Sympathy For a Devil

"Well," You begin, taking her hands in yours and raising them "we should try to blend in, and it is a ball. May I have this dance?"

Lita's eyes wavered in so much uncertainty "Silve, what are you doing? Are you _trying _to get caught?"

"I'm not going to crash into all the glassware and cause a scene. That's Clodagh's job" not hearing a no, you start her moving in a slow, gentle dance to accompany the soft music in the background.

"Silve" She said louder, anxiety growing in her voice "I don't know how to dance. I've never been allowed out here before."

"All the more reason to start now" you quietly whisper a series of occult words to avoid any notice, casting a similar spell to what had been done on you and the other ladies. Lita's scarred and demonic flesh turned to a gentle and smooth white, her midnight hair to a radiant blonde. The petty robes she wore swiftly took on the image of the noble dresses you saw in royal banquets back home. Lita was amazed at the appearance, and looking back at you, appeared as though she might cry.

"I could kill you right now" She spoke quietly, now acceding to the dance, being more seen by the rest of the crowd.

"That's normally been my line" You quip back with a small smile "You don't like it?"

"I am who I am. I may be ashamed of my life choices, but not for who, or what I am."

"Well put" You nod gently "I agree. I've never used this on myself try and blend in. Never wanted to, never needed to. I'm curious about something though"

"Yes?"

"If you have such regret about helping this Lord Diamant, why not run away? If you're so scared of him, why help me?"

"It's complicated" there was a struggled whine in her voice as her eyes winced. "I got entangled into this because....because I thought he loved me. I was just another dirty street urchin, but..." her voice trailed off "he saw me as something special, or at least I thought he did. I'm just an object to him. He's a fetishist, and that's all I was, a means to satisfy." She strains to keep her eyes on you, pushing her chin into her chest, gazing at the glazed tile floor. You make a gentle tug, to pull her back.

"That's dreadful. Like you said, nobody should have to know what's like. But why now?"

"Because..." she looked behind her, hoping to see your princess, or some way to avoid the conversation "Because I see immediately how much Trevolia meant to you, and I couldn't bear being the one to ruin your lives by keeping silent and out of the way. Not again. And because..."

"Yes?" You ask

"Because I'm a foolish girl!" Lita's self-loathing couldn't be constrained anymore "I hoped if I helped you, you could love me like you do her! Or maybe if I could just see and be around it, maybe that would make me happy but that can't happen because you're in true love and she's beautiful and I'm"

You break the dance and pull her in for a hug. She grips you tightly around your back, sobbing into your broad orcen chest. Your touch on her is subdued, as soft a touch on her back as you can muster. Through the deception of the magic, her scars are still present. In more ways than one. You take a deep sigh, wondering how you're going to handle another person clinging to you, emotionally or physically, hoping to get a taste of what you have with your true love. There's really nothing you can but push that off for now. The urgency has now risen dramatically. You finally see Trevolia, walking along with the feared Lord Diamant, hand in hand. Donned in a black dress with massive diamonds inlaid in a intricate pattern, her face is nuetral, almost vacant and trance like. You worry what you're going to do now, but it seems like your comrades have a stronger ploy.

You hear a loud shout from the side of the room "Get your fucking hands off me you perv" It was Joan, accosting one of the men near her. Whether any of it was real, you don't know, and you're not concerned. All eyes were on her as she tore into the hapless victim "If I wanted some old, scrawny, wealthy, impotent, cretin to be touching me, I'd be following your daughter to a brothel, where at least I'd be compensated for the trauma!"

The berating continued, the crowd stunned and confused as to where this noble-looking drow came from and what everyone should do. Providing the perfect opportunity for Clodagh to race off, grabbing Trevolia by the hand and pulling her away from Lord Diamant. Not understanding the circumstances or the threat she was in, the princess was resistant. Seemingly used to squabbles, the barbarian simply grabbed and hoisted Trevolia off her feet and rushed off with her. Joan followed behind.

"What the fuck are you the two of you doing?" Trevolia shouted. Looking up, she finally saw you "It's not enough you've been with these two whores behind my back, now you're using them to kidnap me!? Put me down! We're through Silve"

Lita was startled at the revelation, the exact nature of your mistake having been kept away from her. The spell now broken, the scene was all the more chaotic as you joined the three of them in an escape. "Sorry princess, that we're meeting under these circumstances. You're in grave danger, we have to leave."

"Like Ten Hell's we are!" Her verbiage and vocabulary had grown dramatically more vulgar in the past few hours, you wonder if there's some spell she's under "Who is this? You fuck her too while I was gone?"

"She's here to help Trevolia" You respond, clearly but angrily "I know you hate me right now, and you have every right to. We can have that out later. I'm trying to rescue you"

"Like you rescued me from my family? I wish you had left me there Silve! Getting married to those Skaldic barbarian hordes would have been better than what you did to me!"

"That may be Princess" Lita retorted quickly in your defense "but what Lord Diamant had planned for you would have been worse still"

Suddenly, the torches in the narrow hallway all go out at once. You and the other non-humans are able to see still, but the blatant supernatural nature of that is still frightening.

"It's started..." Lita spoke in dreadful tone "Now starts The Hunt"