Heroine? Or Villain? That Is the Question.

Then the man spoke. His voice was deep and raspy. "Pet of mine, I thought you wanted to keep him around. Would you really kill him so easily?"

Shadow's hand relaxed. "You know my temper Bane," she responded. "I would kill him for whatever reason I chose."

The giant man, Bane, Jamie assumed, chuckled and released Shadow's hand, "Be that as it may Pet, I believe you would mourn if you killed him so painlessly."

Jamie relaxed. Then realized that the man said so painlessly, not so quickly as he had before. He was in deep shit.

Shadow put her knife away and returned to the chair at the other end of the room and sat in it. "Leave us," she commanded.

Jamie listened for a moment, heard nothing, and looked at Shadow quizzically. He was confused. Aside from her, no one had moved. Well not far anyway. Bane had moved to where he was a few feet behind the chair, but it certainly couldn't be considered leaving. Jamie also got the idea that Bane was the one person that didn't take orders from Shadow. She sat silently for a moment, then smirked at him. She looked from Barsad to Bane, then back to Jamie. When she spoke, she did so looking at him, but it was addressed to the other two, "His senses are so dull that he did not realize that we were not alone."

Bane seemed to find this humorous. "Tell me Jameson," he said, "Did you really think I would allow you so close to my Pet with only Barsad for security? There were twenty men in the shadows waiting to strike you had you tried to harm her."

Jamie couldn't believe it, "Twenty men hid in the shadows, and left soundlessly?" he said in disbelief. "I think you are bluffing about your numbers."

Shadow smirked, "They were hardly invisible, and they certainly weren't soundless. Your senses are dull. To dull to be of use to us." She rose as she said this last part.

"Pet," Bane's voice said. Shadow stopped moving. "He could be of use to us dearest," Bane continued. "Your senses were hardly as sharp as they are now when you joined."

"They were sharper than his," Shadow sneered.

Jamie was tired of them talking about him as if he weren't there. "Shadow," he said, turning all of their attention to him. "You said that had you stayed up there you would have ended up a whore. What are you down here? Slave to a mercenary? A mercenary yourself? Or," he sneered here, "did you offer yourself to him if he gave you a home? Are you a whore for all of the men? Or merely for your precious Bane?"

Jamie's head snapped to the side and blood dripped down his cheek. He was amazed. He hadn't even seen Shadow move, but she had crossed the entire room and struck him in the time it took for him to blink.

"Do not speak of things you do not know the truth of," hissed Shadow in Jamie's ear.

Jamie was frightened now. Shadow reminded him of a documentary on cobras he had seen once. Specifically, the part where the cobra had been angered and had killed a man.

"Shadow," Bane spoke, sounding bored, but Jamie could tell there was a threat in his voice. "Pet, Jameson will be with us for a long while. We will train him and he will be of use to us. You must restrain from killing him, dearest."

"As you wish," Shadow said drawing back. "The boy will remain with us. But Jameson will not. Jameson is dead. From now on, he will be known as Carcer."

"A fitting name child," Bane said with a smirk in his voice.

"Barsad take him back to his cell," Shadow ordered.

"Yes Shadow," Barsad replied, bowing his head. He drew Jamie, no, Carcer now, to his feet. They turned and started to leave, but Carcer turned back.

"Shadow," he called, "You spoke of the symbolism of names before. I assume the name you have give me means something?"

Shadow's eyes grew cold as steel. "You assume correctly," she responded.

"What is the meaning?" Carcer asked.

Shadow smirked. "It means prisoner."