And We Shall Know Him by His Horns

Much to her surprise, Althea spent the remainder of that night in the soft bed alone. Durai had kept himself in another room to sleep and left her in peace. She counted her blessings at least for that. As much as her mind was racing and her anxieties whirled around her, sleep came quite easily and deep as she still had the heaviness from the drugs in her blood. And despite the luxury of the bed, a luxury she had not felt in over a year, she awoke with stiffness and soreness everywhere. She felt as if she had been cruelly beaten. Even her eyes seemed to ache.

She awoke before Durai did, or at least before he entered the room. She could sense he was still asleep, though. He always had slept later than her, and the comfort of knowing she had been returned to him must have made him sleep well. The thought made Althea roll her eyes. She also found she was still bound at the wrists, ankles, and knees. The bindings were soft silk and not so tight as to cause immense discomfort. It was just an incredibly irritating nuisance that it had been done to her. She searched the bindings at her knees and ankles with her nimble fingers to find the knot to free herself, but there was no knot. She passed her fingers along the entire silk and found absolutely none as if it had been fused together. Magic. His Magic.

She sat back then in frustration. She had thought maybe she could be so clever as to free herself, and of course it wouldn't be this easy; he would not be nearly so careless. However, she took the time then to stretch her muscles as best she could still being clumsy in her restraints. She used her fingers to massage at least a small measure of stiffness away, and after a good amount of time she started to feel much better.

Looking around the room then, things were so much like she had remembered them to be. The colors of the room adornments were of dark hues that encouraged the darkness. Curtains of dark green, blankets of deep purples and reds, all of them helped stop light from lingering. She guessed she had never really thought of it that way before even as obvious as it was. The fireplace only had orange red glows upon the last remnants of wood left smoldering, but the rich smell of the fire still lingered in the room. Candles left had been burnt down to the last bit of wax. She tried to remember other things about this room, specifically exit points she could use, if not now then sometime. However, she could only remember the one, and it was closed and more than likely locked.

As she continued to look around and stir some more, she realized that she was also incredibly weak. Her limbs started to shake and tremor, and she remembered it had been at least a day and a half since she had eaten anything. She hated being in the position that she needed something from him. Just being given the water last night was ignominy enough. But she knew that her body was now reaching dangerously low levels of energy, and she needed food desperately no matter where it came from. Until she got some, she reclined back on the cushions on the bed to reserve what she had left.

What little light could reach into the room grew brighter, and she kept her eyes on the door in anticipation of when he would enter. She hoped he would anticipate her needs; the thought of having to ask him for food was enough to make her wretch. Her mind also wandered beyond her plight and focused on Galen. She prayed that Hemele kept his word and delivered him somewhere safe. She was not sure how much she could trust a man who would willfully drug an already weakened woman.

She heard the wood of the door slightly crack and snap at the pressure of slight movement or pressure, and she knew that he was preparing to enter. Perhaps he was pressing into the wood to listen for signs of her waking, maybe he was carrying something clumsily and trying to open the door with it in balance, maybe it wasn't him at all but a servant, who knows? Regardless, she was about to have company, and she was ready for it.

The door opened then with Durai carrying a tray of some fruit. "Thank God," she thought silently to herself. It took all her restraint not to reach for it immediately. She kept herself as composed as possible. Durai had a huge grin on his face, which was so unlike how she often saw him. It provided her no comfort. In fact, it was frightening.

He set the tray of fruit down on the table beside the bed and then sat next to her upon it. He gracefully leaned in, placed a hand behind her head, and pressed his lips to hers as if he had been dreaming of doing so all night. At first, she was too shocked to react, but then she struggled against him. She expected to be held firmly in place with his considerably stronger force, but he let go immediately. "I'm sorry," he said still with the large, unapologetic smile. "I guess I just couldn't help myself." He paused then and took the sight of her in like it was the first time. "You know, I have loved you this whole time. Never once did it even diminish. I never stopped."

She had absolutely no doubt of that.

After she continued to simply look at him in silence, he turned to the fruit still wet from washing. Despite her best attempts to remain unresponsive to him, her body tightened with anticipation, and though he didn't show it, he sensed it. "Are peaches still your favorite?" he asked as he picked up a rather large one. Her mouth watered so much she was worried she might drool out her mouth. She gave him a very small nod of approval. He began to offer the fruit to her as she extended her bound hands to the fruit hungrily.

He then retracted his offering and looked at the silken ties. He looked from the ties to her eyes. He gave her a look that was equal parts sternness and teasing. "If I take care of these," he gestured to her restraints, "do you promise to behave?"

The tone he had with her was a sickening mix of superiority, sensuality, condescension, and feigned vulnerability. She felt like an animal in the woods knowing that there was a trap somewhere, and every moment and every step were tensed with danger.

She had no choice to but to nod in acknowledgement as she needed the food desperately. Durai reached out his free hand with his palm facing her ties. Red swirls of light extended outward and danced around the silk. She flinched slightly just from the idea of being touched by his Magic though she didn't really feel any sensation from it at all. In an instant the bonds loosened and fell away. She spread her wrists away from each other and realized how much they ached. She was not able to massage or tend to her upper body the way she had been able to with her lower body given her restraints. She couldn't keep the minor pains from showing in her face.

Durai frowned slightly at seeing her discomfort and decided not to tease her any further. She handed her the fruit gently. He rose and stated to walk towards the door, "I'll leave you to eat on your own for now. I have some things I need to do this morning." He looked over his shoulder then and looked at her. Every part of him ached to just go to her and take everything he had been wanting. But he decided to wait. There were better ways, and he would get to all he wanted in the end.

Althea heard the door close and the subsequent bolting of the lock that followed it. Not that she would be able to get away anyway as she was still restrained at the knees and ankles. But at least her hands were finally free. She ate the peach hurriedly despite her better judgement to be slow and careful about it. It was still warm from the sun; it was probably picked this very morning. The juice that escaped her ravenous mouth ran down her chin, but she didn't care. She felt its sweet sugars enter her blood and sooth her shaking muscles. As there was another on the platter, she ate that peach just as fast.

She took a long, relieved breath after the second peach was devoured. She wiped her chin with her sleeve and sat back silently thanking the life-giving nutrients as she felt them pass through her body. She looked over at the rest of her offerings and picked through the pears, strawberries, and small mandarins and ate the best of the selection slowly as to not overwhelm her probably highly acidic stomach.

Then she found beneath the fruit offerings some assorted blocks of cheese and small amounts of cured meat. She held a small piece of bright orange cheddar in her fingers and felt joyful at the first chance in so long to have some. She held it to her nose and deeply inhaled the long-forgotten scent. She forgot how good cheese was, how much she loved the creaminess and sharpness and intricate differences in varieties. She slowly savored each and every small bite and prolonged her enjoyment of a delicacy that she had missed so much. The elation was almost overwhelming her.

The rest of the morning she spent both massaging seemingly stagnant blood back into her upper body and arms along with whatever limited planning she could possibly do. She tried not to be discouraged by all she did not know and could not plan for; the best she could do was work with what she had. She thought perhaps the best place to start was sort through what she did know and what she needed to learn. She knew that she had been drugged, but by what and what the lasting effect could be were a mystery. However, some self-meditating seemed to indicate that she was shaking the effects fairly efficiently. She knew that she was here with Durai, she was bound, and she had no defenses or allies near her.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of what she knew for certain.

Everything that remained unknown flooded and overwhelmed her like the river breaking from its bank in a storm. She worried so much about Galen, where he was, whether he was safe, and whether or not he would do something rash and impulsive to get to her. She knew now that she did not want him to. She wanted him safe, she wanted him as far from the reach of demons as he could possibly be, and she wanted him happy no matter what it meant for her or what he had to do to be so.

The day passed on in slow anxiety, and Althea found that she would perhaps rather Durai be here where she could see and know what he was doing. The list of how much she didn't know was growing more daunting in her mind. Whatever terrifying turn this had to take, she would rather it be over with quickly. To calm her mind, she went into further, deeper meditation and focused on all she could sense and feel. It didn't take long for her to feel the darkness oozing in the air around her. She recognized the feeling as the presence of the Mist that she had felt before, but this was different. It was almost as if she could feel the source of it or perhaps the power of it from the conjure site. The evil she could feel from it had fangs and claws, and she sensed an insatiable, persistently dire need from it. Though what that meant was entirely unknown.

While still deep in her meditation, Durai was able to quietly enter the room undetected. He stood by her on the bed and watched her in her trance. His inner self was a dangerous mixture of serene control that was happy to take in the sight of her peacefully and the violent, lustful urges that wanted only to consume her. However, he prided himself on patience and control, and he continued to just watch her as he took a seat on a chair beside her.

Althea then finally heard the rustling of his clothing and sensed his breathing beside her. She opened her eyes to find him so close that it was startling at first. However, she retained her composure. He was still smiling, and it still filled her with unease.

"Did you enjoy the food?"

"Yes." She responded shortly. Then she thought better of consistent abrasiveness since she was still needing things. She therefore added, "Thank you."

At the sound of her words he closed his eyes and seemed to savor it like wine. She turned her head from the site as it put her at further unease. He leaned forward in his chair and looked her up and down once again before saying, "Just wait. Dinner will be much better. I promise."

Althea straightened her back and said, "I don't intend on staying here that long. All I came here to do is put an end to this curse, if I possibly can, and then I will be more than happy to be on my way." No matter how much false confidence she tried, just hearing her own words made her cringe at just how futile they were. She knew that what she intended was not even a remote consideration at this point. "So, I would like to be taken to the site now and finish my job, please."

She expected to see disappointment register on his face, but it didn't. She expected a display of anger or dominance, but it never came. Instead, something like pride shown through his eyes. He was in fact proud at her strength to make such a show to him; she had never been so forceful before. This change intrigued him and only fueled his infatuation with her further. She became a more difficult and therefore more worthwhile prize. He was now more determined to have her.

"That will come when you're stronger. I promise I will take you to the temple to try and be the hero as soon as your body is up to it. But you do understand that you are not leaving here. Not ever again. I will not allow it." Durai began to show his same forcefulness as Althea had remembered in the past. She had wondered when he would start to show his nature, and at least she had fortified her spirit against it. At least as much as she could.

"Durai, what you will allow and what will be happening are two completely different scenarios. You don't expect me to just stay again and be ok with it, do you?"

"No, of course not. At least not right away. But you know me," he said as the glow in his eyes flashed for just a brief second. She was determined to not let the triggered fear in her overpower her resolve, but she couldn't deny that she was afraid. Every impulse in her knew that he would make good on any threat, and there were no depths to which he would not sink. "I do have ways of making things happen. I always do. And I will. You'll see."

The mere thought that he had a calculated plan that she could only react to and not strategize against made her face pale with unease. He was cunning, and she was not. All she had to rely on was her kind heart and good intentions. How can one battle evil with that?

"Listen to me, Durai. I have absolutely no intention of staying here with you. I will do my duty, and then, if I have to, I will have Mireya make it so you stay as far away from me as is possible in this world. You mark my words. This time I will win."

At that, Durai moved from the chair beside her and onto the bed beside her. His movements were eerily like that of a snake, and she could feel pricks of apprehension tingle across her skin. Her shoulders pulled up around her neck as she leaned away from his advancement. But he closed the distance skillfully and pulled her back by the arms. He leaned in almost on top of her, and brushed aside a strand of hair that had fallen across her face. He inhaled deeply savoring the smell of flowers that always managed to come from her. The warmth radiating from her skin in her restless unease penetrating into his own body.

"You've changed, little Dove. I'm impressed."

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for me."

"Doesn't matter, the change is there," and he slowly lowered his face closer to hers, "and I like it."

Althea visibly shivered, and Durai laughed low and deep at it.

"As for Mireya, I wouldn't rely on her to come in and save you."

"Durai, you can't scare me. I know you are a liar, and your control over me has to do with manipulating my fears. I know what you had said before are nothing but lies. I do not believe that Mireya would cast me out in anger. I do not believe she holds me in contempt. We were bound as sisters, and you can't come between that."

Durai just continued to smile at her as he stroked the top of her head. "How well you know me. Look at you; just so clever. You are right. She's not angry at you. She never was. She loves you so much. It broke her heart to hear that you were found dead."

And all she saw then was the fire blazing green in his eyes.