Subaru rode home from Koi’s manor, deep in thought. He’d dispelled his Taiyang disguise after the first few miles.

So that went pretty well, Subaru mused. It seems like Koi is scared enough of me to do what I want. I also saw the stone greed on her face when I offered her that Year. She better be excited. That vial cost me one of Emilia’s precious days!

On the plus side, I created a viable relationship between Taiyang and… um well, ‘me,’ as well as a believable motivation for Taiyang to be hunting the spirits.

It was only while I was talking to Koi that I realized that Taiyang might have another use. Emilia’s and my goal remains to disappear and to get away from the royal selection and everything. But people aren’t going to just stop looking for us, even after Emilia’s memories are restored. No matter where we hide there is a good chance of people coming to find us. And after we cure her, everyone will remember that Emilia came from the Elior forest and tear it apart looking for us.

But if the whole world thinks that we’re dead…

Taiyang, that terrible monster, hunts down and murders the ‘noble hero,’ Subaru Natsuki.

Once I have the spirits back, all I need to do is arrange a convincing fireworks show and provide a pair of bodies burned beyond recognition.

Boom. Subaru and Emilia are both dead and nobody is looking for us anymore.

Everyone goes hunting for Taiyang and that means that they look right past a human and an elf living quietly in a cottage somewhere.

Eventually, after a year or two with no sightings, everyone just assumes that Taiyang went back to his slumber and he becomes a myth. Then we can live out our lives in peace and quiet.

Subaru got home late that night. He tried to creep inside quietly but he heard the girls chatting from the sitting room.

“Hey, Mili,” Subaru said, walking into the room. “I’m back.”

Emilia sat on the sofa while Anri was sitting in a chair close by.

“Welcome home, Subaru,” Emilia smiled. “We waited to eat until you could come back. Where did you go today?”

Subaru fought down another surge of jealousy. Emilia is so much happier now that stupid Anri is here. Why? Why wasn’t I enough?!

Subaru cleared his throat and sat down beside Emilia. “Well, I did get a few things done,” Subaru admitted. “I made contact with a criminal cartel and got them to look for the spirits. I also convinced them to stay out of the forest from now on.” Subaru frowned and then sighed and covered his eyes. “Unfortunately, I was an idiot and forgot to ask about the sal-ammoniac. I’ll need to go back there now and see if I can get some.”

“Sal-ammoniac?” Emilia asked, puzzled.

“It’s something I use to make your medicine,” He explained. Subaru glanced at Anri. “Oh. Good news,” Subaru said dolorously. “I got you your supplies. They’re supposed to arrive at Siros sometime the day after tomorrow.”

Anri’s jaw dropped. “You did all that in one night?!”

Emilia smiled broadly. “See, Anri?” Emilia said proudly. “I told you that you didn’t have to worry. Subaru will take care of all your problems. My Subaru can do anything!”

Yeah. I’m super good at solving everyone else’s problems. If only I could solve my own…

“I wouldn’t say that I solved her problems yet, Mili,” Subaru replied. “I just bought us a little time.”

“So, is our plan to go to Siros?” Emilia asked.

Subaru raised an eyebrow.

“Anri was telling me about a brilliant doctor who lives there,” Emilia explained.

Subaru gave Anri a cold look. She stared back at him innocently.

Subaru sighed. “Maybe. Before we head that way, I have an army to deal with. Or two…”

Emilia looked worried. “Subaru… you need to be careful,” She warned. “Don’t try to do too much…”

Subaru chuckled. “Whatever happened to ‘My Subaru can do anything?’” He teased.

Emilia looked conflicted.

After supper, Anri volunteered to help Emilia get ready for bed, something Subaru had seriously mixed feelings about but he understood that Emilia would be more comfortable having a girl assist her with certain things so he bit his tongue.

Subaru quickly did the dishes and then visited the lab.

Subaru took stock of his remaining supplies. Alright. I’m out of sal-ammoniac and I need that to refine Vitae from any more lives I collect. I need to get to Ganaks in the next few days. Ganaks is a huge city so I should be able to find what I need there.

Or conversely I need to ask Koi to get me some more supplies.

I also need to fix my cash flow problem. Soma is a potent stimulant and painkiller and it’s fairly easy to make if you know how. It would probably be a popular recreational drug. Daphne’s Acolytes enjoyed it. Not to the extend that they enjoyed Anima but still. I should be able to sell it for a hefty sum if I can make contact with the right distributor.

Lady Koi seems like a sensible choice. When I go to see her tomorrow night I’ll bring her some Soma and ask her what she’ll give me for it.

Is that something Taiyang would do? It doesn’t seem very ‘ancient witchy.’

Then again, everybody needs money. And maybe I could justify it by giving Koi a new source of revenue so she could do work for me more effectively?

Or maybe I could sell her Years? I mean, what would fetch a higher price than time itself?

But right now, each Year is precious. I don’t know if I dare squander them on gold. Emilia needs one every single day and I only have about thirty days left…

The next morning passed quietly. Subaru spent most of it fussing in the lab while Emilia and Anri talked about the books that they had been reading.

Shortly after lunch, Emilia decided to lay down.

Subaru returned to his lab and had just finished setting up the reactants for a batch of Soma when Anri came into the room.

“Subaru, Emilia’s in bed,” Anri murmured. “She fell asleep almost immediately.”

“OK,” Subaru said, focusing on his chemicals.

“Subaru, there’s… something I need to show you,” Anri said slowly.

Subaru sighed. “Another problem?” He asked wearily.

“Probably,” Anri said.

“Whatever. Spill it.”

“When I went out to the market this morning to buy food, I found this,” Anri reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Subaru frowned and picked up the paper.

Hey cunt-nuggets,

New orders, bitches. I assume you’ve at least managed to make camp at the forest by Daiwer’s ridge by now. Whatever. I’ll see you there tonight. I thought I finally had the little titless-wonder right where I wanted her but she managed to slip away again! There’s been no sign of her on the western border. You incompetent sluts have damn better found SOMETHING useful or I’ll rip you limb from limb. That little raspberry-boobed tramp Kairei is likely still running around the forest so make sure she doesn’t get past you. You’ve already blown this three times and I am so fucking done with the both of you. If Princess Flat-as-a-board-Easy-to-nail gets away, I’ll turn the both of you numb cunts into a big swarm of spiders.

At the bottom of the letter, the flowing elegant handwriting changed to kindergarten chicken-scratch where it said:

-Mother

“Well, that’s as clear as mud,” Subaru grumbled.

“But whoever it is, they’re looking for me,” Anri pointed out.

“Yeah. That’s not good. I’m guessing there’s no chance that these are friends of yours?”

Anri gave him a thin smile. “I’d like to think that my House’s shadows don’t hold me in this kind of contempt. And it doesn’t have any of the markers of the messages of our House. This message came from someone else.”

“House Griest?”

“They do seem to be the most likely candidates,” Anri admitted. “But I have no idea who ‘Mother’ could be. Sanshi doesn’t usually let women occupy positions of power. I doubt a woman runs their spy network.”

Subaru let ideas chase each other around in his head but they failed to lead anywhere. Instead, something else came to mind.

Subaru frowned. “Anri, how did you find this note?”

Anri started. “Oh! Well, I was… walking through town to buy some food and I… noticed a bush by the road and the letter was hidden under it.”

Subaru frowned at her. “You just happened to search under that specific bush?” Subaru asked with profound skepticism.

“I was given some training as a Shadow,” She said quickly. “Anyway, I noticed that this particular bush would be an ideal dead-drop for messages so I… just decided to check to see if any messages from Siros had been left there. There wasn’t-”

“But Griest or somebody else was using it as a dead-drop site,” Subaru finished in a skeptical tone.

That’s what happened,” Anri nodded.

Subaru squinted at Anri. That story is absolute fucking bullshit. The odds of her finding this letter the way that Anri claims it happened have got to be a million to one. At least a million to one. So… that’s three lies that she’s told me. Three lies that I know about!

Under any other circumstances I’d just boot Anri out of the house. She’s not staying here if I can’t trust her.

The problem is, I don’t have that option. Not only would getting rid of Anri put Emilia back into a depression, I can’t let Anri leave here without risking her ratting us out, on purpose or by accident.

A cold voice whispered to him, And you can’t kill her without risking Emilia finding out about it. That would be enough to send her into a full-blown breakdown.

Subaru jumped. Wait. Did I really just consider killing Anri simply out of expedience?

…I must be more stressed out than I thought.

Besides, even if I could get rid of Anri, I still need her to watch Emilia while I’m out…

Alright. Let’s think this through. Anri is lying to me. Why?

People lie for a reason. So this lie must benefit her in some way.

She lied to me about how she found us and she lied to me about how she got this paper.

Why? What’s the benefit of concealing her source of information to me?

…Shit. She wouldn’t really be hiding things from me just to preserve the sanctity of her stupid Shadow spy-network would she? She can’t be that dumb.

OK. Maybe she is that dumb. But are there any other reasons to conceal the source of her knowledge?

Maybe the note is bait? Whoever-it-is sent Anri with the message to lure me out of hiding?

No, that’s bullshit. It doesn’t make sense. If Griest or whoever bought off Anri… let’s just say for the sake of argument that Griest promised Anri that she could keep her own head in exchange for mine. From what I’ve heard, I don’t think Griest would keep that bargain in a million years but that’s beside the point.

If Anri was working for whoever-it-is then there’s no point to luring me anywhere. They would have an inside asset here who knew where I was and what I was doing and they could have just come crashing through the door whenever they felt like it.

Maybe they’re trying to get me out of the house to get to Emilia?

Well… who’s they? Griest? Same problem. They’ll know when I leave and they can just wait until I did.

No. I don’t think this is bait.

I really don’t trust Anri right now but I think that the letter is genuine.

So what do I do with this information?

Maybe you should go, A quiet voice in Subaru’s mind whispered. You can find out who’s looking for Anri and hopefully squeeze some valuable information out of them.

Subaru mulled it over for a long moment. “Anri,” He said in a neutral voice. “What do you think I should do?”

“Do about what?”

“About that letter.”

Anri blinked. “Um… maybe we could rewrite the letter to tell whoever-it-is to go far away and then hide it under the bush again so they find it?” She suggested.

Subaru squinted at her. I seriously doubt that would work. I don’t know how bright Griest’s agents are but they would probably have some misgivings about those kind of orders. And the idea also depends on us being good enough at forgery to fool them and that’s something I wouldn’t want to bet on.

Alright, if Anri has no idea what she wants me to do about this, then it probably isn’t bait.

At least it isn’t her bait.

Subaru made a face. My instincts tell me I should go investigate this. I just hope that I’m not biting off more than I can chew.

“Anri, do you know what ‘Daiwer’s ridge’ refers to?” Subaru murmured to Anri.

Anri nodded. “It’s a little mountain not far from here where centuries ago, Prince Daiwer was said to have held off a Lagunican army for three weeks. I’ve been there plenty of times. It’s a fun place to explore or go camping.”

“And is there a forest near there?”

“Yeah, a small one. Subaru, are you going to go…looking for these guys?”

“We need to find out what they’re up to,” Subaru said in a distracted voice as he began to connect a group of flasks together with tubing.

“Subaru! These could be assassins from House Griest! Do you have any idea how dangerous these people are?!” Anri gasped. “They’ve killed my entire escort!”

“Trust me, I can handle whoever they are. I need to finish making a few things and then I’ll head toward Kocytos. I need to take care of some stuff tonight so I might not be back until sometime tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?!” Anri protested.

“I want you to sit here and take care of Emilia until I get back,” Subaru said.

“You’re going alone!?” Anri asked incredulously.

“I can handle it,” Subaru said again with an edge in his voice. “Don’t let Emilia come looking for me! Chain her to the wall if you have to!”

“Subaru, she can’t walk,” Anri reminded him.

Subaru sighed. “I wouldn’t put it past her,” He whispered in a morose tone. “Emilia has a remarkable reserve of willpower.”

Anri opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again, looking awkward. Subaru didn’t notice.

He sighed and showed Anri the tiny, sealed bottles of Vitae that he had made. “Listen. Emilia needs a dose of the Vitae every twenty four hours. Her next dose is after dinner time but I probably won’t be back by then.”

“Wow,” Anri murmured. “I never realized that you knew so much about medicine.”

Yeah, all I had to do was sell my finger to a witch and eat her finger in return. I learned all kinds of cool stuff! I sure wish that school had been that easy.

As the day started to fade, a twelve year old girl with dark hair tended the campfire deep in the forest. She was trying to skin some kind of small animal. The girl’s name was Meili.

Meili wasn’t having much luck preparing the carcass for human consumption which was why the beast was hard to identify as anything more specific than ‘animal.’

Honestly, Meili didn’t really see the point of skinning her food before eating it. Meili had been raised in the wild by mabeasts. She never used to bother removing the skin from her meals but Big Sis had been most insistent on Meili learning how to behave like a normal human in order to blend in better so Meili had gone along with it.

Meili heard a twig snap behind her. “Hey, Big Sis,” Meili called, not bothering to turn around.

Meili had no doubts about who was there. Any stranger would have taken one look at the campsite and run away in fear because the campsite was absolutely overrun with mabeasts.

Meili lay back against a massive Guiltylowe, using the napping monster as a pillow. A small pack of wolgarm lounged nearby, enjoying the heat from the campfire. Tiny black birds with red eyes perched in the branches of nearby trees and a few small possum-like mabeasts called Banassi lounged around on the ground.

The mabeasts all belonged to Meili who had been able to control the mabeasts as far back as she could remember. Because of her Divine Blessing, Meili and the mabeasts could sense each other’s thoughts and the mabeasts had accepted Meili into the pack as one of their own. She’d grown up in the wilds with nothing but mabeasts for company until two years ago when on Mother’s orders, Elsa had ventured into the wilds to bring back Meili as one of Mother’s newest Children. Meili had spent months locked in a kennel, slowly being taught how to speak and act like a human.

Mother’s Nannies specialized in breaking the will of children so that they would grow up to worship Mother and be willing to die for her. Meili had been one of their most difficult cases. Not because of her strong will but because the Nannies simply didn’t understand how to cope with a child that couldn’t speak the language, had no experience with other humans, and simply didn’t understand what was being asked of it. Mother almost certainly would have lost patience with Meili and executed her but Elsa took an interest in the girl and began to visit Meili’s kennel regularly. Elsa would remember to feed Meili when the Nannies did not. Meili quickly bonded with Elsa and began to emulate her. This had ultimately saved her life as Meili slowly became capable of impersonating a normal human being to carry out Mother’s orders. The two had been as close as sisters ever since.

Elsa approached the monster-infested camp without any visible concern. Although she did look at the food that Meili was trying to prepare with clear trepidation.

“Good news, Meili,” Elsa said calmly. “I stopped in Stoneybrooke and I got us dinner.”

Meili sighed and looked with chagrin at the ragged remains of the carcass that she had been skinning. Then she shrugged and threw the tattered animal into the bushes.

A few of the Banassi lunged at the bloody carcass and sank their teeth into it but it only took them a few moments to realize that it was dead. After this, they immediately lost all interest in tearing it to pieces and left the ragged animal where it lay.

“Anything else going on?” Meili asked as Elsa sat down beside her.

“The village is terrified of something. I never got the details. I also checked all the local drop spots. No new orders from Mother,” Elsa said, pulling two loaves of cheese-bread out of her satchel and handing one to Meili.

Meili bit into one. “That’s not too strange,” She said through a mouthful of bread.

“No. But it might be a problem this time,” Elsa said in a vague, dreamy voice.

“About what?”

“I almost had that Princess the other day. Mother Capella left me a note telling me exactly where she was. I went after her but then this strange woman stopped me.”

“Wait. Stopped you?” Meili said in disbelief.

Elsa nodded. “The woman had a strange power. She just… healed her wounds instantly. Like Mother could do.”

Meili’s eyes widened. “Well… Damn. If she’s like Mother then you don’t want to fight her!” Meili said firmly.

Elsa shrugged. “I know. But this is the second time that I let the Princess slip through my fingers. If I don’t find her soon…” She said in a vague voice.

Meili gave Elsa a worried look. Over the past few months, Elsa had seemed more and more disconnected from everything. She was as efficient a killer as ever but her emotions and moods had become… muted by Mother’s regular magical rituals. Now she was discussing her own slow and torturous death in a tone of utter disinterest.

Meili bit her lip. “Look, Big Sis, you’re already on thin ice with Mother,” Meili reminded her. “Last month after you failed to make your kill in the Lagunican capitol because of the Sword Saint, she was terribly angry with you. Remember how she changed you into a spotted toad and put you into a maze full of grass snakes?”

Elsa nodded. “She told me that if I could escape the snakes and find the end of the maze, she’d turn me back. Otherwise, the snakes would eat me,” Elsa said very matter-of-fact. “I escaped but Mother pretended not to notice at first. She ignored me, hoping that the snakes would pick up my trail and follow me out to eat me. Finally, she got bored and changed me back. I don’t even want to think about what Mother will do to me if I fail her again,” Elsa finished, sounding bemused.

Meili nodded. “I get why you’re worried, Big Sis. But now that I’m here, we can use my pets to track the Princess down. Tomorrow, we’ll get her scent and we can follow her to wherever hole she’s hiding in. She’ll be dead before Mother loses her temper.”

Elsa thought for a moment. “Maybe we should start tonight,” Elsa murmured vaguely. “I feel like I’m living on borrowed time…”

Meili shrugged. “Whatever you want, Big Sis.”

“Your time is up!” A scratchy voice shouted.

The girls both leaped to their feet as a short, blond girl stepped into the firelight. She was wearing a skintight black outfit that left her shoulders bare. She wore tights, a flashy, red half-skirt, and a black bodice. Her eyes were red and they blazed with a lunatic zeal. The mabeasts all around the camp whimpered at the newcomer and they quickly crept backwards.

Elsa looked worried now. Capella’s presence was frightening enough to cut through her bemused numbness. “Hello, Mother,” She whispered.

“Elsa,” Capella said reflectively. “Why did I think you could do this? This one simple thing? I give you a chance to make your beloved Mother happy and what do you do?”

“We… can still find the Princess, Mother,” Meili whispered, trembling.

“I was not talking to you!” Capella screamed, pointing at Meili. Meili flinched and leaped behind Elsa, shivering violently.

Capella face-palmed with a moan. “All you had to do was kill that faggot and his elf-slut and you couldn’t even do that properly,” Capella sighed in resignation.

“Who?” Elsa said in confusion. “Mother, you never mentioned wanting me to kill an elf-”

“Instead,” Capella snarled, clearly not listening to a word Elsa said, “I had to kill the elf-slut personally because you couldn’t be bothered to kill her! You were trying to kill the princess!”

“Mother,” Elsa whispered, knowing how dire it would be to contradict Capella but knowing that she had no good options anyway. “You told me to kill the princess. I was trying to do what you said and make you happy. Because… I love you so much…” She said vaguely.

Capella closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath. “You realize that it’s a big world out there. There are thousands of sad and lonely little children all across this continent who lie awake at night, dreaming of my love. But I choose to open my heart to you. And all I ask in return is that you suffer and sacrifice for my happiness because I fucking deserve all of the happiness in the fucking world!” She hissed. “But you’re too selfish, aren’t you? My love isn’t enough for you. It’s never enough. You’ve both very bad little girls and bad little girls need to be punished!”

Any faint hope Elsa had of talking Capella down vanished. Elsa’s mind was had been wrapped in a protective numbness for weeks but the thought of Meili dying enabled her to shake out of the fog.

Elsa drew her daggers. “Meili! Run!” She shouted, diving at Capella.

Elsa knew that she was dead. She had no more hope of wounding Mother than a kitten attacking a dragon but if she could distract Mother for a few minutes, maybe she could buy Meili enough time to escape.

It was nice to think so anyway.

Meili leaped onto her Guiltylowe and the beast bolted out of the clearing and into the dark forest, followed by her other mabeasts.

Elsa slammed her daggers into Capella forehead and buried them up to the hilt.

For a moment, Elsa wondered if maybe she had managed to hurt Capella but then the little blond girl flashed Elsa a lunatic grin.

The next thing Elsa knew, she was flying backwards, her chest in searing pain.

Elsa crashed through the underbrush, hitting the ground hard. She tried to rise to her knees but her chest felt like it had been crushed.

Mother must have broken a few ribs… Elsa thought as Capella strolled over to her with a feverish smile.

I’m so sorry, Big Sis! Meili wailed in her mind as she fled through the dense underbrush. I don’t want to leave you but there’s nothing I can do! Mother will rip me apart. I’m sorry, Big Sis! I can’t help! If I stay, I’m just going to die! I’m so, so sorry!

Meili’s mind echoed with guilt and self-loathing as she abandoned the person dearest to her in all the world and fled into the inky night.

“Bad girl,” Capella hissed, pulling the long knives out of her forehead with all the care and attention a normal person would pay to removing a thorn stuck in their shirt sleeve. “Trying to hurt Mama?! Oh. Bad girls need to be punished.”

The enormous gash in Capella’s forehead quickly knitted shut. “All the love that I wasted on you!” Capella shouted in fury. “I, the immortal, captivating, sensuous, mysterious, beautiful…” Capella groped for another adjective.

“Humble,” Subaru said calmly, stepping into the firelight behind Capella. “You forgot ‘humble.’”

Meili, mounted on her Guiltylowe crashed through the underbrush without any clear idea where she was going as long as it was away from Mother.

Suddenly Meili realized that she was flying and she heard the Guiltylowe roar.

Meili decided that her pet must have stepped into a gopher hole or something similar and stumbled and now Meili found herself crashing and rolling down a steep ridge.

Meili crashed down hard on the path below. She shook her head and groggily got to her knees.

Her eyes widened as she saw huge claws charging right at her.

At the last moment, the claws swerved aside.

“Meili?!” A voice shouted in disbelief.

Meili blinked and her eyes slowly adjusted. The claws belonged to a black riding dragon and a hooded man rode on top of it.

“Meili, what the hell are you doing here?!”

Meili started at being addressed by name by the stranger but she had no time to wonder about that. She needed to get out of here or she’d die alongside her Big Sis.

Big Sis is sacrificing her life to give me a chance to escape. I have to get away. I have to.

But how?

Meili hesitated and as she did, she saw the man pull back his hood.

Meili’s jaw dropped. It was Subaru Natsuki, the goofball she’d known in Arlem who somehow had the power to slay a troll with a single blow. “Meili, what’s going on? What are you doing way out here?”

Meili very much wanted to ask him the same question but there was no time for that. Meili remembered the Gusteko attack at Arlem.

A desperate hope lit up in her heart. If he can distract Mother, maybe Elsa and I can get away!

“Subaru!” She shouted, quickly getting to her feet and mentally ordering her mabeasts back before he saw them. “My sister is being attacked!”

Capella slowly turned around to look at Subaru.

Elsa could barely move and her hood obscured her vision. She’d gotten to her hands and knees but that was all she was capable of. She barely swallowed a scream when she felt Meili slide into her and hold her close, jostling her broken bones.

Capella stared at Subaru in disbelief. “What the fuck are you doing here?” She asked almost politely.

“I was looking for a five copper whore,” Subaru replied in a similar voice. “Lucky I ran into you, huh?”

Capella smiled up at Subaru. “How’s your little tramp?” She cooed. “I’m sure her death was just terrible.”

Subaru’s face darkened. “Her death?” He repeated.

“Yes. I heard all about that curse.”

“Hm. How did you hear about that?” Subaru asked distantly.

Capella flashed him a lunatic grin and burst out in laughter. “Because I’m the one who cursed her, you stupid faggot!”

Capella laughed uproariously. Her shrieks of maniacal laughter echoed all through the forest.

Subaru stood there patiently with a dead face and glittering eyes, waiting for Capella to finish.

Finally Capella regained control and she sneered at Subaru, “What did it feel like, burying your little slut?”

“Oh, she’s not dead. She’s actually doing fine,” Subaru replied. “It turns out that your curses are almost as potent as your cleavage.”

Capella’s jaw dropped and her eyes glittered dangerously.

Elsa had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on or who this stranger was. She was just grateful to have been at least temporarily dismissed from Mother’s attention.

“So,” Capella whispered in a friendly voice that sent a shiver down Meili’s spine. Meili knew that Mother only talked like this when she was seconds away from losing all control and ripping someone to pieces. “What brings you out here tonight, Pride?”

“Well, I found your letter. Honestly, I’m almost embarrassed I didn’t realize that you were the author. Nobody else in the world talks like you. I came out there just hoping to pick up some information,” Subaru muttered. “But I was lucky enough to run into you and I thought maybe you could give me something.”

“I’m not really about giving, Pride,” Capella said sweetly. “I deserve everything in the world so everything should come to me. ‘Giving’ is a violation of the natural order.”

Subaru ignored her. “The medicine I made is working OK on my wife but I think it would be much faster if you’d just give me the antidote.”

Capella’s fake smile twisted into a very nasty grin. “There is no antidote, you chunky fuck!”

“Oh. Huh,” Subaru mused. “Then I guess all I can really get from you is an outlet to vent my frustration.”

“You can’t kill me, Pride,” Capella taunted. “I’m immortal.”

Subaru shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to settle for making you hurt then.”

Faster than Meili’s eyes could follow, Capella shaped her arms into two great sickles and slashed at the Subaru’s throat like a praying mantis.

But Subaru had been replaced by some shadowy silhouette and Capella’s blow didn’t seem to affect him at all. Her blades almost seemed to bounce off his neck.

A violent wind kicked up and the stranger was the heart of it. The campfire went out like a candle and the clearing became very dark and very cold.

Subaru grabbed Capella’s head and held on tight.

Capella gave a strangled squeal and tried to jump back but Subaru’s grip was iron and her body was moving in jerky, staccato motions. Her blade arms were suddenly looking… lumpy, like old modeling clay.

“Get off me!” Capella screamed, shaking her head violently. Her voice sounded as if she was talking through a mouthful of jelly.

She couldn’t shake the stranger off until she pulled up her leg and kicked him violently in the chest, knocking him back a few steps.

“Wow!” The stranger said in a reluctantly impressed voice that was deep as the sea. “You taste great, Capella! I’ve never gotten that much mana from anyone! I take back what I said earlier. You’re totally worth six coppers.”

Capella shook her head violently. She looked nauseous. She took a deep breath and her body returned to its normal shape and coloring, no longer looking like a rough clay-figurine of the Sin Archbishop. “What the fuck did you just do to me?” She screamed in outrage.

Meili shook her head. I’ve never heard Mother sound like that before. I bet Mother has never been this furious but I think that maybe she’s scared too.

The stranger laughed. It was a cold inhuman sound. “Just helping myself to a little snack,” He said, marching over to Capella. “And I want more!”

Capella flinched backwards. Meili had never seen her flinch before.

Capella’s hand grew claws six inches long and she slashed at him but the stranger dodged effortlessly.

He was moving much faster and more fluidly than he had been before while Capella seemed to be staggering. Her movements were sluggish and her shape-shifting was happening in slow-motion. Subaru dodged her every blow by inches, his darkness reducing him to flickering image as he danced around Capella’s flailing limbs. His movements reminded Meili of Big Sis. When Elsa felt that she was truly out of her foe’s league, she would sometimes amuse herself by dodging or sidestepping by no more than a hair to drill it into her foe just how outclassed they were before finishing the job.

Subaru kept grabbing Capella and holding on tight. Each time Capella gave a squawk of protest and fought to break his grip. Each time, her movements slowed and her body grew more rough and poorly shaped like a child’s model made of play-dough.

Capella’s body was now lumpy and cumbersome. She staggered as if drunk. She swung at Subaru and Subaru sidestepped, slipping under her guard. Subaru punched her square in the chest and her chest and stomach blew out the back of her body, leaving her head and limbs standing there incongruously on top of an empty torso.

Capella could only stare at the gaping hole in her torso in disbelief. Her severed parts had liquefied and were coming back to her body but they came slowly, rolling and crawling along ponderously like molasses on an icy morning.

The stranger grabbed her throat.

Capella squealed and fought to pry off his hands but Subaru held on tight. Capella tried to push him away but she seemed exhausted. She staggered and fell down on her back, gasping for breath.

Her severed pieces finally rejoined her body but she just lay there panting.

The Subaru’s shadow disappeared and the cold wind faded. He looked at Capella with a huge smile. “Delicious,” He smirked.

Capella coughed. “What did… you do to me… faggot?” She whispered.

“Weird. I’m surprised you’re still alive. I mean, I wanted to question you,” Subaru said casually. “But I kinda lost control there and nearly drained you to the dregs. Everyone else I drained that low turned into a dessicated corpse. Not you though.”

Capella looked like she was struggling to move. She could barely lift her head but she glared at Subaru venomously. “I’m… immortal,” She spat.

“Anyway, I have other things to do so why don’t you tell me how you cursed Emilia so we can get this over with?” Subaru asked.

Capella struggled to gather the breath to answer. “I fed her some of my blood,” She whispered.

Subaru scowled. “Damn, Capella. Everything about you is poisonous! I thought it was just your fashion sense!”

“Fuck you,” Capella whispered.

“So how do I cure it?”

“There is no cure! It’s Black Dragon Blood!” Capella spat, fighting to sit up. It took her three tries but she ultimately succeeded.

Subaru frowned down at her. “Huh. You’re the first person who managed to get up after I drained them.”

Capella hissed at him through clenched teeth. “You’re dead, Pride. You’re dead.” A pair of black, feathery wings slowly sprouted from Capella’s shoulders and her voice gained strength. “You’re fucking dead!” Capella shot straight up into the air.

Subaru dashed toward her but it was too late. She flew over the trees and was gone.

“Well, shit,” Subaru muttered.

Meili stared in amazement as Mother actually ran away.

Elsa groaned in pain. She lay trembling in Meili’s lap.

“Meili.”

Meili started and saw Subaru looking down at her.

“Is this your sister?” He asked. “I didn’t even know you had a sister!”

Meili nodded. “Thank you so much, Subaru,” Meili murmured.

“Are you alright?” Subaru asked.

Elsa wheezed. “I think Mother broke my ribs!” She gasped.

Meili bit her lip. “We’ll find you a healer!” She promised.

“Good luck,” Subaru grumbled. “They’re hard to find around here. The competent ones anyway. Is there anyplace nearby you two can stay?”

Meili shook her head. “We need to run before Mother comes back!” Meili said.

Subaru made a face. “I know what that’s like,” He murmured. “It’s tough being on the run…”

Elsa fought to get off her hands and knees to no avail. Every movement felt like the bone fragments in her chest were sawing into her body.

Meili helplessly held her sister as she gasped and wheezed in pain.

Meili looked up to ask Subaru for help and noticed that his face was frozen in a mask of indecision.

Finally, he sighed. “Alright, Meili,” He grumbled, pulling a small blue bottle out of his robe. “You owe me big for this but you and your sister need to clear out before she comes looking for you again.”

Subaru knelt down beside the girl and the hooded woman and poured the blue liquid on her sizable chest.

Her chest glowed blue for a moment and then her breathing calmed.

“Big Sis?” Meili asked.

Elsa looked at Meili in disbelief. “I feel great!” She exclaimed in wonder. “I haven’t felt this good in years! I almost feel like…” She trailed off.

Subaru stood up. “Yeah, great,” He muttered. “Sit still for a few minutes while your body knits itself back together. Look, let’s back up a little here. Meili, what are you doing way out here? And why was Capella after you two? I didn’t even know you had a sister. I thought you said you were an orphan.”

Meili hesitated. Normally she would have had a plausible story all lined up to hand her benefactors but this had been a most stressful night and she found herself flailing for ideas. Worse, no matter how she thought about it, there was really no way to explain them being way out here and Mother coming after them in any way that made sense.

As she so often did when she was conflicted, she fell back on Big Sis’s lessons.

An unpleasant truth is always better than an unbelievable lie.

Elsa sat there silently. She didn’t know Subaru or how to manipulate him but she trusted Meili to play things to their best advantage.

“OK,” Meili said slowly. “You just saved our lives, Subaru, so… I’ll level with you.”

Subaru blinked. Meili wasn’t acting like the shy, little girl he remembered. As Subaru watched, her voice and eyes had grown harder as if she had just stepped out of a character she’d been playing. She almost reminded him of Felt.

“Big Sis and I used to work for Mother,” Meili said, deciding that it would be best to make the relationship sound further past tense than it really was.

“Mother?”

Meili snorted. “That charming lady you just chased away,” Meili explained.

Subaru’s eyes bulged out. “You worked for Capella?! You’re Witch Cultists?!”

Meili blinked. “Witch Cultists?” She asked in confusion. “What the heck does the Witch Cult have to do with anything?”

Subaru stared at her for a moment. “Your ‘Mother’ is a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult.”

This time it was Meili’s eyes that bulged out. “What?!”

Subaru frowned. “You really didn’t know?”

Meili shook her head and glanced at Elsa. Elsa still had her hood pulled low but she was sitting up now and no longer seemed to be in pain. Elsa gave Meili an equivalent head shake.

“Nah. That’s news to us. Although, it would explain a lot,” Meili admitted.

Subaru made a face. “Then… what did you do for her?”

“Well… We killed people,” Meili said matter-of-fact.

Subaru’s jaw dropped. “What?!”

Meili shrugged. “Come on, Subaru, it’s not like it was our idea, OK? Mother would tell us to do stuff and we’d run out and do it. She usually told us to steal things for her or to kill people.”

“Why would you do any of that for Capella?!”

“Huh? Is ‘Capella’ what you call Mother?” Meili asked curiously.

“Yes. Her name is Capella,” Subaru said impatiently. “Why do you call her ‘Mother?’”

“Uh, because she said she’d kill us if we didn’t?” Meili said incredulously. “We didn’t exactly volunteer to work for Mother, you know! She doesn’t have recruitment drives. She kidnaps and tortures people and then she uses us to do jobs for her until we died on the job or failed a mission. And after that she’d destroy us in a bunch of horrible ways just for a laugh!”

Subaru hesitated, digesting that. “Why were you in Arlem?”

“I don’t know.”

Subaru looked at her skeptically.

Meili threw up her arms. “I don’t know!” She said helplessly. “Mother told me to go there and put on my cute, innocent, orphan routine and then wait for further instructions. I never got any. I just spent a few months being chased around the village by Lucas and Petra and then Mother sent Big Sis to pull me out of there. I never even did anything while I was there.”

Subaru thought for a moment. “Where you one of the people looking for the Princess?”

This conversation isn’t going anywhere good now. I doubt he’d believe a lie though after he managed to find us out here… “Well, I was supposed to start looking for her tomorrow along with Big Sis but I guess Mother ran out of patience,” She muttered.

Subaru glared at her.

“What?” Meili protested. “What should I have done? Told Mother I didn’t feel like killing this Princess cause she never did anything bad to me? Can you even begin to imagine what Mother would have done to me if I’d refused her orders?!”

Subaru’s face calmed a little. “I have an idea of what she’d do,” He admitted.

“See? Big Sis and I don’t want to kill people,” Meili said, knowing this wasn’t entirely true. “We just… never had a choice.”

Subaru scratched his chin. “OK, so now what? You guys have a place to hide?”

“Not really,” Meili admitted. “The only places to hide we know about are the spots where Mother’s other children group up to do jobs.”

“Other children?” Subaru echoed. “There are more of you?”

“Lots more,” Meili answered. “I have no idea how many though.”

Subaru made a face. “Well, I don’t have many ideas for you. Maybe you could go back to Arlem? They’d probably take you in again.”

“That won’t work,” Elsa said, slowly getting to her feet.

Subaru frowned. Meili’s sister’s voice sounded familiar. “What do you mean?”

“Mother always finds us,” Elsa whispered.

Meili nodded. “No one has ever escaped Mother and lived to tell it. There’s a rumor that Mother has a magic book that tells her wherever her children are located.”

“A magic book?” Subaru asked.

Elsa nodded. “It’s just a rumor but I can personally vouch for the fact that no one who has tried to run away from Mother has ever survived. She drags them back and makes us watch her slowly reduce them to something unspeakable.”

Subaru frowned. “Well… that complicates things…”

“It does,” Elsa agreed. “So I was wondering if we might be able to reach another agreement.”

“What sort of agreement?”

Meili could guess what her Big Sis was thinking. “Need a couple of killers?” Meili asked brightly.

Subaru’s jaw dropped. “What the hell is wrong with you two?!”

“Well, being trained by Mother didn’t help,” Meili admitted. “But Big Sis has a point. Escaping from Mother doesn’t seem to be a realistic possibility. So our best bet would be to seek employment with someone that Mother is scared of.”

Subaru raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if I’d say she’s scared of me,” Subaru replied.

“Well, I would,” Meili replied. “I’ve never heard her sound like that. And I never even imagined her running away from anybody.”

Subaru scratched his chin. “Why would I need hired killers?” Subaru asked dubiously. “I’m way stronger than both of you combined.”

“But we have abilities you don’t!” Meili broke in.

“Such as?” Subaru asked, crossing his arms.

Meili smirked.

Subaru turned his head as he heard branches snapping in the woods. Then he saw red eyes moving deep in the shadows. A pack of wolgarm, a Guiltylowe, as well as a group of possum and bat-like monsters appeared. In moments, the woods were swarming with small and medium sized mabeasts.

“I don’t think you ever met my pets,” Meili said sweetly.

“No,” Subaru said calmly, marching right up to the Guiltylowe and inspecting it closely. “I don’t think I did. You can control mabeasts?”

Meili frowned. What is he doing? She wondered. Is Subaru really stupid enough to walk right up to a monster that could rip his head off in one bite? Does he really trust me that much to control them? Does he really trust me that much period?

Maybe this isn’t a good idea after all. This guy is an idiot. He’s looking at that Guiltylowe like he expects it to heel.

Meili frowned and looked more closely at her favorite beast. To her shock, the great mabeast’s head was down and its expression was sullen. Normally a person getting those close to a Guiltylowe would have been ripped to shreds or it would have taken all of Meili’s powers of persuasion to restrain it. This Guiltylowe seemed to be fighting to look anywhere except at Subaru.

Subaru walked around the mabeasts, inspecting them. “Where the hell did you get a Guiltylowe?”

“I found him.”

Ask a dumb question, Subaru thought with a sigh. “I mean, how are you controlling it?”

“I don’t know. I was raised by mabeasts.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“No!” Meili said pertly. “I’ve lived with the mabeasts all my life. Honestly, I like them better than most people. Then Mother sent Big Sis to find me and bring me back a few years ago so that she could teach me how to be human.”

Subaru barked a laugh. “Oh, yeah. Capella, the ultimate judge of how to be human!”

Meili shrugged. “No argument here. Look, I can’t fight myself,” Meili admitted. “But my pets will rip anyone I point them at to shreds so I’ll be fine dealing with whomever you want killed.”

“Impressive,” Subaru said in a ‘good try, little girl’ kind of voice.

Meili’s jaw dropped in disbelief but before she could respond, something caught her attention.

Meili’s Divine Blessing allowed her to not only control mabeasts but also to share their thoughts and senses to an extent. And what she was picking up right now was making her feel increasingly unsettled.

Meili had only seen this reaction a few times before but she instantly recognized it: the mabeasts were afraid.

Something is very wrong here, Meili thought. It takes a very special kind of monster to make a Guiltylowe feel nervous. They never even treated Mother like this.

The mabeasts were all glaring at Subaru but rather than closing in on him they seemed more to be debating whether to attack or run for their lives.

Meili’s Guiltylowe, which was an apex predator in nearly any environment, was behaving unrealistically submissive right now. Instead of growling at Subaru who was right up in its face, it looked away and gave a faint whimper. Something about Subaru was making the monster feel off-balance.

Her Guiltylowe looked at Subaru with the kind of reluctant respect and deference that such an able predator reserves only for far superior ones. Meili had only seen such a reaction in her favorite monster when the Guiltylowe had been forced into contact with an overwhelmingly powerful mabeast such as a Snow Blight or a Shadow Weaver.

Something about Subaru had triggered an impulse in the Guiltylowe that said: ‘Submit.’ Some instinct buried deep in its psyche was warning the mabeast that attacking this man, even in self-defense, would be a big mistake.

“I’m rather good myself,” Elsa added, her voice sounding more animated than Meili had heard in months. “I’m an excellent fighter.”

Subaru’s head snapped around and he stared intently at Elsa.

Meili felt her mouth run dry.

“You sound familiar,” Subaru whispered, trying to peer at her face under her hood.

He knows Big Sis! That can’t be good!

Elsa and Meili shared a long, worried look and then Elsa slowly pulled back her hood.

Subaru recoiled, his eyes bulging out comically. “Elsa?!”

Elsa tried to moisten her lips. “Have… we met?”

Subaru looked both aghast and annoyed. “So… you don’t even remember our last encounter!”

Elsa thought for a moment and then shook her head. “No. I’m afraid not,” Elsa said tentatively.

Subaru looked very annoyed. “Yeah. I guess with all the people you kill, all the lives you’ve destroyed, it’s really hard to keep track of the wreckage you leave behind!” He said in an overly bright tone. Subaru took a deep breath and then ground his teeth. “Congratulations, Elsa! Now I’m royally pissed off!” He snapped.

Subaru started to march toward Elsa but Meili jumped in front of her. “Wait! Big Sis didn’t kill people because she wanted to! Mother made her!”

Not entirely true but he might believe it!

Subaru looked at her incredulously. “Meili! Your ‘Big Sister’ is a psychotic serial-killer! She’s wiped out whole villages!”

“Only because Mother made her!”

“She likes to torture people!” Subaru snapped back. “She does it for fun!”

Meili shook her head violently.“No! Big Sis only did bad things when Mother made her!”

“It’s actually not that cut and dry,” Elsa said calmly.

Meili's eyes bugged out. What is she doing?!

Then Meili noticed that Subaru was frowning at her but he was at least listening for the moment.

Elsa took a moment and considered her words, knowing full well that they might be her last. “The violence wasn’t… entirely my fault. I can show you.”

Subaru glowered at her. “Elsa, you nearly cut me in half and you tried to kill my wife. I am literally this close,” Subaru held his fingers an inch apart, “To smashing you into dust so whatever you’re going to say, make it fast.”

Elsa nodded and brought her hands to the top of her extremely revealing gown.

Meili’s jaw dropped as Elsa opened a clasp and her dress fell off. Elsa stood there naked except for her tights.

“Whoah!” Subaru jumped back and turned his head away. “That is not helping your case! I just told you, I’m married!”

“I’m not trying to entice you,” Elsa said calmly. “I always had a rule about not selling my body but if you’ll only let us live if we both pleasure you then of course that’s on the table,” Her voice was matter-of-fact.

Subaru looked aghast.

“There’s something I’d like to show you, if you think could stand to look for a moment,” Elsa said calmly.

Subaru sighed and reluctantly looked at the mostly naked Elsa.

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He frowned. Elsa’s beautiful, pale skin was marred in dozens of places by tiny scars and each one was perfectly straight and identical in length as if someone had drawn them all over her body.

“What are those?” Subaru asked, pointing at the scars.

Elsa sighed. “Mother has a special art that allows her to empower her children temporarily. She calls them ‘corpse dolls.’ When Mother needed me to fight and kill someone too tough for me, she carved their name on my body in runes. This has the effect of rendering me immortal until the target dies but I was also incapable of doing anything but killing everyone who came across me until the target was dead.”

Subaru frowned, considering that. “Bullshit. I don’t buy it. That’s way too powerful a trick to exist. It makes you immortal?”

“There are caveats,” Elsa admitted. “Each time you die during the job you will come back but each time you give up a bit more of your mind and soul. Normally after the doll kills their target they turn to cinders and die as well. I was able to bypass this. Mother never figured out why but I survived being a corpse doll. So she kept using me as one. I survived each job but each one cost me something as well. Every time I became a curse doll, a little piece of me perished. It became… harder to feel any emotions except for the ones caused by violence. When I was sent out to kill people, I took my time with it. It was the only way I could feel pleasure anymore…”

Subaru sneered at her. “Is that your excuse?” He asked in disgust. “You tortured people because it made you feel good?!”

“It was all I could feel,” Elsa continued calmly. “For years all I was able to feel was a longing for violence and pain. I felt more dead than alive until today.”

“Why, what happened today?” Subaru grumbled.

“What was in that blue vial?” Elsa whispered fervently.

Subaru’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Elsa murmured. “But that potion… it made me feel alive again. I haven’t felt this… human in years. Could I buy any more from you?”

Subaru snorted. “You have no idea how expensive that potion was. I spent it to heal ‘Meili’s Sister’ and boy, do I regret it now!”

Meili frowned and thought for a long moment then her eyes brightened. “Subaru!”

Subaru sighed and looked at her.

“You didn’t know that Mother would be here tonight, did you?” Meili pressed.

“I knew that ‘Mother’ would be here,” He disagreed. “I just didn’t know who that was.”

“Then why did you come out yourself?!” Meili asked excitedly. “Why come all the way out here if you thought you would only be dealing with a couple of flunkies? You didn’t send your minions because you don’t have any or at least none that you trust to handle combat!”

Meili was guessing but something in Subaru’s expression told her that she was guessing right. “If you take us on, you’ll have minions that can handle dangerous situations and if we end up getting killed, you don’t have to care because you don’t like us anyway!”

Subaru frowned.

He’s considering it! Meili thought in exaltation.

Subaru snorted. “Why,” He said. “Would I ever trust you to do what I said?”

“Because you’ll kill us if we don’t,” Elsa said very matter-of-fact.

Subaru hesitated a moment. “Yeah. Or you’ll just run back to Capella and make me waste a whole lot of time hunting you down.”

Meili hesitated a second. “Actually, Boss, could you do us a favor? Promise that you’ll either hire us or kill us. Just promise that you won’t send us away.”

Subaru frowned. He looked confused for a moment and then snorted. “Reverse psychology, Meili. Brilliant. I’m very impressed. Tell me, did this work on Petra cause even she looks old enough to see through it!”

“It’s not a trick!” Meili assured him. “You have no idea what Mother would do to us! She’s already marked us for death. You heard that yourself. And now she’ll blame us for her losing that fight with you!”

Subaru blinked. “Blame you? How does that work? You two would have been lunch if you’d jumped into that fight!”

“Yeah, no kidding. But somebody needs to be blamed for Mother’s humiliation,” Elsa said matter-of-fact. “And it sure won’t be Mother! If Mother ever got her hands on us, she’d torture us to death in ways you can’t imagine. Our only hope to stay alive is to stay close to someone that Mother is afraid to fight. That means you’re our only option. If we piss you off, we’re as good as dead.”

Subaru was silent for a moment. “Ah. So that’s your argument. I should feel confident in using you because I can kill you whenever I want. And if you do run away, Capella will kill you for me. Does that about sum it up?”

“Sounds like a reasonable foundation for a business relationship to me,” Elsa said with a shrug.

Subaru scowled at her. Hire these freaks? That would have to be the dumbest idea in history! Elsa is a psychotic killer and Meili has been lying to me since the day we met! I don’t trust these two as far as I could throw them!

It’s not a dumb idea at all, A cold voice whispered in his mind. ‘Trust’ is a concept that belongs in relationships with friends and lovers. Assets aren’t trusted, you can depend on them because you have leverage over them.

In this case, Elsa is correct. You have the perfect leverage over her and Meili. If she angers you, her choices are to bare her neck to you and let you kill her quickly or run away and let Capella catch her and kill her slowly. And it seems quite safe to assume that Capella would do things to her that you could never dream of.

You need muscle for your plans. They can provide it. And as long as they’re obedient, you will protect them. It’s a solid foundation for an alliance.

Subaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Alright. I do need minions, I guess. You can work for me as long as you’re obedient,” Subaru said finally.

“Awesome!” Meili cheered.

“Fair warning, Elsa,” Subaru murmured, holding up a finger. “I do hate you. I’ll very likely to kill you at some point if you do anything to piss me off,” He said matter-of-fact. “But if you behave yourself, then I’ll at least make it quick when I do.”

Meili looked horrified but Elsa just shrugged. “That’s a better offer than I got from Mother.”

Subaru walked over to Elsa completely without fear. I don’t even need Indomitable right now. I’m pretty sure with all the mana I’ve stolen from Capella just now, I’m probably faster and stronger than Elsa if it comes down to it.

Now I get to do one more thing I don’t want to do…

Subaru reached into his pocket and pulled out about thirty gold coins. “Here.”

Elsa took them. “What are these for?”

Subaru scowled. “You’re my ‘minions’ now,” He said in a disgusted voice. “And I take care of my ‘minions’ whether I like it or not… Use the money to get a room at the Stoneybrooke inn.”

At the Stoneybrooke inn, they’ll be close enough to watch but not too close.

Elsa and Meili both stared at him in astonishment.

Subaru made a face. “What is it?” Subaru growled.

Elsa and Meili looked at each other. “No one ever gave us money for a room before,” Elsa admitted.

Subaru squinted at them. “You traveled around the world killing people. Where did you stay?”

“Forests, abandoned buildings, caves, empty houses,” Elsa listed off.

Subaru squinted at them. “Did you guys not get paid very well? I always assumed you were really expensive.”

Elsa shook her head. “We didn’t get paid at all. Our jobs might have cost a lot of gold but we had to give it all to Mother. It was a sign of our devotion to her.”

Subaru frowned. “How did you survive?”

Meili shrugged. “Well, when we were back at headquarters, we had food to eat and places to sleep. Although Mother made me sleep in a kennel,” She said matter-of-fact. “When we were on a job, we were limited to whatever we could steal.”

Subaru snorted. “You know, the more I hear about Capella, the more I like her,” He said sarcastically.

Meili snorted. “That’s an understatement. You know she used to torture us for fun? She turned me into a swarm of frogs once!” Meili shuddered.

“A swarm of frogs?” Subaru repeated.

Meili nodded. “Twelve or… fourteen, I think. It was horrible! Feeling split out into all those different bodies! It felt so wrong. I was desperate to put myself back together but I couldn’t. Mother made me wait for hours before she changed me back.”

Subaru blinked and his face grew sick. “Why would she do that?!”

Meili shrugged. “She wanted to teach me what would happen if I disappointed her.”

Subaru made a face. Gee. Maybe working for me is a major step up for them. Even with the threat of me killing Elsa.

Subaru didn’t answer right away. “OK. I think that killing Capella is climbing on my TODO list for a whole host of reasons. Or at least chaining her down so she can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“I can’t say that I’d be unhappy to see it,” Elsa commented.

Subaru looked up at Elsa and gave her an awkward node. Still not sure how to feel about me employing Elsa… But I am sure that I can handle her now. She’s like a mosquito to me.

“Alright,” Subaru growled. “A couple of rules while you work for me. First of all, avoid drawing attention. You’re going to be staying in Stoneybrooke for a bit.”

“How do you want us to engage with the people there?” Meili asked.

Subaru thought for a moment and then shrugged. “The people in that village are all absolute garbage. I don’t care what you do to any of them but don’t attract attention!”

OK. I just gave Elsa carte blanch to kill whoever she wants. And I actually don’t feel guilty about it in the slightest because the locals tried to kill me and Emilia.

This is not normal for me. I think I need a long vacation to decompress after I sort this mess with Emilia out…

Elsa and Meili nodded.

“Second, the elf and the… princess,” Subaru added grudgingly. “That you met belong to me. Unlike Capella, I am very protective of my minions and my assets. Lay a finger on them and I’ll make you both wish that it was Capella that got you. Understand?”

Elsa squinted at him. “I understand the instruction. I will follow it. But for the record, you’d have to work really hard for your punishments to be scarier than Mother’s. She-”

Subaru cut her off. “Capella is a stupid and vapid slacker,” Subaru said pleasantly. He walked right up into Elsa’s face. “Yes, she is a sadist. But she lacks drive, ambition, and brains. I have all three in spades. Trust me, if I decide that I really want to hurt you, I’ll make sure it really opens your mind to the possibilities. What I lack in sadism, I make up for in imagination. Any questions?”

Elsa and Meili swallowed hard and they both shook their heads fervently.

Subaru snorted. “Alright. Go get settled in. Meet me at the Siros/Sanshi border tomorrow at sunrise where the road fords the river.” Subaru glanced at Elsa’s naked breasts and then looked away with a flush. “And please put your dress back on!”

Elsa nodded and pulled up her dress.

Subaru sighed. “See you tomorrow,” He grumbled to them as he walked away.

You balanced that very well, A cold voice whispered. As much as you would love to see Elsa writhing in agony, the needs of your plans must come before personal satisfaction.

Moreover, she is now sworn into your service and this is a sacred trust. She is bound to serve and obey and you are obliged to nurture and defend.

Until she should be defiant to your wishes, your honor depends on upholding this bond.

Still, should she make such an error in judgment as to disobey you, then she must suffer as no man has ever suffered before.

No ruler can long stand if his vassals may break bonds of faith with impunity. Her offer of fealty being accepted, now she must serve. She will serve you as a retainer or she will serve you as an example but serve she must and serve she shall.

Subaru blinked. Huh. Those are some weird thoughts. When did I develop an opinion on noblesse oblige?

Alright. If Elsa and Meili come to the border tomorrow then maybe I can trust them. A little.

If they don’t, then at least they’ll be smart enough to run for their lives and they won’t be threatening Emilia and Anri anymore.

In that case, I can hunt them down and slaughter them later when time permits.

If I’m going to murder Elsa, I really don’t want to rush it…

On a related note, even if Emilia is still up when I get home, I think I’d better keep tonight’s activities to myself. I can only imagine Emilia and Anri’s reaction if I told them that I had hired Elsa.

Early the next morning, Subaru and Patrasche found themselves sitting in the rocky hills of western Sanshi. The area was dry and cold. The road leading up into the mountains was a rough dirt and gravel path.

Subaru had come back to the House last night after both Emilia and Anri were asleep and he’d sneaked out this morning before either had woken up.

Rather than wake anyone up, Subaru had just left a note advising them that he wouldn’t be home until tonight.

Subaru had bound Meili’s mabeasts to him last night and he discovered that he could sense them faintly as they approached. When they got close enough, Subaru mentally snapped them an order and they raced over to him.

Meili and Elsa were riding on top of a Guiltylowe. Meili’s face was shocked as the mabeasts had simply taken independent action to rush over here in defiance of her instructions.

She noticed Subaru waiting for her, leaning back against Patrasche, and she nodded in understanding.

Subaru looked over Meili’s pack. He hadn’t had a chance to inspect it very closely last night. There were a lot of mabeasts but there was only one Guiltylowe and a small pack of wolgarm. Aside from that, there were a variety of small winged and ground mabeasts that Subaru didn’t recognize. None of these could be considered threats without an overwhelming advantage of numbers.

I need to do something about this. Meili won’t be very useful if these weak mabeasts are her only backup.

“Hello, Master,” Elsa said calmly, sliding off the mabeast. Meili reminded mounted, her arms wrapped around her feline steed in a big hug. “So what are we doing here?”

Subaru thought for a moment. “Meili, get your mabeasts off the road so that nobody sees them,” He directed. Meili gestured and the mabeasts slowly moved into the rocky hills where Subaru waited. “So, I want to reverse the fortunes of the Gusteko civil war but I don’t want to attack the army directly. It’s too risky. I just want to make sure that the soldiers don’t get their supplies.”

Meili frowned, puzzling her way through that. “I… don’t get it,” She confessed.

“We don’t need to ‘get it,’” Elsa reminded her.

Meili looked sullen.

“We don’t need to fight the army,” Subaru explained, ignoring Elsa. “We just need to make sure that they don’t get their supplies. They can’t fight without supplies and then the army will collapse. We’re going to attack the supply wagons that pass by here. These wagons leave Sanshi’s capitol and travel nearly a week to get to Siros.”

“A whole week?” Meili asked skeptically.

Subaru shrugged. “Wagons move slowly. Especially ones loaded with food, traveling through the mountains. I’ve been told on good authority that the full trip up to the front is almost a week.”

“How many guards will there be?” Elsa asked.

“The wagons will be guarded but I doubt it’s anything that we’ll have much trouble with.”

“So we’re going to kill the people driving the supply wagons?” Meili asked.

Subaru nodded. “Right. But only the wagons going to the front. If it’s going the other way, we’re going to let it pass.”

“Um. Why?” Meili asked.

“Because we don’t want Sanshi to know what’s happening,” Subaru explained. “The full trip to the front and back takes close to two weeks. That’s nearly half a month before Sanshi misses its first wagon. Once that first wagon goes missing, Sanshi will realize that something is wrong and they’ll try to investigate and get in our way. As long as the wagons that it expects to see come back do come back on time, Sanshi will stay oblivious to the problem.”

Meili puzzled her way through that for a moment. Then her face brightened. “Oh, I get it!” Meili said. “If the wagons that Sanshi has already sent out don’t come back on schedule then Sanshi will get suspicious. If the first wagon that doesn’t come back is the one that we stopped from reaching the front in the first place then that army will have weeks to starve before Sanshi gets wise. That’s really clever!”

Subaru hesitated. For a minute there, she sounded just like that little girl who used to climb on my back in Arlem… “Thanks,” Subaru said.

“Sounds easy enough,” Elsa shrugged.

Subaru nodded. “We’re also going to kill any messengers we see heading to Sanshi along the road. We need to make sure that the army doesn’t alert Sanshi that it’s starving. This could be tricky. Those messengers will likely split up and try several different routes. I’m not sure that we can watch them all.”

“My fliers can help keep watch,” Meili suggested.

Subaru nodded. “That will be very helpful,” He said. “We’ll just do our best. Even if we don’t make it the full two weeks, we should still be in good shape. Even a couple of days with no supplies will push that army into a full on crisis.”

“How often do the shipments come?” Elsa asked.

“I’d estimate about twenty wagons every day,” Subaru answered.

“Twenty?” Meili asked incredulously.

Subaru nodded. “I’m not sure if they’ll come all at once or in three or four small groups through the day.”

“What do we do with the food?” Meili asked.

“We’ll take what we want and then destroy the rest,” Subaru said carelessly. Unfortunately, there’s no way that I can bring these supplies to Siros. I might find something worth bringing home though. Combat rations are better than starvation and we will run out of food eventually.

“When I was exploring the area this morning, I found a a big ravine down that path,” Subaru pointed to a broad dirt road leading through the hills.

“So we push them off the cliff, then?” Meili asked.

Subaru nodded. “It’s as good a way as any to make sure that the army doesn’t get its supplies.”

“So that’s all we have to do?” Elsa asked. “And are we just staying there and killing teamsters for the whole two weeks?”

“That’s the plan right now. Although I doubt we’ll last that long before something goes wrong and Sanshi gets wise to us. We’ll spend the days here. We’re not really going to worry about wagons and messengers traveling at night. Traveling through the mountains after dark is just asking to stumble off a cliff. So at least we’ll be able to sleep in a warm bed at night.”

Subaru paused. “Did you guys have any trouble getting into the Stoneybrooke inn?” He asked.

Elsa shook her head. “They inspected us closely to make sure that we weren’t demi-humans or monsters but that was about it.”

Subaru made a face. What lovely people.

“The village is on edge,” Elsa continued. “I heard them talking about being attacked by a witch the other day. Apparently, they killed the former innkeeper. Can I assume that was you?”

Subaru frowned at her.

Elsa shrugged. “The description sounded a lot like how you looked when you were fighting Mother,” Elsa said carelessly.

Subaru sighed. “Yeah. They threatened to kill me and someone I care about. They’re just lucky I killed only one of them instead of depopulating the whole goddamn village!” He hissed.

“Sounds fair to me,” Elsa replied with a shrug.

Why is that somehow not encouraging, Subaru sighed.

“So what do we do now?” Meili asked.

Subaru shrugged. “Watch and wait,” He replied.

Meili thought for a moment and then gestured to her small flock of black bird mabeasts. They flew away.

Subaru looked at Meili in confusion.

“I asked the Knickerbockers to keep watch on the road for us,” Meili said, noting Subaru’s puzzled expression. “They’ll warn us when a caravan is coming and tell us how many there are.”

“Really?” Subaru said in surprise. “You can understand what they say?”

Meili shrugged. “I can share their senses to an extent. It’s not easy but if I want to, I can see through their eyes. Can’t you?”

Subaru frowned. “You know what? I’m not sure. I’ve never tried.”

The caravan appeared around midmorning.

Subaru was half dozing-against Patrasche. To his shock, Elsa sat there, contentedly knitting a small doll from a few balls of yarn in her satchel. Subaru watched Meili cuddle with her Guiltylowe when the girl stiffened.

“Subaru,” Meili snapped. “There are a lot of wagons coming down the road!”

“How many?” Subaru said getting to his feet.

Meili closed her eyes. “It’s hard to be sure. The Knickerbockers don’t have the greatest vision,” She complained. “More than a dozen.”

“How many guards?” Elsa asked.

Meili hesitated. “It looks like fifteen? Maybe twenty?”

Subaru nodded. “Alright. This looks like nothing we can’t handle.”

“What’s the plan?” Elsa asked.

Subaru inspected the terrain quickly. “Send your Guiltylowe to hide up there,” Subaru gestured toward the place where the road crested the hill-top nearby. “When the wagons get that far, he’ll jump out and stop them. No earth dragon is going to be willing to charge at a Guiltylowe. When the caravan passes by here. We’ll jump out and attack them from behind. We’ll have them trapped and we should… slaughter them,” Subaru murmured with a guilty expression.

Meili gestured and her Guiltylowe dashed off through the rocky hills, trying to stay under cover.

Meili gave Subaru a curious glance. “Something wrong?” She asked.

Subaru sighed. “These guys are just teamsters and soldiers. They’re not… responsible for what Sanshi is doing in Siros. But they’re going to die for it…”

Meili frowned, puzzling her way through that. “So?”

Subaru looked at Meili in shock then nodded in understanding. Of course. Meili was raised by mabeasts and then by Capella and Elsa. It’d be remarkable if the law of the jungle wasn’t the only rule that she respected. Still this might be a good time to try and broaden Meili’s world view.

Subaru tried to put his thoughts into words. “So… these people don’t necessarily want to be here. They’re doing their jobs to get paid so that they can keep eating. The folks who decided that Anri and her people needed to suffer are the ones that really should be killed but we’re killing their minions instead.”

Meili mulled that over. “So… you’d feel more comfortable killing these people if they were guilty of something?” She asked.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Meili shrugged. “Well, I’m sure that they’re guilty of something.”

Subaru gave a rueful chuckle. “That’s not quite what I mean, Meili.”

Meili shook her head. “You’re making this too complicated, Subaru. Things are born, they live for a while, and then they die and get eaten. The nasty bit is the ‘getting killed and eaten’ part. Does anyone really care why they’re being killed and eaten? If you told them that you were killing them for a good cause, would they like it any more? Would they be more upset if you told them they were dying because their own actions had finally caught up with them? The fact is that they’re going to be dead and eaten and it doesn’t really matter why.”

Subaru rolled his eyes. The Philosophy of Meili.

Meili’s eyes hardened. “They’re coming closer, Subaru. Get ready.”

Elsa had drawn her daggers, her eyes bright with anticipation. She was humming a little tune to herself as she waited.

Subaru nodded. He could hear the wheels turning on the dirt and gravel road. He also heard the voices of men passing by.

Subaru listened carefully as the sounds good louder and then slowly began to diminish as the caravan passed by.

Subaru nodded. “Let’s go.”

The fight was short, brutal, and ugly. The guards might have been able to handle Meili’s mabeasts although it would have been a bloody and hard fought battle but the guards were spread out to guard the caravan so the mabeasts attacked a small subset of them. By the time their allies had arrived to help, those soldiers were already dead.

Then again, it might not have mattered. Because the guards not only had to worry about the mabeasts but Elsa and Subaru as well.

The last few guards were no trouble at all. Elsa sliced through them like butter, humming a little ditty to herself as she did so. One tried to run away after watching his fellows get torn limb from limb but Elsa chased him down and kicked his legs out from underneath him, holding a dagger at his throat.

The teamsters cracked their whips and the earth dragons broke into a sprint.

Subaru watched their escape calmly.

It was unlikely that the heavy wagons could have escaped anyway. They were all clearly overloaded with supplies and with Subaru, Elsa, Meili, and the mabeasts behind them, the teamsters had no choice but to try to escape up hill. However, when Meili’s Guiltylowe appeared at the hilltop to cut them off, their fate was sealed.

Subaru didn’t get involved in the fight. He stood protectively beside Meili, ready to jump in if needed to protect the girl but he really wanted to get an idea of how well Meili could handle herself in combat.

Of course, with both Elsa and the mabeasts involved, it’s unlikely that any of the soldiers even noticed Meili, much less considered attacking her.

When the dust had settled everyone was dead except for one soldier and a few wagon drivers. Subaru sensed that he had absorbed several new lives that he could to refine into Vitae.

Meili looked up at him expectantly.

“Good work,” Subaru said awkwardly.

Meili beamed.

After the fight was over, it was time to clean up. Subaru had thrown the dead bodies into the backs of the wagons.

The surviving wagon drivers were guarded by wolgarm and they were clearly terrified. Elsa dragged the last soldier back to them and pushed him into the group.

“Subaru,” Elsa murmured in his ear. “That was the full twenty wagons, wasn’t it?”

Subaru shivered when Elsa whispered in his ear. For a second he felt the scar across his stomach burn with an icy cold, as if it had been ripped open again. “Looks that way,” Subaru replied once he was certain that his voice wouldn’t shake.

“Could I… play with the survivors then?” She asked, almost coquettishly.

“You want to torture them?” Subaru asked in disgust.

“Well, it’s still the only way I can feel pleasure at the moment unless you brought more of the blue potion,” Elsa admitted. “And what else can we do? If your plan is going to work, we can’t let them get away to tell anyone and we have no place to keep them. That means that they need to die.”

Subaru’s face grew grim. “Elsa. I really hate that you have a point,” He sighed.

She simpered.

Subaru thought for a moment, desperately trying to think of a way not to have to kill them but he came up empty. I could order Elsa to kill them quickly at least. I could forbid her to torture them…

Subaru had a mental image of the people of Kocytos cheering as the elven effigy burned in the fire.

You could but why bother, A voice whispered. You know these people. You know who they are. They cheer for the deaths of elves and demi-humans. Would you really lose any sleep over their deaths?

“Fine,” Subaru said shortly. “Just keep them quiet, I don’t want anyone around here to hear them. Don’t drag it out and make sure that none of them get away.”

Elsa nodded, a delighted smile on her beautiful face.

Subaru felt slightly ill looking at her. “Also, do it where Meili and I don’t have to watch,” He sighed.

“I don’t really mind, Subaru,” Meili shrugged.

Subaru closed his eyes and counted to ten. “Fine. Do it where I don’t have to watch it. Put the survivors on one of the wagons and go play with them near the gorge. It’ll make for easy disposal after your done.”

The wolgarm quickly herded the survivors toward the gorge, followed by Elsa who had a beatific smile on her face.

Meili ordered her indignant Guiltylowe to pull the wagons one by one to the ravine and then push them off.

Watching the Guiltylowe pull the wagons was the very first time that Patrasche had ever looked pleased by the presence of the mabeasts.

Even standing by the road, Subaru heard the wagons crash into the deep ravine with a sound like thunder.

At Subaru’s request, Meili had the wolgarm dig up the road a little to bury all signs of the spilled blood in the dirt.

“Now what?” Meili asked..

Subaru thought about it. “Well, that was the full twenty wagons,” He mused. “I doubt that they’ll be sending any more today but we should probably stand watch until sundown just in case.”

Meili nodded. “Hey, any chance I could take a nap while we wait? I’m sort of tired after last night.”

Subaru nodded. “Feel free. I don’t think I could sleep right now so I can stand watch.”

Meili nodded and slumped down on her Guiltylowe and closed her eyes.

He felt a new life absorbed and added to his collection as Elsa finished playing with one of her toys.

Subaru yawned as the sun began to set. Two more wagons had appeared but these had been headed back toward Sanshi from Siros and Subaru had let them pass.

Meili dozed on top of her Guiltylowe and Elsa lay back against it as if the mabeast was the world’s strangest beanbag chair. Elsa was again knitting a small doll.

Subaru had watched the passing wagons closely but if the drivers noticed any evidence of the earlier battle, they gave no sign.

“So that’s it then?” Meili asked with sleepy eyes.

Subaru nodded. “For today anyway. Someone would have to be suicidal to drive a wagon along these winding mountain roads in the dark.”

“Now what?” Elsa asked.

Subaru made a face. “How tired are you guys?”

Elsa shrugged. “It’s still early.”

“I took a nice nap so I’m not tired either,” Meili said through a big yawn.

Subaru looked at the girl with amusement and she blushed.

“OK,” Subaru said slowly. “I have an appointment to keep tonight. I don’t think she’s stupid enough to try anything but she is expecting me so just in case, I wouldn’t mind having some backup.”

Meili stared at him. “Wow. I figured that you could fight anything after seeing you fight Mother,” Meili said in surprise.

Subaru snorted. “There’s always a bigger fish, Meili. You won’t live very long if you assume that nobody out there can possibly hurt you.”

“That’s actually very good advice, Meili,” Elsa agreed. She turned back to Subaru. “Where are we going?”

Senko sat on a couch in the estate, surrounded by heavily armed men including Dreyfus.

Never let anyone know who you are Lady Koi had told her. This had been one of mother’s first lessons and it had been ground into Senko’s soft mind since she was old enough to walk.

Senko had no trouble understanding why, of course. Her mother was a powerful member of the Black Silver Coins. Knowledge of Koi’s immediate family could put both Senko and her mother in serious danger. Thus, Senko and her mother had performed an elaborate dance whenever they interacted with others, Koi had pretended to be her owner and Senko simply a slave being raised for profit.

This was a common practice for wealthy kitsune. Several kitsune in Kararagi were legendary for their seductiveness. Some lived as mistresses and consorts to the powerful but a kitsune could easily earn vast amounts of money by purchasing and training a young kitsune of either gender with their own unique style. There was even a famous school located in Kyo run by elder kitsune where they specialized in training young people as concubines and pleasure slaves for large amounts of money.

Of course, there was another reason why one kitsune might purchase another. Their race was highly endangered and young kitsune of both genders were far more likely to be kept as pleasure slaves than given the freedom to marry and have children. Slaveowners often bred their kitsune in the same way as they bred horses or cattle but this was small help. It might let the kitsune race endure but these communally raised kitsune were nothing but chattel. Raised by outsiders, carefully trained to think of themselves not as people but as objects in a collection, the kitsune culture was withering rapidly.

The few kitsune who managed to win their freedom often found that by the time of their manumission they were too old to bear their own children and thus they chose to adopt. This gave them a chance to have a child to love and raise and to pass on the rapidly vanishing elements of their proud culture. Sadly, slavery had become so intertwined with kitsune society that adoption invariably meant purchase.

Senko had been carefully raised as far away from normal kitsune as possible. Her mother had doted on her and attempted to keep from Senko the reality that society viewed her as simply a rare commodity to be bought if not outright stolen.

Senko and her mother were about as different as a parent and child could be. There had been songs written of Koi’s beauty and grace when she was young. Senko was certainly attractive but where her mother was curvy, Senko was more slender. Koi appreciated the finer things in life while Senko preferred to curl up with a good book. Koi held most kitsune in mild contempt, thinking them weak for not working their way out of slavery with skill and charm if not violence and fury. Senko was fascinated by the traditional kitsune culture which predated their wide enslavement and did her best to preserve it. Koi wore loose kimonos, Senko favored an outfit with a white flowing shirt and red trousers, a garb that she had read had been worn by her ancestors who worked in the shrines.

The only thing the pair had in common was their beautiful black hair with crimsons streaks. However, because it would be suspicious for two unrelated kitsune to share such a distinctive hair color, every week Senko’s hair and tail were carefully dyed blond.

Despite never intending to be parted from her daughter, Koi had carefully trained Senko for courtesan work ever since she was young. Beauty and sensuality were a kitsune’s only currency in a world that viewed them as chattel and Koi had long ago learned that the difference between being a slave and a pet was how much your master valued you. Courtesan training was a family tradition dating back to Senko’s grandmother who had taught Koi. It might have even gone back further than that but Koi and her mother had been separated when Koi was sold at twelve and, despite great effort, Koi had never found her again.

Koi had recognized quickly that Senko lacked her sensuality and allure. However, where another parent might have tried to mold Senko into her own duplicate, Koi had encouraged Senko to make use of her own talents, focusing on her sparkling wit and more wholesome beauty.

Now in her early teens, Senko had been presented at several upper class functions in Kararagi. Senko’s wit and charm had won her many admirers and Koi was more than pleased to discover that the men who were most attracted to Senko were men who would be searching for a companion, not a pet.

Ideally, Koi had secured enough of a fortune that her daughter would never need to worry about marrying in order to protect herself. However, Koi knew that nothing was set in stone in this life, certainly not when one worked for the Black Silver Coins, and she wanted to ensure that her daughter was properly prepared if the worst should happen.

Koi was confident that if her daughter ever needed protection, she would have no trouble finding a kind and wealthy man to dote on her. An official concubine was the goal but a wife wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Especially in Kararagi where taking a kitsune as a bride was sometimes viewed as a status symbol.

Senko and her mother were very close and they could count on one hand the number of times they had fought.

While Koi was far from stupid, she had never been formally educated. Senko, on the other hand, devoured every book that she could find.

Senko had studied hard, seeking to make her mother proud. She had also studied a few things that her mother would not have approved of. Koi had never hidden her ties with the Black Silver Coins from Senko but Koi had made it clear that she wanted Senko kept as far away from that world as possible. Koi had been kind but resolute when she had told her gentle and kind daughter that she would not survive immersion in the harsh world of the Black Silver Coins and that her path lay elsewhere.

Senko understood this. She had no desire or interest in pursuing that life.

But she had studied the Coins all the same: Their history, their organization, their tactics, and their weaknesses. Senko knew that her mother lived a dangerous life and that someday she might need Senko to step up and protect her. When that time came, Senko intended to be ready.

Now that the day had finally arrived, Senko rapidly discovered that she was woefully unprepared. She sat on a couch, surrounded by guards, wishing that she knew what to do.

“Lady Senko,” Dreyfus murmured.

Senko shook off her reverie and looked up at the man who was in many ways like a beloved uncle to her.

“We need to go now,” He said sadly.

Senko bit her lip, trying to think of some argument. Her mother had gone to this ‘peace summit’ organized by Aperitif and had been out of contact for hours.

Aperitif and Koi had never been friends but they were both under considerable pressure from Zeno and alliances had been founded on less. Koi and Cynthia had agreed to go.

However, intelligence had now reached Koi’s faction that the summit may have been a trap from the start.

Before leaving, Koi had instructed her personal guard that if she had not contacted them by evening, they were to presume that something had gone horribly wrong and get Senko to a prepared safe house.

The deadline had elapsed hours ago but Senko had refused to leave.

“It’s not so bad, Lady Senko,” Dreyfus reassured her. “Lady Koi will know where to find us if she…” Dreyfus trailed off.

Senko took a ragged breath.

“Captain!” A man shouted, racing into the room, his eyes wild.

“What is it, Jackson?” Dreyfus asked in a clipped tone. “Is it Zeno’s men?”

“Worse! Taiyang is back!”

The guards all murmured amongst themselves in terror. Some of the men had met the Taiyang personally and had no desire to do so ever again. Most of the guards had only heard about the Witch of the Frozen Wastes but anyone who could so easily traumatize the strong and capable men that they served beside was worthy of both respect and fear.

“Alright,” Dreyfus snapped. Around him the guards came to attention, their respect of their captain holding them firm even in a disaster. “I need volunteers. I am going to lead a company to face this Taiyang and try to stall for time while Lady Senko escapes. Who will fight with me?”

Dreyfus’s men were strong and motivated. Normally they’d be the first to sign up for a fight and the tougher the better but now no hands went up. This was a suicide mission and everybody knew it.

“That won’t work, Dreyfus,” Senko pointed out.

“Lady Senko,” Dreyfus knelt down. “I promised your mother I would get you out of here safely and I’m going to do it if it kills me!” He said fervently.

A few of the men murmured at this revelation. Several had suspected but Senko’s relation to Koi had finally been confirmed.

Senko derived a different kind of certainty from Dreyfus’s statement: Dreyfus had let the secret slip because he had no real expectation that his plan would work. He thought that there were long odds of anyone in this room living to talk about it.

So be it. I can use this.

Senko rose to her feet. “Dreyfus. In my mother’s absence, I am in command.”

This was highly debatable, bordering on nonsensical but every man in the room took note of her poise and the certainty of her tone.

Senko turned to address the guards. “Some of you have met the monster Taiyang,” She continued in a measured tone. “The rest of you have only heard of him but you all know the name. I ask you, any man in this room who believes in his heart of hearts that we can prevail against Taiyang through force, please raise your hand now.”

Senko waited. Not a hand went up. Dreyfus’s hand twitched and then stayed down.

Senko nodded. “If escape is unlikely and violence will not serve us in this case, we must seek a third alternative.”

“What are you suggesting, Lady Senko?” Dreyfus asked.

Senko took a deep breath. “Please bring Lord Taiyang to mother’s sitting room. Tell him that I will attend him there.”

“Lady Senko!” Dreyfus protested.

“You have your instructions, Dreyfus,” Senko said calmly. “This might be our only chance to protect ourselves from Zeno’s retaliation and to rescue mother. I mean to take it.”

Dreyfus bit his lip and his entire body spasmed as if he was struggling not to grab Senko and run away. “As you command, my lady,” He said, finally in a tight voice. He gestured to the guards.

The guards marched out of the room.

Senko took a deep breath. I’m not sure if this is my last hope or if I’m just trading an uncertain future for a quick death.

Mother told me about Taiyang. She claimed that he would either be her greatest ally or her doom. However, Mother also claimed that he seems to have a sense of obligation toward his servants or at least a sense of possessiveness that makes him angry when someone else threatens to break his toys.

I’m about to bet my life that Mother read him truly…

Elsa and Meili sat on her Guiltylowe, surrounded by mabeasts in a small forest just outside Koi’s estate in case Subaru needed backup.

“I hope he’s OK,” Meili mused.

Elsa shrugged, knitting her doll. “I doubt he’d need help honestly. And if the Master tried to fight his way out, I’m sure we’d be seeing the destruction and know where to go and help.”

“Yeah…” Meili said. “Big Sis, what do you think Subaru is?”

Elsa paused her knitting for a moment. “I think… he’s like Mother,” She said finally.

“He seems a lot nicer than Mother,” Meili said.

“That’s not exactly a high bar to clear, Meili,” Elsa stared off into the dark with a thoughtful expression. “I think that he is like Mother. No matter how nice he acts, I think that he’s one of… them,” Elsa said awkwardly.

“Them?”

“Mother, Lye, Roy, and… the man in the white suit,” Elsa explained.

Meili shuddered. The fight between Mother and the man in the white suit all those years ago was legendary in the Assassin’s Guild. Neither Meili nor Elsa had been there but they’d heard the stories. Few assassins had been in attendance to see it and even fewer had survived. The assassin base had been completely ruined and it had taken years to rebuild. Despite all the destruction that the pair had caused around them, Mother and the man didn’t even seem to be doing any real damage to one another. They’d just screamed and cursed until the man in the white suit had finally gotten bored or frustrated or some combination of the two and left.

Rumor had it that Lye and Roy had kicked back and watched the show over a bottle of fine wine.

Rumor also had it that the pair had ultimately started to fight one another over the last glass in the bottle. Lye had beaten Roy senseless and finished off the bottle. Roy had stalked away bitting off curses and he’d sought out some assassins to eat in the confusion.

Meili looked at Elsa with a terrified expression. “This isn’t good, Big Sis. This means that Subaru is really powerful. And really, really dangerous,” Meili said, thinking about how Subaru had shrouded himself in darkness when he fought Mother.

“True. But so far he seems to only kill people if he has a reason too,” Elsa said, returning to her knitting.

“Big Sis!” Meili hissed. “Subaru already said that he hates you because you tried to kill him! He has reason to kill you! And he already told you that he might do it!”

“I know, Meili,” Elsa said calmly. “I never expected to live to a ripe old age in this line of work. Master Subaru thinks that I’m useful. As long as he continues to think that, he’ll hold himself back. And when my number is finally up, a quick, clean death is one of the best ways for me to go out. It’s certainly better than Mother would have ever offered me. Although, I do hope that I get the chance to go down fighting,” She added wistfully.

Meili just shook her head. Sometimes Big Sis’s view of the world drives me absolutely wild.

“Lord Taiyang,” Senko said in her most dulcet tones as she knelt on the floor, pouring tea. “It is an honor beyond imagining that I have the pleasure of hosting you tonight.”

Senko briefly considered adopting her mother’s more sensual mannerisms then quickly dismissed the idea. I’m not good at being seductive. Besides, I think I can rest assured that if Lord Taiyang decides that he wants my body, he won’t wait for my permission…

Of course, that’s just assuming that Taiyang really is a man and not simply some sort of demon in human form…

Senko took slow, measured breaths. Taiyang’s mere presence was terrifying.

This isn’t normal fear. Taiyang must be influencing everyone around him magically. Not that knowing how he’s doing it makes it any easier to resist.

I’d also be foolish to conclude that his power is all smoke and mirrors…

I must remain poised and confident. My mother’s life is at stake. I need to reassure Taiyang that mother is worth rescuing and that our organization is useful enough to him to merit his protection.

“It is a true honor to meet you,” Senko said sipping her tea. “I also am pleased to inform you that the goods you requested be sent north have already arrived. I’m told that the people of Siros were most grateful.”

“Lady Senko, where is your mother?” Taiyang asked flatly in an inhuman voice.

Senko’s eyes widened slightly. Well, Mother said that he had guessed our relationship. It doesn’t matter now.

Senko chose her words carefully. “I’m terribly sorry, my lord but I fear that my mother may have been kidnapped…”

“Kidnapped?” Taiyang growled.

He sounds angry. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad…

“I’m afraid so,” She said sadly. “We have gathered intelligence that Zeno may have captured my mother.”

“Who is Zeno?”

Senko hesitated a moment, “My lord, how much do you know about the Black Silver Coins?”

“Very little. They have never risen to my attention.”

Senko swallowed hard. If any other man had said this it would have sounded like a confession of ignorance. When Taiyang said it, it came across as a threat not to waste his time. “The Black Silver Coins date back almost to the time of the Great Cataclysm. They formed in all kingdoms that discriminated against demi-humans to allow the demi-human communities to earn money and protect themselves by thwarting the laws that didn’t protect them anyway. For the most part, the Coins in different kingdoms work separately. Each kingdom is headed by a Boss but it’s very rare for any one to successfully become the Boss of Bosses, the King of Shadows.

“After the demi-human war, Vito Maiale succeeded in gathering the demi-human soldiers from the war and folded them into the Coins. With their help he took over the Coins and ruled them ever since. But sometime last year, Vito Maiale died.”

“Natural causes?” Taiyang asked.

Senko hesitated. He sound sarcastic. Can a witch have a sense of humor? “No. The Coins in Kararagi had become powerful enough to thrown their weight around. They were becoming an impediment to a number of business interests. That’s when Chaco ‘le Guapo’ Menendez was elected to be Secretary-General of the Kararagi City States. He was young and idealistic and he ran on a platform of reform and cleaning up corruption. These candidates appear every few decades and they usually end up floating face down in the river if they attract too much support.”

“But not Chaco?”

Senko shook her head. “Chaco had a powerful ally at his side. Halibel, the Gentleman Suitor.”

“The what?”

Senko hesitated. “Halibel has a reputation of being a great… ‘admirer’ of women.”

Taiyang made a strange sound. Senko wondered if he had just sighed.

“What makes him so special?”

“Halibel is a powerful warrior and assassin. He’s one of the only men on the continent said to be capable of dueling the Blue Lightning, the Sword Saint, or the Mad Prince of Gusteko on equal footing. Rumor says that when Chaco was a boy, he rescued Halibel from an ambush where a job went wrong and healed him when he would have died. As a result, Halibel swore an oath of eternal friendship to Chaco and has served as his bodyguard since he entered politics.”

“What does this have to do with the Coins?”

“Almost a year ago, after Chaco was elected, Maiale publicly announced that he would have him killed. Chaco decided to send a message so he dispatched Halibel to cull the Coins during their yearly meeting. Halibel slaughtered Maiale and almost all of his sons as well as the Boss of every kingdom and a large number of underbosses. The Coins were devastated. The only underbosses not in attendance were the ones in disfavor for one reason or another. The Coins consider woman in leadership positions to be unacceptable. So my mother wasn’t invited and neither was Lady Cynthia and they survived. Others weren’t invited because they were political enemies of Maiale.”

“So who’s running the Coins now?”

“That’s still being discussed. There’s a quiet gang war going on. There were two major candidates, Meyer Scrofa who was very unpopular with the Bosses but he’s the strongest underboss left and Sextus Maiale, Vito’s youngest son. Mother and Lady Cynthia were backing Maiale but a few months ago, Scrofa managed to lure him and most of his supporters into a trap kill him. Now Scrofa has sent Zeno up here to bring the Coins in line as the new Boss of Gusteko. Mother went to a summit today to discuss how to handle Zeno with Aperitif, Cynthia, and Koga but we now think that it was a trap and Zeno has taken her prisoner.”

Senko’s eyes filled with tears but she forced them back.

“So Zeno is the one who has your mother?”

Senko nodded. “Zeno has been clear in his desire to take over and absorb Mother’s division. He considers her… unsuitable as a division leader and plans to… remove her. I will, of course, attempt to follow your instructions in my mother’s stead for as long as I am able but I fear that if something were to happen to Mother, our entire branch of the Coins might fall to internecine fighting or be absorbed by Zeno’s forces.”

Taiyang was silent for a long time. “So, someone was foolish enough to abduct one of my servants,” Taiyang mused, sipping his tea. “Tell me, was this ‘Zeno’ aware of my… arrangement with Lady Koi?”

“I have no way to know for certain, my lord,” Senko replied. “I suspect so. I believe that my mother would have certainly told him that, by interfering in her fulfillment of your instructions, Zeno risked incurring your ire.”

“Hm. I suppose it does not matter,” Taiyang replied. “Ignorance or arrogance might explain his actions but nothing will ever excuse them.”

Senko held her breath.

“Do you know where I can find this Zeno?” Taiyang asked.

Senko quickly gave him directions. “The summit was to be held at Lord Aperitif’s manor is to the west, just over the border into Siros.”

Taiyang thought for a moment and then stood up.

“I must warn you,” Senko added diffidently. “Zeno has come here to take control of the Gusteko Coins. He will doubtlessly have a large number of guards. I’m sure that they’re nothing before a man of your power but I thought it best to warn you.”

“You have done well,” Taiyang replied as he turned to leave the room. “When your mother returns, inform her that you have pleased me.”

Senko fought to keep the elation from showing on her face. She gave a low bow.

“Does anyone have any questions?” Zeno asked with a leer. He was a towering man, built of nothing but hard muscle. He wore a thin vest that exposed his arms and chest and his head was shaved. Most of his body was covered with tattoos.

There are rumors that Zeno used to be an apprentice Acolyte Knight of Gusteko until he deserted the order. The reason why he deserted changes from telling to telling. Some claim that he decided his talents could be more profitably used in his own service rather than the Kingdom’s and some claim that he lost his temper with one of his instructors and murdered him. Either way, he’s a fearsome warrior that everyone is well advised to step around carefully. And now he’s Scrofa’s hound.

The underbosses sat at a small round table in Aperitif’s manor. Koi and Cynthia were surrounded with their backs to the wall, both literally and figuratively.

“Lord Zeno,” Cynthia said dubiously, taking a pull on her delicate opium pipe. “This disruption in our smuggling operations is cutting deeply into my profits.” Cynthia was a voluptuous, blond woman who ran the entertainment division of the Black Silver Coins. She ran the gambling dens, fighting rings, smoking dens, and a variety of legitimate businesses for the Coins.

Koi saw Cynthia glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

Cynthia and I have long been allies. It would be a stretch to call us ‘friends’ but we worked well together. Now Zeno has her wondering if she needs to cut me loose to save her own skin.

I suppose I can’t blame her. I’d do the same thing in her shoes.

“Not to worry, Lady Cynthia,” Zeno said in a deep, gravely voice that came up out of his boots. “I’m sure that Koi will behave herself from now on, won’t she?”

Koi pretended not to notice the disrespectful mode of address.

“Wait,” Aperitif said petulantly. He was a thin effeminate elf who wore a staggering amount of makeup. He was wearing a stylish silk outfit and spoke in a lisp. “Are we really considering keeping her around?”

Curse you, Aperitif! Koi thought, glaring daggers at him. Aperitif and I go back a long way and our hatred has been mutual since long before we joined the Black Silver Coins. We used to snipe at each other while we were at a high end brothel. I was a slave so he looked down on me. I have no idea how Aperitif was entrusted with any position of responsibility, much less overseeing the prostitution and slavery division of the Black Silver Coins but tonight I should try to keep him happy if I want to get out of here with my skin intact.

“We should at least kill someone,” Koga murmured in a vague voice. He was a skeletal young man in his teens with pallid skin and deeply sunken eyes. His hair was matted and he smelled like he hadn’t bathed in months. He wore a tattered hooded overcoat and absently toyed with a small dagger.

Oh, this is bad. I didn’t realize that Zeno had found a way to reach an accommodation with Koga. Koga is the head of the Black Hand. In theory it’s a division of the Black Silver Coins specializing in assassination but it’s a deranged cult in practice and it worships the Witches of Sin. They believe that every murder of a sinner is an act of worship to Lady Typhon. Since everyone is a sinner, basically the Hand just kills whomever they want. Koga only got the top job last year by knifing his predecessor and that man only lasted two years himself.

Periodically we talk about trying to force them out of the Black Silver Coins. They never turn a profit and they’re mostly a liability to the rest of us, although they do take assassination contracts that a lunatic would turn down. But the reality is that if we opposed them, they would likely turn on us violently. That’s action that none of us need.

“Hm,” Zeno smirked at Koi. “Well that’s two votes for execution…”

Koi fought not to swallow hard.

“Lord Zeno,” Cynthia said, “I dislike it for old friends to disagree but I am firmly against anything that disrupts the supply chain of my materials. My division needs all the ingredients that we can get as we can barely keep up with demand as it is. If Lady Koi were to be… removed from her current position, the upheaval would be significant. Her lieutenants would likely flee in fear for their lives. How long would it take for her replacement to reestablish our trade connections? Smuggling is an endeavor founded on trust between partners. No one will engage in illegal business with a person they just met. Any devastation to her organization will directly impact my own.”

Well, that’s probably the biggest objection to my execution that I could expect Cynthia to make…

“Please,” Aperitif rolled his eyes, “If a kitsune can do the job then so can a monkey!”

I’m not rising to that bait. Aperitif is a clumsy child when he’s trying to provoke people. With any luck, he’ll start to annoy his own allies.

“Well then, Koi, what do you say?” Zeno sneered.

Koi took a deep breath and considered her options. There were damn few.

“We’re both underbosses of the Black Silver Coins. We have always existed in mutual cooperation, Lord Zeno,” Koi said politely. “I fail to understand why we are disrupting this equitable arrangement now.”

Zeno snorted. “You’ve long since forgotten your place and it’s finally caught up with you. You belong on your knees in some backroom, servicing customers for a silver piece, just like Aperitif.”

Koi struggled to control her expression. She saw Aperitif glare daggers at Zeno from behind his back.

Oh ho! Aperitif isn’t Zeno’s ally, he’s Zeno’s bitch, Koi thought smugly. He has no vote in this whatsoever. Aperitif is just here so that Zeno can remind him to stay in line! That’s actually good news. Aperitif would never have been persuaded to let me live. Zeno and I have been at odds in the past but it was never personal. If I can convince him that I’ll be loyal and obedient then maybe…

“We’ve all come out of tragic backgrounds,” Koi shrugged. “However, today we’re all here as allies for mutual protection and profit. I’ve always found cooperation to be preferable to competition. Forgive me for putting it so bluntly, Lord Zeno but what do you want in exchange for resuming our previous good relations?”

Zeno smirked at her. “Prostrate before me. Swear your undying allegiance to me as your master. Then we can talk about what you can do with that pretty little mouth of yours.”

Koi’s eyes narrowed. I might have gone for that… It’s not like I haven’t done worse to stay alive in the past but I recognize that glint in Zeno’s eyes. This isn’t a real offer. He just want to see how low he can make me sink before he kills me.

What to do? If I play along I might buy myself an hour or two. Maybe I could expect a rescue?

No. There’s no point. I might as well go out with dignity. Dreyfus has undoubtedly gotten Senko to safety by now. If Zeno had my daughter he would have brought her out already to try and break my spirit.

Senko will live. That’s enough.

This is my last move. What to play?

Maybe I could call Koga’s allegiance into question?

“Unfortunately, I am unable to so swear, Lord Zeno,” Koi said apologetically. “I’m afraid that I have recently sworn my eternal loyalty to a new master.”

Zeno blinked in genuine surprise. “What?!”

Everyone in the room expressed shocked.

An underboss of the Black Silver Coins doesn’t swear loyalty to anyone except the Boss or the King of Shadows. It’s virtually unthinkable. I have their undivided attention. Now I make my play.

“Only last night, I was approached by a Witch of Sin, the great Lord Taiyang,” Koi explained.

Out of the corner of her eye, Koi saw Koga’s head snap up as if it was jerked on a string. He stared at her with his eyes wide open.

This is it. In a few minutes, Koga will either be begging me for more information about Taiyang or he’ll be cutting me to ribbons as a blasphemer. It would be a quick death at least.

“What are you talking about?” Zeno said, too shocked to immediately dismiss her words as lies.

“Lord Taiyang, the Witch of the Frozen Wastes, has been sleeping in the great Elior Forest for centuries. He recently awoke from his long slumber. Last night he requisitioned my aid to ship supplies and to gather intelligence on his great enemy. I could hardly refuse.”

“You entered into an alliance with an outsider without the permission of all of us?!” Aperitif squawked.

Koi shrugged. “What would you have suggested? That I defy a Witch of Sin?”

Koi’s ear twitched. From outside Zeno’s manor, Koi’s sharp hearing picked up shouts and the faint sounds of men in armor running.

There’s some sort of disturbance going on outside. And it sounds like Zeno’s forces are having trouble… Could it be Dreyfus?!

“Do you really expect us to believe this bull?” Zeno said with a broad smile.

Zeno thinks I’m bluffing. No surprise there. The problem is that I can’t read how this information is affecting Koga yet!

“It’s true,” Cynthia murmured.

Zeno blinked. “What?!”

Cynthia looked at Koi with an unclear expression. “My own agents in her organization reported that just last night, Lady Koi issued a variety of strange orders. This was immediately after a ‘monster’ came to visit her in her manor. It must have been the witch.”

Cynthia has spies in my organization?! I think that I might be impressed. But her cold tone worries me. I might have gained Koga’s vote to let me live but I might also have lost Cynthia’s! This is quite the gamble!

Zeno scowled at Cynthia and Koi.

This is it. Zeno has lost all patience. Unless Koga jumps in this is over!

Zeno stood up from his seat and marched over to Koi and Cynthia. “I’ve had enough from both of you. Cynthia, you have a straight choice: serve me or die. Koi, you don’t get the first option!” Zeno thundered.

Zeno’s voice was loud but it was drowned out by shouts of alarm and screams of pain from the hall outside the meeting room.

Zeno paused and turned to face the door.

“What’s happening out there?” Aperitif asked Zeno in a near panic.

The big man ignored Aperitif. They all looked at the door. They could see the flickering light peeking under the door from torches that lined the hallway.

A moment later, the light began to fade. Instead of light being seen under the door, it was… darkness.

The darkness entered the room like smoke and crept up the other side of the door like great crawling fingers.

The room dimmed. The torches in the meeting room kept burning but the light they shed seemed to falter and dim as shadows filled the room.

Koi’s jaw dropped. It’s Taiyang! How the hell did he find me? Am I saved? Or will I soon wish that I’d persuaded Zeno to kill me sooner?!

The door opened slowly and behind it stood a man like a black cutout, a silhouette darker than the darkness. A pair of figures stood in the darkness behind him, one was a beautiful woman, the other looked like a little girl. Great red eyes gleamed in the shadows around them.

Koi heard the growl of a Guiltylowe from the hall.

Almost everyone in the room gasped and trembled.

I remember this. Taiyang wraps himself in a shadow of fear! The underbosses are terrified. Judging by the smell, I think Aperitif might even have pissed himself! Everyone here is scared speechless!

“Who are you?” Zeno growled, his eyes narrow.

Well. Almost everyone. As much as I despise Zeno, I have to admit that he’s absolutely fearless.

I wish that he’d just throw himself at Taiyang but Zeno is no fool. He’s not going to pick a fight until he’s felt out the situation.

Taiyang walked slowly into the room. He ignored Zeno. “We had an appointment tonight, Lady Koi, did we not?” He whispered.

Koi swallowed hard. “A thousand apologies, exalted one,” Koi said, standing up so that she could give him her lowest, most reverential bow. “I assure you that this mistake was not due to sloth but rather to excessive diligence.”

“Oh?” Taiyang mused.

Koi nodded. “I realized that your exalted self could be better served by all of the Black Silver Coins working together. I feared that my own forces would be inadequate to carry out your grand designs. As a result, we have gathered here tonight to discuss how we might best service your needs. I fear that in our diligence to serve you, time got away from us…” She said apologetically.

Koi shot a hard look at Zeno who clenched his jaw when he looked back.

Zeno understands. I just offered him a way to escape Taiyang’s fury and he knows it. Zeno isn’t sure that he can fight Taiyang and he’s too smart to pick a fight against a completely unknown opponent.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Zeno is ready to accept my offer either…

“Your words are nothing but lies,” Taiyang whispered and Koi’s heart stopped. “And yet you speak sense. Therefore, I will ignore your falsehoods given that you have gathered for me more powerful agents to work my will.”

Koi let out the breath that she had been holding and she bonelessly slumped back into her chair. “Thank you, Master. You are merciful, Master. Thank you.”

Taiyang slowly sat down in Zeno’s chair.

Zeno’s eyes blazed and he sprang forward with raging fury on his face.

“Zeno! Don’t!” Koi screamed.

Zeno was a mountain of a man. He was known to be able to punch clear through a brick wall. He drove his fist into the Taiyang’s shadowy hood with a sound like thunder.

Taiyang didn’t move nor stir.

Zeno gaped at him.

Taiyang gently slapped at Zeno’s elbow and Zeno leaped back with a cry of pain. His arm was now hanging at an unnatural angle, broken at the elbow joint.

Zeno stood back holding his arm and staring at Taiyang in sheer terror.

“Normally,” Taiyang said in a whisper, “I would kill a man for daring to lay hands upon my august person… but I’m sure that this was simply a game intended to amuse me.”

By chance or intent, Taiyang took Zeno’s seat at his own conference table. I can’t imagine anything that would have provoked Zeno more. It made him angry enough to abandon his natural caution. Did Taiyang do this on purpose knowing that Zeno would attack without thinking? Was it part of a plan to establish Taiyang’s dominance before the conversation even started?

The underbosses all turned to stare at Koi, hoping that she had some answers.

Koi slowly stood up and placed her hands on her thighs, giving her lowest and most reverential bow. “Lord Taiyang, we are humbly grateful for you gracing us with your presence. There is no higher honor for the Black Silver Coins than to host an almighty Witch of Sin.”

Koi did not straighten up but she took a quick glance at the others. Zeno’s face was a riot of rage and fear. It had likely been decades since anyone had hurt Zeno at all, much less effortlessly snapped his limb. Zeno clearly didn’t know how to react. Cynthia and Aperitif both stared open mouthed at Taiyang. Koga looked at Taiyang with complete hatred.

Oh shit. Koga looks like he might try to attack Taiyang next. He’s actually stupid enough to not even consider if he can win. If that happens, we might all die. Taiyang’s patience has got to be exhausted by now and if Zeno can’t handle Taiyang then there’s no way that Koga can.

“Rise, Lady Koi,” Taiyang breathed a few moments later. “As always your manners are exquisite. I value that in those who serve me.”

Cynthia and Aperitif stared at Koi in astonishment as she gracefully straightened her posture. “Thank you, Lord Taiyang. I know I speak for all of my associates when I say, we are your most humble servants and we trust to your gratitude when we have done your will.”

“Well said,” Taiyang said. Koi thought that he was smirking.

Well, any way that I can charm Taiyang is a victory…

“Also,” Taiyang continued. “I was pleased to make your daughter’s acquaintance.”

Koi’s heart stopped. No! What has he done?! Did he take her prisoner to ensure my good behavior?! Did he-

“Your daughter is a remarkable girl,” Taiyang murmured. “She looked death full in the face and did not flinch. It was very impressive. I expect great things from her in the future.”

It took Koi a moment to process the statement but as soon as she did, she could have wept in joy.

Taiyang sees the value in my daughter! She’s safe! Even if I fail Taiyang, he won’t punish me by attacking Senko!

Koi was so ecstatic about this turn of events that for a moment she could only stand there and grin foolishly.

Koi’s eyes widened as she saw Koga jump to his feet, dagger in hand and throw himself at Taiyang’s back.

Before Koi could yell for Koga to stop or warn Taiyang, there was a blur and Koga went flying against the wall. Koga slammed into the wall and slid to the ground. He was out cold.

A voluptuous woman in a formfitting outfit was suddenly standing between Taiyang and Koga’s unconscious body with a broad smile.

“He’s still alive, Master,” The woman said cheerfully. “I wasn’t sure if you needed him for anything so I made sure not to kill him.”

Koi’s jaw dropped. I know that woman! She’s the Bowel Hunter! Some of my associates have hired her before. She’s supposed to be one of the premier assassins on the continent but she’s a psychotic basket-case! Send her on a mission and she’s likely to go berserk and kill forty people and, if you’re lucky, maybe one of them will be your target.

She’s a raging wild fire that no one can control.

Taiyang managed to tame her?! She looks proud to be standing there beside Taiyang.

It sounds crazy but I know that expression on her face. She just did something for her master and this ruthless killer is looking at him as if she’s hoping for candy and a pat on the head!

Taiyang hadn’t even turned his head at Koga’s attack. “Well done,” He replied. “Your loyalty will be rewarded.”

Her face brightened. “Does that mean that I get to play with him?!” She asked eagerly.

“Just keep him quiet while you do,” Taiyang said in a voice like a winter wind.

The beautiful woman cooed and knelt over Koga’s prone body with her daggers drawn.

Taiyang looked at the bosses seemingly about as disturbed by Koga’s attempt on his life as he would be by a buzzing fly. “Please,” Taiyang waved a hand. “Do not stand on ceremony. Be seated. I wish to get to know each of you better.”

Zeno slowly walked over to Cynthia and sat down beside her with a scowl on his face. He gently put his broken arm on the table, holding it in place.

“Lady Koi, since you are the only one in attendance tonight who knows everyone, please be so kind as to perform introductions,” Taiyang instructed.

Koi swallowed hard. “Of course, Lord Taiyang. In attendance tonight we have Master Zeno, an emissary of the southern underbosses, Lady Cynthia who supervises the entertainment division of the coins, and Aperitif who manages prostitution and slavery.”

Taiyang looked at Aperitif coldly for a moment. Aperitif swallowed hard.

“Lovely to meet all of you,” Taiyang said finally, “I’m sure that you all have things to do tonight, attending to my desires not least of them. Lady Koi, would you be so kind as to instruct your comrades in my design?”

Me? Why doesn’t he just do it? What game is he playing?

Oh no! He’s not going to let me fade into the background! He’s keeping me as his point of contact. As long as I stand between the other underbosses and Taiyang then they’ll feel less willing to fight back. They have me as a buffer zone. As long as Taiyang doesn’t disrupt operations too much, they’ll accept propitiating him as just the cost of doing business!

There’s nothing I can do about this right now except to play along…

Koi cleared her throat. “Of course, exalted one. Lord Taiyang recently awoke from his long slumber because of the actions of an enemy.”

Everyone looked at Koi with rapt attention, anxious to learn any of Taiyang’s weak spots.

“This enemy, Subaru Natsuki,” Koi continued, noting the shocked looks on everyone’s faces, “Was able to elude our master due to chance and poor timing.”

Taiyang audibly drummed his fingers on the table.

Oh no.

Koi took a deep breath. “I have also discovered that, without my knowledge, some of my smugglers broke our sacred laws and attempted to go into business for themselves by smuggling Subaru Natsuki across the border and away from Lord Taiyang.”

Koi was pained but unsurprised to find that all the other underbosses were glaring at her.

Koi swallowed hard. Taiyang wants to isolate me. To ensure that no one is interested in helping me conspire against him. If this goes much further, I may be permanently tethered to Taiyang. If anything were to happen to him, I might be next! The Black Silver Coins could accuse me of either treachery or incompetence and the penalty for either one is death.

My only possible way out is to find Taiyang’s great enemy: Subaru Natsuki. If he can protect me from Taiyang then he can easily protect me from Zeno as well…

Zeno growled. “Then we need to hunt down those idiots and teach them a lesson.”

“Lord Taiyang saved you the trouble, Master Zeno,” Koi said quietly. “I sent agents into the forest to discover what happened to my smugglers. They reported a vast field of torn up human body parts. They said it looked like they were ripped apart by wild beasts.”

The underbosses all looked at each other nervously and then at Taiyang. They had each killed dozens at the very least over their careers and ordered the deaths of countless more. But this was something new. “Your smugglers made three mistakes,” Taiyang said calmly. “They entered into my domain without my permission. They aided my foe. And rather than ask pardon, your men thought it best to attack me. They died. Slowly.”

Cynthia cleared her throat. “These ignorant smugglers certainly committed a terrible offense against your lordship. I know that your wrath must be powerful when you have been wronged so clearly by those who had no just-cause to offend you. But if I might be so bold, what are your intentions toward the Black Silver Coins?”

“Please, be at peace, Lady Cynthia,” Taiyang said. “I am the great lord Taiyang and my benevolence knows no bounds. I have agreed to forgive the Black Silver Coins for their trespass in exchange for their service.”

“Service, Great One?” Cynthia asked in a worried tone.

Taiyang gestured toward Koi who continued with a sigh. “Lord Taiyang has crafted a brilliant plan to capture Subaru Natsuki. Subaru Natsuki had two Great Spirits in his care that he treated like children. Apparently the kingdom recently captured them. If Lord Taiyang were to capture the spirits, then Subaru Natsuki would come to him.”

“We’re going to try and capture Great Spirits?” Zeno asked incredulously.

“No,” Taiyang replied. “I shall capture the Great Spirits. Their power is insignificant next to one who has fully mastered the dark arts. I require the Black Silver Coins simply to find them for me. I also desire to know the location of Subaru Natsuki’s other friends and companions.”

Taiyang looked at the other bosses. “Are my instructions clear to each of you?”

The bosses all nodded. They looked at one another with grim faces.

They’re still all glowering at me. They blame me for causing this entire mess. Maybe I should leave with Taiyang under the excuse of needing to talk to him. If I stay here it won’t be long until Zeno decides to make me pay for my mens’ mistakes and this time, no one will speak up for me…

“Lady Koi shall be my point of contact with all of you,” Taiyang murmured. “I shall rely on her to guide you and provide me reports. I’m sure you’ll all do all in your power to assist her. She shall give you instruction in my sacred name.”

Zeno bit his lip as he glared at Koi with raw hatred. “Of course, my lord,” He growled. “We will be your most obedient servants.”

“Yes,” Cynthia said, glaring at Koi coldly. “We shall see your will done.”

Aperitif was trembling too hard to say anything.

Oh no. That did it. I’m now fully tied to Taiyang. If anything happens to Taiyang, the other bosses will kill me. Taiyang has simultaneously raised me to be the uncontested Boss of the Black Silver Coins of Gusteko and made it impossible for me to survive without his backing. If I displease Taiyang, all he has to do is announce that he will no longer grant me his favor and the other bosses will tear me apart. It’s a brilliant strategy. I’d be impressed if anyone but me was caught in this trap.

I thought that I knew what slavery was but Taiyang’s words have bound me to him more surely than any chain.

There’s no other way to look at it. I belong to Taiyang now…