Kara blinked back in surprise and her left foot unconsciously withdrew a step behind her. She felt her breath quicken at the bold and brutal declaration. But she caught herself and demanded with a grimace, “Explain that, slave.”
Freyjin closed her eyes once very slowly and took a deep but subtle breath, “Mistress, I will, but we should return to my owner immediately, as you are assigned to her, she may favor your presence as Karlo’s replacement. But I ‘must’ return to my owner immediately.”
For a moment Kara opened her mouth and bent her arm up, pointing with her finger, she was about to object, but then lowered her arm and closed her lips. ‘Do I want to make that one angry? No. Slave or not, it wouldn’t do to speak harshly to this one.’ Kara thought and went for the door.
They rode in the carriage in chilly silence, each looking out the opposite window until returning to the hotel.
Freyjin wasted no time. When she saw her fellow soldiers at ease on the grass and the twins sleeping in a lap with Onimeus sitting in front instructing them in something, she knew just where to find her owner, more or less.
“Take me to my owner’s room, my lady.” Freyjin asked as hastily as she could get the words out, Kara glared at the back of the slave, annoyance rushed through her at the abruptness of the tone of the property, but her tongue was bound by circumstance, curiosity, and concern. So despite the tingling bristling that went up and down her back, she strode faster and took Freyjin by the hand.
“Fine, this way, slave.” The slender elf kept pace easily with her, up the stairs and along the rail to what she knew to be the correct door.
“Mistress!” Freyjin urged as she knocked, “I have information!”
The door opened, and she found her prince urging them both inside.
The golden glinting of his collar around his throat gave him away, and her breath caught to see him again as if it were the first time, she almost hesitated.
“Make it quick.” Nua said from within, and so Freyjin brushed past him down the short hall that opened up into the large main room. Her owner sat at a table signing a document.
“You, Kara, right?” Nua asked brusquely.
Kara nodded, despite the calm voice and seemingly disinterested air, the closer she drew to the armored elven woman, the colder and more grave like the area seemed to become. “Y-Yes, my Lady.” She swallowed and closed her ruby lips tightly. The elven woman extended a document to her.
“Take this to the concierge, tell them I expect this room to be emptied of my belongings and moved to my manor tomorrow morning.” Kara reached out to take the paper from Nua’s outstretched left hand. She felt her hairs stand up on end, like death was reaching out to touch her.
It was a brief hesitation, enough that the elf noticed, and looked sideways at her. Mustering brief courage, Kara darted her hand out and took the document before the question could be asked of her hesitancy.
“Right away!” Kara replied, and as she scurried from the room, she had only one thought. ‘Karlo, were you insane to get involved with these people?! What the hell did you do?!’
Freyjin came close, the oppressive air around her owner seemed to intensify, she sank to her knees. “What have you found, Freyjin?” Nua asked, turning to the side in her chair, resting her forearms on her knees, she leaned forward and looked down at the nervous elven slave.
Freyjin, not content to kneel, prostrated herself at her owner’s feet. “I believe Karlo is dead!” She shot the words out like an arrow from a taut bow.
“You don’t think he took Priceless?” Nua asked, cocking her head and glancing at Solution, who sat opposite her lady with her feet propped up on the table and her chair leaning back at ease. Solution shrugged with indifference and doubt.
Freyjin kept her eyes close to the floor, but shook her head. “No, I mean, he may be involved, but I don’t believe he took her himself! We went into his home, it wasn’t locked, to be expected of someone not intending to return. Also his travel bag was gone, which again is something you’d expect of someone not planning to return. But it looked staged.”
“Staged?” Nua asked, her heart skipped a beat as she detected the faint hint of intrigue.
Freyjin nodded so hard that her forehead struck the floor. She ignored the stinging sensation as she explained, “Yes, mistress. His uniform from work was missing, and his favorite book one read many times, was left behind. Also his bed was made. It’s like somebody made it look like he’d hastily gathered things and fled. But why would he do that if he planned this out? Why would he take the girl he didn’t like and not the one he loved? Why would he leave in his work uniform? Why wouldn’t he take his favorite things? No, mistress, I believe he is dead, and whoever is responsible for his disappearance, took your property and set it up to look like he’d done it and fled.”
Nua cursed. But that begged a further question. “How did you learn how to do that, slave?”
“Mistress, before I was taken captive, long ago, before everything went wrong… I… I served as a free employee among a local private security force. We were like the watch, but… better. Trackers combined with security, you might say. I worked with them for forty years. My skills… are now yours to command. Your slave will serve with absolute faithfulness.”
Nua’s already arched brow threatened to leave her forehead. She extended her right hand. “You served me well, today.”
The brutal oppressive feeling of death that came off the seemingly relaxed owner began to fade. Freyjin raised her head, drew close, and kissed the palm. “Thank you, mistress.”
“Apply your skills to finding Priceless. If you are successful, Lenah, Straen, Veema, and yourself… will ‘all’ be moving into my manor. I will need good servants, loyal servants, competent servants. Do this, and you will have proven yourself beyond question to be all three.”
For a moment the words were not fully comprehended. And then there it was, like bright light to someone lost in a dark cave. “Mistress…” Freyjin gasped at the impossible promise made possible in an instant. “You…” For a moment she almost dared to ask, ‘do you mean it’ but the words died in her throat as she recalled the promises already kept.
“You are kinder than I ever thought…” Freyjin blinked back tears and recalled the story her owner told her of her own past in bondage, ‘She knows our lives… no wonder she works so hard for us… gives us so much… maybe we are not free but… but to serve one who gives loyalty in return?’ The very thought, despite the terrible aura of death that, though declining, was still permeating the space around her owner, filled her with warmth.
“I will need people, mistress. But I believe it can be done.” Freyjin’s smile formed with growing confidence and Nua pointed to the window.
“Keep watch, if I know Kaiji, then she’ll have manpower coming along shortly.” Nua pointed toward the window that overlooked the grounds. “When she brings what you need, waste no time. Find my slave. And if you can, return her to me alive.” Nua did not look at Freyjin while she was speaking, instead she was busy writing, though what, Freyjin could only guess.
She glanced at her prince, the wordless question passed between them, but his expression was as lost as her own.
‘Freyjin was a lucky, lucky find indeed.’ Nua reflected and flung herself against the back of her chair, allowing her weary arms to droop, she craned her neck back and looked up at the ceiling, letting out a deep, long yawn.
She then closed her eyes and rested her left hand palm up on the table and lost herself so well that she did not hear the knock at the door.
She entered the realm of the gem in her hand and looked around. There was white smoke coming from the chimney of the comfortable looking cottage, he hadn’t changed much of anything. Nua looked down, she was naked. ‘Uh oh… I really have to get used to having to get ‘dressed’ every time I come here.’ She rolled her eyes and she was equipped again, including her favorite knife, with her former owner’s bone as a hilt.
She knocked politely three times and waited at the simple tan wooden door. “Come in.” The pleasant voice replied, and in she went.
The smell of baking bread came to her immediately, as did the scent of tea. Yersin was wearing a black silk garment that wrapped around his body and which was wrapped over one shoulder and rested over one arm at his waist, leaving most of the left half of his torso bare. His golden locks swayed in a breeze that came in through the window overlooking a dead, gray lake. She gave the odd garment a curious once over with her eyes while she made her way into the room.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Hello again, ‘partner’.” Yersin’s thin lips spread open pleasantly. He spoke without opening his mouth, the words resonated within Nua’s mind. He gestured to the seat at the simple round wooden table. “Please, sit, I think I know what you’re here about, but that’s no reason not to savor the time we have together.” He set out a cup of tea and she sat with her hands folded together one over the other on top of the table. His all too human face had an almost deathly gaunt look to it that might have made him appear unhealthy if it were not for the sparkle to the bright blue of his eyes.
“Of course.” Nua finally answered when the tea was poured and milk stirred within. The faint ‘tink’ noise of a spoon of bone tapping the edge of the glass was the only other sound for a moment until Yersin seated himself.
“So, my suggestion, can you do it?” Nua asked bluntly.
“Yes. I’ll lose ‘most’ of this.” He raised a hand over his head and turned it about at the wrist, to encompass the small residence. “But I can do what you ask.”
Nua bowed her head, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would cost that much.” To her surprise, Yersin laughed.
“You’ve got to spend mana to get mana, so think nothing of it. If you do what you say, I’ll get thousands of lives to fuel me. The emperor will die, his sons will wage war against one another for the throne after I infect them, and before they’ve purged the last of the infestation of death, I will have enough mana to create a whole world within here. And of course… as long as you continue doing what it is you do… it’s at your disposal… my wielder.” He inclined his head gratefully. “And may I say, the aura of death around you today is particularly enticing. Is something going very well, or very poorly?”
Nua barely responded to the promise of such a mana pool at her disposal, though in the back of her mind the calculations were already going. Instead, she chose to answer him. “My property was taken from me. Property I have come to like. I am concerned for her.” Nua explained and took a deep long sip of the tea.
“That makes sense, back when I was different persons, most of us had some people we were concerned with.” Yersin responded, then got up, took a tray of black bread, and laid it out in front of Nua. Each piece was cut into long strips a little longer than a finger, and lightly dusted with a white substance. “Try some, it’s delicious.” He remarked, then reclaimed his seat.
“Could you… maybe explain that?” Nua asked while she reached for a piece of bread.
Yersin gave a whimsical little smile, “Now that we know each other a little better, why not? I was once nine different men… well, ‘ten’ if you count the life used as a catalyst, I think that life is the source of my fondness for tea and cooking. It’s hard to say, now. It’s been over nine thousand years after all.”
Nua swallowed wrong and pounded on her chest, coughing over and over again, “Did you say nine thousand years?!”
“I did. The we became an I, and have been around for a very long time. I remember when the demon-elves were made, and when the first great empires rose and fell, sometimes I get nostalgic and recreate their semblance here.” He looked out toward the door.
“This garment is called a ‘chlamys’ I believe I caught your eyes trying to place it. It has fallen out of fashion over the centuries, but there was a time when everybody wore them. At least in one particularly powerful region. I rather like them though, they’re very comfortable.”
Nua tore her mind away from the fascination that was rapidly encroaching on her mind in the presence of the ancient being. “I… see. But down to the matter at hand, how long will it take, do I need to do anything to create the spiral of death that you have in mind?”
Yersin shook his head and took a bite of the hard black bread after softening it in his own cup of tea. “No, not at all. Just press me to the bare skin of her body. I can do this two ways. A very intensive curse, or extensive. Intensive I will curse only the spot on her body that I touch, and whatever eats that will be so infected. Or I can curse her entire body, and no matter what is eaten, I will curse the eater. However…” He raised a finger in warning, “It will be a much weaker curse, much easier to discover, and I assume you want to hide my work.”
Nua flashed her teeth in an evil smile, a shiver of absolute bliss ran up and down from her toes to her head.
“Once done, well…” He shrugged.
“I’ll find out where you go. This is, unfortunately, all I can do for her.” Nua remarked, then drank the last of her tea and set the little bone white cup down on the table. “Thank you for the tea, Yersin. It’s always a pleasure.”
“Agreed.” He said, and stood at the same moment she began to. “Oh, and about your missing property, if people operate like they used to, she’s very likely still in the city somewhere, even if she was taken by outsiders.”
That brought Nua up short, she had been half turned around, but spun to face him at his suggestion. “Explain.” She demanded.
“Simple, if they took her over you, they want information, and that means that they can’t waste time with travel, so they’ve got to have a safe house inside the city, probably somewhere cheap, undesirable, rarely visited and easily entered or left from a variety of locations to give them a free hand. On the open road, too many potential chance encounters, a captive might escape, might die, might kill herself. And information acquired close by is just as good as information acquired far away. It just doesn’t make sense to take her out of the city. If she’s still alive, she’s here.”
Nua ran though every word he said, and bowed deeply at the waist. “Thank you, Yersin. I will give you the lives of those responsible, if I can, when I recover her.”
Yersin didn’t answer, and Nua left out the front door, vanished from his realm, and opened her eyes.
“Welcome back.” Solution said amiably, “That must have been fun, whatever you were doing in there.”
Nua blinked herself back to full awareness, and recalled the way her body trembled in Yersin’s realm. “I didn’t…”
“Oh you did, you very much did.” Solution’s peel of lovely laughter from her relaxed posture washed over Nua like the wave of embarrassment she felt.
“No! It wasn’t like that!” Nua frantically shook her head.
“Tell him that.” Solution giggled and pointed to where Prince Sado knelt, holding up a document in hand, and trying very hard… to pretend his manhood wasn’t.
Nua put her right hand over her face and dragged her fingers down with a groan of annoyance. Her left hand snatched the document up, and a firm blue eyed glare at the golden collared Prince was followed with the words, “Not. A. Word.”
Sado had the good sense to give a single emphatic nod. He coughed uncomfortably, “This came from the palace while you were ah… yes, busy, mistress.”
The document was sealed with the insignia of Prince Rasgen. A simple design of a group of arrows bound together. She took out her knife and cut open the wax, breaking the seal. The document was, to her surprise, not paper. It was linen, intended to last.
She unrolled the white document and read the contents, Solution looked at her expectantly. “An invitation. There’s to be a feast celebrating the life of Lady Sobella on the eve of her departure as a sacrificial tribute to the Tlalmok Emperor and his family. Obviously, I’ll be attending, so Solution, I’ll be back late tonight.”
“Fine, but you’re not still thinking of rescuing her, are you?” Solution asked with a cold look in her lovely eyes, and then it fell away as Nua shook her head.
“No, Teacher. That’s impossible without far more power than I could ever have.” Nua turned her look away from her teacher and around the room. “Where are the rest?”
Sado was the one to answer, “Mistress, Freyjin left when Kaiji and Vargas returned, I kept watch at the window, and true to your prediction, within that same hour, an entire regiment of soldiers formed up in front of the yard. Kaiji and Vargas went with her to start the search. Onimeus is at the front desk collecting any tips or clues that come in regarding the whereabouts of your lost property, as well as acting as a liaison with the city watch. The rest of the soldiers were returned to their cages a short while ago.” He hesitated, tears of frustration building that he tried to pretend were not there. ‘Damn you.’ Sado cursed himself before continuing.
“And I… well I am here at whatever service you require.” He shut his mouth tightly, then added rapidly, recalling the rebellious arousal that began at the sight of his captor’s trembling body, “I did not mean that the way it sounded.” His mouth shut tightly again.
Nua politely ignored the lewdity he’d rapidly denied, and gave her orders. “Go to the adventurer’s guild. Tell Orcis and Lymestra that I’ve returned. Tell them my soldiers await their instruction and they should present themselves at the estate within the city of… damn I never got the name of the purged duke.”
“Duke Yudes… he was an ally of mine within the city… you have his estate, his title?” Sado asked and hung his head low. “Is there anything that was mine… that you won’t take?” He asked the floor in a bitter voice. “My people… my body, the homes we had… our lands…” Sado’s flesh shook, his fingers tense, every fiber of his being screamed, ‘Yell at her! Scream at her! Fight her! Do something! Anything!’ And yet he remained on his knees, grinding his teeth and cursing his loose tongue. Whispered or not, there was no way for her to miss the bitter utterance. ‘Well, that was as good as a death sentence.’ He realized a moment after speaking, yet despite the grim aura of death that was still only slowly dissipating from her, he didn’t feel a blow was coming.
“Solution, go order a carriage for me and one for you two, you’ll be going with the Prince to ensure he returns here safely. I won’t have any more of my property stolen.”
Solution got up slowly, “Of course ‘my lady’.” Solution chuckled, “I’ll wait for him at the entrance.”
“It won’t be long, the Prince will be with you before the carriage is ready.” Nua’s reply was quick, and Sado felt the chill smile of a monster pass over his head as she stood up and walked without a word to the door.
It clicked behind her, and then the pain hit him. Nua’s hand snatched his head at the root of his hair and he felt his entire body lifted as they flew toward the wall together, striking with a sound, hard thud. Her breath was in his ear and he felt the edge of her knife at his throat. Sado had blown in many a desiring ear in his time, and he had felt the hot breath of desirous women at his own in turn. But never before this elven killer, had he felt the breath cold as winter winds caress his ear. And with that icy breath of the grave she whispered to him. “If you challenge me like that in public, I will kill you, Prince of Chains.”
Sado however, was no coward. “And in private?” He asked her without missing a beat. His vision cleared, not even shaken by the pain or sudden thud, he looked his owner in the eye without a hesitant wince.
To his surprise, Nua stepped back from him. She cast her knife aside, it clattered to the floor, wobbling from sharp tip to bone hilt. She then peeled off her armor and boots, peeled off her gloves, and left herself in bare feet and her ordinary clothing. She took up a combat stance. “I’ve heard you were a stupendous warrior. Prove it.”
Sado stared at her with disbelief and stepped away from the wall.
“Everything you had, Prince of Chains, will fall into my hands. Your city, your people, the homes of your allies, I’ll buy or conquer everything.” Nua’s ears twitched, “You have every reason to hate me for it, even if I did save your life. Even if I did promise that I’ll be saving your people from a worse fate.” Her golden hair swayed as she moved her feet slowly back to give him space within her room. “I wouldn’t blame you if you despise me. Were I in your place, I might.” She balled her right hand into a fist.
“So this is your chance, strike me. Strike your mistress and fight back.” Nua’s voice was venom and it dripped from her tongue like a curse.
Sado felt his instincts returning to him, his blood pounding like a war drum, but he looked at the woman in front of him like she was some strange kind of monster.
“You’re serious… no master or mistress would let their slaves challenge them like this… are you insane…?” He stared at her, while his body instinctively took on a combat posture for brawling.
A low, animalistic growl formed in Nua’s throat, her lips peeled back and her teeth bared to him in a snarl. “No. I think I’m the sanest person in this part of the world. You’ll understand my mind in time, and when you do… you’ll thank me. But for now, Prince of a dead city, fight back!” In that moment, with the light at her back she seemed aglow, and to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in all his life. Prompted by some hidden signal, without war cries or shouts or threats, the slave and mistress charged at one another at the same moment.