Lydia had excepted the hostile welcome as Ragna had given her fair warning to it, and she had guessed herself that it would be like that. What she did [i]not[/i] expect was that Jezebel would be so small. She was short--shorter than Lydia for sure, and shorter than even most human adult females. In the halfling's mind Jezebel had been this towering figure almost as tall as Ragna himself. The fact that she had to look down on her was almost comical. That did not mean Jezebel was no less deadly, however, and Lydia was extremely wary of the succubus woman. She had all the right to be as it turned out. Ragna had warned the members of his household against harming her, and yet Jezebel still tried anyway. Suddenly the succubus was there, her razor sharp nails at Lydia's throat. Had Ragna not commanded her to stop, Lydia herself would have tried with the few holy spells she knew. If that had failed then Lydia would have been the one crumpled on the ground--only with her throat ripped out.

While grateful that Ragna had protected her yet again in some way, what he had done reminded her of what he was. Or partly was. Lydia did not mind in the least though. Ragna was bound to her in a way by his oath, but at the same time she still did not fear him. She had not feared him when facing him in Termina, and she did not fear him now as he showed his more demonic side while taking charge of his household. If anything she kind of liked it. It was a stark contrast to how Ragna had often rambled during the first half of their trip. But this was not the time to tell him that. Here in his manor Lydia had to act as if Ragna was no more than an escort to her. She would not mention their little trysts or his oath to her. They were nothing to each other.

"A bath would be pleasant, thank you, and more than I could ask for," Lydia said lightly. Her voice was even and polite, her expression cool. Nothing in her body language gave away their little secret. "I'll be waiting for you to finish your tasks, and we can resume the journey when you're ready." When Ragna summoned one of his servants to escort her, Lydia followed without hesitation. She stepped around Jezebel's unconscious form still slumped on the ground. The hafling had briefly considered stepping [i]over[/i] the succubus, but if she did so and word got back to Jezebel there would surely be trouble of some sort--if not for her, then for Ragna. Lydia did not wish to cause him more grief than was necessary.

Some time later Lydia found herself alone in Ragna's quarters, soaking in a tub so large and deep she could swim in it. She did a little, enjoying the warm water. It had been quite a while since she had had a proper bath. It felt good to wash away the grime accumulated during their travels. Finally Lydia felt as if she had cleaned up and relaxed enough. Well, she wasn't exactly relaxed. Even if Ragna had ordered the members of his household not to harm her, she was still constantly on edge. The male demon who had taken her to Ragna's quarters had been eyeing her unpleasantly and had not even tried to hide his lust. Lydia still felt as if she was being watched even now.

She climbed out of the tub, the steam swirling around her, water dripping from her sleek form, her snow white hair plastered against her back until it stopped at her waist. Grabbing the towel left for her, Lydia wrapped it around herself and picked up her discarded clothing and weapons. She pad silently into the bedroom next door where fresh clothes had been lain out for her. It was only seconds after Lydia had left the bathroom that she felt a pair of hands grab her from behind.

"Scream and it'll be the last thing you ever do," hissed a demonic voice in her ear. "Not that that would stop me anyway..." The demon chuckled and his hands started to travel over Lydia's body before he stopped to yank the towel away.

Lydia realized that the demon accosting her was the same one that had led her to Ragna's quarters in the first place. She had known he would be trouble. Instead of cowering in fear, Lydia cooly demanded, "Didn't your master say I was not to be touched?"

"What the Master doesn't know won't kill me," the demon said with another quiet laugh. "Besides, how could he blame me? Such a pretty thing like you. Surely no man can resist. Ah, but I'm sure you turn them all down, don't you? You're a cold-hearted bitch through and through, I can tell. All you elves are. Luckily for me, I simply take what I want." 

His voice was in her ear, his tongue trailing up her neck, one clawed hand moving to her chest and the other heading for her region below. But still Lydia was not scared. Instead she was furious. Suddenly she dropped everything she was holding, save for the dagger she had drawn from her belt.  She turned, pulling out of the demon's grasp only to slam him against the wall. Lydia held him there, her left arm digging hard into his neck, her right holding a blessed dagger against his groin. At the moment she didn't fully care that she had lost her only layer of protection--she was in too wrathful a mood. There was an unbridled hatred burning within Alydia's luminescent green eyes.

"Don't you [i]ever[/i] come at me again, threatening me and acting as if you know me," Lydia growled angrily. "If you do I will [i]castrate you and feed you to the wolves.[/i] If you have a problem with it, hell spawn, then go and tell your master that you so blatantly disobeyed his orders. While you're at it, let him know that you also threatened to kill the girl your king has summoned. See how well that goes over, hm?

The demon cursed at Lydia in his native tongue, and she quickly moved the blade of the blessed dagger against his cheek. She put enough pressure behind it that it began to cut through his skin, causing him to bleed. "Say that again, you pox ridden bastard, and see what I'll do to you," she said coldly, a deadly venom lacing the edge of her tone. Lydia was able to recognize a few words of the demon language. What he had said was one of the things she knew. It was a particularly nasty insult, and she was already pissed off. All the demon could do under the threatening presence of the holy blade against his ashen gray skin was glare at Lydia with his hateful, beady eyes.

Finally Lydia pulled the demon away from the wall and shoved him forcefully. She spat at him, eyes still burning with hatred, specifically at being compared to the elves. "Now get the fuck out of my sight." The demon shot her one last glare, but then he scurried from the room, his cheek still dripping with blood. The bedroom door slammed behind him and a faint scent of sulfur told Lydia that he had teleported away. She waited for a few minutes more to make sure that he was gone for good, then...

Lydia rushed back to the bathroom, everything but her dagger still laying on the floor of the bedroom. She threw the bathroom door closed behind her, locking it with the sealing spell she had used on it earlier. The halfling let her dagger drop by the edge of the bath and dove back into the tub still filled with hot water. Lydia snatched up the nearest bar of soap and began to scrub herself vehemently. She had to get rid of the slimy feeling left on her skin from when the demon had touched her. She had to. She had to...

Lydia was shaking uncontrollably. Silent tears ran down her face as she remembered the monster's words, remembered his tongue on her neck and his hands on her body. She sank down into the shallow end of the tub, her knees drawn up to her chest, one arm wrapped around them with her face buried in it, her other hand running through her hair in an exasperated motion. Lydia had never been so scared before in her life. Not when a horde of demons knocked on Termina's door, not when Jezebel had nearly ripped her throat out. She cried bitterly, her heart throbbing as she wished Ragna was by her side instead of wherever he was now.