The Trial: Journey's End
Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
Chapter 37: Chaos
...City of Newgrand...Beastman Kingdom...
King Rargnan watched with astonishment as for the first time in living or written memory, dragons soared over Beastman territory. They sailed through the air like birds of prey, their roars split the sky as they alerted others to their coming, if any were daft enough to have missed the clear sight above.
They slowly circled around the rebuilt and renamed capital city, and from his palace balcony he felt a profound sense of humility run through his veins. For a proud tigerman, it was a rare thing to be humbled, but as he leaned on the balcony rail and watched them slowly come to ground, lightly dropping their massive cargos, what he'd been told were called 'Dragon's Lunchboxes' it was impossible for him to feel too proud.
"Has it really been this long?" He wondered out loud. He looked down at the ground of his capital city, his gaze lingered on the smooth stone, down below, in the depths, tens of thousands of bodies of the former residents lay trapped where the Sorcerer King had opened up the ground beneath their feet, he recalled the human girl, the mad blonde woman who giggled as she somehow worked out, and told him, 'Since they got water down there, an bodies ta eat, they'd prolly live for weeks er months, floatin in the dark, scramblin fer rotted'n water logged meat... s'watcha get, an yer lucky it ain't worse... ahd'a kilt all of yah... make nice skins...' She'd cackled with blood chilling laughter, not because she was a threat, but because his servant at the time had meant it to her core. He shuddered briefly, brief correspondence mentioned her sometimes.
But more than the destruction ran through his mind as he looked out, far beyond the low walls of the city, he could see vibrant green of the rolling hills and open plains, in the distance, forests were full of life, and even from where he stood, he could hear the great falls and raging waters of the distant river as the wind carried the sound to his tigerman ears. "He did that too... he destroyed us, he remade us, and he spared those of us who survived his wrath... there are worse ends than this. And now..." His eyes went back to the distant dragons, the great terrors of the skies landed one by one, with a single rider each who would dismount and open the 'lunchboxes' and allow passengers to exit, or trade goods to be removed, it was an efficient system.
He walked over the smooth stone floor of his wide halls, leaving his chambers before the sun rose fully over the horizon, and went to his throne room where the delegates would no doubt present themselves soon enough.
He was not disappointed, and for the first time in history, dwarves, humans, and elves knelt in peace before the beastman throne, with not one ounce of fear in their hearts. All wore the same dress, attire he couldn't have missed.
"You, the merchants of Black Justice are welcome here in Newgrand, I hope you find my capital pleasing, and know that the full hospitality of my house is at your disposal." He placed his striped orange and black hand over his chest and inclined his head to them politely.
"Of course, thank you, Your Majesty, for your kind welcome, we will be staying for the day to acquire additional goods here before we move farther east, I assume you know of our mission?" The human asked with the force and conviction that suggested to Rargnan that he might have had priestly training.
He responded with as much kingly dignity as he could manage. Briefly recalling the vast hours of practice he'd spent in front of a mirror trying different poses and gestures and tones to ensure he always presented a noble bearing. 'I wonder if anybody else ever had to do that? No, not a chance. I'll never get used to this.' He'd thought ten thousand times, but managed to express himself well enough when he responded by saying in his most noble voice, "I do, I received communication from the Mute Merchant of the West well in advance, good Tinamoc is going above and beyond to support your mission, and so will I. My merchants were informed of your arrival when the dragons were first sighted, and they'll be establishing a large bazarre in the great square expressly for your patronage, the entire area is blocked off for today only. Buy what you need, and I am putting a coin of my face on it to back your efforts. Every merchant you'll encounter was paid up front for a twenty percent discount, a token of goodwill to you, and to the daughter of our common god. If it please you, we have a temple near the city square where you may pay your respects and meditate on the path to success before you leave."
"My lord is generous, we thank you for your hospitality, if I may ask your humble indulgence, we would appreciate a guide for the day, before we depart, that way we can maximize the productive use of our time." The human who was evidently the leader of the trade mission, requested politely.
Rargnan looked closer at him, young, he suspected, but keen azure eyes that took in everything around him. Wavy brown hair bound close to the head which fell over his shoulder to hang in front of him. A moderate build for a human, but there was muscle and sinew rather than flab beneath the black uniform.
"Of course, will the dragons be remaining with you?" Rargnan asked with eager curiosity.
The human shook his head, "Unfortunately, no Sire. They're returning west, we'll be buying wagons here, and we brought scrolls to raise undead horses to pull them. We'll be departing first thing in the morning, after everything is ready. We'll be sleeping in shifts on our wagons, and use the undead mounts to go all night long until we reach our destination. Time is of the essence, if we're to matter at all."
"I see, well it is a shame you can't linger and see more of what our country has accomplished under His Majesty but... needs must be what they are, and... I wish you luck. I met her once, you know." Rargnan mused as he remembered the Forton Conference.
"Y-You did?" The human seemed flummoxed for the first time, and Rargnan savored the moment.
"I did." He answered with a nod, and told the story, finishing by saying, "She was... truly terrifying, but... also remarkable. Had she been born to the kingdom of beastmen, she would be seated on my throne, instead of me. I do not envy my royal brother, Ard Rhi Mu'Fidelius, in his task of putting her on trial. I just hope he is wise enough to not play games or cheat His Majesty in a way that threatens her. That would not end well."
The merchant guests shared a collective shudder along with Rargnan as they pondered the wrath of the Sorcerer King in such an instance.
"But I ramble, please rise, one of my guards will escort you through the city, and I'll send one of my children as your personal guide to meet you while you ensure your goods are properly stored, it would be good for them to learn more of the wider world than life in Newgrand alone can teach them." Rargnan said and waved a bearman away from the walls to go stand behind them.
They stood, bowed, and rendered the Black Justice salute, as they did so, he noted that the symbols of choice on their chests were a balanced scale, an open palm, and a single wide open eye. He rendered the same in return while seated on his throne, and as they backed out and departed, Rargnan stroked his furry jaw and rapped the fingers of his other hand on his throne. 'I wonder if they'll really have an impact out there, do they really think they can influence the outcome of the pope's trial by way of trade? They must think so for some reason... perhaps I should study more on this subject.' He thought to himself, then rose and with a pair of guards behind him, he went to his library.
...Crescent Lake...
'How could this possibly be happening?' Bertra wondered as she tried to ignore the changing pace of the man holding her hips as she lay limp on the floor waiting for it to be over. A moment later, she felt it end and a groan of satisfaction came from Lovien. He lowered himself to her and kissed her passionately, she did nothing to respond, but if he noticed that, or anything else, he gave no sign.
"You were great..." he finally said as his tongue left her mouth and he began to get up, slowly and contentedly, "Thank you, I've got a meeting tomorrow with the Queen and her council, it'll be, a big land deal, so I really shouldn't stay, but don't worry," he caressed her face, starting at the tip of her right ear and tracing it all the way over to her cheek, she turned her face away, "None of it will be used to build anything that compete with anything your shop does. I take... good care of the ones I like." He smiled charmingly down at her as she lay there, numbly, too numb to even draw her legs together, she managed a small, quiet series of rapid nods as he put his pants back on. He reached briefly for the tray he'd brought, then pulled his hand back, "No, it's not much, but it is rare, keep it as my gift to you, from one good friend to another."
He didn't notice her eyes shut tight enough to wrinkle as he left her there to try to rise alone. She slowly rolled over onto her stomach, her right hand grasped a few times for purchase on something, she kept her eyes shut, but that big charming smile wouldn't vanish from sight.
"H-How... why?" She barely knew what she was asking as she went upstairs to her room and drew a bath. 'Disgusting...' She thought as she reached down to touch the slimey reminder of what he'd done and wipe it from her thigh, but she wasn't sure in that moment if she meant it, him, or herself. 'Clean... I just want to be clean again...' Bertra thought as the water roared like thunder as the tub filled with water hot enough she was sure she'd need a healing potion to make herself better afterward.
"Bastard." She said through gritted teeth as she cut off the water and slipped into the now filled tub, she reached for a cloth and began to scrub everything raw, every part of her he'd touched, she didn't even notice when she started crying, though if she had to guess, it would have been when she tried to get him 'out' of her.
She scrubbed till her arms were sore and the burning heat of the water began to lessen. She then lay limp with her arms spread out and stared up at nothing. 'Did I do something? Was it my fault for having wine with him after last time? I invited him into my home, I let him sit next to me... god, the way he talked about how he could... 'help' me...' She wanted pain, because that would distract her from the way she felt right then, his promise of 'help' that she knew was more a promise of harm, made her feel like a whore that had traded herself for a few extra coins in her pocket.
She let her head fall to one side and looked over at the door, "Entoma... wish you were here, but I can't talk to you about this... I can't tell anybody about this... they'll think I'm just trying to extort him. Or they'll think... they'll think I'm a pawn from some other noble trying to sabotage him or hurt his good name." She talked to nothing but the empty air and let her thoughts wander pointlessly as she tried to think of anything but the last few hours.
"Zesshi... if you ever did want revenge on me for my indifference then... you have it now... even if you never know it..." She whispered and looked down at the beautiful body the Sorcerer King had given her, the litheness and strength of a young elf woman had proved a source of fascination to her when she'd first settled down, a reminder of the lost youth of her humanity and the vigor she'd had then.
Her thoughts wandered like that until she finally dragged herself out of the tub, and staggered to the bed, the sound of water dripping behind her was the only company she kept as she fell onto the bed and drifted off to a slumber she didn't, in that moment, ever want to wake up from.
When she did wake up, it was to the sound of birds chirping, she slowly rose, dressed slowly in a pair of brown pants and a green shirt of good quality fabric, she put on a pair of low black boots, then went downstairs and ate a small meal of stew that she didn't taste or even remember making. That was when she saw his... 'gift' that interesting item from the Dwarves.
She reached out and touched it, 'Did all that... really happen?' That had been her first thought when she woke up naked in her bed. But here was the proof. She picked it up, and with an anguished cry smashed it against the wall, again, and again, and again she swung it, breaking the ornately crafted item into pieces until there was nothing of it left that was long enough to swing. It left her breathing hard from anger, at herself, at him, at everything. And she stood there, clenching her fists and holding the last vile broken piece in her hand, before she let it drop to the floor with a clatter that reminded her of the spilled wine that she hadn't cleaned up the night before.
She looked down at the dark stain on the bright pale wood that shone in the daylight that streamed through the windows of her home, and set to cleaning it all up. It must have been an hour before she was done, even though it should only have taken a moment or two of wiping the spot down, no matter how many times she ran the cloth over the stain, the wood still looked stained to her eyes.
She wiped her face clean again after she disposed of the cloth, and threw away the cups. 'I never want to see them again...' She thought as they disappeared into the small clay bin she used to catch things to be disposed of. For good measure, she went over to the tattered remnants of her clothing, the fine cloth was torn in places, and she fell to her knees and began to keen for it.
'I bought this... I bought this with the first coins I earned here... now look at it... this wasn't just something to tear up... you bastard... you bastard...' She kept her thoughts in her head, unable to speak through the keening voice as she clutched the ruined clothing he'd torn in several places as he'd undressed her.
When she finally got control of herself, she washed her face yet again, and, unable to dispose of that too, she slowly walked to the front of her proudly named 'Brighter Days Book Shop' and opened the door.
The sun hit her full in the face and glinted off her golden hair, she forced herself to behave pleasantly, waving to her neighbors as she passed them, and making her way to the public square where the trial was already ongoing.
It had drawn an enormous crowd, it always did, while in most places, Bertra knew that the crowd was at least there in part because of the sheer novelty and incredible complexity of the magics involved to project it all to so many places at once. 'It is impressive, I'll admit.' She thought without a hint of reluctance, everything after all, had proved impressive about the Sorcerer King. 'If I... If I begged for an audience... would he listen?' She wondered briefly, then put the thought aside. 'Even if he did, he's a king, I can't take up his time like this, he's done more for me than I deserved in the first place.'
Raymond was on the stand, she smiled proudly up at her long time comrade, 'If he were here, if he knew I lived, or perhaps he does, but if he were here, he'd listen, he'd believe me.' It was a pleasant thought, to know that somewhere in the world, there was someone who would believe her, who would listen to her, the fact that one of those was a monster and the other was set for trial himself was irrelevant to that fact.
She gasped with shock when she saw the elf girl shout his name, the view shifted to the disrupting person, and Bertra's mouth fell open as she recognized the little elf woman from his manor, now fit, toned, and confident enough to shout down a trial in front of kingdoms. Bertra managed a winsome smile in spite of everything, as golden hair streamed behind the girl as she dashed down the stairs like an antelope and dove into the body of the former Cardinal.
Confusion reigned over everything in the square as the elves of Crescent Lake watched one of their own, clung to a human, a human that had been leading the nation that oppressed them, no less. Buzzing conversation went everywhere, and Betra did her best to look as confused as everybody else, while inside, despite the numbness that consumed her own heart, she felt a sense of peace for her friend and comrade.
"She must have been a lover of his..." She heard from a table over.
"Was she a slave he mind controlled...?" She heard from another.
"No, she's wearing the clothing of the Black Justice priesthood, right down to armor, couldn't be, they'd have removed a curse or mind control, but how does she know 'that'?" Someone else replied.
Bertra listened as the rumor mill began to buzz around her until the trial resumed and the disruption calmed down.
She waited through the rest of it and got up, turning to walk away, she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye at the far end of the square, Queen Zesshi was walking with her vampire advisors and the rest of her retinue, including... she felt sick. 'Lovien...' She thought, watching unnoticed for a moment as he told some joke that made Queen Zesshi laugh and pointed to a nearby building, no doubt something he wanted to buy, he was dressed far more richly than usual, with gold embroidery over his clothing that, she had no doubt, was real gold thread.
Bertra lowered her gaze, and hurried out of the square before she was seen, trying desperately hard to move quickly without running, and telling herself, 'He's not driving me away. He's not... he's not...'
She went back to her shop, flipped the sign to open, and put herself behind the counter and put a fake smile on her face.
The bell rang as the door opened, "Welcome to Brighter Days Book Shop!" She said in the pleasant way she usually did, shocking herself by her own ability to pretend, and waved to her numerous long shelves of books, "Please let me know if I can help you find anything." She added.
"Hiya Bertra!" A mountain of an elf said as he ducked under the doorway to avoid hitting his head and entered. A deep voice came from the thick muscled man in front of her, but a boyish grin and a baby face ruined any intimidation factor he might have had. No doubt was in her mind about who his father was, as some of the elf King's children did turn out to be musclebound walls of meat like him. Not many, but a few.
"Hi Soren, are you looking for anything special today?" She asked.
"Just wondering if my order has come in yet." He replied, then looked sheepish, "Oh... sorry, forgot to wipe my feet out there." He said as he noticed the dirt he'd tracked in.
Bertra waved it away, "Soren, you helped put this place together, this shop wouldn't exist if you hadn't built it, and you and your team unloaded more books and boxes than I had any right to ask, no way I'm going to get upset about a little dirt, besides, you work in dirty conditions. If I required every one of my customers to have a bath before coming here, the bathhouses would do great business, but me? Not so much. No your order hasn't come in yet, have you 'seen' any dragons delivering goods? No, no you haven't. But..." She raised a finger as his face looked crestfallen.
"I did find something else you might like, you know, something to tide you over, and I set it aside just for you." She grinned and reached under the counter and pulled a book out and craning her neck to look up at the seven foot tall elf, she held up a thick book to him, which he took gingerly between meaty fingers.
"The Great Builders: God Edition" He read the title, "How did you get this... how did you know I'd like this?!" He exclaimed with boyish happiness.
It was hard not to smile with Soren, "Well, you built more buildings around Crescent Lake than any other master builders in your guild, so it wasn't hard to work out that you'd take an interest. As for how... well, I have my ways, and you just benefit from them this time." She put on a playful smile, and if she stayed a little farther back from him than she usually did, he didn't notice.
"Thank you, I just can't believe the knowledge in some of these books, techniques I'd never imagined, never heard of... you're just, you're the best, Bertra." He said and reached into the pouch at his side to take out the money for it.
"Why so eager for that other book, anyway?" She asked as she held out her hand from beyond the counter.
"Oh that? Well I heard it had some good stuff in it, things that might help me in my next contract, if I'm lucky that is, see Lovien of House Alu is considering hiring me and my crew for his next big build."
Her face paled and as the coins fell from his hand toward her palm, she darted her hand away, the coins scattered everywhere.
"I'm sorry, I... I don't know what came over me!" She said anxiously as she crouched behind the counter, while he got down in front of it and put the coins up for her to take.
"It's alright, just an accident." Soren answered as he got up.
"It'll be a game changing contract for us if we get it." His face looked ecstatic, but then it suddenly fell, "Got to be honest with ya Bertra... I needed this. Yeah we build a lot, but the profits haven't been big. The big projects have the big margins, and most of my work has been smaller stuff, individual homes and the like. The knowledge in books like these often gives me a competitive edge."
"I see, I see." She said as she picked up the last coin from the floor, "Well best of luck to you then." She said, effectively ending the conversation as he waved goodbye, wished her well, and ducked under the door frame again to walk out.
She stared down at the coins, as if daring them to speak. 'No, it doesn't matter that it'll help him, it'll also help a friend of mine. A regular...' She closed her eyes tight and snatched up the money and tossed it into the till so she didn't have to see it, then plastered the smile back on her face again as she welcomed the next visitor.
So it went, and she remained open to catch the post trial crowd as people came in to buy or rent books both new and used alike.
For a while, she was so busy that she was able to forget the previous evening, to act like it really didn't happen, though she often felt like a doll animated by magic, just going numbly and thoughtlessly through the motions of her existence. Eventually however, it came time to close the shop, and she managed a contented exhale and picked up a box behind her and carried it to the nearest shelf. She started restocking previous purchases and setting out new items, and wrapped up 'the business of her business' without incident.
She then went to the door, locked it, and then froze when she saw Lovien's face on the other side of the glass, the charming smile on his chiseled face, "Hi, I just wanted to come say hello, see how you were doing!" He said, just loud enough for sound to carry through the space between them.
Bertra's lips pursed tight and she froze as she saw and heard the handle turn, the door was locked, but that didn't stop her heart from quickening in her breast. 'Get rid of him.' She thought to herself, and unlocked the door briefly, he pushed it lightly, but it stopped at her foot.
She put her face to the gap, "Sorry, I'm really worn out." She said, and his grin became lewd.
"I'll bet." He replied wickedly.
A wave of shame came over her and she hated that she began the conversation by apologizing, and for giving him the opening to say what he did.
"I mean it, I need sleep, I can't talk now, Lovien." Bertra said forcefully.
He looked surprised, his lips parting as if he couldn't believe it, and she threw him off. "Oh, ah, well it's fine. I'll come by another day, just wanted to say thank you again, it was a great evening, and I hope we can do it again sometime."
"I'll be busy." Bertra replied immediately.
"I didn't say when..." He answered.
"I'll be busy." She reiterated.
"Oh, well, I'll make time for you later, don't worry about it." He said as that cocky little smile that brought out a dimple in his cheek returned.
"Fine, whatever but," she yawned loudly, "for now I really need to get some rest."
"OK, I guess we wouldn't rest much if I came in." He chuckled at his ribald joke and she smiled weakly as she pushed the door closed and locked it, hard enough that the catch echoed.
She walked away from the conversation wanting to take another hot bath, to scrub her ears where the sound of his voice had echoed, but instead she forced herself to go straight to bed again.
She didn't see him again for a few days, though the regulars of her shop were welcome sights as she tried to let her memory of what she'd come to think of as 'the incident' to trivialize it in her own mind, be forgotten.
The book clubs and writing groups were a favorite distraction, until she entered the big writing area that also served as her dining room, holding a tray of tea for her guests, and saw him sitting at the table.
It took everything she had not to drop it when she saw him beaming at her and holding a quill and some papers. She looked around at the expectant faces of her friends and neighbors, and kept her face neutral as she laid out the teacups in front of them, though as she laid a cup in front of him... 'serving' him tea, her hand shook enough that some of the tea spilled.
"It's alright." He said before she could apologize, and took up a cloth and wiped it up himself.
The others gathered at the table looked at him with admiring eyes, a noble that cleaned up after himself, who wasn't too good to clean up a spill in front of him, who would sit for tea with average people to learn something new... was a rare thing. A few of the elven women at the table looked at him with more than platonic admiration, with his only blemish, his one still mutilated ear, a badge of honor for having lived through captivity in the Slane Theocracy.
Bertra avoided looking at it, 'If he knew what I was, who I was...' She cut that line of thought off, and began to talk about how to write their story in their own voices. To avoid exaggeration because this is meant to be a historical record. "Don't be ashamed of anything you write down about what happened, you didn't ask for that, and any shame there is, falls to the ones who made you endure what they did. Have the courage to speak your mind, if you are uncomfortable putting your own name down, then use a pen name, I'll do all I can to ensure that nobody forgets that villains lived, and did wrong. Letting them be forgotten, is letting them get away with it. I'll be proofing everything along the way, so please ask for help as much or as often as you need it."
She then sat at the head of the table, acutely aware that Lovien was close by, he didn't seem to notice as he scribbled away on the paper with the same impressive rapidity as he always did.
Most of the table struggled, hunched over their documents and trying to grasp for words, but as his quill flew over paper, and page after page was slapped down audibly as if it were meant to be a public boast, the rest of the table stopped to watch.
She slid them over to herself one by one, using only one finger so that she wouldn't risk touching what he touched, and taking out her quill with the magic red ink, she began to make corrections, though there were very few at all to be made.
Finally though, she had to ask, "Lovien, you wrote your manuscript already, whose story is this?"
His face, which had been profoundly grave and serious, turned bitter, and he reached up with one hand to touch his mutilated ear. "The one who this is in memory of. I knew everything about that one... someone... someone should tell her story."
That made her go quiet, "I... I see, I didn't mean to pry, I'll get back to editing." Bertra said sympathetically and went back to proofing his work while the rest of the table lingered briefly into memories of their own, and Lovien wrote like a man possessed, finishing ten or twenty times the amount of material that the others did.
"Go ahead and do theirs first, mine will take longer." He said generously, and waved a hand in a lordly manner.
Admiration redoubled as it seemed to the others as if he were giving up his place in line for them, and a wave of anxiety hit Bertra, which she hid to avoid being rude.
She got to through the rest of their documents quickly enough, and they trickled out until she was alone with him again.
"You weren't kidding about being busy." He said after she was quiet for a few minutes as she went over what he wrote.
"Mhmm, tell you what, this will take awhile, go ahead and go, and I'll finish it up tomorrow while things are slow, it's getting late, and I'd like to sleep." She tried to keep her voice neutral, but the memory of him laughing with the Queen the morning after, wouldn't leave her.
She felt his hand on her thigh. "I'd like to thank you for helping Soren out, he showed me the book he got from you and he said he can meet all my needs under budget and on time. I was hesitant to hire him at first, since most of his work was on smaller projects than this." She felt a chill run up her spine.
"Lovien... No." She said as her heartbeat began to pound. 'Snap his neck... you can do that easily. But you can't explain 'why' you did it...' She thought about the admiring looks he'd gotten from the others.
"Of course, not all needs can be met with construction contracts..." He ignored her protest and moved his hand further up her thigh, leaving her grateful she'd worn pants instead of a dress.
"And I've missed you." He added as he breathed out close to her sensitive elven ears, sending a shockwave of sensation through her body. She froze, and he took that as permission to go farther, sliding his hand over her crotch.
"Lovien... stop." She breathed out.
"You stick with me, and I'll make sure Soren gets every big contract in this city, the Queen listens to me since nobody knows this business like I do." He said as he began to tug at the string that held her pants closed. "And because I like you... I'll make sure I don't open any business that might 'ruin' you."
She felt the implied threat behind his offer, to ruin the one who built her business, to ruin 'her' business. It made her hesitate, and she felt his hand on her breast.
Bitterness ran like a stampede through her heart and all the way through her mind. "In the bed this time." He said, and took her in his arms in what he no doubt felt was romantic, he forced his lips to hers, capturing them as he carried her to the stairs.
She swallowed hard as she did as he said, pointing out the bedroom door. When they were alone, and her clothes were cast off to the floor, and she struggled to understand why it was happening to her, she made a choice, the only choice she could, insomuch as she could convince herself it wasn't a farce to call it that. "Help me, and help him, and... I'll be grateful." She said, and pulled Lovien onto her.
He smiled over her face, "I knew you understood things... you're a very smart one." He said as he sighed with pleasure as he entered her.
It was not a restful sleep later, when she closed her eyes knowing he was still beside her, there was no sleep at all, though she pretended there was, hating her elven ears as she heard him sigh and felt him in her on the two occasions he awoke, and wanted her again. At first as she squeezed her eyes shut, she thought 'If I just don't wake up, he won't...' only to cut that thought off when he did anyway.
She listened to him snore lightly beside her, and remained still all through the night, until the sun broke through the window in the morning, and he made her roll onto her back, kissed her. "You were amazing, insatiable even, I can't believe you wanted me that much." He stroked her breast once and slid out of the other side of the bed. He stretched out his lithe, fit form, one that no doubt many a woman pined for.
'Why me...? Why ME?!' She screamed inside her head, cursing herself and pretending to roll over and go back to sleep until her sharp senses finally heard the faint tinkle of the bell to the front of her shop that told her he was gone.
'Brighter Days Book Shop' was closed for the rest of that day as Bertra went from scrubbing herself raw in the bath, and back to bed, after disposing of the sheets he'd taken her on.
She was closed the next day too. And the next.
Until nightfall.
'Bastard... bastard... bastard.' She thought over and over and over again as she sat numb downstairs at her table staring at nothing. "Nobody I can tell that might not make things worse... nobody I can turn to for justice, nobody I can expect to believe that I said 'no' to him." She uttered as she drank tea in silence.
Before she looked over at the manuscripts and an idea came to her.
"I can't tell anyone... so... I'll tell everyone." She said, and stood up resolutely, it was very dark out, but that was what she wanted. She went into a back storage room that held some left over supplies, a clay container of white paint, and a simple brush.
She snatched them up and rushed out into the night, venturing to the almost empty city square, she went to a building whose wall was partially angled to the street, the place she'd seen him point out to Queen Zesshi, a building that had nobody living or working in it.
"Perfect." She said maliciously, and went to it, writing in giant letters for all to see: Lovien of House Alu Raped Me
She put no name for herself, but as she looked at the words when she stepped back to view her handiwork, despite the anxiety, a wave of relief washed over her, that she could, and did, actually say it.
She returned home, and slept peacefully the rest of the night, which is why she had no idea what the chaos was about, when she finally got up the next morning.
