Harla and Alaric were talking quietly outside, discussing something and then the door rattled.
Biting his tongue and wiping the blood on the bites, the holes sealed just in time for Harla to come into the room, his sharp teeth in a wide grin of excitement.
He didn't try and manhandle her, instead he offered his long fingered hand and she took it, standing slowly. Swapping the chain out from her ankle to her hands, he seemed to almost vibrate in his excitement.
He was taller than her, but not as tall at Pharley, perhaps six eight or so. The men in that place had to all be mutants, she was sure of it.
Versalis sat up, all three vampires alert and anxious.
"Harm her and I'll come for you personally," Versalis said as Harla slipped one arm around her waist, pulling her towards the door and tugging the chain free of the ring that held her in place.
"Don't strain yourself vampire, your head might end up sprouting a knife," Harla said and when she looked back, smirking, the three realised that the knife had disappeared.
She had stuffed it into the back of her pants, armed and dangerous.
Pulled from the room, she looked between the two men.
"Care to observe Alaric?" Harla asked as he guided her down towards the stairs.
"You may be better off doing it here Harla, she has a remarkable ability to slide out under doors," Alaric said dryly, looking down at her.
"Is that right?" Harla asked, tightening his grip on the chain.
"It's not my fault you are remarkably dense Alaric," she said and when he swung at her, she darted back from him, grinning.
"I'd be glad to observe," Alaric said spitefully and considered where to go, then he grinned and opened the door directly across from the cell the vampires were in.
"You're a bastard," she growled, watching as a young human male was dragged from the cell and thrown at a guard.
"Get in," he snapped and when she didn't move, he shoved her inside, Harla following in behind her.
"Guard, have the boy bring my supplies down here if it is better to keep the princess contained," Harla said, following in and considering the cell.
It didn't take long for a very large number of supplies to be delivered to the cell, including things she had never seen of before, two chairs, and a hook.
With her chain in Alaric's hands, she watched as Harla stood on the chair and carefully screwed the end of the hook into the support beams of the cell ceiling, tugging at it sharply to ensure it was in and then accepting the chain from Alaric.
"I found your blood to be fascinating princess. It's very unique and not entirely matched to the species of Fae."
She thought he couldn't be more correct, but she went along with it. She wasn't about to start telling him about Ceress.
Feeding the end of the chain through the hook, he pulled it firmly and when he was satisfied with the height of her arms beside her head, he looped it through three more times and then tied it off.
"This chain is ingenious, I wouldn't mind getting to spend some time with your brother one day," Harla said as he stepped down from the chair and gave the chain a hard tug. It didn't budge.
With her standing, her wrists were a few inches up above her head, she wouldn't be able to sit or even kneel.
Curling her fingers around the chain to ease the strain on her wrists, she studied the collection of supplies.
"You are feeding the vampires are you not?" Harla asked but she didn't reply. "I would be curious to know how your blood affects them if you are drugged," he said, laying out an assortment of needles and syringes.
***
Eyeing them, Alaric grunted and stood to move the table back.
"I'm going to kill you one day Alaric," she said moodily, thinking she might still be able to get to the table, but acting like she couldn't.
She had no way of defending herself as his fist sank into her stomach and she gasped, wheezing as she hung from the ceiling, her legs not wanting to hold her up.
"You've been a right pain this whole time. If you weren't a princess I'd…" he trailed off and she glared at him.
"Your stupid prophecy wouldn't matter and I'd have killed you already," she growled.
He hit her again and she whimpered loudly.
"However, the prophecy does matter and I will be the greatest king this world has ever seen, even if I have to kill my brother and force you into my bed," he said in a lethally quiet tone.
"You can take tips from Drizdan, you two think remarkably alike when it comes to forcing women into your beds," she didn't know why she was goading him, but the anger on his face gave her a perverse joy.
"Yes, and he can teach me the best way to make you scream while I fill you with my dynasty."
The words made her stomach twist and she fell silent, the fanatic zeal in his eyes finally getting her to shut up. She knew he wasn't joking when it came to what he would and wouldn't do for his precious prophecy and keeping her bound to his bed would barely warrant consideration from him.
Harla had been ignoring their conversation as he worked and she resented the lot of them, wishing she had never come to that damned city of monsters and sexual sadists.
"No more smart comments Etani?" Alaric taunted and she looked to him, affecting a glare.
"Go jump off a cliff Alaric," she snapped, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream as he drove his first for a third time into her stomach and she used his closeness and the chain to hoist herself up and drive her knee into his ribcage.
He grunted and stumbled back, watching as she clung to the chain and he realised he had made a mistake letting her legs go free.
She glared at him, prepared for him to come closer again.
"Harla, got a sedative?" Alaric asked and her eyes snapped to the slender man.
He made a soft noise of agreement and picked out a bottle and a syringe.
She moved as Alaric did and he swiped at her, but she had prepared and as he tried to grab her, she drove her foot into his gut, using the chain and her foot in his gut to hoist herself up just enough to spin and slam the top of her foot into the side of his face.
He went flying and she spun back to the ground, her eyes on Harla as he watched the two of them, the syringe ready.
He seemed to be mostly disinterested in their quarrel, only that he get his task complete.
"Might I suggest you take her from one side and I the other?" the man asked as Alaric got back to his feet.
"She's not usually this good," Alaric growled and she grinned at him.
"We had a lot of time to kill."
Harla began to move around behind her and she watched him, trying to keep them both in view but he moved out of range and she growled softly in warning.
Alaric was grinning at her, his shoulders hunched and looking remarkably like a street brawler. She knew she was going to be in for a world of hurt when they got that needle in her, so she wanted to get in as many hits as she could.
"Come on Alaric, stop being such a coward," she goaded, her arms tense as she turned her head just enough to see them both, but was unable to see them both at the same time.
Alaric rushed her and she stepped forward once, driving her foot up between his legs. His hand dropped to deflect most of the blow, but he still staggered back and something pricked her back.
Swearing, she jerked away but a slender, bony arm slipped around her middle and the needle pressed deep into her flesh.
Alaric had straightened, grinning maniacally as Harla drew away and returned to the table with the empty syringe.
"Stay back for a minute or two until it takes effect," Harla said but Alaric ignored him, wanting to punish her for her cheap groin shot.
Again he came for her and again she moved. She was faster than him but he was bigger.
Kicking off the ground, her foot hit the underside of his chin and his head snapped back, by the time he hit the ground her cheeks had begun to flush.
Taking advantage of his slow rise, she waited until he had gotten onto his knees and with one flick, her foot was above his head and then she drove the heel down onto the top of his head. He went forward, catching himself on his hands and she rebounded from her foot returning to the ground to drive her knee up into his downturned face.
He landed hard and she knew she was done, her cheeks a rich pink colour as the sedative began to take hold of her body and she felt herself drooping.
Panting, she glared down at the king and his furious glare that faded into a malicious smirk at the sight of her face.
She was getting tired and she tried to fight it, forcing her eyes open as wide as she could as she watched him getting up. She felt warm, warm enough to want to lie down and take a nap but that was a very bad idea right then.
He loomed over her and she gave him a weak, sleepy smile.
"Fuck you…" she breathed as his fist came towards her face and her head snapped back, her body going limp.
"Don't worry, I will later" She vaguely heard, but it had little meaning.
She felt every blow to her body and while it hurt terribly, her brain seemed to be stuck inside a washing basin and someone was spinning it like a top to leave her spinning and sloshing all over the place.
Regardless, she refused to scream, knowing it was what he wanted and she was too stubborn to give him the satisfaction.
He was enjoying her helplessness and she knew he had been keen to get revenge on her in private. Harla seemed perfectly fine with it and she had to admit, she had humiliated Alaric several times. Had their roles been reversed, she probably would have beaten him into a blood pulp as well.
She didn't really notice when the hitting stopped and the cutting began, Harla going to work on her for his research. She was beginning to come too, hanging limply from the chain and when a bony hand cupped her face, she was able to open her eyes just enough to see his narrow face and sharp teeth.