Chapter 65
Author's Note: Weee, another chapter, sorry it's so long. Thank you once again to my reviewers. My pal Skyridge has awesomely drawn some of my characters. Check them out on her deviantart Inklingheart. They will astound you with their wonderfulness! Enjoy!
Mortola brought Dafne before Capricorn in the afternoon of the following day. He had not long returned from business outside the village and he soon confirmed Dafne's fear that he was aware of what had transpired in his absence.
"I take it you know all about Basta's latest bungle," he said from the depths of his armchair, "Unfortunate news for both of us, my dear, wouldn't you say."
Dafne swallowed nervously, bobbing her head slightly,
"Yes," she said in a small voice.
Capricorn leaned forward in his chair, causing her to tense.
"Do you know long I've waited to have Silvertongue as my prisoner so I could make use of his talent?"
Dafne shrugged helplessly as his eyes bored into her.
"A long time," she said, hoping this answer was satisfactory.
Capricorn settled back in his chair, nodding though his expression remained cold,
"Correct, a rather long time. So I'm sure you can imagine how," he gripped the armrests in emphasis, "disappointed I am right now about Basta allowing him to escape."
Dafne certainly could. She knew that was the reason she was here too. So he could punish her for Basta's failure.
She shifted uneasily on the spot, wondering what punishment he had in store for her. Suddenly she found herself appealing to him,
"It wasn't just Basta who let him escape. None of the other men managed to stop Silvertongue and Dustfinger leaving the village."
"That is true," Capricorn said, his lip curling slightly at the general incompetence of his minions.
"Basta is the one who lost the keys," Mortola said, taking a step forward, "They couldn't have escaped by car if he hadn't allowed Dustfinger to steal them."
She glared determinedly at Dafne as if to say there's no way I'm letting you weasel your way out of punishment.
Dafne took a step forward of her own, matching Mortola's determination,
"Basta had no way of knowing what Dustfinger was going to do. No one did. And Dustfinger would have stolen those keys from anyone if they'd had them. It could have been Carlo or Cockerell or..."
"Enough," Capricorn silenced her with a raised hand, "While I can't say I disagree with what you're saying, the fact remains it was Basta who had the keys in his keeping and it was Basta who lost them. Not Cockerell or anyone else."
Dafne hung her head in defeat while Mortola folded her arms looking smug.
"And even if I was feeling generous enough to excuse him on that account," Capricorn said, moving to stand. The movement caused Dafne's head to jerk up warily, cringing as he slowly made his way over to her, "I cannot overlook the fact that he failed to recapture Silvertongue when he had the opportunity last night. I cannot overlook the fact that two of my supposedly best men, armed with guns and dogs, allowed themselves to be bested by a group completely unskilled in combat. A group which included two brats and a fat old woman, who continued on their merry way leaving Basta and Flatnose tied up in a hovel, forcing the rest of my men to search for them like needles in a hay stack..."
Capricorn's voice was growing higher in its displeasure and his approach was as menacing as a shark's. Dafne wanted nothing more to flee the room but she knew she was trapped. Mortola would pounce on her if she took as much as one step towards the door. So she braced herself as Capricorn came to stand before her in terrible proximity, her body swallowed by the shadow of his tall figure.
"You must understand, my dear," he said fiercely, snatching her chin in his hand, tilting her head up forcefully to stare into his cold enraged face, "that this sort of gross and humiliating incompetence is the kind I will not tolerate. Be assured if I had been here, I would have ordered the pair be left bound in that blasted hovel to perish. I would have had the rats feast on their corpses. Make no mistake of that. If Basta has the audacity to return empty-handed I might just put him back there."
"Please," Dafne whispered, trying to push aside the awful image of a rat scurrying over a skull picked clean of flesh, "He won't come back without Silvertongue. I know he won't."
Capricorn pushed her away slightly as he let go of her chin,
"Pray you are right," he said in a soft dangerous voice.
"Her praying won't change the fact that Basta is totally inept," Mortola said with a sneer, "It's been one failure after another lately. I expect this one..." she stabbed a disapproving finger at Dafne, "has a lot to do with it. She's too much of a distraction."
Capricorn's eyes swept over Dafne,
"Yes Mortola's right, you are a distraction," he murmured, "A distraction I thought I could use to my advantage. The threat of harming you was supposed to be an incentive for Basta not to fail me. A shame it hasn't proved to be that effective. Perhaps I need to up the stakes."
"What do you mean?" Dafne asked worriedly.
Capricorn smiled thinly,
"Let me put it this way. Basta fails, I punish you. I hit you with a book for instance. This is painful and humiliating for you and no doubt Basta will beat himself up over it. But, at the end of the day, he's comforted by the fact he can start over. He can start over trying to please me and win you back. At the end of the day, no hope is lost and the way I see it, that's not exactly motivating. It doesn't push Basta to the point of rabid desperation to do his job with no mistakes. But I have an idea of what will, and that is the possibility I will give you to someone else."
Dafne's mouth went dry.
Give her to someone else?
"What?" she croaked, "No you can't do that."
Capricorn moved to nestle his fingers in her hair, much to her revulsion.
"Oh I certainly can. Just think about it. Imagine how horrified your beloved Basta will be at the thought of another man touching you, doing whatever he pleased," he wrapped his fingers more tightly around her curls, pulling on them, pulling her face closer to his, "I think it's just the thing to keep him focused on doing his job properly. And if it doesn't, well, I'm afraid you two will just have to weather the consequences."
Dafne shook her head, trying not to imagine the thought of another man's rough hands on her. Cockerell's hands. She was sure he would jump at the opportunity to get his hands on her, to hurt her in any way he fancied. But Basta wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.
"He'll kill any man you give me to," she said in a soft but self-assured voice.
Capricorn only smiled,
"I wouldn't give him the chance. I'll have him shut up in the cages so he can't interfere."
"If you do, it will make him hate you," Dafne spluttered, trying to come up with a reason to deter him from this horrifying idea, "He won't want to serve you anymore if you give me to someone else."
"Oh I don't doubt there will be a certain amount of resentment," Capricorn said, not looking the least bit worried, "But if afterwards I went to the cages and gave him the choice of serving me faithfully or death, I know which one he'd choose, especially if I told him there was a chance I would give you back to him. He would get on his hands and knees and thank me for being so gracious."
"I doubt it," Dafne sneered.
Capricorn sneered back,
"I wouldn't if I were you. Consider the alternative. Basta would die knowing that while his corpse rots another man is enjoying you in whatever fashion he likes. That's a rather horrible fate for a man in love. One I can't see Basta choosing for himself. No, I think not. But even if I'm wrong, it's not much of a loss to me. His boots can be easily filled. You'll mourn him more than I, pigeon, if it comes to that."
Dafne wished Basta were here to hear Capricorn say this, to hear how truly worthless and disposable he was to his master. But he wasn't, and she knew Capricorn's plan would work the way he planned it. He knew Basta too well while his servant knew him too little. Meanwhile she was helpless, yet again, to do anything.
She stared down at Capricorn's polished boots, willing him to burst into flame. She had never wished a person dead so much in her life. But wishing did no good. Capricorn gave her hair a tug, causing her head to jerk up. He was smiling and she wanted to spit his face. But as much as she hated him, she was too afraid to commit such a hostile act of defiance. She was too afraid of what he would do.
"I presume your silence means you've understood everything I've told you."
Dafne nodded bitterly.
Capricorn untangled his hands from her hair with a nod of approval.
"Good girl," he turned to Mortola, "I'm finished with her. Take her back to the kitchen."
Mortola looked petulant.
"What about her punishment for Basta losing the keys and getting tied up?" she said.
Capricorn stroked his chin thoughtfully,
"Oh yes. I had forgotten about that."
Dafne looked at him pleadingly. Please, isn't what you're threatening to do punishment enough?
"I suggest making her go without food until Basta returns," Mortola said.
Dafne whirled to gape at the old woman, wanting to throttle her. The hag smirked.
"Yes I suppose starvation is a better punishment than any," Capricorn said to Dafne's dismay, "But I don't want her to die so give her bread once a day, just a piece. I trust you'll properly enforce this punishment Mortola?"
"Of course," Mortola said, a triumphant smile on her lips as she bowed.
Dafne jumped as she felt Capricorn's fingers on her cheek. She fought the urge to bat his hand away.
"I guess you're going hungry, my dear," he said, "I hope Basta returns quite soon for your sake."
Two days passed with no sign of Basta and things started to look bleak. Mortola was good to her word about enforcing Dafne's punishment and seemed to relish every moment of it. She gave her only the stalest tiniest pieces of bread to eat, so hard Dafne was afraid of breaking her teeth biting into them. But she gnawed determinedly away at them regardless, knowing there would be nothing else to fill her stomach. She licked every crumb off her fingers. Marietta and Giosetta might have snuck her food but Mortola had ordered Dafne stay separated from the pair while working. The old woman was not ignorant of how close the trio were and it pleased her to isolate Dafne from her friends.
She even separated her from the rest of the maids, sending her to do tasks all by herself without any help. She made her scrub the entire length of the church floor on her own. By the end Dafne's hands were raw and red. The upside had been Dante turning up to keep her company. He carelessly tracked dirty boot prints where she had just cleaned but she quickly forgave him when he offered to share the cantuccini his nonna had sent him. They were the best things Dafne had ever tasted in her ravenous hunger. She left the church feeling full and satisfied to have defied Mortola.
But it didn't take long for the hunger to return. The sweetness of the cantuccini became a memory that made her mouth water as she toiled away at whatever task Mortola ordered her to do. The worst was cleaning the church toilet. Into the third day of her punishment, she was completely exhausted. Every part of her ached and her stomach was a hollow pit. That morning Mortola had given her mouldy bread and she stopped herself from eating it, knowing it would do her more harm than good. Mortola had smirked as she watched Dafne push it away miserably.
"If you're not going to eat it, get your bony hide up to Capricorn's bedroom," she ordered her with barely suppressed satisfaction, "I want every part of it cleaned before he gets back," Capricorn had gone away again on business and Mortola had been acting more domineering than usual in his absence, "And I mean everything. The floor, the windows, the bed posts, everything spotlessly clean. Do you understand my skeletal cherub?"
She pinched Dafne's cheek hard and kept pinching as she thrust her bird-like face close to Dafne's,
"There'll be plenty more mouldy bread for you if you don't meet my expectations!"
Grudgingly Dafne went about cleaning Capricorn's bedroom, knowing the old woman would be sure to point out spots of dust when she finished, even ones that couldn't be seen to the naked eye. Tomorrow she would definitely receive mouldy bread for all her effort. She kept sighing to herself as she worked. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. She hoped today would be the day Basta returned. She hoped. She watched rain streaking down the windows as she cleaned them. It was a dreary day outside and she was in a dreary mood.
Suddenly she felt very fed up with everything and sat down on Capricorn's bed with the cloth in her hand. She sighed once again, feeling acutely worn out and empty. She lay back on the bed, staring at the canopy above. Her eyelids started getting heavy. The bed was so comfy and she was tired.
Surely it wouldn't hurt to rest here a little while, shut her eyes for a moment or two.
Sleep took her without her even knowing it.
Someone shook her awake. They were saying her name. She reacted with alarm, seeing a man's blurry face above her and instinctively lashing out with her hand.
"Ow!" the man said as he came more into focus, he was rubbing the side of his face, looking shocked, "Geez little mouse, that really hurt."
Dafne sat up abruptly,
"Basta?" she said uncertainly.
"Yes," he replied, still rubbing his face.
"Oh, you're..." she said still a little dazed, "You're back?"
Was he really or was this a dream? Where was she? She glanced around. Capricorn's bedroom. She was on his bed. Oh yes she remembered lying down. She remembered closing her eyes and now Basta was here, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere.
"Yes I'm back," he said a mite grouchily, lowering his hand, "Not exactly a nice way to greet me, slapping me across the face like that."
"Well you scared me," Dafne said, suddenly grinning. It couldn't be a dream. It was Basta in the flesh. "You're really back."
She sprung off the bed to throw her arms around him. He felt the same way as she remembered, smelt the same, it was so good to hold him and feel such reassuring familiarity.
"Well that's a bit better," he chuckled, roping his arms around her, "I prefer this to being slapped."
"I'm glad you're back," Dafne murmured against his shoulder.
"Me too dear heart," he stroked her hair for a moment, "Can I ask why you were taking a nap on Capricorn's bed? It's rather dangerous for you to be doing that. Mortola would have had a fit if she had found you."
Dafne shrugged,
"She ordered me to clean Capricorn's room. I got a little tired so I lay down. I didn't mean to actually fall asleep."
"Poor little mouse. She's been running you ragged I see," Basta said sympathetically, "You feel thin too. Thinner than I remember you. She hasn't been starving you as well, has she?"
Dafne grimaced. He had rather unwittingly stumbled upon the truth.
"Er, yes she has," she said, knowing there was no point denying it, "I mean I was allowed to have bread each day but nothing else."
Basta pushed her away to look her up and down with concern.
"But why?" he said.
"It's my punishment," Dafne said reluctantly, "Because of what happened... with Dustfinger and the rest."
"Oh," Basta said in a small voice, looking at her with sad expression of guilt and apology, "Dear heart I'm so sorry."
Dafne felt horrible. She didn't want him to feel guilty and responsible. She had helped Dustfinger steal the keys. She had gotten them into this recent mess. It was her fault, not his.
She moved to kiss him very fiercely on the mouth,
"There's no need to apologise," she said, holding him just as fiercely, "You couldn't help it that Dustfinger stole those keys. I only blame him for what's happened. Not you. Please don't feel bad Tiger Eyes, please don't."
Basta sighed,
"How can I not?" he said bitterly, "You keep getting punished for my mistakes. I should have been able to capture Silvertongue and the others in the hills. But I didn't and you've suffered for it."
"I didn't suffer that much," Dafne insisted, "Mortola barely feeds us maids as it is so I didn't notice much of difference. Anyway Capricorn said I would only have to starve until you came back and here you are."
"A good thing I am," Basta mumbled before his brow furrowed more deeply, "Just think what would have happened if it had taken me weeks to find Silvertongue. I'd have come home to a skeleton."
He pushed her away gently and sat down on the edge on the bed looking troubled by the thought.
"But it didn't take weeks," Dafne said, coming to stand between his legs, "So there's no need to worry about that. You're here now and I'm not going to become a skeleton."
Basta looked up at her rather determinedly,
"Damn right you're not," he growled, pulling a chocolate bar from his jacket and shoving it into her hand, "Here."
Dafne stared at it almost reverently, her mouth watering.
"Thank you."
Basta pulled her down next to him,
"Don't thank me," he said gruffly with an undercurrent of urgency, "Just sit down and eat it."
Dafne grinned,
"You don't have to tell me twice," she said, tearing open the wrapper and inhaling the intoxicating aroma of the chocolate inside. It made her feel quite giddy. Her fingers were trembling slightly as she popped the first piece into her mouth. It was heavenly and she closed her eyes dreamily as the creamy cube melted on her tongue, coating her whole mouth.
"Don't sit there daydreaming," Basta said sternly, causing her to open her eyes, "Hurry up and eat some more."
Dafne did as she was told. But she found she couldn't savour the following pieces as much as the first. This was due to the fact Basta was watching her eat rather intensely and it made her self-conscious.
"Er, do you want some?" she asked him.
"No," Basta said rather agitatedly, "I'm not who's been starved. You eat it all."
"Okay," Dafne said, feeling like a child ordered to eat their vegetables, "But could you maybe not watch me eat. It's a little embarrassing."
Basta flopped back on the bed with sigh and put his hands over his eyes.
"Alright. Not looking. Just eat."
Dafne kept eating but due the lack of other noise, her chewing sounded rather loud and that made her feel just as self-conscious. So she tried to cover it up with conversation.
"So you found Silvertongue?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
Basta uncovered his eyes and stared up into the canopy as she had done earlier.
"Well yes and no," he said, heaving himself upright, "I found where he and his brat were staying. But Silvertongue was off somewhere when we came calling. Just my luck."
Basta put a hand to his chest, suddenly looking angry.
"Dirtyfingers stole my rabbit's foot in the hills little mouse," he said, "He took my luck, just as he stole my knife. The dirty thieving bastard. I replaced the amulet but if I ever cross paths with him again, I swear I'll..." he looked at her imploringly, "I know you don't want me to hurt people but he should be a special exception. He's to blame for what happened. You said so yourself."
"I did," Dafne said, "But that doesn't mean I want you hurting him if you get the chance," she changed the subject to one of more concern to her, "You said Silvertongue wasn't there, at the place you tracked him to."
Basta nodded,
"That's right," he said, "Dirtyfingers wasn't there either or the fat old woman or the boy. Just Silvertongue's daughter. So I decided to bring her back as bait for her father. I know he'll come for her. She's his whole world," he smiled, "He'll know I'm the one who took her too. I carved my name for him to find. Carved it rather nicely, you would have been proud if you had seen it."
Dafne gave him a smile that was a little forced. Of course she was proud from him being able to write his name. She just wished he didn't have to employ the skill in this kind of way. She could imagine Silvertongue's terror on finding Basta's name instead of his daughter. She felt sorry for the daughter too.
"I hope you didn't scare the girl too badly," she said, "Abducting all on her own."
Basta shrugged away her concern,
"She wasn't alone. There was an old man Silvertongue had sought out. We thought it was because he had another copy of Inkheart but that turned out to not be the case. We brought him along for the ride."
"Why?" Dafne asked.
Basta took out a switchblade. Like his rabbit's foot, he had obviously replaced the one Dustfinger had stolen from him. He opened it, studied it for a moment then snapped it shut.
"Because the old man had an interesting claim I thought Capricorn might like to hear."
"Which is?" Dafne asked, trying to ignore the appearance of the knife.
Basta opened and closed the knife again. It seemed he had brought it out for no purpose other than to have something to fiddle with.
"That he wrote Inkheart," he answered, "That he created me and Capricorn and everyone else from our world. So he says," he sneered but there was uncertainty in his eyes, "His name's Fenoglio."
Dafne starred at him rather astonished,
"Really? Well, it could be him. The author's name is Fenoglio. I remember seeing it on the cover."
Basta laughed somewhat bitterly, continuing to snap his switchblade open and closed.
"Maybe he's telling the truth then. He seemed to know all about me," he scowled, "Too much for my liking. He told me how I got my scars when he was trying to prove who he was. I suppose if he wrote my story, he's the one who gave them to me."
He stared at the blade darkly,
"Perhaps I should thank him by giving him some scars of his own. A scar for each horrible thing that happened to me in my world. He'd end up scarred from head to foot."
Dafne plucked the switchblade out of his hand and snapped it shut.
"Please don't talk like that. I know this must be very strange, meeting the man who created you. And it's only natural that you might resent him for making unfortunate things happen to you. But hurting him won't change any of that."
Basta sighed,
"I suppose not," he said, taking the knife from her and stowing it out of sight.
Dafne smiled, putting a head on his shoulder,
"I'm glad he created you. I couldn't have fallen in love with you if you didn't exist."
Basta smiled but it crumbled into a frown,
"You would still be happy though," he pointed out, "You would be back in your old master's house with all the books you could want. You can't tell me you wouldn't prefer that to being stuck here, being punished for my mistakes."
"I'd prefer it much more if you were with me," Dafne replied, "When we escape, we'll go there. I'm sure Signor Orazio will like you."
"Why would he?" Basta said, "I abducted you from his house."
"That's in the past. He's a forgiving man. You'll grow on him I'm sure of it."
"If you say so," Basta said looking unconvinced.
"You can meet my brother too," Dafne said, struck by inspiration.
"Brother?" Basta turned to her surprised, "You never mentioned you had a brother little mouse."
"You never asked. He's my younger brother. I have a feeling you'll like him a lot."
Dafne smiled. Why wouldn't he when it was Silvio she was taking about. Her adopted fratellino. He was sure to get a surprise when he found out it was him. When they escaped that was. She had decided there was no point waiting any longer for Capricorn to give her back to him. What if Basta made another mistake and Capricorn handed her over to someone else. No they were better off leaving at the first opportunity despite the danger of being pursued. The only problem was that Basta wouldn't be easily persuaded to take the risk. She had to make it sound worthwhile.
"I have a house too," she went on, "I don't own it. I rent it off Signor Orazio's son. There's plenty of room in it for the two of us and..." she pulled out the horseshoe she kept in her pocket, "I'm sure Signor Orazio's son wouldn't mind us nailing this to the front door. That's supposed to bless the house isn't it?"
Basta smiled somewhat crookedly,
"It does but I thought you didn't believe in that stuff."
"But you do," Dafne said, kissing him, "So we'll hang it up and have a lucky house in a nice normal village."
Basta stroked her cheek,
"Alright then," he murmured, kissing her.
Dafne kissed him back, thinking all the time about what she wanted to say as soon as they broke apart.
She wanted to say: Can we please leave then as soon as possible. Tonight even, while Capricorn's still away. Please say yes.
But she didn't get the chance because someone burst into the room as they were kissing.
"What the blazes are you two doing!" Mortola shrieked, causing them both to spring apart cringing, "You - you wretches," she pointed a claw-like finger at them in outrage, "How dare you defile your master's bed in this manner."
"Defile?" Basta tried to cover his unease with a sneer, "We were only kissing."
Mortola regarded him with an icy look of contempt.
"Do you really think your master will take kindly to you and your strumpet kissing on his bed Basta? I sincerely doubt it. No, he's not going to be pleased. Just as he won't be pleased about that fact you failed to return with Silvertongue."
Basta jumped to his feet, his hands balling into fists,
"Silvertongue will turn up soon because of the girl," he growled, "Capricorn will be satisfied with that."
Mortola's lip curled smugly,
"Capricorn hasn't been satisfied with you in a long time Basta. Small wonder, you're a fool and unworthy of the favour he's shown you."
Basta was shaking with rage but Mortola approached him without fear. She held out her hand,
"You will give me your keys Basta," she ordered, "You have done nothing lately to deserve them so hand them over."
"No," Basta shouted like a child being told to relinquish a toy, "I told you before you can't take them off me."
"Basta!" Mortola said in a shrill commanding voice that made both he and Dafne flinch, "If you don't give me the keys this instant I will tell Capricorn what I saw you doing on the bed, with a few embellishments he won't be keen to hear I can assure you."
Basta gaped at her,
"You can't do that," he said in a quivering voice, "We weren't doing anything besides..."
"So what?" Mortola cut him off with a hard smile, "Capricorn will believe what I tell him. He trusts my word. So give me the keys."
Basta rocked indecisively on the balls of his feet. Dafne could understand why. He treasured those keys.
"Hurry up," Mortola snapped impatiently, "I don't have all day. If you dawdle any longer, I'll make your sweetheart suffer for it. I'll force her to eat a bowl of poisoned porridge. Not enough poison to kill her, but enough to make her sick. I'm quite good with calculating doses."
She smiled at their horrified expressions.
"Don't you dare," Basta snarled, taking a threatening step towards Mortola, "You leave her alone, do you hear me. You've put her through enough lately."
"You're in no position to make demands of me," Mortola shot back, "Now for the last time, give me the keys and I won't touch a hair on your sweetheart's head."
Basta glanced at Dafne, his expression softening in defeat.
He dug the keys out of his jacket and surrendered them to Mortola, glaring at her hatefully as she took them.
"The first intelligent decision you've made in quite a while," she drawled triumphantly before her face hardened, "Now go wait for Capricorn to return elsewhere. You're not welcome in his house in his absence."
Basta resisted the dismissal, glowering at Mortola where he stood. Then he turned to Dafne, strode over to her rebelliously, kissed her cheek and hissed "love you".
"Basta I said get out!" Mortola yelled.
"You better go," Dafne whispered disappointedly.
Basta nodded, looking just as disappointed. He stalked out, throwing Mortola a venomous glare as he passed.
Mortola paid him no mind. Her beady eyes were trained contemptuously as Dafne.
"Get back to kitchen," she snapped as Dafne slipped off her master's bed, "before I decide to poison you after all."
Dafne hurried to comply. Mortola's threats were not to be taken lightly.
To be continued...
Yeah Dante and the other cousins get care packages from their nonna. They are criminals but she treats them like big kids. Ah, mob families :3 Cantuccini are biscuits, also called biscotti.
I always wondered why Basta ended up giving Mortola his keys in the book after he plain refused when she asked him the first time. This is my explanation.
To be continued...