CHAPTER 5: GETTING THE POINT ACROSS

The guards led Kane through two large oak doors and into a room of some kind. Kane figured it was where the sorceress held audience with the rest of her minions.

The room was huge with floor to ceiling windows, giving the occupant a clear 180-degree view of the forest that surrounded the castle. Natural light filled in, brightening up the room tremendously and giving it a regal splendour.

Kane suppressed a chuckle at the irony - so not all evil overlords liked dark and dingy places.

The guards left him standing there on his own as they retreated from the room, closing the doors behind them. He took in the view around him as he waited for his host to appear.

It looked as though the sorceress was like any normal woman too - never on time, he grinned bemusedly to himself.
Just then the oak doors were thrown open again.

Ruella strode in - no, glided in - her robes sweeping upon the floor, flowing about behind her.

There was definitely no denying her beauty, Kane mused as he watched her walk in. The way she carried herself - the cold, steely image she projected - there was just something enchantingly sexy about it all.

Kane then thought about Anyss and couldn't help but mentally compare the two women.

Anyss may not be as majestic as Ruella but she could still hold her own against the sorceress. Kane pictured the bandit queen's well-toned body and remembered how her nicely defined muscles rippled whenever she moved.

He smirked, thinking it may not be that bad after all if he had to die at the hands of either one of these beautiful women. Then again, that said, he would much prefer to stay alive.

Ruella walked straight pass him without so much as giving him a glance. When she spun around, her eyes bored right through his.

"So, you're Kane Galdrich."

Kane lowered his head. "At your service, my lady."

Ruella immediately held a dislike for the man standing in front of her.

She mentally reached out around him and tried to feel his aura. If there was even the slightest hint of magickal ability, she would be able to detect it. And if there was, 'at your service, my lady' would have been the last words Kane Galdrich would have spoken. But her search proved fruitless. There was nothing. It seemed as though he was just any normal person.

Kane felt the sorceress' power invading his being. He had already anticipated that she was going to do that and had earlier shielded his powers so that she would not be able to detect them. He hoped though that Ruella would be satisfied with just a surface scrutiny. Kane knew that if she decided to reach in further, no shield he put up would be able to deceive her.

Luck was definitely on Kane's side as Ruella decided to stop.

"What is your motive?" she asked - her eyes never once leaving him.

Kane bowed again. "Only to serve the great masters of Septonia."

"Save such saccharine for they will not work on me," Ruella narrowed her eyes and suppressed the urge to kill him there and then.

She stared at him, sizing him up. It wasn't hard to see why Anyss couldn't bring herself to kill him. Even in his disheveled state, Kane simply oozed charisma. But there was something about the man that made Ruella distrust him. He was just too confident.

Looking at him, a tinge of jealously suddenly raked through her body. On impulse, Ruella raised her hand and sent forth a blast of energy at him. The impact knocked him off his feet and threw him a few feet back. Kane crashed into the wall and slumped down towards the floor.

He gritted his teeth at the pain and struggled to gain his breath back. The blow had come too unexpected and he had not braced himself for it.

"Let that serve as a warning..." Ruella told him icily . "You are still alive because I gave my word to Anyss that I would not kill you…yet."

She walked up to him, stopping just a few inches from where his head laid on the floor.

"Though if I find that you do anything to hurt her - upset her even - I'll have you wish you were never born into this world," Ruella bent down and grabbed his chin forcefully, raising it so that their eyes met. "Do you understand?"

Kane let their gazes linger awhile longer before he bowed his head slightly.

"Of course, my lady," he whispered.

Ruella hesitated a slight moment before releasing his chin. Kane was certain he saw a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes as she let him go.

She straightened up and walked away from him - putting a clear distance between them both.

"Come!" her voice boomed through the room as she called for her guards. "Take him away," she waved nonchalantly, indicating towards Kane as they entered the room.

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Kane laid back down on the cold floor of his cell and played back his encounter with the sorceress.

It was always a mistake to underestimate one's opponent and Kane reminded himself never to fall into that trap again. He hadn't expected an easy audience with Ruella but he definitely had not anticipated her fiery temper. He knew that he would not still be alive if it wasn't for Anyss.

Then Kane slowly smiled to himself. This little incident did not prove to be entirely fruitless though. It showed that Anyss certainly held an influence over Ruella - the great sorceress really did have a weakness after all.

The door to his cell suddenly flew open while he was in the midst of his thoughts. Kane casually turned his head to see who it was that had so rudely disturbed him.

The tip of a huge broadsword slammed into the stone just inches from his nose.

Kane hardly flinched as he averted his eyes upward towards the wielder of the weapon.

"Hi there, I'm currently in the mood to beat someone up," Anyss said with a devilish glint in her eye as she smiled down at him.