...she is the Empress's prisoner.

The first thing she felt was pain.

Before she was fully awake, Teysa groaned. Every inch of her body seemed to be bruised. Still groggy and half-asleep, she tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but something impeded her movement. Alarmed, she jolted awake, and memories came crashing back in. Their infiltration of the Basilica, their discovery, the fight-

Aliara!

Worry for her partner displaced every other thought. She twisted in her restraints, seeing the room she was in for the first time.

Her range of motion was limited by the bonds that held her tight. She was nude, bent over at the waist, her legs resting on a smooth stone floor, her upper body pressed against a flat surface. Her arms were bound together behind her, and from the feel of it the rope wrapped around both of her forearms to the elbow. Something smooth and hard pressed down on her arms from above-- it felt like a bar of some kind, and she found that it blocked any attempt to stand. She could raise her head just a few inches off the surface before finding her movement arrested from above. She craned her neck, straining to take in as many details as she could.

A dim, flickering light from somewhere behind her brought just a few details of the room into focus. The surface her upper body rested on was a marble table. Tiny gold and silver veins shot through the dark grey stone. Looking to her left, she saw only a wall. It was smooth, much smoother than the rough stone walls that made up most of the Basilica she had seen so far, and covered with a mural. It took a moment to make out the mural's contents in the dimness, and when she did, she had to fight the urge to blush. The carnal scenes depicted on the wall were not nearly as shocking as what she had been through already.

To her right, Teysa's vision rapidly diminished. The ceiling disappeared in the gloom. She could faintly discern shapes in the darkness, but nothing concrete. What she saw was not encouraging. There were rectangles that might have been other tables, tall humanoid outlines that seemed too wide and rough in outline to be statues, and skeletal frameworks that loomed out of the darkness like jagged bones. Everything seemed alien and unfamiliar, but Teysa had seen **** chambers before and this reminded her of nothing so much as that.

"Aliara? Li, are you there? Are you alright?" Her voice sounded hoarse and faint, and she knew that be speaking she was giving away that she was awake, but she couldn't help it. Aliara was all she could think about. Aliara, who had been captured once by the drow, and had sworn never to let that happen to her again. Aliara, who had followed her, and trusted her. Who had warned her. Tears blurred Teysa's vision. Li, my love, I'm so sorry. I failed you.

There was no response to her call.

Teysa wept in the darkness for what felt like hours. Every slight movement sent flares of pain through her bruises. She was bone-tired, but could not sleep in such an uncomfortable position. Even if she could, thoughts of Aliara would not leave her alone. She pictured the half-elf dead, tortured, abused... every time she closed her eyes, she saw Aliara's accusing face. I trusted you. I begged you not to do this. Look what's happened to me now. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

After an interminable wait, something broke the silence. Teysa heard footsteps, somewhere behind her. They clicked across the stone floor like the ticking of a clock. Dread welled up in Teysa's throat, but she **** herself to be calm and listen. Only one pair of footsteps. One guard, coming to check on the prisoner? They didn't sound like the iron boots the guards wore, though. The clicking sounded like nothing so much as a pair of stiletto heels, as Teysa had seen some high-society ladies wearing at banquets on the surface.

The footsteps stopped, and a feminine voice called out in guttural Drow "Manak." Instantly light filled the room as a ring of braziers flared to life. Teysa gasped and squinted against the sudden brightness. She had intended to feign sleep, but could not stop her reflexive flinch as the light seared her eyes. The footsteps approached her from behind, and Teysa twisted around as best she could in her restraints. No use feigning now.

The Empress stood over her. This close, Teysa could see how young she truly was-- barely out of adolescence, it seemed, though it was hard to tell with elves. Her silver hair was spun up into a two thick braids that coiled on top of her head like intertwined serpents. Her features were fine, her eyebrows elegantly plucked and her heavy-lidded eyes rimmed with kohl. In those eyes, though... Teysa met her gaze for a moment, then looked away. The Empress's eyes burned with inner fire. This woman is mad. Fear-sweat broke out across Teysa's body as the Empress stroked one long-nailed hand across her back and smiled. Her teeth were perfect ivory, but her smile was that of a carnivore salivating over freshly fallen prey.

The drow stepped back, cocked her head with her hands on her hips, and regarded Teysa. She was not wearing her crown nor the robe she had worn in the corridor. Instead, she wore a shiny leather basque with a spiderweb pattern picked out in fine silver thread. The straps over her shoulders were connected by a high collar that covered her neck, beaded with silver studs. The basque stopped below her breasts to reveal a large opal set in her navel, and below that she wore a narrow V of leather that barely protected her modesty. Her legs were bare, and a pair of open-topped shoes seemingly made entirely of silver filigree graced her feet, revealing toenails painted in what appeared to be liquid gold. She tapped one long-nailed finger across her waist as she studied Teysa.

"So. What is to be done with you, surface-dweller?" When she spoke, the Empress's voice betrayed her youth-- it was thin and reedy, with a spoiled child's petulance. She grabbed Teysa's chin in one hand and roughly turned her head this way and that, as though inspecting a horse. Teysa tried to shake off the grip but found herself unable. Instead, she tried her best to snarl up at her captor. "Let us go, bitch, and we'll let you live. As long as you haven't harmed my... my friend."

The Empress laughed at that. "Oh, your 'friend,' hm? She's quite all right, don't worry. You're the one I'm interested in. And I don't think you're in any position to make demands." She stepped back. "You're in my playroom now. Even if I untied you, you couldn't harm me. Look around." She made a sweeping gesture with one hand. "Look at my toys. Before we get started, I want you to know what you're in for."

Teysa looked around the room. It was smaller than she had thought-- only a bit larger than the armory. The lewd mural covered all three of the walls she could see. She could not find a door, so presumably it was in the wall behind her. Two other marble tables, both empty, stood at intervals along the floor. The walls were covered in racks, from which hung a dizzying variety of instruments: manacles, whips, flogs, collars, and less identifiable things, full of leather straps and steel buckles. Ropes descended from the ceiling, each ending in a complex harness. A shelf along one wall carried a variety of glass objects-- phalluses, tubes, and hookahs, among other things. A pair of iron maiden-looking steel cabinets sat between the tables, though through the open door of the nearest Teysa saw that they lacked spikes.

The opposite wall was lined with tall wooden Xs. Each stood about the height of a person, and from the tips of the bars hung leather straps. There were five in total, and three of them were empty. One bore a skinny male drow, apparently ****. His body bore numerous marks from the whip, and a spiderweb pattern had been branded across both shoulders. His hair hung lank and greasy and obscured his face. From the other...

"Aliara!" Teysa croaked. The half-elf hung limply from her manacles, with numerous welts and bruises visible across her pale flesh. Like Teysa, she was naked, and apparently ****. Her head lolled and her short brown hair looked filthy and matted. Teysa struggled futilely against her bindings. "Let her go, you vile cunt! I swear, if you don't-"

"You'll what? Bleed all over me when I lash your back raw?" The Empress slapped Teysa across the face. The gesture was casual, but the surprise of it knocked Teysa's breath out of her. "Like I said, no demands." She crossed the room to the nearest rack and appeared to consider a moment, before lifting a coiled whip from one of the hooks. It was a sturdy thing, made of black leather and terminating in a frond of smaller lashes, and she playfully unspooled it with her other hand as she walked back over towards Teysa. "I think it's time we get started, don't you? Tell you what. I'll give you the choice. Do I punish you, or your little 'friend' over there?"