The irony that he was muzzled by vampires might dawn on Leon one day. On that day, it would be laughable that these pointy-toothed fuckers had strapped leather into his mouth just to still his tongue. The leather was so thick, it left no room for his tongue to move, and he'd gagged on it at first. After he'd grown accustomed enough to the feel of it, he'd rounded angrily on the nearest vampire, only to find the most he was capable of doing was make very muffled angry sounds that sounded animal in nature even to his own ears. Puffing, he'd had to admit defeat and let himself fall to silence. This situation was definitely not funny yet.

Despite the bravado he'd been bravely displaying in front of his captors so far, he was, in fact, terrified. He'd been taken off the road as easily and naively as a dog, following a stranger's promise of warm food straight into the claws of these fanged fucks. He now found himself bruised and sore from the resulting journey, not only having been gagged for his mouth, but also finding himself on the receiving end of a few angry fists.

He was disoriented from it all, and was a little fuzzy on the time it had taken to reach their destination. He was certain it had been many days, however, as he'd caught a glance of the great expanse of desert that lay to the west of where he'd been. It was at least a 4 day journey to the edges of the desert from where they'd started from. It was no wonder at all that he was aching from bouncing in the back of a carriage.

Despite it all, Leon found himself still capable of walking behind the tall vampire who led him to his fate. His wrists were tied in rope, connected to the vampire's hand who held it tightly in his fist. Leon could do nothing in protest but drag his feet and glare a hole into the back of his head, which was little more than doing nothing, and eventually the vampire scoffed, annoyed.

"Hurry up," the man growled in a most inhuman way when Leon reached the end of his rope yet again from lagging behind. The vampire lurched it forward, sending Leon stumbling as he tried to keep from falling forward. The vampire glanced back in time to see the murderous glare Leon gave him, but only smiled cruelly back. "You better not give such ugly looks to the empress," he said. "She won't take such disrespect from you." At seeing Leon's look, he laughed. "That's right. The empress. She'll be very interested in you. No one's seen a fae in almost a century. She'll be wanting a taste for sure."

'Fuck you,' Leon tried to shout through the gag, but the noises that came were, of course, incomprehensible. It was a shame he could not let the curses flow like a river; perhaps it would not help him out of this situation, but it would feel so good.

Leon continued to be lead in silence after that through what was certainly an impressive piece of architecture. It was hard for Leon to make out in the darkness of this vampire's lair, but he saw great stone pillars that stood proud and strong as they rose up into a ceiling so impossibly high up that it was more like a blanket of darkness than something Leon could quite grasp as a tangible shelter above them. In between pillars was a stone railing, and just beyond it... Leon wasn't quite sure what it was he was seeing. There were flickers of light as if like fire lit far off in the distance, illuminating only tiny portions of what seemed like an expansive space out in the darkness. He could faintly hear voices echoing, but he wasn't sure if that was from out in the darkness or somewhere closer by. With how disorienting this dark was, Leon was sure even if he managed to somehow overpower the vampire leading him through it that he would be unable to escape simply for how he would certainly stumble around in the darkness.

The silent walk through chilling darkness was finally broken by the vampire stopping them in front of a large set of double doors carved into the wood like lattice with flowering vines climbing up it. The flowering vine pattern instantly made him want for home with a dull ache in his heart. What he wouldn't give to see his family's lush garden just one more time: to roll in the soft clover with their dog, pick strawberries and eat them right there in the sunlight, and to splash and laugh in the river with his siblings.

"Why is he gagged?"

Leon was so busy thinking of home that he didn't notice he'd been led through the double doors. The room beyond them was lit with a silvery glow that he was certain had to be the moon; yet when he looked beyond he couldn't so much as see a sky, which was both puzzling and disheartening. Leon's attention swept back inwards, but went less on the room itself, and more on the woman standing on the open terrace, facing them. She couldn't be anyone but the empress that had been mentioned to him, he quickly surmised from her appearance. She wore a deep red gown so rich in color it had purple undertones to it. It was adorned with gold that very faintly glimmered from the mysterious silvery light coming in from behind her. It was styled in a light fabric, easily billowing from the slightest breeze or movement in the traditional style of the desert living peoples. Leon could see no moon, but swore it was moonlight illuminating her. Her straight black hair was half pulled into intricate twists that were tied up with some sort of gold hair thing Leon had a hard time making out the details of. Her most surprising feature was her dark skin, indicating her as a native to the desert region he had been brought to. The most telling feature, however, were the large animated ears on the side of her head indicating her to be a vampire just like the man who had dragged him before her. Equally, her eyes were glued to him in a way that reminded Leon very much that these people were first and foremost predators. Violent, sickening things that they were, vampires knew only how to kill, destroy, and take from everyone around them.

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"He has a mouth on him," the vampire that had lead him this far answered. He looked back at Leon with a scowl. "It's annoying."

"Annoying?" The empress stepped towards him and got close enough Leon could see the gold piece in her hair was of a beetle with emerald eyes. She leaned down, tilting her head, and studying him with her cat-like eyes. There was a smirk on her lips that made Leon want to slap off. "Just how annoying is he?" Leon stiffened as she reached for the gag, heart pounding in his own ears.

She removed the gag and handed it off to the man who'd brought him to her. Leon only saw this out of his peripherals as he immediately lowered his gaze and worked his sore mouth, noting the pain at the corners where the leather had left him raw.

"It's been a long time since we had one of your kind here, fae," the empress said. Leon didn't get the opportunity to respond before suddenly she snatched his face in her hand. When she forced him to look up at her, he found her face a mere inches away from his own.

Leon felt rage swell in his thundering heart. "I wonder why the fuck that is," Leon snapped before he could think. "You fucking leeches drove us damn near to extinction! Or did you forget that bit of history?"

Instead of answering, the empress turned to the other vampire with a chuckle falling from her lips. "Ah. He screeches like a banshee, doesn't he?" She turned to face Leon again. "How terrible a voice for one who smells so sweet." Her face fell as if in thought and Leon saw her gaze drop lower on his face. With her free hand, she dabbed a finger at the corner of his mouth, jerking his head back when he tried to pull away. When she retracted her hand again, he briefly saw a glisten of wet, red blood on her finger before it disappeared into her mouth.

"Don't you fucking -"

In a whirlwind, the empress snarled, and the world spun before Leon's head hit the stone ground with splitting pain causing dots to dance in his vision.

"Make no mistake, fae," the empress hissed where she hovered above him. "While I do not desire to waste such a preciously rare thing like you, I will not hesitate to punish you for your mouth. Do you understand?"

Leon was still trying to blink away the dots in his vision, but managed a very small nod in response.

The empress patted his cheek. "Good boy," she praised. "Let me make this clear to you. What I wish to do with you, I will. You have a choice in how you are treated only. Cooperate with me, young fae, and I will treat you to exotic delicacies, sleeping in silks, and comfort beyond what your simple life never gave to you before. You have been graced with opportunity. Will you squander it?"

From where Leon still laid flat on his back, looking up at her peering down at him, his head throbbing with pain, he felt exposed. Her cat like eyes peered straight into his, almost curiously. He felt pinned by them, frozen where he lay. For the first time, he couldn't find his voice, but he realized she wanted an answer as the silence dragged on. Finally, he shook his head.

"You're making a wise choice," she told him with a toothy smile that revealed her sharp fangs to him. She straightened up, stepped away from him and just like that Leon felt like her spell on him was broken.

He sucked in a ragged breath and shakily sat up, watching her as she went and took a seat on a lounge where she picked up a glass of what he hoped was wine but realistically knew it was very likely to be blood. His stomach flipped.

"There is quite some debate about your people in history," the empress started, thoughtfully. "Rumors of strange events that seem to follow your kind wherever you go. Terrible storms, raging fires, plagues, and absolutely unseasonable weather. There's a name that's whispered about your kind that's had me curious."

Leon ground his teeth together and looked away from her, knowing what she was getting at already.

"So here is your first opportunity to cooperate with me," the empress went on. She set her glass down again and leaned forward in her seat. "Tell me: why do they call your people 'luck-changers'?"