The woman was wearing a green silk gown, which had a thick slit in the center. She crossed her legs, showing the creamy skin amply. She looked at Kaizan, who was shackled in heavy chains. He was unconscious because she had sedated him when she got him here. She scraped her painted nail along Kaizan's cheek and purred, "You are my bargaining chip." She left his face, which bobbed on his neck before settling low. 

--- 

Kaizan didn't know as to why they had shackled him up, but when he woke up, his throat was parched dry and he had a terrible headache. The chains that were tied around his wrists and ankles were attached to the rocky wall of the cave and held him so tightly that they wouldn't move. Every time he tried to pull against them, they sank in his skin and he heard female voices that they would thrash him if he did that again. When they had brought him, they had beaten him mercilessly until he had fallen unconscious. 

But who were they? What about Ileus and Anastasia? Where was Iona? Did Rolfe die? What about Galahar? He opened his left eye, which was the only one to open, for the right one felt as though it was stuck to the base and it hurt badly. In the dim light he could make the shapes the head of one of them.. Horns. They were curled behind the head. Why were they wearing long robes and hooded? In the low light of the cave and the blurry vision of his one eye, he couldn't see any of them. And he knew that all of them were armed to the hilt, which meant that they were soldiers. He heard them murmuring something, he couldn't hear. 

From the aches in his body, he was sure that his right eye was swollen. His lips hurt and so did his ribs and left forearm. Did he have a split lip? There was blood caked on his face, neck and tunic. There must be bruises on his torso because his tunic was soaked. He hated the warm blood that was still trickling over his palm. Perhaps it was because of the barbed chains they had shackled him in. 

Kaizan lifted his head to look at them but the pounding headache made him groan. As soon as he woke up, he saw three of them coming towards her. 

"He is awake," said a female voice. 

Oh, so these were female soldiers. His throat bobbed. He was so parched that he licked his lips. With difficulty he spoke, "Water…" 

Another female translated him, "He wants water." 

All of them laughed. A pitcher was shoved in front of his face. He opened his mouth but the water from the pitcher was thrown on his face. Kaizan gulped as much as he could and groaned as the rest of the water sluiced down his face. "Bitch!" he grunted. And immediately the women started punching him mercilessly all over again. He spewed the choicest of the curses on them and they hit him more. And once again when he was all black and blue pulp, they left him. 

When he woke up next, he said, "I need to urinate."

The same female repeated his words in the demonic language. Whatever message was passed on to her, it meant that he could piss in his pants for all they cared. Spewing more curses, Kaizan had turned and pissed in the corner, while hoping that they didn't start hitting him again. 

He was so tired and aching everywhere that he slumped against the cold stone of the cave. He stared at the hooded females, his own piss smelling. Why hadn't they killed him? Who were they waiting for? He was hungry as hell, but they were least bothered about that. Even as they ate, none of them asked him if he wanted to eat. One thing was clear—they all were here to watch him so that he didn't escape, which meant that his staying alive was important to them. They had beaten him, but hadn't killed him. And they were waiting for someone. Since they were all female demons, they must be the soldiers of a female demon and that too nobility. So, it was possible that either this was one of Rolfe's family's female members or some nobility who was very close to the king. 

He sagged against the wall, in order to save his strength and check the scope of his chains. The more he moved his wrists, the more they got cut. All at once he heard them murmuring. He could hear the words very well and he couldn't pick up tads and bits. 

"The queen is very upset," said one of them. 

"She is no longer the queen," another one snorted. 

"I heard that the king is dead…" 

"Edyrm cannot die. Many witnessed that he was reduced to his feral form, which flew away." 

"Prince Rolfe is also very unwell," said one of them with a sigh. 

"What is she going to do with this werewolf? He is useless!"

"Hush!" a throaty voice silenced them. "Wait for her to come rather than speaking nonsense here." They looked at him and Kaizan closed his left eye to pretend that he was too tired to listen to them. 

"This cave is suffocating, Fenzer! Why don't we leave him alone and get out of this god-damned place?" 

"The queen wishes to deal with him," Fenzer replied. 

Deal with him? Deal in what way? What kind of a booty was he? Or was she going to kill him? No, that wasn't possible. If she wanted, she would have already done that. And why did it sound like it was going to be a bad, bad deal. 

"What kind of deal do you bitches want to make?" Kaizan said, baring his fangs. "Leave me or else, I am going to kill all of you before I decide to leave!" 

Fenzer walked up to him and drew her sword out of her sheath. She was still wearing her cloak and her face was hidden behind the hood. She gave a chuckle, which didn't reach her eyes. "If I were you, I would have prayed to the werewolf spirits to get out alive from here instead of wasting time on pulling on the chains. You see the more you pull, the more they will pierce your flesh." 

He growled out of frustration. "What do you want from me?" 

Fenzer shrugged. "I don't want anything from you. Just keep your mouth shut till the queen comes. And if you can't then I have been asked to pull that disgusting werewolf tongue out and cut it. Oh, I would love to remove those fangs too!" 

Kaizan yanked against the chains in anger, ignoring the pain they inflicted. 

"Don't do that. It disturbs the piece, wolf," Fenzer said. "And if you do that again, I might have to send them all to beat you until you are knocked out. As such they all hate you because they are being held in this cave against their will!"

He spat at her feet. "Cowards!" he snarled. "If you want proper combat, free my hands." 

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