Liliana Vess sat in the corner of the cell under the coliseum. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving in the slightest. It took a lot of staring and squinting to even make out that she was breathing. The rise and fall of her chest was barely visible, despite that she was taking deep long breaths. It was unclear whether she was mediating or merely just thinking to anyone looking at her. Vess was disturbingly quiet and still compared to the slaves around. Most were yelling, some were crying, a few were laughing. But through all the noise, Vess was silent and still. Also unlike most, she was still in her human form, feeling her demon form completely unnecessary at the time. There were a few that were in their hulky, giant forms, attempting to use their physical qualities to break out of their cells. Vess knew it would be no use. This wasn’t the human world where it was much easier to break out of a cell. No, she learned that once you were in here, the only way to get out was if someone let you out, and that the possibility of that happening was extremely unlikely.<br/><br/><br/>Pieces of her mistakes flashed through her mind and a few times she winced. She kept telling herself that none of it was her fault. Things were going so perfectly. She had snuck into the palace without any issues and was upon the sleeping Prince. She had even made sure that it was the real one and not a replacement. Her blade would’ve struck true if it hadn’t been for two other assassins that stumbled into the room fairly noisily. The Prince awoke and moved barely just in time to avoid her weapon from striking the killing blow. Of course, she got the brunt of the rage at that moment, being the one closest. Vess could still feel his grip on her neck as he literally pushed her through a wall. No matter how she struggled, she hadn’t been able to escape his grip. The other assassins had been easily taken down the guards, but it seemed the Prince was more intent on her at the moment.<br/><br/>Vess had awoken some time later, chained to a column. She hadn’t even remembered passing out at any point before. The demoness couldn’t even figure out how long ago that was. She was battered, bruised and cut, but otherwise seemed to not have sustained any other injuries or humiliations. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as noise caught her attention. She looked up through a swollen eye to see what the commotion was. Seemed like some girl was getting ravaged by the Prince. Vess shook her aching head and concentrated more of her energy on healing herself. A guard nearby sneered and mentioned she should watch and get accustomed to it since it’ll be her turn at some point in the arena. Vess nearly ripped her own flesh out get at the guard.<br/><br/>Next thing she knew, she was in this cell underneath the coliseum. She could feel the weight of the repressing magic of the place. Instantly she could tell that she wouldn’t be at top performance. Regardless, she could still easily take down most of these brutes in these cells. They were nothing more than just muscle and it took more than just brute strength to best Vess. She was too quick to be caught like that. The woman rubbed her neck at the thought. The Prince had been quick and strong: a very dangerous combination, especially for her, who relied entirely on speed and stealth. It was true, once caught, there was indeed little she could do to escape. The trick was catching her.<br/><br/>Vess sighed and finally opened her eyes. The cells had gone quiet and the woman listened to figure out why. She could hear the crowd cheering wildly; seemed like something was going to start soon. A loud voice cut through the crowd’s cheers, announcing that the games would start soon as well as there were Prince’s there. Vess’s blood grew cold and she froze. Prince’s? Was that one here too? Her fists clenched and she ground her teeth. Something told her nothing good was going to happen today.<br/>