Merrie didn't know what time it was when they came for her. She woke up when the door scraped open. It was Dornen and Hore again.

“Come on, cunt, time to go,” snapped the older guard.

Hore brandished his spear, ready to strike out at her.

Merrie, her thoughts dark with despair, pushed herself up to her knees. Her body felt dirty and disgusting. The black blood had dried and it flaked with her movement as she stepped forward. Taking another step, she swayed for a moment and then crawled forward.

Hore made a little grunting noise. It sounded uncomfortable.

Dornen frowned as she crawled past him, walking on her smoothed wrists and her knees. The ends of her legs scraped against the ground occasionally as she stepped forward.

Somehow, she made it through the night. She didn't use her magic to look for wards, didn't shape-change to escape, and didn't turn on her ability to see in the dark again. She was blind and helpless.

That brought a joy to her as she crawled down the hall. Despite being on her knees and crippled, she moved faster than both guards who rushed to keep up with her.

“Where the fuck do you think you're going?”

Merrie looked up. She had so many ways of answering, but only one for her position. She sat back on her haunches, brought her wrists to her throat, and then gestured down the hall with a single bark.

Both men flinched.

Hore grunted louder and he adjusted his cock.

She smiled because she didn't feel the lust coming off his body. She didn't know that she was turning him on until she moved. It was freeing not to be sure anymore.

Dornen sighed. He switched his spear to his other hand.

She tensed, knowing the slap was coming.

It cracked across her face, an explosion of pain that blinded her with stars.

Merrie turned back and barked again.

“Fucking bitch!” He slapped her again and again. The next blow caught her shoulder but he slapped her again a few more times.

By the time he stopped, she was dizzy but elated. The pain and submission resonated inside her, made her depths slick with desire and her body anxious for his cock. She parted her lips and let her tongue slid out slightly. It had been a long time since she acted like a dog, it reminded her of the happier days at the Mill.

Dornen cleared his throat. “Just…”

Hore unbuckled his belt and pulled it close.

“We don't have time for you to rape her, ass.”

“Use it as a leash, dick cheese,” snapped Hore. “She's got a fucking collar. Use it like one.”

Dornen glared but took the belt. He shoved his hands into the collar and pulled it tight as he felt the leather through. His eyes caught sight of the gem on the ring and he stopped, peering down. “What the… what is this?” he asked Hore.

Hore frowned and peered at it. “I don't remember. That looks expensive.”

“It's black. Glass?”

“Not with that metal. It doesn't look cheap. My brother had some glass jewelry—”

“The fag or the slut?”

“Jare with the theater.”

“The fag, okay.” Dornen started to turn the collar around her neck. “Well, it's mine now.”

After a few seconds, he brought the collar all the way around. “What the hell? This thing doesn't have a clasp.”

“What? It has too.”

“I know that, asshole. I'm looking but I can't find one.”

“Try a small hole. I heard they have some that have hidden clasps. You need a key or some metal to pop it open.”

“How the hell would you know that?” asked Dornen as he twisted the collar around again, searching for an opening with his thumb.

Hore cleared his throat but said nothing.

After a little while, Dornen hissed. “Nothing. Let's see if I can get this gem at least.”

Merrie tensed when the guard pulled out a knife. He was using it dangerously close to her neck. It wouldn't kill her for long, but she didn't know what it would be like coming to life in the cells.

Footsteps interrupted him. “What the hell,” snapped a woman.

Both guards stood up and Dornen dropped his knife.

The newcomer was an older woman in uniform. “What in the Seven Hells are you doing?”

“N-Nothing, madam!” said Hore.

Dornen cleared his throat and slid his foot out to step on the knife, pinning it underneath his boot.

“Dornen?”

“Nothing, madam!”

She strode forward, her brown and gray hair coming lose from her ponytail. “Nothing looked a lot like a knife. You weren't thinking about killing this girl, were you?”

Merrie watched with curiosity, her ears down. She was still in a begging position. She didn't know what to do, not without reaching out for the woman. Instead, she arched her back slightly like Bass and Borias taught her and kept herself still.

The woman glanced down and then did a double take.

Merrie inhaled and the makeshift leash slid down to the valley of her breasts.

The female guard looked suddenly uncomfortable. The faint whiff of her excited sex rose in the air as she turned around. Her first step was a stumble but then she was striding strongly back the way she came.

Merrie sniffed the air and smiled. Her tail wagged faster.

The woman walked faster. “Just get her out of here. Both of you pack up, you are coming on the road with me. Just keep it in your pants.”

“Yes, madam!”

Hore grabbed Merrie's leash and followed after her.

Merrie followed, her pussy growing slick as she was lead dog-like down the hallway with Dornen behind her, no doubt watching her ass as she crawled.

The layout of the prison cells were a simple square. It didn't take long until she was brought into a cobblestone area outside. It was raining and the wet droplets splashed against her naked skin. It felt good along her scratches and bruises.

The courtyard gave the sense of being impenetrable. A pair of iron gates protected one end with at least a dozen guards standing with rain cloaks on both sides of the door. More guards were on the platforms above the gate. She spotted ones wielding crossbows or with staves on top with sword and ax fighters on the bottom. Despite some of them having obviously custom weapons, most of them looked like the weapons she had seen with the many lovers she had over the years.

She was tempted to reach out with her magical senses, just to see the wards. However, it wouldn't affect her so she remained in her head, shivering with the joy and fear of having to make a choice every time.

There were two heavy wagons in the courtyard. Each one had six double wheels. The wood edges looked thick and there were no windows or openings except for a narrow slit along the top and bottom.

Another guard came up. “Ready for prisoner transfer. Where is…?” His voice trailed off as he looked down.

“We got this one,” Dornen said.

Hore tugged on the leash. “Lead or back wagon?”

“B-Back, sir, the rest of the prisoners are already loaded. Um, sir?”

Dornen and Hore looked back.

“The cobblestones are really hard and she's… naked. Do we have to carry her?”

“No, she's a traitor,” Hore said before yanking on Merrie's leash.

With a flash of lust, Merrie followed. She had crawled over far worse grounds but it was strange with so many guards watching her with an array of emotions. She didn't use her senses and she wondered how many pitied, were disgusted, or aroused by the sight of a naked woman crawling into the back of the wagon.

It took some effort to crawl up. The wagon was suited for someone far taller.

Hore yanked on the leash and Dornen shoved her from behind. His thick fingers jammed into her asshole and pussy as he did. She could feel him chuckle as he shoved her forward.

Merrie whimpered and peered into her new home for the next week. The wagon was wide, enough for two benches on each side. There were five men in there already, each one shackled to a bracket between their legs with another one on the floor between their feet. There was a space on the bench for a sixth, maybe her. She didn't know how they would shackle her without wrists or feet.

As one, all five men looked at her, their eyes growing wide as they stared at her.

One of them, a dark-haired mountain of a man spoke first. “What the fuck—?”

“Silence!” snapped Hore. He yanked hard on Merrie's collar and dragged her the length the wagon.

The prisoners stared at her, their eyes almost boring into her skin.

“That girl is naked,” whispered one.

“I know, genius, why is she in here?”

“Come on, traitor,” snapped Hore as he stopped in front of a cage that had been shoved into the far end. It was made of thick bars with a hard wooden floor.

Seeing it, Merrie sensed. The last time she was put in a cage was the night Kine had died. A whine rose in her throat as she shook her head, tugging on the leash.

“What the…?” Hore looked surprised by her sudden fear.

“Just shove the cunt in!”

“I'm trying, she's pulling hard!”

Dornen's boot caught Merrie between the legs, the steel tip slamming into her sex with brutal fury. The agony exploded along her senses and she let out a cry as she lurched forward.

The older guard kicked again, hammering her hard and fast as he pounded her toward the cage.

“Hey, stop that!” snapped one called a ‘genius’.

Dornen stopped only enough to point his short spear at the man's face. “Quiet!”

The prisoner sat back. “Just be nice.”

“Fuck off, asshole.” Dornen kicked Merrie again, slamming her face into the cage.

The impact stung and she twisted to relieve the pressure. There wasn't any way she could twist her hindquarters from his kicks though, her naked body was too vulnerable.

“Come on, Hore, get her in the cage.”

Crying out, Merrie managed to orient herself into the cage when Dornen's next kick came, she was propelled into the back of it. Her face smacked against the bars on the far side as the nerves of her bruised and blood pussy screamed out in agony.

“Door!”

Hore slammed the door shut while Dornen gave the bars one last kick.

“Stay in there, you fucking slut!”

Dornen turned to the rest of them. “Not a single fucking word from any of you, do you got it?”

“Yes, sir,” came the sullen but clear response.

One of the men, a very tall and slender one, answered a heartbeat later. “Yes, sir.”

Dornen waved. “Good. Don't give me crap and you'll get to Abbinkey safe and uninjured.”

Another prisoner snorted. “Thanks.”

Dornen gestured with the spear at him. “Shut it.”

He backed out of the wagon and hopped out. The door slammed shut, locking Merrie in with five men and a week-long journey to the rest of her life.