Taha woke up.

As she did, she felt herself being hit by cold gusts. She could see nothing and hear nothing. Her arms were bound tightly behind her back, and she felt herself swaying. When she tried to speak, she found her mouth had something wedged between it.

Where was she?

What was going on?

Tamar.

Tamar had appeared, or someone claiming to be Tamar, and she'd taken her. Seized her against her will and took her away. She must have been drugged somehow to see what she'd seen.

Right now, she was trapped somewhere high up and completely unable to see or hear. So she had to get her arms free. Struggling to pull them out Taha tested where they were strong. Only her bindings seemed to shift wherever she moved her arms like they were liquid.

"Having fun, Taha?" asked a familiar voice.

"Mmmph!" snarled Taha despite herself.

She had to get free and knife this bitch.

"I don't usually give this kind of hospitality. But I kind of feel like this fits our relationship a bit better, doesn't it?" asked Tamar. "You should be grateful. If I'd kept you like this in the mortal coil, you'd have your muscles degenerate. So, let's take that blindfold off."

And then the blindfold came off.

Taha found herself floating in the midst of a whirlwind. Tamar was before her, standing at the edge of a peak. Around them, Taha saw a great mountain of black stone with a vast fortress all throughout it.

"So, Taha, welcome to my domain. You'll be staying here for a while, so get used to it," said Tamara, cupping Taha under the cheek. "I've got to admit, the look really suits you."

"Mmmm, mmm," was all Taha managed to say in response.

"Oh, I'm just enjoying your helplessness, is all," said Tamar, reaching behind her head. "Still, I guess one-sided conversations can get old."

As soon as the gag came off, Taha snapped at Tamar's arm, trying the bite the hand. If she opened an artery, she could free herself while her enemy bled to death. But she missed, and Tamar looked only faintly amused.

"You bitch! Let me out of here! Now!" snarled Taha, calculating her bargaining power. Nendas would be here soon. However, how had she created this kind of illusion? Likely spellwork of some kind, not impossible.

"Or what?" asked Tamar.

"I'll let you live for a start," said Taha. "I don't know how you managed to drug me before, but I'm not going to fall for it a-"

Tamar raised a scroll and batted her over the head for it. "You're mine to do as I like with. Contract, remember?"

"What..." said Taha. "I never signed a contract."

"Oh, but your handwriting is on it, isn't it?" said Tamar, unrolling the parchment. As she did, the bindings on Taha vanished, and she fell onto the ground that had not been there a moment ago.

"How..." began Taha.

"I Taha, do solemnly swear to live my life according to the teachings of Tamar and live by her code. In this, I will become her vessel incarnate. Etc, etc, swear a lifetime of service," said Tamar.

"It's all very elaborate. Queen Serecula, my other champion, offered it to you, and you signed it."

Taha thought back to her time with the Tamar cult. Looking at the parchment, she saw it had her handwriting, however. "...We never signed a contract."

"Yes, but you made an oath, and this piece of paper is your visualization of that oath. Just because you had no intention of honoring it doesn't make it any less 'binding,'" said Tamar. Then Taha was slammed up against a wall, spread eagle. "Get it, binding? Because you're in bondage.

"I mean, the ropes keeping you trapped like this were literally formed from your own words. So, it's actually quite literal."

"What do you want?" asked Taha, concluding she was still drugged. Likely a drug designed to allow this woman to manipulate her perceptions. You could do that with magic.

"Oh, I already have what I want, Taha. You," said Tamar, leaning in so they were face to face. "The only question left for you is what I'm going to do to you now that I have you. I guess I could just leave you hanging in here as an example forever.

"But... I've put a lot of effort into you.

"So I'm still deciding."

This was bad.

Very, very bad. This woman was obviously psychotic and insane, and Taha had to do something to get out of here. "...Listen, I... I have friends. Powerful friends, I'm personal friends with Nendas Hasafa. When he finds me, and he will find me, you'll be in trouble."

Taha scoffed. "Oh, right, your boyfriend.

"I'm not worried about him. Jaha decided to collect on a debt the last time I looked after I drove him mad with bloodlust. He had a lot of repressed rage and frustration, and I immediately brought the aggression out.

"Unfortunately, he did not murder his sister. Oh well, better luck next time."

Taha had no idea what that meant, but denying that this woman was a body seemed like a very bad idea. It would be far better to play along and wait for an opportunity to escape and murder her. "Where are we?"

The area around them kept shifting, meaning it was some magical dimension. Taha calculated things inwardly and considered how best to approach the situation.

"In the underworld," said Tamar. "And I think I've just come up with what I'm going to do to you, Taha?" And she drew out a knife.

Okay, no more calculations; feign submission now. "No, no, wait! I'm sorry, your majesty, don't... don't kill me, please!"

"Oh please, where would the fun in that be?" asked Tamar before slashing several times. The bindings on Taha fell off around her, and she collapsed onto a hard stone floor. Taha fell to her knees and saw Tamar holding her knife in a loose grip.

Snatching it from the hand, she turned it around and moved to drive it into her heart. Even as the blade sank into the flesh, however, Tamar seemed to fade away. Looking up, Taha saw Tamar leaning against a wall.

"...Really, you're trying to attack me? And after I released you?" Tamara sighed. "Father always said you sometimes had to beat a mate into submission first.

"Fine, we'll try things your way."

Then her fans were out, and she slashed them. Even though they were indoors, Taha felt the winds cut past her. It was like a blade was slashing her, and she felt agony as blood spewed from her wounds. Collapsing to the ground, Tamar grabbed her by the throat and smashed her against the wall.

Tamar crushed the air from her lungs before forcing a kiss onto her. And as she did, Taha felt blood pour from her mouth. As she was released, it spattered over the floor.

"I told you, you made a contract. And I've collected," said Tamar. "You can't strike me down any more than you can damage your body. In fact, the fact that I don't want you to hit me makes it nearly impossible.

"I guess that means you were trying to get one over me again. Though I admit, I like being called your majesty. Even Father's slaves don't call him that."

Her wounds... they had shed so much blood she should be dead. Taha calculated saw a door and considered that Tamar's power might be limited to a given location. It was at least worth testing. She was in some kind of spiritual dimension. It was a pocket plane created within the realm of Turmoil—the realm of lesser deities.

So the door might lead out.

It was worth a shot because Tamar enjoyed toying with her. So Taha threw the knife at the ceiling. It got Tamar's attention, and Taha rushed past her. The knife bounced off the ceiling at the right angle. He headed toward Tamar, who caught it as Taha reached the door.

However, even as she did, winds whipped through her, pulling her back and slashing her flesh all the harder. The pain was horrible, but Taha doubted Tamar begrudged a chance to show dominance. So she knew Tamar's winds did not require much prep work or mental effort. Either that or the Tamar before her was merely an avatar of a greater being.

No, not an avatar, a lens?

Either way, Taha was pinned against the wall, soaking it with blood now. Tamar licked some of the blood off her cheek with obvious relish. "Oh, running are you, Taha? Like you ran away from me before?"

Show fear. Demonstrate how afraid you are so she thinks she is in control. Just because you show fear doesn't mean that fear has mastered you. "I..." Taha choked, letting tears of pain fall down her cheeks.

"Let me guess? Hanging from wires, right?" asked Taha. "Hmm, these are some pretty elaborate wires, aren't they? You'd think you'd have run into them by now. Almost like I'm actually using the winds."

Idiot.

Did she think that disowning the existence of Gods required disowning magic? Or of beings that existed in a spiritual plane? All those things could exist without being gods.

Apparently, Taha had let her anger show, and Tamar looked amused. "What are you looking at, Taha?"

Let Tamar think Taha was broken and delusion. Lull her into a false sense of security, gather information, then strike from a position of power. "This is...

"What is going on?!"

Taha poured out the sense of helplessness. She'd felt it when those raiders had attacked the village. She'd thought it would surely be destroyed, but it never was. One part was relieved, one part was disappointed. Taha channeled the part that had been relieved and left the power monger at the back of her thoughts.

When had that been?

Had it ever happened?

"Oh, but you're the one who wants to figure everything out for herself," said Tamar, cupping her cheek. "What do you think is going on?"

"Please, please, leave me alone! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" cried Taha. Her defiance would hopefully have been enough to pique Tamar's interest. Continued defiance would only anger her.

"Sorry, for what?" asked Tamar. "I'm just some insane maniac who drugged you, Taha? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I don't know! I don't know! I... I just want you to leave me alone!" said Taha, letting her helplessness flow through her.

"Then why not just say so?" asked Tamar.

"Because I'm afraid you'll hurt me again, okay!" said Taha, disgusted at the pitiful admission. "I'm afraid! Okay! Are you satisfied? I'm completely terrified of you! I... my body won't obey me unless you let it; none of my weapons are any good! No matter where I look, I see you!

I'm alone and scared, and I want to go home!

"Please... please let me go home. And if you won't then... then just kill me or ransom me or anything! Just don't leave me in this place alone with you; I'm begging you!" Add just a bit of defiance to get her to be interested without being a complete milksop.

"...Do you really hate me that much?" asked Tamar with a smile. There seemed to be a genuine shock but no real hurt. What, was she surprised Taha disliked her for slashing her nearly to pieces?

"Yes!" said Taha. "I... I was minding my own business after a mission, and then... and then you entered like we'd known eachother for years! But I'd never seen you before in my life! And... and...

"Please... just put me in a cell and leave me alone."

Tamar stepped back, and Taha's wounds vanished with the pain. "Alright, fine.

"I'll leave you alone. I've lost interest anyway. You're more interesting than you were in your first life, at least—a lot more interesting. And I wanted you then.

"I'm glad I snapped you up when I did."

And Tamar walked to the door. Taha fell to the ground, shivering at the memory of the pain. First life? What had that been about anyway? Had Taha possibly been reincarnated before? Perhaps investigating it later would be useful.

For now, she had to appear to be broken, so Tamar could mold her into whatever she wanted. "...Thank you."

"...I'll be back with instructions for you when I think of something else for you to do," said Tamar. "You won't get to mope around forever."

"Just go," said Taha, feeling tears in her eyes.

Fool.

Did she think a mere show could break of crude force Taha? She'd faced far worse ideological challenges than this. Nendas and Rokas were worthy opponents; this idle brute was not.

Tamar might think she was a god; she might have the power of a god. But that did not make her a god.

Taha would use her up and throw her away soon enough.

All she had to do was find the right angle.