"I know you're very busy Necrosage so I won't take up too much of your time." Varus' demeanor had rapidly switched from jovial barkeep to all business. He showed no hint of even being human. It reminded him of how he acted at Ozniov Manor, but it was his preferred way to do business. It was just less messy. "How did the job in the Savage Grounds go?"

"Spectacularly. The Rakdos you hired demolished most of that Ruined City. The area is yours and is ready for construction. However," the Necrosage interlocked his fingers. "However, the denizens of the city that were taken have escaped."

"Escaped? No one can escape Balarox and his gang. They wouldn't be very good slavers if they couldn't hold on to captured slaves. I'm going to have to force them to refund me…" Varus trailed off into thought, calculating their debt and reworking his schedule.

"That won't be necessary."

"On the contrary, it's my money until I get what I paid for."

"They were all killed." The mysterious hooded man slipped a note onto the table from one of his sleeves. "By this man and this man alone."

Varus lifted the note into the light of the flickering torches. He kept the Pleasure Corner dark, the patrons liked it that way and it made conducting business less interruptible. "One man killed the whole gang and freed everyone I paid for?" On the note there was a crude drawing of a man in a leather eye patch over his left eye. It was just a view of his shoulders and up. His short black hair was swept back. Varus would have guessed he was merely an attractive nobleman if it weren't for the jagged vertical scar leading to his eye patch. The words 'Dirge of Blight' scrawled underneath. "What is this scrap you've handed to me? And how did this 'Dirge of Blight' do it? And what sort of man calls himself that?"

"It's all the information I could pull from the dying slaver I found. From his mind I was able to pull a face and a name. Apparently he made a note of telling them his name whilst killing them. It seems he's almost as arrogant as you." The sage pulled the note from Varus' hand and stuffed it into his cloak. "Lucky for you I was intrigued by the whole thing and did some research. He is a Golgari assassin. Surprisingly, the Dimir know little about him. All I managed to learn is that he's a member of the Disciples of the Unseen."

"That isn't helpful, I've never heard of these Disciples of the Unseen."

"Right, you wouldn't, would you? They are a sect of assassins among the Golgari. If you ask me, they're just Dimir too filthy to be in my guild."

"Interesting. If he's an assassin, someone must have hired him. I want to know who cheated me out of my money."

"It seems he wasn't hired. As far as I can tell, he attacked the slavers of his own accord and freed everyone they had. Not just the ones taken from the Savage Grounds. Every last man woman and child was freed. I'm sorry but whatever you were planning is going to have to wait until you remove this man from Sin District." Varus detected a faint smile under the Dimir's hood. "I guess I had more info on him than I thought. He frequents a pub in the southern part of Sin District, by the market square."

Varus had been working with this man for a long time, the man who called himself the Necrosage of the Hollow. He knew nothing about him or his motives. Varus had actually never seen any part of the man excluding the lower half of his face. He wore a knee length heavy indigo colored cloak. A thick sleeveless purple robe trailed to the ground and his gloves obscured his arms and hands. The Necrosage wore a large gold chain with a Dimir medallion clasping it to his cloak. Adorning his cloak and gloves were strange runes the Orzhov could not identify. They seemed to dance and writhe when Varus wasn't focusing on them. Varus could never be sure whether or not they did in fact move.

The Necrosage had long ago found Varus and requested to be the club owner's informant. If he needed to know what was going on anywhere near Sin District the Necrosage already knew. The informant perplexed Varus, while he always divulged accurate information, he seemed to relish in delivering bad news. But Varus needed information and this Necrosage was the best informant money could buy.

"It would appear so…" Varus let out a sigh when Kaszla placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Varus. I went up to talk to the Centipede like you asked but there's some trouble in Paradise."

Varus turned to the Dimir. "Do you mind if I take care of things upstairs?" Varus stood. "Oh yes. But first what have you found out about Rafn Viste?"

"Finally I can give you some good news. You were right, he is looking for the tome and even better he's more or less settled in one spot. He has been spending a lot of time around Irbitov. What do you intend to do with him?"

It was Varus' turn to let out a grin. "That is not important." Varus let out a hum and turned his head to think. "I'm sure my advokist friends can find a law he's broken. He'll get arrested and then I can talk to him. Thank you." Varus placed a decently sized bag onto the table. It fell with the satisfying clink of gold coins. The informant lifted the bag and disappeared into the shadows.

"Are you coming or not?" Kaszla always wore her impatience on her sleeve. Her foot was tapping rapidly and her mouth was a twisted scowl.


Varus reached the fight upstairs almost immediately. A hulk of a man was standing on one end of the ring created by the audience. His face was bloodied and he was shouting curses at his opponent. He wore ripped stripped pants and metal chains draped around his shoulders and head. He had a vicious looking axe resting in his hands. The other side of 'the ring' had an elf man holding two swords. He wore only a thin piece of black cloth. Varus assumed it was his undergarments. More clothing than that was a rarity up here.

In the bed behind him sat an employee of Varus'. Her name was Sweet Heart, as she had a large black tattoo of a heart on the right side of her neck. She wore her glossy black hair in pigtails that ended in blood red tips. She was only wearing the bed sheets as it seems they had been interrupted doing her job.

She had been abandoned by some Rakdos carnival folk and left to the mercy of the Pleasure Corner. As luck would have it, she survived and now was an employee. Mush to Varus' displeasure, she hadn't seen any other clients since she first met Ezel Sorazda, commonly known as the Centipede. They were almost a justified couple, but she kept a tally. Whenever she was selected by a client she would wait for the next time Ezel arrived and charge him for their jobs. It was beginning to wear Varus' patience.

"What's going on?" Varus asked Kaszla knowing full well the answer.

"Well it seems that the big'un there grabbed Sweet Heart as she was entertaining the Centipede. The elf didn't take kindly to that; you know how he loves that girl, so he kicked him in the face. And now they are armed and about to fight." Kaszla showed her fangs with a wide grin. Varus mentally noted that she was almost always around when fights broke out up here.

"Let them fight." Varus was standing near the fight by now and held a hand on his hip and his cloak open. With his free hand he snapped his fingers. Gold glowing flecks of light surrounded the audience. This was one of Varus' favorite spells. He called it mass pacifism. It forced everyone within the field of lights to become calm. Depending on the amount of mana forced into the spell it could reduce its victims to a calm more closely resembling a comatose state. Right now he was keeping them at bay and keeping the fight from becoming an all-out brawl. He wanted to see the Centipede fight. He had plans for this Golgari warrior but first he'd have to live up to his reputation.

Ezel Sorazda was known well beyond the borders of Sin District as one of the most proficient swordsmen of the Golgari swarm. His ability to outmaneuver most highly trained soldiers, as well as a mastery of dual wielding, made him a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. His family ran the Rotway, the series of tunnels beneath the Sin District. Varus had heard that he was undefeated in single combat. There was no proof of this but Varus needed help from him. The Undercity was still far from Varus' grasp. He had no influence below the streets, but this would change tonight.

The brute raised his axe over his head and let out a stomach churning shout. Ezel scowled as he raised his swords. They were long flat blades blacker than his short cropped hair. The base of each blade had a thick covering of moss like fungus as was typical of Golgari. The Rakdos thug brought down his jagged blade aimed right at Ezel's head. The Golgari pivoted on one foot and the axe almost slid across his nose. Ezel continued to spin, slashing the thug's chest four times. Before Varus could tell what was happening, the Centipede had lobbed off the brute's hand at the elbow and kicked the axe. It slid across the floor and under a bed. He shoved the sword in his right hand up the thug's stump. The tip burst from his shoulder with a splash of blood. He flipped his left sword in his hand, pointing it at his opponent's side. Ezel shoved his face in the cultist's and muttered, "No one hurts Sweet Heart," before pressing the blade into his side and out the other. The elf let out a quick chant and the fungus on his hilts crawled and squirmed down the swords and onto Ezel's enemy. It ate away at his flesh until he was as reduced to bones in a matter of seconds.

Varus began clapping slowly as he saw the rot take the man. "The Sorazda family is well known for its rot magic but that was spectacular. Such an abrupt decay, I've never seen anything like it."

Ezel gave the Orzhov a confused look, "And just who are you?" He punctuated his sentence with the tip of his blade pressing against Varus' neck. Varus didn't flinch, he didn't even look at the blade, he held his gaze into Ezel's eyes.

"I am Varus Tili, the owner of this fine establishment." Varus glanced to the nearby bed. "And employer of this fine young lady here." Varus didn't spend much time in the Pleasure Corner, his servant duties ate most of his time. Olrak and Kaszla were the only people who had been working long enough and consistently enough to remember the last time Varus visited his club, but Varus knew the face and name of everyone who had worked for him for at least month. Remembering the short term workers wasn't worth the waste of memory. "I thank you for defending the honor of my employee. Make sure she's alright and then Kaszla will show you to my office."

Ezel lowered his weapons and looked in disbelief. "I promise you won't regret it." Varus gave a fake smile and walked to the stairs.


The third floor was practically empty. It always was. It was one large room. One wall was a massive stained glass window of a black winged gold adorned angel. In front of the window sat a large desk and an ornate chair behind it. Varus sat at the desk. The only light faintly crawled through the window-wall, illuminating little more than Varus and his desk. Varus lifted his head from the scroll he was writing on and gazed out the window.

"No you think the slaves are necessary. Your old ways are going to get us nothing. I have a backup plan, one that will not require them."

Silence.

"The slaves were just the easy route. I told you that taking the easy route always ends up costing more than the slow one. There is no way to find them now. I'll pay this 'Dirge of Blight' a visit and yes I'll make sure he regrets taking my property, but I'm not getting them back."

Silence.

"I'm about to have Sorazda, the deal with the Taz-Al has been set up and I'm about to be free. I even did the impossible, I have a sect within Set-Ulla on the payroll. I will succeed very soon."

Silence.

Then footsteps. A pair of them. Varus' chair turned to face the unlit entrance. "Ezel, Sweet Heart. I have a deal for you." Varus looked up to see Nilix and Denali standing at the front of him. His face twisted into disgust and agitation then snapped calm.

"See that is him!" Denali shoved a finger in Varus' direction as the ringleader couple walked nearer. "I swear I killed him. Minotaur horn right in the gut." She made a crude miming motion of impaling herself.

Nilix was suddenly at the desk arm pressing Varus' head against the chair's back. He pressed a dagger up to the absolver's throat. "Hi, I'm Nilix, this is Denali. And she says she murdered you. I can't have you walking around making the Hazard Party look like it has gone soft. Sooooo we're here to murder you violently. You understand don't you, it's a reputation thing." The couple was in deviant glee, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can't we just have a normal conversation? I've already had one blade held to my neck tonight." Varus stared coldly into Nilix's face.

"He is so annoying!" Denali leapt to the desk and kicked it over. Scrolls and coins and other items fell to the ground. She charged a fireball in her hand and threw it at the toppled desk, engulfing it in flames. "How are you not dead right now!?" Denali shrieked.

"I have a hard time staying dead." Varus said coldly. He pressed his neck into the blade, drops of blood crawled down the brutal looking Rakdos knife.

"You are annoying." The male ringleader spat. Varus noted sweat on Nilix's forehead. It seemed that he wasn't used to his prey acting like this. "What does that even mean?"

"I'm cursed to only be killed by one man, Kovka Ozniov. Orzhov politics, you wouldn't understand." Varus rolled his eyes and sighed, pushing the edge of the blade further into his throat. His blood flowed more and more.

"Stop being so calm!" Denali shouted. Energy pulsed around her. She let out the energy with a scream that shattered the wall sized stained glass window. It put out her fire, and knocked Nilix and Varus to the floor. Coins clattered in the new silence before she glared at Varus. "Act like we're menacing you or next time that," the Banshee thrust a finger to the broken window, "Will be your body."

She growled, showing her teeth. Varus' eyes held fast behind the ringleader. She had worked her way around to where his chair had stood before the blast. He wondered, was she called the Banshee because of that spell she used often…or because she was always shouting? Varus looked to the opening and back at Denali. Now fully standing, he smirked and looked back at the window.

"What!?" she spun around and faced his line of sight. Her eyes went wide. The shards of glass twirled and spun in the air behind her. Varus noted their brilliance in the moonlight. They stopped point first at the ringleaders. The glass flew into the building, barraging the Rakdos where they stood. Broken glass stabbed them repeatedly; the force of the projectiles knocked both ringleaders to the ground. Varus stood holding up a finger draped in golden light, the glass deflecting off of his shield and into the Rakdos.

Nilix and Denali had been dragged back into the dark of Varus' office. The shimmering glass was the only thing Varus could see. The Orzhov flicked his wrist and the glass rose and returned to its place. He wiped the blood from his throat. His neck showed no wounds.

"Now are you interested in having that conversation?" Varus spun his hands and the glass window shifted, it reformed into the portrait of the bald black winged angel. "Much better." Varus turned around and was met with three forearm length daggers in his chest. The impact knocked him back into his toppled chair. He was pinned to the chair by the daggers.

The couple walked into the light both cackling like the psychopaths they were. "I gotta admit, that was a pretty fun trick!"

"Haha, yeah." Denali was eyeing her and her lover's fresh wounds.

They were both covered in what Varus thought should be fatal wounds, but Rakdos always surprised him with their surviving skills. Varus pulled the daggers out and hissed. His teeth were clenched in a vicious scowl. Blood poured from his chest and mouth. Varus stood and snapped his fingers. Massive orbs of gold light flickered into existence around the room. Nilix and Denali fell to the ground in sitting positions. Varus was sure he heard something crack when they hit the hard floor.

"Take a seat so we can have that conversation." The ringleaders reminded him of children gathered around for a story. Except most of the time children weren't covered in potential weapons and fresh bleeding lacerations.

"I am Varus Tili, devoted servant of Kovka Ozniov and Absolver of the Orzhov Syndicate, as well as proprietor of the Pleasure Corner."

"Why were you at Opal Lake?" Denali mumbled from the floor.

"The same reason you were," Varus grinned, his eyes gleamed like fire. Red blood stained his clothes and chin and neck. "Because you killed a lot of people. It was my job to collect your soul after death and contain your sins in a fashion that the Orzhov could use later. Your execution was supposed to be simple, but in all honesty I am glad you survived. It works well in my newest plan" His eyes wide, Varus let out a chuckle. He began removing his complicated bloodstained garb.

"And why is that?" Nilix's hands slowly reached to a dagger on his leg.

"I need you psychopaths. The more noise you make, the less attention the Boros and the Azorius pay to me." Varus stood and walked to a wardrobe illuminated by a spell. He removed a fresh outfit. He pulled a cloth out and began cleaning himself. He glared at his contract curse mark. "The Hazard Party is a huge piece of my new plan. I need you. I thought that out while bleeding to death." He shot a glare at Denali, "Or was it while I was burning to death?"

The pacifism spell flickered. He had lost a lot of blood and energy to these two and he needed to get to the point now they could act again. "I have something for you monsters. A peace offering. Something to say, 'stop killing me and start killing everyone else.'" The Orzhov's voice had grown loud and shaky. "I will bestow on you vast and horrible power and in exchange you will go back to your usual selves and leave me alone." Physically shaking from excitement and blood loss Varus let his pacifism spell fall entirely.

"I'm starting to warm up to this guy," Nilix muttered and removed his hand from the blade. The two stood. They approached Varus at his wardrobe like hungry wolves. "Who is to say we don't just kill you with this 'power' you give us and go?"

Varus paused from cleaning off his blood and shot a look of condescension at the ringleader.

"Right. Hard to murder you isn't it?"

"Why though? Why should you give us anything? Do you want us to be your servants!? Is that it you syndicate bastard!?"

"I would never presume I had the ability to tell you what to do, but let's just say there are benefits to doing me favors. I want to be business partners. I'm slowly gathering influence over this district." Varus placed the outfit back in the wardrobe and walked the glass window of the angel. He put a hand on the cold glass. "I want to give you the tools to create more chaos and violence than you can imagine."

"What's in it for you, Orzhov? You coin clutchers do nothing for free!"

"I dunno Denali, I'm really liking the sound of this deal. We stop killing him and we get what big weapons? Ogres?"

Varus' eyes went wide and a toothy grin crept across his face. "More than ogres with big weapons my dear psychopaths!" Varus flashed back to stoic. He lifted his chair and sat. "Here's a good question for the two of you. When do people run fastest to the church? The answer is of course when there are demons knocking on their doors."

"Yeah who cares?" Nilix was standing next to him by now.

"Think about it. When the Sin District lives up to its name like never before they will come to me and the Orzhov for sanctuary." What mania left melted from his face and posture, he became fully stoic once again. "I cannot force you to comply. I can't even force you to sit down again. I cannot appeal to your reason but I can appeal to your hunger for blood and violence."

Denali glared at Varus and power surged in her hands. Nilix placed his hand on hers and chuckled. "So if we do more of what we already do, you'll give us the power to do the things we already do?"

"When you word it foolishly it sounds bad of course. Let me show you what I'm offering." Varus illuminated his entire office, revealing a few more pieces of furniture, including a bed. Black smoke began filling the room "Meet your new best friends. These are the finest crafted soldiers. They are spawned from the collected sins and wicked souls of my absolvings. They are yours to do with what you will. They will not die, they will not disobey. In fact you may recognize a few of them. Some used to be in the Hazard Party. I call them ghasts."

The smoke twisted and coalesced into hundreds of vaguely human shapes. Each one had a large mouth with gnarled yellow teeth. Nilix gazed around at the spirits. They bobbed up and down floating in midair. The ringleaders grinned together and began to cackle.

"You've got a deal coin clutcher. We'll take them I don't even need to see what they do they look violent enough."

Varus offered the Rakdos leaders a hand each. When they accepted his handshakes, black runes crawled from Varus to the couple. The flickered gold and vanished. "Then the deal is struck." Varus grinned making his way back to the wardrobe. "Remain calm, it's just a contract spell that calls off the ghasts if you break the deal, by say, killing me again."

The couple glared at him untrustingly, then back to their hands. The runes were gone but they felt uneasy. They turned to leave with the ghasts when Nilix stopped to say, "I wouldn't worry about the Boros if I were you. We have a guy on it already. Soon he is going to make the Boros not a problem in Sin District. Remember the raid on the Boros outposts near this place? That was him. Only him. He hates the Legion so much he makes us look like wojek. People are taking to calling him The Butcher, because of how gruesomely he chops up his victims. Those damn cops won't notice a thing you're doing with him around."

Varus had heard of the raids on the Boros sites. They had occurred during his recuperating time and several while he was in the penance chamber. They were horrific scenes of carnage, beyond usual Rakdos gore. He had just assumed the Hazard Party was attempting to give the Boros a lesson, but the fact that it was one man was terrifying. But the fact that the legion would be out of his hair for a time was a miracle.

Nilix laughed again and turned to leave.

Denali crossed her arms and shot Varus a glare as she followed him out.

"You belong to them now. Go." Varus commanded the dark spirits. In unison they flew into the air and poured out through the walls.

Alone again, Varus clothed himself and waited for Sorazda.


"Of course, the ghasts will pay my debt."

Silence.

"They'll get the job done. Those two are perfect."

Silence.

"Exactly. And once I get what I want, you get what you want."

Another pair of footsteps came up the steps and Ezel opened the door. As per his custom when making deals up here Varus summoned a few hovering orbs of golden light. Ezel's clothing was half armor half soggy tunic covered in moss. Varus didn't enjoy the sight of Golgari fashion, or the smell.

"Ezel, Sweet Heart," Sweet Heart walked behind Ezel. She had checkerboard patterned corset and wore what had once been a ball gown she found and had ripped to be more work appropriate. Her boots went nearly up to her tattered skirt and were laden with spikes and belts all the way up. Her entire ensemble was spattered in red and black 'paint.'

"Let's talk business. Sweet Heart, Kaszla tells me you are one of our best employees."

Ezel smirked and interrupted, "What is keeping me from just leaving now and taking her with me? She is allowed to quit, she isn't a sex slave is she?"

"Of course not Lord Sorazda." The intensity in Varus' eyes narrowed, it became focused on the elf standing in front of him. Varus had long ago mastered the art of using his magic subtly. All it took was a dark room and even darker magic. Mana poured through him invisibly as his fear spell came to life. Varus liked to make them think their fear was genuine. "I am trying to maximize my profits."

"It sounds like you are threatening us." Ezel slowly shifted into a fighting pose. His forehead was glistening with sweat. Varus noticed the ends of his blades shaking slightly. "Do you know why they call me the centipede, Orzhov? Because I have such fighting prowess that it seems like I have a hundred arms holding a hundred swords. You don't even have a weapon, how could you expect to get out of this alive?"

Noticing their faces, and Ezel gripping his blades, Varus quickly added, "I intend to give you my blessing. You are both allowed to leave. But Sweet Heart owes from keeping only to you. She has missed many other clients since you two became an item. I could be convinced to give up that debt in exchange for two favors. I know your sister would be enraged if she found out you were running away with an ex-sex-worker. If you give me just two things I will ensure your secrecy and donate handsomely to your union."

"And those two things are?"

"One: A better connection throughout the Rotway and other Undercity locations beneath Sin District. I need Golgari on my side. Access to these locations and I must speak with the Mistress of Decay to assure her blessing with our partnership."

Ezel coughed, "My sisters…" he sheathed his swords and the nervousness was plain as day to Varus even in the dim light. Sweet heart wrapped herself around his arm to comfort him. "I hadn't thought about what they'd do if they found out. Jesal would surely make a fuss and might hurt you." He held her hands in his. "She cannot find out. Orzhov. Can you assure me the secrecy of Sweet Heart?"

"I'll do one better. I have a place she can stay. Near the market square. Near enough to a sewer drain to be convenient but far enough away and crowded enough it won't be suspicious."

"Good. She means the world to me, but I can't quit my duty to my family or my guild."

"Of course. Secondly: I need to hear everything you know about a sect of Golgari assassins known as the Disciples of the Unseen." The lights Varus had summoned flickered. He fixed his eyes on the elf's face.

The three of them sat in silence. Varus couldn't imagine how long it felt to them. Under that spell, Varus must seem terrifying, despite doing nothing more than sitting. He could read them like books. They clearly had no experience with fear magic or negotiation. Varus used their worries to sure up everything that could go wrong; it also never hurt to seem more powerful than those with whom you were striking a deal. "Do we have a deal or do I need to further incentivize you?" Varus asked with a spark of madness in his eyes.

Ezel extended a hand to Varus. He swallowed the lump in his throat and managed to choke out a yes. They shook hands and Varus dispelled the fear curse, his eyes returned to normal. Gold ribbons sprouted from the back of his hand and wrapped the two men's hands together. Dark runes crackled to life across the band. "The contract is sealed." The contract magic burst into nothing but gold light and faded. "Now about these disciples…"


"What took you so long!?" Kovka spat between bites of food. The bloated carcass had only minor cuts and scrapes from the Rakdos incident thanks to Varus.

"Apologies. It took me some time to recuperate. I believe the contract curse is weakening from age.

"Nonsense!" Kovka was no longer waiting for food to leave his mouth before shouting. "My magic is as good as it was day one." He let out a chuckle. "Now get back to work. Milleena has been a wreck while you were away and you will take full responsibility in returning her to a decent enough level of sanity. It is your fault you know. If you would have come back with me she wouldn't have to worry." He took another massive bite from his roast bird. "Women. Always too attached to the property." He began more uproarious laughter as Varus departed to Milleena's quarters. A thrull hopped away from Kovka and stopped Varus. "Ah yes I forgot to mention that tomorrow you will be accompanying me to Set-Ulla. A new wooden whore is taking over the place and she's asked to be fully absolved of any sins. Which is rubbish. Those conclave fools don't have a sinful bone in their bodies. So I'll need you to put on a show. Some dark smoke a little magic here and there. You know the usual fake absolving."
"Yes sir of course." Varus stood emotionless but inside his head throbbed at the mockery. False absolution disgusted him to no end. Many times they had to do this. Absolve the unsinful to prove a point to their peers and Set-Ulla was the worst of it.

"Buahaha, well the absolving is fake but the money sure is real."

Varus walked quickly to escape the sounds of his master eating.


Milleena's door was cracked and Varus heard no sounds from within. "Inconsolable my foot." He thought. "The old fool knows nothing." Varus knocked on door loudly. "Milleena? I have returned from the infirmary."

"Come in Varus!" She sounded admittedly excited to hear his voice again. "I received your letter and I've got something to show you."

"Mistress! Not so loud. Your father's thrulls are everywhere." Varus hurried into her room.

Milleena smiled at him. "Don't worry they aren't in my chambers. I was able to convince him with all my 'crying and whining.' I knew you would be back and I knew you'd be full of secrets so I was inconsolable once I heard the news of what happened. Father was so annoyed he withdrew all the thrulls from near my end of the manor. Smart right?" Milleena kept a cocky grin to Varus' blank face. "Now spill it. What did anything in that letter you sent mean? How are you connected with the Pleasure Corner? Isn't that place a sex slave establishment."

"Not anymore." Varus sat next to Milleena and prepared himself to tell a very long story. "A time ago I was a slave there and your father was a frequent customer. One day once he had finished with his business there he called the owner down. Apararently they had some sort of deal going. Kovka had owned the building, it was once an Orzhov church belonging to your family. That day the old owner asked if there was any way to purchase the building and land from Kovka. Cutting out the negotiation process your father agreed in exchange for half of the slaves he owned. I was in that half. I was so glad to be free from the Pleasure Corner I made myself the greatest servant your father had ever seen. And you know the rest because we met the following week."

Milleena's face bore pity and disgust. "But if you were just a kid then, that means my mother was still around. And father was going to that place to…" She trailed off. She shook her head quickly, trying to remove the thoughts from her head. "That still doesn't explain two things, why can't you die and what happened when I left to become an advokist? I came back and it was just you and the thrulls and father."

Varus swallowed hard. "Those were dark days. I believe that was when your father went from how he was to how he is."

"From disgusting and cruel to paranoid disgusting and cruel?"

"Exactly. I don't know what caused the change but he began killing off servants left and right and cooking them into thrulls." Milleena scowled.

"I knew thrulls were discarded flesh but they hadn't done anything wrong."

"He thought that the staff was stealing from him. I begged and pleaded to him t spare me. So he used the spirits of the other slain servants to cast this curse on me." Varus let his contract curse mark into the light of Milleena's room. "For each spirit he used in the initial ritual I can regenerate my body from death but only while I am a dutiful servant. I cannot harm your family and I am compelled to keep them from harm by the hands of others." Varus re-buttoned his shirt. "However, I still feel the excrutiating pain of death every time."

"My father isn't that clever. Or powerful. How is something so amazing on your chest?" Milleena pulled him in to investigate. He could feel her breathing on his chest. "I thought this was just your average servant tattoo. But," she brought a hand to the curse mark. Her hands were cold. They aways seemed to be. "I can feel the power of it. I've never seen contractual magic like this before. How did you hide it from me for so long."

"Also your father's idea. He didn't want you gaining access to such magic. I shouldn't be able to divulge any of this information to you, but I think I'm running out of souls. The curse is getting weaker and with it so am I. I don't know how many more deaths I can have."

Milleena sprung her head up to meet Varus' gaze. Her face was full of concern. "I won't let you die, I mean for good."

Silence took the room. Milleena looked to be on the verge of tears. This was a lot of information Varus had given her. "This is too much for you. I'll tell you the rest when I come back from Set-Ulla." Varus stood to leave.

"I won't let him get you killed Varus." Milleena mumbled when the door slammed shut. "No I'll make sure he dies long before you do."