Captive demon

You return to the castle in the evening, joking and laughing with Clarissa. You were both eager to get home and switch from flirting and teasing to more intimate activities. However, inside you’re greeted by a grim faced Kali.

You look at her curiously. “Something wrong?”

Kali shrugs. “Depends on how you define ‘wrong’. We have a…guest.”

With that she turns and leads you into a sitting room. On the floor, tied up with what you think is every piece of rope in the castle, is the demon girl that attacked you on the road. You look at Kali, who is glaring at the tied up Lilim.

You sigh, looking around at the gathered family. Elys looks satisfied, seated comfortably beside a similarly placid Yura. Anna looks nervous, as does Lynn, both sitting near Sadie, who gives you a smile.

“So, this is…Samara, correct? What is she doing here?”

Kali growls, still glaring at her sister. “Elys caught her watching us from the hall. Spying, probably planning to attack us.”

You look at Samara, who seems to cringe at Kali’s voice. “Why does she seem terrified? That doesn’t seem normal.”

Elys smiles. “We told her that she wasss our captive, and Kali sssaid to kill her. I decided to wait until you got here.”

You shake your head. “On the road she was so confident. Why is she afraid now?”

No one has any answers. You sigh, and pull the cloth out of Samara’s mouth. “Tell me, why are you afraid?”

She shivers on her knees. “All roads from here lead to ****, or worse. If I cannot complete my mission, father will punish me, then kill me. If I submit, you or Kali kill me. If I fight, the same. There is no hope for me.”

You turn to the girls. “Anna, there’s a box in my room, in the dresser. Bring it here, would you?”

Anna nods and runs out. You look at Samara. “I’m not going to kill you. I know about Lilim, especially half-human Lilim. However, I doubt I could redeem you like Kali. You’ve spent too long as a creature of the demon lord.”

Anna returns, handing you a box the size of a shoebox. “So you’re going to be a prisoner. However, your magic is a problem. Therefore…”

You open the box and pull out a null collar, identical to the one that was used on you. “This will nullify your magic. I expect it will also hide your link to the demon lord as well. He will likely assume you are dead.”

Without waiting for an answer, you step closer and clamp thee collar around her neck. Samara gasps, suddenly powerless. You nod at the girls. “Now we put her in the prison. There’s a well appointed cell, I would guess for captive nobility. Let’s put her there for now.”

You untie the now-harmless Lilim, and lead her to the cell, which is more of a decent room than a prison, except for the door that cannot be opened from inside. She goes listlessly, lost in her thoughts.

After you lock her in, you turn to Kali. “We’ll keep her like this until we defeat the demon lord. We can’t trust her until then. Don’t let her be alone too long, I imagine she will open up once she realizes that we won’t hurt her.”

Kali nods. “I will visit on occasion. I can’t promise it will be pleasant.”

You shrug. “She’s a good source of intel for now. And she’s clearly having doubts. Her human side keeps her from being a mindless thrall, but if we push she’ll cling to what she knows.”

You sigh. “The only problem is that now the demon lord will try something else. We need to pick up the pace in our war efforts.”

Clarissa takes your hand, smiling at you. “A problem for the morning, don’t you think? What you really need is some stress relief.”

Kali smiles. “I agree. Do you think I could give you a hand, Clarissa?”

The metallic dwarf chuckles. “A hand? I was hoping for something a little more intimate…”

You laugh. “All right, you two. Let’s go, before your innuendos get worse.”

Clarissa grins.