Balthazar laughed.  "You were his spy," he said softly, "Knowingly and willingly.  You should never have dared to play in the affairs of the Deschain little Sophie.  Now you shall reap the reward of such foolish behaviour."<br/><br/>He stepped back and the two guards opened the cell, moving to sieze the poor girl and drag her forward.  Strong hands forced her to kneel before Balthazar the Black, gittering in all of his royal finery.  He stroked her cheek before turning it to force her to look down the hallway to the bloody block, and the executioner standing ready, cleaning the blood of his last victim from his axe.  He fixed his hooded eyes on Sophie as a ragged servant drug away the headless body of her father.<br/><br/>"Perhaps," Balthazar said softly, almost in a whisper, "If you were to swear yourself to me, forsaking your every right and privaledge, I might spare you.  Offer your very soul to me, and I might be content to let you live.  You would be stripped of every title, even your name, and reduced to a nameless pleasure slave."<br/><br/>--==--<br/><br/>He moved out of the shadow, and nodded.  "I am here my princess," he whispered, "You... called to me in my dream."