Chapter 19: Mallacht's Prisoner
Arthur frowned deeply as the door to the bathroom room clicked, implicating that it was now locked and in use. He took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair before turning and looking at people. "Alright, someone needs to tell me what the hell is goin' on around here," he said bitterly. "I need answers. Now."
Rose sighed as she and Babd started preparing the tea table that was by the large patio window. "If ya got questions about the queen, a lot of those answers are classified," Rose explained. "She's a very private person."
"Can you at least tell me what she meant about her wounds being underneath?"
"I can," Lugh said with a frustrated look on his face, his fists clenched. "I know exactly what she meant. And I know what that key hole on her neck is fer."
Everyone looked at Lugh in surprise. "What is it?" O'Callaghan asked.
"It's an outer casing," Lugh spat bitterly. "A cursed shell that covers up one's true form and suppresses many of the victim's powers." His eyes were watery as he raised his head. "It's a cage. That woman isna Mallacht's queen, she's his prisoner."
Arthur's eyebrows raised as he looked at the bathing room door. "So...what's she look like underneath all that?"
"That's classified," Rose remarked as she began dishing out food on plates. "Come eat before it gets cold."
Arthur had a lot to think over. Things really weren't what they seemed here. Had he been going about it all wrong? Maybe the queen really wasn't the enemy. He sat down with the others, they all took their jackets off and began picking away at the delicious looking food. Everyone thanked Rose and Babd for preparing a lovely meal before really digging in. It was great food. It was cooked to perfection. But Arthur still had questions.
"Rose, can we talk about the door?" Arthur inquired before taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Yes," Rose replied after sipping her tea. "I made the door tah keep Mallacht from gettin' out. At the time, it was mostly outtah self-preservation and possession that I felt towards Lilly, but it still scared the right livin' piss outtah me. Over time, I tried tah figure out how tah deal with the problem. But, as ya can imagine," Rose took a bite of her sandwich, "I was too busy with other agendas tah really focus on it. Unfortunately, I didna know the damn bastard had control of Lilly's temporal powers so when I cursed the door tah be sealed, he managed tah make time go faster down here so it's been roughly thirty five hundred years fer him."
Arthur blinked on confusion. "Uh...temporal powers? Lilly can manipulate time? And he's really been down here that long?!"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Ya know what she is, she has the capability to literally do anythin' she thinks of. And Mallacht has had access tah all of it ever since Dubh put him in here."
"Uh, Rose..." Arthur cleared his throat. "We know what she is, but there are people watchin' who don't, so be mindful of what you say."
Rose cocked her head. "What do ya mean there are people watchin'?"
Scotty the drone flew over to Rose. "Hello, Rose. It's Darrach. We, uh, are using various avenues of technology to view what is happening inside Lilly's mind. And everyone is here to watch...minus the children."
The dark haired woman blinked. "Oh. Uh," she examined the drone with a giggle and waved. "Hi, everyone. Uh...how long has it been since we got taken?"
"Six months," Darrach replied. "And Lilly is pregnant with triplets."
Rose's face went pale again. "Uh...triplets?"
"Yes."
Her eyes widened even more and Babd suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. "They're not truly triplets!" she cackled with glee.
"What do you mean?" Darrach asked, then he gasped. "Wait...no!" he laughed. "Hang on a minute!"
Arthur scrunched up his face as he went over Babd's words, then the answer hit him like a brick to the face. A big smile spread on his face as he looked at both Rose and O'Callaghan. "One or both of you is pregnant," he chuckled.
"Correct, Lord Morgan!" Darrach announced. "I'm examining the triplets now...they're all boys, by the way...mmhmm. One is a red head, the second has white hair and the third has black hair."
Rose and O'Callaghan jumped from their seats before looking at each other in shock, then they looked at their flat stomachs. "Are ya sure?" Rose asked.
"I'm pretty sure," Darrach laughed. "Congratulations, Mommies!"
People burst out laughing and Rose grinned. "Oh Aynaet!" she yelled before rushing to the bathing door. "Let me in, I have extraordinary news!"
The door opened slowly and Rose walked in before shutting it.
Arthur smirked as Babd smiled at him, wiggling her eyebrows. "You dog," she teased.
He chuckled then looked at Jack, who was glaring at him. Arthur cleared his throat and went back to eating. "Alright, Babd. Can you tell us what we're supposed to do here?"
"We're gonna start another rebellion," Babd replied, leaning back in her chair as she sipped on her tea.
"Another rebellion," Arthur said in confusion. "What happened in the last one?"
"We lost," she replied. "We were betrayed by two of the king and queen's sons, Azure and Cobalt. They'd pledged fealty to their mother but it was all a rouse. They were spies. A lot of princes and princesses were killed during the war because of their betrayal."
"How many?" O'Callaghan asked.
"The king and queen had one hundred forty children total. By the end of the final battle, only seventy three remained alive. The ones who sided with Queen Aynaet and lived were either executed or imprisoned, leaving a total of fifty two royal heirs. Valentine, Cyan and others were released when they swore loyalty to King Mallacht."
Arthur was going to get back to how a woman could give birth to that many kids, but right now he needed to stay focused. "I assume Aynaet's imprisoned children are at Sisika Penitentiary?" Arthur asked before drinking his tea.
"Correct," Babd replied.
"You got a plan to get them out?"
"Yes." Babd took a biscuit and nibbled on it. "Arthur, is there a reason why you're so hostile to the queen?"
"It would seem the man got a vision, or a threat, rather, about the queen," Lugh explained. "And according to Aynaet, she had no idea the people she was slaughtering were...uh, our people. And apparently she was forced tah do it."
"So she says," Arthur replied.
Babd tilted her head. "Slaughtering your people? What do you mean?"
Arthur leaned forward at the table. "Brian, James, Hosea, Sean, Lenny and Tilly...all their minds were taken by Mallacht over the past month."
Babd's jaw dropped. "Oh dear," she gasped. "How did I not foresee this?" she huffed with a sigh. "This...dark magic makes a seer's job almost impossible to do!"
"Do you know anything about this?" O'Callaghan asked.
Babd sighed and lowered her head. "After the rebellion, Mallacht put the queen on trial. He accused her of treason and when she refused to pledge loyalty to him, he sentenced her to an eternity of living out her worst fear, among other things."
"Which was?"
"Becoming a monster," Babd replied simply. "So far, she's only seen as a monster but...she's far from the actual term."
"What the fuck?!" Arthur heard Rose scream and he jumped out of his seat to run towards the bathing room.
"What's wrong?" he shouted.
"Dunna come in here, Arthur! Babd, I need ya!" Rose yelled desperately.
The Goddess of Death quickly got out of her seat faster than an old lady should and scampered over to the door. She pointed at Arthur and the others. "Don't look in here," she warned before the door unlocked. Babd quickly got in and slammed the door in Arthur's face before locking the door back up. "Your Majesty! Oh, you poor dear!" Arthur heard Babd's muffled voice shout.
Arthur took a step closer to the door as did the others, especially Scotty the drone. "Well isn't this a mystery," Darrach said through the drone. "I love mysteries."
"I'll rip his feckin' entrails out through his arse fer what he's done!" Rose bellowed loudly. "That fuckin' degenerate, low life, worthless, scum bag, sheep fuckin', cock suckin', whoremongerin', dickless, wicked, parasitic, narcissistic cum dumpster!"
Darrach cackled loudly. "Holy shit," he laughed. "I've missed her colorful language."
Jack shook his head. "Raised by outlaws, indeed," he said. "What's a cum dumpster?"
Darrach and O'Callaghan snorted loudly. "You don't want to know," Darrach giggled.
"Help me get her into the water, quickly!" Babd urged.
"These wounds are bad. Ugh, such a mess! To think...keepin' her locked up in a skin cage like this without ever cleanin' it out or...or attendin' to all this...new stuff on her," Rose vented in a shrilly voice. "There we go, intah the water. I bet that feels better, huh?"
"We better deal with these...I don't even know what to call them," Babd grumbled. "Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?!"
Everyone except Arthur went back to the table. He had a deep set frown on his face and he moved closer to the door. "Um, Your Majesty? I...I do believe I owe you an apology," he stammered a little. "So, I'm sorry for bein' mean to you and...for punchin' you, and-"
"Ya punched her?!" Rose screeched. "Ya dumbass mother f-" the woman was cut off by something that Arthur couldn't catch with his hearing.
"I'm sorry, Rose. I know she's your friend but I didn't know that. I was bein' rash but...can you try to understand how...how hard this all has been on me?"
"...Yes, dear, I understand," Rose said hesitantly. "I'm sorry, too. And...the queen accepts yer apology."
Arthur smirked a little. "Good. But uh...I do have one question? Uh...well, that one can wait 'til later," he chuckled before clearing his throat and walking back to the table.
As he sat down, Lugh nudged him. "Ya was going tah ask about the sex doll, weren't ya?" he snickered.
O'Callaghan snorted into her tea. "Dammit, Lugh, don't make me laugh while I'm trying to eat," she giggled softly.
Arthur smiled at O'Callaghan. "You ain't jealous?"
His wife shrugged. "I'm not jealous. I trust you. Besides, I can't blame her, you're too damn sexy for your own good," she cooed.
Arthur felt himself blush a little and he cleared his throat. "Thanks, darlin'," he said. The bathing room opened and Rose came storming out with something folded in her arms and an angry look on her face. "What's that?"
Rose looked at him, her features softening. "The queen's...outer skin," she muttered before walking across the floor to the patio door.
"How'd you unlock it?" O'Callaghan asked as Rose opened another door and walked in.
"I've been workin' on a key tah open the damn thing!" Rose shouted from the room she was in. "Of course, now that the door is open and yer here, the blasted key worked!"
There was a loud bang and Rose walked out of the room. "What the hell was that?" Lugh asked.
"The washin' machine," Rose replied with a growl as she made her way back across the room.
"Uh...a washin' machine?"
"Yeah. An appliance of the future. There's a dryer, too," she answered as she went back into the bathing room.
As Rose locked the door, she looked at Babd attending to Lilly, who was sitting in a large healing pool in an very spacious and light filled room. Red, crumpled metal leaves littered the ground along with blood and she shook her head at the sight. Lilly's skin was still red colored bark, though, but Rose figured that was from being down in Hell. Seeing as how her, Lilly and O'Callaghan had all gone through similar changes, it had to be a manifestation of their trauma.
They both just needed time to mentally heal, same as herself.
The scars that Lilly had, however...those were going to be harder to get rid of. Rose took off her sweater and jeggings, leaving only a bra and panties on as she got in the water. Lilly, with white irises and brown scleras, turned her head in Rose's direction as Babd went to pruning down Lilly's large but brittle red roots that were sticking out of her head. All the leaves had fallen off and were dead. Big surprise there.
"I do have some potions to help regrow the leaves and revive her roots," Babd remarked as she snipped at another dead branch. "As for the scars, that will require materials that we don't have access to."
Rose eyed the words that covered Lilly from head to toe, a deep set frown on her face as she swam over. Lilly's pupils dilated then shrunk as she seemed to look at the ripples that Rose made and the dark haired woman cocked her head. "Uh...Lilly?"
Lilly looked in Rose's general direction before lifting a red, scarred hand and signing something. [Yes?]
Rose got closer and stared into her counterpart's face as Babd snipped another dead twig. "Can ya hear me?"
Lilly signed again. [Sort of. I can see, too, but only when someone or something makes noise.]
Babd blinked a few times, then she laughed. "The Goddess of Evolution, indeed," she remarked. "What would you say it is that you see?"
[Flashes of light.]
"Hmm...Rose, would you have Darrach come in here?" Babd asked. Lilly immediately grabbed Babd's hand and shook her head. "No? Why not?"
Rose sighed. "Lilly doesna want them tah know who she is, at least not yet. And...considerin' how she looks at the moment..."
"What's wrong with how she looks?" Babd barked loudly. "You think she should feel embarrassed or ashamed for what that bastard Mallacht did to her?"
"That ain't what I meant. What do ya think is gonna happen when people see her like this? Especially once Arthur sees her. He'll lose his god damn mind and he's been through enough already!"
"We've all been through enough!" Babd hissed. "And if Arthur sees her like this, with proper warning, he'll manage. You'd know that if you hadn't been so careless with your seer eye!"
Rose rolled her eyes as Babd went back to snipping. "Yer never gonna drop it, are ya?"
"Correct, because unlike you, I don't drop things...unless it's on purpose," Babd said with a sly smirk.
Rose chuckled and shook her head. "Alright, I'll go get Darrach," she mumbled before getting out of the healing pool and walking to the door, unlocking and opening it to poke her head out. "Yo Darrach! We require yer expertise, me guy!"
The drone quickly flew over and floated in front of Rose. "What's happenin', Cap'n?" Darrach asked.
Rose giggled with a grin before sighing and tilting her head. "Aunt Babd wants ya fer somethin', but...uh...the queen would prefer if ya turned off the, uh...cameras and microphone, at least so the others canna see or hear. She's uh...a bit self-conscious about her, uh...current appearance."
"Oh. Well, I feel honored that she's allowing me this privilege. Very well," Darrach said. After a few moments, the acorn moved slowly past Rose. "Now it's just me."
The others got out of their seats and Rose held up a hand. "No, ya folks stay there."
"Uh..." Sir Jack began. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Rose lied before closing the door and putting the lock in place.
When she turned around, she saw the drone hovering in front of Lilly's face. "Oh my gods," Darrach gasped. "Lady Morgan...I...I..." Rose could hear Darrach breathing harshly. He was probably fighting back tears. "Lady Morgan, forgive me! I didn't know you were the queen!"
"Shh!" Rose hissed. "Keep it down!"
"How...what...I don't know where to begin!" Darrach cried. "What has he done to you?!"
Babd grabbed the acorn and held it in front of her own face as she looked into the lens. "Darrach, I need you to calm down. It will not help things if you are hysterical."
"Yes...yes, Lady Babd," Darrach said with a sniffle. "My apologies."
Lilly huffed before signing. [Is it really that bad?]
"Yes!" Rose and Babd both yelled.
[What's so bad about looking like a tree?]
"It's not that ya look like a tree, it's the scars and wounds that are the problem," Rose explained. "I mean...ya have a fuckin' hole in yer face!" Lilly gasped and started touching her face. When she ran a finger over one of her more recent wounds, she flinched but she felt the opening that formed over part of her teeth. Rose came over quickly, grabbing one of the jars that was on the edge of the pool. "But we can fix that, along with the...words."
Lilly nodded and signed. [I hope so. It's bad enough that I married and had children with someone else, the last thing Arthur needs is to see his unfaithful fucking wife with the words "Property of Mallacht" all over her body.]
Rose sat on the edge and opened the jar while Darrach continued to float his acorn near Lilly's face and Babd kept on clipping dead bark and twigs from Lilly's head. "Ya got forced intah all that, I dunna care what Mallacht says about it. Ya did what ya had tah do. Arthur will understand that. But..." she started dabbing pink goo on Lilly's wound. "Fer his mental state, and fer everyone else who isna in this room, we need tah hold off on tellin' people the truth."
"I have to agree," Darrach replied sadly. "But...is Lilly blind?"
"In a manner of speaking," Babd answered. "Which is why I asked for you. Lilly went deaf, blind and mute a while back, but it would seem that she has adapted. She can see sound."
Darrach squealed in delight. "You're kidding! What's it look like?"
Rose snorted as she continued to wipe the muck on Lilly's face. "She said it looks like flashes of light," she replied.
"Ah, so...hmm," Darrach said, getting the lens very close to one of Lilly's eyes, giggling when her pupils dilated again. "Wow. Can you see details?"
Lilly blinked as she moved her head back, then she signed. [Kind of. The flashes go away too fast.]
"I see," Darrach said, humming some more. "I think Lady Morgan is using sonar to see and hear."
"Sonar?!" Rose exclaimed.
"Yes, like a bat. How did she become disabled? Does it have to do with her wolf? Why are her and Morgan separate entities?"
Babd and Rose looked at each other with conflicted expressions. "Yeah, about that..." Rose said with a sigh and a nervous smile.
Arthur was chewing on his third sandwich when the bathing room door opened and Scotty came flying out slowly. He blinked. Something didn't seem right. He couldn't see Darrach but something was definitely off with him. "Everythin' okay?" he asked with a mouthful of food.
Darrach sighed sadly. "No," he replied quietly, the drone flying around to examine more objects.
Mr. Morgan glanced at the others with concern on his face. "Uh...you wanna talk about it?"
"No, I...I have much to think about and wish not to be bothered for a while."
Arthur bowed his head and took a breath in. Whatever it was, it had to be bad to put Darrach in such a depressed mood. "Maybe you should let Cernunnos or one of the others take over for a bit. Let you have a break."
"...Yes, I think that's best," Darrach said.
"What do you think it could be that's got him so down?" O'Callaghan whispered.
"Not a clue," Arthur replied quietly. "He don't get into bad moods too often, but when he does...it ain't good." Morgan came padding out from the stable area and stuck her butt in the air to stretch, then she stood up and stretched her back legs before shaking herself. She sniffed the air and walked over to the table, her nostrils flaring. Arthur laughed before holding a sandwich in front of her mouth. "You hungry, baby?" he asked.
The wolf gently grasped the food from Arthur's hand and chomped it once his fingers weren't in the way. The others laughed and the Earl of Moycullen scratched behind her ear. "That's my girl, heh heh heh."
