The Queen of the Prey

Chapter 9

-POV-The King's Sword and Shield

A man sat behind his desk, his face hidden in shadows, but the power he radiated made all men shiver in fear. He took a long drag of his cigar, a brandy in his left hand. He exhaled blowing out a ring of smoke.

"I trust you brought it, Niles?" The man asked in a bored tone, he twirled his drink enjoying the sound of ice hitting glass.

"Please...Sir...Please..." Niles begged, his face to the floor, "I need a little more time...two..no one more day...I-I need more --" The sound of glass breaking made Niles look up in fright. The man in the shadows gave a deep sigh before wiping away the glass. He raised his hand and Niles couldn't help but flinch expecting the worst. The man loosened his tie and gave a dark chuckle.

"You reek of fear, my old friend." The man said darkly; he was genuinely enjoying the smell; it was what he lived on, his drug.

"Pl-Please s-sir, I will have everything tomorrow...I swear on my life." Niles begged tears were threatening to escape his eyes.

"No need for that, my old friend." The man pleasantly said, Niles looked up surprised. The man opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a long piece of rope. He threw it at the man, and it landed in a heap by his hands.

"Tie it." The man commanded, there was glee in his voice, and Niles shook in fear.

"No, no, no...please...no, Thanatos I beg you!" Niles moaned, and the dark man gave a wicked laugh.

"Very well." Thanatos grinned, he rose, gracefully from his chair and walked over to the man sobbing for his life. Thanatos knelt and took a knife out of his pocket. The blade gleamed in the light and Niles shrank back in fear of it. Thanatos grabbed hold of Niles' hand and held it flat against the floor.

"Let's play a game..." Thanatos whispered in Niles' ear. Niles whimpered in fright, tears streaming down his face.

"I am going to write a number on here," he whispered, lightly pressing the knife on Niles' hand, " The rules are fairly simple. Would you like to hear them?" Thanatos inquired, Niles sobbed louder, Thanatos pressed harder on the knife, and Niles let out a small scream.

"Use your words." Thanatos scolded.

"Yes! Yes, sir!" Niles shrieked. Thanatos grinned.

"Excellent, Rule number 1. You cannot look at the number until I say so.

Rule number 2. Pull away, and I will cut off your hand

Rule number 3. You scream...you lose." Thanatos whispered, "Do you agree to the rules?" He taunted pressing hard on the knife, making sure not to break the skin...yet.

"Yes! Yes, I agree with you sir." Niles stammered.

"Then let's begin" Thanatos pulled back a little and took out a vile out of his pocket. He lifted the vile to Niles' face.

"Wolfsbane" Thanatos shrugged, "Just for fun." Niles' eyes widened in horror as he watched Thanatos opened the small bottle and poured it over the tip of the knife. Niles wanted to crawl away, but he remembered the rules, if he pulled away, he would lose. Thanatos caught Niles right hand and dragged it closer to him. Without warning, Thanatos began to write. Niles' gasped in pain but held his cries in. Niles turned his head away from his hand and closed his eyes. He couldn't even concentrate on what was being written on his skin, the pain was too much, and Niles began to shed silent tears. The wolfsbane burned at his open cuts and seeped into his bloodstream. Thanatos smiled when blood started spilling onto the white carpet. His maid will have fun with that when he finished. When he was done Thanatos leaned back and admired his handy work.