The Return pt.07
It had been over a month since Morrigan had heard the howling and cruel laughter of Draekia that echoed throughout the Vyrna. In the time since Morrigan had experienced a treatment beyond cruel and had been witness to more human indecency than she ever cared to know. It was all done in attempts to break her but none of it had succeeded, leaving Duke Castellen perplexed as to just how he would break her.
Looking down from her cross Morrigan saw the woman she had come to know as Bethany, a contemptible woman who clearly had the guard Tomas wrapped around her finger. Morrigan had seen this woman gleefully taking part in the various feasts of Duke Castellen’s and grew to hate this woman with a fervor.
Bethany stood below Morrigan with her arms crossed as she looked up at the crucified woman. Her long brown hair was curled and the cosmetics on her face were rather thick in comparison to the other slave girls, even when compared to the beauty that was Krystyna. Bethany’s clothes were impeccable, accentuating and gaudy to such an extent that it made Morrigan sick. But it was something the duke clearly enjoyed as well.
“I don’t understand you.”
Hearing these words caused Morrigan’s eyes to fall onto Bethany as she continued “You could have everything and more that a woman could want or need, so why?
A grin came across Morrigan’s face as she stared at Bethany. She did not want to respond to this woman before her but knew the perfect answer “Because I don’t need any of this. I already had nearly everything I ever wanted.”
Scoffing at the answer Bethany sarcastically asked “What was missing then?”
Morrigan’s grin became a full smile as she answered “Sharing a bed with my lord.” She then added extra emphasis to the words “A King,” to make sure that Bethany understood the hatred and contempt Morrigan felt for her and Duke Castellen.
Hearing this Bethany turned and stormed off, only stopping when Tomas walked in. She put on her best face and briefly talked to him before giving him a kiss and walking off. Watching from a distance Morrigan felt in painfully obvious that Bethany was playing Tomas.
As Tomas walked up to Morrigan, she rolled her eyes and asked “What do you want?” But her question was answered when she felt her cross being lowered from the wall.
“Duke Castellen wants you cleaned up and dressed in more than rags. Apparently he has a gift for you.”
Morrigan stared at him blankly as she heard this. She found herself unable to come up with any idea of what could be waiting for her. And as Tomas removed her from the crucifix she asked “What does Boneless have planned this time?”
Quickly securing her hands behind her back, Tomas answered “I’m unsure. He’s been spending a lot of money this past week.”
As he pushed Morrigan through the halls of the estate Tomas asked “What’s going on with you? You haven’t resisted in over a month now. It makes me feel uneasy.”
Morrigan looked over her shoulder and answered with a smile “It’s better for me to stay put and wait for rescue. My lord will have an easier time finding me here than if I escaped.”
“You’re still holding out hope for rescue?”
Scoffing at his question Morrigan told him “I’m not hoping for a rescue, I’m waiting for it. I know for certain my lord is on his way and once he arrives everyone here will learn what terror actually is.”
All Tomas could do in response to this was quietly push Morrigan forward. He did not understand why she was so adamant about her rescue, or even who this lord of hers was but he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Ever since she had stopped actively resisting he had felt uneasy and he found that feeling only growing stronger as time went on. It was as if something inside of his was warning him of impending doom but he could not understand why that was.
Was Morrigan telling the truth? Was her lord coming to enact his wrath upon them for their transgressions against her?
It was becoming all so tiring for him and he found himself wishing for her quick rescue or her finally breaking. It didn’t matter which as long as this constant feeling of unease went away.
But these feelings and misgivings did not keep Tomas from being true to himself “I apologize for hitting you like I did.”
Morrigan cannot help but roll her eyes as she tells him “It’s been over two months Tomas. Don’t feel the need to apologize for that now that we’re finally alone again.”
He pushed her forward a little harder now “Don’t. I wanted to apologize, so I did.”
She smiled as she practically skipped forward “You really should leave while you still have a chance Tomas. It would be a waste for someone as kind as you to be slaughtered with the rest of the swine. And I’m sure I can forget about you even being here before I’m saved.”
A groaning response was all Morrigan could hear coming from Tomas as they continued towards the now all too familiar bath.
Once inside the bath Tomas connects Morrigan’s restraints to the mechanism in the floor as usual and tightens it just enough to keep her from moving. As he does this Morrigan looks around the bath and finds a group of about ten girls she did not know the names of alongside Krystyna and Elizabeth.
“Duke Castellen wants her cleaned and dressed properly.”
Immediately upon telling the girls what was needed Tomas left the bath not wanting to stay in the bath while they were there. Unlike most of the guards he was clearly uncomfortable coming into the bath while the girls were there. It was the reason all of the girls thought he was too much of a good of a person to be working for the duke.
But once Tomas had left all the girls except for Krystyna and Elizabeth quickly greeted Morrigan before leaving themselves. These ten girls were the only other ones that were respectful of Morrigan and showed her any sort of kindness. But they did not know what Morrigan did. They were not aware of the monster on his way to rescue Morrigan, even with her continually telling them so. With how they treated her, Morrigan began to wonder if she should ask her lord to spare their lives.
With everyone else gone Elizabeth approached Morrigan asking “How are you holding up? You were up there much longer this time.”
Morrigan looked away from the petite woman as she answered “That’s because Boneless can’t take someone telling him the truth. If he could he wouldn’t be such a disgusting swine.”
Holding back her chuckling with a scoff Krystyna walked up telling Morrigan “Keep saying things like that and you’ll just keep being punished.”
Despite what she was saying Krystyna agreed with what Morrigan said. She just would never say it out loud herself. Risk her own safety and health just to embarrass the duke like that was something Krystyna would never do. But at the same time Krystyna greatly enjoyed watching Morrigan struggle as she was. Watching her get punished for every little thing was something Krystyna found entertaining.
Even with Krystyna’s best acting Morrigan knew something was up with her but did not care to find out what it was. No, whatever Krystyna was hiding did not matter as Morrigan knew she wasn’t one to secretly work for the duke against others. Numerous times her mask had slipped giving Morrigan some small hints as to what lied behind Krystyna’s carefully created mask.
“He’ll get what’s coming to him and I’ll be free. All that he does to me will be paid back once my lord arrives.”
The wicked grin Morrigan had across her face was disturbing for the two women and caused Krystyna sneer as she turned to walk off “I’ll get her clothes. You bathe her Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth complained but she couldn’t do much more as Krystyna walked out of the bath leaving the hard work to her.
Turning back to Morrigan, Elizabeth said “Guess I’ll be taking care of you again Morrigan.”
Morrigan’s wicked grin softened and morphed into a gentle smile as she nodded her head accepting Elizabeth’s help with bathing. Seeing the soft and gentle side of Morrigan return, Elizabeth smiled back as she gathered all that was needed to bathe the filthy Morrigan.
The soft hands of Elizabeth gently bathing Morrigan had become a familiar sensation by now as the two of them engaged in light conversation. Morrigan found this to be one of the few pleasant and enjoyment things since she had been captured. The pleasantness felt was only matched by the obvious skill Elizabeth had and several times Morrigan had asked Elizabeth to teach her some of these tricks. After all it would serve to broaden her skillset in serving her lord Lucien if he ever requested her be more than just his personal guard and servant.
By the time Krystyna returned with the clothes Elizabeth was drying off Morrigan’s body. Walking up to them Krystyna tells Elizabeth “You really shouldn’t be getting so close to her. At the rate she’s going, she’ll be dead before long.”
Stopping what she’s doing to look at Krystyna, Elizabeth tells her “I don’t care. I like Morrigan and know she’s a good person at heart.”
“Despite everything she’s done?”
Elizabeth nodded her head yes causing Krystyna to roll her eyes as Morrigan said quietly “Thank you Elizabeth.”
A soft, joyful smile came to Elizabeth’s face as she hugged Morrigan, happily telling her “You’re welcome.”
To Morrigan it felt good having someone like Elizabeth compliment her like that, especially when almost all she hears now are degrading words and threats from those who feel that they are above her. It softened Morrigan to the girl and made her want to protect such an innocent minded person from everything that was happening around them but she knew she couldn’t without sacrificing herself or her own beliefs, and that was not going to happen. No true Dharan would betray another Dharan for someone outside of their people, especially when their feelings for the other were as strong as hers. Love was something Dharans held in especially high regard.
Not wanting to handle Morrigan more than she needed to, Krystyna quickly worked the mechanism Morrigan was chained to allowing her to stand before dressing her in a fine red dress. Then she styled Morrigan’s hair that had grown longer in the time she had been here. All the while Elizabeth continued talking to Morrigan as she aided Krystyna in her efforts.
Before long Morrigan looked like a noble lady of Salver, much to her own dismay.
“I look like an easy woman. No Dharan woman should dress like this.”
The fine red dress she was now forced to wear was form fitting and quite revealing of her chest, something Dharan clothing did not do. Neither Elizabeth nor Krystyna could understand her complaint as this was just normal clothing to them, made of finer material than a peasant could normally afford.
“You can’t even ride a horse in this. What’s the point of clothing if you can’t ride horses in it? You might as well wear nothing if this is your only option.”
Unable to believe the continued complaints from Morrigan, Krystyna answered “You can ride a horse in this,” before giving a quick demonstration of riding side saddle while standing as Morrigan stared at her blankly.
“That’s not how you ride a horse. What in the six hells is wrong with you? I know people here in the east can ride horses correctly, so why can’t you?”
Never before had Krystyna wanted to hit someone more than now. But as she clenched her fist and bit her tongue Elizabeth spoke up, surprising Krystyna, asking curiously “Then what do women in your homeland wear?”
Looking at Elizabeth both Morrigan and Krystyna could hear the combined curiosity and annoyance, something neither had heard from her before. Despite her surprise however Morrigan thought through on how to answer Elizabeth’s question.
“First we would never reveal our chest like this, nor would our arms be this uncovered.”
Morrigan then looked towards her legs as she continued “Our clothing is never this restrictive or short. Why are my ankles showing? It’s ridiculous.
“And we wear pants beneath our skirts so that we may ride comfortably without having to worry about exposing ourselves. This is just exposing yourself for no reason.”
Then as she lifted the skirt of the dress Morrigan kicks her feet out and complains about her sandals “What the in the hells are these? These can’t possibly be comfortable or useful for wear throughout the day. Why not just wear proper boots? You can’t possibly ride horses in these.”
Both women found themselves annoyed by Morrigan’s complaints and could understand any of them. But as Morrigan continued Krystyna interrupted her “Not everyone is from the wild like you. Some people like to dress comfortably and feel beautiful.”
Morrigan once more looks at Krystyna with a confused expression asking “How is this comfortable? Or beautiful? I feel like I’m trying to seduce a customer. Not even a woman trying to make her husband come to bed would wear this.”
No longer willing to listen to Morrigan’s complaints, Krystyna walked by her towards the doors saying “You damn wild woman,” before stepping out and shouting for Tomas.
Within seconds Tomas had arrived and began pushing Morrigan back through the estate after she quickly thanked Elizabeth for her help once more.
As she is pushed through the estate Morrigan asks “Still no thoughts on what Boneless wants from me this time?”
“Most of the guards have gathered on the south side of the estate. Several noble guests have arrived as well. Whatever Duke Castellen is planning it’s rather large and meant to finally break you.”
Morrigan sneered at this saying “He can try all he wants I’d sooner bite off my tongue then let Boneless get what he wants from me.”
Tomas sighed hearing this. He could not understand Morrigan’s refusal but he was reminded by his own thoughts that he found something curious about her.
“How come none of the apothecarial methods used on you have worked? I’ve never seen anyone withstand such heavy exposure before.”
Looking ahead Morrigan held her head high as she answered “Since I was four I’ve been trained to serve as a guard to my lord, like all servants of his.
“I in particular was trained by my master to move with stealth through shadows, to attack weak points with poison or weapons as an assassin. If need be, to serve as a warrior as well.
“As such, ever since I’ve begun my training I’ve been forced to ingest small doses of various poisons to build immunity to them. It’s why my eyes are the color they are and why Boneless’s methods have very little effect on me.”
As he listened to this Tomas came to a conclusion and sought to confirm it “I assume the poisons were more than just ones manufactured by the means of man. I don’t see certain ones being less effective just because your body became immune to man-made poisons.”
A smile came across Morrigan’s face as she looked over her shoulder and confirmed “Yes. There were magical poisons as well.”
Before Tomas could process it all, Morrigan continued “You wouldn’t understand the pain of having accidentally used a little too much in such training. It can feel like your own insides are trying to kill you, or like your blood suddenly became fire. None of it is pleasant and without proper attention it could have been fatal.”
Tomas could not understand what would possess people to make a small child go through all of that. And why did she sound so proud to have gone through it all?
Sensing his uneasiness, Morrigan tells him “Don’t let it bother you Tomas. I’m the last to be trained like that. Unless others wish to serve my lord then the training will die with me and the secrets held lost forever.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
As soon as Tomas said those words more questions came to his mind “What about the other servants? Are they trained similarly to you?”
Morrigan thought for a minute before answering with more information than she was asked for “I’m not sure. Most began their training as children as servitude to the king is a familial occupation. Once the king has brought someone into his service that person’s immediate family joins them in service to the crown. As it is a high honor to serve our lord, very few actually leave his service and many generations of the same family would serve him. My family is a great example as we’ve served his family since his great-grandfather Orias Salvatal the Twelfth and that was sometime over twenty-six hundred years ago.
“But to your original question Tomas, I know of no others that ingested poison as part of their training. Most became warriors trained in direct combat and dialogue. Scholarly pursuits were more often encouraged by the senior servants rather than reckless pursuits of ability like what I went through with my master.”
She then looked over her shoulder once more at Tomas and smiled “After all, what use is an exhausted or dead guard?”
Tomas understood a little more now about Morrigan and why she is the way that she is. It seemed to him that being trained to kill since childhood and even if she didn’t say it, scholarly pursuits, had made her more than confident in herself and her abilities. He even began to understand just why she was so loyal to her lord despite living in that dark wasteland.
But as the words about her lord’s great-grandfather flashed in Tomas’s mind he looked at her with his eyes wide asking “Just what is your lord?”
The smile upon Morrigan’s face changed from soft and confident to wicked as she turned to face ahead of her leaving the words “You’ll see,” to hang quietly in the air between them, even as the doors leading outside began to open before them.
Once outside Morrigan looked around and saw many of the guards already there looking at her with wide and wicked smile. Alongside them she saw many nobles that she had come to memorize the faces of dressed in their finery.
With all their eyes on her Morrigan sneered at them until she heard a voice speak up “You really surprised all of us with how resilient you’ve been but I’m sure this will break you.”
Quickly looking to her right Morrigan finds Darroll and smiles at him.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you Darroll. First opportunity I get, I’m removing those hands of yours before fixing you.”
Instantly Darroll’s smile vanishes. Morrigan may have been smiling happily but her eyes were like death itself, causing him to slip back into the crowd and disappear.
Tomas continued pushing her forward as he said “Ignore him,” but he too, was pushed out of the way by other guards on orders from Duke Castellen.
These new guards roughly grab her by both arms and forcefully push her towards Duke Castellen. The crowd follows close behind as they seem eager to see just what’s about to happen. Even the duke was smiling widely as he watches Morrigan be forcefully pushed towards him.
Holding his arms out to his side, Duke Castellen tells Morrigan “Well there my little girl, since the feasts aren’t enough to convince you and you seem immune to my grand charms, I have decided on a new approach.” The duke’s grin grew in its wickedness as he continued “And I think you will appreciate this one.”
Morrigan scoffed at the duke and the wicked tone of his voice as she continued to look down at him even while standing next to him.
“You call me a little girl but now that I’m standing next to you Boneless, you resemble swine even more.”
Duke Castellen tried not to grimace and to keep smiling up at Morrigan but the skin around his eyes revealed his true feelings as he motioned to his guards to bring forth the surprise.
“I was told you are really attached to horses and that you consider Panno the father of your people.”
“Mother, Boneless. Panno is the Mother-Goddess of my people.”
With his eyes rolling Duke Castellen continues speaking as a group of horses is led to them by several of his guards.
“I am going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”
Despite the obvious threat from Duke Castellen, a smile came across Morrigan’s face as she watched these majestic and proud horses with coats of bay, chestnut, various roans, leopard, white and black being led towards them. Her smile was something she had no control over as it was natural to her, as it was to all Dharans. Just the sight of horses was enough to make her feel happy and content.
This happy and content smile of hers was noticed by everyone but quickly changed to worry as she noticed the glint of light off of halberds, poleaxes, spears, axes and swords. As she noticed this her muscles tensed and she tried to jerk free from the guards holding her but the guards tightened their grip on her as the duke approached the horses.
Morrigan began screaming at the horses in the Dharan tongue begging for them to break free and flee as Duke Castellen reached up to a chestnut horse and began stroking its blazed face.
“Horse really are amazing aren’t they? Such simple creatures, yet so useful.”
Horror fills her face as Morrigan understands just what the duke’s plan is. She begins struggling the guards holding her as she continues screaming at the horses to flee but she cannot overpower them. Her eyes shoot around to everyone surrounding her and finds that all the faces continue to smile as she continues resisting and screaming at the horses, while returning her horrified attention to the duke.
While looking at Morrigan, Duke Castellen says “They are even wiling to die if their master commands them to.”
Morrigan’s might as she resisted caught the guards holding her by surprise but they were still able to maintain control over her as her voice tore from her throat in her native Dharan tongue “Flee! Flee horses of Panno, flee. These men mean to slaughter you like mad beasts.”
Laughter breaks out from the gathered crowd of nobles. Guards and the duke’s slave women as Morrigan continues screaming at the horses in the Dharan tongue. To them her words were nothing more than the gibbering of a madwoman desperate to prevent the coming scene. But a few found themselves intrigued and began listening carefully to her words as Morrigan continued to urge the horses to fight back and flee from the cruelty about to be inflicted upon them.
The horses are slow to respond to Morrigan’s words but as tears begin to fall down her face and blood flies from her mouth with each screamed word many begin listen and grow restless. With the stomping of hooves and neighs of stress many of the horses begin pulling on their leads trying to get away from the humans holding onto them. Seeing this Duke Castellen nods his head to his guards.
Watching on in horror Morrigan saw a glint of light off the halberd as it was quickly lowered into the neck of the chestnut horse standing before Duke Castellen. The horse cried out in pain and tried to resist and flee but it was too late as the guard pulled back his weapon before raising it once more. With a wicked smile the halberd fell once again, this time chopping deep into the horse’s neck.
Morrigan’s cries filled the senses of everyone around as she was forced to watch the slaughter of animals her people considered to be almost sacred.
As the chestnut horse was slaughtered, the other fourteen resisted with greater energy and ferocity. Stomping, kicking, bucking, and biting, the horses did it all in a great effort to avoid their murder.
One horse reared up and clubbed a guard in the head with its hooves, before being stabbed with a poleaxe and collapsing backwards onto a guard killing him.
Another horse managed to catch a guard in the jaw with a kick, not only snapping his jaw but his neck from the force of the kick.
One guard was knocked down by the horse he held tightly onto before being trampled to death. His armor would have saved him had he been wearing his helmet.
The gathered nobles all watched in horror as Morrigan continued to scream at the horses, urging them to flee east. In the east they would find people like her and would be safe from such slaughters.
But for five horses they would not make it as the other ten successfully escaped, trampling a nobleman to death, who had sought to stop them by standing in front of them.
With the horses having fled Morrigan turned her screams of sorrow and desperation into vile hatred and curses. Dharan obscenities and curses filled the now stormy air as Morrigan directed her fury and hatred to Duke Castellen, his guards, his slave women and the other nobles. The men holding her were now dragging the heavily resisting Morrigan back through the crowd without orders as she had begun grabbing for the sheathed swords resting on their hips.
As she was dragged away Morrigan watched as one of the guards approached the wounded white horse with a black blanket and spots, as it lay on the ground unable to flee or even stand with its legs having been mangled by a guard’s weapon. She watched as the guard drove his sword deep into the horse’s heart killing it even as she ceased her curses and obscenities to urge healing magic be used upon the creature.
Duke Castellen ordered many of his men to pursue the horses and capture them before they caused trouble.
As those guards pursued the horses, many of the others were forced to tend to the injuries and corpses of the others. Aside from the noble and the initial three guards killed, three more were found to be dead alongside many injured.
While continuing her struggles as she was dragged back through the crowd, Morrigan watched as a noblewoman walked by with a wicked grin. This woman, Morrigan recognized as the one who had taunted her during the initial feast. Without a word needing to be said Morrigan knew she was the one who had brought the horses.
If any there had spoken Dharan, Morrigan might have found her tongue missing for the vile things she screamed at the noblewoman.
But as the woman was led away by her husband, a confident smirk came across her face further angering Morrigan, who continued her vile and furious tirade towards everyone there. Her fury unlike any they had ever seen or heard, many of the guards began to wonder just who was truly more terrifying, Morrigan, Duke Castellen or their Captain Gregory.
Several more guards rushed to aid those holding back Morrigan and quickly drug her inside. The last thing she saw of the outside was Duke Castellen staring at her, expressionless. He was unsure of whether to be impressed or furious. But he did know that Morrigan would have to be punished as he looked over the scene surrounding him.
Inside the mansion the guards quickly throw Morrigan back onto her crucifix and attempt to secure her to it as a storm began to brew indoors.
As they try to strap her down to the crucifix, she continued her resistance and her vile rampage of words towards them, the nobles, the slave women but most of all the duke. Repeatedly they beat Morrigan as she struggled against them to get free but in the end she was back up on the wall, crucified. Every one of the guards breathed a sigh of relief as they were finally granted a bit of safety from the terrifying and enraged Morrigan.
Left by herself as she hung from her cross Morrigan’s fury gave way to sorrow as she looked towards the sky only to see the ceiling and began praying to Panno. Tears fell down her face like a heavy rain as she prayed to her mother-goddess begging her for forgiveness and for the spirits of those five horses to experience nothing but the pleasantness of Kurrgan.
Having failed to protect those horses caused Morrigan to feel a deep regret, down to her very bones, as she was unable to control her sorrow at such a failure. For nearly an hour she hung there from her cross Morrigan cried and prayed with a silent storm continuing to brew alongside her.
This continued until Duke Castellen walked into the great hall surrounded by his guards, Gregory and several of his slave harem including Livia and Bethany. The duke had grown furious since the incident earlier and had come to confront Morrigan about it.
“What in the six hells did you do out there?”
Upon hearing the duke’s voice, Morrigan’s sorrow transformed into unbridled fury once more, before her gaze even fell down to the group.
With tears continuing to fall down her face Morrigan began tearing her throat apart once more as she screamed vile curses and obscenities in the Dharan tongue towards the group. But it wasn’t just vile curses or obscenities Morrigan screamed at them, she was also threatening their lives, livelihoods, friends, family and even their very souls with death and destruction. And none of them needed to speak her tongue to understand just what was being said. It was all quite easily understood.
By now Morrigan’s face resembled one of Draekia’s wolves, more so than her own self. A frightened Duke Castellen recoiled from the sight as his guards instinctively reach for their weapons and hold tightly to them.
The only person to not show hesitation or fear was Gregory. Instead he steps closer and watches as Morrigan pulls at her restraints with great might, trying desperately to free herself in hopes that she might be able to kill them.
As they continued to watch Morrigan in her fury they began to feel a chill in the air. Her fury had been made manifest and the storm that had been brewing erupted. The magic power within her swirled around like a furious storm. Various poisonous shades from purples to greens began whipping through the air as Morrigan continued her vile tirade.
What filled the group with the most fear and surprise was not her fury, or the magical display of might but Morrigan entirely ignoring the magical lightning constantly coursing through her body. The magical restraints meant to dissuade the use of magic were working as intended but they were not dissuading Morrigan one bit. There was not even one scream of pain coming from her as steam began to emit from her body.
Gregory quickly ordered his terrified men forward towards the furious storm raging inside the great hall. The storm beat at them like a hurricane as they pushed forward in an attempt to make Morrigan stop.
Once the men were close enough Gregory shouted through the roaring storm to them “HIT HER! KNOCK HER OUT!”
One of the guards reached up with his poleaxe and with the flat side hit Morrigan across her face and head. But all it seemed to do was further infuriate her as the raging storm increased in intensity.
Again and again and again Gregory ordered his men to hit Morrigan with their weapons, until he grew tired of it all and pushed forward himself. He snatched the poleaxe from his man’s hands and smashed the weapon’s hammer head into the side of Morrigan’s head temporarily stunning her.
Quickly she recovered and turned her entire ire towards Gregory as the storm further increased in intensity but Gregory was also quick to respond. Once more he smashed the poleaxe into the side of her head and felt her skull crack through the weapon’s shaft as she finally fell unconscious, giving everyone there a respite from the storm that was her fury.
Blood alongside a clear liquid pour freely from Morrigan’s cracked skull as Gregory shoves the poleaxe back into the hands of his man before telling him “Go fetch Darroll. Quickly! He’s needed to keep her alive.”
Gregory then turned and pointed to a second man and shouted “You go fetch that damned priest Petor. He’s needed to fully heal her.”
With great haste both men rush off to find the two healers. Darroll would keep Morrigan alive until the priest Petor could arrive and fully heal her new injury.
Duke Castellen meanwhile looked as if someone had walked over his grave as he asks “What in the six hells was that? What in the hells filled her?”
His eyes turned to Gregory begging and pleading for an answer without a word needing be said.
“She mentioned that Panno is considered by her people to be their father-god. Perhaps this was Panno’s way of expressing rage at how we treated his horses.”
Looking at the captain of his guard Duke Castellen looked for any other possible answer before scoffing “Please, Panno doesn’t get involved in anything. He’s a damned recluse.”
“Then what other reason do you have sir?”
Not liking the way Gregory is looking at him and not wanting to show his own guard captain fear, Duke Castellen turned and begun to walk away as he said “Her magical ability is greater than we realized and ran wild in her fury. That’s all.”
One of the guards leans over to another and quietly whispers in disbelief of the duke’s words “Her ability must be truly great then because I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
The second guard just quietly nods his head in agreement as Gregory says “Then what is your plan for her Duke Castellen?”
Anger fills Duke Castellen’s voice as he answers while biting on his nails “I’m going to break her. We’re going to have to return to breaking her physically since nothing else is working.”
Stepping next to the duke, Gregory tells him “We’re going to have to cut her food and water rations back again. Otherwise, she’ll have the strength to continue putting on displays such as today’s and I’m not sure those restraints can handle such heavy usage.”
Duke Castellen bites through his nail before nodding his head in agreement.
“Do that then. We’ll break her before long.”
One of the slave girls then leans on Duke Castellen suggesting “Sir why not give her to the hounds? I’m sure they would love to have such a wild beast.”
This woman barely finished her sentence before Duke Castellen slapped her and watched her fall to the ground.
“I did not pay such a price for her just to give her to the hounds you daft woman.”
On the ground the woman looked up with tears in her eyes as she held onto her face. But she quickly shifted in a grovel as she profusely apologized to Duke Castellen for suggesting such a thing.
With her apology Duke Castellen looks up at the sound of running footsteps approaching him. He watches as one of his guards that left to gather the horses runs up breathing heavily.
“My lord.”
Duke Castellen smiles as he asks “Were you able to get them?”
The guard shakes his head no before the duke shouts “What!?”
Taking a few more breaths the guard finally looks up as he answers “That company took them in and refused to hand them over.”
Anger flashed across Duke Castellen’s face as he curses “Damn them.” He then looks back to the guard and asks “You did inform them that those were my horses and that I wanted them back correct?”
Nodding his head the guard answers “Yes sir. But they did not care. When Domminick tried to push past them anyways, they decapitated him sir.”
Everyone’s eyes filled with shock as the guard continues “They then gutted John when he went for his weapon and removed half of David’s left leg when he stepped forward trying to protest it all.”
The duke choked on his words as the guard continued “Then when Nelson reached to pick up David’s leg so it could be reattached they cut several fingers from his hand. Now he’ll never be able to wield a weapon again.”
Duke Castellen then storms past the guard cursing loudly “Damn it all,” more furious over the lost horses than the loss of four guards. His guards and the girls from his slave harem silently follow him out of the great hall.
Livia is among those silently following Duke Castellen as she bites her lip. In her mind she was trying to think of any way that she can use to get rid of Morrigan before she can do anymore damage around here. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, all she knew was that it would have to be done in a way that looked natural as to not arouse suspicion from Duke Castellen.
The one girl, who had been groveling, remained prostrated on the ground for some time before standing and looking up to Morrigan. She curses at the unconscious Morrigan before grabbing and throwing a nearby bottle at her head.
With her anger now satisfied, the girl walks off to rejoin the others leaving a bleeding, unconscious, and near death Morrigan crucified on the wall, alone.
