"I WANT MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" the sapling cried after they violently slapped away the spoon I was feeding them with. And I had to admit, I was a bit stumped on how to handle this. This child, despite refusing to eat, had enough energy to make it difficult to get them. My patience was also running thin.
But I refused to lash out at the sapling as he just couldn't help it. How could I expect the sapling to get it? I would just have to try and wait it out. Yet, did I have the patience to?
To hear him demand for that thief again and again with such force. It was disheartening to hear. I was more than she ever would be yet he just wanted her...
"SILENCE!" I then roared at the sapling. And while I was quick to realise the mistake I had just made. I could not bring myself forward to try and coddle the sobbing child. I just stared at it as it became lost.
He wanted someone to hold him, but not me. He wanted someone to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay, not it would not be me. He wanted me to go away and never come back, which I could not do. Worst of all, when I went, he wanted that woman to just suddenly come back...
It was her incompetence that saw her disappear. This had nothing to do with me! And I would not tolerate a stupid, ignorant child telling what to do. We were going back home, to the garden-mount.
That was final.
"Right, that does it." I nearly growl as I finish picking up what I could before then snatching him up. At first he struggled and fought back against me. But every bit of annoyance this sapling tried to force into me I forced back out. I think it even led to me cracking the ancient stone as I marched down and out of the ruins.
The realisation of death and smoke, however, seemed to quieten them down. Even if they refused to cling onto me as we went past freshly charred bodies. At first, I lingered around it all slightly. Then I moved on without a word, unsure of why I stopped at all.
Soon after, though, the sapling started to act up again. So I put him down on a flat rock and stared angrily at him. Somehow, though, the glare he gave me made me step back in shock. He even growled like an animal as he slapped the stone.
"BAD WOMAN! WHERE MAMA!?" he screamed at me with a distinct crack in his voice. From then on out, he seemed to run out of strength to scream and he carried on crying. A concerning wheeze in his bawls while he also seemed to double over in pain.
"This is what happens when you don't eat..." I tell him quietly as I move to sit next to him after dropping the bag. Even now, though, as he cried because of his body hurting. He still tried to keep me away from him. Yet, I could not just let him keep this up.
He even nearly seriously hurt himself when he got down from the rock. And, after a brief moment of rummaging about, he pulled out that toy of his. The one he got so recently. And he held it in front of me with a pleading expression.
"Mama!" he whined as he shook it. His hands around the part of the picture with his smiling mother...
I then lean back and sigh, "I suppose this is it, then..."
I found myself muttering before I gazed up at the cloudy sky. Either I went off to find where Dandel'lhia had gone for the sapling's sake. Or, knowing the kind of woman that she is... I took her son to the garden-mount without her...
"How annoying." I mutter as I stare at the sapling as he quietened down. He was still clearly upset and shaken by the loss of his mother. But this picture of her soothed him at the very least. Yet, it still angered me to see it.
This time, however, I could not argue against it. That woman was his mother. I was not his mother. It was an obvious difference that somehow needed to be reiterated.
"Mama..." he whined once again as he moved to hide in the bag.
"I suppose this will have to do." I end up saying as I seize the opportunity to move him without any bite back whatsoever. He didn't seem to mind either, but even as all the stuff started to jingle and bounce. His sadness stood above it all. And I could not block it out in the slightest.
I tried to put up with it, but it just kept punching deep into my core. This child did not want me, he wanted his mother. And I was out here all alone. Because no one wanted me...
So I stopped and slowly put the bag down before I made a rash decision and went ahead briefly. Then I stopped again and I looked around, and to my dismay... Despite it not being new information, the fact I was on my own scared me. Not the Gilded-Bark, my Love or even the one I briefly left him for...
I was on my own and I could not grasp why. I was Rose'lhia, a full name petal... I was an ivy-mother, one of the very best from our garden-mount... So why was I all alone?
Why was there no one there for me? This child had his mother somewhere out there... She had to be... And she had him and the Gilded-Bark...
"Why am I alone?" I asked myself before I collapsed to the ground. Because I was a bad woman...? Like the sapling said...? I don't think I could even argue against it...
The sapling was right, despite polygamy being the norm for us petals... I tried to get Dandel'lhia killed on several occasions. At the hands of osibindah before I tore her apart for even crueller plans. Then, after my Love brought me up that mighty mountain...
So we could stand before the unbeatable titan of stone that was the greatest mountain... Nin was there with me when we first saw Jhroungijherammujhernosumonaterikra... And within so short a time I turned my back on him for some human with impressive magic... But we were raised to be like that, to focus on the strongest males...
Yet, I as an ivy-mother was taught to follow Motrtha's teachings first... Her teachings of love and family til the very end... From her I learned how to be an ivy-mother. And I ignored all of it just to satiate desires I never went through with even then...
"Yes..." I let out as tears start to fall, "I am a bad woman... I'm the worst..."
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"So what is the plan, Madame?" I asked her as I leaned on the arm of one of her chairs.
"Well, it's a petal so we might as well put her to work. Useless as her scarred body probably is." she mutters in disappointment.
"Maybe the fact she is a petal will make up for it?"
"Please, our most popular creatures are those who have well-developed features in most occasions. Some magic power is not going to turn any heads..."
"Have her perform, then? Her strength should certainly add an... Attraction to it."
"I suppose..." she comments, clearly unsatisfied with our current situation. I was still busy reprimanding the group so we could not go out again just yet. And, to my dismay, Ivahstar left pissed once he heard it straight his pay was being delayed again.
He had even been denied the chance to take on an additional job to fix this. And I had been given strict orders not to give them any leeway in that regard. A direct threat on my own source of income by the Madame if I did so. Friendly as I was with them, that was too risky.
The Madame took things for an extended run when she wasn't happy...
But, never minding that, I stood up and bit farewell to her before I went on a walk. By sheer coincidence of it being the longest path as well, I arrived in our little dungeon. And I stood before the newest addition to the Sweet Orchard's numbers. She looked as miserable as everyone else down here did.
Yet, I was willing to bet it was not because her body was suffering withdrawal symptoms. And I wanted to come back to the Madame with good news about this new petal of ours. If I could get a confession about it, then that would be wonderful. But I did not have the heart to pressure her too harshly.
"So where is the child?" I asked simply at first.
"I don't know..." she answered honestly, even if her intentions were likely different.
"We will find him, you know, little one out there with luggage as big as yours? Won't be hard to miss." I tell her as I recall the size of her bag on the spiral-tram.
"As if... He is probably already at the Garden-Mount by now!" she snaps up at me before she collapses as the chains pull back on her.
"More!" moans her likely future personified further down the cell as the shared chains pleasure her. It was the Madame's idea in its entirety. Keep them drugged and their escape attempts will only make the other feel good. But pondering that just got me sidetracked.
"No, the red-haired one most certainly didn't drop that luggage." I say, mostly speaking with hearsay in mind. But, the way she acted in response confirmed it all for me. This one with the child still was sentimental?
No, raised prestigiously and she has no idea what she needs at the bare minimum...
"So, we got a slow-moving, magic-stuffed, red-haired pretty thing walking about with a disfigured child." I comment as I stand up and move towards the nearby wall.
"Stay away from them!" she snaps as she forces herself up despite the other aelenvari on pulling back against her.
"Well, you're certainly showing off how strong petals are, aren't we?" I ask for no particular reason as I watched her attached partner moan submissively. Thankfully, our recent capture was easier to focus on.
"You will not find them..." she repeats but with different words than before.
"No, I think we will. So you best be prepared to watch him come through the front door." I tell her one final time before I walk away. Suddenly remembering I didn't actually do what I wanted to do.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!" she screamed with the kind of viciousness only a mother could have. I would know, I had one!
"Thank you very much." I huff as I leave that awful dungeon and head back up.
"Word has it you went into my garden, Darling?" the Madame questioned as I went back into her office.
"I did, and I bring some news we can work with."
"You have finally decided to trust my plans for these creatures?" she remarks with what struck me as forced amusement. But, with how bothered she has been lately, I could see why.
"No, never," I remark quickly, full of disgust, "no, what I have found out is we have ourselves a bell of sorts. One we can ring wildly."
She starts to look at me perplexed, "Go on...?"
"Your little treasure, its maker is downstairs, you know?" I tell her, and I watch her expression light up like Thurnmourer's stormy sky.
"She is?" she asks as she slowly stands up.
"Indeed, and we know what the other petal looks like well enough." I add on.
"Hm, can't say I care about that. But, thank you for tell me this..." she says as she steps behind her desk and lingers there.
"But we won't be able to send my guys out in such a short space of time. Not until we can guarantee the Union has done its search and it is all over with." I tell her.
"Then use that time to see what can be done to bait them here... If she is the mother, the other one will not risk it."
"That's quite a gamble."
"These creatures praise the idea of a mother... Especially one who has a son. There'd be a war if a flower found out about this." she speaks with deadly seriousness and none of her usual flavour.
"Of course." I say with a nod as I understood what she was getting at. It was a simple enough thing.
"So, if it is not obvious enough already. I want you to make it clear somehow that this mother is alive. Let them know. Drive them here and they'll either be stupid enough to bring it here or they'll abandon it into someone else's arms!"
"Very... Elaborate." was all I could really say at the plan she made. It was certainly something that struck me as a little out there.
"A reminder I pay you to simplify these things and to make sure it all runs smoothly." she reminds me in an almost threatening manner.
"Of course." I say somewhat dismissively before I turn around to get back to work.
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"Can I help you...?" I ask the wind-people thorns as they suddenly appeared from the sky to stop me.
"Sorry to bother you, Aelenvari. But our patrols picked up a recent conflict in the area. And, in the event it poses a threat to our war effort, we are bringing you in for questioning."
"No, I have places I need to be!" I tell them before I try to force my way through them. Their weapons, however, scared me stiff.
"Mama..." the sapling cried from within the bag.
"You'll be coming with us." the most pristine thorn told me after he acknowledged the sound the sapling made.
"Very well..." I mutter before I follow him onto the strange machine. However, the thorns he left it with did not come back on and instead just sprinted off. From the new airborne view I had now as well, I could clearly see it was to get to the ruins. Ruins which were now swarming with their thorns.
"Please take the child out of the bag." the wind-person thorn asked me after the sapling made another whine.
"I'm sorry, but I can't..." I admit meekly as this child hated me... I could not bare to touch this child knowing it did so.
"Then I will." the man said as it became clear he was letting his paternal instincts take precedent. And, I felt envious as I looked at him. He was the father of his own son... He had his own wind-petal...
And my envy only grew as I watch the sapling do nothing in his arms. He looked at me briefly with a glare before he then saw what the sapling was holding. He frowned at it before he then set the sapling down. His prior suspicion of me seemed to have vanished, but he still protectively held the child.
"Do you have a place to stay once we get back into Nahgart?" he asked me.
And I shook my head, somewhat annoyed now, "We were heading to our home before you came and reset our journey!"
He then seemed to make a note of some kind, "Very well, we'll arrange brief accommodations while we sort out that problem we left behind."
"I'd rather you just let me do my duty..." I remark quietly.
"And what is your duty?" he asks with a stern voice.
"To take that sapling home."
"Then you need to take better care of it." he tells me with words that just cut right through me. How dare he... I have been trying to but this sapling's immaturity was damning my efforts.
"Mind your ignorant mouth." I swear with my true-voice before I turned to the outside. That settled-flower we spent a day or so travelling away from was now back in our sights. But this machine seemed to make a point of heading towards the place these wind-thorns stayed.
"If you'll follow me, then, we'll sort out the tabletwork and then we'll arrange a place for you to stay." he tells me as he walks ahead of me with the sapling. Meanwhile I found myself sharply turning a glare towards the seemingly impatient, featureless thorns pushing at me.
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"What to do, what to do..." I mutter quietly as I sat down near Ivahstar as he glared out towards the Union soldiers.
"Pay." he complains as I rub my eyes.
"My hands are tied here, you got to understand that." I repeat to him before he just nods at me.
"She picky." he then comments in regards to what could have only been the Madame.
"She is, infuriatingly so." I tut as I looked down at the relatively recent fortifications made by the Union soldiers. They were all over the town as well as around it. A fortress erected over what could've only been a night...
"Aelenvari. Down there." Ivahstar then comments to which I shrug.
"Wouldn't be surprised, mess my guys made failing to get the child."
"No, red." he corrects before I recall the main detail of the other one.
"Well, I'll be damned." I let out in some awe before I made a silent prayer. That other aelenvari had been grabbed by a Union patrol and now she was going to be kept here. It certainly simplified our problems.
"Don't ask." Ivahstar then suddenly said.
"Hm?" I let out in confusion, "Oh!" I then let out once I saw where he was looking.
"If she here. Child come too?"
"Most likely, I can't see that one at all leaving it behind... But where is it...?" I found myself questioning as Ivahstar passed me a monocular device. That red-haired petal was on her own with a depressed expression of the sorts. And there was no trace of the son.
"Union taken it in?" Ivahstar questions as I lower his device.
"Without a doubt, might be a human thing, but there are rumours of beautiful aelenvari flowers circling that big ol' mountain. They'll be fully aware of what is valued by them."
"No. They know different. Flowers out here. Different to there." Ivahstar comments as he takes back the device.
"Do me a favour, would you? Keep an eye on her. I'll add it to your bill once this mess is all sorted." I tell him as I pat him on the back carefully. He might've been broad-shouldered for a hwardgon, but he was still a spine-covered thing. I had no intentions of pricking myself and covering my hand in annoying bleeds.
Then, once I got to the stairs down this viewing platform. I raced down them with well-practised, stable movements. Slipping and sliding down the circular handrails while pushing myself along with gentle taps of my feet. And, at the end, I launched myself slightly and landed with a wobble.
"Now, Madame." I comment as I straightened myself up on the way back into the establishment.
"'Noon, Hrurim." the backdoor bouncer greeted as I came on by.
"Afternoon." I tell him after briefly looking up at the sky to make sure I was getting it right. It was near enough up in the middle, so 'afternoon' was fine by me. And, I sorted of repeated myself like I usually did when I got in here. I avoided the aelenvari and headed straight for the office of the Madame.
"Hasty and rude..." she comments with annoyance as she shoos away whatever poor lad she was paying to be there.
"Sing a different tune for me, because I have a fine thing in my eye."
"A scout was able to get past the worst customer base we ever had?"
"Even better, they brought the missing aelenvari back with them as a result of our... Issues."
"With the treasure?" she questions sceptically but with a tone still full of hope.
"No way she left it behind."
"Fan out and find them, then." she demands as she suddenly rises to her feet. A brief glimpse into the hideous body beneath her clothes also became visible. Not that it wasn't before. She was just skimpier right now because of that lad she brought in...
Oh, if only the pay wasn't good enough.
"We do not know where they'll be going. I just know they are within the Union's fortifications."
"And she won't stay there, she'll come back into the town. Along with my treasure..."
"Of course. I'll get my guys ready to sweep the streets." I tell her before turning around and leaving. Slapping the head of the greedy young man on my way out. But, as I walked deeper into the establishment. I seemed to realise something.
And it buried its nagging claws deep into my mind. What if they brought her back for the mother? I had no idea what their relationship was but maybe that is why the child could not be seen before? She had arranged for it to be placed in the Union's protection?
This could be very bad if she came knocking... But, at the same time, we had experience with aelenvari. But one as powerful as that? The completely scarred blondie we just got was a hassle...
"Get me the jailer." I then order someone on my way into the Madame's dungeons. And I came to a stop in front of the aelenvari in question. I then aggressively slapped a stick on the metal bars and watched as she looked up at me. My face was stoic while hers was full of regret.
"Why are you here?" she asks just in time for the jailer to coming running towards me.
"What'cha need, Hrurim?" he asks nervously despite his large physique.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"I need her in your special cell." I tell him as I wanted this aelenvari well out of the way. I wanted her hidden so she could not be broken out easily. Even if it wasn't why the red one was back, it was a good enough assumption to make.
"Where are you taking her...?" her now former cellmate asked me with a lustful slur.
"Out of the way." I answer as I lock the disappointed whore back up.
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"So, just present this to an establishment of your choosing and they'll give you a room." the wind-thorn tells me as he hands over a metal piece.
"And the sapling?" I ask him as I stare intently at my responsibility.
"He'll stay here until we can verify you are a suitable guardian."
"Suitable?" I scoff, offended by the claim, "The business of we aelenvari does not concern you!"
"So long as you are within His Lunar Majesty's land, it does." he answers me with a flat tone before he dismisses me.
"Suitable guardian..." I repeat quietly with my true-voice as I moved about this place. In comparison to the home of our thorns back in the flower... This place was quiet. There was a strange unease about this place.
Those without helmets kept their distance from those that had them. One side did not care while the others seemed to take it personally. But I suppose it was not my problem to focus on. I had a different issue to deal with, even if I was forced to leave it behind...
"He wants you, Dandel'lhia... He only wants you..." I subtly glow out before I make it back through the gate.
"Oh, look out, we got ourselves a lovely thing coming by!" some boorish humans loudly declared as I walked about the town. Yet, I did not think they were talking to me.
"Hello, why so down?" an aelenvari asked me. Yet, there was an odd thing about her. She had the qualities of a root but dressed like a petal...?
"What is this!?" I demanded to know, my voice full of disgust as I watched her approach me.
"Well, you looked down, so I thought I would tell you about about the Sweet Orchard where you'll only ever smile."
"Get away from me." I tell her as this nigh-blasphemous behaviour was revolting.
"Are you sure? I'm sure you'll fit right in." she giggles in a way I am quite familiar with. But that only made me want to go away more. I was not going to be playing pretend with some outcasts with no flower.
"Leave me bE!" I start to tell her before she slips something into my clothes, making me squeal at the end. However, I focus foremost on getting away from her before I addressed it. I then briefly gave it a look over and sneered at it. Chucking it away nearly instantly.
But, I turned back around to look at it. This place, I had heard the name before... Sweet Orchard. Yet, despite that, I still let it be.
"Oh? Hello again, what're you doing back here?" one of those humans boys from that place we stayed at greeted.
"It does not concern you." I tell him before I move to walk away.
"You know, Mum wouldn't have an issue with you taking a room for the night!" he loudly told me, making me stop. But, I sneered at his offer. That place didn't deserve me for a single night, let alone more...
"Very well." I say anyway with a sigh as it at the very least solved one issue I had.
"Alright, see you there, then. I'll have Mum put on some tea!" he tells me before he runs off back to that decrepit place.
"No... A place like that deserves someone like me..." I say to myself quietly. With the kind of defeatism I would not let out openly before someone else. It didn't take long for me to get there either as the boy seemed to linger around each turn I would have to make. And then, I walked in through the front door once again with only the clothes I wore.
"See?" the boy said to his mother as he gently pulled her out of the kitchen.
"Oh, so it is! How is... Where are the other two?" she starts to ask me before she changes her question.
"That's my business." I tell them with a huff as she approaches me.
"Come on, Dear, come out back with me." the woman insists with a firm hand. Yet it was too weak to move me and I just glared at her small family. Before it all just suddenly vanished as I saw it once again. People no better than roots with something I did not...
"We'll make sure it is quiet outside."
"Thank you, Boys." the elderly woman says as she closes the kitchen door after taking advantage of my distracted state.
"What do you want?" I asked aggressively as she sat down on a simple wooden stall.
"Sit down, Dear. Tell me what happened." she says as she pushes forward a mug near where I was supposed to sit. The strength to argue, however, was not there anymore. So I sat down and crossed my legs. One hand lingered near the mug as she took hers into both her hands.
It was then quiet for a moment before my facade seemed to crack, "I've made a mistake."
"We all do, Dear." she says in a dismissive tone. But I did not latch onto it as I could see where she was coming from. It would not help, however.
"This isn't some simple mistake I can just rectify..." I tell her, expanding upon what I started to say. Pictures flashed in my mind as well, of how happy the sapling was with Dandel'lhia. How it was fine with a stranger but turned its back on me...
"Is it to do with why you are on your own now?" she asks softly before she takes my silence as a 'yes.'
"We made it as far as some ruins... And to protect the sapling, I cast its mother out knowing full well something bad would happen to her."
"I see..."
"I was happy to do so for that thi... No... I... I don't know..."
"Someone has made you change your mind?" she asks.
"That son of hers... He hates me and blames me for his mother being gone... And... And I know that I am to blame." I say as I try to hold in the tears my pride was trying to keep away.
"Do you happen to know what happened to her, that sweet girl?" she asked and as if to twist the knife in my heart. She spoke praises of Dandel'lhia... The good one was suffering while I was out here having tea...
"Some people came... They were after the sapling." I tell her quietly.
"Then I think I know how you could resolve this." the elderly woman says as she rises up from her stall. A clear sign she was disappointed was all over her face as well. But unlike with the sapling, it did not register for me.
"How? The thi... Dandel'lhia is gone. She's either dead or taken."
"You are a witch, are you not?"
"A former ivy-mother..."
"Then feel for them. I know you can."
"My magic does not work like that..."
"Dear, it does. As I might have said before, I am no expert on aelenvari. But I do know what an ivy-mother does. She's there to help out all those in her flower. She needs to be able to reach out for them. See if you can find his mother. Redeem yourself." she urges me as she shows off her own pathetic skills.
"Redeem myself...? No..." I mutter as I stand up. If I was to do that, I needed to appear before a council of Gilded-Barks. No one else would accept the burden of my admission otherwise...
"Dear, it's clear you care about the child. But he needs his mother." she urges once again as she places a hand on my shoulder.
"He does, yes." I say, fully aware of that fact as I hold my hand before my face. Staring at it for what seemed to be an eternity before my magic moved. My heart seemingly held a storm within its walls and my body trembled. And what came out of my palm was insignificant, but it flowed out gently.
"Is she...?"
"She is alive... The sapling's mother lives..." I breathe in relief despite who I was talking about.
"Then you can make amends, Dear."
"Y-Yes..." I say before I turn around to face where the magic was flowing towards.
"Okay, we're following it, then." the elderly woman says as we both get up and follow it. From out this place of hers and into the streets. All the way until we came upon a street full of roots playing pretend.
"She is within that place..." I comment as I stare at the place called Sweet Orchard.
"There are bad rumours going on about this part of town. You best be in and out as quickly as possible, Dear." she warns as she starts to take me back to her place.
"Why are you taking me back?" I ask as this meant distancing myself from Dandel'lhia.
"You need to rest, Dear." she tells me warmly as we walk upon her business once again. And I look down at the ground with uncertainty. It mattered more so that I just got this over with...
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"So you're the one who holds the most important thing in the world..." a magically-weak woman that I could barely see says.
"Do your worst..." I tell her and those men of hers before I look about the cell I was in. In terms of previous places I had been held captive in, this was nice. The bars were smooth and spikeless and there was no osibindah about the place.
"Unfortunately, the worst has already been done to you. So I cannot really improve on it. But whoever did it? Masterful craftsmanship." she cruelly cackles as I grow insecure about the scars on my body.
"Thankfully, you won't ever meet them." I sigh out, oddly thankful that Rose'lhia was taking my son home. I may not be able to see my lover again, but my little one would be able to see his father at last. The other key that unlocked his life...
"We'll see about that I suppose. Someone of their talents has a lot to teach." she starts to say at first, worrying me. But, I was able to maintain my cool as it seemed she was unaware of who did this to me.
"Maybe take a few lessons on how to look beautiful instead." I sneer as I had nothing else to say to her. So I would just try to worm myself into her head. And it seemed to work...
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH YOU FILTHY PLANT!" she roars all of a sudden. The suddenness of it proved to be quite shocking. But I had no time to think about it when this chain on my neck suddenly tightened.
"ACK!" I let out as I started to desperate claw at my neck where the metal was.
"Go on, take it back..." she growls as anger clearly covers her face.
"AH! ACK!" I let out before the metal suddenly snaps open.
"You best have a good reason for doing that, Darling..." the woman sneers to the man who had me put in this cell.
"Don't go trying to kill her." he chastises before he tries to shoo her off.
"Be very careful..." she threatens before she leaves on her own.
"Should have just let her kill me..." I tell him as I rub my bleeding, bruised neck. I know I had no way of predicting it, but it was annoying knowing I could have avoided this.
"No, even if you can't do the usual jobs we expect from your kind. You have other uses." he tells me before he also turns to leave.
"W-Wait...!"
"Hm?" he lets out as he stops on the stairs.
"Can I at least have something to eat...?" I ask of him as they had not fed me anything since they brought me here. But if I had other uses, then that meant they needed to at least take care of me... Right?
"Don't think you'd like the menu." he comments with some disgust.
"Anything will do... Please..." I beg as I carefully hold out my hand in the hopes anything would come my way.
"Alright, but don't expect a banquet you bloody petal." he says before he leaves with the rest of those men. And while I was not smiling at the fact I was finally going to eat. It at least gave me some hope that I could make it through this. I just had to wait for an opportunity to get out of here.
To run towards the wind-people who I would be safe with... But I would only be safe so long as I stayed with them. If they let me stay with them... However, I wanted to believe that they would help me.
So I needed to conserve my strength. They did not have the means to suppress my magic. But I was also not strong enough to just fight my way out of here. A gun could still kill me unlike the Valkinvar I once travelled with.
Dreaming about having different help to get home wouldn't help either... I needed to rely on myself right now. I have spent enough time being pushed around and locked up... My little one needed me...
And I will hold him once again!
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"Again, Dear, I find it necessary to repeat that there are foul rumours about this place."
"Foul rumours or not, that is where I need to be."
"Y-Yeah, but... Do you need to be so- Ow!" one of the sons began to say before their mother slapped them quiet.
"That's enough out of you two. I expect neither of you to head that way as well, do you understand me!?"
"Yes."
"Yes, Mum."
"Right then, can you please move?" I ask impatiently before I stick my hip out and swing my tail about. While I might've smiled at all the glances I was getting, I needed to keep my focus.
"Yes, yes, go on and... Stay safe. I'll look after your stuff for you and I want to see you come back with that lovely one, do you understand?" she explains then firmly asks.
But I thought of the sapling instead when I decided to answer, "I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't..."
Then, I quickly headed on out through the front door and stared towards the gate for a moment. The sapling was being held safely just outside those great doors. So I could turn my back on them for however long it would be. And I could walk on ahead knowing nothing would hold me back from getting this done.
Hate her as I might, that sapling needed their mother, not me. My accolades meant nothing right now. Only hers did. I needed to show that I was sorry for what I did...
Let the sapling know I could be trusted to care for them...
"Looking good!" someone hoots as I got closer to that place I sensed Dandel'lhia to be at.
"In we go...?" I question with uncertainty before the familiar sound of a locked door met me.
"Go away, we're closed!" someone called out from within.
"I was told you were hiring?" I lied, much to my disgust as this was completely beneath me... Hiring? Blegh.
"What?" they let out before I heard a key enter the door and unlock it, "What're you..."
"You are hiring?" I ask once again as I tilted my body to show off my thighs and part of my rear. Squeezing up my modest but firm chest while they continued to stare at me with uncertainty.
"Right... Come in..." he let out slowly before he took off his hat and watched.
"Pleasent smell." I commented sincerely as this was a smell I was familiar with. The smell of child making and breast honey. I believe I have heard of places like this... Locations where exiled aelenvari went in order to easily get a child...
However, that just presented a new danger for me. I had to keep myself pure for my Love's sake. My womb was for him to use when he finally accepted my love... When he finally loved me back...
"So, uh, this way if you'll please." he tells me as he puts the hat back on. And, from a brief glimpse, I did find myself a little flushed as we walked through the place. Some of the roots I saw looked like they had been completely broken by their hollow love. I could even hear them mutter about their new seed...
It was quite the experience to see so much of it in one place. Even with my experience as an ivy-mother, this was something else. But still, I couldn't help but feel disgusted by what I saw as well. These were roots...
"Why do you want a job here if that is how you react?" the man questions as he comes to a stop by a door.
"Because they are roots, they aren't fit to carry a seed within them." I scoff as I cross my arms and sneer.
"Alright, Poshie." he remarks as he opens the door and we continue. I didn't really understand why he made a remark, though. It was true. A root was forbidden from taking a man's pollen because they would only raise a girl...
We needed to work our hardest to balance our population... Not curse it to more daughters who could offer it nothing! If he understood even anything about our people, he'd keep quiet. But I guess a human was just as bad as a root on occasion.
"Right, wait here please." the man tells me before he heads on into what seemed to be a well-decorated office. In the meantime, however, I decided to see if I could evoke a reaction from the thorns about me.
"So, I take it... That it can be quite hectic here?" I ask them with a lick of my lips while I cross my legs and sprawled my body out.
"It can." one answers as he looks down at me. And while I could not see his eyes, only his magic. I had a good hunch that that gaze of his was a little restless. That it could not decide where to look.
So, I narrowed it down for him and leaned over the lounge chair. I kept my rear up for him while I compressed my chest before another. Smirking knowingly when the one in front of me started to tap his feet. He wanted to distract himself, but I only teased him more.
With each tap, I made them jiggle and bounce. And while I was not the busiest of ivy-mothers or even petals for that matter. I had enough on my front to fill a man's hand and then some. So he certainly saw each little thing that happened to them even in this black and red lingerie.
"I don't suppose you'll be able to give me an idea of what this place is like?" I decided to ask after I moved closer to him. Placing my hand gently against his shirt-covered body. Prodding at the muscle beneath while I showed off how easy my stuff came off.
"U-Unfortunately, we can't." he answers as he starts to look away.
"That is a shame." I say as I turn around and lean against him. Making it so easy for him to just grab my best parts from behind. But, his discipline held and I moved away just as it failed elsewhere.
"Alright, the Madame will be seeing you, then." that man from earlier says as he sticks his head out before he then steps aside.
"How unfortunate..." I whisper with a wink as my tail flicks at that thorn's prized tool. Giggling before I then had the door shut behind me.
"Now, this is certainly a surprise." an absolutely hideous woman says as she stands up and comes before me. What made it even worse, as well, was that she dressed just like a petal... But she was worse than even our most pitiful of roots...
"I am here for work." I tell her as she moves closer. With goosebumps forming slightly as that filthy hand of hers went near me. But I held in the shudder she would've otherwise caused when she finally touched me. A rear meant for my Love was now being violated by this decrepit creature.
"So I have heard..." she lets out as I step out of her grip with a huff. That change in her expression also amused me. She was aware of how hideous she was? If so, how dare she dress like that regardless...
"I can perform whatever task needed far better than those you already have." I confidently tell her even if I had no intention of doing so.
"Confident one, aren't we?"
"Of course, as befitting my full name." I gloat, still quite proud of that detail.
"Rose'lhia, I take it?"
I smirk, "And I would have it no other way."
"Well... That's a shame."
"Ha, you will only see glory with me under your employ." I both gloat and vomit out when I had to openly declare myself as her lesser...
"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. There is a little more to this job than just being pretty and good at wringing a man dry for all he is worth." she says as she tries her damndest to seemingly look sexy while pouring something. But whatever she was doing, it did not work when her magic was that pathetic.
"No, thank you." I refuse politely, outwardly anyway.
"I'm afraid I can't welcome you into our lovely little family if you don't drink the celebratory drink."
I then briefly cringe in disgust, "Very well, then."
"Good." she says as a malicious smile suddenly appears on her face.
"Familiar..." I comment as the details nag at my mind but don't come forth. I didn't even realise that I had suddenly grabbed onto a chair either. In fact, why was it slightly pleasing to do so? No...
It couldn't be...
"I do love a bit of honey with my tea, see. Or rather, in others tea." she cackles as my body starts to warm up and react to the breast honey. And while I tried my best to hide the fact she was making my slowly come out. I couldn't hide the moans touching my now sensitive breasts caused.
"H-Hah! Ha... How dare you..." I growl before I reactively clenched my chest tightly as a shiver went through me.
"I will enjoy breaking you." the woman cackles as she places her warm hand upon my head. And I couldn't help but rub my cheek against it as my body started to rock back and forth. Yet, disappointingly, I was able to maintain some modesty and prevent myself from going any further.
Even as I yearned for it... As my heart pumped life through me to go further with it...
"You..." I let out with a pleasured moan as she forces me to the ground.
"Work hard for me, will you?" she asks me with a cackle before a shock shoots into my body.
.
.
.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" that red-haired aelenvari screams pleasurably from inside the Madame's office.
"Gods damn this..." one of the Madame bodyguards complains. That aelenvari had been near him quite recently...
I chuckle as I turn around, "Can't do anything about it now, she's the Madame's property."
"She should certainly turn out popular." one of the others comments
"She doesn't seem to act any different from the rest." I point out as I put down the newstablet.
"True." they answer before a bell goes off.
"I guess that means it is time for me to go in as she comes out and goes downstairs." I say as I get up and do just that. Waiting at the side of the office before some beaten-up aelenvari come and drag her away. A series of ecstatic howls fill the air as they did so. The Madame's chemical concoction was as potent as ever...
"Right, now, Darling, carry on." she says as she sighs out her stress before she puts down an electric rod.
"So, yeah, that was the red-haired one I was talking about." I say reasonably quietly. Awkwardly gesturing in the direction the echoes were coming from.
"And somehow, this doesn't mean the treasure is any closer..." she moans as she leans back into her chair.
"No, but it does give us some options."
"Such as?"
"Do what you do best, break her. Leaving me out of it, of course. And get into her head, she'll bring it here for you." I explain to her, muttering the middle in a fake cough before straightening myself out.
She raises a brow, clearly contemplating the idea, "It would be a challenge, I believe..."
"Challenge? Just another aelenvari, right?"
"You have seen it, right? She carries herself far different than any of the others. In fact, her response to my drug were rather tame."
"Honestly can't tell the difference." I tell her with a shrug.
"You didn't see it completely, Darling." the Madame giggles as she waves her hand at me.
"So what is the plan anyway? My guys can't go near that Union base at all. And the child is located in there without a doubt."
She breathes deeply and leaves her lounge chair, "We wait, that is all we can do. But, I know I have something to keep myself occupied in the meantime."
Her cackles were not particularly sweet, but I ignored that, "You won't be able to apply the drug again, though, will you?"
"Not for a short period, no. Amusing as it was, I did not appreciate wasting something I could've exploited." she says, likely referring to some her earliest endeavours in this business.
"You won't risk it even with her defiance?" I ask, just curious is all.
"Amazing as it was being presented with a challenge, no, I won't risk it. Especially with how good it will make me feel breaking a petal such as her." she explains with her usual malicious smile.
"And what kind of petal is she?" I decide to ask before I play with some of her knick-knacks. Having moved over here to occupy myself with more than just conversation.
"One whose name is love itself... A beautiful rose." she says with that smile not wavering.
"Huh, a full-named petal." I comment with some awe as those were quite the rare find. Probably even more so than a male aelenvari. She would've been at the very top of her respective birthing group or whatever it was. The Rose.
"Now, Darling, I want you to get back to work. I am a little tired now having been put through so much excitement at once." the Madame explains as she gets back into her chair.
"Of course, take care now." I tell her as a professional courtesy. Although my words were hollow.
"And have one of my attendees sent up!" she calls out just as I close the door. So I just give her a gesture of acknowledgement before I head on out.
"Now, now... To ponder what you are planning." I say nonchalantly as I prepared my pipe as I walked through the building. To say I was flabbergasted by that petal's actions was an understatement. When she suddenly knocked on the door asking for a job...
I guess it was more due to how we filled up our staff needs here. We didn't put some flyers out or pay for an ad in the dull newstablet of this town. We went on nice long walks and brought back the goods ourselves. Or, we paid others to do it for us.
"That reminds me... Hm." I ponder as Ivahstar once again crossed my mind. It was just something I could not shake out of my thoughts. The Madame was setting us up for a serious flaw in our security by not paying him. I never knew him to be the vengeful type...
But he was getting increasingly desperate with the number of issues he has had crop up. His funds were drying up regardless of how much he saved by sniping his meals. So I needed to try and mediate something... But how to satisfy him while also keeping it a secret from the Madame?
"Damn woman." I curse as I step outside to smoke my pipe. Moving around the building and heading out onto the decently quiet street. One hand in my pocket while the other held the prized wooden piece. And as I walked, I mixed in tuts and tsks between puffs.
Eventually, I climbed up the metal stairwell and got onto the viewing platform once again. Looking to my right for nostalgia purposes as that red-haired aelenvari was now ours. I then stroked my chin as I remembered her that day. Something was bothering her...
But it was before they ventured out and kept the child from us... So what drove her to come so eagerly towards us? She was clearly struggling with problems before. So was it that or more recent?
Others might have seen me as a little paranoid, but I did not trust the Madame for one bit. That petal she just drugged is strong, very strong. Were it not for the Union nearby, she'd be the strongest witch here. This once-upon-a-time ravineer settlement had nothing that could compare.
Maybe that was her plan, then? To drag the Union into our business by simply just... Letting it all out... Being drugged like that would certainly loosen the control of her magic...
Yet, I could not feel anything myself, even from up here. So maybe the Union wouldn't either even if they did have war-witches and mercenary ones coming through here. I sure hope so. We wouldn't be able to withstand such a force coming upon us.
"Trauble?" Heiya asked as she made her presence known to me.
"You alright, Shortie?" I jokingly asked back as I gave her spines a quick, downward brush.
She giggles before she does anything else, "Yeaaah, but, yau?"
"Don't mind me, just pondering some issues."
"It's gaad ta taaalk aaabaut them." she somewhat correctly says. Sure, it helped get it out your system. But it also just reminded you of a problem that could never be solved a lot of the time. Just an excuse for you to get angry, really.
Not that I had the energy for that kind of stuff.
"The other petal we had you track, she just walked straight into the Madame's establishment. And now she is bound for the usual."
"Maaaybe she is just stupid?"
"No... No," I start to say, shaking my head at it, "ain't no way that is the case, not when she has a full name."
"Full naaame..." she repeats in what I was just going to call awe for the moment.
"I don't quite get it myself, but, these are the top... Like the very top for the aelenvari. Best education, greatest influence! The kings of the aelenvari! Or, queens, rather."
"Beaaar in mind, they're quite paaampered." she points out.
"So's the Madame, but, explosive as she is, I would not go so far as to call her stupid."
"Yau might just be averthinking this."
"No, I have a bad feeling about this. Gut has never been wrong before."
"Yau ance tald me thaaat yau're gut waaas bathered when yau aaaccepted this jab."
"It was wrong then." I quickly answer.
"Then it caaan be wrang aaagaaain."
I huff in amusement, "I suppose."
"Naw, I knaw yau like the paaay aaand aaall. But, haaave yau cansidered leaaaving it aaall behind?"
"Doing what I did earlier to you, then?"
"Paps is nat haaappy with haw the Maaadaaame is treaaating him." she says before I roar in laughter. She then pouts and me and glares.
"I-I'm sorry..." I wheeze out before I get a control of myself. I know it was just her accent, but to here Madame pronounced that way just amused me. I guess because of how informal it was in comparison to how I did it.
"Jump dawn far me." she says with that same pout before she puts her mouth against her crossed arms. Right against the railing.
"I take it your old man put you up to this?" I ask, to which she nods.
"Yeaaah."
"Heh, conspiring against the Madame on behalf of a friend, huh?"
"Yep!" she chirps.
I let my air out through my nose, amused by the prospect, "Now, that is quite the security concern."
But she doesn't buy my words for a second, "Came jain us aut af tawn!" she tells me before she runs to the higher floor of the platform.
So I decided to look up and wave at the shadow above me. However, all it did back was make a slight, relatively unseeable gesture before it moved elsewhere. And as the hwardgon went elsewhere, I looked ahead once again. Briefly pondering the offer as I cleaned and emptied my pipe.
"Well, I always did hate the smell." I comment to myself. Agreeing to the terms without telling them.
.
.
.
"Hey, Mum, where you going?" my eldest asks me after I put on my shoes and sped out the door.
"Just doesn't sit right with me. So I am going to see the divine and pray for both of them." I tell him as I motion for him to close the door behind me. And, despite how late it was in this town famed for its decadent redlight. I was safe as I walked the streets on my way to the temple. And I made it just in time, for they had not closed yet.
"One final prayer?" the tired priest asked as I rushed in.
"I am sorry, Father, but I must get this out." I tell him as I appear before the single statue of Jhrarda the Mighty.
"Will you need guidance?"
"No, Father, my soul is clear." I tell him respectfully before I prostrated myself slowly before the statue. Holding in my breath while raising a palm up at the shining light leaving the statue. Regardless of how long it would take him, I trusted my god to deliver those women. To see that child reunited with his mother.
"The door is still open, so you are aware." the priest tells me before it booms shut behind me.
"Mighty Jhrarda, Saviour of our People. Wind-Carrier. The Hand which Delivered! I come before you to ask a simple, humble request. Two women and a child came to my modest hostel. Evil men have come for them and I beg you for their deliverance! Please, save them from those who have risen against them. Deliver the son back into the mother's arms and forgive the one who risks her life to right a wrong."
Breathing slowly as I reached the end of my prayer.
"Your will so be it." I finish off with as I rise back up to my feet. Hope in my words that the goodwill of the Lord is what prevails here. And while I walked in here uncertain. That prayer made me optimistic.
So I moved to leave the temple. Briefly staring back at the centre of this grand building before I turned to leave. But, I spotted the charity box before I left. And I pulled out some money to put in it.
"Do not think less of me for trying to grease your wheels, Mighty Jhrarda." I joke in apology before I leave and close the door. Thankfully, the door locked itself with me not having to do a thing. So I could leave knowing that I did not leave the temple vulnerable to vandals.
With a lighter conscience and heart, I then headed on back home. Yet I still could not help but look back at the direction I sent that woman. The rumours about that place were sinister... But they came out of the mouths of iniquitous men and their drunken ramblings.
I don't think I could forgive myself for sending her that way even if it was by her own initiative that she went. There was something wrong with the aelenvari that worked there. I could not put my finger on it as I only ever dealt with hearsay. But those two were in danger if that is where they needed to be...
Should my prayer reach the Mighty One in time, they could be saved. But as this war that has come to warp our town has proven. Prayer can take some time to morph into reality. Maybe it would help them, or maybe it would be too late...
"But I have no right to doubt you, do I?" I ask one of the Mighty's siblings as they shone high in the night sky. But, I did not let my mind linger in such cold places. I had a warm home to return to and fond memories to make with my customers and sons.
And I could only wish those two women the same pleasures that made life worth living. I wanted the mother to be able to move past her scars. For her family to reunite. While the other one I wanted to grow.
Most of all, I wanted them to be safe.