"You have returned to me." 

The Queen did not have to speak loudly. Her foremothers had designed the room well. Anything louder than a whisper would carry her words to all present in the hall. When Lukas' face darkened, she almost regretted not allowing his damning response. His hate and venom would make her future success so much sweeter. "But you have been bad."

Anticipation of the pain she would cause filled her, and the Queen drew back the hand that had caressed his cheek. She slapped his perfect face with all the force she could put into that hand without truly harming her prey. She allowed the Controller to let Lukas stumble slightly at her strength. The Court must know how weak he had become. An ugly red welt bloomed on his pale skin that his short white hair could not cover. The visible mark pleased the Queen, though she preferred his hair longer.

"For this, you must be punished." Her point made, she stepped back and glared at her Court. It was time to pretend to care about these sycophants who dared not meet her gaze.

"How should we punish this errant servant?" Her question brought the Court to life. Cries for his death warred with those who demanded torture. Though the Queen understood the fears of those who wanted him dead, she aligned more with those who would mold him as a tool. In the years she had held him at her side, the Queendom had expanded its territory two-fold. Since he had left, they had gained only small footholds on the edges of the already conquered lands and had even lost some small villages to Lukas' People. The choice remained clear to the Queen, but she allowed her Court to argue for a few minutes before raising her hand, bringing the room again to silence.

"You have been heard, but we will not waste this opportunity. We will break him and, once again, make him our tool." Her Watchers would take note of the Court members who disagreed with her decision. Hearing opposing opinions might have been necessary for any ruler, but all must obey and voice agreement once she made her decision. Once they gauged the level of their discontent, some dissenters would be reminded of her authority. The rest would die.

"Yet, he cannot go unpunished." She brought up her hand again and waved another figure forward. "And you all deserve to witness our justice. Many of you have suffered because of him and his sad rebellion."

Around her, she heard the satisfied clamor of the Court. Their murmurs rose to cheers as Masou, her current Punisher, walked forward. The robes Masou wore were reminiscent of those worn by the Fire Temple priests, using the exact shades of yellow and red, but were cut more in line with the other Mind Masters' practical clothing. This conceit reminded the Court of his ties to Fire. He had abandoned the priesthood upon discovering his Mind Magic's strength, but he still maintained the bond. She allowed it, as it was helpful, primarily when she could not rely on the Fire Superior to lend her full support.

"Remember," she whispered to him as he passed. "Cause him pain, cause him to scream and writhe but do not cause him any lasting damage. If you do, I will kill you." The handsome man bowed to her, his controlled expression reminding her why he remained one of her favorites. It would be a shame to kill him, but she would if he failed her. The other Masters in the room would monitor him tightly; he would have to temper his powers.

Masou called up the illusion of Fire. He often called on it when he had an audience for his tortures. Creating this illusion took more power but was also more dramatic. Masou's flair for the dramatic continued the Queen's interest in this Punisher for far longer than usual.

The flame surrounded Lukas, who was held upright and rigid by her Controller. Bishop would release his control only upon her command. And she would time this release to achieve maximum impact.

She could feel the Punisher's strength pushing pain through Lukas and knew it took longer than anticipated by her Court for her prisoner to show his distress. Her Court grew restless, but she waited until she sensed their interest in the torture waning before she motioned for the Controller to release Lukas' body but not his voice. Lukas' sudden collapse shocked the Court out of its discontent, as did his silent writhing. It wasn't until she saw his mouth open in an attempt to scream that she knew they had overcome his self-control. At that moment, she signaled for his voice to be released. His screams filled the hall and continued for far longer than made the Court comfortable. The Queen smiled at her Court's discomfort; this was a reminder of what could happen to any of them if they displeased her.

She noticed Lukas' Watcher make a quick hand signal to the Controller, who then signaled the Punisher. When the Punisher did not immediately respond to the message, the Queen nodded to the Watcher.

The screams stopped as the Watcher flung her barriers around Lukas.

The Punisher stiffened as the Controller entered his mind. He would not push Bishop out; that would be inexcusable disobedience. The illusion sputtered out, and the Punisher lowered his arms. His shoulders relaxed as the Controller withdrew his touch.

The Queen stood from her throne and waved the Punisher out of the room. Her anger with Masou would be far deadlier if he did any lasting damage to her prize.

After the Court settled and the Watcher assured her of Lukas' relative well-being, the Queen relaxed back into her throne. She looked at the unconscious man and smiled; this was the beginning. Breaking a man took pleasure and pain; it would take longer to control him without the Keeper but would be more permanent. It had taken her several years to perfect her blend of torture and comfort. She knew much of it would not work immediately on Lukas, but eventually, he would succumb. They all did.

Excitement and anticipation grew inside of the Queen, and it took an effort to subdue it. It would not do to rush this. The children would arrive soon, representing the second stage in her plans to control him. She must remain patient. But the Queen would have to reevaluate who would provide the torture, as Masou had proven too eager to harm her precious Lukas. The passion that she loved in her Punisher could also be an annoyance. It may be time to find a new Punisher with less flare. Ah, but the Court still loved Masou, she would assign someone different to Lukas, and Masou could keep her company while she waited. Finally, with this plan set, she addressed the Castle Guards at the sides of her dais.

"Take him to his room," she said with a dispassionate tone and dismissive wave. Her guards lifted his limp form and carried him out of the hall.

The Queen turned her attention to the elite soldiers who returned her prodigal Master. "And you, who have brought us back our tool, will be rewarded. Go to the quartermaster; he has my instructions." She dismissed them, and, for the moment, she forgot about the girl and the soldier's other task. Her mind remained occupied with thoughts of her future, with Lukas at her side, and the girl was of little importance.

====================

As he passed into the throne room, Lukas' eyes took a moment to accommodate the lighting change. When he finally saw the Queen sitting imperiously on her overly ornate throne, he found it challenging to remember how beautiful he had once thought she was.

Lukas' mind drifted back to his first meeting with the woman who would become the Queen. Not long after he had professed his love for Natalia to them, his parents brought him along on their diplomatic mission to the Queendom. They had hoped to provide him with distance from Natalia so he could reconsider making a lifelong commitment to her. Lukas had found the City and Castle Miritis fascinating and distracting at first.

While exploring the Castle grounds, he caught sight of the then Princess Gisele in the courtyard. Her thick brown hair had fallen loosely around her face while concentrating on the plants she pulled from the dirt. When she turned her head to look at him, those curls framed her face, bringing out the brown in her hazel eyes, and softened the regal edges of her cheeks and nose. The whole effect had made her seem ethereal and kind.

It had not taken too long for his admiration to turn to disgust, even if he could no longer remember what had initially prompted the evolution. Once the Crown Princess's dangerous obsession with their son became clear, his parents sent him home, out of her grasp.

His parents remained behind as ambassadors to the Queendom, and Lukas built a life with Natalia. But when he heard of his parent's capture, he returned out of a misplaced sense of pride and hope. The Keeper captured his mind almost as soon as he left the village's security. And the memory of his parent's broken bodies hanging at the gate of the Castle as he walked helplessly by infused Lukas with renewed hatred of the Queen. Despite their immunity as diplomats, Gisele murdered his parents once she had become Queen to punish them for separating her from Lukas. Only later, Lukas learned they had already died when she had sent others to report their capture to the Outlanders. The things the Queen and her Keeper did to him during his captivity made him hate himself almost as much as he hated her.

But Natalia survived.

He now returned again to Castle Miritis, again due to his hubris, betrayed by one of his trusted advisors. And when the Queen peered down at him, her eyes filled with a familiar mixture of lust and anger, Lukas felt only revulsion with no hint of the admiration he had once held.

The Queen stood inches from his face. Those curls he had found so fetching, pulled back in an intricate knot, allowed no softening of her stern face. Her skin held more lines than Lukas remembered, and despite his many attempts to forget, he remembered every detail of her deplorable visage. Lukas noticed the pleasure in the Queen's large eyes every time he let his hatred of her flare as if she enjoyed breaking him to her will. He might need to hide his anger better in time, but for now, he let it free.

His face burned with the power of her slap. Lukas should have been surprised by her force, but he wasn't. The Queen wanted him to know his place, he was not her equal but a misbehaving pet she would bring to heel. The false debate over his survival amused him. He doubted the Queen had any intention of allowing his death. She mistakenly thought she could control him again. She still desired him, that much she did not try to hide from him, and he would use this against her. Her lust would be her downfall if everything went according to his plan.

The dark-haired man in red and yellow robes exuded significant power. The Queen loved to surround herself with strength, especially strength that she could control with her various wiles. This compact man was the Queen's current bedmate, Lukas presumed, and, judging by the glare he gave Lukas, was not happy that he would be tossed aside for someone new. If Lukas could move, the distasteful memories invading his mind would have led to an involuntary shutter.

Lukas would be happy to allow the muscular man to keep his position. Lukas never wanted his body touched by the lecherous Queen again. Even the tiny touch of her hand that preceded her forceful strike had sent his body waves of disgust and anger. Everything he had strived to forget over the years flooded back. The Queen had left her mark on him, and not even the love he had shared with Raja had entirely erased her taint. Nothing had.

As the Queen ended her conversation with the Punisher, Lukas pulled his thoughts away from Raja and did not allow them to go to Natalia, not then. Lukas could not let anyone who entered his mind know their importance to him, not even his spy. A spy could easily deceive, and he could not be certain of where Tian's true alliances lay.

His mind snapped to the Punisher when Lukas felt the man's power focus on him. Initially, when Lukas saw the Mind Mage's use of a fire illusion, he relaxed. But when the first wave of heat coursed through him, Lukas clamped down hard on the bond link. This punishment would not be a performance; the Queen meant to cause him real pain, and he could not let Raja feel his torture. His mate was reliable and steady, but it might distract him from his task if he felt Lukas' torment. Finding Natalia and saving her was more important than anything else now.

The burn was light at the start. It felt almost like a hot day or one of the steam rooms in the Tribal lands. Yet quickly, it moved from this borderline pleasurable pain to more scorching heat. When Lukas began to feel like the flesh was melting from his body, he was glad for the reinforced inner wall he had built around his bond with Raja over the years. It would hold, even after he could no longer focus on it.

Suddenly, the Controller released his body. Lukas' ego demanded that he stay rigid and still, but the torture denied him this control. He collapsed, but as he fell to the ground, he felt the Controller stiffen his neck to prevent his head from hitting the marble floor. The abrupt muscle contraction caused a sharp ache in his neck, but even this couldn't distract him from the crescendo of burning agony.

The mixture of Elemental Fire and Mind Magic would have fascinated him had he not been in so much misery. As it was, the only thing he could focus on outside his suffering was his need for Raja to save Natalia. This hope kept him sane until, finally, even these thoughts were wiped from his mind by his suffering.

The burning stopped just as his mind teetered on the edge of sanity. Briefly, he felt the spy-Watcher's gentle, exploring touch and her sympathy. Mercifully, she pushed him unconscious.

WC2449

Last Edit 12/31/2022