Chapter 71

Author's Note: A drama chapter and my first for the new year. Enjoy guys. Thanks for the reviews!

Dafne tried not to think about Capricorn's new order for Basta. It was awful knowing he would have to kidnap a girl, but her main concern at the moment was Resa. Her approaching execution was the foremost thing on her mind. She was anxious to see her friend in her cell but dreading the moment at the same time. It was like visiting someone on their death bed only worse because it wasn't a sickness that would kill her friend. She was going to be murdered by a monster on the command of a monster. It was obscene and cruel, and the helplessness Dafne felt in not being able to do anything was driving her crazy. She could hardly concentrate on what she was doing.

When Orlanda started herding all the maids to bed, she felt a conflicting rush of panic and anticipation. This was it. She was about to go to Resa's cell and tell her "sorry I couldn't save you" and "thank you for being my friend even though I clearly don't deserve it since I'm letting you be executed", all the hard things she needed to say.

Only she soon found out that she wouldn't be saying them. Orlanda startled her by ordering her to join the others going to bed.

"Didn't Basta ask you to let me out tonight?" she stammered.

"He did but I refused," Orlanda told her somewhat smugly, "You see lately Mortola's been keeping a nightly vigil about the house. She doesn't trust the men to pick up everything. They didn't spot the meeting between Dustfinger and Resa like she did. If I tried to smuggle you out, chances are she'd spot us. That would mean trouble for all three of us. I don't know about you but Basta agreed that it wasn't worth the risk. Now get your behind into bed. The only thing you'll be doing tonight is sleeping."

Before Dafne could protest, Orlanda shoved her into the bedroom and closed the door. Dafne stood in the dark, letting her disappointment fully sink in. Then she stumbled over to her bed and buried her face bitterly into her pillow. A visit to Resa's cell would have been painful, but being denied the opportunity was even more so. Dafne clenched her sheet between her fingers. Her friend was going to die and now she couldn't even see her to say goodbye. The whole situation was horribly unfair and wrong. Utterly wrong.

An innocent woman shouldn't be executed. A young girl shouldn't be forced into slavery. Evil men shouldn't be allowed to do what they pleased and get away with it. But that was the reality, no matter how much Dafne hated it. The truth was Capricorn was running the show. He was the God of this village and his orders were followed, no matter how unjust and evil they were. No one stood up to him for fear of punishment, including Dafne. That was the way it was here in this piece of Hell. Hell was an appropriate word. Capricorn was the Devil and they were all subject to his depravity.

The only difference was the Devil was immortal and Capricorn was not. Dafne wished him dead with all her might. If only she'd had the courage to kill him the day she had stolen Basta's knife. He was the thread holding this whole blasted place together. Everything was done on his orders. If he was dead, his empire would fall apart at the seams. If he were dead. If.

She rolled on her back and starred into the black void above her head.

She could sneak a knife from the kitchen. Ram it into his chest while he was occupied with breakfast. But she knew it would be difficult concealing a knife wearing that stupid dress, difficult to draw it out without him noticing. She wouldn't dare attempt it for fear of failing. She was too scared of the consequences. Too scared to attempt what was necessary.

I'm sorry I'm such a coward, she thought, imagining she was saying it to Resa.

She was far too restless to sleep. She lay in the dark, consumed in troubled thought until the sound of gunfire averted her attention. A man was yelling. She listened hard and heard the name Silvertongue. So it wasn't a cat he had been shooting at.

"What's going on?" Agnese asked dazedly.

"Silvertongue tried to break in I think," Dafne replied. Other men's voices had joined the first. But she couldn't make out what they were saying since they were all talking at once.

"Did they get him?" Agnese asked.

"I don't know."

She hoped he wasn't dead. At first she chided him for attempting the impossible. Had he really expected to be able to slip inside, take out the guard outside his daughter's room, grab her and get out without being caught?

He obviously loves his daughter very much to take such a crazy risk, she thought, beginning to see his attempt as admirable though foolhardy. He was braver than she was. She loved Resa and yet she wasn't prepared to risk her life for her.

She stayed awake for a long while, thinking about Silvertongue's courage. She thought about it until she was too exhausted to keep her eyes open and fell asleep.

The next morning she took Capricorn his breakfast as usual. She didn't steal a knife and hide it in her dress. What she planned was to sneak out of the house to find Basta as soon Capricorn dismissed her. She needed to talk to him.

"You look tired my dear," Capricorn said as she helped him dress, "Did you have trouble sleeping last night?"

He had a look of satisfaction on his face that implied he knew the reason. But Dafne wasn't about to confess it to him.

"The shooting woke me up," she lied, "I found it hard to get back to sleep after that."

Capricorn's smiled faded.

"You can blame Silvertongue for that. He was the cause of all that commotion, trying to rescue his daughter," he sounded irritated. Dafne took that to mean Silvertongue hadn't been captured, "A foolish attempt, it was never going to work."

He brushed Dafne aside a little roughly to take his place at the table.

"I hope you'll be able to stay awake during the execution," he said as she was serving his breakfast, "I wouldn't want you to miss it."

I bet you wouldn't, Dafne thought hatefully as he began to eat.

There came a knock on the door and Capricorn sent her to answer it. It was Basta and the moment he saw her, his expression turned apologetic. She knew it was do with him not taking her to the crypt. He obviously thought she was angry with him.

"Hi little mouse," he murmured. Don't be mad, his eyes were pleading.

Dafne opened her mouth to reply but Capricorn cut her off,

"Report."

That single word of command made Basta snap to attention.

"Yes sir," he said, coming further into the room to do so. Dafne bit her lip. It was like a dog responding to a master's whistle. It was troubling to see Basta still acting that way. There was no hesitation, no rebellion in his eyes. There was a hint of worry though so he didn't have the best news.

"We haven't found any sign of him yet," he said, "Cockerell is convinced he hit him though that's pretty hard to confirm without a body."

"Well of course it is," Capricorn in a dark annoyed voice, "I want the men to keep searching. If Silvertongue is still alive, I don't want him crashing our little celebration tonight."

Basta nodded, eager to express agreement.

"Will that be all sir?"

"No, I want you to take Miss Silvertongue to Mortola. She needs to rehearse for tonight."

Basta didn't look too eager about this order. He pouted somewhat.

"But what about finding Silvertongue?"

Capricorn rolled his eyes.

"You can go about finding him afterwards. Use your brain will you."

Basta flinched at this rebuke, bowing his head.

"Yes sir," he said without looking up. He turned to leave.

"Oh Basta wait, there's something else."

Basta turned back to Capricorn.

"Yes?"

Capricorn looked straight at Dafne and she tensed knowingly.

"It's a mission that can wait until after the execution but I may as well inform you of it now."

Capricorn told him about the girl. As soon as he did, a slightly pained look crossed Basta's face. Dafne thought he might glance at her but he starred at the floor in front of him until Capricorn finished speaking. Then he nodded wearily.

"I'll bring this girl to you," he said, his voice soft with promise but not eagerness.

"You better," Capricorn drawled, "Otherwise you will lose this girl..." Basta followed the point of his finger to stare at Dafne with worried eyes, "Is that clear?"

"Yes," Basta said croakily, his eyes not leaving Dafne.

A smile played on Capricorn's lips.

"Good," he dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "Now go take Miss Silvertongue to Mortola."

Basta slowed when passing Dafne on the way out, his expression was apologetic. She knew the words on his lips though he didn't speak them: I know you don't like this but my hands are tied.

"Have you finished sir?" Dafne asked the second Basta closed the door behind him.

Fortunately he was and allowed her to go. She rushed out the door intending to chase after Basta. She yelped in surprise to find him standing just outside waiting for her. Thankfully she kept hold of the tray.

"Did I scare you," Basta said as she recovered, "Sorry dear heart."

"It's alright," Dafne told him.

Basta gazed at her solemnly,

"I'm sorry I didn't take you to the crypt last night. I know how much you wanted me to. And I would have if Mortola hadn't been prowling around. You do believe me, don't you?"

He looked at her pleadingly.

"Yes," Dafne said.

"And I'm sorry I have to kidnap this girl," Basta grimaced, "Its last thing I want to bloody do, but I don't have any..."

"Choice," finished Dafne, "Yes I know. You don't have any choice because Capricorn says so."

She set the tray down on the floor and walked down the hallway, away from Capricorn's door. Basta followed.

"That's right dear heart," he said, looking relieved at her understanding of the situation, "Because Capricorn says so."

Dafne drew against him and put her cheek to his,

"If Capricorn was dead, he couldn't say so," she murmured in his ear.

She felt Basta tense. He went to push away but she wrapped her arms around him to hold him in place.

"If he were dead, he couldn't get you to kidnap that girl. Or force us to be apart. He couldn't give me to someone else or execute Resa. If he were dead, we could all be free."

Basta detached her arms from around him, gripping them as he stared worriedly into her face.

"What are you saying?" he said in a tense voice, looking like he would rather not know.

"I think we should kill Capricorn," Dafne said in a quiet but strangely steady voice that surprised her. But her heart was beating fast in exhilaration at making such a statement, "Today. Before the execution."

Basta blinked at her in wide-eyed astonishment. Then he smiled as if he thought, he hoped, it might be a joke. But Dafne's face was solemn and his expression grew rather fearful.

"Have you gone insane?" his voice was a low growl and he shook her slightly, "Kill him," his eyes flicked to Capricorn's door with paranoia. "Kill..?" He looked at her as if he didn't recognise her, "What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me?" Dafne said, "I'm fed up Basta. I'm fed up with being a slave. I'm fed up with a man making you do evil things just to keep me safe. I want us to be a normal couple and live in my house with the horseshoe nailed to the door. That's what I want..."

"So we'll leave," Basta interrupted soothingly, "I promised we would, didn't I. We can't go yet but..."

"We could if we killed him," Dafne cut in causing him to grimace at her directness, "It's not only us I'm thinking about either. It's Resa too. I don't want her to be executed," she cupped her hand to his cheek and noticing how much she was trembling, "So we need to kill him."

She flinched as Basta smacked her hand away,

"By we you mean me right," he said accusingly, "I'm the one with knife after all. You," he pointed at her, "Want me," he pointed to himself, "To go in there," he pointed at Capricorn's door before thrusting his face towards hers, "And slit my master's throat or something," his hushed voice had a strain of hysteria in it. He laughed a little wildly, "You of all people. My little mouse who constantly lectures me that violence is wrong and how you want me to be a good person. You want me to kill another person."

"An evil person with no love or compassion," Dafne hissed, "How many people did he kill with the Shadow in your world?" she didn't give Basta time to answer, "A lot I'll bet. If he gains the Shadow back, how many more people besides Resa are going to die? We can spare them all by ending his life right here and now. You and me. You're right that you're the one with the knife but I'll go in with you. I'll be there when you do it," she felt slightly feverish as the words raced off her tongue, "That way we'll be in it together..."

"That's enough," Basta said fiercely, "I mean it little mouse. Shut up!"

Startled by his vehemence, Dafne fell silent. Her body was trembling and she felt a little exhausted from her emotional plea, but what she felt more keenly was the sting of his rejection. He obviously wanted no part in her plan. He didn't want to hear about it. She starred at him with disappointed understanding. The anger had gone from his face. He was now looking at her with a regretful expression.

"I'm sorry I yelled," Basta said quietly, "It's just, all this talk of murder and saying you'd watch me, it's... not you. You may hate Capricorn but I don't think you could stand having his death on your conscience for the rest of your life. You're too good-hearted. It wouldn't matter whether you thought his death was justifiable or not. You'd still feel guilty."

Dafne starred hard at the floor. She knew he was speaking the truth. The idea of Basta slitting Capricorn's throat, the idea of the skin tearing and the blood spurting distressed her. So did the idea of such an image being seared into her memory forever. She couldn't deny that. But then she thought about Resa's death. She didn't want her death burned into memory either.

"I'd rather feel guilty about his death to Resa's," she said, "I don't want to spend the rest of my life knowing I did nothing to prevent her death."

Basta sighed,

"Killing Capricorn won't change the fact that Mortola has the key to the crypt little mouse. We'll need that to unlock Resa's cell..."

"We could overpower her, tie her up and take the key."

"And then what," Basta said gravely, "There's still going to be a mass of men walking around after we break Resa out. They would still try to stop us, and succeed since we'd be outnumbered and outgunned. They'd take us back here, find Capricorn dead, untie Mortola, who knows what'll become of us then. Definitely not a quick and painless death. That would be too merciful in the eyes of Cockerell and Mortola," he cupped a hand to her face, "So you see little mouse, even if I did kill Capricorn and we freed Resa from the crypt, it's not going to end well for us. Not you or me or Resa."

Dafne took in his words with crushing disappointment. He was making sense. The frustration that he was caused tears to sting her eyes and she balled her hands into fists.

"So there's no hope then," she uttered in a hoarse broken voice, "Of saving her."

Basta shook his head and the finality of the motion made her tears fall harder.

"I'm sorry," he said.

He took hold of her weeping face in both hands. She felt immediately like shoving him away, not wanting to be comforted by the man who had quashed her hopes of saving her friend. But his expression was painfully tender and instead of pushing him away, she let him wipe away her tears.

"There's hope for us though dear heart," he murmured, "We can still leave. We can still have the life you want for us."

"When?" she said, the force of her demand causing him to retreat a little, "I want to know when! I can't stand any more of this. I can't!"

The tears had started again. Basta looked at them with a mixture of dismay and sympathy. Instead of brushing them away, he pulled her against him and cradled her there.

"I know," he said.

"If you know then why can't we go now?"

Basta sighed,

"You know why we can't."

"Because it's dangerous," Dafne said bitterly, "It's always going to be dangerous Basta. Today. Tomorrow. The next day."

She prised herself out of his arms and stood eyeing him,

"You know if you don't want to leave, you should tell just me instead of stringing along. I'd prefer the truth so I know if I'm making the right decision by waiting for you to choose a date."

Basta was a little taken aback by her saying this and it took a moment for indignation to surface on his face.

"Of course I'm not stringing you along," he growled, "Okay yes I'm not as keen about leaving as you are, in fact I find the whole idea pretty damn daunting. But you said you'd break up with me if we didn't and I sure as hell don't want to lose you. You're the most important thing in my life."

This brought an involuntary smile to Dafne's lips. Basta brightened a little to see it.

"I love you," he said firmly, "And I want you make you happy."

He reached to tuck her hair behind her ear, his expression turning solemn.

"But the time isn't right to leave yet. This isn't me trying to stall. I'm saying it because it's true. There's too many men walking around with their eyes peeled. They're looking for Silvertongue but they're sure to spot us leaving as well. As soon as the issue with Silvertongue is resolved, things will go back to being more relaxed and that's when we'll leave. I promise."

Dafne brought her hands to each side of his face and looked him straight in the eye.

"Promise on your love for me," she said.

"I promise on my love for you that we will leave the village then," Basta said.

He kissed her to seal the promise and she kissed him fiercely back with all the vulnerability and passion she felt in her heart.

Not long after he left to take Silvertongue's daughter to Mortola. He told her he would come see her afterwards and perhaps sneak her over to the crypt to see Resa. She still wanted to say goodbye if that was the only thing she could do. She returned to the kitchen still feeling a swirl of complicated emotions. She worked without really paying attention to what she was doing. After some time Mortola swept into the kitchen, dispensing orders left and right. Basta didn't appear. Dafne began to feel the sting of disappointment though she knew Mortola would only send him packing if he showed up.

Finally a man did appear in the doorway but it wasn't the one Dafne wanted to see. It was Flatnose. He hulked over to Mortola. The story he told her made Dafne seize up with horror.

"Dustfinger somehow managed to lock that idiot Basta in his cell and made off with his knife and the keys. I need the master key so I can lock that mute birdie Resa back up. Luckily she didn't escape with the fire-eater."

"Take it," Mortola gave him the key, "I will go inform Capricorn of Basta's stupidity at once!"

To be continued...

I think Basta was pretty exhausted after all that anguish with Dafne. I don't think it helped his mood for a little girl to kick him in the shin and force him to chase after her. Then the whole snake thing with Mortola. And considering the pressure he was under from both Cappy and Dafne it's sort of understandable that he had a brain explosion down in the crypt and got into Dusty's cell. But wah D: poor Basta.

If you're wondering why Basta didn't take Dafferz to the crypt when he took Meggie, it's because Mortola went to the kitchen straight after Meggie's rehearsal so Basta wouldn't have been able to sneak Dafne away.