TO MY READERS: Hello, again everybody! Here is my brand-spanking-new Fairy Tail AU. I'm super excited about this story & I hope you all enjoy both the prologue and the first chapter. Please don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you think! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN any of the characters or places mentioned in this story. It all belongs to the original creator, Hiro Mashima.

Prologue

She stared at herself in the full-body mirror amidst the dim glow of the numerous candles scattered throughout the enormous bedroom. Behind her reflection, she could see the dark-haired, handsome man sitting up in the bed, the blankets thankfully covering his lower half. She did everything in her power not to look at him, to check to make sure he hadn't moved. If she so much as glanced at his reflection, he would start towards her and order her back to bed. And she most certainly didn't want that again.

She hated the man with every fiber of her being. She hated looking at him, being trapped in his arms, making love to him… She was living a nightmare from which there was no waking. But she was glad she was far away from him and fully clothes. She felt dirty and exposed when she was forced to undress in front of him. After each time they made love, she spent at least a half an hour in the shower in an attempt to cleanse herself of his smell, his touch, of her memories of when he crawled all over her and kissed her. She shivered as she remembered just a few moments ago when he demanded to have her before she got ready. She couldn't wait to go above ground and forget it all, even just for a few hours.

Considering what most of the other girls had compared to her, Lucy Heartfilia was living like a queen in the hellhole they had been subjected to. She was his right hand and she did everything she could to make the other girls' lives easier. But despite her seemingly impressive status, she was still a prisoner, just like them. She was still coerced to do things she didn't want to do: kill, cheat, steal, and seduce men she didn't know or care about.

And tonight was no exception. She stood before the mirror, touching up her makeup she reached for from the large vanity on her right. She had taken a while to get ready in an effort to delay the inevitable but at the same time, she knew he was aroused by seeing her dressed in such a way. He loved it when she got ready for these occasions.

She was dressed in a long, baby blue, silk dress with intricate vine flower embroidery from the right side of her chest down to her left hip. She wore a pair of white heels adorned with crystals and her long blonde hair was styled and braided along the sides of her head, the ends coming together in a swirl of curls behind her. The slit on the right side gave her enough leg room to do her job and a pair of small, black shorts covered her underneath the dress as well. As she patted her cheeks again with more blush, she made the mistake of catching the man's eyes as he leaned forward to watch her get ready. With a sickening feeling her stomach, she saw as he rose from the bed, the blankets falling to the side of the bed as he started towards her. He was now completely naked and he was walking right for her.

It took every ounce of her being not to run out of the room: instead, she closed the blush compact and placed it down on the vanity, smoothing down her dress. Suddenly, his arms were around her waist and he pulled her against him. Her heels gave her a few inches on him but she knew she couldn't do anything with them. She was trapped. There was no escape. She would just have to play along.

"You look so goddamn beautiful," he said as he breathed her scent in with a long, deep inhale. She fought to keep her body still yet relaxed. If he even sensed the slightest bit of hesitation in her, she would be thrown in the cell.

Just play along.

"Oh, not now," she sighed, trying to sound happy as she felt his fingers wander under the slit in the dress to her shorts. "I have to get going, you know I do." Thankfully, after his fingers gently tickled her skin, he reluctantly released her and spun her around to face him.

"I know, darling, I know," he said, clearly unhappy. But at least he's not unhappy with me. "I hate it so when you have to leave me." Lucy nodded and allowed him to lay a disgustingly wet kiss on her lips. A knock sounded at the door and Lucy felt the vanity beside them shake as he slammed his fist on it.

"What?" he barked. Lucy hurriedly handed him a red bathrobe laying on the red couch behind him as he sauntered towards the entrance of the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the Queen needs to take her leave," someone said from behind the large wooden doors.

"I know that," he snapped back, angrily tying the sash around himself. Sighing, he waved for Lucy to join him. She moved swiftly, holding up a finger so she could retrieve something. She stopped by the bureau nearest the door and unwrapped the Glock 19 pistol from its silk scarf inside one of the drawers. She hated having to look at it when she wasn't using it. Grabbing the leg holster and strapping it around her left leg, she quickly slid the gun into its place and stopped beside him.

"Good luck, darling," he said, kissing her again.

"I'll be back soon, Zeref," she replied, opening the large, heavy doors. Stepping outside and following the group of men who had been waiting for her, Lucy gave a sigh of relief.