Sable

Sable had stopped screaming once they were inside the castle, she realized that it was pointless. There would be no one to rescue her. Even if she wished that Lucca would somehow manage to find her.

They brought her to her knees on the floor when they entered the throne room. There was a group of men and large demons speaking in the center of the room, on a raised platform.

"My lord Finnian, we've brought you the goddess Inara," the horned man spoke. He took a deep bow after.

The man he was speaking to turned their way, but only enough so that he was facing both groups at the same time. It was enough for her to recognize him.

There was Alex? She blinked as she stared at him. That was definitely Alex- and there were horns on his head. Sable gasped and struggled in the grasp of the beasts holding onto her.

"Alex!?" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Why are there horns on your head?"

Alex turned to face her fully, away from the beasts he was conversing with. He grinned a toothy, pointed grin.

"Alex was a facade," he said. He stepped down from the platform and made his way slowly over to her. He took her chin in his hand and leaned down toward her. "Just to get close to you, my dear. The boy wasn't real, but I am. My name is Finnian."

Sable shrank back, her eyes widened and her eyebrows knitted together. Her lip quivered and her body trembled.

"What?" she whispered.

Finnian chuckled and released her chin, and stepped back from her. He waved his hand and the demons brought her back to her feet.

"No," she said quietly. She shook her head slowly. "No. I was going to come back to y- to Alex. My friend. Give him back to me. Give him back!"

Sable pulled her arms free from the demons. She charged at Finnian and hit him in the chest with her bound hands. Finnian grabbed her wrists.

"Give him back!" Sable screamed.

"He was never real," the Alex impostor said, staring her straight in the eyes.

"Then take me to Conor," Sable demanded. She forcefully pulled her wrists back away from him and stepped away from him.

Finnian glanced at the ground. He clasped his hands together behind his back. When he looked back up at her he was smiling, showing off his horrible teeth.

"You," she whispered. "You've been inside the castle. You were at the ball. You've known where the castle was all along. How come you didn't take me then?"

"There was no need," Finnian sighed and shook his head. "Your powers weren't ready. They still aren't; you don't even have your familiar with you. I suppose that was my doing. But I couldn't have you setting things into motion too early. There is a ritual to follow."

He paused, and then spoke again, "And you know something else? I knew you would somehow fall right into my lap, without me needing to really do much planning. It takes strategy to abduct a goddess. You made it so easy when you escaped Lucca's captivity. And then of course you just had to stumble across one of my villages."

Sable felt her face grow warm. Her anger made it hard to breathe; the cuff on her wrist felt very hot. "Take me to where you brought Conor," she demanded again in a low voice.

"Very well, then," Finnian nodded. He snapped his fingers. "Bring her to the dungeons, where she will stay until we begin the preparations for the ritual."

"Yes, my lord," the other horned man said. He took Sable by the arm and guided her along. Sable went with him willingly.

He guided her out of the throne room, back toward the entrance to the castle. They turned to the right and made their way down a dark corridor. Sable wondered why there weren't torches to light the way, but her eyes did eventually adjust.

They reached a very old wooden door. They passed through after it was opened, and descended further into the darkness. The horned man let go of her arm and pulled something off the wall. He fiddled with it, and then suddenly there was light. Sable blinked painfully against the sudden brightness.

"Oh," she said quietly."

"Let's keep going," the man said. He placed a hand on her back and continued guiding her down the stairs.

Eventually they reached the bottom of the stairs. They opened up to a small room with two doors. There was straw strewn over the floor. There was a small table against the wall, and a rack above it. Hooks on the rack held up several different key rings. Sable wondered just how many different doors they went to.

The horned man grabbed a key ring off the wall. He stuck one of the keys into the hole of the door on the right. He turned the key, and there was a click, and he pushed the door open.

"There are no guards down here?" Sable asked. He led her through the door.

"Not at the moment," he said, shooting her a glance. "We're a little short-staffed. There are wars going on. And then there are the preparations for the ritual. The area is fairly secure alone."

They walked along, passing by several empty cells. Finally they reached the last cell. Conor was sitting with his back against the wall in there. There were shackles on his wrists.

"Conor," she said. He looked up at her, startled out of his thoughts. There was still dried blood on his face, with fresher-looking blood on his lower lip. There was a new bruise on his cheek.

"Sable," his voice was rough.

He stood when the horned man opened the cell door. The horned man pushed Sable into the cell with Conor.

"I'll return later with food and drink," the horned man said. "For the goddess."

Conor saluted the man, making the chains attached to his shackles clack together. The horned man rolled his eyes and placed the torch near the cell. He shut and locked the door, and then left.

Sable stepped over to Conor. She reached up and touched his face, though her hands were still bound. Conor held her hands.

"This cuff is preventing you from using your powers," he said. He examined her wrist. "We need to get it off of you."

He bit at the leather tying her hands together, and the straps fell to the floor beneath them. He sighed and gently massaged her hands. He massaged her free wrist afterward.

"I've already tried removing it," Sable told him. "With no luck."

"My teeth may be strong enough to cut through this material," he said. He took the wrist that had the cuff on it and slowly trailed his fingers over the purple material.

"Conor- are you alright?" she asked. "I mean- well..."

"Yes," he smiled at her. "I'm healing slowly. If I get this cuff off your wrist, your familiar will likely show up- a delayed response that never got to happen. Your life is still in danger. You need to leave here with him."

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Sable disagreed. "I got you into this mess. I'm going to get you back out of it."

"I'm sure Akeem will be more interested in my plan," Conor sighed. "His number one priority is you, and I'll only slow you down."

"Conor..." Sable said.

"No arguments," he cut her off.

"I'll come back for you," Sable pursed her lips.

"You need to bring an army with you before you do that," Conor told her. "Your safety must be secured."

"No," Sable shook her head. "They'll have already killed you by the time I come back with an army. You're coming with us."

"Sable..." Conor sighed again. "You've only known me for about a week and a half. I'm an insignificant part of your life- just a stepping stone along the way. You'll meet many more people like me."

"No," Sable said firmly. "You're my- you're my friend."

"You said so yourself a few nights ago," Conor reminded her. "I'm just a stranger to you."

"That doesn't mean that your life doesn't matter to me!" Sable said.

He bit into the cuff. It sparked and singed his face as it disappeared. Conor drew back, crying out in pain and holding onto his cheek. Sable reached out toward him, but then froze and fell back.

Before she could hit the floor a pair of arms caught her from behind. Dizziness nearly overwhelmed her, a feeling like she was floating flowed through her. She was pushed back up to her feet by whoever was behind her, and then they turned her around to face them.

"It's you," she whispered. His hands cupped her cheeks.

"Inara," Akeem said. He bent his head toward hers and kissed her.