Implied sexual brutality. You have been warned.
The King's Ball
The next week was spent preparing for the King's Ball. By the time they'd forged an invitation to the Ball, figured out the best position for the ship to retrieve their crewmates, decided who would cover her retreat, and how best to dispose of the King's bodyguards, Envy was nervously anticipating her part in this particular heist. She was every man's desire in her ballgown, modestly covered, but with a subtle spell worked into the fabric that called to every male around her. All she would have to do is get close to the throne and Leftin would be hers. It took some work but between the extensive stores of their med bay and the sorceress' own magical talents, they'd come up with a few interesting potions to entice the King. A suggestion brew that would make him susceptible to whatever Envy wanted him to do for at least thirty minutes. A noise spell that would allow her to work on copying the key while the sounds of violent rape went on for at least an hour. A sleep potion that would paralyze the King and allow him to slumber through anything for at least eight hours. And, of course, antidotes for all of them in case something went wrong.
The plan was to have Envy approach the King's dais, letting her natural charms - and of course, the dress - do its work. When Leftin approached her, she would slip the suggestion potion into his drink. Only a few drops would be needed, but she would have a vial of it as a precaution. After that, she would lead the King back to his private chambers and have him give her the key - it was likely spelled so that everyone would know if he took it off otherwise. After that, she would wipe his memory of removing the key, make him drink the sleep tonic, start the spell to cover her as she copied the key and any needed enchantments on it, return the key to his neck and wait for the noise spell to end. The king's bodyguards would lead her away, 'escorting' her back home. Instead of having their way with her in the nearest alley, though, Greg and the boys would trail Envy out of the castle grounds and jump them, ending the threat. After that, they would bring the sorceress home and they would get away scot-free.
"So, I'm supposed to just wait for the sounds of my rape to end and let the guards-"
"When they enter the room, they'll see the King out like a light and assume, from previous experience, that the man has had his fun and is sleeping it off. Be sure to act traumatized. Oh, and a few tears in your dress will weaken the attraction spell on you. They're under orders to make sure that none of the King's conquests say anything about his sexual appetites. Leftin doesn't care how that happens, the bastard, and most of his personal bodyguards are content to use their bodies to get the message across. It never works; gossip is as good as newspapers in this kingdom. But this is the way it's been done. But your assailants will die before they can lay a hand on you."
"It's a long way from the King's bedroom to the alleyways of the town. How do you know that they won't try something in the meantime?" Envy asked, trembling. Her fear of being raped again absolutely controlled her.
"Wallis and Argon are the two on duty that night. They've done this before, many, many times. They know that they can't get caught in the palace with a ravished maiden in hand, so they'll take the back ways out of the castle. Once there, they have almost unlimited options of where to go for your 'talk'. That's why the guys will be trailing you with sending stones on them. As I said before, this is not the first time they've done this. They'll be too horny to be paying much attention to their surroundings. You'll be perfectly safe. I'd do it myself, but if I'm recognized, all the work we've been doing these last few months will be for nothing. They'll rape and beat me until I break and give up all the locations of the gold and that asshole will be on the throne forever." Everyone else backed away from their Captain as his killer aura was suddenly unleashed. "Relax, Captain. The risk of me being spotted and detained is keeping me out of this particular plan. Envy isn't on a wanted poster or known to any of the guards. The risk of her being detained is infinitely smaller than mine would be. It has to be her."
"What if the king's Khaleesi recognizes what I'm doing, Zara?"
"Trust me, you won't be the only one with spells on you trying to catch the King's attention. You're just going to be the best at it tonight. You're gorgeous and just that cretin King's type. And I'll be distracting that weak witch tonight. I've done it before."
"I thought you couldn't be seen?" Charles interjected.
"I won't be," she grinned. "Trust me, I've played with the witch before. Our game has already begun. She'll have other things on her mind tonight. I plan the plans. The plan is perfect. Just follow my plan and all will be well. Have I ever let you down before?" She looked into Envy's eyes so that she would see her sincerity. "I care about every member of this crew. Just follow the plan. I'm distracting the Khaleesi so that you can do what needs doing. So don't worry about her. You just worry about keeping the King distracted and getting that key, okay?"
"Okay," the nervous woman said. Zara watched her as she left for the Ball with Quinn and his guys following her to make sure she made it to the Ball and immediately got a bad feeling in her gut.
"Please, Envy. Just follow the plan," she prayed. She was too distracted keeping Leftin's witch at bay as she always had to when she got too close to the witch to come up with a backup plan.
… …
Gregory presented Envy's invitation to the doorman, holding onto his anger at the way all the men were drooling over his woman by a thread. It was bad enough having his crewmates doing it on the ship, much less these complete strangers.
"Are you sure you don't want me in there?" he asked for the twelfth time since they'd left the ship.
"Goddess, will you relax, I'm nervous enough as it is! Look, one invite means one admission." She took a deep breath, moving them away from the entrance and the overly interested guard. "The plan is for me to be on my own for this part. Just be ready to kill those guards when they come out of the castle later tonight with me in tow. I swear I'll be fine, okay?"
"We'll be right behind you the second they show their faces," Greg reassured his apprehensive bride. "I don't care what the plan is, no harm will come to you tonight, my love."
Envy smiled at this bit of encouragement. It was the next best thing to a kiss from her love. She walked into the Ball with her head held high, lifting a flute of champagne off a passing tray and surveying her surroundings. The King was dancing with his Queen. The two looked happy; it was too early to enact the plan. She decided to mingle until later when the man was looking for a bed companion. Turning on her normal charm, Envy worked the room, learning of enough scandals and secrets to bring down over half of the royal court. Her dress was working exceptionally well. Almost too well; many a young man and more than a few older men tried to get her alone. But her target was the King, and after a few passes in his general direction, she was sure that she had his attention. The appreciative looks he sent her way confirmed that she had his full attention.
It was late when the Queen retired for the night. She glared in Envy's direction, but the sorceress was used to that from women. In fact, Zara was the first female friend that she'd ever had. Most women were too jealous of her to bother offering friendship. Almost immediately after the Queen left, Envy was summoned to the king's dais. She swallowed her fear and followed the palace servant to the most powerful man in the kingdom. It turns out that fear was the appropriate response.
"Hello, my Lady," Leftin smiled at the trembling woman. "It seems that you came to my Ball unescorted, Stephanie Graves. Why is that, I wonder?" Envy looked over the king and trembled. He was a tall, fit man, handsome but with a cruel look to him that stopped him from being truly attractive. Given the choice between him and her Captain, she'd choose the Monster of Zumir any day.
"I c-came to beg an audience with your Majesty," she stuttered, falling into the story she and Zara had rehearsed until it came naturally to her lips. Zara had insisted that she sound afraid during her delivery of the lines. Standing in the man's august presence, she found that she didn't have to fake her fear. The former Captain may not hold the King in high esteem, but his was a presence that demanded respect. "My father is sick and between the two of us, we cannot afford the taxes this year. Perhaps there is a way… to lower my debt?" She shivered as she said it, wondering just how many other young women had said this to him, knowing what would happen next but with no way to stop him. At that moment she hated the King.
In the meantime, a truly cruel smile lit his face. "Oh, my dear, there's no need to be afraid. Come with me. Perhaps an arrangement can be made for you and your poor, unfortunate father." He led the woman to his private chambers, and Envy couldn't help but notice that the guards following him the closest were calling each other Wallis and Argon. How the hell did Zara know that ahead of time?
"Come in, my dear. There is much to discuss tonight. Pour the drinks please." Though still terrified, Envy was starting to feel furious with the king. He was intentionally lording his power over her at this point. She poured out the wine, slipping a few drops of the suggestion potion into both cups before bringing them to the king as he stood staring out of his huge bay window. The night breeze was soothing on her nerves, but only just. Somewhere out there her husband was waiting to take her home to Death. She desperately wished she could be headed back to the ship right now. When she offered the sovereign a drink, he grabbed her neck instead.
"And what did you slip into my drink, dear lady?" he whispered in lover's tones. Envy whimpered, just barely holding onto the cups as she shook with dread.
"I - it's an aphrodisiac, my lord. It's said to heighten pleasure. I desperately need a reprieve, my lord," she wheezed, more thankful than ever that Zara had drilled her responses into her this last week. She wouldn't have had the presence of mind to lie otherwise. The look of fury on the king's face softened to one of tender amusement.
"I do not require such things, child. Perhaps you should use it on yourself to settle your nerves." With that, he gently took the other cup from her hand and released her. Envy rubbed her neck tenderly, knowing that there would be a bruise come morning. She also knew that the rough handling would sell the act. She watched the king swallow the spell in the other cup, careful to look suitably horrified that her 'plan' didn't work. "Drink, little one," he commanded firmly as he finished his own drink with a flourish. The sorceress did as she was told, having consumed the antidote an hour ago while still in the hall.
"Now, come here, Stephanie," he crooned at her, settling himself on the king-sized bed and holding a hand out for her. Envy approached warily and the king tore her dress some in his impatience to have her. "You are so beautiful, Ms. Graves. I intend to enjoy you all night long. But first," he said sweetly as he climbed on top of her, backhanding her to her shock, "you must be punished for trying to poison me. Aphrodisiac or not, I do not take well to people attempting to slip substances into my body." He grinned cruelly and lifted his hand to strike her again.
"Stop." She was surprised when he did. The trembling lady whimpered as she slipped out from under him. "Hit yourself." The king slapped himself hard with no reaction. "Again." He did. "Again, your Majesty." He did. She gasped out a quiet laugh and then whimpered louder for the guards at the door. She was still trembling though. No one had dared to strike her since her time aboard the Atlas. Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, she remembered the plan. "Deactivate the traps on the key to Asalona's vaults and hand the key to me." The now docile king did as he was told without hesitation, handing over his key afterward. Realizing that it was too quiet in the room, she started the rape noise spell that she and Zara had figured out, tearing her dress where appropriate to sell the soundtrack. "Take off your clothes," she ordered the king, who complied. She gave him another glass of wine, this time with the sleeping draft and the false memories in it. "You don't remember giving me the key. Now drink this and lay down on the bed." She ended up arranging her victim to his final position on the bed, rearranging the bedding to simulate an extremely violent tryst. Once that was done, she pulled out an uncut key and started copying Asalona's onto it. She was about halfway through the task when she was interrupted.
"Your Majesty," a nasally, female voice shattered her concentration. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak to you about a matter of utmost importance. Unfortunately, it cannot wait until morning. May I enter?" Envy panicked, especially when the simulated sounds of rape continued uninterrupted as if the king hadn't even heard his Khaleesi. The knocking continued, and Envy decided to leave the plan behind. She ran to the window and climbed out of it. Gregory was the first one to spot his distraught wife sprinting toward the ship as fast as she could in her torn dress. He had to struggle to catch up with her, they all did.
"What happened?" The woman refused to answer or slow down. The group arrived at Death in record time. Zara was standing on the deck, her eyes closed as if enjoying the evening breeze flowing through her emerald-green, long, flowing dress. The troubled look on her face told a different story though.
"Oh, Goddess. What have you done, Envy?"
"The king's Khaleesi interrupted. I had to improvise." She opened her hand to reveal the two keys.
"No… Oh no… No, no, no…" Zara was shaking her head, backing away from the keys as if they were a poisonous viper set to strike.
"What? I had no choice. She would have walked in and-"
"Don't you have a spell that allows you to use the king's voice? You could have ordered her away!"
"She's the Khaleesi!"
"That he barely acknowledges! The king is a fool. He would have ordered her to leave him alone and the guards would have carried out his orders! As it is, the stupid wretch will have walked in to find the king in a deep sleep that will last until at least midmorning - which would have made sense if he'd had a good, hard fuck tonight - and know that something is wrong. Especially with your noise spell still going on."
Envy blinked, instantly feeling guilty for freaking out. "But look, we have two keys now."
"And did you have him disable the tracking spell on his key, Envy?" The sorceress gasped in horror. In the meantime, Zara grabbed her head in pain suddenly, blood dripping out of her nose. "And now she knows about the missing key! There was a reason I told you to put it back afterward!" she screamed furiously at her fellow pirate. No one had ever seen her so livid. The woman turned to the Captain desperately. "We have to get out of here. Now."
"Wait. Let me just get rid of this key and then-"
"You! You need to do what I told you to do. Finish making the copy!" She turned to her husband furiously. "We'll drop the key into the sea once the deed is done." The former Captain cringed and cried out in pain. Tyr grabbed her shoulders, disturbed that she was still bleeding.
"Has she gotten stronger, little one?"
"No! She's just coming at me sideways this time and there's too much going on right now. I can't… I can't keep up with everything!" He hugged her tightly and the woman melted into his embrace as if he was the only solid thing left in her life. "So many people are going to die now, Tyr… You're going to die. The future is locked in! She won't let me change it. There's nothing I can do." She started crying. For a while, the only sounds on the ship were those of Envy's soft chanting as she finished the key and Zara's heartbroken sobs. This disturbed the entire crew. Only Quinn and Tyr had ever seen her cry, and never so openly. It angered the berserker.
"Get my ship in the air immediately," Tyr said quietly. His powerful voice carried to everyone aboard and resulted in the immediate rush of the pirates to get the ship airborne. While they panicked and moved around the couple, Tyr lifted his woman's face and kissed her passionately but softly. Her tears dried up as he did and she visibly relaxed.
"I'm not dead yet, little panther. So don't count me out just yet." She looked deep into his chocolate brown eyes, eyes that she'd come to love and rely on, and could only see him lying in a pool of his own blood. She whimpered and held onto him tightly. Once the ship was in the air, he nudged her with his pectoral. "Where shall we go, little panther?"
"The Fausto Sea and then Grindon," she said dully. "We have to get rid of the key; we might as well make sure that no one else can use it. And the tracking spell will throw off their hunts for a bit. Then, if things continue the way they will, the final confrontation will be in the Yoger district where Asalona is." She went to pull away from her husband and Captain so that she could help them set sail and was therefore surprised when he picked her up and carried her to their room. Once they were alone, he started massaging her shoulders.
"Relax, little one. It's going to be alright," he soothed her. This had the opposite effect and the woman tensed up.
"She ruined everything! I was trying so hard to avoid this fate, Honeybear. A lot of innocent people are about to feel the wrath of King Leftin and it's all her fault! I'm not taking the blame for it. All she had to do was follow my instructions. I had everything in hand."
"Shh… It's going to be okay, love."
"No, it's not! Because we left the pier like we did, the Crown will have a record of Death and a description of at least half of the crew that's been gallivanting on the decks and in town today in search of the best routes to use to keep her safe. Not to mention the loss of that key is going to foul the king's mood, something fierce! You can't even imagine what he's going to do next. He doesn't have access to his money anymore! This is a disaster, Tyr. And all because our resident sorceress decided that it might be fun to improvise! This is worse, so much worse than when Daniel defied me in Volmetry. At least the ignorant moron was only taking himself down when he improvised. Envy is going to drag all of us down with her stupidity! I can't believe this is happening."
"It was a mistake, Zara," Envy growled from the doorway, holding the keys in her hand. "I wasn't trying to ruin your precious plan! I just panicked. You know what the crew of the Atlas did to me!"
"It was a costly mistake, Envy," the woman growled back. "You have single-handedly set us on a course that will cost truly innocent lives. Not only that, but some of our crew won't live to see Leftin dethroned. You've seen for yourself what a monster he is!" The woman sighed wearily all of a sudden as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. "I shouldn't have sent you. You don't trust me. I should have gone myself and damn the consequences." She looked so despondent at that moment that Envy stopped thinking of defending herself. It was true, she didn't trust their Mastermind, not completely. Even after everything she'd seen of the woman's skills, she couldn't put her faith in her completely. Many of the heists she'd led them through seemed slipshod to her; executed perfectly, but the planning seemed a little too easy. Now she saw the brilliance behind all those operations. It wasn't random chance or happenstance that had gotten them so very rich at the King's expense. She really was just that good.
"What can I do to help?" she said humbly, feeling awful for undoing what should have been a simple plan compared to some of the others they'd carried out over the better part of a year.
"The path is set, Envy. There's no way to undo what you've done," the woman sighed, sounding much older than her twenty-four years. "Just… just be ready to move when I tell you to. This night could end up costing you your life. Everything is up in the air; I can't see a clear path out of this mess yet. But the Khaleesi would see us all hang for treason and I'm trying to block her will."
"Didn't you say that you were better than her?" Zara gave her a speaking look.
"I'm just a pirate, Envy. Despite what you guys think, I'm not all-powerful. She's been training all her life to bring about Leftin's will. There's only so much I can do to stop this. So much was dependent on how tonight went. With a copy of the key and his most evil and trusted bodyguards dead, we were laughing. We were safely off to the side as his kingdom imploded on itself. Nobody of ours died. Now… With that key in hand, we're in this. It's literally us versus him. He will chase us to the ends of the world to get that key back. He will drink the Fasto Sea to get it back, and that may just buy me enough time to uncluster this fuck of yours."
"Why didn't you say something before?" she shouted angrily.
"Because I didn't want you to be more freaked out than you already were," she answered tiredly. "You don't trust me, and that's going to… The future won't settle. Right now our casualties on this ship range from a total party kill to a third of our crew dead. No matter what, I'm a widow. You might be too. It depends on the future that unfolds. And worst of all, I can't tell which steps and decisions lead to which outcomes. I might be making it worse by sending us to the Sea to dump the key. All I know is that we can't keep it, and we can't give it back to that fiend. We've come too far into this to lay low and let this all blow over. That only gives Leftin more time to marshall his forces to crush us. We all die if we don't act. And there's nothing I can do for Stephanie Graves and her father! That hurts worst of all. They're going to die horribly and publicly because you couldn't stick to the plan!" Tears were rolling down her face for these people that no one had ever met.
"Um, Zara? Stephanie Graves is my fake name. I'm not-"
"You thought I got that name, that backstory from nowhere?" she gave a sardonic smile. "Everything I do has a purpose. Those poor people were depending on me to protect them. And now, thanks to you, I've failed them. There's not even time to warn them. Not while dragging that damn key halfway across the continent!"
"Enough, Aissa. Nothing is going to be solved tonight. We are on the way to the Sea. We have a lead on Leftin's forces. We'll just have to depend on you to see us through with the smallest number of casualties possible. You're right, little one. We are in this fight. We were always meant to be in this fight. Nothing can change that now. It's time for bed." Both women looked at him incredulously. Did he honestly think anyone would be able to sleep when Zara had just announced that at least a third of their tight-knit crew was destined to die? "I mean it. Go to bed, both of you."
"Yes, Captain," both women mumbled, going to bed like scolded children.
And just like that, the plan unravels. This is so much worse than if someone had defied her during a heist. I hate that it has to be this way, but something has to go wrong eventually, right? Please join me next week to see what happens next.