The Return pt.10
In the city of Salver, Morrigan was once more in the baths of Duke Castellen’s estate being bathed by the two slave girls Elizabeth and Krystyna. Another feast was being held this day and Morrigan was to be forced to attend as usual once she was cleaned.
Mentally, Morrigan was handling her abuse well. Held strong was her belief that Lucien was coming to free her from this hell, but her body was not able to keep up with her mind and spirit. Starvation was a constant and thirst was something she had experienced routinely. Her body was also made to suffer beatings by the guards, by Duke Castellen himself and by many others who decided to express their anger on her. Bottles, whips, fists and weapons of all kinds had been smashed against her now frail body, only for all evidence to be erased moments later by the healing magics of Duke Castellen’s guard Darroll or Head Priest Petor.
Despite everything Morrigan had a few joys in this hell. One of these few joys was hearing others secretly refer to Duke Castellen as Boneless now, as she had continued to prove herself the better, besting the duke in their frequent verbal sparring matches.
Another of these simple joys was the gentle baths and conversations with Elizabeth, even with Krystyna being present for them all.
Elizabeth was gently bathing Morrigan and carrying on a small conversation with her when Krystyna walked into the bath carrying a dress for Morrigan to be dressed in. Soon Krystyna would be grooming Morrigan to Duke Castellen’s preference and decorating her face in makeup, as was her job, but for now she set aside the dress and approached the two of them.
“There you go Morrigan. All clean.”
Morrigan nodded her head and thanked Elizabeth with a friendly smile as she lowered her arms. Elizabeth then helped Morrigan adjust her seating position on the side of the bath so she could rest her legs in the warm water. Unable to freely resist or move in her weakened state Morrigan needed much help and neither women cared to chain her down to the floor anymore. Yet another small joy for Morrigan.
Krystyna had stepped up and begun taking care of Morrigan’s long hair, brushing it out of the pale and gaunt face, when another slave girl walked into the bath carrying a jug of water and a cup. “Here’s her water.”
Elizabeth quickly approached the other woman and took the jug and cup from her before the woman made her exit “Mistress Livia wants me to return quickly so I leave it to you two.” And like that she left causing Elizabeth to walk back over complaining about how the others treated Morrigan, a very common complaint of hers.
After filling the cup with water Elizabeth brought the cup to Morrigan’s lips and allowed her to drink from it freely. Tasting the water Morrigan grinned before coughing briefly. Elizabeth, being the kind soul she was, pulled the cup away until Morrigan ceased her coughing before placing it back against her lips, allowing her to finish the drinking the water in the cup.
“The water those girls have been bringing recently tastes off.”
Curious about Morrigan’s remark, Elizabeth refilled the cup “How does it taste off? It should be from the duke’s well.” Then when she moved the cup towards her lips, Morrigan stopped her “Don’t drink that Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth briefly looked down at Morrigan saying “Why, I want to know how it tastes,” before moving it back towards her lips.
Understanding what Morrigan was saying Krystyna grabbed Elizabeth by the wrist and jerked her hand away from her face.
“What the hells Krystyna? Why’d you do that?”
Krystyna shook her head quietly for a moment “Don’t drink that water.”
“Why?” Elizabeth clearly did not understand and it clear on her face.
“The water is from Mistress Livia, Elizabeth.”
The young woman’s eyes went wide in surprise and she no longer needed to ask questions as she understood just what was being implied. When looking for silent confirmation of her thoughts Elizabeth looked to both Krystyna and Morrigan, who both quietly nodded their heads confirming her thoughts.
Never before had they seen Elizabeth so furious as she snatched her arms away from Krystyna and began to storm away, coming very close to cursing once again “I’m going to Mistress Livia and telling her to stop this madness.”
But she did not make it far as Krystyna stopped her “Don’t you dare Elizabeth. Livia will surely make you pay for it.”
Tears were forming in her eyes as Elizabeth tried to plea “But,” before Morrigan calmly and confidently cut her off “I’ll be fine Elizabeth. You don’t need to worry about me. This poison will not kill me.” She then revealed something to both Krystyna and Elizabeth “Hells they’ve been giving me the poison for about a month now.”
Both women looked at Morrigan with shock on their faces. Neither of them could understand and Krystyna was the one to ask “Is that why your body is so gaunt?”
Morrigan shook her head no “You know that’s from starving.” Then she licked her cracked lips “No the poison is only making the water taste off and giving me the occasional headache.”
The two women continued to stare at Morrigan as they sat down next to her on the edge of the bath with Krystyna demanding an explanation for it all.
“That bitch is trying to kill me for all the trouble I’ve been causing but she doesn’t want to get on Boneless’s bad side by making it to obvious. So she’s using small doses of a very strong poison but she doesn’t realize poison won’t work on me.”
Krystyna spoke up first upon hearing this “How? How can you be immune to poisons?”
Morrigan smiled at her and asked “Don’t you remember the poison I had in my mouth on my first day here?”
With her eyes now wide Krystyna remembered that day clearly before muttering her thoughts out loud “You’re immune because of your life up till this point.”
Nodding her head, Morrigan looked over to Elizabeth and saw a woman clearly wanting another explanation.
“I’ve been trained since I was four to be an assassin and guard in service to my lord. Part of that training was the daily ingestion of small doses of every poison imaginable. Over time you increase the amount and develop immunity to the poison.”
Her smile then grew with confidence “In my case I’ve trained my body with so many different poisons, from those made by man to those produced through magical means, that I’ve become immune to essentially all poisons. I have yet to come across a poison that I was not immune to.”
Clicking her tongue, Krystyna allowed herself to fall backwards onto the warm and damp stone floor. Laying there next to Morrigan with her legs resting in the bath, Krystyna spoke “That explains how you’re able to withstand the feasts.”
Shrugging, Morrigan confirmed the theory but clarified “It had some effect on me early on but I no longer feel anything from them. It’s almost made the feasts boring. Not having something to fight against while lashing Boneless has become annoying.”
Elizabeth fell backwards stretching out next to Morrigan, like Krystyna had done, and stared at the ceiling. This was too much for her and the other two knew it. Krystyna however, almost found Morrigan’s attitude annoying but she enjoyed the entertainment Morrigan provided. So she would continue to help her like this as long as Morrigan kept getting punished.
The three of them quietly laid there on that warm stone floor for some time until Elizabeth broke the silence with light conversations once more. They would continue like this until Tomas came asking for Morrigan as Duke Castellen was now beginning to wonder where she was. The two girls then dressed Morrigan and helped her to her feet so Tomas could carry her to the great hall for the feast.
