It was with love that I lied to the man I admired most.
"Sir, might we speak privately?"
"Of course, Olfien. Please come with me." The old man lead his servant to his study, an area that Olfien admired greatly. The majority of his time spent in here was lighting cigars for various nobles and fetching brandy or sherry when they became low.
Today the study was empty aside from Olfien and his beloved Count Woltar. "Continue," Woltar ordered simply. He sat at his desk and pulled the monthly newspaper from a drawer.
"I hate to seem untrustworthy towards my fellow staff," Olfien began, and immediately he had Woltar's full attention. "But I'm afraid our quarters aren't nearly as tidy as yours. So you see, sir, this is why I happened to stumble upon this. I was not snooping, as I'm afraid you might wrongly assume. I simply feel that a certain standard of clean must be maintained in our every day lifes, or else it will reflect into our work. And I do so admire my job, you see," but Woltar cut him off.
"Olfien. You are an old friend and great employee. I do not harbor suspicions towards you. So please, tell me what you mean to tell me."
"Of course, Sir. My apologies for rambling. What I meant to say was, while I was straightening the servants quarters, I came across this necklace near the leftmost wall." As Olfien said this, he brought a necklace from his pocket and held it out towards his Master. "I do believe this is the crest of the Nox family, and as to why it was in the leftmost corner of our servants quarters, I do not know."
Woltar stared at it for a moment. The leftmost corner of the room--who slept there? Woltar couldn't remember, but he was surely going to check once the servants had been excused for the night. "Thank you, Olfien." He said after a long time. He took the necklace from his butler's outstretched hands, who dropped them and smiled proudly. "Olfien, I don't know if you haven't noticed already, but Glou has brought a prisoner to the cells in the basement." Olfien only nodded. "He also had far too mucch to drink last night. If you could bring the leftovers of last nights dinner and a bit of water downstairs, I would greatly appreciate it."
Although he'd have preferred to stay upstairs and listen to Count Woltar's political ramblings, as he did when Glou would skip out, Olfien did as ordered. In the kitchen, he pulled the fatter bits of salted meats out of a large chest filled with snow and ice. He also cut a few slices of bread that had just begun to mold. Although normally with this little mold he'd have cut it off, he didn't feel it necessary for a prisoner. After all, it wasn't as if mold would kill her. The servants dealt with these poor food qualities all the time.
This was his attitude as he balanced water, bread, and meat on a serving platter while he walked down the stairs. Light spilled in from outside, but because they were so low down, very little was able to fill into the basement room. It was very dim.
Olfien looked into the farther end of the room at the newly occupied cell. He could only just make out a figure in the corner, laying on the bed. Although he should have been more careful, Olfien went to the cell doors and set the tray down at the floor. The portions were such that they could easily be pulled through the bars. He wasn't sure where the key was, although if he tried he could find it. So he didn't bother to put it inside.
He stood and turned to leave, but was seized by the back of his coat. Arisa pulled him roughly into the bars. He hit his head. One of his hands soothed his sore, the other tried to grope at her arm, but he couldn't reach. The dull blade was thrust out of the bars and held at his throat. "Who are you?"
He panicked: he wasn't cut out to be a warrior, which is why he preferred a life of relatively comfortable servitude. "My name is Jakobi Olfien, I am the head butler of this estate." He explained. Surely she couldn't hold a grudge against a civillian.
"You're pathetic. Why do you help these barbaric Glyphians?!" she demanded. Her eyes burned with the intensity of her hatred. Olfien could almost feel her heated gaze on his back. He shivered.
"I only wish to feed my family, ma'am. Of course I--"
"You are beloved by your master?"
"Oh yes ma'am, he relies greatly on me," Olfien gulped. It may have been an over-exaggeration, but he did hold the highest staff position at the manor, and no doubt Woltar would have difficulty replacing someone as authoritative and trustworthy as he was.
He choked. His throat burned, and his legs were weak. Olfien fell onto his knees, trying to gasp. Nothing happened. He clutched at his burning neck. Wet, sticky blood was spilling everywhere. He couldn't even hold himself up anymore. He fell to his side, staring up at her. Why? His eyes asked.
And in her mind it was that filthy Glou Nox, staring at her with that betrayed and horrified look. Her blood pumped more vigorously. She felt much better than she had last night. Arisa could barely even feel the pain in her legs anymore! The victory of battle was coursing through her, and she felt good. She would watch them suffer at the loss of one of their staff. See how they did without him.
Without him delivering food to her. Arisa suddenly panicked. What if they stopped feeding her? She had killed the man that was feeding her! But surely they wanted to extract information from her. Surely they would keep her alive. Calmer now that she had consoled herself, Arisa began her breakfast with a certain pride.
Promptly afterward, she had fallen into a state of agitated boredom. It must have been near noon when someone else began stumbling down the stairs. Finally! Arisa stood, ready for the reaction of whoever it was that came.
Glou Nox stared down at the dead man in wonderment. For the first five seconds, he wasn't exactly sure who he was looking at. Then he remembered. But how did she manage to kill him? And why hadn't anyone heard? Closer inspection told Glou that she had cut his throat, and pretty deeply at that. There wasn't any possible way that poor Olfien could have called out for help.
"Pretty, isn't he?" Arisa taunted. Glou looked up at her. His head was pounding from last night, yet all he could think was how cute she looked when she was smug.
"I'm not attracted to men," he answered simply. He pushed his body aside, retrieved the key from on top of the bookshelf, and let himself into the cage. Again, he left the key within reach. "Do you think you've done something terrible, killing a nobody in Kirlsa?"
"Of course I have. Your favorite servant," she spat, that gorgeous smirk still stretched across her face. "Whatever will you do? Wipe your own ass?"
"Don't be silly, that's why I have you," Glou laughed, and moved towards her. Instinctively, and a bit afraid, she moved back. The sword was behind her back, and she was ready to use it. "Don't bother to fight me. I know you're useless with a weapon," he taunted.
But she knew that technique. "You can see that I'm not, Nox." She growled his name. "Your taunting will not lead to my poorly planned reaction. I'm an Aquarian," she explained, as if that meant everything in the world.
She was faster than he was. He lunged at her, but only managed to press her against the wall. The sword was in the air, raised, and she brought it down to his neck. He caught her arm just below the elbow, with an inch between his neck and the steel. He squeezed her arm. Her grip loosened reflexively. He slammed her arm into the wall, and the sword fell to the floor with a loud clatter. Glou quickly kicked it through the bars.
It flew threw and slammed into the wall near the stairs. Arisa growled again. Something about her primitive desire to kill was downright sexy. Too many slave women were civillians, passive and compliant. So many more were warriors: some killed themselves, something Glou knew Apris looked down upon. Others broke down. It was Glou's favorite game to train a woman, but he had never had one last more than two days. It was terribly boring.
None of them, though, had been so lovely in combat as she. She knew how dragons would react to different attacks. She understood how warriors thought. She was vengeful, and she knew how to give up without throwing in the towel. From what he vaguely remembered of last night, the sex wasn't the greatest he'd ever had. And yet, she had clearly not given in to him.
"For your information," Glou began. Arisa struggled against him. "We were looking for the right time to fire him. He was a thief, and took many things from Woltar and me. Really, you've done us a favor." Arisa struggled more, thrashing her legs around and thrusting her head forward at him. Although the details were blurry, Glou did remember that she had a fierce headbutt. "I'll let you calm down then."
"Scum!" Arisa screeched. Glou threw her onto the bed and hurridly grabbed the key. He unlocked the cage door and quickly slipped out and slammed it shut. Arisa just lay still, looking ruffled and angry. Glou blew her a kiss after he locked the door, then tossed it on top of the bookshelf.
Damnit, he thought, as he dragged Olfien's body up the stairs. What am I going to tell Woltar?