Hell's Bailiff - Chapter 2 Part 3
(last episode on Hell's Bailiff...)
Edited September 5th, 2011 to relocate action to pre-Millennium Mystara.
"Help! Help! He's trying to kill me!"
Thank the gods (sheesh, that's ironic, isn't it?) Kristy was there. She didn't ask any questions and opened the gate to the estate to let me out. I threw her hammer to her and she deftly caught it and brought it up in defense.
"Vanya smite thee!" cried Jude. He smote down on her with divine force, forcing her back.
With a gesture, I caused blue eldritch fire to rise from the ground, invade his very body, and burn up through his every orifice - the fiercest spell I had so far mastered. He was staggered, but somehow still standing, and ran around Kristy.
I backed off and pulled shut the gate. He cursed and yanked it open. Kristy was behind him now and came in with a low swing behind a knee to take him down. I closed quickly and pressed my flaming palm over his chest before letting loose with a full surge of fire once, twice, then it was over before Kristy could brain him.
Hell's Bailiff - Chapter 2 Part 3
Thankfully I washed away the summoning circle and got Bella out of the embarrassing stocks (and her leggings pulled up) before the city guard came to investigate. That, and I convinced her to let me do all the talking, corroborating my story only when she had to. In truth, she was still in shock and numb about everything and things went more or less smoothly.
And my story? Essentially Jude's sinister plan: That is, he had come under the false pretenses of an investigation to ruin my reputation, and on top of that frame me for murder -- all hoping for a promotion, to curry favour with my enemies, and seize my assets. Certainly there were enough witnesses to Jude trying to run me through.
For the moment they bought the story and left me, and Bella, alone.
Kana was nowhere to be found, and we didn't mention her at all.
*
Bella accepted a hot shower, but had no appetite and went straight to bed. The few times she woke from nightmares, she found herself safely cradled in my arms, and drifted back to sleep.
She was very subdued on the morning, not ready to talk about anything, though there were bouts of crying. She had some tea, but did not eat. Mostly she sat on the balcony and stared out at the city, maybe to the distant temple to Vanya. Some of the clergy came to see her, and they found some seclusion in the garden for most of the afternoon. We slept together again. This time she slept peacefully, woke while it was still dark, and prayed until dawn.
The morning saw her seeming stronger, though still weighed down with a profound sadness. She was at least eating, though not much. We retired to the balcony, and I sat quietly, waiting for her to speak. All morning she kept catching my eye, then shying away, still not ready. But now...
"Simon... Thank you for saving me." Her eyes looked ready to cry, but she forced a little smile. "I have a confession to make. When Jude and I... When we came her yesterday... We wanted to... It was extortion. We didn't want money -- our families have enough wealth that we were comfortable. But connections. You could do so much for us. A recommendation to the right persons. So much is about who you know, and you know so many people, even within our church. But I never suspected Jude could... What Jude did to me... It'll always be with me. But I'm glad it wasn't you. I'm glad you didn't do what they wanted. Can you... forgive me?"
I held her hands in mine.
"Bella, I'm so sorry for everything that's happened. And for the way I treated you before. Oh, Bella, I should be the one asking you for forgiveness. I can still--"
"No. No, Simon. It's too late now. What happened was... a scandal. There's more than you know. There were bribes to get the warrant. Other people involved. Now everyone's going to ground. My career with the clergy is finished. Even my family doesn't want anything to do with me until this blows over. Or maybe never. All I have left now is my faith. The surety that Vanya is watching, that he had compassion for me even when I fell to temptation. Who knows what might have happened if that devil had seduced me instead of Jude. I wish I could say that at least, in the end, I did the right thing. But I don't even have that. I couldn't do anything at all. Simon, please forgive me. I need your forgiveness."
I pulled her into a warm embrace and she cried over my shoulder for a long time.
In the late morning, priests of Vanya came to take her back to the church. Was she now broken? And yet, I think her faith had been strengthened by the ordeal.
I was ashamed at how I had used her. Even that, she had forgiven me.
Her parting words were, "I will pray for your soul."
*
I went back to my study where I'd been driving myself mad trying to guess just how much of a hand Kana had in everything. She'd offered to make me her bailiff, which would have meant a lot of incognito travel. A huge scandal here would have forced me to take to the road incognito. A scandal like two priests of Vanya murdered while investigating my estate.
Hindsight has that deceptive should-have-seen-it-coming quality and I had made a habit of not looking back. Often, it was simply pointless. What's done is done, and the past can't be changed. But with Kana... I was conscious of being manipulated farther in advance than I could even think of calculating.
A part of me needed answers. Another part of me had already given that up for futile. How could I possibly trust her to tell me any truths. And just what was the truth, anyway? Which pertinent facts made a truth complete? How many omissions made it a half-truth tantamount to a lie?
The other thing that really bothered me was just how she had turned Jude into the power-mad monster he became. To be willing to use extortion was one thing. To so willingly descend to the evil of defiling a person's body, mind, and soul for personal gain... Did she have such a sway over men? Or was there such a seed of evil within him to begin with?
Now that my thoughts weren't predominantly on Bella, I lay fitfully awake in bed that night, my mind still a tempest of what-ifs.
Kana finally showed herself again. I didn't know she'd let herself into my bedroom until she was crawling seductively to my side. She was dressed in a simple white night robe of exquisite silk that had a tendency to cling to her curves. She gave a soft sigh and lay her head on my naked chest.
"We need to talk," she said with a pout. One finger traced lazily on the back of my hand, slightly ticklish and somewhat seductive. "Won't you let me in? It'd be so much easier."
She allowed me silence, then kissed he lightly on the lips. "Please?"
I stared deep into her eyes and tried to fathom the creature I was dealing with.
To say devils were heartless, callous, destructive, evil -- I wasn't sure anymore if that was accurate. It would be like saying the same of cutting some flowers and putting them in a vase. Did the flowers suffer? Are they dying a slow and painful death in the vase, the water just a tease to prolong suffering and being eaten alive by the mold and rot that develops? None of these thoughts even cross our mind. Someone wanted the flowers, or we wanted them for someone. So snip snip. The end.
"What are you thinking of?" she asked.
"I'm thinking of you."
She almost smiled. But looked pensive again and stared back at me.
"What are you thinking of?" I asked in turn.
"I'm thinking of you. And how I really don't understand you."
"In some ways you know me better than myself. In other ways, you don't understand me at all."
"What is it that you want? Power? Wealth? Sex?"
"I don't know anymore."
"You have them all. Don't you want it?"
"Not so much."
"Should I take it all away?" she laughed.
"No."
"So...?"
"... They're not as important as I thought."
"Or maybe you're bored with what you have. Take it further. To your imagination and beyond."
"Beyond?"
"There's always more to see. You only have to dare. This world of yours... You have a bit of magic and you are awed. There's nothing you can't buy and you think you are rich. Your imaginations are so small it's cute and pitiful. Above all, you let artificial notions of morality and emotions hold you back. I can offer so much more, if only you were unafraid to seize it."
"Like Bella."
"Yes, your dear Bella. You could have indulged. Tried anything you wanted with her. Anything any of the whores you've had would never allow you to do to them. And then escaped blameless."
Her eyes narrowed. Reading me.
"And once your eyes were opened to be possibilities, maybe asked for more," she continued. "A beautiful creature you could ravish with whatever kindness or cruelty your imagination can conceive, and then she'd beg you to do it again. Intrigued?"
Lust was my weakness and she was playing that card.
"Shall I give you a taste? Share a memory of what exists. Of what could be yours? Let me in. Just for one fleeting memory. And even then we would still be glimpsing but a tip of the possibilities."
"... Alright."
Her eyes lit with pleasure like an enthusiastic and excited lover. She kissed me hard on the lips and pressed her delicious body against mine. Her mind touched mine, and a vision played out an indescribable hour passed in a second.
Kana reached behind her to stroke my erection. She smacked her lips and positioned that sweet swell of her hips over me.
"Let's see how much you remember."
*
Our bodies were hot and wet with perspiration. I drew the sheets over us before the cool night wind chilled us. Kana purred contentedly above me.
"How's that for an apology?" she grinned.
"An apology for what?"
"For Bella. I misunderstood you. Insulted you. I'm sorry. I want to have a good working relationship with you."
"You do?"
"Of course!"
"You don't have to. It's not in the contract."
"No. But lots of things aren't in the contract. We could make mini-contracts, you and I... Oh, don't be so suspicious all the time. It's tiresome."
She huffed and slid off me.
"I'll trade you a favour for a truth," she offered.
"What kind of favour?"
"The naughty kind you're so good at." She winked. "From time to time I have to deal with women, and they do seem to be quite bitchy with me sometimes. I might need you to seduce one for me. Maybe even sleep with her. I can't guarantee she'd be a looker, though."
"And what kind of truth?"
"The whole truth. What else?"
I was trying to read her. I was sure she'd already thought she had me figured out. That meant I couldn't ask what was burning in my mind: Whether she had directly or indirectly instigated the whole investigation, or how Jude had been so thoroughly turned. Useless truths in exchange for an open-ended favour.
"Deal."
She pounced on me, eager to tell me what I wanted to know -- that is, what she thought I would ask. Her raven black hair and loose white nightgown billowing in the cool wind, her red red strawberry lips -- she was truly an angelic beauty. Just now, childishly excited and full of innocence.
"About the investigation..."
"Yes?" She leaned closer in happy anticipation.
"... I really don't want to know anything. Sorry."
"What?!"
"I'll let you know what I want to ask later."
"Humph! Then you'll get your truth when I get my favour."
She grabbed a pillow and smacked me with it. When I removed it from my face, she was gone from the room, as swiftly and silently as the wind.
Edited September 5th, 2011 to relocate action to pre-Millennium Mystara.
"Help! Help! He's trying to kill me!"
Thank the gods (sheesh, that's ironic, isn't it?) Kristy was there. She didn't ask any questions and opened the gate to the estate to let me out. I threw her hammer to her and she deftly caught it and brought it up in defense.
"Vanya smite thee!" cried Jude. He smote down on her with divine force, forcing her back.
With a gesture, I caused blue eldritch fire to rise from the ground, invade his very body, and burn up through his every orifice - the fiercest spell I had so far mastered. He was staggered, but somehow still standing, and ran around Kristy.
I backed off and pulled shut the gate. He cursed and yanked it open. Kristy was behind him now and came in with a low swing behind a knee to take him down. I closed quickly and pressed my flaming palm over his chest before letting loose with a full surge of fire once, twice, then it was over before Kristy could brain him.
Hell's Bailiff - Chapter 2 Part 3
Thankfully I washed away the summoning circle and got Bella out of the embarrassing stocks (and her leggings pulled up) before the city guard came to investigate. That, and I convinced her to let me do all the talking, corroborating my story only when she had to. In truth, she was still in shock and numb about everything and things went more or less smoothly.
And my story? Essentially Jude's sinister plan: That is, he had come under the false pretenses of an investigation to ruin my reputation, and on top of that frame me for murder -- all hoping for a promotion, to curry favour with my enemies, and seize my assets. Certainly there were enough witnesses to Jude trying to run me through.
For the moment they bought the story and left me, and Bella, alone.
Kana was nowhere to be found, and we didn't mention her at all.
*
Bella accepted a hot shower, but had no appetite and went straight to bed. The few times she woke from nightmares, she found herself safely cradled in my arms, and drifted back to sleep.
She was very subdued on the morning, not ready to talk about anything, though there were bouts of crying. She had some tea, but did not eat. Mostly she sat on the balcony and stared out at the city, maybe to the distant temple to Vanya. Some of the clergy came to see her, and they found some seclusion in the garden for most of the afternoon. We slept together again. This time she slept peacefully, woke while it was still dark, and prayed until dawn.
The morning saw her seeming stronger, though still weighed down with a profound sadness. She was at least eating, though not much. We retired to the balcony, and I sat quietly, waiting for her to speak. All morning she kept catching my eye, then shying away, still not ready. But now...
"Simon... Thank you for saving me." Her eyes looked ready to cry, but she forced a little smile. "I have a confession to make. When Jude and I... When we came her yesterday... We wanted to... It was extortion. We didn't want money -- our families have enough wealth that we were comfortable. But connections. You could do so much for us. A recommendation to the right persons. So much is about who you know, and you know so many people, even within our church. But I never suspected Jude could... What Jude did to me... It'll always be with me. But I'm glad it wasn't you. I'm glad you didn't do what they wanted. Can you... forgive me?"
I held her hands in mine.
"Bella, I'm so sorry for everything that's happened. And for the way I treated you before. Oh, Bella, I should be the one asking you for forgiveness. I can still--"
"No. No, Simon. It's too late now. What happened was... a scandal. There's more than you know. There were bribes to get the warrant. Other people involved. Now everyone's going to ground. My career with the clergy is finished. Even my family doesn't want anything to do with me until this blows over. Or maybe never. All I have left now is my faith. The surety that Vanya is watching, that he had compassion for me even when I fell to temptation. Who knows what might have happened if that devil had seduced me instead of Jude. I wish I could say that at least, in the end, I did the right thing. But I don't even have that. I couldn't do anything at all. Simon, please forgive me. I need your forgiveness."
I pulled her into a warm embrace and she cried over my shoulder for a long time.
In the late morning, priests of Vanya came to take her back to the church. Was she now broken? And yet, I think her faith had been strengthened by the ordeal.
I was ashamed at how I had used her. Even that, she had forgiven me.
Her parting words were, "I will pray for your soul."
*
I went back to my study where I'd been driving myself mad trying to guess just how much of a hand Kana had in everything. She'd offered to make me her bailiff, which would have meant a lot of incognito travel. A huge scandal here would have forced me to take to the road incognito. A scandal like two priests of Vanya murdered while investigating my estate.
Hindsight has that deceptive should-have-seen-it-coming quality and I had made a habit of not looking back. Often, it was simply pointless. What's done is done, and the past can't be changed. But with Kana... I was conscious of being manipulated farther in advance than I could even think of calculating.
A part of me needed answers. Another part of me had already given that up for futile. How could I possibly trust her to tell me any truths. And just what was the truth, anyway? Which pertinent facts made a truth complete? How many omissions made it a half-truth tantamount to a lie?
The other thing that really bothered me was just how she had turned Jude into the power-mad monster he became. To be willing to use extortion was one thing. To so willingly descend to the evil of defiling a person's body, mind, and soul for personal gain... Did she have such a sway over men? Or was there such a seed of evil within him to begin with?
Now that my thoughts weren't predominantly on Bella, I lay fitfully awake in bed that night, my mind still a tempest of what-ifs.
Kana finally showed herself again. I didn't know she'd let herself into my bedroom until she was crawling seductively to my side. She was dressed in a simple white night robe of exquisite silk that had a tendency to cling to her curves. She gave a soft sigh and lay her head on my naked chest.
"We need to talk," she said with a pout. One finger traced lazily on the back of my hand, slightly ticklish and somewhat seductive. "Won't you let me in? It'd be so much easier."
She allowed me silence, then kissed he lightly on the lips. "Please?"
I stared deep into her eyes and tried to fathom the creature I was dealing with.
To say devils were heartless, callous, destructive, evil -- I wasn't sure anymore if that was accurate. It would be like saying the same of cutting some flowers and putting them in a vase. Did the flowers suffer? Are they dying a slow and painful death in the vase, the water just a tease to prolong suffering and being eaten alive by the mold and rot that develops? None of these thoughts even cross our mind. Someone wanted the flowers, or we wanted them for someone. So snip snip. The end.
"What are you thinking of?" she asked.
"I'm thinking of you."
She almost smiled. But looked pensive again and stared back at me.
"What are you thinking of?" I asked in turn.
"I'm thinking of you. And how I really don't understand you."
"In some ways you know me better than myself. In other ways, you don't understand me at all."
"What is it that you want? Power? Wealth? Sex?"
"I don't know anymore."
"You have them all. Don't you want it?"
"Not so much."
"Should I take it all away?" she laughed.
"No."
"So...?"
"... They're not as important as I thought."
"Or maybe you're bored with what you have. Take it further. To your imagination and beyond."
"Beyond?"
"There's always more to see. You only have to dare. This world of yours... You have a bit of magic and you are awed. There's nothing you can't buy and you think you are rich. Your imaginations are so small it's cute and pitiful. Above all, you let artificial notions of morality and emotions hold you back. I can offer so much more, if only you were unafraid to seize it."
"Like Bella."
"Yes, your dear Bella. You could have indulged. Tried anything you wanted with her. Anything any of the whores you've had would never allow you to do to them. And then escaped blameless."
Her eyes narrowed. Reading me.
"And once your eyes were opened to be possibilities, maybe asked for more," she continued. "A beautiful creature you could ravish with whatever kindness or cruelty your imagination can conceive, and then she'd beg you to do it again. Intrigued?"
Lust was my weakness and she was playing that card.
"Shall I give you a taste? Share a memory of what exists. Of what could be yours? Let me in. Just for one fleeting memory. And even then we would still be glimpsing but a tip of the possibilities."
"... Alright."
Her eyes lit with pleasure like an enthusiastic and excited lover. She kissed me hard on the lips and pressed her delicious body against mine. Her mind touched mine, and a vision played out an indescribable hour passed in a second.
Kana reached behind her to stroke my erection. She smacked her lips and positioned that sweet swell of her hips over me.
"Let's see how much you remember."
*
Our bodies were hot and wet with perspiration. I drew the sheets over us before the cool night wind chilled us. Kana purred contentedly above me.
"How's that for an apology?" she grinned.
"An apology for what?"
"For Bella. I misunderstood you. Insulted you. I'm sorry. I want to have a good working relationship with you."
"You do?"
"Of course!"
"You don't have to. It's not in the contract."
"No. But lots of things aren't in the contract. We could make mini-contracts, you and I... Oh, don't be so suspicious all the time. It's tiresome."
She huffed and slid off me.
"I'll trade you a favour for a truth," she offered.
"What kind of favour?"
"The naughty kind you're so good at." She winked. "From time to time I have to deal with women, and they do seem to be quite bitchy with me sometimes. I might need you to seduce one for me. Maybe even sleep with her. I can't guarantee she'd be a looker, though."
"And what kind of truth?"
"The whole truth. What else?"
I was trying to read her. I was sure she'd already thought she had me figured out. That meant I couldn't ask what was burning in my mind: Whether she had directly or indirectly instigated the whole investigation, or how Jude had been so thoroughly turned. Useless truths in exchange for an open-ended favour.
"Deal."
She pounced on me, eager to tell me what I wanted to know -- that is, what she thought I would ask. Her raven black hair and loose white nightgown billowing in the cool wind, her red red strawberry lips -- she was truly an angelic beauty. Just now, childishly excited and full of innocence.
"About the investigation..."
"Yes?" She leaned closer in happy anticipation.
"... I really don't want to know anything. Sorry."
"What?!"
"I'll let you know what I want to ask later."
"Humph! Then you'll get your truth when I get my favour."
She grabbed a pillow and smacked me with it. When I removed it from my face, she was gone from the room, as swiftly and silently as the wind.
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