Binds and Binding

Within a matter of moments, Mira of Arlain hung before the devil lord, her arms stretched above her head, hands clasped to the chains binding her wrists to the vaulted ceiling of Marus’s diabolic hall and her booted toes just touching the deep red, Mercian marble tiles. She glared into the black eyes of her captor, a sneer marring her red lips.

“I’ll send you back to Hell, fiend,” the paladin spat at him. “No matter what you do to me. My body is of no importance. I shall fight you to my last breath, if need be.”

“If I must return to Hell,” the incubus smiled, flashing his perfect, white teeth quite unlike the smirking yellow fangs of the two guards standing behind her with bloodstained halberds in their hands. “I shall take you with me, body and soul, with no chance at , paladin, but first I shall see what you have to offer. Remove her armor,” he barked sharply at the two soldiers. “But harm a hair on her body and you’ll return to Hell.”

With wicked grins and gleaming pale eyes, the pair, identical from their scaled, pointed ears poking out from underneath their iron helms to the dangerous claws of their three-toed feet and the deadly, poisonous stingers of their tails, set aside their weapons, leaning them against the cold, stone wall, and approached her quietly. The paladin held still, blue eyes blazing and unwilling to give the diabolic despoiler of her kingdom the satisfaction of seeing fear on her lovely face, as the guards carefully undid the straps of her armor and broke the tiny rings of her chainmail, pawing her body gently – Mira found their touch strange for such unhuman creatures – as they did until all that remained was her stained tunic reeking of old sweat and her linen drawers, the pieces of her armor piled atop her torn leather trousers, her worn boots lying beside them undamaged. She had watched in disguised awe when the pair had slid them off of her feet, pausing to lick at her toes with long, pointed tongues that had sent shivers up her spine.

Yet, Mira of Arlain continued to glare at Marus in defiance, able to ignore her bodily sensations and her near nakedness thanks to her years of training. As a paladin of the Goddess, she had given herself body and soul to Her faith, her devotion inuring her to the physical temptations around her. Even among her Order, she had been called a cold bitch, mostly by those males who slaked their lust whenever possible, even with their female companions in the faith. Mira loathed them for that. They had all given their word to the Goddess, vowed to be chaste and wholesome. Niece of the King, she had held her tongue as she rose in the ranks of the Order, but remembered every name of every rake and whore who called themselves Brother and Sister. She had plans for the future on the day she would be name Grandmaster. Big plans, despite the lecherous devil standing before her.

“This changes nothing,” the paladin declared haughtily. “My faith sustains me.”

“So it does,” Marus the Incubus said, stroking his goatee. “There is nothing wrong in that. The Goddess has many plans for Her children.”

“Her children?” the blonde warrior arched a thin eyebrow with a laugh. “You count yourself among us, devil? You are hellspawn! A creature of darkness and evil! The Goddess is the Light and the Greatest Good! And you dare count yourself one of Her children? You are a foul blight upon Her world!”

“Perhaps I am,” the creature of Hell agreed softly, a cunning gleam to his dark eyes. “But I am one of Her children nonetheless as much as you are.”

“You – !” He raised a hand, cutting the paladin off.

“She had a hand in my creation,” Marus said. “No one else. Hers is the power of Creation, no one else’s, despite the claim of some of my – colleagues. None of my kind just ‘appeared.’ Though most of us deny it, we know the truth of our origin and our – exile. That we despise wholeheartedly.”

“It was with good reason!” Mira boasted in exultation. “Your kind is an abomination upon the earth! The Goddess was right in sending you and yours into Hell!”

The incubus laughed outrageously, similar chuckles bursting from the two guards’ fanged mouths.

“That is rich!” He said, wiping tears from his black eyes as his laughter wound down. “The Goddess exile us? Ha! She may have stood by and let it happen, but it was not Her hand that sent us forth.”

“You lie!” the paladin yelled, straining against her bonds.

“So I have many a time,” the devil smiled. “But not now. Not about this. Never about this. Pray to Her if you like for the truth of it, if She deigns to answer, but I won’t tell you any more of it. That is not my tale to tell.”

She glared at him, her pretty lips pouting sullenly, for a moment.

“Perhaps I shall,” the young woman admitted. “In time. But I shall still believe you a liar.”

“That is your right, paladin,” the diabolic warlord said. “Until you change your mind and come to know me better. Much, much better,” he leered.

“Never!” Mira declared. “Take me down to your dungeons and me until my body is bloody and broken. I will never kneel before you!”

“I wasn’t thinking of that at all,” Marus said.

“What then?” she spat. “Am I to remain here, bound for all to see?”

“Not if you don’t want to,” the devil said softly, stepping close to her, their faces inches apart.

“What?” the paladin said in shock.

“I will release you from your chains,” he said, his dark eyes gleaming. “If you give me your word as a Paladin of the Goddess and in Her Name that you will not escape nor take up arms against anyone within my sovereignty.”