, it just hurt too much. I knew that he enjoyed it, both my pointless defiance and my agony, but he did not show it.

Vect sent Lisbeth away as she was done eating.

After she had left the room, he smiled viciously at me and said, "Is there something you would like to tell me, Temira?"

I sensed the danger I was in; apparently, I had shown my frustration too much.

Therefore, I replied, very carefully, "No, my lord. I already said too much, I am aware of that now and I am sorry for that."

With a dangerous smile – I had not known until now that such a facial expression existed – he stated, "Wise decision."

Everything was said between us with that rather scarce conversation and I felt that it was wiser to keep my mouth shut altogether.

As Lisbeth came back, the Overlord got up, shot me a look that clearly stated I could have done much worse things to you and vanished into the bathroom. I felt rather lucky that he was only reprimanding me with his stare.

I sighed in relief as he was gone; Lisbeth seated herself on the bed. She was now clad in white gold and emerald green, colours, which fitted her nicely because of her copper hair. I still had to admit that the choice of our garments was, as always, very tasteful. Not only did the colours match our complexion nicely; the clothes, though little more than underwear, were also fitted to our body shapes, to underline them charmingly. A lot of things could be said about the Dark Eldar – but they knew their aesthetics.

I stood up and placed myself ungracefully beside Lisbeth.

For a while, we sat beside each other in silence, until Lisbeth said out of nowhere, "You know, I counted the days."

I looked at her, puzzled.

"I was able to count them because there was a certain routine to my day. Waking up, washing, breakfast, being presented to the first row of bidders, a small break, another presentation, dinner, sleep…" She shook her head. "When I look back at it now, it was actually pretty easy. I had to care about a lot less than now."

I swallowed, not wanting to ask that question, but had to, "And… and how many days did you count until now?"

"389," she replied.

I let that sink in. That meant that I was now a little bit over a year with the Overlord. It felt a hell lot longer.

Paling, Lisbeth continued, "You know what day it is today?"

"No, what day is it?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"It's Christmas," Lisbeth simply said.

Her words resonated in the silence and the greatness of the room.

I had thought that no memory of my old life could hurt me, but this most certainly did. Christmas had always been a special day for Lisbeth and me.

Since she had spent most of her childhood in an orphanage, since her father got imprisoned and her mother had left her to her fate, her Christmas evenings had been rather sad. Before she had met me – we had met each other in the upper classes of grammar school – she had no one to even wish her a merry Christmas. No one had been willing to accept her queerness; since she had lived through so much at this point and had been in therapy, she had had severe trust issues. I had been ready to take the challenge, at this point not knowing therapy, but being also broken and understanding her fears. We had walked the way to university together; she helped me with standing up against my parents and also facing the trials of therapy. By the time I had broken with my parents, we had spent our Christmas evenings together, since we had always felt more like sisters, though we both were singletons and never knew how siblings felt about each other. We just imagined it that way. We had had a small flat together, barely managing to finance it with what little money we had. Both being students, she studying archaeology, me biotechnology, this was not always easy.

The small job I had taken on the fateful day, when our lives were turned upside down, had been one of the rare ones that had separated me for a bit longer from her.

Oh, how I wished now I had stayed with her! We could have been in this together all the time!

Now, looking back at this life after one year spent in slavery, it looked like paradise. Lisbeth had reminded me of that. I had drowned the nice memories out of necessity. Now, they flooded my mind.

The taste and smell of cookies, freshly out of the oven.

The feel of the sometimes helplessly overheated flat we were living in, since the heating did not work properly.

The scent of the small Christmas tree, which we used to have sitting on our table.

The sound gift wrap paper made when it was used.

I swallowed down the tears.

I hissed, with a shaky voice, to stop that train of thoughts, "Damn it. I need to get my shit together."

Lisbeth nodded – I could see that she too had to fight for her composure – and agreed, "Yes. Sorry that I started that."

I shook my head. "Don't worry. We'll manage." I barely won against the tears.

Damn that menstruation and this sensitivity that came with it!

We both winced as the bathroom door opened and the Overlord came back to us. I swallowed again as I looked at him and had the feeling that he had heard every word of the conversation. This just bode ill for us, for it would only be another way for him to torment us.

With a terribly knowing smile and some mocking caresses, he put our collars around our necks, then went to the armour rack to don his armour. We did no longer say a word to each other, but our emotions were laid bare in front of him, I was aware of that.

Vect did not say a single word.

After he was done with his armour, he portended us with a beckoning gesture that we should come to him. Of course, we obeyed. The Overlord said to us, "My slaves, since having both of you leashed to my belt is a bit cumbersome, I will only chain one of you, the other one will show the Circle today what a nice, behaving pet she is." He paused here shortly, only to relish our dread about who would be chained and who would follow him unbound. Vect took a chain into his hands, ran it slowly through his fingers, smiling viciously, and then let it snap shut around the eyelet on Lisbeth's collar. He caressed her cheek mockingly and said to her, "Do not take it so hard, child! You still have to work hard to gain as much of my favour as Temira." Then, he turned to me and gently stroking my hair, he said, "My lovely Temira, you will follow me today without a leash and I advise you not to disobey. My guards give short shrift to running slaves."

"Of course, Overlord," I answered.

Lisbeth remained silent.

Thus, he left the quarters with us, him leading the way, Lisbeth and me behind him. It felt strange; on one hand, because I had Lisbeth beside me and she was, like me, a lot shorter than the rest that surrounded us, on the other, because it was the first time I walked with the Overlord outside of his quarters without any restraints.

I felt proud, because I was sure that he did not give this honour to most of his slaves and that he still had Lisbeth bound, but not me, even nourished my pride. I was happy that apparently I served him well. A satisfied master was good for a slave.

Yes, I was indeed special around here and I liked it.

Nonetheless, I felt bad for Lisbeth. She had done well most of the time, and still, the comparison between her and me was not fair, since Vlokarion had made sure that I would be exceedingly well-trained.

However, I could not change a thing about that.

Therefore, surrounded by Vect and his guards, we went to the throne room.

As we entered it – the usual table was assembled in the vast hall – I was surprised to see that two of the Circle members were missing; Sythrac and Nuscul were not here. I growled on the inside. Apparently, Vect did not want to make things too easy for Lisbeth, by removing two very strategic members from the Circle for today. Sythrac was one of the hardest to serve; he was the second biggest menace and threat around here. Nuscul was the easy mode of the round. Once his humour was understood, the service to him was actually a nice diversion.

Again with impeccable timing, another spasm hit me, I gritted my teeth and needed all my concentration to keep on walking and not to stop and writhe. Heads turned, as they sensed my agony.

Zuol frowned.

Sarnak seemed absent, not taking notice of my agony.

Vyras acknowledged me with a polite nod, the relish shining in his eyes.

Ea'nash flashed a greeting, yet terrible smile at me.

Atanel's nostrils flared, he did not hide his sadistic joy.

Tahril just looked at me coolly, not showing any reaction whatsoever.

I did not let my gaze linger for too long, as it could have been understood as an insult. I focused on walking again and understood the slight nod my master gave me. I was to sit on his right side, beneath the sceptre. Therefore, I coordinated with his movements, to not obstruct him in any way. As I had dropped, now sitting on my heels and under his out-stretched arm, besides his sceptre, I had a strange feeling of protection and awe at the same time. As he greeted the Archons to the meeting, I looked up and I shuddered as I saw the razor-sharp blades of the sceptre above me, as close and clear as never before. The tiniest touch of those blades made grown warriors scream in pure agony. And yet, right now, I was sitting under it, protected by its wielder.

I was surprised to find that I liked the notion. It gave me a pleasant shiver down my spine.

I could not see Lisbeth from where I was currently, but that changed quickly, as the Overlord placed his sceptre in the fixation at the throne – I winced as he rammed it into place beside my left ear – unchained Lisbeth, and then got up. I was relieved that she did the right thing and got up too, as did I, as we followed him like two shadows to his seat at the table.

Ea'nash said at this point, "Overlord, it is, and I think I speak for quite some of us, delightful to see that you have deigned to bring your experienced, personal slave with you, especially in this… state she is in." It was a daring statement, but then again, Ea'nash was known for daring statements.

However, Vect was in a playful mood today, because he chuckled and replied, "She is here to educate the other one. I fear I have to tell you that she will be gone for a while; I have chosen her to be the Black Heart's representative at the Carnival this year."

A murmur passed the table, Ea'nash looked truly surprised, and Zuol's low-pitched voice cut in from the side, "My lord, I'd like to suggest that you to reconsider that course of action."

"How so?" Vect's voice rang like a thunderclap in the vastness of the throne room. So much about his playfulness.

Zuol, now aware that it had probably been a mistake to speak up, replied carefully, "It is unusual for this Kabal to send a physically rather… underprivileged slave to the Carnival. She certainly has proven that she has got guts and brains, but I see little chance for her survival considering her physique. And, I am sure that the Black Heart wants to win the Carnival, as tradition has it."

His stare a palpable force, Vect growled at Zuol, certainly not liking to have his motives questioned, "The last time I looked, I was the master of this Kabal. I have my reasons to choose her for the task, and not some physically strong and mentally, how did you put it, underprivileged one. Let us make a wager on her survival, yes? What about one thousand of your finest slaves for my dungeons when she brings that unlikely victory?"

Zuol stared at Vect as if he had spoken his death sentence. However, he kept his composure and replied, "Yes, Overlord. I will take that bet." He could not really say anything else without losing face.

Vect had not said a single word about Zuol receiving anything from him should I fail and he lost his bet. It did not surprise me. Why should he?

I sighed on the inside. This would certainly ruin Zuol's mood and Lisbeth and I were sure to feel that.

Vect made a dismissive gesture. "Enough of the Carnival! The matter is settled. It is bound to be interesting, as always." Then, he turned towards me and said, "You will start service." With a cold stare in Lisbeth's direction, he added, "And you, will watch closely and learn. You do not want to repeat that fiasco from three days ago, hmm?"

The Archons laughed, I could see that it hurt Lisbeth. Another thing she had to get used to, as cruel as it sounded.

Yet, she was wise enough not to let it influence her performance, as she and I bowed after receiving our orders. She dropped to the floor, beside Vect's seat, and I went to the bar to receive the usual pot of Tár'yenna tea.

This time I was lucky – the next spasm hit me as I was currently at the bar, waiting for the two slaves there to prepare the tea for me. I bit my tongue to keep quiet and burrowed my fingernails into the cold stone, out of which the piece of furniture was made. I screwed up my eyes and took some strained breaths, trying hard to breathe the pain away. It worked to some extent.

As the pain had eased down a bit again, I took the teapot, noticed the – as always – pitying gazes of the two waiter slaves, smiled weakly at them and then attended to my task.

Without being acknowledged in any way, I started my service at the Overlord. He had other things to do now, his attention was focused on his Circle.

With a queasy feeling, I went to Zuol next. Since Sythrac was missing, he was the next one in the hierarchy. I did not talk to him as a greeting, just bowed to him and poured the tea. I gritted my teeth, fully concentrated not to spill any of it, as the next spasm hit. I did not dare to even breathe deeply, since I knew what a relentless and harsh bastard Zuol was. I felt his gaze fall upon me, as I fought against the pain, and barely won.

I yipped completely out of sorts as Zuol grabbed me by my collar and drew me close to him. It was the first time that he dragged me close; before that, he had only hit me if he wanted to teach me a lesson. The Warrior-Archon hissed into my ear, "Better master that pain, slave! You will have to learn to fight whilst feeling it, nature will not pause its course just because you need to survive in the Sprawls."

I nodded what little I could and gave back, with a strangled voice, "Yes, Archon, I will try my best!"

He let out a contemptuous snort. "That's the sentence of losers. Pathetic."

Zuol let go of me, but I knew that if I backed away now, I would lose what little of his respect I had earned by now. Therefore, I stood my ground, looked him straight in the eye and said in a determined manner, "Right. I will master it."

I was surprised to see a fierce smile dance over his face for a split-second. Whilst baring his fangs, he said, "Let's see whether I will lose those one thousand slaves…" With that cryptic sentence, he dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

Therefore, I made my way to Archon Sarnak, on the other side of the table.

He greeted me with a lazy smile and a gentle caress on my back, as usual. Turning his smile into a lopsided one, he said, "Well, I can see that a true master has worked on you to make you even more flawless than before. Interesting."

I smiled shyly and said to him, "Yes, my lord, I am very grateful that the Overlord was so generous as to have me patched up."

"Generous, indeed," Sarnak smiled. He tilted his head and asked me, "Have you already thought about the favours you will call in at the Carnival?"

I had not really, up to this point, but he just graced me with an idea. I remembered what Vlokarion had said to me before he had left, "Don't forget about me when you call in your favours at the Carnival."

Yes.

Vlokarion would certainly be a wise choice for a favour.

"A little bit," I answered, now truthfully, "And including a Haemonculus in the favours surely is a good idea." I had not forgotten about Sarnak's ties to the Haemonculi.

Sarnak's smile widened. "Clever girl! If you need to be acquainted with one, let me know. I am sure that an agreement can be reached."

This was indeed a generous offer. I bowed to him and said, "Thank you for this exceedingly generous offer, Archon! I will make sure to remember it, when the time comes."

I would not need the offer, if all went well, but an open door should not be closed hastily. Who knew when this could come in handy? With another slight bow, I left Sarnak.

Vyras greeted me with the usual kiss on the hand, over-courteous as ever. His eyes flashed as he said to me, "The slave prodigy has returned! I find it a pity that you will leave us so soon again. And especially," his gaze grazed the huddled-up Lisbeth beside Vect, "to such an incompetent successor. Use what little time you have to teach her well, otherwise she might no longer be in her position or even alive when you come back; and as I have gathered it, the two of you are close."

I jumped at his last sentence. Vyras was truly the spymaster around here. Nothing escaped his knowledge, as it seemed.

"I intend to do my very best, Archon," I said to him.

Vyras smiled seemingly sincerely at me and said with a sweet inflexion, "Oh, I am sure that you will, as usual, wunderkind." His words flattered me, although there was no telling whether he truly meant what he said. I doubted it.

Nevertheless, I bowed and stated, "Thank you, Archon, as always, you flatter me."

Vyras dismissed me with an elegant nod.

My way to Archon Ea'nash was really short this time, because Archon Nuscul was missing. I felt sad about that, for I really liked Nuscul. He always gave those gloomy meetings a touch of colour.

Since I knew what would await me from Ea'nash's hand, I put down the pot before nearing him completely. With a broad grin, he drew me against him and my lips upon his. Kissing the young Archon, of course, always had some kind of humiliating quality; he was voracious and demanding, and his hands touched me in places I still did not feel comfortable with in public. Yet, I knew that he hated a struggle, so I held still and let him do what he wanted with my body.

Ea'nash took a while, a relishing shudder ran through his body as another spasm hit me and I squirmed a bit in his grip; not because I wanted to struggle, but because I could not bear the pain in any other way. He kissed me through all of it and only as the spasm was over, he drew away from me, eyes closed, eyelids fluttering and I could see that his eyes were rolled upwards.

It seemed as if restraining himself truly drove him insane and yet, enticed him the most.

Ea'nash looked at me in the end and flashed a wolfish smile. Whilst caressing my cheek, he whispered to me, "So beautiful and delicious! A shame that you have to leave!" He shook his head slightly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but," his gaze darted quickly to Vyras, "I have to agree with the old geezer. Teach your idiot successor well, or she will not survive until you are back."

"What was that?" Vyras's velvet voice came from the side.

With a falsely sweet smile, Ea'nash turned towards him and said, "I think you heard me quite well, Vyras. Or have you grown so old and is the quality of your soul meals so low that you lost your sense of hearing?"

Vyras snorted forcefully. "I don't have to take this from an infant, which has never even tasted a proper soul meal."

Ea'nash bared his fangs with a sneer. "Maybe, but at least I know what that thing between my legs is for."

Vyras inhaled sharply, to throw back an even sharper insult, but Vect boomed, "One more word of this imbecilic bickering and I will degrade one of you, so you do not sit beside each other any longer and I am spared from your mind-numbingly oafish conversations!"

Vyras and Ea'nash said, as always, their meek apologies.

Ea'nash's gaze darkened as he turned back to me, a thing, I had never seen before, and my heart skipped a beat as I had to admit that it made him even more handsome. The Archon growled, "I wanted to have her flogged for struggling against me, you know. However, the Overlord refused. Good for her. Who would have thought that a prudent beauty like you had such a stupid friend?"

Apparently, word had travelled fast around here that Lisbeth and I were acquainted. That, or he had heard what Vyras just had said to me, and had added his own thoughts to it. Whatever the reason, it made me feel very uneasy.

"I will help her in serving a lot better, my lord," I said calmly, while his left hand gently caressed my bottom.

He slapped my buttocks lightly, smiled wolfishly and said, "Very well. Go now, I have taken up enough of your time."

I left him with a faked, playful smile and still hated it to go to Atanel.

As I had feared it, he drew me close and inhaled my scent with a relished, deep breath. "Ah… so much pain… you are a stunning dessert to the soul meal I enjoyed before I came here." Clearly, he enjoyed my agony, which had me in its fangs once more as another spasm hit. The Archon held me close for as long as I was in extreme pain, and I could almost feel him drinking my ache like the sweetest wine.

Only as I relaxed again, he let go of me and said, "Aww, over so soon! Well, it is a special treat after all." He nodded to signalise me that I may serve the tea. I did as he bade me and was very happy that he let me go with that.

I went to Tahril, who was sitting next to Atanel, and poured the tea.

I almost spilt some of it as he said to me, with his low-pitched and somewhat raspy voice, "This is highly interesting. Though you are being put through so much, you just don't give up. I have seen so many before you just break, completely losing their will to fight. But you, you grow with every challenge that gets thrown at you. Why is that, I wonder?"

It was the first time Tahril had said anything to me that was not a direct command.

I put down the teapot after I had finished pouring the tea, then looked at him calmly and said, "I am not sure of it myself, my lord, but the Overlord explained it once with stating that I am not from the Imperium, therefore having little to lose and a lot to gain if I persevere. I am not constantly plagued by the thought that I will be forever doomed if I cooperate with you."

Tahril nodded. "I see. An interesting perspective." He tilted his head slightly. "You are wondering your brains out why the Hierarch and Nuscul are missing, right?"

I learnt from this conversation a lot. Tahril seemed to be a silent, vigilant observer.

I nodded. "Yes, my lord."

"They are on a raid, seeing it from two different perspectives, attacking from two different angles." He smiled. "Make of that what you will."

I nodded, bowed slightly and replied, "Thank you, my lord, I will." Somehow, it relieved me to now be able to at least guess the answer, not just be left wondering where Sythrac and Nuscul had gone to. An educated guess was better than just knowing nothing about a topic.

Tahril dismissed me.

As I turned around, I sneaked a small smile onto my features. Maybe I would be finally able to reach out to him.

While I brought the teapot back to the bar, I let my mind linger a bit on what Tahril had said. I guessed that Sythrac and Nuscul both were on the same raid, but pointed to different targets, like a planet and its moon. It was a good tactic. If one should fail, the other would still weaken the place by a successful attack. Like this, they also did not have to work directly together which was, considering Sythrac's gloomy earnestness and Nuscul's motley humour, better this way. Otherwise, I was quite sure that they would be rather busy clawing each other's eyes out.

Then, an idea hit me. It all depended on whether Vect would play along. I just had to take my chances.

With that in mind, I went back to the side of the Overlord and bowed to him, to make clear to him that I needed to ask him a question. He left me standing there for quite a while, which was, considering that he had a Circle to organise and a meeting to lead, not surprising, and I waited silently and courteously at his side, until he would deign to give me his attention.

After testing my subservience, he finally looked at me and said, "What is it, slave girl?"

I bowed to him and said, without looking at him, "I would like to make a suggestion, if I may, Overlord."

He nodded. "Granted."

I continued, still staring at the floor, as it was expected of me, "May I take my successor to the kitchen and show her around? I will instruct her on the procedures there and I would hate to disturb the meeting whilst talking to her when I explain the rules around here to her. We will be back before anyone of the Circle is left wanting in any way, Overlord."

Vect stared at me shortly, eyes slightly narrowed, but then he nodded and replied, "Very well. Go, but make it quick! If you dare to be late, I will have both of you punished."

I bowed and said, "Thank you, Overlord, I promise, that won't be necessary."

Vect chuckled evilly. "Rather hope it for your sake."

I bowed once more, and was happy that Lisbeth got the hint and got up. Quickly, but not quick enough for insulting them, we left the throne room.

Outside, I nudged Lisbeth down the stairs, and as we walked, I said, "Did you see what I did?"

She blinked and stared confused at me.

I repeated, "Did you see what I did? Did you understand what the trick with each of them is?"

Hesitatingly, she shook her head.

I nodded, sighed and said, "Ok, listen closely now, for I fear that when we come back, the Overlord will have us switching roles. First and foremost, we shouldn't use our names and you should not let anyone know that I understand their words. Now, to the Archons: Zuol is a fierce warrior. He only respects courage and toughness. So act like it. Back down once, and he will do nothing but torment and try you. Sarnak is a scientist at the bottom of his heart. Appeal to that side of his, and he will open up a bit to you. Vyras is a spy and a gentleman. However, I can't really tell you how to crack him, he just decided to act nice with me. Ea'nash… well. I guess you figured that one out. Whatever you do, don't struggle when he touches you. He hates that. Atanel is just a sadist, so endure his advances with as little reaction as possible, and he will lose interest soon. And leave Tahril just be. When he wants to open up to you, he will and not a second earlier."

Lisbeth nodded. "And what about Sythrac and Nuscul?"

"It is best to treat Sythrac like Vect. Utterly. Careful. He is dangerous and powerful. Nuscul is a joker, using pitch-black humour. You have to loosen up a bit to get him going," I explained.

She nodded again. "Okay. I will do my best."

I smiled at her. "Hehe. Already caught that bit about trying, eh?"

She grinned back. "Well. Zuol was quite clear about that. And so were you, as I remember now."

Therefore, I showed Lisbeth the way to the kitchen and acquainted her with the senior slaves there and introduced her to all the waiter slaves. They should know that she would be my successor and that it was expected of them to obey her as they obeyed me. I dearly hoped that Lisbeth was up for that job.

I rushed everything, since I knew that our time was painfully short and I did not want to give Vect a good reason to have one of us or both of us flogged… if it would be just that when he was profoundly displeased.

So, I made Lisbeth hurry back with me to the throne room, having her repeating what I had said about the Archons and explaining a bit more.

As we stepped through the portal, which led to the throne room, I could see that Vect was just taking his last sip of his cup of tea.

Just in time.

Again, he just stared at me shortly and gave me a slight, but portending nod. It was as I had feared: Lisbeth would now do the serving.

With a bellyache – on one hand literally, one the other, figuratively – I went to my master, bowed to him and sat down beside his seat. I looked at Lisbeth as she came back with the teapot in her hands, we exchanged a glance and I gave her an encouraging nod.

Lisbeth did okay, but not good.

She could not stand up enough to Zuol; he backhanded her across the face.

A short conversation was done between her and Sarnak; after that, he smiled at her and gave her a soft caress on the cheek, on which Zuol had hit her. It seemed as if she had done well with him.

Vyras eyed her critically as she was with him; but since she behaved exceedingly courteous around him, as I had told her she should, he acknowledged her with a slight, polite nod. Not bad.

Her service to Ea'nash, was, as expected, rather a catastrophe, since he did not spare her from his touches and she backed away. For that, and since he knew that Vect would not have her flogged, he grabbed her by the throat, choked her and forced her into a kiss, during which she yelped, because he bit her quite hard and blood ran down the corners of her mouth. After he was done, he pushed her away.

Her bleeding barely-so stopped, she went to Atanel. I was surprised to see that she handled the pain he gave her quite calmly. Then again, it made sense. She could tolerate a lot of pain, but no sexual advances.

Tahril just ignored her, like he had done also with me until now.

Although her performance had not been too great, I was not yet worried too much. She needed time to process and now our biggest strength would come to show, when we would serve them both.

Lunch was served.

I showed Lisbeth how coordination was done, what was important, what she had to look after when the waiters did their job and which things she had to reprimand. Luckily, I did not have to show her that last part; I was not sure whether I could have done it when she was present.

In general, I was aware that I actually should tell Lisbeth the details about punishment. I should tell her about the Agoniser-rings.

However, I could not find it in my heart to do it.

Though I had enjoyed it and the power I had back then, I could not look her in the eye and give her instructions on how to torture someone. She would have to find out for herself, as much as I wanted to help and shield her. I had been ashamed enough when I had told her about what I had done, and I knew that she was not stupid, probably remembered what I had confessed, knew that it was most likely expected from her too and therefore, just had to decide against showing her.

We both looked after the beverages of the Circle and it was this part where we could shine bright. We just coordinated perfectly, though we never had been able to practice that kind of service before. Nonetheless, this was the biggest advantage of our deep connection: we did not have to communicate to have a high degree of coordination.

I looked to it that I served Zuol and Ea'nash constantly, not her, so they both could calm down a bit towards Lisbeth. I was not sure whether it worked, but at least I could shield my friend that way.

And she shielded me, as she had promised she would.

I was just at Atanel's side, moving off to refilling his drink, as a particular nasty spasm hit me. I could not fight it, the wave of pain that now washed over me was just too strong and my hands grew limp, the bottle slowly gliding out of my numb hands, while I writhed in agony.

Lisbeth saw what was happening and jumped to my rescue. Barely in time, she was at my side and elegantly caught the bottle that had just in this moment started to fall. We looked at each other, exchanged a smile and a nod and I drew thankfully backwards, while Lisbeth overtook my task smoothly.

In these moments, I felt a lot of gazes upon us and I was actually very happy that it had happened, because for the first time, Lisbeth was able to show her quick thinking and not so badly developed motor skills.

I was not sure, but it might have helped her.

After that small incidence, I held back and let Lisbeth shine a bit more. Zuol and Ea'nash still gave her a hard time, but the rest seemed to be a tad more appeased. I was unbelievably relieved. With my mistake, I had apparently accomplished what I had not been able to do with all the advice I had given her. It gave her confidence, I saw it.

This was good, she needed it.

Therefore, I stretched the game further and did not restrain myself so much when the pain hit me, so she could shield me and correct my mistakes. I felt Zuol's disdainful stare upon me, but I also understood that he might look at me in a different light if I came back from the Carnival with a victory for the Black Heart. He was now for Lisbeth to win over. My kind of victory would be an alternate and more complete one, should I be able to accomplish it.

I also was aware that Vect possibly eyed what we did quite critically and I awaited his judgement after the day was done with a queasy feeling. I really could not estimate whether he would like what I had pulled or if he would reprimand me harshly.

As the Overlord saw that it was good that we both served, he had us maintain this service as lunch was over and it again was the tea that was to be prepared and served. This lifted my spirits a bit. I figured that he liked our coordination and that he used it on purpose.

The day passed without major injuries for Lisbeth this time.

Then, we were back in the quarters.

As the door had snapped shut behind us, I looked at the Overlord with mixed feelings.

At first, he just stared at me, without any expression, then, a slow and cruel smile graced his features and he said, "Oh, Temira, are you afraid that I frown upon your little… ruse?" He shook his head. "It was not even a ruse, it was obvious, really." An evil smile. "Nonetheless, it fitted its purpose. Well done, my girl."

The new nickname made my heart skip a beat. He honoured me and yet, it somehow scared me. Him being too nice was mostly a dangerous sign.

Vect left me standing like that, certainly enjoying my confusion and said to Lisbeth, "Better. Let us see how you do without Temira in the next year, hmm?" Again, his gaze fell upon me. "You will be leaving tomorrow. No further delays."

This was it. The last night at the side of my master for one year, or forever, depending on whether I won the Carnival or not.

I spent the rest of the evening and the night with a cold feeling in my stomach.

---

There will be an explanation on Temira's rapidly degrading mental state. ;) That's all I'm saying for now.

Patience for the next chapter; it will be a long one, since I want to get everything before the actual carnival into it. Prepare for a monster like chapter 10. ;)

As always, I am rooting for comments and reviews! Please, let me know what you think!