~|After the Party|~

Darkness had well and truly overtaken Nyhem by the time Lana left the party. She was one of the last to go, and it was in a rather less respectable state than she would’ve preferred… She had drunk a little too much at the end of the party, driven to drown her memories with wine. She had planned to fly home, but she was at least cognizant enough to realise she was better off not trying to shape shift in her current state. She also refused a carriage, as it would not doubt leave her in a most unladylike state at the end of the inevitably bumpy trip. Similarly, she was too proud to have city guards escort her. Her manorhouse was not far away, and she was no stranger to walking at night.

And so it was, that she was walking from the palace back to Dionisa Manor, a little unsteady on her feet at times, but still keeping up a respectable clip. She gazed into every shadow, keenly aware, or at least as much as one can be through a wine fueled haze, of how similar her situation was to the night Aurelia met her end. Yet she saw nothing, and was confident in her ability to defend herself.

She was just considering how little she had to fear from brutish mundanes when she heard a sound from behind her. She barely had time to begin turning before there was a sharp pain on the side of her head.

Suddenly, everything went dark. She felt the sensation of falling, but she never hit the ground. Then there was no sensation at all, just inky blackness.

~|Some Time Later|~

Lana’s return to consciousness was a slow, painful experience. At first, all she could feel was a dull throbbing that seemed to permeate her skull. The floor beneath her was hard, and bitterly cold. Her dress was torn, and barely clung to her slim frame, providing almost no respite from the cold. She opened her eyes slowly, to the sight of a sparse, dimly lit room. Sunlight streamed in from a slit window near the ceiling, making her squint.

She tried to push herself up, but barely managed to writhe in place as she discovered that her hands were tied, and her fingers bound. She tried to cry out in pain as fear began to rise in her chest, but found she was gagged as well, with a rough cloth tied tightly across her mouth to stop her from making all but the most inarticulate sounds.

She struggled with her bonds for a moment, but quickly stopped when her wrists began to burn with pain.

“Don’t bother.”

A male voice came from behind her. A voice she knew, but speaking in a tone she had never heard from it. Inelegantly, she rolled to face it. Her hair fell across her eyes, but through it she could still see who the man was. He was sitting on a plain wooden chair next a small table, with a wall-mounted torch lighting his features from one side. She knew who he was. He just smiled. An evil smile, filled with cruelty and malice. There were iron bars between them. She was caged.

Awkwardly, painfully slowly, she worked her way up onto her knees. Now that she knew she could not use her hands, she could avoid toppling over. Once she was kneeling, she defiantly flicked her hair out of her face and glared at the man. He stared back. Slowly, a glowing halo of energy began to manifest around Lanaya’s head. Casting a lethal spell with a throbbing headache and no use of her hands or tongue was excruciating, but her hate and creeping fear drove her on.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The man said. She ignored him... Until he raised a pistol crossbow and pointed it at her heart.

She stopped, letting the magic dissipate harmlessly. There was no way she could cast a spell before his bolt found its mark. Still pointing the crossbow at her, he stood and walked closer.

“I know you don't need your hands or words to cast spells Lanaya. But you will not use magic in this house.”

Then, he reached up and roughly thumped the ceiling twice. As soon as he did so, movement could be heard above, and a moment later the door to the small room opened. A big man in the garb of a common thug stepped in, holding a young girl and a dagger. The girl was bound similarly to Lana, but in the dim light she could only barely make out her features. It looked like Miriam, the young mage girl that her Guard Captain had saved before the riot.

“Remember this one? She’s like you. A vile witch. If you so much as glow again, I will hurt her. My men and I know how to cause a lot of pain without killing someone. Do you understand?”

Grudgingly, Lana nodded her head.

“Good.” He said, then turned to his man. “Take her back up stairs.”

Panic was starting to set in now. This man knew a great deal about her, and about how to properly restrain a mage. Far more than she had ever imagined.

“Now that you understand your position, we can have a proper talk.”

He made stepped back and put the crossbow down on the table, then took a key from his belt. He opened the cell door, and stepped inside. Lana tried to stand, but he pushed her back down roughly by the shoulder. Then he went to loosen the gag, stopping at the last moment.

“Remember, no magic. Speak common only.”

Then he pulled the gag off. The moment her mouth was free, Lana spoke, spitting her words quickly and harshly at him.

“You’re a dead man Thanatos. Let Miriam and I go right now and I might be lenient at your tri-”

She was abruptly cut off as Thanatos slapped her. She toppled to the ground from the force and surprise, landing hard on her shoulder.

“I don’t think you quite understand Lanaya. I am in charge now. I am going to give you one chance to do this the nice way. Far more than you deserve, you murderous bitch.” Anger was creeping into Thanatos’ voice now. “You took my father from me. Then you took my inheritance. What vile magics did you cloud his mind with to make him leave House Thale to you?”

Lana crawled back onto her knees before responding. She refused to beg from on the ground.

“I didn’t even have to cast a single spell on that old buffoon once. He was smitten the moment he saw me. Being young and beautiful was all the ‘magic’ I needed.” She told him, truthfully, though her voice was laced with disdain. He clearly didn’t believe a word she was saying. “Did it ever occur to you that he just didn’t like you?” She added spitefully.

He hit her again, and again she fell to the floor. This time she cried out in pain as she landed on her already bruised shoulder.

“Do not speak of my father like that! Dominus Thale was a proud man, a great man, until [i]you[/i] arrived!” A moment passed as Thanatos fumed, Lana getting back up even more slowly this time. He was the first to speak again. “You will give me back my House and my Title.” He demanded angrily. “And you will give me all of House Dionisa as well.”

Lana looked at him incredulously for a long moment, then, mustering all the defiance and hatred she could, simply said -

“No.”

She winced expectantly, but no strike came. Instead Thanatos looked down at her blankly and spoke, with remarkable eagerness. “Fine. I was hoping you’d say that. Now we can do this the hard way.” He motioned for her to stand, then seemed to even help her rise to her feet. But the moment she was up, he slugged her in the stomach. She doubled over in pain, and he let her slowly fall to the ground once more. Then he tied the gag back over her mouth, far tighter than it had been before. Tight enough to cause pain.

He stalked out of the cell then, retrieving a pointed object. As he drew closer, she saw that it was a dagger… But no ordinary dagger.

It was a Dragonbone dagger. Her eyes went wide with fear, and panic set in.

“You really should’ve just agreed to my demands Lanaya. But I’m happy you didn’t.”