~Chapter 8~
Back in the city of Valis, Silk, a tall, rat-faced man with an incredible sense of humour, stood in the center of the temple of Marfa. He had been called to order by the Goddess herself; apparently, his skills were needed...
Paranoidly, Silk looked over his shoulder at the temple's entrance. He eyed it for a moment, expecting to have been followed by one of the many authorities that were after him. A master thief, Silk had many enemies and a lot of unpaid debts; everywhere he went, it seemed, there was always someone waiting to take him down. Fortunately for him, Silk was hardly ever alone when he walked the streets of Valis and its surroundings; an unorganized mob of two dozen rogues held to his side at all times, obeying his every command.
Silk was never hard to get a hold of when he was needed for a rewarding mission; however, he had never before been called to order by a Goddess...
The cascading flowers atop Marfa's altar rustled gently, startling Silk; he whirled around from the entrance, drawing a dagger from his belt, "Don't run, I know you're there!" He called to the inanimate plants. Frowning in irritation, he started foreward as if to examine the altar more closely.
"Silk, stop that." Marfa's voice scolded from within the thief's mind.
Jumping back from the altar and clutching his chest, Silk put away his dagger, "You almost gave me a heart attack!" He gasped out loud, unaware that all he really had to do was think and Marfa would hear him, "I don't know if it's such a good idea that you be in my mind, your Goddess-ship..." He smiled mischievously, "...it gets kinda improper in there sometimes." He chuckled at his own joke.
Marfa was not in the mood for pleasantries, "Silk, I'm afraid something awful has happened." She began immediately before the thief could go on with his smart remarks, "Not very long ago, I sent out two girls in search of the Holy Sword of Falis on the island of Marmo." She started before Silk cut her off.
"What's it doing there? I thought it was lost somewhere and no one could find it..." The thief mused thoughtfully. He looked around, in hopes that no one would witness the sight of him (seemingly) talking to himself.
"Someone did find it, and this person must be stopped at all costs. Marmo has a new empress now; her name is Ka and she is the daughter of Beld. She is the one who was found the Holy Sword of Falis -- as well as the Demon Sword that once belonged to her father." The Goddess sighed, "I have sent Arwen, daughter of Parn, to retrieve the Holy Sword; she has taken her friend along with her too -- an elf named Kalie. You see, neither of them have returned. I have felt them reach the Sword...but then all contact stopped." She paused a long moment, thinking unpleasant thoughts, "I assume they were caught by Ka.".
Silk's eyes widened in surprise, "So you want me to venture out to Marmo and fetch Arwen and Kalie, along with the Holy Sword of Falis?" He asked, silently wishing for Marfa to say that there was more to this than she had previously explained...and that he didn't have to go to Marmo after all. The island was a place of great disarray, no one cared to go there.
"Yes, that's precisely it, Silk." Marfa's voice answered pointedly.
The thief's sharp nose twitched and he cocked his head to the side, "What's in it for me?" He asked, wondering if such bartering was acceptable when dealing with the Gods.
There was a moment of shocked silence on the part of Marfa, and Silk realized that he had overstepped his bounds once again.
After clearing his throat, Silk made up for the rude question, "Right...okay...so..." He coughed and took a non-chalant posture, "...when do I leave?" He asked off-handedly, pursing his lips.
"You leave tonight at dusk. I will take you to Marmo, but from there on, you're on your own." Marfa replied sternly, suprised at her own tone. Normally, she would have wished her servant a kind word, much like she had with Arwen...but this time, and with this particular man Silk, the Goddess just couldn't seem to get herself to be as kind as she usually was. Perhaps she had a moral conflict inside of her due to the fact that she was seeking the aid of an immoral thief to do her bidding...but, as she reminded herself a couple thousand times, the end justifies that means.
Silk nodded, "May I bring some of my men?" He asked brightly, certain that the evil-infested island of Marmo held many suprises that he would need help dealing with.
Marfa's voice became almost lamenting, "I'm afraid not, Silk." She said dismally, "I will not put any more of my people in danger." She added protectively.
A cynical smile spread across Silk's angular face, "Just me." He remarked with a chuckle.
Marfa chose to ignore the comment.
***
Rose sat in the dungeons, watching Kalie and Arwen sleep in their respective cells. She had been watching them all night, especially the elf Kalie, in eager wait for the morning -- when she would be allowed to administer torture. All she had to do was wait for Ka to make her way down to the dungeons and give her the green light.
But Ka hadn't come down yet.
In her lap, Rose stroked an ornamented whip, "It's kinda like Christmas," She mused in a whisper, eyeing Kalie's sleeping form, "but there is simply no way I am going to go jump on Ka's bed and beg her to come down to the dungeons with me in order to claim my 'presents'." She giggled at the thought and noticed that one of her prisoners had begun to stirr: it was Arwen.
Arwen groaned gently and shifted, pulling herself away from the side of her cell wall, "Wha--" She started, her wide eyes flickering open at last. She stopped moving as soon as she caught a glimpse of Rose, who sat grinning between her cell and Kalie's behind her.
"Good morning sunshine." Rose purred mockingly, getting up from her three-legged stool and taking hold of Arwen's prison bars, "I trust you slept well...I have been watching you all night after all." She added with an evil chuckle.
"You're insane." Arwen spat, leaning back against the far wall of her cell in order to get as far away from Rose as was possible. She examined the dark elven sorceress for a moment, remembering her from the night before when she and Kalie had dressed up as guards and had pretended to watch the door of the chamber containing the Holy Sword of Falis. Arwen blinked. The Sword! Where was it now?! Surely Marfa would not like this...
Rose smiled, "No I'm not." She snapped, then she opened her mouth to say something more, but a slender dagger cut through her arm and buried itself there. In a fit of rage, she turned on Kalie, who had apparently just woken up, "I thought your weapons had been taken from you when you were thrown in here!" She cried, wrenching the blade from her arm and slipping it into her own belt.
"Good morning to you too, Rose." Came Kalie's dry reply, "Your goons forgot to search my breastplate...which is surprising.".
Rose shook her head at the impudent little elf, "You were at point blank, Kalie." She said in a monotonous, irritated tone, "Point blank. And you still managed to miss me!" She burst out laughing, hen clutched her bloody arm, "You were never very good at anything, though...so why would I expect more from you now?" She said maliciously.
"What's going on here, Rose?" Came Ka's voice from behind the sorceress.
Rose whirled around to face her and frowned deeply, she really hadn't heard the empress come down the stairs, "Your prisoners have awakened, Ka." She declared pointlessly.
Ka pointed at Rose's wounded arm, "What's this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Kalie had a knife in her armor and she attempted to kill me with it." Rose explained, laughing, "Sad, isn't it?" She pouted childishly and laughed again.
Unimpressed by the manoeuvre, Ka waved Rose aside, "Do bandage that up, and see if it is poisoned." She said hurriedly, wondering why on earth one of her prisoners was carrying a weapon while in custody.
Rose, wrapping the torn sleeve of her thick robe around her arm, shook her head, "It's not poisoned." She said calmly, then looked up to search out Kalie's eyes, "I don't think the elf is smart enough for that." She added with a smile, then returned to her makeshift bandage, humming an ancient tune.
"I'm so glad I finally found you two." Ka declared with an elated sigh after a short moment; she paced back and forth between the two cells, "You know it was pretty stupid coming to Marmo in the first place." She smirked to herself, "Even with Marfa's help, you screwed up." She added placatingly. With that, he turned towards Arwen's cell and unsheathed the Demon Sword, "Rose, give me the keys to the cell; I want to get rid of them now." She called to her right-hand-woman, holding out her free hand towards the sorceress behind me.
Rose reached for the keys on her belt, but then she pulled back and stepped up beside the empress, "Ka?" She asked nicely, clasping her hands together, "Can we keep 'em a little longer?" She went on and the empress turned to face her with an impatient frown, "I would really like to torture them. I assure you that they will not escape...I will be in charge of them, that is, until they die." She finished and smiled sweetly.
Ka thought about it a moment, and turned back to Arwen's cell. The half-elf was so helpless, curled up against the far wall...she would be so easy to kill. Many problems would come to an end. However, now that she had both Arwen and Kalie in her custody, they were no longer such a big problem...especially if Rose had her sights on them twenty-four seven. The Holy Sword of Falis was in Ka's room now, and there was no way either of them had access to it -- even if Kalie was supposedly a sorceress.
Slowly, Ka lowered her sword, "Alright," She said after a bit, "have them." She paused, sheathing her sword and raising an eyebrow up at Rose, "However, do not lose them." She remarked.
Rose's smile was brighter than the mid-day sun.