Invasion Of Piracy
Disclaimer: I do not own the fabulous Fable, just my own plot twists I've thrown in.
The inside of Lake View Manor was, even to one who had grown up inside the walls of a castle, decadently opulent. It was trimmed and furnished with only the finest pieces of master craftsmanship and draperies that screamed of the owners flashy need to announce that they were better than everyone else. Nix shifted nervously as she stood in the darkness of the grand foyer, only a slim beam of moonlight leaking in from the cracked front door gave off a soft glow that was just enough for a minimal level of sight. She didn't want to run into anyone on this particular mission, which to say the least, was embarrassing. Although if the brightly colored confetti and the occasional bottles of wine that were still strewn about the floor was any indication, the house hadn't been lived in since the night of that devious masquerade party. Tip toeing off to the right of the foyer where the kitchens lie, she peeked in only to find it empty as well. If there were no servants here cleaning and prepping for the next day, then she felt minutely safer.
Spotting a short tabletop candleholder close by, she began to rummage around in the small pouch tied to her black highwayman pants, next to her favored Black Dragon pistol. Fishing out a box of matches she lit one and set to lighting each of the five candlesticks it held. The kitchen was immediately cast in its amber hue.
A quick survey of the room brought several baskets full of food to her attention, and the gnawing hunger in her stomach she'd been trying to ignore clawed at her. The trek from Bowerstone had been a little further than she remembered and in her haste she'd forgotten to grab something from one of the market stall's for the road. With no one in sight she felt more at ease and wandering over to the table with the baskets, she began to look through them. Picking up a loaf of bread, she eyed it dubiously as she tested its softness with her fingers.
Ew. Hard as a rock it was definetly beyond stale. Tossing it aside she reached for another basket and pulled it close, this one full of many different fruits. Thankfully they all looked ripe and sweet still. Casually she plucked an oval shaped fruit of deep purple that she'd never seen before from the top and bringing it inches from her face gave it a delicate sniff. The phantasmal smell alone made her stomach give another strong heave of hunger that bordered on pain and her mouth watered. There was no way to describe it, but the best she could think of was that it was like water to someone trapped in the desert, a rainbow over silvery moonlit mists.
Without another thought she brought it to her lips and bit into the plump fruit, her teeth puncturing its purple skin with ease. Its tart sweetness was exotic and by far one of the best things she'd ever tasted. Swallowing her first bite she gave a sigh of contentment and turning about, pushed herself up to take a seat at the edge of the table. The fruits succulent goodness disappeared all too quickly and left her feeling blessedly sated.
When all but a final morsel was left on the core, out of the corner of her eye something caught her attention. A single sheet of paper lay on table about a foot from her and with mild curiosity leaned over to read the scrawling cursive letters dashed across the page. Nibbling idly she read what she had thought was probably just a grocery list.
A burst of laughter interrupted the silence followed shortly by a short fit of coughing as Nix struggled not to choke on that last bit of fruit. Beating her chest with a closed fist, she cleared her throat all the while wondering who in the hell was either stupid or brave enough to leave such a letter.
Wiping a tear of mirth from her eye, she hopped down and grabbed the insulting missive and walked over to the bin in the corner that was set aside for collecting trash. Throwing the core in first she then quickly went to ripping the letter into tiny pieces and let them flutter slowly down to the rest of the refuse. She had no clue who the sender, someone named Arthur, was but hopefully it hadn't reached the eyes of its intended target, because if it had he surely wouldn't have long left to live.
"Alright, time to get this over with." Nix said confidently to the empty room, already feeling infinitely better from her pilfered meal. As she made her way back to the foyer with the newly lit candles in hand, she made a mental note to grab something for Regal, whom was waiting patiently outside, on her way out.
The candlelight was a mixed blessing she disconcertedly found as she climbed the large staircase. Now that she could see, it seemed all of the paintings were staring right at her. A sudden chill went down her spine.
"What nonsense..." She wasn't that superstitious.
The dining room was just as messy with more bottles, goblets and confetti on the long finely polished table, some of the chairs lying on the floor. Nix remembered the sodden nobles that had been she'd seen the last time she'd been here and how they'd been shamefully stumbling about. The other more lewd going-on's that had been happening on the many chaises and couches that lined almost every room she'd mentally blocked those away for sanity's sake. Some of these people she'd seen at court growing up, acting like proper ladies and gentlemen. Now she knew what kind of people they really were.
There were three other doors in the room excluding the one she had come in from, and one of which she knew lead to the "ballroom" where Page and herself had been forced into playing the Wheel of Misfortune. A most sadistic game indeed.
She tried the one closest to that door. Locked.
"I guess that leaves that one." She said, looking at the other pair of doors. Hopefully it wouldn't be locked as well. Bold enough to steal something one might miss she was, stupid enough to vandalize a psychopaths house she was not.
Pushing the handle down slowly, the door opened parted open silently. Sighing with relief she pulled it the rest of the way open to reveal another short flight of stairs. Starting up the steps and turning to the right down a hallway, she came up on three more doors. The first was locked again but continuing downward she found a pair already opened wide.
Stepping in cautiously, it seemed she had finally found the master bedroom. Two wingback chairs set in front of a white marble hearth to the right and to the left stood a huge mahogany bed. The same golden emblem adorning both the footboard and tall canopy, along with the crimson coverlet. Red curtains hung tied back to head of the bed, but even in the dark she could tell the sheer material when pulled shut would still allow a teasing view of its occupants.
Nix secretly admired the plushness of the decorative rug underneath her gold trimmed boots as she gave the rest of the lavish room a quick once over. If she remembered correctly Benjamina had said there was supposedly a hidden passage somewhere that led to another room. Honestly, what kind of person has a secret passage in their bedroom, she thought with an exasperated eye roll. Passing by the two chairs, she began by searching the nooks and crannies of the fireplace for some convenient mechanism. Of course there were none and she supposed that would be a bit too cliche.
Next up were the few armoires that decorated the walls. Faintly she hoped as she rifled through the contents of each one that she'd find the particular garment she was looking for. With no such luck on finding either the article of clothing or a secret passage, she let out a frustrated little humph and kicked at the carpet. Struck with a sudden brilliant idea she bent and grabbed the edge of it and pulled it aside. Nothing but checkered black and white tile floor stared back at her.
"Oh come on." She muttered, flipping it back in place.
She meandered over to the bookcase, trying to think of where else one might conceal a secret passage. Grey orbs glancing over the collection of titles lined up, she was vaguely surprised that so many crude and scandalous stories could get published. Just as she was thinking that the crazed fan was completely off her rocker and this extra chamber simply didn't exist she noticed one nondescript, dark green book. It was more worn than the rest of its perfectly conditioned brethren, particularly at the top of the spine. Could it...?
She hesitated only a moment before lifting a hand to it and pulling it from its place. A soft clicking sound came from deep within the wall behind. Startled when it began to rumble, she jammed it back in place for fear of setting off a trap. The mild shaking continued and seconds later the case and wall both started to lift from the floor into the air.
Feeling guilty for the wrongful doubting, she pressed onwards into the newly revealed corridor. A few paces beyond the threshold and she felt something shift underneath her booted foot. Before she could even turn around, the wall slid back into place with a sharp latching sound. It would seem that she had tripped the mechanism to close it. Oh I'll figure that out on my way back.
Traversing the rest of the hallway she shortly comes to the one and only room at the end and stops dead in her tracks. Even as she raised the candles high and their flickering illumination lit the room, she stood in disbelief at the sight before her.
Wide surprised eyes flitted from the steel manacles,glinting in the firelight, that lined the walls to the torturous twin racks on either side of the room. Just what in the hell went on down here? On second thought, maybe it was better that she didn't know. Another canopy bed identical to the previous one took up the center of the room as if it were the grand main attraction. This bizarre thought was only compounded by the set of two gold rope posts that stood on both sides of the entrance. Dazedly she ventured into the twisted room, balking slightly as she caught sight of the huge cage that hung from the tall cathedral style ceiling.
She checked the nightstand to the left of the bed first, crouching over and pushing aside clothing and jewelry around but found nothing of note. Well, except for the massive horde of condoms of which she tried not to think on their fairly large size. It was then when her gaze landed on the sister nightstand across the bed that she saw a pair of men's deep crimson undergarments. In her excitement she almost crawled across the pristinely made sheets but wisely thought better of it, bounding around the foot of the bed to get them. Finally. Suddenly she was very glad she'd chose to wear gloves this morning as she took the silky material from its place. As finely tailored and fancy as their owner. If these weren't exactly as non-fresh as Benjamina would like then she'd just have to deal with it because she was definetly not checking.
Triumphantly Nix beat a hasty retreat for the doors, wearing a smug smile. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thrill of coming away from this whole sordid ordeal unscathed. Excitement was the word for it, and she hadn't felt this much of it since the night she'd escaped from the castle. Actually she was down right giddy for some reason. Strange how she'd been so warily paranoid before yet now she could feel a delighted flush come to her cheeks. But why shouldn't she feel free to stroll confidently through here? After all, hadn't she been the one to send that deviant vagabond packing...
She was almost half way up the hall and fully prepared to solve the mystery of how to open up the wall again when the floor began to vibrate. More rumbling, louder than before due to the echo effect in such a narrow space, was accompanied by the sound of laughter wafting over from the other side.
Oh bloody hell...
Nix was back in the room in a matter of mere seconds. So fast in fact that most of the candles had blown out, leaving her with only a small dim glow. In a panic she looked around for a place to hide but nothing was large enough to hide behind.
"The bed." She whispered breathlessly and sprinted behind the enormously tall headboard. Despite being hesitant to be trapped in the dark down here, she blew out the last candle. What she was going to do next though she had no clue. If it was just servants coming to finally clean the place, she supposed she could just run by, head tucked down and hope no one caught a glimpse of her face. A silent prayer went up to Avo that it wasn't anyone else. Tension grew in her muscles as the voices and laughter grew louder as did the slow footsteps as they drew near.
"My lovely ladies, I can personally guarantee tonight will be something to remember for the rest of your lives..." Said a jovial, masculine voice that was followed by a fit of giggling.
All traces of her short lived confidence vanished, replaced by a suffocating apprehension. A shiver chilled its way up her spine as the blood drained from her face and seemed to run like ice water in her veins.
"You too, dear Phillip. Now, welcome to my chamber of carnal bliss."
The darkness was banished as the room was slowly bathed in a strange red light that grew to a low intensity. Glancing upward, she saw it was many of those paper lantern's hung from the ceiling in here too.
"Ooh, how does it work? Is it magic?" One of the women asked.
"One could call it the magic of industry and progress, I suppose." The droll remark was followed by a low chuckle and a sudden feminine gasp. More laughter and a loud shuffling told her they were getting closer. Suddenly she felt the headboard which she had pressed herself up against jerk. Moments later she saw a lacy glove come flying off to her left, then a corset. Oh sweet Avo they were going to...
Nix quietly hunkered down to the ground, her mind racing. She couldn't just sit here and listen. Even if she was here by mistake she most certainly didn't want to add voyeurism to her list of skills. Mercenaries, hobbes and even balverines she could deal with, but this? Could she wait until they were in the thick of things and chance making a break for it? At best they'd be too involved in each other to pay her any mind. And worst case scenario? her inner voice taunted.
Placing the candle holder down she was thankful the carpet made it easy to do so silently. Getting down on all fours and lowering herself to the ground she hoped to catch a small glimpse of the rest of the room. It didn't allow much but was probably a better idea than trying to poke her head around the corner.
The raucous group moaned and laughed merrily, unaware of the uninvited guest in their midst. There were no other pairs of feet that she could see so she assumed they were all in the bed that now shook and bounced under physical duress. Desperately she needed to get out, otherwise the sounds of their party were going to be stuck in her head.
Shifting all her weight to one hand, Nix reached up with the hand holding the undergarments and shoved what she could into the pouch at her right hip. Most of it fit surprisingly enough save for about a quarter length of one pant leg. Hopefully Benjamina wouldn't mind wrinkles.
She'd do one last check under the bed while she gathered her dazed wits. Unfortunately for her, the same time she leaned down to take another look a heap of exposed flesh came tumbling down to her left with a shrill feminine squeak and the unnerving, familiar laugh of a certain deviant.
Shocked, she couldn't help but stare at the devilishly handsome face that was plastered on every other building in Bowerstone. Lord of industry, infamously promiscuous charmer, it was none other than Reaver.
On his back, he was lewdly grinning up at the bare bottomed woman who was pushing herself up off of him, her legs straddling his still clothed hips. Damning her luck she waited with baited breath for the two of them to return to the bed, mentally willing them to with all her might. Why oh why wasn't there a spell for mind control?
Later when she'd look back at this point in time in her life she still wouldn't be sure when and how things went wrong. She wondered if maybe she'd made some sort of noise that drew his attention as he casually glanced over in her direction. Horrified, she froze. He must have been a right bit intoxicated because his gaze was drawn back to the women grinding against him, but only for a second. Blazing dark emerald eyes shot back over to deadlock with startled grey.
Then all hell broke lose.
Author's note: After looking back at my first chapter I found there were a few tiny typing errors due to my uploading of the first copy, I apologize. Also I'd like to say Im not sure Im satisfied the length of this chapter though it is almost twice as many words as the first, so I'm hoping the next one will be longer than this one. Thanks to everyone whose alerted and favorited this story! :) Now review please!