"If I don't get your promise, 1 can't let you eat," the deva said. "I know you must be very angry right now, but there's no point in refusing our food. I have nothing personal against you, half-fiend-beside the obvious issue of your base nature, of course-but you have broken the laws of the Court, and I have a job to complete. Now, do you want to eat or not?"
Nothing personal indeed, Kaanyr thought. If I wasn't wearing all this iron, I'd wipe that self-important grin off your face. He still made no effort to convey an answer.
"Very well," the angel said, rising. "I'll leave the food right over here and you can think about it." He walked off then, followed by the archon who had brought the tray. Kaanyr watched the two of them go and sniffed loudly to express his disdain. His two guards paid no attention to him, so Kaanyr went back to studying the ground in front of him.
Though he tried to ignore it, the smell of the roasted meat haunted him, and when the angel returned a little while later, Kaanyr began to have second thoughts about his stoic resistance.
What difference does it make if I eat? he asked himself. It doesn't change anything.
The angel paused. "Having a change of heart?" he asked.
Kaanyr nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"Very well," the angel said, smiling. "I have your promise that you won't say anything if I remove the harness?"
Again Kaanyr nodded.
"Good, good. Now, if you decide to break your vow, I'll be forced to speak the divine word of power we used before to subdue you, and I really don't want to have to do that. So please be agreeable."
Kaanyr sighed in resignation and nodded a third time.
"Now," the angel said as he reached around behind the cambion, "I'm going to have to feed this to you, because we just can't risk freeing your hands." Kaanyr could feel and hear a click as the harness loosened. The deva pulled the vile metal from Kaanyr's mouth. As he did so, the two guards went a little stiffer, warier, watching him.
The cambion ignored them as the angel held out the meat. Kaanyr eyed the beef, juicy and lean, but he hated having to be fed like a helpless child. He grimaced and hesitated.
"I know this must be demeaning, I really do," the angel said in a sincere tone. "But this is the price you pay for your choices in life. Now, go ahead."
There will be a price for you to pay, too, Kaanyr thought.
He leaned forward and grudgingly took a bite from the meat. It practically melted in his mouth, it was so lean and tender. The cambion began to tear huge bites from the well-seasoned beef, gulping it down. Bits of gravy and juice ran down his chin, but he didn't care. In no time at all, he had finished the meat.
The angel grabbed up the cheese and the bread, holding one in each hand. Kaanyr no longer cared how shameful he looked. He tore into the food with a ravenous hunger.
How long has it been since I've had such a good meal? he asked himself. The spreads we had within the magical mansion, he realized. Too long.
The thought crossed his mind that the food might be poisoned in some way, but he dismissed that notion quickly.
If they wanted to slay me, they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to bind me in this manner. Besides, angels don't do that sort of thing. Then the idea occurred to Kaanyr that they might not try to kill him but make him more compliant. A truth serum or suggestive magic, he realized. He stopped chewing as the cold thought washed over him. You're a fool, Kaanyr Vhok.
"What is it?" the angel asked, puzzled. "Full already? Head movements only, please."
Kaanyr wanted to spit the tainted food out, spit it right at the angel. Instead, he just grimaced.
"Don't want to answer? Very well, if you're done…" The angel replaced the remnants of the bread and cheese on the tray. "I guess we'll save the rest of this for later, then." He set the food aside and picked up the brank harness. "This has to go on, though, my friend. No arguments."
Kaanyr glowered at the angel, but the threat of divine magic was real enough, so with an exasperated sigh, the cambion opened his mouth and allowed the hated thing to gag him once more. When the angel had secured it behind Kaanyr's head, he stood.
"You cooperated very nicely, Vhok," the deva said. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, I truly am. I will mention this to Micus when he returns. Maybe it will reflect favorably upon you when it comes time to bring you before the High Council. But that is not for me to promise."
The angel turned to stride away, but at that moment, a commotion erupted from just behind Kaanyr.
The angel turned back that way and his eyes widened the slightest bit. "Micus," he said, standing a bit straighten "What news?"
"We have all three of them in custody," Micus said, flying into view and settling to the ground. He looked down at Kaanyr. "They're being taken back to the Court now. I want to take him there as soon as possible."
The other angel looked confused. "But you said that we-"
"I know what I said before! Things have changed! They tried to ambush us near the entrance to the World Tree. They didn't realize we knew they were there, so we were ready for them. I want to get them all back to the High Council, get this distasteful job finished as quickly as possible. Now, get him unchained so I can take him with me! Don't bother with that gag, just get him free of the post."
"Of course, Micus," the other angel said. He reached down and began to fidget with the lock keeping the chain on Kaanyr's neck. "Shall I send an escort with you?" he asked Micus as he unlocked the restraint. "Or do you have some other means of transporting him?"
"Is he still wearing the dimensional shackles?"
"He is," the angel answered.
"Remove them," Micus said.
The other angel paused. "You said we should not remove those shackles under any circumstances," he said, suspicion plain on his face. "What is going on, Micus?"
"By Tyr, do I have to do everything myself?" Micus said in exasperation. He stalked toward Kaanyr and grabbed at the cambion's wrists. "I said I wanted to move fast. Don't you listen?"
"Don't let him do that!" the other angel ordered. "That's not Micus!"
Kaanyr gave the other deva an incredulous look, and then peered at Micus. The deva's eyes were wide, looking right at him. They had a familiar shape to them.
Aliisza!
Kaanyr thrust his shackled hands toward the disguised alu. Over her shoulder, he could see the two archons hesitating, unsure what to do.
Aliisza reached down and took hold of the clasps of the shackles and snapped them open. At the same time, the other angel lunged toward them, trying to grab hold of the false Micus. When the shackles came free, the alu wrenched them from Kaanyr's waist and let them drop to the ground. Then she kicked backward with one leg, catching the deva squarely in the chest. The force of the blow sent her forward, right into Kaanyr, and knocked him backward.
The cambion expected to crack his head upon the bole of the tree he had been chained to, but instead, he found himself falling through a magical portal. Both he and Aliisza tumbled through the doorway, but the two hound archons were a step too slow.
The portal winked out, leaving his guards and the angel behind.
"Hurry!" Aliisza hissed softly, scrambling to her feet. She shifted from the image of Micus back into her natural form as other hands struggled with the bonds that still held Kaanyr.
The cambion looked up to see Tauran and Kael crouching over him, working frantically to free him. He saw that the four of them were in a small hollow surrounded by short but steep ridges. The moonlight made the still-heavy mist glow, creating a veiled backdrop to their hiding place.
When Tauran managed to slip the brank harness from Kaanyr's mouth, the cambion let out a soft groan. "Thanks," he said, and he meant it. "Throw that thing far, far away."