Tragedy Of Rain
/ Tragedy of Rain 22 Chapter 22: Mistakes
Each step seemed colder than the last which didn't make sense, didn't heat travel upward? When she made it to the right floor she could smell the air was old and heavy. The entire floor seemed to reek of sweat and spices. They had apparently overdone it with the incense to mask the body odor. It was hard not to gag as she exited the stairwell.
Wearing the corset and tunic she looked more like a maid or serf than a pleasure courtier and was generally ignored by the staff that was shuffling in and out. She passed the dark wood doors guarded by two guards. They were armored in leather vests and chainmail, and held thick iron pikes and shields bearing The sigil of a raven.
She walked past them without pause, they hardly even noted her presence. To them she was just an elf servant doing her rounds. When she reached the end of the hallway, she could tell people were inside. The noise alone was enough to make her regret intruding.
She would have to accept that regret, she opened the door. There was no light inside, but she could see a bed at the far end. A woman with gold hair was on top of the man Rain had been tasked to kill. Their grunting and moaning loud enough to mask the sound of the door opening. She snuck in quietly, glad that the woman had blocked most of his view. A thin ray of light betrayed her as it followed her from the hall, it was just bright enough for him to notice.
Closing the door behind her, she wasn't two steps inside before the woman was thrown off him and he sat up straight to glare at the door.
"Who's there!" His voice was an exhausted rasp. Almost sickening to the throat. His eyes must not have been good, for he didn't seem to see her in the darkness. Rain counted her heartbeats as the seconds went by, "I know you're there, stalking by the door. Answer me now!"
Rain swallowed. Did he really see anything? He said he did but he couldn't pick her out in the room. His head kept turning from side to side, his eyes squinting trying to pick apart the dark room.
"Why don't you lay back down?" The apparent love of his adopted son said clearly displeased with the distraction. She placed a hand on his chest and only after several seconds he obeyed. She climbed back on top of him whispering in his ear something that seemed to calm him down.
Rain could barely make out the words, something about how she was so close? Her imagination filled her in on the rest. She watched as the pair started to resume their love making and walked slowly toward them. The darkness shrouded her approach, each step taken as lightly as possible.
She was just about to get close enough to see the beads of sweat rolling down the woman's shoulder blades before she felt something crash into the back of her skull.
She hit the damp floor in a daze and in blinding pain. A flimsy hand held her down as the man from the prison cell looked down at her, "I did it my lord ," was all she could make out apart from the outrage of lord Erebus who had thrown the woman so hard she landed next to the bed.
Rain's mind felt foggy and sluggish, her eyes saw only flashing lights and stars as she drifted away.
She awoke screaming, the nightmare quickly faded away from memory. Something about long fingers and twisted smiles, eyeless men bowing at her feet. It was the usual dream she suffered each night, made clearer as time went by.
Her arms were chained and bound, she was standing against a cross. She tried to move her hands and couldn't break from the chains. She was in a dungeon of sorts, that much she could tell. A smithy was lit full of metal rods. The prisoner she mended earlier was warming one of the rods in the fire.
"So this is how you repay me?" She asked, her throat was dry.
He looked up at her in surprise before answering, "I...I'm...I'm sorry, I did what I had to do, my trial demanded it," He stammered the words.
She watched him take his time judging if the brand on the edge of the pole was hot enough, "Your trial? What do you mean?" Rain asked him inquisitively.
"I displeased him, he forced me to accept his trial or it would be me on that cross. I had to..." he swallowed as his eyes darted back to the rod, "I had to sit in that room, watching him all night. He says he can see the future...he knew someone would come to assassinate him. Told me if I was loyal I would sit and watch and wait..." he pulled the rod out of the flame and slowly walked toward her.
Rain sighed not afraid of what he was about to do, how could she be? "You made a mistake, or I guess I should say your precious lord made one." There was venom in her words.
"Lord Erebus doesn't make mistakes, I do...we all do, but not him." He untied the corset and opened it to expose the clothing underneath, he then parted it at the waist so expose the skin of her stomach, "I'm sorry, but we all must do what he says. He protects us, he owns us."
"Is that so..." she watched as he pressed the hot brand against her flesh. As it pressed it did not burn, the usual sounds of cooking meat were never heard. Instead the heat was pulled from the brand and into her, the vellum glowed slightly on her skin as it welcomed the new source of energy.
"What is this?" Remon backed away dropping the brand, her skin untarnished.
"Your mistake," Rain smiled as white flame burned from her hands and shoulders. It was hot enough to melt through the metal and break free. As her feet landed on the earth she faced him with a surge of anger, "I am going to break every one of your fingers, hows that for a trial?" The fire dissolved as she spoke, leaving behind thin trails of smoke evaporating from her exposed arms.
Remon fell down as he tried to scurry away, fear seizing his limbs. He made it as far as the table full of unfinished prototypes before she was above him.
It was rare when Rain got to tower over someone, it felt amazing to look down at her former captor and see the fear in his eyes, "Unlike you I hate torture, but you've made me reconsider it."
"Wait wait!" He was at the edge of the table, "Maybe I can help you!" He pleaded.
"So now you want to help me?" She cocked her head to the side. Rain doubted the man could accomplish anything more than irritate her.
"I know how to make weapons, I'm an artist!" He was desperately trying to find any reason for her not to simply dispose of him.
Rain admitted to herself she wanted him to find a reason for her not to do any more harm. She hated killing, it appalled her just planning to kill their tyrant lord. But she couldn't help but wonder what would stop him from stabbing her in the back again? Just thinking about it hurt, thinking about anything hurt. She put her hand on the back of her head and felt blood. The floor was growing dizzy again, she needed to sit down.
Remon watched as she tried to anchor herself against something and stood up. At first she didn't notice him move. It wasn't until he presented a chair that she realized he was no longer begging for his life.
"I'm surprised your not going to try to hit me again," It was a stupid joke and she knew it the moment it left her lips.
"Believe it or not I haven't actually had to do that before," he handed her a bucket anticipating what she was going to do next, "I'm sorry i only meant to stop you..."
"Great job I guess..." It wasn't until she vomited that she felt clear headed enough to speak again, "What was it he wanted you to do to me exactly?"
His face became hard as stone as he tried to answer, "He brands some woman to give to the men..."
"Funny way to punish an assasin," Rain was finding more and more insight about this lord Erebus. He seemed to border most of his decisions around enslavement and sex.
"He's a practical man, he doesn't kill what he can use. And he really needs to uplift moral, or so he said." His words were sincere if not a little pessimistic.
"If throwing me to a bunch of guards to be raped is practical..." the lunacy of the idea wasn't entirely alien to her. She had seen lords intrude and kidnap attractive elf girls in the alienage, and that was on a good day. Having her body be sold not because she's half elf, but simply to be a moral boost is what was new to her.
"I'm sorry, I really am. And now I don't know what to do." He looked at her still trying to understand how she was able create fire, "How did you do that?"
"Long story, but I guess you could say I'm cursed." Rain answered. She felt better but still didn't want to stand.
"Cursed?" He studied the white markings on her skin. Her shoulders and back was bare, the fire had eaten through some of her clothes. She watched him stare at her.
"You know if you had just kept out of it you would be free now? Why are you so determined to protect him?" Rain had seen men like this before, so terrified of doing anything that would threaten their comfortable life even if it was barely comfortable at all. Scared to take a risk when they might be safer sitting still.
"I think your right..." he stood up and walked over to his bench, "I'm an artist, I spent years trying to perfect my design. And he scoffs at it, says I'm a liar and scum. If I was free to finish my work...if only that were possible?"
Rain stood up and kicked the metal rod across the room. The idea of having such a grotesque scar on her belly made her curl her hands into fists. I should really make him pay, the idea came and went so fast she wasn't even sure if it was hers. She could have sworn she could hear the sour notes of music in the air, but it could have just been her imagination. Maybe Zane was right, maybe she really did just need to get laid and relax for once.
"What are you making exactly," She cleared her throat after asking him.
"A weapon, my father made the blueprints, but It's taking a while to iron out all the specifics." He handed her a cup of water as he finished the sentence.
She thanked him and drank deeply, it had a metallic taste to it as if it had accumulated some of the rust from the air, "Who are you anyway?"
He turned around and faced her, "My name is Remon Butcher, a simple blacksmith from the town of cliffrock. Now in service to the great..." He stammered taking back his last word, "The master of this keep lord Erebus."
"Well Remon, you can call me Rain. And I think you'll find I can be practical too," She decided to let her anger get the better of her, "Help me usurp this lord before the night is done and I won't need to break every one of your fingers and brand you in places you will not want to be branded." She summoned a lot of anger in those words. She wasn't sure if she meant them. Part of her didn't care.
Chapter end
|
Report
|
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|
