The Hunter's Companions Ch. 13

"We don't know yet, but we are trying to work that out. I have heard from a friend of yours, a lovely grey hawk. We're trying to figure things out," Aegon told his son, his voice so soft he wasn't sure whether he had actually spoken aloud or not, but Belcarm gave a nearly imperceptible nod and he knew his message was heard. He pulled back and gave his son a brave smile. "Keep well, son, I will tell Mitrae that we are considering his deal."

Quickly, Aegon turned and left, making a mental note of the guards who were on duty. The same ones who would've brought his son in for questioning. He memorized their names and knew that if he met them in a dark alley, that he would murder them for the traitors and turncloaks they were.

~*~

Kalendras shook his head as he stood up. Deanna Sunspeaker had told a very interesting story. Apparently, she had been leaving a council meeting late one night when she noticed that Milent Goldentongue had left a leather document pouch behind. She grabbed it, thinking to return it to him, when the doors burst open and Mitrae Swiftspell strode in. He had snatched the envelope of her, showed her the documents, and accused her of treason. She had tried to tell him that the documents were Goldentongue's, but there were ten Guardians that witnessed them in her possession and that would be enough for her to be hanged for treason. So Mitrae had offered a deal, a little thing really, a marriage between his son and her daughter in exchange for his silence.

"How could I resist?" Deanna has asked Kalendras, "The Swiftspells are a powerful family, if not particularly old, and Rioden was reasonably handsome and extremely talented. Plus, Livinia had never shown any interest in anybody, and it is high time she settled down."

At first Mitrae and Rioden had been charming, the three of them plotting the courtship in secret. Then, the night of the Diplomat's Ball arrived and Livinia made it quite clear that she wasn't interested. It was a slight on his honor that Mitrae could not ignore. He told Deanna that, despite her daughter's resistance, the deal was still on or the documents would be handed in to the High Inquisitor of Silvermoon City. So Deanna had done all she could to push Kalendras and Belcarm away from her daughter.

What Deanna Sunspeaker had not counted on was that her daughter would be kidnapped, nor that those documents would be used against Kalendras or Belcarm. It was supposed to be so simple, Deanna had told Kal, but often it was the simplest things that went wrong.

"I need to borrow some parchment and ink," Kalendras said gruffly, not looking at Deanna for fear that he would shake her to death for her stupidity.

"It is in the study, help yourself," Erique told him sadly and Kal turned and left the room.

However, when he entered the study it was already occupied.

"Kalendras, Darling, I thought that you would have been in Orgrimmar with Livinia by now... Or was sharing her too much to palate?" Caristra purred, looking up from her book. Kalendras bit his tongue and watched the elven woman carefully. Livinia seemed to trust her, and (if the rumours were true) she had certain skills that might help them find out where Liv was being kept.

"Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what, exactly?" Caristra asked, putting her book down on the desk and looking at him with interest sparkling in her green eyes.

Kalendras told her everything, watching as her face morphed from shock, to horror, to complete and total outrage.

"That stupid fucking bitch," Caristra said hotly "I knew my sister was an imbecile but..." She trailed off, turning and walking over to the window. Kalendras remained silent, she had already said what he was feeling, and despite her cowardice he did not want to disrespect Livinia's mother in front of her only sister. "You said that Goldentongue was involved, didn't you dear?" Kalendras nodded "I think, perhaps, that he might be more involved with this scheme than we think... Give me some time to think on it, yes?" She said.

"Not too much time- we have to find her." Kalendras said.

"Oh, I'm sure I won't be thinking for long." Caristra told him with a devious smile "When and where are you planning to meet Aegon?" Kalendras gave her directions to Aegon's cottage and told her that he would be returning there at nightfall.

"Will I see you there?" Kalendras asked, hoping that he had scored her as an ally. They would need all the help they could get.

"Not too sure... But if I'm not there you can expect a letter or something of the like," Caristra said before turning and leaving the room, her voluptuous hips swaying from side to side seductively.

When she left Kalendras found some ink and parchment and wrote several copies of the same note. He folded them up and closed them with wax. Instead of pressing the Sunspeaker seal into them he used a quill to scratch the guild logo into the wax of each very carefully. When he was done he stood and made his way back to the parlor where Deanna and Erique were seated at opposite ends of the lounges, faced drawn and in stony silence. Kalendras handed the letters to Erique. "Can I count on you to post these immediately?" He asked, "I can't afford to be seen in the city," Erique took them gingerly and nodded.

"What do they say?" Livinia's father asked.

"I am calling on the troops," Kalendras said with a grin.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Deanna asked.

"No, thankyou, just sit here and wait... and for the Earthmother's sake- do not talk to anyone."

"Kal, I'm sorry about this m-" Deanna begun.

"It's not me who you need to apologize to," Kalendras snapped, interrupting her. If he had to hear her voice one more time he would strangle her for certain.

Kalendras took a deep breath and shifted into his hawk form before launching himself out of the window he had entered a couple of hours earlier.

~*~

Time passed slowly in a stinking black cell. She spent the entire time lying spread eagle on the desk. It hurt her back to no end, but it was better than being chained against the wall. Her only companions in the cell were pain and anxiety. While Mitrae and Rioden were gone Livinia had a lot of time to think and it wasn't good. Through the nightmares sprouted one beacon of light bright enough to keep her from despair; they had brought her Belcarm's mace. While she could not reach it, it gave her a vital weapon she needed. Hope.

They had brought her nothing that belonged Kalendras. Not a weapon, or a piece of armor. Nothing. Perhaps he'd escaped? That beautiful possibility was all that was keeping Livinia's spirits from flickering out. If Kalendras escaped, after being accused of treason, he was sure to know that there was something strange going on.

This was what she was thinking when the door slammed open and the lights flared to life. She was better prepared this time, and closed her eyes immediately, opening them slowly so that she could adjust to the light.

"Hello again, Wife," Rioden's voice filled the silence and Livinia couldn't help but growl as the horrid pitch of it crawled through her mind like a million scarabs.

"I'm not your wife," Livinia spat, full of vehemence. Although, she was forced to drop the nasty attitude when Semira walked through the door behind Rioden. Her breath caught in her throat and her most intimate parts twitched in anticipation. Semira's laughter rang through the room and turned Livinia's insides to ice.

"True. Well, not yet at least; though I'm sure you will be soon enough," Rioden's eyes traveled down her exposed body and she bit her tongue hard, his gaze felt like red hot pokers on her battered skin.

"You don't have Kalendras," Livinia stated, successfully distracting him.

"Says who, you? In case you haven't realized you have not left this room since I put you here. I would hardly take your word for it," Rioden said nonchantly, but she saw a vein in his neck twitch in annoyance and she knew she had struck a chord. "Either way, you will be my wife in less than forty-eight hours. I thought that you might relish a chance to perform your marital duties again, seeing how much you enjoyed out last interlude."

The satisfaction that Livinia had felt at annoying him was swallowed up by anger and apprehension. Her body tightened and her core throbbed distractingly. She cursed her body for its betrayal and her face set into a hard expression. All it took was another look at Rioden and Semira to reinforce the goals she had made while they had been gone. She would not give in. Not again. He would never hear her begging his name ever again, no matter the cost.

"Now, we can do this the easy way, where we spare you poor body from Semira's delectable attention, and you just accept the inevitable... Or- well, I don't need to tell you the alternative, do I?" Rioden asked, a maleficent glint in his eye. With a twisted grin he flicked his hand and the chains pulled Livinia painfully to her feet before thrusting her back against the wall.

"The only thing that is inevitable is that I will get out of here, and that I will cut your fucking balls off with a blunt dagger," Livinia spat. Rioden laughed and the sound grated her nerves.

"Told you she was a feisty one." Rioden said to Semira who grinned as she flicked her wrist and her whip unraveled gracefully with a metallic hiss.

Rioden's pants fell to the ground and he stepped out of them, walking over to the desk and settling onto it. Livinia looked away when he took his flaccid penis in hand and begun to stroke it leisurely.

"Luckily I enjoy watching Semira at work," Rioden said with a sleazy lopsided grin. Livinia looked away in disgust and stared at the wall opposite to her. Even when Semira stood in her line of sight she refused to focus on her, instead imagining that the Succubus was made of nothing more than stained glass, looking right on through her.

The first kiss of the whip made her throw her head back in pain, but Livinia refused to cry out. The succubus rained stroked after stroke across her exposed breasts and torso, the contact becoming harder and harder as time passed and Livinia remained silent. The angry red welts from her last whipping were not covered by a new network of glittering crimson strips, most covered with thousands of tiny beads of blood.

Livinia was not a stranger to pain. She was an adventurer after all. Though she had never really relished it unless it was Kalendras administering it. Though when Kalendras hurt her it was something different entirely, it was inevitable, unavoidable, an part of their joining that was indistinguishable from the pleasure. Semira's strokes were the opposite. Livinia spent all of her spare energy on concentrating on the way her body was stinging. With enough focus the pain distracted her from lure of the succubus. There was a reason that she was a hunter and fought with a bow and arrow, apart from being skilled at it, she was not the type to purposefully wade into a battle and invite blows.

"Have you had enough yet?" Rioden's voice broke through the constant hiss and snap of the whip and Semira took a step back.

"Enough? I thought we'd only just begun," Livinia panted through her agony, chest heaving painfully as her breath came hard and fast. She refused to look over to the Warlock, but Semira had no such qualms, and in an instant the amethyst demon nodded and dropped to her knees. She crawled the distance between them, tail swinging playfully behind her, and when her forked tongue made direct contact with Livinia's clitoris she had to bite her tongue to stop from moaning in pleasure.

Livinia didn't know how long it continued for, but she did know how many times she crested only to have her pleasure drawn away from her at the last moment. Her entire body was shaking with the effort it took her to remain sane and remember that she did not want to give in. Because she did. Every part of her body screamed out, hoping, begging, that the twenty-fourth abandoned orgasm would be the last one. Every part of her wanted the sweet relief that the feeling of Rioden's cock would bring to her empty core.

After the first few attempts Rioden had crossed the room and placed his slimy lips on her neck, kissing, licking and biting her, hoping to entice her. Though that felt like a long time ago now, and Livinia could feel the tension in him as he rubbed his rock hard erection against her back. Through a fog of lust and pain she had enough consciousness left to hope that he would tire of this game before she would.

"Fuck you, bitch," Rioden's voice echoed through the room and slapping her face, hard, before he backed away from her.

Semira's tongue stopped its eager lapping and her fiery eyes burnt into Livinia's. Livinia's eyes went wide when Rioden's leapt forward and wrapped hands around her throat. After a few moments of breathless pain and fear her body was screaming for oxygen and her vision was turning fuzzy. "You want to play it like that? You think that is all I have? You will beg for me! YOU WILL BEG!"

As suddenly as they were there, his hands left her throat and she collapsed against her chains as she gasped for breath. Without another word Rioden stormed out of the room and Semira sighed before walking over to the desk and laying back on it. She watched Livinia through glittering obsidian eyes, but waited for a couple of minutes before talking.

"You're an ungrateful whelp," Semira said, and Livinia had to concentrate to hear the words beyond the enticingly husky voice. "My master is willing to give you every pleasure and you will not grant him even the least concession."

"The only pleasure I want is my freedom."

"Once you give in to him you will be free enough. Fuck him, deliver his heirs, and he will be kind to you. Every piece of the Swiftspell fortune will be at your disposal. Every luxury... And he can be a very generous lover when he is in the right mood," The logical argument was at complete odds with the Succubus's normal raw passion and energy, and Livinia couldn't help but listen to the reason in the words.

"Why doesn't he just fuck me and get it over with?" Livinia growled and Semira tutted.

"My master is just a man; no matter how hard he tries to transcend his base urges. Every man wants to be wanted. Tell him you want him, beg him for his attention, and you will find him most generous," The words taunted her. Teased her. Her body was aching with pain and desire and the promise of some kindness made her yearn for relief and release.

"Never!" Livinia managed to spit out, although the energy it took to say the word was more than she would have ever imagined.

"We shall see, pretty one, we shall see," The succubus laughed and Livinia closed her eyes, deciding to use the physical reprieve to refocus herself.

~*~

Belcarm grunted as he was shoved roughly through the open door. Pain lanced through his head as the blindfold was pulled against his face, hard, until it ripped apart with a tear that echoed through the chamber. When the stars stopped dancing in his vision he looked around and everything he saw was drowned in a sea of crimson anger.

Livinia was tethered against the wall, four chains holding her starfished against the stone. Her clothes were torn and hanging off her shoulders and hips uselessly, not covering a single piece of her precious flesh from view. Her normally smooth white skin was now a horrid mess of red welts, purple striped and black bruises. She had a trail of dry blood and what could only be seed tracing down her thighs. Only her face was left untouched, but the look of anger, pain and dismay there was enough to tell him just how much she had been through the day. Her green eyes glittered with an emotion he couldn't read and the sight made him struggle uselessly against his bonds.

"Bel!" Her voice was so small and hoarse that he lunged towards her. He had to help her- had to set her free from this nightmare.

Before he could reach her, Belcarm's head snapped back, a roar of pain dying in his throat due to the silencing spell that had been cast on him. He fell to the cold stone floor with a loud off and then felt the imprint of the Warlock's boot on his back, pressing against body parts that had been damaged by the Guardians. He struggled to his knees, with his hands bound behind his back, and met her beautiful eyes again.

"What do you say now, bitch?" Rioden growled. Belcarm could feel the anger rolling off him and he wondered what Livinia had done to piss him off so much. He couldn't help but hope that she continued to do it, anything to make the disgusting excuse for a Blood Elf angry was fine by him. "Belcarm..." Her voice was a barely audible whisper, it floated into the dank chamber and caressed his ears tenderly. He managed to give her what he hoped was a reassuring half smile. Though the smile was wiped from his face as every cell of his body was ignited by a Curse of Agony cast by Rioden. The pain sizzled through him, intensifying every couple of seconds until it reached a blinding crescendo. Finally it stopped and Belcarm collapsed to the ground his body convulsing with uncontrollable spasms, aftershocks of the terrible agony.

"This," Rioden said, gesturing at him, his eyes burning into Livinia "has only just begun." Belcarm didn't know exactly where the comment had come from, but he knew enough to hear the threat behind his words. "What do you say now, wife?"

Wife? Belcarm's eyes widened in confusion and he looked up at Livinia, her green orbs looked at him, pleading, and she shook her head. He pushed his questions out of his mind and tried to think of a way to get her out of here. It must be one of the Warlock's mind games. "I can do this all day if need be, but you will find your punishment will be much less if you give in now," Rioden said, Livinia's lips set in a stubborn grimace and Belcarm had only a moment to relish her strength before his entire body was once again filled by the curse.

~*~

Livinia swallowed her cry as she watched Belcarm's body convulse on the ground. It took every ounce of concentration to stop tears from escaping her eyes, and her insides burned at the look of glee and hate as Rioden tortured Belcarm. When his body stopped twitching, Belcarm caught her gaze again and sent her a silent plea to be strong, letting her know that he could handle it. She gave an almost imperceptible nod and hardened herself to the sight. She had seen him in pain before; he could handle it. He was so strong.

It wasn't until Semira finally jumped off her comfortable perch on the desk that Livinia's resolve begun to crumble. The Succubus walked over to Belcarm, spiked purple tail twitching playfully. She squatted down in front of him and Belcarm's eyes widened in horror, finally noticing the demon was in the room.

Livinia knew how Belcarm felt about such demons. Livinia knew that Belcarm was not fond of Warlocks in general, but even less tolerant of their so-called pets. When the demon brought one purple finger up to stroke his bruised cheek he couldn't stop the look of horror in his eyes. The hell-spawn bitch pressed her finger into his bruise and he opened his mouth in a silent cry.

"NO!" The word exploded from her in an instant and echoed through the room. Everyone's eyes turned to stare at her.

"What was that?" Rioden asked, unable to keep the glee from his voice. Belcarm shot her a warning glance and she bit her tongue and looked away. "Very well. Semira, continue."

She tried not to look, she tried her hardest not to watch, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the Succubus straddle Belcarm's prone form. She could see his legs flailing as he tried to get away from her. Livinia turned back and met his gaze, her eyes were stinging and her breathing was labored. She wanted to give in, she really did, but the fire of defiance in Belcarm's eyes told her that he wanted her to continue to be strong.