Disclaimer

[Satine]

Time had blurred slowly together after Satine had arrived at the Keep in Hayll. The freedom she sought out was nowhere closer then it had been two months ago as she fought against Daemon, Warlord Prince of Hayll. The out come of that day hadn’t ended all that badly… it was the first time that she had enjoyed sex. She never thought she would be one to hunger for something she had been made to do over and over again for different people through out her life. Didn’t matter who her owner was she would have to please him plus his friends and guests… she was nothing but an object used for their enjoyment.

Even now her life hadn’t changed much; she lost the battle for her freedom and was still a slave… Daemon’s slave. That part was different and made clear. She was only for his entertainment, she was his.

She growled softly as her fist balled into a tight fist as she could still hear his voice over and over again in her mine… *Mine*. And she was his, she couldn’t change that fact. She knew the moment they met she was his and some hidden part deeply hidden rejoiced in that fact. She wanted to be his as much as she wanted him to hers. She was at war with herself. She craved freedom, need it as much as she wanted him.

Hell’s fire, Mother Night, and May the Darkness be merciful…. When had she changed? She couldn’t go soft not now. If she developed feelings they would be used against her and she needed her heart to remain as icy for what she was about to do.

Walking over to the full length mirror in the room that was given to her she stood unblinking at her reflection as she untied the bath robe and left it slip to the floor. She stood for a moment unmoving as she looked at her naked body, a disgusted looked flashed a crossed her at what her she saw. She placed a hand over her abdomen and rubbed it roughly and ran her own nails across of it just deep enough so that the skin broke. She wasn’t a Healer but she knew… her brew had failed her and now she was with child… a child that would grow up in a hated world. His child. She couldn’t let it be born or let anyone know. Only more pain would fill this child’s could and she had to save it from it.

“Mother Night and May the Darkness be merciful…” She spoke softly before lifting her hand, balled it into a fist and punch right through the mirror. She had number her body as she looked herself tightly behind her inner barriers, in the deepest darkest part of her mind as blood ran freely down her hand. Even though the cuts were deep and pain throbbed from her hands, she ignored it as she picked up a piece of the broken mirror that was shape like a triangle and position it over abdomen.

[Daemon]

Daemon Atani kneeled before the long carved heartwood coffee table in his study. A thin white paper was stretched between two expert fingers, smoothing over creases. He worked with steady grace as he sprinkled purplish red flakes onto the material, tainting it. Raising his finger to his lips he moistened the tips with his tongue before going back to work with the paper before him. It was a new mixture, bought from Zuulaman pirates that had stumbled upon an unknown island.

They'd been making hybrids of it ever since the pretty little plant had been discovered. Daemon even built a private estate on it, paying for it in gold. Apparently they'd merged local plants with it and now - well, it was going to either be very disappointing or pleasantly surprising. Lifting the newly wrapped joint he pressed it against his lips, sealing it carefully before setting it back on the table.

A surge of emotion echoed out from the opposite end of the keep causing him to blink and turn to the door. For a second he'd thought his daughter was back on the rag but then when it lingered like morning mist instead of blasting in spurts he grew agitated. Like any Warlord Prince even the possibility of a close female undergoing their natural progression of womanhood had him tense and on guard.

The smell stung him next like a whiff of heavy perfume. The rusty metallic smell twisted through him... Queen's blood. Snarling Daemon stood up, joint positioned behind his ear. The only female he cared about was his daughter and she had been out traipsing through the Den looking for ghosts. If she'd been so close to her moon's blood why the hell was she running around anywhere? The Keep was the only safe place for her under such circumstances. In such a weakened state anything could happen to her.

Snarling he followed the smell like a bloodhound - intent on the hunt and the hunt alone. It took him through the dark and twisting hallways but it didn't mentally register to him that he was headed to the slaves' quarters until he came to the end... and what he saw stretched out before him was enough to make his blood freeze.

Satine stood naked before a gilded frame, reflecting shards handing out of like teeth. Thick eyebrows creased in confusion as emerald eyes flickered in the candlelight, registering the images. Blood streaked down her arms, dripping in little puddles on the floor - a large piece of jagged glass held tight in her hands. "What the FUCK are you doing?!" He asked, voice dark as he took another step into the room, Red jewel blazing on his chest.

[Satine]

She stood there a moment, just letting the blood drip down her arm as new cuts formed on the inside of her hand as the glass she held in her hand sliced through her skin like butter. Her eyes glazed over as she stood frozen and numb from the world around her, she hesitated as the glass shared rested pointedly at her belly where the life grew inside her. A motherly instinct took over to protect and not destroyed… but to protect she had to destroyed the life in her; pain would be the only thing the child would know if she allow it to be born.

The sharp pointed edge of the broken mirror pressed in her abdomen as noise of the door being slammed open behind her cut through the silent of the room like thunder. She knew who it was and did not care as her own Red jewel rested on her bare chest pulsed with her heart beat. She tilted her head and looked at him with hazy eyes that held a distanced gleam in them as she straddled the lines between reality and the Twisted Kingdom. The room began to chill around her as she descended into a Queen’s rage. The blood that had pooled to the floor began to freeze over as she looked back at the broken mirror.

"What the FUCK are you doing?!"

“Protecting,” She answer in a tone that could not be mistaken as not being anything but a Queen’s voice. All her life her nature as a Queen had been buried until now… it had awaken and nothing was going to stop her. As a Queen she was the protector of the Blood, this she knew, she felt it, it was who she was, it was in her blood and she would protect at any cost… even at the cost of her own life. “One more less slave, one more life freed…” She whispered softly as her hand slid down the mirror, pressing deeper into her skin as the blood flow increased.

A Red shield snapped up around her, it wouldn’t stop Daemon, but at leased it would delay him until the deed was done. She had to do this one task, her life had no meaning up until now and if the only thing she lived for was to do this one thing then so be it… she had no regret. “Everything has a price…” This was the price she was willing to pay with her blood so that no one had to go through the life she had lived.

[Daemon]

This must be the reason Slim had handed over the wretch. She was fucking CRAZY. It was the only explanation for the scene before him. Everything made sense now - hell, he'd have parted with her beauty too if he'd had to endure freakier shit than this. It was like one of the old rituals... Only she wasn't just offering blood to the Darkness - it was bound to be guts too.

Once bright gleaming eyes found him in shrouded focus. Shadows haunted the once brilliant color that lit fire in his blood. Was she possessed? Blinking Daemon could only stare back at her in confused shock. He'd never been in a position even remotely close to this... The air thickened, cooling almost instantly and his breath came out in a transparent puff.

"Protecting what you crazy bitch?" He shot back, the Red at his chest blazing like an ember while the Ebon Gray woven into the gleaming silver band on his right hand began to grow warm. The icy dark tone that tainted her voice hardly registered in his mind though he did take note of it. Perhaps she truly had lost it...

Her next words made him shake his head, "Freed to what? Death?" A hollow chuckle fell from his lips as he stepped over frozen streaks of blood, drawing closer to the slave. A fresh wave of blood permeated the room to the point that the scent filled and twisted within him, burning his senses. Thrusting himself forward he ran headlong into the shield but before the impact knocked him to the floor a fountain of Ebon-Gray power erupted from his ring, shooting him through it and into her sacred bloodied circle.

One hand snaked around her abdomen, pulling her tight against him while the other gripped around her wrist, pulling the glass away from her skin. He didn't know what to say - wasn't sure what had set her off in the first place. She'd been happy enough the past month she'd spent in his care. Then a thought bubbled in his mind, poisoning rationality.

"Did someone mess with you?" He snarled in her ear, gripping her wrist tighter.

[Satine]

"Protecting what you crazy bitch?"

A hunted laugh warmed the chill air in the room for a moment. Maybe he was right, maybe she was crazy. After all the years she had been a slave she had finally cracked… but deep down she knew it was not true. “You couldn’t be more wrong…” The task at had was as clear as day, she had to protect the child that grew inside her… and death seem the only way to do that.

"Freed to what? Death?"

“Everything has a price Prince…. Death is my payment for freedom.” She was a ghost of herself as dark shadows clouded her eyes and her voice seemed distanced as she stared into the Twisted Kingdom. “We must die to be free…” She stared out and saw the shadow of the child that would come to be if it was allowed to live. She didn’t want it to have the life she had known. She would save her child from that pain and end hers with his.

The impact of his Ebon Gray crashed in and the force of his body impacting her cause Satine back to reality as she snarled in anger as he pulled her tightly against his body and pulled her hand that held the mirror shard away from her body. “No, let me go!” she cried out in anger as she tried to pull her hand free from his grip with all the strength she could master.

"Did someone mess with you?"

Her breath caught in her throat as her heart skipped. Did he care about a slave? The thought crossed her mind before the pressure on her wrist caused her to regain focus. She couldn’t let such thoughts cross her mind, not now. If for a minute she thought he care enough and the child would have a better life then she could ever imagine she couldn’t go through with it. She couldn’t kill the baby to protect it if for one second she thought there was warmth and concern in his voice.

It was all her imagination she told herself as the blood lost finally started to take its toll and her vision blurred. “No,” She hissed and pulled harder to free her wrist. She had to complete the task before it was too late. If she passed out now, who knew what would happen when she awoke. A Healer would surely be called and the truth would be discovered. “Why does it matter anyway? I’m just some slave, some object played with for your pleasure… what does it matter to you if I live or die?!”

Satine growled as she tried to free herself from his grasp. Everything about him, the heat from his body, his voice ringing in her ears was clouding her mind. He was nothing but another male who own her, he shouldn’t matter! He was nothing like she was to him. “The baby must be free from this world,” She cried out without a second thought and bit hard on her lower lip when it registered in her mind what she had just said without thinking.

[Daemon]

Had she gotten into his stash? There was no way in Hell it would have made her wig out this bad. Drugs had different effects on people but this was nothing like he'd ever seen before. Something else had to have gone down with this - something that drug her over the edge. Granted she was a slave and his whore but she lived a comfortable life even when he had use of her. He'd thought they had come to a silent agreement - clearly something was wrong.

Regardless he wasn't about to lose his new toy. There weren't many slaves like her and he wasn't going to chance losing the best one he'd found so far. Not to mention she had a few tricks up her sleeve that even if he did take the time to teach another they'd never be able to do them quite like her. That had been the logical reasons that churned early but were soon replaced by an angrier feral jealousy.

The idea of another lusting, touching - tainting his slave was enough to make his blood turn to ice. His grip was firm and unyielding even as she fought and pulled against him. He hardly responded save with an automatic tightening grip. Jewels added to his own physical strength as he squeezed until her hand fell open and the shard crashed into hundreds of tiny pieces on the stone floor.

Even though she grew still he did not release her - couldn't for fear she'd try something else and he wouldn't have to option to stop her. In calming her down he could figure out who or what did this to her... and kill them. Tendrils of Red were already in the works, cocooning warmth around her naked body just as Starian had taught him - a slow healing well underway due to his lack of enthusiasm in the subject.

“Why does it matter anyway? I’m just some slave, some object played with for your pleasure… what does it matter to you if I live or die?!”

"Damn it wretch because you are MINE!" He snarled back at her, gritting his teeth as he held her in place. He'd had pleasure slaves before but those had been shared as custom. She, however, had been his and his alone. He liked that about her even though she had no choice in the matter. Even with the strength he possessed she still put up a tough fight and it was hard to stay focused long enough to keep her still when what he really wanted to do was destroy the fuck out of whoever was responsible.

“The baby must be free from this world.”

Even the thick intoxicating haze of Queen's blood could not hold his mind at bay and he reeled at her cry. "Baby?" Eyebrows furrowed automatically as he stepped back, half dragging her with him. "What the hell are you talking about?" Wrenching her back to face him he stared into the dark haunted glaze that coated her vision. "What baby?!"