[center][color=lightgray][h2]Lienna Orhhneaht[/h2][/color][color=gold]Prince Rynek Darion[/color][/center]

[color=gold][i]"Ah my dear, we wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, would we? I have appearances to keep up and if people thought that I suddenly show all my cards when a beautiful maiden bats her eyelashes at me, it wouldn't be long before they begin to exploit it.”[/i][/color]

So her new husband, or his name anyway, wouldn’t be won over so easily? Fine, then she’d have to play his game. In a fluid motion, he released her, taking her hands gently - surprisingly gently - in his and holding her secure. His grip was like a sinew lash; flexible, but firm. Of course, his eyes told her different. In his eyes, eyes the colour of ice that burned like fire, she saw his lust; his raw, carnal power. It was a dark enough look to send the bravest Gem man running. 

And Lienna found it [i]exhilerating.[/i]

At once, her fear left her. The trembling in her gut remained, though she could argue that it was the strange excitement she felt, and not fear. Like standing on a towering cliff over raging waters, and feeling the wind rip at her, trying to push her off. It was the feeling of looking over that cliff, down into the foaming waves below, and moving to jump. 

Her husband released her, apparently not concerned that she would run. Of course, after the warning he gave her, she wouldn’t have even if she wanted to. She had to smirk; her husband’s guards, and the way he interacted with them, would be funny to anyone. She remained at his side, trailing with her hands folded in front of her, but her shoulders square and her head high. She spared the body on the ground a glance, forcing herself to tear away her eyes after a moment. The bloody image would remain with her for a few minutes, and she predicted that it was likely to return when she slept. Again, though, her husband’s comments drew a morbid smile to her lips. If things kept going as they were, Lienna allowed herself to believe that it wouldn’t be too hard to live with this Drakken. 

As they neared the dining room entrance, she saw her husband eyeing the guard that stood there. He pulled her gently off to the side, and began to whisper to her. 

[color=gold][i]"My dear, I believe it is time that you show me what you're truly capable of. Some of my brothers choose to impose their will on their little brides but I prefer to offer them a choice; to let them shine so beautifully. So here is my choice. Your people hate violence but it is a necessity. Violence offers you a choice, my love. A choice between suffering a cold and terrible fate... or grabbing fate by the balls and telling him to fuck off. Oh, and the armpit is usually the best place.”[/i][/color]

As he spoke, he opened his cloak and pressed a deadly-looking dagger into her palm. Lienna stared between her husband’s eyes and his ‘gift,’ and she quickly tucked it in one hand behind some of the folds in her skirt. She said nothing, simply nodded, and followed her husband to the dining room entrance. There, the guard and her husband had a short, acidic exchange, ending in [color=gold][i]”Here, take your slut back.”[/i][/color]

Lienna was roughly shoved in the direction of a guard, her husband’s tone contrasting with the relatively gentle manner he’d been treating her with so far. Of course she knew it was an act; the dagger clutched tight in her fist reminded her of that. Almost immediately, the brute had his hand on her rear, groping her rather painfully. There was no ounce of tenderness in his touch, nor restraint. She was stuck standing next to him, one of his hands gripping her tightly by the arm and the other by the rump, until the last of the guests cleared into the dining room. Once they did, the brute wasted no time in abandoning the door and pulled her away, down a scarcely traveled passage near the grand chamber. 

Immediately, the guard was on her. He hoisted the girl up, and when she struggled, pinned her to the wall with her feet dangling a foot from the ground, pressing the flat of his forearm against her throat. His other hand wandered, roaming up her dress. Her head cracked against the stone wall and for a second, she saw stars. Her face began to flush from the pressure on her throat, and the struggled to hold herself up, grasping his arm and forced to drop her dagger.

The guard eyed the thing as it clattered musically to the ground, and Lienna swore that the sound could he heard from the dining room. The brute against her huffed, glaring at her with beady black eyes. He pressed harder to her throat, causing her to squirm. “So, you thought you could cut down a Drakken, you little whore?” he growled. There was a sick edge to his voice, a smug amusement. “Well, it makes no difference…”

She heaved for breath, but it only came in harsh sputters. Any sounds she uttered were halting yelps, and she could not hope to cry for help. Who would help her anyway? Would her husband come to claim what was his? Or was this what he had intended? To send her against a guard and see if she lived, like some grotesque fox fight?

[color=lightgray][i]No,[/i][/color] came a ringing thought, [color=lightgray][i]Think, girl.[/i][/color] She was a water Gem. Water Gems were known for their wisdom and observance, and so she observed.

Her husband would not just off her to some stranger - he’d been too gentle. Lienna knew that beneath his facade lay raw power and lust, but even so soon she doubted he’d want anyone else taking his prize. She focused on the guard, who bore more embellishments on his armour than any other guard she’d seen here; he must have been an important figure. Captain, perhaps? And her husband clearly wanted him dead, or wouldn’t mind it. No, she truly [i]was[/i] on a mission.

An eerie calm swept over her then, and while Lienna still struggled, she had a plan. She was a smart girl: she’d figured her way out of collapsed caves, detached ice floats, and punctured canoes before, and she could handle this.

Heaving as much breath as she could, she turned her wide eyes to the beading ones of her captor. Tears brimmed them from her lack of air, but she did not weep. Instead, she forced a look of lust to her face.

[color=lightgray]“You’re s-so stro-ong..”[/color] she stammered, halting through her ragged gasps of air. The guard ignored her, so she tried again. Looking down the hall each way, she croaked, [color=lightgray]“Do y..you think my h-husband ca-an hear us?”[/color]

This halted the guard in his tracks, and he paused his groping to glare at her. “I doubt it, but what do you care, little bitch? He can hear every thrust I take between those pretty legs of yours for all I care!” 

Lienna heaved a great, spurting breath and continued. [color=lightgray]“My hu-usband, he’s… He’s weak. See how he relies on those brutes of his to protect him?”[/color]

The guard halted a moment, and grinned a lopsided grin. Lienna saw that he was missing a few teeth. “Pompous little thing, ain’t ‘e?” the guard grunted, following the phrase with a guffaw. “I wonder how the little punk’d fare without his dogs, eh?”

She forced a smile. [color=lightgray]“Po-orly, [i]my lord,[/i] I’d be wont to th-think.”[/color]

The guard pulled away from the wall, allowing Lienna to drop to the floor in a coughing, gulping heap. The guard drew his blade, and for a moment, Lienna thought he would turn it on her. Instead, he slashed it at the wall, showering the floor nearby with dust. “Puny thing…” he grumbled angrily. Lienna wasn’t sure if he referred to her or her husband. 

Slowly, she rose to her feet, and reached to hesitantly caress her captor’s chest. Her rear was still sore from his rough handling, as were her legs and one of her breasts, but she ignored them. When he did not push her away, she grasped a leather strap, one of the two securing his armour over his shoulders, and pulled gently. His eyes snapped to her, and to her surprise, he bent so that she could whisper to him. 

[color=lightgray]“A weakling like that does not deserve a Gem prize, does he?”[/color] her voice was low and sultry, and she fought to keep her face as close to his as it was. The guard grunted, but did not pull away. Lienna smirked. [color=lightgray]“No no, it is someone of your undeniable [i]power[/i] who should have whatever he desires.”[/color]

Without warning, she kissed his cheek, slow and deliberate. His skin was greasy, and she almost revolted at his scent, but she soldiered on. The guard didn’t seem displeased, if his hands on her rump were any indication. He raised one of her legs up, holding her against him as he groped her. Lienna continued her kissing, lowering her lips at every touch, down over his jaw, to the soft flesh of his throat. As she went, she made her breathing heavy, and though her heart quickened, it was only from the immense risk she was taking. 

“Oh now, a horny little lynx are ya?” The guard laughed. “‘Ts been too long since one o’ you lot did your part for a man without whinin', too long.” Lienna forced a little moan, and continued her work.

As the guard hiked up her skirt, Lienna continued her act, reaching one hand behind her and calling water to her. Her goal was to form herself a razor-sharp icicle and use it as a replacement to her lost dagger. However, she had no idea if water was nearby; another moment of trying only confirmed her grim suspicion that there was none to be found in the immediate area. Her mind raced with her pulse as her captor suckled the crook of her neck in a messy kiss. What would she do now? Her dress was all but over her hips and his teeth were grazing her neck, and her only backup weapon was no longer available…

[color=lightgray][i]Wait...[/i][/color]

Another calm broke over her, much like the one she’d experienced with her husband. Her kiss on the guard’s neck intensified, and he shifted with intent to go… [i]further[/i] in their relations. She could feel his pulse growing heavy in the arteries of his neck. The taste of his hot flesh was revolting at best, but she forced her mouth open nonetheless. And, within a moment of her captor making his move, she made hers. Her people hated violence, yes - but after the treatment she and her mother faced by her village, she had no great love for her people. 

So she bit him.

Naia save her, she bit him.

She bit as hard as she could, drawing as much of his flesh beyond her teeth as she could manage. Her teeth sank deeper than she expected, and her mouth was invaded by a sudden and powerful gush of blood. The guard cried out and pulled away with a jerk, leaving Lienna to fall against the wall with a considerable chunk of his jugular in her mouth. His blood sprayed every surface he aimed himself at, and his cries and curses of “Bitch! Whore!” became gurgles in seconds. He lashed out at Lienna as he fell, but she dodged his clumsy grasp and pulled herself to her feet, skirting out of his reach. He grasped his throat as if he could force the blood back in, but it was no use. Lienna spit the wad of flesh to the side and choked and sputtered on the iron of the man’s blood, head swimming, heart racing as she watched the doomed man die at her hand. His screams reduced to croaks, sobs, and murmurs, until his breath stopped completely, and the grotesque fountain that was his throat stemmed its flow with the man’s stopped heart. 

She’d done it. Somehow, impossibly, she’d taken down a Drakken. She was drenched in the creature’s blood; it stained her front, from her mouth, over her chest and down the front of her dress, dying the white fabric in a dazzling pattern of flowing and splattered red. No surface within several metres was safe, as blood coated the walls and pooled on the floor of the corridor - the hall, and the Gem, hung heavy with the scent of it. The taste lingered, but she did not dare swallow. Her breath came in heaves. She fell against the wall, unable to peel her eyes away from the ruined mess of a man she’d left on the floor. Her knees wanted to buckle, but she forced them to stay firm. Gradually, she calmed as logic flooded her mind. She had no love for this man. No pity, not after he’d violated her so. So why should she mourn him?

Her head snapped toward a sound down the hallway, distant laughter and sauntering steps. Other guards, likely. She was surprised when they didn’t come running, but of course, she’d seen a man slain in the claiming chamber and no passerby bat an eye. Still, if they caught her here, with a dead man at her feet, she saw no way to make it out alive. 

Hastily she stood, straining to keep her steps quiet as she ran toward the dining room. On her way, she stooped to retrieve her husband’s dagger, the blade somehow nearly untouched by the blood of her victim, save for a few specks of red. Within seconds she was at the dining room, unguarded as the dead man had left it, and rushed inside. She forced herself to slow to a quickened walk, and searched the room for her husband. Finding him wasn’t difficult, as he had two enormous guards, who rose a head above the crowd. She followed the living beacons, collecting stares as she edged through the crowd of beaming Drakkens and weeping Gems. She expected to be pulled aside by another monster, but oddly enough remained untouched; perhaps onlookers were too shocked by the sight of a blood-covered Gem to think to interfere?

She approached her husband from behind, settling at his right side and dipping her head. Regaining her composure, she acted as if she weren’t bathed in the blood of one of his brothers and patiently held the dagger out for her husband to reclaim. Inwardly, her jittering guts continued to quiver, but still she almost beamed with pride. Her hands involuntarily shook and her leg bounced, but she did not feel fear; her jitters stemmed from the rush of adrenaline pumping hard and fast through her veins. Hopefully the gods would forgive her crime, but as she rode the euphoric high of victory, she couldn’t find it in herself to care.