Lodira awoke to see the faint glow of the healer’s hand over her. For a moment, confusion swept her face and the random thought came to mind, ‘We weren’t that rough, were we?’ She caught the eyes of Prince Rasgen, and in his fearful, worried face, as well as in the tight hold he had on her hand which he’d cupped with both of his, it came back. The blood, the death, the flies buzzing over corpses that were made through the darkness of the night and through her slumber.
She sat up and pushed herself off with her elbows so that her back was against the headboard of the Prince’s bed. The red satin sheets brought a brief flash of memory to her mind, the blood that pooled around her, the sightless eyes of her aged husband… her hands flew to her forehead and she grabbed her hair at the base of her scalp. Her lips began to tremble, ‘ah-ah-ahaah-ah-ah’ She uttered the nonsense sounds on a loop rocking her back to smack against the headboard that her forehead knew quite well already.
“Wah-ah-I- they’re all dead! Oh, by the star’s balls they’re all dead! Someone killed them all while I slept! They let me live, what kind of man would do something like that…?!” She exclaimed, her eyes twitched and shook, her moaning became desperate, and with it all her entire body seemed as fragile as glass. As if she were going to fall apart at any moment.
“Lodira!” Prince Rasgen exclaimed and moved closer to her, up the length of the bed, he wrapped his left arm around her at the back of the head and let his hand fall to her shoulder, he drew her from there, away from the headboard and against his hard, warrior body.
She wrapped her arms around him and pushed her face into the fabric of his clothing. She sobbed and shook as the fear that she had been swimming through, that had been clinging to her from the moment she awakened from pleasant dreams to a living nightmare. He let her cry there, he let her shake there, he let her shed her fears and tears and horrors the way a dog shook off water after a swim in a pond.
When she finally stopped, he crouched beside her and rested his hands in hers again, “My Lodira… what happened?” His voice became grave, a deep frown in place of the usual radiant and charismatic smile, “The guard, he said you came to the gate talking about murders in your country estate… you had blood on you when you were brought in? Lodira… what… what have you done?” He finished in a dismayed whisper.
Her eyes flew open as if he’d slapped her and no words came readily to mind.
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Kaiji sat behind her owner’s desk as if it were her own, and felt every inch the blasphemer. ‘I shouldn’t be sitting here…’ Was her first thought, and so she’d had another chair brought into the room and set that of her mistress beside where she now sat. Still, it felt wrong. Her hairs stood on end, and so she pushed her chair back from the desk, very little. Not enough to make things difficult, but so that her own chair was just a finger width behind the one that belonged to her mistress. ‘Better.’ She thought with satisfaction and set to work.
Priceless sat on the other side of the desk taking notes about Kaiji’s orders. “We need laborers working on the villages, and the simplest way to do that is to buy the people we’re going to settle there, let them build their own homes.” Kaiji rattled off the orders and the list of specialists that were needed to build the simple peasant stilt houses and what was needed for the counting house to go in the square of every village.
Kaiji raised an eyebrow at the swiftness with which Priceless wrote, ‘She’s almost as fast with her quill as our goddess…’ The constant scratch of quill on paper stopped dead as soon as the brown haired slave caught up. Priceless’s back was straight and shoulders squared, she met Kaiji’s eyes with brimming expectation, and Kaiji did not disappoint.
“Have Freyjin personally oversee the slave purchases, she has a talent for it, but take someone with her who may have a similar eye so that she can focus on more administrative work and leave the menial tasks in someone else’s hands.” Kaiji gave the order swiftly and watched as it was swiftly scribbled out, and when it was, she paused.
“Priceless… are you… yourself?” Kaiji finally asked with a quiet voice that was asked while she leaned forward toward her lover.
Priceless beamed brightly, “Of course… my mistress.” She winked as she used the final word, recalling the way Nua had given her over to Kaiji. “Why wouldn’t I be? The law our mistress wished made, went out this morning to all the lands our mistress rules. We’re bonded… I can never be taken away from you, or you from me…”
Kaiji shared in the breadth and depth of both the smile of her lover and the happiness beneath it, but as she reached her hand out across the desk and took Priceless’s own into her palm, she added, “There’s more though, isn’t there?”
Priceless’s teasing laughter washed over her like warm bath water on a cold morning. “Yes, my Kaiji… yes. Nobody ever fought for me before, or killed for me before, or punished anyone who had ever hurt me before. And yet in one day, our mistress did all of those things, and so did you. And also…” She touched the purple tag that hung from the bronze collar, “I used this… and I liked it. People moved out of the way for me, people spoke kindly to me for no reason. I gave orders, people followed them. It felt… it felt so wonderful…” A breathless sigh passed her lips that was utter bliss.
“You had a taste of power, it does feel good, I know… I remember.” Kaiji said in a gentle voice, “But remember that it isn’t your own that you use. You bear only what is given to you, nothing more.”
Priceless bowed her head humbly, “I know… I know… but it was… bliss.”
Kaiji gave her a little smile, “I no longer want any power but to serve mistress Aiwenor, so if you want to play some games tonight…” She winked at her lover, and Priceless, to her surprise, licked her lips enticingly.
Any words of theirs that they might have traded further were cut off when there was a knock at the door and Onimeus’s voice was carried to them. “Voices of the mistress, I bring with me the Questioner of the Starwatchers, Malefacorum.”
“Come in.” Kaiji straightened up further and lifted her chin slightly to ensure her purple tag could be seen. “Priceless,” She said abruptly, “go see that everything we’ve talked about this morning is carried out, you can catch up with Freyjin last, I’ll need to speak with her before she goes out on her purchasing run.”
“Of course.” Priceless stood up and bowed formally before the white clad religious figure entered, followed on his heels by the broad, aged Onimeus, and then she scurried out to tend her tasks, shutting the door behind her and leaving the trio alone.
Kaiji stood up and gestured to the chair in front of the desk. “Please, sit, Questioner.”
Malefacorum approached with the slow measured steps of a person who was either supremely confident and formal, or, as Kaiji surmised, not entirely able to see what was in front of him through the screen that hid his eyes. He did at least make it to the chair. Onimeus drew it back, then slid it in as the Questioner took his seat. Only when his hands were closed on the table did Kaiji reclaim her place on her side of the desk.
“What brings you here today, Questioner Malefacorum?” Kaiji asked with a smile that felt more strained than she hoped it looked. Her dark purple skin, thankfully, could not flush as a pale skinned human’s might, and her solid red eyes had no pupils to dilate or show alarm. Therefore she reasoned, ‘He likely will be unable to tell how I feel, especially with that cloth screen blurring his vision.’ It was a comforting thought to have just before he began to speak.
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“You are… or were, the Lady Kaiji, weren’t you?” He asked in a snakelike smooth voice.
“No more, but once, that was who I was.” Kaiji answered, her body betrayed nothing, she sat primly as a lady accustomed to royal attendance should, and for a moment she stared through red eyes at the white screen and wondered what color eyes looked back at her in return.
Finally he spoke up, “We never formally met, but your reputation for vigor in the service of your prince reached my ears. Have you… adapted well, accepted the decrees of the stars and the stories they have authored for your lives?”
She felt herself near to bristling, but remained serene before him, inclining her head in acceptance of his expression of concern. ‘He sounds concerned, the way he leans slightly toward me, he even looks it, but I know the sound of a serpent’s tongue. But thankfully, I don’t even have to lie.’
She let her love of her mistress shine through in the brightness of her ruby red eyes, “Yes, I can’t speak for Sado, but for myself… a thousand times yes. This isn’t the life I would have written for myself many years ago, I admit that. However, I treasure my life, my mistress, and her house, and accept the place that is given to me.”
The vigorous assertion, bold and even shamelessly proud of her new status, the way her chin tilted up again to almost arrogantly display the purple, it all conspired to shock the Questioner to the core.
“I- see.” Malefacorum answered very slowly, ‘I hadn’t expected such a robust response.’ He thought, but pressed on anyway. “Then of course, you must be aware of the importance of serving the will of the stars, it is the only way to reach paradise after all. This life, this hellish world, it must simply be endured, with patience and fortitude, the stars will not give us burdens we can’t bear...”
Kaiji kept her smile small and tight and her nodding droned on as the faithful questioner relayed an impromptu sermon to the secret apostate in the seat of power opposite himself.
After watching the sun on the desk move a third of the way from where it was striking when he entered, Kaiji could bear it no more. “Ahem.” She coughed briefly into her hand, causing the rambling official to stop and allow her to speak, “I don’t argue with what you say. The divine must be properly honored,” ‘which I will do when my goddess returns’ she thought between her spoken words, “however as the voice of my mistress my time is limited. Please, tell me what you need.”
At his back, she noticed the relief that briefly swept Onimeus’s face, it was subtle, nothing but the relaxation of his beard as if he were standing stiff and enduring the unpleasant one moment, and it ended in the next. ‘He’s an apostate like me… perhaps not fully, but some.’ Kaiji recognized with a sense of relief that she buried by intensifying her act and leaning in closer to the official.
“Right, right, well since the Duchessa is intent on remaining here, assuming she survives her venture…” Malefacorum began, only to snap his jaw shut at the iron interruption.
“She will.” Onimeus and Kaiji said in unison. He felt their stares pierce his body like blades, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Malefacorum interlaced his hands together and bowed his head toward them as he answered their bold and confident statement. “By the will of the stars who write her story, for all the world is watched by the endless eyes, no matter where they are, the fates author the lives of all people… if it be by their will, she will come back.”
“She will come back.” Kaiji stated with such finality that there was no doubt in his mind that she believed it to her core.
“Well when she does, then she must begin to learn the ways of the true faith, in the endless gods who watch our lives and give us paradise in the beyond. But in the meantime,” Malefacorum’s voice turned rough and hostile, “It has been suggested that her foreign faith has infected the slaves of her estate. It is our wish to conduct a Questioning and determine the truth.”
“And what methods do you propose to use?” Kaiji asked with a very narrow look in her eye.
“We will use the breaking wheel of course, but… we will heal any of the guiltless injured and compensate her for any of those she loses, and naturally we will not hold her to account for not knowing how the stars authored her life before coming here.” Malefacorum said it all so casually that it took Kaiji a moment to fully grasp his words.
She looked to Onimeus, “Did our guest mention this to you, Onimeus?”
He bowed deeply and replied, “He did, I told him he could make the request, but not to hold out hope of it being accepted.”
“Smart.” Kaiji answered, and slowly stood up from the desk. She walked to the window and stood with her hands folded behind her back while she looked down into the open field. Her right hand came away and touched the glass while silence followed behind her.
“Questioner Malefacorum… how much do you know about my mistress?” Kaiji asked in a small, serene way that might have been a spring dawn given voice.
“Little, that she is a foreigner, some say she is a death worshipper, but… still little.” He answered with a reluctant voice of his own, he remained seated and looked at the back of the demon-elf, her ink black hair swayed slightly when she shifted her gaze over the great open grounds of the estate.
“Let me tell you a little bit that is now common knowledge among us. Then I will leave it to you to think about whether it is wise to do what you ask.” Kaiji smirked into her ghostly reflection in the glass.
“Not long ago, Priceless, a slave she got for nothing, was stolen away. Priceless was beaten black and blue, teeth knocked out, barely conscious, but she wouldn’t tell her captors anything about our owner. When our mistress returned, you know, I’m sure you heard about the citywide hunt and the enormous bounty on information for finding the lost slave. What you may not know is that our mistress personally led the raid to recover what belonged to her. After the raid was over, the one who beat Priceless was staked out, and cut apart on the grounds in front of all her soldiers. His biceps were cut off down to the bone, his tongue removed, his calves carved away, look there.” Kaiji said, and pointed to the red stain that remained behind.
The Questioner reluctantly got up and approached the glass window and looked where she pointed. She waited while his veiled eyes struggled to find the spot, but she could feel his tension when he did.
“That was what she did for a possession of hers that somebody dared to take, and dared to hurt. You propose to use the breaking wheel on her soldiers? Her servants?” Kaiji turned to face him and raised an eyebrow at him as if he were daft.
“Right now she escorts Sobella to the heart of the Tlalmok Empire capital, when she returns, she will have the favor of the prince, the slaves of this city, and most of the nobles who were at least somewhat fond of Sobella. Not to mention she is already famous for bringing down Bracer. I am not a priestess of the temples, I do not know what the fates whisper into the ears of the Heavensent. But I do know this… if I permit you to do this, first I will suffer terribly for it… and then you will suffer worse. I don’t believe she’ll return in any kind of mood to hear excuses about heresy for a religion not her own.”
Malefacorum’s foot slid back involuntarily over the floor as if the threat were in front of him. His voice was stronger than his body however and he responded by saying, “The temples will not be pleased with her.”
Kaiji’s retort was quick, sharp, and eye to veil, “Nor will she be pleased with the temples. If the Prince gives the order, then we have no choice, but while I speak for my mistress, I must protect her possessions as she would. I will allow you to erect a shrine on the grounds where offerings can be left, in this way you may still tend to the souls of those who have fallen. But… I cannot and will not permit the breaking wheel’s use on my mistress’s slaves.”
“I see… then I will leave for now. We will arrange for a priest to come with a shrine to which you may have offerings made.” The Questioner tried to make his voice more gruff than he had the will to, and she caught the way his head kept turning toward the glass that revealed the bloody ground below.
“In the name of the stars who authored your life, I wish you the very best.” Kaiji said and interlaced her fingers together at her chest, and made it the sweetest ‘fuck you’ she’d ever used in her entire life. She was fairly sure he missed it, the way he returned the gesture and bowed, but it was no less satisfying to do it anyway.
When he was gone, Kaiji returned to the sacred place of her owner’s desk and sat down. Onimeus bowed and left to escort the unwelcome guest away from the estate, closing the door behind himself.
Once she was alone, Kaiji looked to the window in the direction Nua would have ridden off into. “I will make you proud of me, mistress. All the coin you paid for me will be repaid in deeds worth a thousand times a thousand times their worth. And if I fail… I will beg to know a taste of the punishments you bore to become the goddess I adore.” Vow… or prayer, even Kaiji did not know, what she did know was that she had a lot of work to do still, and it would be put off not a moment more. So in that spirit, she went promptly back to work.
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“Me?!” Lodira cried out in alarm, yanking her hands hastily away, “I didn’t… I couldn’t! I was asleep… and… and… and someone… someone…” Her words died as sobs took hold again, leaving Rasgen regretting his question.
“No, no, I’m sorry… I am just, well this is a shock. I’ve sent riders to your home to inspect the grounds and find out what they can… in the meantime, you’re safe here. I’ll keep a guard outside of this room at all times.” Rasgen brought his face close to her own and put a hand to her cheek, “Nobody will hurt you, you’re safe here.” He kissed her forehead gently and straightened up. “Get some rest, I’ll send a servant with food and drink. We’ll find out what we can, and I’ll come see you as soon as we know more.” Rasgen promised with a serious expression, his mouth tightly shut, even the way his hands fell behind his back screamed ‘formal’ to her.
‘How can I blame him… what could be more suspicious than being the only survivor of a massacre?!’ Lodira cried out inside her head, but nodded submissively and slid back under the sheets. The rustle of the fabric was soothing, the color was not. She squeezed her eyes tight so as not to see it and remained that way long after she’d been left alone. Agitated or not, she fell asleep again almost immediately.