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A life for honor
Should I really do it? Try to take the easy way out? To sleep with him once again would put him in my dept and I'm fairly sure he'd help us, but it would also tie him even closer to me. Can I act so cruelly, tease him like this only to draw away again after he has done what I wanted? He may be annoying at times, but he's never been intentionally cruel towards me and hasn't done anything to deserve such a treatment. On the other hand, can I just refuse and give up the chance to get Andy out of the reach of this Drow hating fanatic who won't release him out of his own volition? I can practically feel the tension which emanates from the slight dark elf that's still standing behind me, making no sound except for a slight intake of breath at Giciel's offer.
So many responsibilities! I simply cannot deal with this right now, but neither do I see a way to avoid the issue. Argh, now I finally know how a caged animal must feel. The next time I see a lion in a cage I'll definitely open the door.
"You two will be the death of me!" I hiss in frustration and take a helpless step away from both of them, only to have two pairs of hurt filled eyes following me. A sudden burst of anger fills me at this sight and makes me lose the rest of my frayed composure. Before I know it I'm yelling at them: "Why do you have to behave like this? If you two could just fucking get along everything would be so much easier! I don't belong to either of you and I never will, so stop trying to push me!"
It's probably not very fair to blame them for all the problems, but I don't see how everything can be my own fault either. Andy has suddenly become very still and only stares at me out of enormous red eyes like a mouse caught before the snake. Immediately I regret this spontaneous outburst and bite my lip. I can't quite bring myself to apologize though and therefore I simply shrug and wait for one of them to make the next move. When they both continue to stare I turn my attention towards the food once again, for lack of something better to do, I start peeling an orange and try to ignore them.
"Get along?"
Comes the very much belated and slightly surprised echo from Giciel.
"I would think," He continues, growing a bit caustic now, "that considering the circumstances, we've been getting on splendidly."
"Every time you look at Andy I fear you might throw fire at him the next fucking second." I reply angrily. "I wouldn't call that splendid!"
"He…" The mage breaks off, obviously realizing that, if he says something about Andy's Drow heritage now I will slap him, dependence be damned. The only thing he does though is turn away and move towards my favorite Drow, who looks a bit afraid, but remains motionless, staring at the floor…at least until Giciel puts a finger under his chin and lifts up his face.
"And you?" The mage wants to know. "What is it that you think about this, while you leave your true thoughts hidden behind the pretty facade?"
"I…"
Andy hesitates.
"What?" The mage asks sharply.
"I…"
But before he gets the chance to complete his sentence there is a sharp knock on the door and a second afterwards a pair of two soldiers enters.
"We have orders from the Lord to get the Drow Master Daleyn, if you would accompany us." One of them says with a terse bow.
"No!" I say in alarm and grab Andy's wrist, only to be confronted with the terrible fact, that I can't actually do anything to stop their departure when they very calmly tell me that they will not hesitate to use force to separate us. I try anyway, but after a brief and admittedly rather futile struggle I find myself panting on the floor with a heavy boot on my back, one arm twisted behind me.
"Will you give up now?" The guard on top of me growls in annoyance, while his partner holds onto the terrified Drow who is already shaking with fear, throwing me frantic, wide eyed glances.
"You go ahead with the Drow." Giciel steps in, acting as calmly as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. "I will talk to him and calm him down a bit."
Glad to be relieved of this responsibility the two leave, dragging a fearful but mostly compliant Andy with them while I can only watch helplessly. Hopefully someday this arrogant fucking prick of a Lord will experience the same fate that I had to endure! It would serve him right! Asshole!
As soon as the door closes I turn towards Giciel. Out of slavery induced habit I don't even get up and stay kneeling as I start pleading. He's the last option I have left now and I'll be damned if I fuck this up.
"Please" I say, "you have to do something! Don't let him be killed I beg you! I'll do anything as long as you make sure he's unharmed."
My voice positively drips desperation and to my great relief Giciel seems at least a tiny little bit impressed. At least he's biting his lip, unable to deny my offer outright.
"Please!" I repeat adding some more empathy to the desperation factor and still making no move to stand.
"Why do you always have to tempt me so?" He groans and takes a tiny step backwards as if to escape from the temptation I present. "If I help your Drow I will most certainly have to betray Liral, whom my family has served faithfully for three generations!"
"You'd rather have him kill an innocent?" I ask incuriously.
"Who said he's going to kill your precious pet Drow?"
"Well, whatever he's going to do," I reply agitatedly. "it can't be nice and I seriously do not like this fanatical gleam he has in his eyes. You can't deny that he hates Drow."
When he doesn't answer I nervously ask again: "Will you help him? Please?"
It takes at least a half an agonizingly long minute until the mage finally says: "I'll see what I can do."
He rummages around in his numerous pockets and eventually produces a small silver earring.
"Put that on."
He doesn't even wait to see if I comply before he hurriedly leaves the room. With a good measure of doubt I regard the slender ring in my hand. Its magical aura is so faint I have trouble feeling it at all, but I guess it'll serve its purpose, what ever that may be. Gods I hate this uncertainty! To be forced to rely on the help of this Elf, who has no particular reason to like Andy, leaves my insides twisting with anxiety. Scowling I put on the ring.
In a more or less futile attempt to calm myself I start eating some more of the food that is still left on the table, but even the rich, brown bread tastes more like ashes than anything else. That I am this disturbed by a threat towards Andy makes me doubt myself in more than one way. I know better than anyone that to trust a Drow invites an early and gruesome death, even if said Drow appears totally harmless. I have always trusted Andy to a certain extend, but to find such a deep rooted concern for him in me does surprise me nonetheless. To let myself become so closely attached to him was not exactly what I intended. Sure he was one of the few stable and comforting factors during my time as slave, but what I feel now seems to go beyond a simple friendship and this disturbs me greatly, because I have absolutely no way of knowing if Andy even understands the concept of such emotions let alone being able to experience them for himself. While I do know that he likes me, I could not say with any amount of conviction that his feelings go beyond that. Not good. I don't like the path my thoughts are taking. This is too complicated it'll only confuse me in a time where my thinking should be nothing but clear and alert.
At that point I start pacing and begin to curse the Gods for giving me such a screwed up existence until I run out of names and ideas. Not being sure of what I feel leaves me confused and angry, with no way out. In my frustration I throw a pear at the white wall. It collides with a wet thud that makes me flinch and leaves an ugly, damp stain. Instantly guilt creeps up in me and I regret my action, but there's nothing I can do about it now. My whole life has been like this, I think bitterly still staring at the squashed remains of the fruit. Act first and regret it later.
I have no idea how long I have to wait in that damned room. It could be hours that have gone by for all that I can tell, when the door is thrown open and another one of the soldiers steps in, his face a perfect study of satisfaction. The sight makes me shudder with renewed fear. Jumping up from where I had finally been sitting after a long time of restless pacing I try to prepare myself for the shattering news which will probably reach me now. The soldier instantly obliges me by saying: "The dark bastard is dead. You will be brought back to the city now."
His cruel words take a moment to sink in and during that time he has already grabbed my arm and unceremoniously started to drag me out of the room.
"What?" I ask stupidly, not wanting to believe him.
"He's dead." Is the cold answer. "Master Daleyn killed him."
For a second I am very close to simply collapsing there and then, with little stars starting to blur my vision, but I catch myself quickly. I am NOT going to break to pieces in front of this gloating idiot! Even though I think that judging by the terrible pain I'm currently experiencing somebody must be twisting a knife in my chest I do my best to put up an unfazed façade. This is worse than the Room, which my Master used to put me in to punish me, because back then I had at least the hope to be released, whereas now I feel more like the ground under my feet has suddenly vanished without warning and I am left falling down towards infinite blackness. What'll happen now? I'm not prepared for this!
I'm going to kill him! With this thought a strange icy calm suddenly spreads over the uproar in my head. I don't care what I have to do to accomplish it, but I will kill him! Giciel will die for this, by my own hands. Fucking traitorous bastard! Is this what the Drow mean when they say revenge is something worth living for? Well I don't really care about this either, as long as it keeps me going for long enough to achieve my newest aim.
"What did he do?" I force myself to ask, only half expecting to get an answer. If I'm going to do this I will do it properly though.
"Send the bitch to hell where he belongs." The guy states with undisguised satisfaction, obviously thinking that this course of action was completely justified. I stay silent and absorb the fact that Andy is quite possibly being gutted by some demon right now. Unchecked, dark black hatred wells up in the back of my head, surprising me with its intensity. So he was too cowardly to do the deed himself? Any respect for Giciel I might still have harbored somewhere in a remote corner of my mind vanishes with this thought. He will die I decide and he will suffer before he does.
Outwardly calm and composed I let myself be led back to the eerie clouded hall, where Lord Liral and his spineless bastard of a pet mage await us. I can clearly see the charred remains of a summoning circle drawn on the ground, which allows access to the lower planes of the nine hells. So this is where they self-righteously decided the fate of the only person I have ever met who was capable of understanding and respecting me. This is where they ripped my heart out. If I can find a way to do it Liral's death will be untimely and painful as well. An appealing image flashes through my mind, of the Elf Lord kneeling humbled in front of the crazy priest of Vhaeraun who hired Ufrelyn and her brother to steal the stupid bone that started this whole mess. I must not think about this now though or the murderous expression on my face will certainly betray me. The first and foremost objective at the moment is to get out of Liral's clutches alive and able to plan my revenge. Even though I very much want to scream this place down and tell them what exactly I think they are, I say nothing. Let them think I'm helpless and they'll suspect nothing, giving me an advantage over them. Their racism is nearly as bad as that of the Drow, killing Andy but leaving me alive only because my skin has the right color. I nearly choke on my anger, when I think this.
I cannot keep from throwing Giciel a frosty, hateful gaze though, which I vainly hope will make his insides freeze up and crack into tiny little shards of ice. He looks first surprised and then horrified at my open hostility, which in turn astounds me. How dare he not expect this after killing Andy? So he has decided to hold his stupid family honor over a living being, well then he'll bloody have to deal with the consequences!
"Send him back." Liral requests curtly before I have come any closer than a ten foot radius. As always he doesn't even look at me while he talks. Apparently he wishes to be rid of my disgusting presence as quickly as possible. Through the drifting clouds I can't see his face very clearly yet, but I think he might be sneering. Very well, we'll see who's the last to sneer when all is said and done. I pretend not to notice him at all and continue to stare at Giciel instead who is obviously a bit shaken by my glare. At least I think that might be the reason why his hands are trembling when he abruptly turns away and hastily begins to mumble the spell to open the relatively simple portal back to the city.
As I step towards the swirling colors it almost seems as if he's going to say something to me, but then I send him a smile so evil and cold I almost scare myself with it and he stays silent. Stupid of him to let me go actually, but I'm not complaining. Before anybody can change their opinion about letting me leave I'm gone. With some relief I notice that I have indeed come back to the city. I wouldn't have put it past Liral to give orders to send me somewhere much more uncomfortable like the Abbys or even just a point conveniently located very far underwater.