Cassandra ached all over. Woman Beater had really gone all out in his last session. She didn't think there was an inch of her body that wasn't bruised by his fists. Mad Scientist had cleaned and bandaged her wounds like usual before sending her back to her cage with another one of those infernal cherry suckers tucked between her lips.

Someone pounded on the door to her cell. The darkness made it impossible to see anything so she waited.

A key turned in a lock, the metallic sound loud in the quiet gloom. Three women dressed in matching red dresses and white aprons marched into the room to where Cassandra lay on her cot.

Cassandra had never seen them before but that didn't mean anything. Every corridor in this hellhole was mired in dark secrets and blood.

The woman in the middle, a blonde, with cold blue eyes scanned Cassandra from head to toe. Her thin lips pursed, not liking what she saw. "It'll take a miracle to get her ready."

The other two women murmured in agreement.

The blonde snapped her fingers at Cassandra. "Get up!"

Bracing herself against a wall, Cassandra slowly eased herself up, wincing at the throbbing pain spiraling through her body. Ready to face whatever new horror was planned for her. With her mom captive, she had no choice but to obey.

Cassandra committed the women's faces to memory, vowing to make them suffer once she and Madeline were free.

A guard met them in the hall with a pair of shackles. The blonde waved him off. "Those won't be needed."

Squinting at the bright light in the hall, Cassandra followed the three women. They led her in the opposite direction from her mom and the torture chamber. After several twists and turns up a few flights of stairs the cinderblock walls gave way to clean white plaster and the cement floor was replaced with plush red carpet.

Cassandra studied an oil Renaissance painting of a Greek goddess, her mouth twisting to the side. They really had kept her tucked away in the basement like some dirty secret.

"Keep up!" The nameless blonde snapped, jerking on her arm.

Cassandra winced as the woman's red talons dug into a bruise. "Alright, just don't touch me."

"We've wasted enough time." The blonde told her coldly. "I have better things to do than to pander to his whims."

Cassandra glanced at her sharply. Him? "I thought you worked for Morgan le Fey."

The blonde's brittle laugh made Cassandra's cheeks burn. "Nice try. You won't be getting any information out of me." She gave Cassandra a hard shove between the shoulder blades. "Now, hurry up!"

The three harpies quickened their pace forcing Cassandra to lengthen her stride to keep up with them. They arrived at a room at the end of the hall.

Blondie shoved her inside. Cassandra barely caught a glimpse of the four-poster bed with red velvet curtains before being propelled into the bathroom where the three women stripped her filthy clothes off her and forced her into a steaming tub.

"Hurry up and bathe." The blonde's lip curled. "Goddess knows you need it." She motioned for the others to follow her and slammed the door behind her.

Cassandra heard the lock click. Once she was alone, she wrapped her arms around herself. Whatever awaited her wouldn't be pleasant. She had no idea how long she sat there. When the water began to cool she reached for the shampoo and scrubbed her hair before applying a generous layer of soap to her skin.

She went through the motions mechanically until she felt clean. Cassandra was surprised at how good it felt to be clean given her current circumstances but she now felt a bit more confident in facing her enemy.

Drying off with a thick towel, she padded over to the door and knocked.

A second later the blonde unlocked it and forced Cassandra to sit in front of a vanity table with an array of cosmetics.

She snapped her fingers. "Eira, get the blow dryer."

The women surrounded her and attacked her with beauty implements, plucking, contouring, and blending her face with makeup. By the time, Eira spun the final curl free of the curling iron Cassandra was ready to scream.

In the mirror, her features were relaxed into a blank mask despite the turmoil going on inside her mind. The foundation on Cassandra's skin did little to hide her black eyes or bruised cheeks. A dark fuchsia lipstick helped disguise the cut on her bottom lip.

"Get up." The blonde ordered.

Cassandra glared at her. Her fingers twitched as she tried to summon her power but like all the other times, nothing came of it. Whatever blocked her power was annoyingly effective.

Eira ripped off Cassandra's towel and tugged a crimson wrap dress over her head. She slid a diamond dragon broach along the side to pin the fabric into place. The blonde fastened a heavy diamond and ruby necklace around her neck and slid matching bracelets on both of her wrists.

The third woman buckled Cassandra's feet into a pair of neck-breaking red heels. She swiped a hand over her cheek and stood after adjusting the hem of Cassandra's dress. "There, she's ready."

When she was shoved into the hall this time, the women did not follow. Instead, a guard escorted her to a fancy dining hall straight out of a fantasy book.

A long dining table stretched the length of the room. A tapestry with a black dragon on a red background hung at the front of the room. Rows of arched windows glittered on both sides of the hall, a line of crystal chandeliers dripped prismatic light across the red tablecloth.

The guard shackled Cassandra's arms to the chair and looped another thick chain around her waist and another pair of shackles to bind her legs to the chair. "That's hardly necessary. Its not like I'm going anywhere." She said icily and wriggled her fingers at him.

The guard jumped a foot in the air, fear skittering across his blunt features.

Cassandra felt the tiniest bit of satisfaction as the color drained from his face. "Better skedaddle before I turn you into a frog, or perhaps a dung beetle so you can spend the rest of your days eating shit."

The guard bolted from the hall.

Cassandra snickered as the door swung shut behind him. It was gratifying to know that someone feared her. Too bad no one else in this vampiric castle seemed to take her seriously. Then again, why would they?

Her magic was muzzled. Her mom captive. They held all the cards.

A door opened at the opposite end of the hall behind the tapestry. The clomp of footsteps had Cassandra's shoulders tensing up.

A familiar handsome man walked into view. Cassandra reeled back in her chair, the air leaving her lungs. "Impossible." She breathed.

Arthur Kensington smoothed the line of his burgundy suitcoat and took a seat at the head of the table. "I can see I've surprised you, Cassandra. Truly, you are not as intelligent as I first believed. Otherwise, you would have seen the truth immediately."

"You faked your own death." Cassandra realized, some of the shock wearing off to be replaced by a heavy wariness. "Is Morgan le Fey even a threat or has it all been you?"

Arthur tilted his head to the side, a bemused smile curving his full lips. He took his time studying her. "I should not have allowed Chad carte blanche. He injured your beautiful face."

Cassandra slammed her hand on the table, rattling the empty dishes in front of her. "Cut the shit! Answer my question, Arthur! Are you working for Morgan le Fey? Just what the hell is your stake in all this?"

He tilted his head back, chuckling. "I find this side of you refreshing. You were always on your best behavior when you worked for the auction house. Just as well, I like fire in my women."

Creepy as ever. Cassandra subsided a bit. Her fingers curled into a white-knuckle fist. "Keep it up and I'll shove my fist down your throat!"

Arthur lowered his chin and smirked at her. Cassandra flushed.

They both knew how empty her threat was.

Arthur decided to ignore her outburst. He jiggled a small gold bell and waitstaff streamed into the dining hall with dishes of food.

Cassandra's mouth watered at the bounty the staff laid on the table. Garlic herbed chicken in a delicate sauce, roasted potatoes, a tray of steaming fresh baked bread.

She hadn't eaten a decent meal in days. Woman Beater had made sure of it.

The dishes were just out of her reach. Arthur loaded her plate with a bit of everything and poured her a glass of champagne. He lengthened the chain on her shackles so she could reach the food.

He raised his own glass in a toast. "Eat and I'll answer your questions."

Cassandra stabbed a potato on her fork and prepared to listen to a cliché villain monologue from a man she had believed to be dead.

A/N: Cassandra and Arthur face-to-face at last!I hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write.