Cassandra Pendragon
Asra… it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, that someone worshipping commerce and money would turn out to be the first to profit from the suffering and dehumanisation of people, that he’d be the one to turn the anguish of the many into the delights of the few. It was inconvenient, I had half hoped to stumble across a Captain, I’d be forced to deal with anyways, but it was logical.
Silently, I studied Madame Sinis, while my fiends around me slowly became nervous. I had been quiet for almost a minute now, after our hostess had answered my question, and the gradually intensifying scent of molten gold made it clear, that the good Madame wasn’t the only one, who was starting to worry. Unfortunately, I hadn’t made up my mind, yet. My first impulse had been to use her ambition to further my own goals. I still wanted to free the slaves and someone, who was well connected in Free Land, would make for the perfect addition to a few handful of seasoned seamen. She’d easily be able to establish them as a mercenary company, for example, and once, we had made our way to the Emerald Island, where I hoped I’d manage to get my paws on a few flying stones, they’d become a veritable fleet, one I could use to keep the pirates in check. Her own greed and the hope of one day convincing the vampires, she’d be forced to work with, to turn her, would keep her loyal and I’d have an army, I could quickly send to wherever I needed them. The only downside: I didn’t have much more than an idea, just yet, and I’d have to trust in Madame Sinis’ desire to escape her frail, mortal body. As far as reliable motivation went, though, the human condition was something I was willing to bet on. She wouldn’t turn away, unless she found another way to achieve her goals, which was highly unlikely.
“Do you know him,” I finally asked. “A woman in your position must surely keep tabs on the local aristocracy.”
“Depends on how you define know. I’ve met him once or twice, but I wouldn’t say we are acquainted, he has probably forgotten all about me. Why? Adding two and two together, I suspect you want to take over his trade?”
“Far from it. I want to abolish the vile practice, once and for all. But even if I can, I’ll have a few hundred people without a place to go. They could become your own army. Real influence, like I said.” She laughed mirthlessly, a cold, cynical sound.
“And how do you imagine you’re going to achieve that? Ask him nicely? Girl, you’re damn pretty, but no amount of beauty is going to convince a man to give up his livelihood.”
“I don’t plan on asking,” I hissed, my power seeping into my voice.
“So… you’re already going up against a church and for good measure, you’re going to piss off a Captain as well?”
“And I won’t be stopping there. The way I see it, it doesn’t matter to you, anyways. The only choice you have is, whether you’re going to accept the offer of a hypothetical gain or get nothing at all. From where I’m standing, that’s not a difficult decision to make.”
“Perhaps, except… if it hadn’t been for your display earlier, it would already have called my guards and have you beaten and thrown out as a lunatic with allusions of grandeur. You’re what? 7 people? And you want to go to war with all of Free Land? Honey, even with your strength, that’s borderline insane. I’m not going to personally book my ticket to the underworld.” I shrugged.
“Your call, but honestly, you’re doomed, either way. We will take John and word will spread. Not by our doing,” I quickly added, when she tensed up even more, “but you know how fast rumours travel. I’m truly sorry, but you’re just out of luck. You can take what we offer along the way, or you can just call it a lost cause and hope, whoever comes knocking on your door next, will understand your reasoning. From what I’ve seen, mercy and forgiveness are truly important virtues, around here.”
“Or, I could cry for help, allow you to beat my guards senseless and report everything that has transpired here, the moment you leave.”
“You could at the very least try.” It wasn’t me who had answered. My brother had finally decided to join the conversation. “But rest assured, your head would hit the floor, long before you even managed to utter a single word. As for the consequences… if you’re dead set on war, a little skirmish suddenly doesn’t seem too intimidating anymore. My sister is going out of her way to convince you, without actually getting to the point. I don’t know since when she’s become that squeamish, but I’m starting to get bored. So…” he leisurely got up and drew his sword, the shimmering metal exuding a violent aura that emphasised his next words.
“Let’s cut to the chase. Do you want to die now, or later? I’ll give you a hint: whatever you’re planning, later is always the better option.”
“And here I was, thinking we had left that kind of idiocy behind us,” she replied tartly. “Go on, strike me down. That’s still better than the alternative… I don’t much care for my life, otherwise I wouldn’t have managed to get to where I am. The only thing you’ll be killing off, is the information I can provide. Besides… I haven’t said no, have I? I’m just not convinced you can actually follow through with the boisterous claims, you’ve been sprouting, like wheats in the spring.”
“And how could we assure you,” I asked, gesturing for Mordred to put his sword away.
“Simple… talk to John, squeeze him dry for all I care, and when you’ve figured out what I already know, bring me the head of the one you’re looking for. That’ll do nicely.”
“You couldn’t have said so in the beginning, could you,” Pete grumbled. “What was the point of this little game.” She smiled predatorily and replied:
“To get to know you, of course. Can’t share a bed with a stranger, now, can I? Also… I’ve never been offered an army, before, imaginary or not. You can’t say it wasn’t worth it, can you?”
“So… all of this… that’s been you, playing coy,” Viyara exclaimed, clearly miffed.
“You could say that, but no. I meant what I said. Simply put, you’re asking me to chose a side, to bet on a horse and I’m not going to, without knowing who’s racing. Your offer is more than enticing, it’s actually too good to be true, which usually means it isn’t. Put yourselves in my shoes. A merry band of strangers walks into a tavern and promises you the stars and the sun, but you have to do them a tiny favour, first. Sounds a bit like a scam, if you ask me. Now, you’ve already shown, why it might be more than pure megalomania, driving your decisions, but…”
“But we’re not willing to give you what you truly desire and everything else isn’t worth the risk, without proof that goes beyond a flashy light show in your back room,” I finished her sentence. “Fine… where is he?” She smiled like a little girl, who had finally managed to steal the honeypot.
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“Top floor, second door on the right. Two of my girls are with him. I’d very much appreciate it, if you weren’t going to harm them. Here’s a piece of free advice: unless you can finish your business today, you shouldn’t let him live. He’s going to rat you out, the moment he gets the chance.”
“And you aren’t,” Mordred interrupted her.
“Why should I? If you’re successful, I’ll gain much more than I can ever hope to achieve on my own and if you aren’t… well, let’s hope you are. Otherwise I might really have to work hard to get out of this mess.” I was already turning away from her and heading for the door, when she called me back.
“One more thing,” she pointed at the unconscious girl on the floor. “What about her?” Her eyes were darting from one to the other, almost as if she was trying to take in every last detail of our expressions, calculating, scheming. I shrugged.
“Your girl, your problem.” She nodded, and slowly got up.
“In that case, I’ll just finish her off.” She pulled a slim dagger from its hidden scabbard and limped around the table until she loomed over the prone form. “We don’t want anyone knowing…” when she crouched low, Reia finally couldn’t hold her tongue anymore.
“No,” she almost screamed, “you can’t… you won’t just let her kill… please don’t.” I placed my hand on her back gently, while Madame Sinis straightened herself.
“Of course not, but she wouldn’t have, either way. She simply wanted to see, what we would do. As far as tests go, this was a rather lousy one,” I added in the direction of the smirking woman. “We’ll pick her up, when we’re fished with John.”
“You will,” the good Madame asked incredulously but with a hidden sparkle in her eyes.
“Of course. That’s what you wanted to hear from the start, isn’t it? I’d hate to disappoint.”
“Perhaps… I’ll have her nicely wrapped before you leave. Go, now. John should be fast asleep by now and we wouldn’t want his lackeys to wake up before you’re done.”
“You know about that,” I inquired. “Did you see us form your window?”
“Something of the sort. I’ll tell you, once I’m sure you’re actually up to your tasks. Chop, chop, off you pop. We aren’t getting any younger, and at least for me, that’s a concern.” I shook my head exasperatedly and headed for the door, whispering to Pete, loud enough for everyone to hear:
“Your friend is either a nut job or terrifyingly clever. I just can’t tell, which…”
“Great, in that case, the two of you should get along splendidly,” he mouthed back.
When the door closed behind us, Ahri asked: “care to tell me, what this has been all about or did you make it up, as you went along? Seriously, Cassy, don’t you ever learn?”
“What have I done now? I think it went rather well.”
“Well,” my brother echoed, while we slowly climbed a set of wide, wooden stairs. “We could be here without any convoluted, half baked insinuations and another dodgy woman, we have to worry about. Why on Gaya did you even hint at your plans, never mind making her a part of it?”
“Because there’s nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain,” my mom answered in my place. “Look… the old hag obviously knows more than she’s telling, we can all agreed on that, right?”
She didn’t immediately get a reply, since we had just arrived at the top of the stairs. While the lower floors had already been surprisingly clean and tastefully decorated, the opulence before us still came as a shock. It was only a single corridor, three doors on the left and three on the right, but the soft, thick carpet, lovingly embroidered with spicy scenes, explicit enough to almost make me cover Reia’s eyes, and the gilded chandelier, filling the space with the warm, homely glow of at least a hundred candles hinted at how the rooms would look like. Huge, leaded glass windows, at the opposite end of the corridor, allowed in just enough sunlight to highlight the flickering flames. Each individual panel had been coloured, the mosaic coming together to form a large, detailed rose, adding a reddish sheen to every shadow around the surfaces of live sized, masterfully crafted marble images, depicting beautiful, naked women. Their eyes seemed to follow us, as we moved along, an inviting, mischievous smile playing around the corners of their mouths. If it hadn’t been for the strong scent of perfume and the underlying odour of sex and sweat it tried to mask, the scene wouldn’t have been out of place in a palace.
Ahri cleared her throat and said: “I think we can, but what’s your point?”
“Simple, really. Time’s running out, the two of you, or Cassandra, at least, will have to head for the Emerald Island within a few days. We’re already on our way to a, most likely, violent encounter with one of the local powers and after everything we’ve been through, it’s safe to assume that it won’t be the last. There’s no point in carefully weighing whether or not the Madame is trustworthy. Either she is, in which case will have gained the support of someone who has intimate knowledge of the streets, which might even rival Alassara’s, or she isn’t, which wouldn’t change a damned thing for us. Where’s the harm in stringing her along? I’ve listened closely and Cassy hasn’t promised her a thing. In the end, if she becomes a burden…” she pointedly looked at Mordred’s sword, conveying exactly what she meant. I wouldn’t have been as quick with a death sentence, but in essence, she was right.
I stopped in front of the designated door and, with a sideways glance at Reia, hissed over my shoulder: “it has to wait, anyways. I want you to stay here. The girls will come out in a second, then you can enter.” Before they had a chance to protest, I quickly pushed the handle and slipped through, closing the door behind me. I wasn’t entirely sure, whether to be disgusted or impressed.
The heavy, dark blue velvet curtains were closed and allowed only a few rays of soft light into the room, dancing around hastily discarded clothes on the floor and a massive four poster bed, which took up almost the entirety of the room. A silver mirror hung above, reflecting the sleeping, naked forms of a man and two women, still entwined on the pillows, like snakes in a pit. Their repeated engagement in physical activity had filled the air with a heavy, musky scent that almost made me choke and judging from the red imprints on the girls’ shapely behinds, they hadn’t held back.
This much, I had expected, but the collection of emptied bottles and half finished pipes, combined with the soft snoring, vacant expressions and trails of drool on their faces, were a testament to John’s endurance, I hadn’t seen coming. Truth be told, I had thought the girls would be awake and eager to get out of there, without giving their suitor a reason to become offended. Obviously, I had been wrong, they seemed more than comfortable in his presence. One of them, a beast kin of some sort, I couldn’t very well tell which kind, without seeing her face, had even wrapped her tail around his legs, a surprisingly intimate and affectionate gesture. I quietly whistled through my teeth and mumble: “good for you, Johnny. Hopefully the night was pleasant enough to make up for the rude awakening.”
Slowly, I made my way through the maze of drugs and clothes, picking up what I thought to be the two robes, the women had worn the night before. Once I reached the bedside, I gently placed my hand on the shoulder of the beast kin, whispering into her ear: “wake up.” She squirmed and yawned, rotating her neck until she faced me. A pair of midnight blue eyes opened behind a curtain of unruly, blonde hair, and for a moment, she struggled with the tangled mess her memories of last night must have become.
“Who are you,” she slurred sleepily. “I’ve never seen you before. Has the Madame sent you?”
“In a way,” I whispered. “Get up. She wants to see you and your friend. Try not to wake him on your way out. Here,” I handed her one of the robes and offered my hand. She took it hesitantly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the other.
“Is something wrong,” she wanted to know, her voice a husky whisper, quiet enough, that the sleeping man didn’t stir, even when she nimbly disentangled herself from his embrace.
“No, everything’s fine. Could you wake your friend, before you vanish?”
“Sure… who are you, anyways? I’ve never seen you, before. I definitely would have remembered a face like yours. Are you a new addition to the family? What’s your name?” She was running her fingers down the other girl’s spine, carefully coaxing her from her dreams.
“No, no I’m not and my name is Cassandra. I’m… a friend, of sorts. Yours, that is, not his.”