In the next two weeks a remarkable series of events occurred in that kingdom.
Surprising accidents befell two of the demon-prince's most trusted counselors, men so loyal to him that they'd never dream of betraying him. One was discovered stabbed to death behind a most-disreputable brothel, causing a scandal whispered about by friend and foe alike. The other was found slumped over in his study, dead of an apparent heart attack, and if this seemed peculiar to anyone given his youth they found it prudent to not remark upon it.
Meantime, Genevieve moved with skill and haste, reaching out and recruiting members of a conspiracy, though she was careful not to call it that, careful to assure all she spoke with that she was merely working out contingencies, and if these contingencies hinged upon something terribly unfortunate happening to the demon-prince, well, accidents do happen. Just look at what had recently befallen the two counselors.
Some she charmed and some she threatened and some she bribed and two she seduced, and in the end she had her plans in place.
And all the while the whispers about me grew.
None knew of my meetings with the consort. None knew of one or two other bits of assistance I rendered. None knew that I'd ever returned to the kingdom after my initial summoning.
But they did know that I'd come, and slain one of the demon-prince's chief sorcerors, and departed, and that his court magicians had been unable to find me since, no matter how they tried and scryed and delved.
This was weakness, weakness where there should have been strength, and weakness in a court is blood in open waters, attracting predators even where none had been before.
If he had been able to produce me, humble me, destroy me, he would have secured his position admirably, but he could not, and every day he went without doing so was a day where he stood upon a shrinking ledge with a long, long drop beneath him.
If I had simply stayed away he might well have fallen on his own, or he might have survived with some difficulty, but such did not suit my plans, nor my master's.
For my master, the incubus who had bound me, watched what I did and what I did not do, and though I knew not whether he approved or disapproved I felt the weight of his presence, and the call of his soul.
I hungered for that soul.
Twice in that time he called me to him, and both times I went willingly, even eagerly.
Once he tried to punish me for the rebellion he sensed beneath the surface, and I accepted the punishment with relish and glee, taking each blow of the whip, each cruel torment, as a reminder that he saw me as a threat, sensed me as a danger. That feeling, that knowledge, that deep-rooted sensation was a balm to my mind even as my body was cruelly tortured, for the more dangerous he thought me the more eager I became to prove him correct.
The second time he called me he took me back to the arena where we had first met, where he had first bound me, and we watched the contests. Some fought and some fucked and some left the arena in chains and some did not leave that place at all, and we roared with the crowd, both of us remembering our own contest upon those sands, and at the end of the night he took me down to that altar and we gave ourselves to lust upon it.
He was in no danger from me, his binding was too secure, but I permitted myself to forget that and let my body struggle to suck his soul free, to claim him, to conquer him, to consume him, and if it was all futile it nonetheless gave my body permission to turn pleasure into passion into raw, erotic glory, and in the end he forced me to climax repeatedly, to surrender to pleasure as the crowd looked on.
Whether he thought it reward or punishment I cannot say, but it only whetted my appetite for him, only fanned the flames of my rebellion. The crowd thought it a demonstration of his power, and it was, but it was more than that, if only to the two of us.
Then came the day of the demon-prince's return.
He returned angry, and frustrated, for his journey had been a fruitless search for a sorceror who could find me, but he had found none but mountebanks and charlatans and weaklings. Only one had made an effort I'd even felt, and it was as insubstantial as a butterfly's wing and as easy to ignore.
The demon-prince called for his concubine to be brought to his chambers, as she'd known he would do. He always returned with a need for her, no matter how many whores he'd had on his travels, and her late enthusiasm in the bedchamber had only made him more eager for her.
She waited for him in the antechamber before his bedroom, which was unusual. Normally he preferred to find her naked in his bed, but this time she had plans. He looked down upon her with wrath and suspicion, and she smiled up at him with seductive delight.
"My lord husband," she whispered, "I've prepared a surprise for you. One I think you'll find particularly appetizing."
Two of his guards stood within the chamber, waiting for their dismissal. Normally they'd search the room before he entered it, but she had planned for this as well. She wore the same long, high-necked robe she'd worn when she called to me, and with nothing beneath it. She smiled sweetly up at him, raised her hands to the collar, parted it, lowered her hands slowly, drawing it apart, letting him see the blissful expanse of golden-tanned skin that lay beneath.
"Leave us," he snarled to his guards, for he had little on his mind but lust and anger.
The guards looked at one another, then at him.
"My lord-" one began, and that was as far as he got.
"Leave. Us," the demon-prince growled, and there was anger and finality in his words.
The guards shrugged and left, taking up their posts outside the chambers. As they walked out Genevieve let the robe fall, standing naked before the demon-prince, making him open his inhuman eyes wide in lechery. One of the guards glanced back, nearly stumbled as he caught sight, and it was well he did not for if the demon-prince had caught him it would have gone hard for him.
Instead the door shut behind them and Genevieve reached out to take the demon-prince's hand. She led him into the chamber where he saw his surprise.
I was his surprise. Naked and bound to the wall, arms and legs spread wide, wrists and ankles fastened to the wall with chains, within a circle of protection that rendered me utterly powerless, helpless and unable to feed.
Perhaps I should explain.
We had discussed this night, Genevieve and I, lying in bed together. The demon-prince, for all his faults and flaws, was not so careless as to permit himself to be caught unawares, nor expose himself unnecessarily. His guards always checked rooms before he entered them, and he would have been able to sense my presence if the circle had not rendered me harmless. He was no sorcerer, but he had skill and strength enough for that, and concealing such power would itself call attention in...other ways.