Freyjin's work seemed to have no end, but at least the Prince had been more helpful than she expected. 'I never thought I'd feel favorably toward a Prince whose soldiers used me instead of their hands, but… well he is marrying my mistress. I'll have to get used to serving him, and he seems intelligent, competent, and serious about his duty.' She forced those thoughts aside and focused on the matter before her.
All the bodies showed similar wound patterns, about one in five showed an ambush from the back, another two indicated they were probably interrogated first. The remainder were divided between blunt force that caved in a skull, or an axe that simply took off the head entirely.
She followed the line of death day after day, spending hours over the bodies, taking careful notes in her scribe kit. The crowds still came along, and so did the Prince, periodically, though when he stood by, she got the distinct feeling that his interested peering eyes and questions were more to show the people he was engaged.
Off beyond the wall, construction work continued on the drain expansions and new pits. The hammering and shouting kept her hair on edge, and it was during one of those louder times that Prince Rasgen visited.
"Have you learned anything new?" The Prince asked her over the sound of the noise beyond the wall.
"Nothing special, Master!" She shouted and squeezed her eyes shut as a loud tumbling beyond the wall echoed to where she stood.
He narrowed his eyes at the way her hairs stood on end, and he brazenly took her arm. "Follow me." He ordered, and Freyjin stiffened briefly at his touch before bowing her head obediently. He led her away from the corpses, out to the street, and into the carriage that brought him to the site.
What instructions he gave to the coachman, she wasn't sure. But unable to disobey, she sat and waited while the carriage took them both away.
The Prince crossed his arms in front of his chest and then one leg over the other. "You're on edge. You need to relax or you'll be useless."
Freyjin's hands rested on the soft dark cloth that made up the upholstered wooden seat, she lightly pressed against it, and lifted her hand, the stuffed seat rebounded immediately.
"Yes, master." She said obediently and hung her head. "Forgive me, I'm working hard, I promise."
His sharp eyes lost none of their focus on her after her answer. "With my guards there, you should be safe, and you were one of her warriors before becoming a Steward and evidently, an investigator. So what has you on edge, slave?"
"Nothing of consequence, master. The noise, it just reminds me of the battle of Komestra, I was on the losing side of that, and paid a heavy price for losing. The noise of construction, it sounds like the noise of my destruction all over again. I… I… it's of no importance." Freyjin replied and kept her eyes down.
Prince Rasgen was still as he looked her up and down, to her relief, she didn't sense he was appraising her in the way a man might a woman he desires. Rather, it was more like evaluating equipment, or like a magic caster about to heal a wounded person and unsure if they had a poison or a sickness that needed removal. Finally he spoke. "I see. I've seen this before among warriors, time is the only long term treatment I know. But I have heard that time in prayer and reflection has eased some troubled souls."
"I can ask that the construction be halted for a few hours per day while you're working there, if that will make it easier for you, slave." The Prince suggested with a casual voice that shot her eyes upward.
"You'd do that… for just… me? Forgive me, master, but I'm… you don't even know me, I'm just one of the servants of your betrothed. Why…?" Freyjin asked, hoping she didn't sound suspicious or look as stupid as she felt with her mouth partially agape.
Rasgen's answer wasn't long in coming. "You'll belong to me as well, when she and I marry." His eyes looked briefly forlorn, as though the Prince of one of the most powerful cities of Mict'aratz was about to break down into tears.
He didn't tear his eyes away from her, despite what she expected out of one so proud, and for a moment it seemed as if the weight of a mountain had crashed onto shoulders that had never been allowed to buckle. "The woman I loved, the one I lost… Sobella, she had deep empathy for slaves like you, the ones who had one bad day and saw their lives destroyed. And your mistress, she was willing to take risks for you. One I loved before, and one I will marry soon… for their sake, it can't hurt to emulate them both, and I'm no monster. Besides," he waved a hand casually, though clearly struggling with the lump in his throat, trying to keep his voice steady, he looked out the window of his carriage at his busy city. People walked by in great numbers, the sound of shouting, bustling, bargaining and just living in general, was all around them both. "Besides… it costs me nothing. The rains are a long way off, if this helps you investigate a serious crime more effectively, then so what if it takes a few extra days to complete these projects?"
Freyjin's lower lip quivered, "Th-Thank you, Sire. I won't forget this kindness."
When she looked up, they were nearly back at her owner's estate. "Take a meal, visit your temple, when you return, construction will have ceased for three hours. Further, it will be stopped every day between the ninth hour and the thirteenth of each day until your work is complete." Rasgen replied to her without acknowledging her thanks.
She nodded mutely before changing the subject, "Sire, what about the witness?"
"Nobody remembers anything about him, he was promised a reward, and never returned, and not only does nobody remember him, but nobody was able to find any documents about him." Rasgen snapped his fingers beside his head, "It's like he just… never existed. But we remember the arrest of the guilty, the evidence we found, and the hanging, everything. It's just that one…"
Freyjin froze, "Master, if you were not marrying my owner or were the Prince of this city, I wouldn't say what I am going to." Her eyes narrowed very slowly as her instincts all cried out to her about the danger her owner was now in.
Rasgen's focus turned from the window and back to her again. "Yes, slave?"
"Master… that's the same thing that happened in our search for Priceless. A witness gave information that we needed, then disappeared, we found a body… that is different from your situation at least. But nobody could remember anything about the one who passed the word to us. The body though, it was too perfectly set up, I am certain it wasn't the witness, just a dupe. And in Komestra, Kaiji told me about what happened with the coup that killed Diana's family. Nobody could remember anything about the person who provided information, just that they had been given a file of information to act on."
"What are you saying… Freyjin?" Rasgen asked with great interest.
"Master, not only is there someone who has come to this city, often, to wreak havoc, but they're worse than invisible. They're impossible to remember. More than that, they're moving 'between' cities to carry out their work. I know, it sounds utterly mad, whoever heard of a talent like that? But it's the only conclusion I can come to. Forgive my request, master, but instead of going home, can we visit the prison instead? One of the survivors who took Priceless, he ended up there."
"You want to question him, do you?" Rasgen asked, "I'd like the same."
"Yes, master." Freyjin's eyes lost their fearful shimmer and became bold and hungry like a stalking wolf in the face of a clue to a mystery that had only grown in both their eyes.
Diana stopped on the edge of the estate and looked back, wealth and power beyond her wildest dreams was hers to wield there on behalf of her former mistress. 'I could still turn her down, refuse the adoption, refuse the return of my title. Just sell the estate, take the gold, and go on my happy way and…' The thought halted and became spoken words. "Live a pointless, useless life of self indulgence? Maybe buy some slaves, set them to work for me. Open up a brothel of my own. Or… maybe just set them free, be a liberator. Or set up my own trading house…" She turned her back on the estate and stepped beyond it out into the city at large.
Pas'en was so alive in her eyes. People yelling at one another in the way they tended to, waving their arms wildly, as they haggled, full of faux outrage or surprise at prices, only for the seller to overreact in the same way at some low ball offer.
She felt the smile form on her face, winsome and small. Pasenians were vigorous people in her eyes, it was hard not to appreciate them, their wild colored clothing full of rich golds and blues, greens and reds, the popular fashions changing monthly… 'vibrant' was the word that came to mind.
Diana continued to walk the street with no real objective for the better part of an hour before she realized she really had no destination. She came to that realization when she came to a small rest area with a tree and a small stone bench and thought to sit, immediately thinking also, 'I need to get back.' Only to realize, 'No I don't. I can do whatever the hell I want!' She sat beneath the swaying branches that moved her shade back and forth and simply watched people go. Free and slave alike, they moved with purpose and clear intent. 'Now I don't have one… and I don't move at all. At least, I don't have one that I have to take on. Am I really willing to throw myself into the bed of a nobleman I barely know? Am I willing to bear a child just to give it to my former mistress as a hostage?'
It was a heavy question and her hand came up to her heart and formed a fist that rested against her heaving breast.
"This would be easier if I were as monstrous as my mis- former mistress." She murmured, there was no doubt in her mind that Lady Aiwenor would do it in a heartbeat, 'And so would Kaiji, if Nua demanded it.' That made her swallow extremely hard, the Iron Will of Komestra had given herself over completely to her new Lady.
'Can I really though… can I do that? Should I?' She asked herself again, and again, and again. The memory of the violence of Yanmelu that resulted in her head wound came to the fore. A vindictive streak burned within her, the satisfaction of ruling over the city of the man who had made his unreasonable demands of her.
"Power… give up some… and I can gain a whole lot more… my old title back, restore the family name, start a dynasty…" She mused so quietly that she was barely moving her lips. The weight and burden of choices were on her shoulders for the first time in her life, and it was becoming greater by the moment the more she thought of it all.
The sea of uselessness and usefulness, possibility, power, pleasure, ease and work, were like the rising floodwaters that came with the great rains. She began to breath faster and faster as everything there was loomed large before her.
"I need advice. But… I can't very well talk to my Lady. What would she know about something like going from slavery to freedom? But maybe…?" She said to herself, and then thought, 'Someone who has done the reverse. Kaiji. Or Tir… no, I barely know Tir. Definitely Kaiji. But if she tells me to just throw myself at her mistress, maybe put that aside.' The thought was a comforting one, and her racing heart began to slow down its beat to something more manageable.
The urge to get up and walk on, explore the city more with the understanding that it was all open to her to do whatever she wished, was a powerful one. But… with no money in hand… she chose to make the walk back to the Aiwenor estate.
When she made her way back to the estate, there was no fanfare, and little activity as most of the slave warriors were busy either preparing for their departure or gone into the poorer districts where they could engage in the serious business of drinking.
It made her return quiet and uneventful, and Diana was able to go almost completely unnoticed to the private quarters of the most powerful slave in the House of Aiwenor.
The room itself was almost an argument for complete freedom. It was relatively small, containing a simple but functional bed, a work desk, a wardrobe and dresser along with a small table. There was a bookshelf with a handful of titles borrowed from the estate's massive library. The only reason it wasn't the argument it 'almost' was, was that Diana knew the occupant.
'Kaiji… I may not have seen your… change, coming. But that doesn't mean I can't predict anything.' Diana pondered with a shake of her head as she sat down at the table.
She looked at the wall, knowing full well whose room was on the other side of it.
She rapped her fingers on the table impatiently, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The silence stretched and Diana turned to look at the window on the wall. The fact that it had a window was itself a luxury and a statement about the measure of trust that Nua placed in the couple she kept closest at hand. She looked up above the bed and saw a small bell attached to a silk rope, it ran through a small series of loops and through the wall to the other side.
"Always on call…" Diana contemplated, recalling some of the more important slaves in Kaiji's house. 'I wonder where they are… none of them have turned up here yet, so dead or sold elsewhere…'
That's where her head was when the former Iron Will of Komestra entered her little slave quarters and found Diana seated at her table.
"My Lady." Kaiji said, and went to one knee with her head bowed with a deep, sad sigh. "So, you asked for permission to avenge your parents… if the mistress granted it… I know I have no right to fight back."
That caught Diana by surprise. "What?! No!" Diana said, leaping to her feet.
Kaiji raised her head, "Oh, well good." She said in an unflappable way.
"Wait, you thought… and that's how you were going to respond to me if I'd…" Diana put a hand to her face.
Kaiji looked at her through solid red eyes, "I never apologized for killing them, and I never will. But that doesn't mean I was never troubled by it, I'm not all bad. I'm not without conscience, who wouldn't be haunted by cutting the throat of a nursing mother? I just assumed you were waiting for an opportunity, regardless of what you'd said before, and now you had it."
Diana sat heavily back down. "I had that one coming." She gave a sharp snort, "Given the way I've always played with my prey and strung them along, I suppose it would make sense you'd come to that conclusion. But no. I meant what I said, my parents were idiots and got what they deserved. They knew the risks. Maybe they weren't 'all bad' either. But that doesn't mean they weren't stupid. It doesn't matter that you won't apologize for their deaths, I'd have killed them too if I'd been in your position. So, I forgave you a long time ago, though I'll admit, I wondered sometimes if I could, once I knew the truth."
"Alright, My Lady, so you're not here for revenge… So what can the humble slave, Kaiji, do for you?" The demon-elf asked, betraying only the slightest hint of relief with the relaxing of her steady gaze.
"For starters, you can sit down over here, it still feels strange being 'my lady' to the woman who used to own me, and… I can't say I'm comfortable with it." Diana said, brushing her hair back, clearly ill at ease.
Kaiji's dark purple lips formed a smirk as she got to her feet and came to the table to sit down. "So, now what? I'm yours to command unless I am summoned."
Diana folded her hands together, "You've been on both sides, you were free and powerful, in service to the Prince. And… now you're a powerful slave in a house that is about to be that of a Prince. I'm free no matter what. And now it has just hit me… I don't know what I really want to do. The burden of choice it's… a heavy one. I could take my reward, sell it, buy a title, refuse adoption…" Diana ran through all her thoughts of what to do or not do with her life, and the plans laid out between herself and the Duchessa.
"It was your idea, wasn't it? So, what's the problem?" Kaiji asked with a piercing stare.
"I just don't know if I want to, it's almost like being a slave again… why bother? I just… I guess I want some motherly advice, and you're the closest I've got to that. So… Kaiji, can you help me?" Diana wrung her hands uncomfortably until the dark purple fingers of her former mistress stopped the nervous wringing by laying down over them.
"It's as you say, I've been on both sides." Kaiji replied to her with a gentle, sympathetic voice, her fingers tightening a little.
"Why don't I start by asking you, why did you enjoy the work that I gave you, destroying all those people the way you did? Was it just the sex? Was it the power? Or something else?" Kaiji asked the pointed question, and Diana looked toward the window while she thought over how to answer her.
"I liked knowing the aftermath, what it was for." Diana replied.
"And when you were screwing the overseers to get food enough to feed the other slaves in the pen with you…?" Kaiji's question was sharp, and Diana blushed.
"I…" She began, and closed her ruby lips tight.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, you should be proud of yourself, you filled bellies. You were never 'just' a predator, Diana. Not a… sexual thug just out to harm people and have fun doing it." Kaiji gave a grim laugh, "If you were, your decision here would be easy. Take my home, sell it, open up a brothel or go to some other city and open up a trading outfit and then spend your time savoring all the worst parts of either or both jobs."
Diana, unable to think of an answer, bit her lower lip and looked down at the center of the table.
Kaiji leaned forward, put a finger under the pretty little pale chin and raised Diana's head so that their eyes met. "Listen to me, what helped make you so good at what you did, was having a purpose to it all. Purpose makes you happy, the same as it does for me. I'm not going to tell you to ask for your collar back, you clearly like more autonomy. So enjoy it, but know that for all the sacrifices that you may have to make, on the other side of all that, is an empire. Not just all the power you could ever hope to wield as one of the most trusted noble ladies of the House of Aiwenor, a literal daughter of an empress. But you'll be able to remake everything."
As Kaiji went on, Diana began to see her former mistress in a different way, looking at her with clearer eyes unclouded by her former status, the Iron Will of Komestra's embracing of her new life made perfect sense. 'It was never the power… it was the reason she held it that mattered. Did she really raise me to be like that? Did I become that way on my own…? Is this… me?' Diana wondered in a sudden rush of reverential awe for the woman who stole and gave her life in a single moment so long before.
Kaiji however, was not done. "You loved making a difference. Doing things this way, you will do that. But… it is your life now. You can do what you like with it. I can't, but you have options, and if you 'choose' to follow through with what you've suggested? Then that was your choice to make. Maybe that will make the sacrifices easier, but from where I'm sitting, My Lady, they're worthwhile. Even if we fail… we tried, which is more than anybody else has done other than Sado."
"Things didn't end well then." Diana pointed out solemnly.
"No… but this is different. First we're going to win, and then we're going to fight." Kaiji said with a vicious, predatory smile that in Diana's mind, was befitting the Iron Will of Komestra.
"You have that backwards… don't you?" Diana asked, raising her ink dark eyebrow.
"No, I don't, but you'll understand in time, now, unless you have more for me, My Lady, my Priceless will be joining me shortly for some… private time. And as you're right, you're almost like a daughter to me, I don't think I'll ask you to stay, even if I can't order you to leave." She gave a winsome smile, stood, and when Diana stood as well, she kissed the young woman on her cheek.
"I hope to work with you for many years to come but… if you do go your own way, I know you'll be fine, and I'm proud of who you've become, regardless of your choice, Diana." Kaiji patted the human woman's slender hand a few times, and Diana's cheeks blushed just a little.
"You've never shown me… 'that' kind of affection…" Diana said in surprise, taking a step back.
"I think it's time I did, especially if I don't know if I'll see you again after this week." Kaiji replied, just as the door opened and Priceless entered the room.
"Did I interrupt something?" Priceless asked, briefly stunned by the air of heavy tension in the room.
"No… no I'm just going, thank you, Kaiji." Diana replied, and walked out, nodding politely to Priceless as she exited and closed the door behind her.
"What was that all about?" Priceless asked as she began to undress.
"Just settling some old accounts, it's fine, now come here, let's focus on something else…" Kaiji whispered in a dusky voice, her tongue slipped past her lips and made its way slowly around her mouth. Hunger that only the woman who knew her most intimately could recognize in the slight tightening around her solid red eyes emerged. She then approached to help her lover undress more swiftly.
Priceless felt sure she had another question forming in her head for her lover, but when fingers wandered over her bare flesh and began to urgently expose more of it, she not only forgot what it was, she no longer cared. And from the hunger in the lips that touched her own, Kaiji didn't either.