Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land
Chapter Interlude - Prince Zorzal
The sound of a goblet striking the stone wall echoed through the chamber. Prince Zorzal looked at the messenger who lay prone on the ground. The beast woman didn't deserve his ire, but he didn't care. She'd delivered news that his sister was fine, and that the magic user that had been used was sacrificed in order to keep cover. He cursed as he began to pace the small chamber. It wasn't the palace. Instead it was his manor, the one his father had given him when he became of age. In truth he hadn't stayed in the palace for several days at this point.
He understood what was happening. His father believed that his sister had given them the power they needed to climb to new hights. In doing so she had secured herself as the successor of the empire. Her husband would be a consort at best, and he would hold no true power. That was what would happen now. He was certain that his place would be that of a mere prince. Because of his actions he was removed from the senate, he was removed from the court, and he was removed from all political dealings.
He was given a gilded cage to live in. He had no real power, he could only spend what money was given him, and he was informed that if he stepped out of line the next action would be to ensure that he was to remain locked away in his manor. He wouldn't even be able to escape to the countryside without going through massive trouble. His father had been displeased with him, and the reason was because he'd almost destroyed their alliance.
To him it felt as if his father had lost his fangs. He was no longer a vicious leader, a wyvern ready to strike, but instead he'd become a toothless old bear that was waiting to die of old age. Something that had power, but not really enough of it to do any real damage or danger. He was almost useless. He was slowly getting to the point where he would be prepared to pass the reigns of the empire to someone else, and that someone else was his sister. He looked back at the messenger.
She was one of the beast people, one of the cat people to be specific, and from what he could tell she had become something more than a mere toy. It appeared that she was trained as a messenger, a body guard, and likely a few other things. The moment she had relayed the information he'd hit her hard with the bottle he'd used to pour into his goblet. The strike had been hard enough to knock her cold, and she laid breathing on the floor. Ultimately there was little to be done at this point.
If he left her alone now there would be a light scolding, but nothing else. She was of no real importance, and no one would be too terribly putout by her being damaged. If nothing else she could see it as a lesson to better prepare how to deliver unwanted news. Yes, he should be thanked or giving her a lesson that her employer had obviously lacked in teaching her. She should be thankful to the point that if he wished to take something from her she should be grateful.
He studied the curves of her, his mind going into the darker places that he'd long since accepted about himself. He was a darker being, a darker person, and he accepted that his lusts were not normal. He enjoyed watching those that he chose slowly break. He enjoyed every moment. When he would finally see them fully accept that they were nothing more than playthings, that their entire existence was connected to how pleased he was, that was the greatest thrill.
The knight that escaped, she was one he wanted to see break, but she hadn't. There had been something inside of her, something powerful, that refused to give into the despair he tried to breed in her. He'd sewn the seeds of pain and anguish, but nothing grew. She was not fertile when it came to that. Instead he had to deal with her constantly fighting back. He had to face her faith in the god she served, and it was appalling to see how heavily she leaned to it.
Part of her wished for nothing more than to watch her finally submit, but he understood that was not going to happen. She had proven herself to be of strong character. Physically she was weak, but her character was stronger than he expected. He looked back at the beast woman. If he cut off her ears, and her tail, she would almost look like her. A small smile crossed his lips. She would do. He could potentially feel the delicious feeling of breaking her.
He reached down and grabbed a fist full of hair. With that he began to drag her to the bed chambers. First he would feast his lusts, and then he would begin the delicious process of breaking her down. His guards would report that she left, and they had no idea where she had gone. She simply rode off never to be seen again. Such a story happened occasionally, and when it came to the common born it was accepted. Because truly, who would ask questions over those born without noble or royal blood?
He almost wished that she was awake, but perhaps he could wait to begin the fun until she was. Where was it that he got the most reaction from the knight? Oh, that was right, when he entered her barren entrance. The one that would never conceive. She openly wept after he'd done that. It was the most reaction he'd gotten from her, and yet she didn't break. Perhaps he could try it again on this one. No, it wasn't a mere beast woman. This was her, this was the knight, and she would break for him.
He would see her break. He would see her beg for mercy, and then he would mold her into the servant that he wanted. It would be perfect. She would be perfect, and he would ensure that all saw how easily one of the Brotherhood of Steel broke. An amused sneer crossed his lips as he dragged her to the bed. He pulled her top onto the bed itself. Her clothes weren't right. That wasn't what she wore. Angrily he ripped the cloth she was wearing down her back.
It wasn't right. It didn't look right, and it would be perfect. It would be her. He would ensure that it would be her. She would become his servant, he would prove his superiority, and he would then watch as the rest of the Brotherhood of Steel fell into line. He'd show them that they were nothing. His treacherous sister would watch as her husband lay broken before her. She would weep before he tossed her to those that allied themselves with him. His father would be stripped of power, and he would force him to leave.
He chose his path, and it was the wrong one. He chose the path of ruin, and it was one that would destroy the empire. He could not allow them to travel this path. He had to set them right. He had to ensure that everything would work to his design. He looked at the barely clothed woman before him. The tail had to go. The ears had to go, she had to be perfect. He grabbed an iron that had been given to him by one of the slave masters. The branding iron had multiple purposes. The first was to ensure that the slave was marked for its owner.
The second purpose was to stop any mark from bleeding too much. He stuck the iron into a small fire that was currently going in his fireplace. His entire idea was simple. Ensure that nothing was out of place for his knight. She was going to match perfectly, and she would because she was his knight. He looked at his sword, and the sneer never left his lips. He brought it to the base of her tail. He felt her moving, good, but she couldn't escape. He grabbed the leather lashes that he used for his crops and stretched them out.
Each one was secured around her wrists, her ankles, and finally her neck. If she pulled to hard it would strangle her. He heard the muffle sound of her finally coming around, "Good, you're awake."
She tried to move, but found that she was kept in place, "What are you doing, meow?" she asked, the voice sounding different, "My prince, what is going on?"
"Stop talking," he growled, his voice sounding more vicious than he intended, "You're her! You're Knight Prophet! You will sound like her!"
She shook as he looked at her, "But first, I have to fix you, I have to make you match."
She tried to move only to find that she was restricted, "Please, let me go, meow, please?" she asked, begged, "Please, I've others waiting for me, meow."
The cold steel touched the base of her tail, "No! MEOW! NO!"
It began to bite into her skin, moving between the bone and she screamed. It was lovely, the sound wonderful, and he basked in it. He loved every second of it, and he pulled the sword through, cutting the tail away. He lifted the branding iron and touched the base of her tail. She howled in anguish, she cried, and he ensured the bleeding would not conttinue. Yet, it wasn't quite right. There was a mark on Prophet, one that he didn't cause, likely it was a different slaver. It was a long burn mark on her back. One that looked as if a hot iron had been touched and held. He moved the branding iron, and did the same.
"NO! MEOW! NO!"
"SHUT UP!" he roared befores striking her in the back of the head. He looked at her ears, the sneer returning, "These stupid things are next."
She cried as he brought the sword up to her head, "Move, even an inch, and make me mess up and I will have no recourse than to kill you. I want you to be the same as you were Stephanie, I want you returned to me the same," he said, as he touched her cheek, "I never got to break you, but I will now. I will make you my servant, I will make you my slave, I will make you my personal lover."
She bitterly cried as he sliced through her ear. She held her head still, weeping as he used the iron to stop the bleeding, and then he repeated it. She fell flat, breathing hard, her entire body feeling as if it was so wracked with pain that even the slightest movements hurt. She silently begged the gods that were listening to please help her. To free her, but there was no help. She felt him move, and then she felt him pulling her slightly. She choked, but not badly. She felt the tip of something, and she realized that he planned on breeding her.
She hung her head in shame. She was a personal messenger for a minor noble family. She would never be able to return. He'd ensured that she would never be looked at the same again. She wept, until she felt him pressing. There was no smooth gliding entrance. It was rough, hard, and burned. She felt it as he pressed between her cheeks, and then he entered a place that wasn't meant to be entered. She cried out as he pressed hard until he was inside of her.
"NO! NONONONONONONONONO! MEOW NO!"
He was fully inside of her, and he began to pull back. It felt like he was pulling part of her insides out as he did. She wept, trying to escape, but finding no escape. He felt the way she struggled against him. The friction wasn't completely unpleasant to him, but he knew that it was likely uncomfortable for her. Still, he was with her again. He was with Knight Prophet. He could completely break her now. She could plead to her god all she wanted, and he knew that it would do no good. He listened to her cries, and they began to turn into whimpers. It excited him to know that he was breaking her. He was finally breaking her.
He pulled from her, and he could see the small trail of blood that was leaking from her barren entrance. He laughed as he studied her, but it wasn't a problem. He would simply call one of the healers over to heal that part of her. He looked at her as she lay prone on the bed. She was breathing, she wasn't struggling, and it was almost as if he had already broken her. That wasn't right. She was stronger than this. She withstood all of this, and then she still wouldn't break.
He growled, "No," he said as he struck the bed beside her, "NO! You're not supposed to break now! You're supposed to struggle, you're supposed to defy me! You're supposed to call out to your god and speak that gibberish!"
He growled as he looked at her, "If you value your life you will become knight Prophet. You will become exactly like her, and you will allow me to break you properly. If you do not then I have no use for you."
He studied her prone form. Yes, for common blood she was lovely enough, but not so much that he felt it necessary to keep her. If he wanted a toy that would be different, but he wanted Knight Prophet. He wanted to break her properly, he wanted to ensure that she never left him, and that she remained with him. She had captured his interest, and he wanted to ensure that she understood that she belonged to no one else. She was meant to be his and his alone. His knight Prophet, his Stephanie, would never be touched by another soul. She was meant to be his.
He turned and began to walk out. His anger still hot as he made it to the door, "When I return I expect you to be her."
The Lower Noble Messenger (Mizu)
Pain wracked her body. She laid on the bed, and she hurt in ways that she couldn't describe. He'd used her, badly, and he'd broken her. She felt something wet coming from her anus, and it scared her. He'd marred her, taking her ears, taking her tail, and it left nothing for her. There was another sound, and she prepared herself for the worst, but instead there was gentle hands untying her wrists and her ankle.
She groaned as she felt the strap come loose from her neck. Those same hands that touched her made her lay still. She felt something else, a small amount of power flowing from her. That power flowed into her, and she could feel herself healing. The feeling of blood that was coming from her anus stopped, and she felt the horrible tightness of the burns sooth. Finally the hands made her sit up.
She did, and when she did she looked at the one that had done so. The girl was a member of the fox tribe. They were known to be mystics, but there were so few of them. The girl gave her a slight nod, "You are safe now," she said as she looked at her, "I am Kaede, personal servant to his highness, and I have come to heal you. Do not think of escaping. Doing so will only incur his wrath. He is the prince, and as such he still has a great amount of power."
She shook her head, "My home, meow," she said as she laid there, "I was hired by the Starlight Noble house, meow. I have a job, a home, and I have someone there waiting for me, meow."
Kaede shook her head, "You have nothing waiting for you now. All that awaits you is the pleasure of the prince. If it is his pleasure to keep you alive, then you will live, if it is his pleasure to kill you then he will kill you. Eventually he will be stopped, the things he does will stop, but it is not now. I have seen, and I know, it is not now."
The catgirl studied her, "I want to go home, meow," she said, her voice wavering, "I want to go home, meow. I'm not supposed to be here, I want to be at home, please, please let me go home, meow."
She watched as the fox girl shook her head, "You don't understand," she said as she studied her, "If you leave then whoever is waiting on you will suffer. The prince will ensure that they suffer. Is it worth it for that? Is having them suffer worth it?"
She shook, "He'd protect me, meow."
There it was, the hope she had came back, he'd protect her. He swore that he would. He was a mere baron, barely a noble, and yet he promised that he would marry her. He loved her, and she was ruined now. She believed that he would forever hate the prince, but that he wouldn't blame her. That wasn't his nature. Instead her sweet Lolan would protect her. He swore that he'd always love her, that they'd be together forever.
She started to get up and she looked at Kaede, "I can leave on my own, meow," she said her steps clumsy and awkward, "But I need to leave, please, meow."
Kaede studied her for a moment and then gestured toward the window, "The windows are the only places where there are no guards. Once you are at the ground you will have a few moments before they notice you. Escape into the slight forest that surrounds the manor, it isn't large, and it isn't dense, but it might provide enough cover for you to escape."
She moved toward the window, and she opened it. She looked back inside and gave a grateful smile, "Thank you, meow."
The moment she was gone the door opened, "Did you give her back hope?"
She lowered her head, "Yes my prince," she replied, her voice full of regret, "She believes that there is someone that will protect her."
He let out a vicious laugh, "Then I will let her make it back to them. When she sees whoever it is fall, her hope will be lost."
As the prince left the room Mizu made her way across the field. Just as Kaede had said she had time before she was noticed. In that time she made her way to the shallow forest that surrounded the prince's manor. She dove into the tree line, and she made her way into the densest part of the small wooded area. She did her best to appear to simply disappear. Her entire purpose was to get back home. She had to return to Lolan, back to the Grayrat estate. Lolan was a Notos Grayrat, and while they had a repetition of being peculiar she believed her beloved Lolan when he said that he loved her.
She moved with a purpose once it was obvious that she had managed to avoid those that could be following her. With her ears gone it was more difficult to hear, but her sense of smell was still far better than that of a mere human. She could smell the woods, and she could smell those that were starting to enter the woods. Without her lovely tail she couldn't balance correctly, but she managed to make it into the trees. Her plan was to move above the sight of those that would be following. She wanted to be above them, far enough above them that they wouldn't see her.
She had hopes that they would think that the sounds of the trees rustling would be that of the wildlife. She moved toward the edge of the wooded area, and there she saw the outlines of the city. It was a short distance to the first of the buildings, and from there she would make her way further in. She jumped down, hunkering down as much as she could, and she moved as silently as she could. She listened as best as she was able, and she used her nose to sniff scents around her.
It would be a while on foot, especially if she was attempting to avoid detection, but it would be worth it. The first place she was going to was Akusho. The slums were dangerous to be sure, but the Brotherhood of Steel had made some improvements there. She'd heard from some of her old friends that they had changed things, made it safer, and taken out the gang leaders that had attempted to keep the place in a stranglehold. She moved toward it, keeping quiet, trying to keep from being detected, and the entire time she treated it as if she was being followed.
She purposefully chose winding pathways that were easy to conceal oneself in, and she weaved in and out of view. The first chance she had she stopped and looked at the laundry hanging between two buildings. These were the simple clothes of poor commoners. Those unlucky enough to not be chosen by a noble house to serve. She felt horrible for taking them, but there was no choice. She removed a skirt, a loose fitting shirt, and a hood. It was a little big on her, but she tightened it some.
She didn't want to expose her figure, but she wanted to hid who she was. She moved as silent as a tomb as she made her way. Each step was done on a place that would be difficult to track. Akusho was a dirty place, but the cobblestone streets were usually surprisingly clean. It wasn't for any other reason than for thieves to be able to hide easier. It was a chance for them to blend into a crowd and disappear. Most of the time if there was a thief that escaped into Akusho the guards wouldn't even bother following them. They would post wanted posters outside of the slums, and if he reentered the areas where he was wanted they would grab him then. She hopes that the same would apply for her. That she could escape from the prince here.
She listened to the sounds around her, doing her best to keep from becoming too relaxed. Doing so would be a mistake, and it was not a mistake that she wanted to make. No, she wanted to make it to Lolan. She wanted to be with the one that would protect her. The one that promised that he would always love her, that she would be safe with him. She saw one of the few people that she trusted, and she moved toward her. She moved closer to the harpy, trying to look as normal as possible.
"Kyia," she said, her voice low, "I need help, please."
Kyia looked at her, and then the harpy used the strange knuckle that was in the bend of her wing to move the hood. She gasped as she looked at her head. A look of quiet rage took her, and she shook her head, "Who did this to you?" she asked, her voice hard and cold, "Whoever it did it is a walking deadman. They just don't know it yet."
She breathed out, "The prince," she whispered, "He captured me, called me a strange name, and tried to make me into another girl. He did this, all of this, to me."
She finally lost the battle with her emotions, allowing them to spill over as she began to weep, "He cut off my ears, my tail, and then he… Kyia, he forced me!"
The harpy stood there for a moment, and then she looked around, "Come with me," she said as she motioned toward a building, "I want you to tell this to the boss."
She followed her into a building where a blond headed woman was working near what looked like a living corpse. The living corpse was looking at a few individuals, and he was making recommendations about how to treat them. He looked up at them, and she saw a look of understanding on his face. It wasn't pity, but understanding. It was as if he'd seen what happened to her before.
"Another patient?" he asked as they neared, "Looks like she escaped a slaver."
The woman studied her for a moment, "What's your name?" she asked as she neared her, "And what happened to you?"
She sniffed, "My name is Mizu, and if I tell you, can you help get me home?"
She nodded, "I'm Sentinel Sara Lyons. I promise on my honor that we will protect you, and we shall ensure that you return to your home."