The Trial: Journey's End
Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
Chapter 30: Pride & Dignity
...Crescent Lake...
"I said NO!" Bertra shouted and managed, drunkenly, but managed nonetheless, to bring her arm up and send out a very hard slap across Lovien's face.
He staggered back and rapidly brought his hand up to the cheek she'd struck, his other hand landing on the table, the moment froze in time. He was breathing hard, and so was she, as she leaned against the wall. "G-Get out." She said, and managed to raise her arm sluggishly, pointing to the door.
Lovien, seemingly coming to his senses, slowly gathered himself. "I-I'm sorry... I..." he cut himself off, and half walked, half stumbled to the door, the bell rang at the front door as he exited, and Berenice slumped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs as she drew her knees to her chest.
She felt numb, staring vacantly at nothing as she tried to process what must have been only a handful of minutes, maybe even less. Time felt strange, she slowly stood and went to the upper floor of her home, drew a bath of water hotter than she'd ever felt, and flung herself into it, heedless of how much it hurt, she started scrubbing her skin raw.
She shut her eyes in the bath, and as her mind flailed about for what to do, she sent a message to the first person she thought of.
'Entoma... do you maybe have some time? I don't really want to be alone right now and I could really use a friend.' Bertra said weakly.
She felt an almost reluctant pause pass between the words she'd sent and the question's answer. 'Yes... if you want. I'll be there in five minutes, let me ask for a gate to be opened for me.'
Bertra acknowledge the answer and stood from the bath, her flesh was red and raw, and yet the sense of numbness wasn't gone, the water dripped down into the tub, it was the only noise there as she held the sides of the bath to allow the water to drip off her skin for a few moments, until she stepped over and let her wet foot hit the floor.
Deep breaths came and went that felt like they took a thousand years as she slowly reached for a towel and began to dry off. Her body was moving purely by rote as she dried off and put on a robe, before she went downstairs and sat at the table. One of the glasses had been knocked over, his manuscript was still there.
The thing at the end that touched her, still in black ink where he'd waited, probably to surprise her. 'Ugh, what a mess...' She thought as she slowly came back to herself, 'If I hadn't seen that... I might not have put myself in knots and then...' She rested her head in her hands as she sat at the table, hiding her face from nothing, until she heard the gate open and Entoma arrived.
Entoma wasn't sure what she should have expected when she walked through the gate, but seeing the former Cardinal with her head in her hands beside a toppled glass, a manuscript, amidst a few empty bottles on the floor, had not been counted among that list of expectations.
"Sorry to bother you Entoma... it's just... oh how screwed up is this? All my friends are dead, or think I am. I definitely can't talk to Zesshi about this, even assume she has forgiven me, how can I, who told her more or less to just 'put up' with the things the Elf King would have done, speak of this? Strange as this may sound to you... you're my only friend." She smiled weakly, and got up, she gestured to the other little, more intimate table where tea sat, and went over to pour, her hands shook as if they'd been caught in winter's chill, some of the tea spilled.
"I'm sorry... I..." Bertra began, and she felt the claw like appendage on her shoulder that served as the insectoid maid's hand.
"What is it?" The maid asked in the voice of a young human girl that she definitely was not.
Bertra closed her eyes and spat it out, "I... was almost raped tonight. By... by a man I like... liked. We'd been drinking, gotten flirty, it'd been awhile for both of us but I, I wasn't sure I wanted to. Wasn't sure I should, because of who I am, what I did when I was a human woman. He... pushed, hard. We made a bit of a mess. I stopped him, or he stopped... I was so drunk I could barely do more than make him pause, but then... he apologized and left and I don't know what to do! What to think or what to feel!" she exclaimed and threw the teapot to the ground in frustration. It shattered on the floor, scattering tea and glass fragments everywhere.
"Want me to eat him for you?" Entoma asked bluntly, and then she drew the now shaking Bertra closer to herself.
...E-Rantel...
CZ looked down at the dwarf holding the clipboard. "Done?" She asked succinctly.
The dwarf looked behind him, long wooden shelves stacked twelve high, filled the warehouse, save for the front waiting area and the long countertop where only a few years ago, soldiers had filed through en masse to draw their war issue in weapons, armor, kits, and so on. The gear was still there, but the soldiers had all gone home.
"Of course, what do you take me for?" He asked bluntly. "We have enough armor to outfit twenty-five thousand, and that's just here. Take the other facilities into account, and we can equip one hundred thousand Black Justice recruits. Now granted it might be a problem if we had to worry about sizing people but... that isn't an issue with magic gear. The only real problem we have is the order for axes and shields." The dwarf logistician stroked his black beard.
"Not much call for those, you know. But I did manage to get an order out and have a batch for first delivery, but who're these for anyway?" The dwarf asked curiously, "No tensions I've heard of with any other kingdom..." He hesitated as he started to laugh, "Like anybody would dare fight the Sorcerous Empire now..." He laughed hard enough that he had to hold his belly until he managed to get control over himself.
The ghost of a smile came briefly over the maid demon and then returned to her deadpan expression, "Minotaur recruits."
"Minotaurs?" The dwarf looked up at the maid demon.
"Yes, minotaurs." Skana said as she entered with Lakyus. "The voice of god has been busy... and it seems we've got another priestess there who is building a temple. The Minotaur Kingdom's equipment is absolute trash. No orichalcum, no mythril, no adamantite, their best equipment is made of steel."
Skana kept her hands over her obvious belly, the contour of her magic armor had changed to accommodate it, so despite her walk being more awkward, she appeared every inch the leader of the faithful, full of dignity and poise, and a passionate zeal in her eye that threatened to swallow the dwarf whole.
"Not much enchanting, no runecraft. This will give our own devotees a large leg up on basically everyone." Lakyus added, "Now what about the magicine equipment from your counterparts?"
The beefy little dwarf grinned with wild enthusiasm. "Ah, this little marvel. Those bastards in the Understone Empire delivered it awhile ago, didn't think there'd be much interest in it, but it really is amazing. A crossbow, with an auto pull mechanism, even the most dimwitted rock for brains peasant can become dangerous with one of these with only a little practice. It doesn't have the range of a bow, but it's perfect for the demihuman species that can't use bows, and it's as I said, easy to use." He hefted the thing, held it at the waist, and fired it at a target on the other side of the wall room. The bolt sank into the human shaped target, right at the crotch.
"Point made." Lakyus said approvingly, "Order them to make some minotaur sized, a thousand of them. I don't know what Neia has gotten herself into yet, but from the brief things Pandora's Actor passed onto us... a whole lot will change very, very fast, and we don't want to fall behind."
Skana managed a weak smile, "The trouble with serving a supreme god is... you always have to prove you can measure up and keep delivering, but the upside is... you can."
"Measure up? Was that a short joke?" The dwarf asked as he glared up at the wife of the pope and held his arms over his chest as if daring her to say it was.
"Entirely accidental, I promise you, master Dwarf." She said with a barely contained laugh.
He grumbled a bit, not entirely satisfied since she had to cover her mouth. "Will they really letcha just bring in weapons better than what ther army's got?"
Skana and Lakyus traded a questioning look, and then after communication that could only pass between those of long association, Skana nodded. "Yes, bandits are a real problem there, the merchants we're sponsoring will buy off whatever cooperation we need to equip their escorts."
"Wait... so 'you' fund the merchants, you arm the escorts, the merchants hire the escorts you're funding, and... I may not be the smartest dwarf outside the warehouse, but I'm guessing that its cheaper for temple merchants to hire escorts than it is for everyone else?" He looked at the pair with a new aspect of respect in his transfixed expression.
"You got it, Master Dwarf." Skana grinned and her green eye danced pleasantly, "The money comes back to the temple, and is then further invested into the faithful communities, and the non-converted royals and nobles have no real choice but to go along or strangle trade, since the merchants will have exclusive contracts with our own temple merchant classes that nobody else can compete with. And because ours will be the best of the best, in equipment, in training, warriors will be drawn to us like wasps to honey. Within twenty years, most of the country will be converted out of sheer necessity. But of course in the meantime... by showing how helpful we can be, perhaps we can keep them from killing my wife, that's the most important short term goal."
"Agreed." Lakyus added. A deep frown forming on her face, "Well, thank you, we'll leave it to you, my marvelous master logistician!" She said, and laid her hand on his shoulder. "You can help save her life, will you work hard for that?"
The dwarf nodded, "It's a service to His Majesty, who saved my people from the quagoa, for that, I'll do anything. Pardon me, I've got some order forms to fill out... lots of them."
He went off, leaving the two to walk out alone.
"The dwarves... it really is amazing how loyal they are." Skana said as they stepped out into the sunlight.
"I don't know who is more devoted to him, the dwarves or the elves?" Lakyus asked, "Really hard to say, isn't it? Save one from extermination, and the other from slavery, and which one are you more grateful for?" She shrugged, bouncing her blonde hair freely behind her back.
"Given the state of my former country? I think I'd guess the dwarves but... I'm biased, after all, it is because of him that I met my wife." Skana sighed wistfully as they traversed the busy street of E-Rantel, they might have garnered ample notice, given who they were, but the trial was going on, and Raymond was testifying, so in spite of how busy people were, most still turned eyes and ears more towards the huge image of the scene and the words being spoken. Raymond was detailing a plan to spend years of preparation to collapse the mountain on top of the Understone Empire to crush its inhabitants alive, rather than fight a war, and then start harvesting it themselves.
"Well, this is certainly... telling." Lakyus said, only half minding it.
"Still thinking about Gagaran?" Skana asked.
"Yes, the thing is, we were all... right." Lakyus looked down at the ground as her feet passed over it, and Skana looked at her in outrage, fury etched on her face, her fists clenched tight and a snarl forming on her lips.
"Take... that... back." Skana demanded.
Lakyus felt the rage coming off of her companion... "I didn't mean it like that..." It was the evident sadness in her tone that seemed to start to take the edge off of Skana's anger, more than the words Lakyus had uttered. "I'm sorry if I upset you... I don't mean that your wife is a monster. I really don't. But you saw what happened. She killed a man in open court, she hit the entire pavilion for a moment before she brought it to focus and murdered him in front of everyone. What if you had been there." Lakyus reached out and touched Skana's belly, and the warrior woman went white.
"She 'is' dangerous, if she can't keep control, what else do you think might happen? She's got a monster on her back that she hasn't shaken yet, I know, she's working hard, but it'll be a long time, if ever, before she is free of it. I feel terrible even saying this to you... I'm sorry about that, too." Lakyus said as she put her hand on Skana's arm.
"I refuse to believe it's going to end here. I won't accept it, I won't admit it." Skana said softly as her green eye welled up. "Everything we're doing 'will' make a difference. From Tinamoc's ideas on the merchants, to the publication of slave narratives, to our attempts at converting the population, we will get them to let her come home. They'll see... they have to see... she's not a monster, she was just striking back..."
Skana's voice faded away, and Lakyus moved a little closer to her, it was all she could do, to hold the tired mother to be on her feet, and take another step forward, all the way back to their temporary residence to rest before her next call to action.
...Nazarick...
Ainz sat alone in his office watching the mirror of remote viewing, when he heard a knock at the door. "Yes?" He asked with more brusqueness than he intended.
"My Lord, a message from the Argland Council State has arrived, they're asking to meet with you, in their chambers." Albedo's voice was full of awe, but as he had not given permission to enter, he had to hear it from the other side.
"Come in." Ainz said more gently, and he shut off the mirror hastily as Albedo entered the office, the stack of documents on his desk had not changed position, and he knew immediately that her eyes had fallen to that, and knew he had not been doing paperwork.
She came to him and knelt beside where he sat, looking up at him with shining golden eyes. "My Lord... I know the truth. I admit, it was... hard to accept before, but I have no doubt now. You were watching over her... weren't you."
Ainz didn't say anything, he laid a skeletal hand on her head and stroked slowly, she shifted her head to lean into the caress. "Nobody else will know, nobody else in all Nazarick, in all the world, can know this part of you like I. Not even that loli vampire nympho." Albedo whispered gently.
"Is she alright?" Albedo asked, when he didn't say anything, and only continued his touch.
"You've never asked about her before." Ainz finally replied.
"Because it was difficult to accept before. But now, having seen her prophetic gifts, and what it does to her, I have no doubts anymore. Can I... share something with you, my beloved Lord?" Albedo's golden eyes shimmered in the light cast by the white stones of the inner office.
"Yes..." He said hesitantly, keeping his red orbs fixed on her.
"When she married her Vice Commander, and they resided briefly here in Nazarick, I confronted her alone, asking for her support in winning your heart. During that time, she expressed that all she cared about was that the one who loved you, made you happy. She didn't even care if the woman who loved you, reviled her. I put that out of my head in a selfish moment..." She clasped her hands around Ainz's wrist.
"I did so, because all that mattered to me, was you, because loving you was made to be part of me. But having seen all that I have... I know I was wrong, terribly, terribly wrong about something." Albedo hung her head and no longer met the eyes of her Lord.
"Go on," Ainz said quietly, unsure quite what else to say as Albedo went on in a way he hadn't heard before, "I can't have you... love you, unless I accept every part of you, and that includes all that you cherish. How can I love you, and despise your own child? How can I dare to say my heart is yours, if I would revile someone of whom you are proud? I can't... and I won't. I... I read lots of stories in the Library of Ashurbanipal. I wanted to be able to tell stories to the child I'll bear for you one day, in many of these, there are wicked stepmothers, they love the man, but are cruel to the children of his body, because those children didn't spring from her. In those stories passed on by the Supreme Beings, I saw... a fragment of myself. Yes... she is human in body, but whatever her soul is... it is part of you, connected to you in so strong a way that even the future is offered to her in order to serve you, and at a cost most would never bear."
"Why are you telling me this...?" Ainz asked uncertainly.
"For two reasons, My Lord." Her voice became firm, resolute, and even courageous in a strange sort of way as she managed to slowly bring her eyes up to face his own again.
Albedo answered slowly, stumbling a bit over her words in a way that was most uncharacteristic of her, and yet she continued in spite of the difficulty she had in expressing novel thoughts. "The first... is because I want you to know, from the very bottom of my heart, that your daughter from the darkness, who you dragged up from the hell Demiurge created around her, is beloved of you, then she will be beloved of me. You alone will not call her 'daughter' ever again. As you cherish her, so will I, because if I don't... I can never claim to cherish you. I can only ask your forgiveness for not seeing earlier, what seems so obvious now."
"And the second?" Ainz asked, unable to think of what else to say.
"Because... I wanted you to save her." Albedo answered bluntly and stood up, her hands went boldly to his shoulders, "I was reading in the Library... prophets 'always' die, horribly. Prophecy 'will' kill her, in every story I read, they were ruined by their gifts. Some went mad, some were burned, some were tortured, some were exiled or simply beheaded, this 'gift' is a curse. So... I reached out to Argland, the dragon lords are very old, and have lived in this world a long time. They have knowledge of prophets, and will trade it to you. That is why they have reached out to you now."
Ainz felt his thoughts race as he listened to the way Albedo sped through her words, processing them as fast as his Overlord mind allowed, which... was very swift.
"You went that far, for her?" Ainz asked with surprise.
"Shouldn't a mother do at least that much?" Albedo smiled demurely, and stepped back, "Now, will My Lord choose to visit them?"
Ainz stood up, and to her shock, pulled her into an embrace, "I'm very... very proud of you right now." Ainz said tenderly, and her wings quivered like mad as she let herself revel in his hold on her body.
"Go. Before this hurts her again, My Love." She said, with at least some small reluctance, and Ainz opened a gate, and walked through it and out of the office.
Albedo looked at the mirror and after a moment's thought said, "Open last position."
The blank mirror sprang to life, and there on the glass, she saw the burning husk of a beastman camp. The fort was broken, and bodies were being dragged over to a pile. It took Albedo a moment to realize what she was seeing... because Neia was almost unrecognizable.
Her straw blonde hair was only still blonde in a few places, the rest of it was matted with fresh blood over dried blood, her entire body, seemingly, was drenched in it, were it not for the glimpse of hair, and the black void that was her eyes with their little glowing dots that for some reason, glanced skyward and made her identity evident, then Albedo felt sure she might have wondered who her lord was watching after all.
The demoness smiled pleasantly and passionately. "Good girl, kill them all, and make mother proud." She whispered to the screen, and cut off the mirror, before walking primly out of the office, a dark smile on her face, all the way to the throne room.
