Witch Chronicles

"So there's nothing I could say to convince you to join us? No
incentive I could offer?"

"No."

"What about that young lady you escaped with?" I guess my feelings
slipped through because he said, "I see I've touched on something.
You have feelings for the girl. How about I give her to you? Join
us and she's yours. No one else will touch her except with your
permission."

"Is this the point where you tell me that if I don't join, you'll
take her and torture her until I do?"

"Don't be silly. She and you aren't worth the effort. If you don't
join us, when she's recaptured, and she will be recaptured, she will
be tossed back into the general slave pens, to live out the rest of
her life there. Unless she attracts the attention of someone else.
Only by joining us can you ensure her safety."

"Even if I was willing, you can't be trusted. You'd obey the letter
of your promise only, exploiting any loophole you could in order to
get what you wanted."

"True. I won't even try to deny it. So I'll make you a deal. You
join us, willingly and knowingly allow yourself to be bonded so that
disobedience is not an option and I'll give you... a wish, if you
will. Phrase it however you'd like. I guarantee you'll get it."

I've got to admit it. I was tempted. Such was the intensity of my
feelings for Beryl that I was actually considering setting aside my
oaths to service and country for the chance at her safety. But there
was something wrong. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was
something he wasn't telling me. I also knew that Beryl might never
forgive me for joining them, so I told him, "No. I can't take the
chance."

"Pity. It would've made things easier for both of us." He got up
and returned to the bar. The man who captured me walked in; I assume
summoned by some hidden or magical signal. Without looking back at
either of us, Kerrigan said, "Take him to the White House where a
closer eye can be kept on him."