<br/><strong>The Throne Room</strong><br/><br/>Once the audience left the Throne Room, Erato, M’Gul, Callisto (still hidden) and La’cael’rah were the only ones that remained before the Queen. She had to punish her Ambassador for taking too many liberties – dangerous ones – under her rule,  yet at the same time she didn’t want it to happen in front of the others for various reasons. As much as Erato trampled over her little game with the intention of starting another war, she had been doing it for the sake of her mistress, according to her twisted sense of devotion. Furthermore, what she said was basically what everyone was thinking for a very long time, but none dared to speak. For the very same reason Lilith had started her game in the first place: a change had to be made. Erato might have succeeded if not for her bad timing. Tristan’s mythical origin also proved to be an unpleasant surprise, thus rendering her plan useless and so…here she was, kneeled in front of the Queen with her pride shattered and her name tarnished. A true fall for a demon.<br/><br/>The Queen finally left  M’Gul’s lap, approaching her most devoted subject.  Her large, dark wings were now folded on her back while the inkblack hair almost touched the floor as she stepped on the red carpet.  She touched Erato’s jawline, lifting her head and gazed right into her electric blue eyes.<br/><br/>“My proud child. If only you had a little more patience.”   Lilith’s thoughts were instantly filled with Thane’s image, the trump card she had to test before its use.  “You know what I have to do.”<br/>If this wasn’t hell and if Erato wasn’t a demon she might have pleaded for mercy or perhaps something similar to it. Yet mercy was one of the most hated virtues and so the demoness merely nodded, knowing that whatever comes, she’ll have to take it with dignity. Still, never in her wildest nightmares did Erato imagine what was about to happen next.<br/>“Overseer of the Third Layer, “ she called to M’Gul, leaving Erato’s side “I leave her punishment to you. It was, after all, one of your former..duties. Though I suspect you won’t have the same chances with my follower. “<br/><br/>She did not smile, but one paying attention to details could see the corners of her eyes lifting. The thought of taking down two birds with one stone had always been a favorite of the Queen.  Not only would she teach Erato a lesson, but she will also have the chance to find out which of them was better suited as her guardian.<br/><br/>“My Ambassador usually devours her enemies after their death” she said looking at M’Gul.  Apparently defeat wasn’t an option for the hell-bred Minotaur.  Silently she approached La’cael’rah, taking the chain attached to his collar. It broke under her fingers and she took the other end, leaning over the fae. Her dark eyes revealed desire.  An aggressive, impatient kind of desire for which she did little to hide.<br/><br/>“Luckily, the task of appeasing my anger is appointed to you, brownie.”  She gave him half of a smile, revealing her fangs and lifted him on his feet. The spikes on the Queen’s body seemed even more menacing from up close. She was truly a frightening beauty to behold.<br/><br/>On her way out, she stopped for a moment near the spot were Callisto was watching. As with Thane, Lilith knew about her presence, but said nothing.<br/>Erato seemed to wake up from a dream, finally realizing that her mistress was leaving her with the beast.<br/><br/>“My Queen!” she called standing up and gripping her whip, letting it’s spiked end to fall to the ground.  Lilith did not turn around, but waited. Was Erato going to ask for mercy after all? Will she try any tricks just to get away from this new and dangerous task?  The tall succubus proved to be relentless in her pride.<br/><br/>“You shall have his heart on a silver platter.”<br/><br/><br/><br/>*****<br/><br/><br/>The Queen took La’cael’rah to the nearest room herself. She didn’t have the patience to reach the Red Chamber, her powers were at their limit and threatened to let it show.  As much as she refused to admit it herself, sending off the damned souls of her layer to another only decreased her own energy and also her followers’. Sinners were basically their “everyday meal” and the less dark energy coming from their rotten souls was there to take, the more it weakened the whole layer, from the lesser demons to the most powerful ones.<br/><br/>Most of Lilith’s followers fled to Earth in search of “nutrition” and had plans to return long after this little game of hers would be over.  The Queen didn’t expect for things to turn this dangerously close to chaos and insubordination, but she had full confidence in her authority. She was a ruler of armies, after all,  and the conquering of Khone was there to prove that she hasn’t lost her skill just yet.  Speaking of which…<br/><br/>She lost Thane’s track right after he left the palace walls. Even her power had limits and beyond her keep there was still wilderness, elements which she couldn’t control unless she was actually present. There was no real escape for the Black Baron of Khone, no possibility of leaving the Second Layer.  But having him away from the castle only meant depriving her home of his inhuman energy. The sort of energy which only a strong will such as his can conceive. And there were still so many trials he had to surpass until he would be ready for the task she had in mind.<br/><br/>“Hush now,” she ordered while with her strength she pinned La’cael’rah against the wall, sinking her fangs into one of his external jugular veins. Her firm body was pressed on his, while her left hand kept his head slightly upwards leaving her enough room to lick and bite his neck once more.  Fae blood was certainly sweeter than any other, yet it did not possess quite the energy she was in need of then. Instead of calming her nerves, this only fueled her anger which in turn caused a certain kind of fierce arousal to take over her body. And so it happened that the peace-loving fae found himself assaulted in a rather strange manner.<br/><br/><br/>*****<br/><br/><strong>Somewhere else</strong><br/><br/>Miles away from where the trial has reached its end, Suzafan and the angel Tahariel were sharing some “quality time” themselves. The short haired succubus simply carried her prisoner in flight along the dark hallways of the castle until they finally arrived near the outer limit leading to the entrance to the third layer, that of Gluttony.<br/><br/>Suzafan pressed a finger against her lips, a sign telling Tahariel to be quiet.  Then she placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled as loud as she could. The whistle was soon followed by hellish barks and grunts. It sounded as if something large was running their way and Tahariel didn’t have to wait long before he saw the massive shape of a three-headed dog coming into view.<br/><br/>“Kerberos, come to momma!” Suzafan spread her arms wide to embrace to beast and while one of its head was licking the white cheeks of the demoness with glee, the other two were barking and growling viciously at the angel.<br/><br/>Suzafan’s tail was moving from left to right, both wagging their tails in perfect sync. It would have been a touching moment too, if not for the succubus’ next move, which she did with a wide wicked grin on her seductive features.<br/><br/>“Go get’im boy! He’s all yours!”  she said and her mad laughter filled the corridor matched only by Cerberus’ barks.<br/><br/>