Inspector Rochelle
Giselle was of two minds about her current mission. She had been tasked as the Chief Inspector accompanying the Inquisitors and CPS troops that were about to storm the Slums. Because they were going to be searching all the brothels in the area, they were working with Hiram’s Temple, and they had sent their own Inquisitors. While Life and Family had an interest in the goings on, Her Temple only sent Tracers, specialized Inquisitors that could trace familial lines, to reunite any kidnapping victims and find sperm donors to force them to support their children. In rare instances, they even found a father that wanted the child they had spawned, a happy occasion to be sure but vanishingly rare.
This was all for the good, but the fact that this show of force was even needed pissed her off to no end. Why did the King, who was generally so protective of his subjects, allow his city to get so corrupt? Why did Justice and Law back the City Council when they banned her Temple from the Slums?
Her ruminations were interrupted when a man in tattered robes and a paper hat walked up to her. She eyed him askance, hand sitting on her sword.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” she asked.
“Toe-Licker and I want to lick your toes, but what I’m really here for is to act as your saneish Sorter for today. Madness in His Sanity has forced my faculties closer to this worlds norms to save his true Supplicants from the fate of the fakers,” Toe-Licker declared. With the creepiest smile Giselle had ever seen, he then asked. “Please let me lick your toes.”
Great, she thought, of course, Madness wouldn’t send a Keeper or Caregiver to act as a Chief Sorter. The Kings and Temple laws required that all those arrested for capital crimes be checked for insanity before execution. The Temple of Madness had taken on this responsibility centuries ago by simply ignoring the other Temples attempts to handle the issue with reason and tests. You never knew what you get from his Temple when one was requested, so a mostly sane man who wanted to lick toes actually wasn’t that bad.
“No, you may not lick my toes,” she replied. “If you behave, I’ll see if I can force some of the prisoners to let you lick them while you are Sorting.”
“Wonderful!” To-Licker squealed.
“We were just about to head in. Will you be joining us, or will you wait out here?” she asked. She then noticed that Toe-Licker was staring at a woman holding a cat across the street. The way he was licking his lips disturbed her greatly. “TOE-LICKER! Pay attention.”
He slowly tilted his head her way. “Sorry, Madness was speaking. He was telling me how many True Supplicants I was to find today. I will travel with you.”
“Oh, and just what did Madness have to say?” She asked.
Toe-Licker looked at her in genuine fear and surprise before his mouth seemed to open against his will, “ You will find two True Supplicants this day. ”
Gisselle fell to the ground as her eardrums burst, and her eyes and nose started to bleed. The woman across the street wasn’t hurt that badly. She only got a nosebleed. Her cat's head twisted in a full 360-degree circle yowling like a berserk banshee. That could have been from the Sorter's words, or the cat was just being a cat; Gisselle would never be sure.
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Toe-Licker gently touched the top of Giselle’s head, and her wounds instantly healed. He then walked over to the woman across the street and did the same. The cat groomed itself. When he returned, Toe-Licker helped Gisselle to her feet.
“Never ask what Madness has to say, He may answer, and the sane cannot handle His voice,” he said with all seriousness. He then dropped to his knees and attempted to take off her boots, mumbling about precious toes.
----
The Inquisitor’s had just finished clearing the first brothel, and it was looking like the information that Alessandra had implied from what the whores who had watched over her said was correct. They had found three girls and two boys, all under ten inside. One of them had been with a man whose clothing marked him as a mid-ranking noble, so there would be even more trouble than expected. The CPS officers were comforting the children as best they could while Toe-Licker and Gisselle walked past them. They had already checked the chained Madam and the man who had been with the girl when they raided the brothel. The other “workers” were being interrogated by other Inspectors and Investigators of both orders elsewhere.
“These children have been driven into my Patrons' arms unwillingly. He has informed me that your Counselors will be able to save their minds without His help. Regardless of this, He will help pull their minds back to them. The Madam and man you caught with the child may be punished according to Fluffy’s and Hiram’s law with His blessing. He will keep their minds from shattering until death,” Toe-Licker said surprisingly sanely. “I see why He chose a Supplicant for this task; I do not wish to remember that man or woman’s mind.”
Gisselle nodded in agreement, “I often wonder how I have not been driven into your Patrons arms with all the horrors I’ve seen.” She waved the officers towards the Slums exit, and they hustled the children away.
“That’s an easy question to answer,” Toe-Licker said, looking back from a barefoot passerby. “Madness sees your heart for your work and shields your mind from the horrors you see. Fluffy shields your soul from being damaged, allowing your love and compassion to drive your work, not anger and bitterness.” Toe-Licker said far more seriously than he had yet spoken. “Can I please lick your toes?”
----
Several hours later, all the brothels and several workshops had been raided. In all, the only brothel that had not had any victims had been the one whose whores had sheltered Alessandra. That Madam was in chains regardless because during interrogation it had been revealed that she had used them in the past, but her other workers had smuggled them away. They had found several abusers in the act of abuse, and they were awaiting punishment.
In most of the workshops that were raided, conditions and expected work for the children had been on the edge of acceptable for child laborers, i.e. carrying small objects or light cleaning. However, in several of them, conditions were unacceptable or worse. A blacksmith was killed outright by an Inquisitor, she had entered while he was beating his ‘apprentice’ with a still glowing shovel that apparently had some flaw in it. The inquisitor had been in such a rage that she had stabbed him through the back as soon as she saw what he was doing. The healer who had treated the child found evidence of many such beatings and had run off to vomit after giving his report. Gisselle had already cleared the Inquisitor of any wrongdoing and instructed her second to make sure that the healer talked to a Counselor. Now that they had gathered as many abusers as they could, it was time for the executions.
The Inquisitors of both Temples had stripped all the prisoners sentenced to death and had them lined up in front of the execution block. One Inquisitor for each condemned was standing beside the block holding an executioners pike. The first condemned was forced to bend over the block, exposing his backside. The Life Mage that would ensure the condemned stayed conscious throughout the execution signaled his readiness. The Inquisitor chosen for this condemned inserted the pike into the condemned man’s anus and pushed, forcing the pike up through his body. The man’s screams continued until his throat was ripped open by the pike head and his head ripped from his spine, ending his life as even an Archbishop of Life could have preserved a person’s life at that point. The Inquisitor lifted the pike upright, the executed man's head resting on the pike-head and, the rest of the body slid down the shaft to rest on crossguards made for that purpose and stepped aside. The next condemned was forced forward. Only thirty more to go, Inspector Rochelle thought; I wonder how many we missed by them not being here this day. Toe-Licker was happily licking the toes of one of the whores who had been kind to Alessandra.