The Return pt.23
Eagerly Lucien began pushing ahead of the others and leading the way, leaving Krystyna to give out directions to Livia's quarters as she rushed behind him. Very few were left to slow Lucien down anymore and he was quick to remove the obstacles. The main floor of the mansion was now a blood-soaked offering to the gods of death.
As they made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the mansion Krystyna looked over to Morrigan, asking "Have you ever seen him like this before?" Morrigan's answer shocked Krystyna. This was the most she had heard Lucien speak since she was a little girl. And as far as she knew this was the first time he had left his keep in over eight centuries.
Showing her insight and intelligence Krystyna offered Morrigan some advice, "Appreciate this Morrigan, the rest of Vyrna will not."
But before anymore could be said Lucien snapped back "Directions, less talking," causing Krystyna to swallow hard before giving out the next set of directions.
It became apparent as they moved through the second floor that it had become a refuge for those few that had up to this point managed to escape Lucien's wrath. This was rectified rather quickly as Lucien slaughtered them all. Krystyna did not flinch at the brutality on display as she had become desensitized to it rather quickly. Upon realizing this, Krystyna began to worry about herself.
Finally arriving at the door to Livia's quarters, Krystyna was quick to point it out before Lucien told her to step aside. She does so with two large steps and watches as Lucien reaches out to the edge of the door. With one hand Lucien pushes the door open, breaking the door and the locks with great ease.
Inside the last five women tending to Livia turn to face Lucien as the mistress pushes herself up on to her elbows, “Who in the hells are you?”
Looking over the other women first, Lucien turned his gaze to Livia saying, “You must be the bitch, Livia.”
Her face was easily read in that moment as anger flowed through her from the insult. But she did not let it gain any control over her as she measuredly says “Yes, now what do you want?”
Before Lucien can answer, Morrigan steps into the room after him, followed by Krystyna. Livia cursed under her breath before saying “I heard the screams, now I understand why.”
Stepping over to the side of her bed, Lucien said “Good, then you understand why you will die this day.”
The sly survivalist mind of Livia was quick to begin searching for a way out. As her mind worked, she began buying time, “Now wait a moment. We all have something we want. I’m sure we can come to an understanding…sir.”
Surprised by the audaciousness of this woman, Lucien found himself curious as to what she would say next and sat on the side of her bed. Morrigan quietly stands next to the door as Krystyna stands nearby. Neither were sure what was happening, but both understood that Lucien was not going to let the bargaining Livia live.
Blood was running down his armor and stained the bed as Lucien asked "What is your offer seductress?"
Livia puts on her best smile, saying "I can give you half of the duke's fortune, half of his girls and three quarters of his business investments. I know them all and can help you run them as I helped him." Having lived her life as a temptress Livia adds more to the bargain, spreading her legs further attempting to seduce Lucien as she makes other seductive gestures "I'm also quite skilled in other ways and would love to show you."
Lucien raises an eyebrow at the offer. Not one to lie, he admitted “That is very enticing.” He then adjusts his position on the bed, pulling one of his long legs up on to it and facing Livia directly, “But I cannot help but notice you left yourself half of his fortune, girls and a quarter of his investments. What makes you think you should get something out of this besides your life?”
A smile came across her face as her attitude towards the duke changed from how the girls were used to, “He wouldn’t have any of it without me. Marc is…was a fool. Before I came along, he was on the verge of losing everything his father had built and not even his steward Sebastian could fix it.” Her tone then shifted to near arrogance “After I came by introduction from Sebastian, I proved myself to that fool and he granted me control over his business investments and training of his harem. Something Sebastian greatly appreciated as I made his work easier.”
None of the girls could produce a reasonable doubt as to what she was saying. To many, it did not seem that Duke Castellen was an intelligent sort and operated purely based on his own whims at any given moment. That sort of person did not inspire confidence in the girls. But the trio of Krystyna, Morrigan and Lucien could sense something was off and missing here as the duke had many loyal followers.
It was now that Lucien asked, “What do you need from me then?”
The answer appeared quite simple to Livia. All Lucien needed to do was cease his activities here, pull his men back and help clean up his mess in the estate. They could then split everything according to their agreement, leaving the five girls attending to Livia to her before Lucien took his pick from half the girls remaining. The business investments he received would be of his choosing and if all went well, they would make out like bandits with King Richard IV being none the wiser about their agreement.
It was at this moment that Krystyna realized that Livia did not understand what was happening here. She did not know just who she was trying to deal with. This was not some raid by a knight in service to the King of Reval brought about by the disobedience regarding Morrigan. No, this was a rescue of Morrigan brought by a vengeful and bloodthirsty creature.
Morrigan herself wanted to laugh but held herself back with a wide smile on her face. How daft Livia was proving to be when the truth was there in front of her proved to be quite amusing to the emaciated and vengeful woman. The five other slave girls around their mistress were confused as to what was happening as they had already realized that death was before them and there was no dealing with him.
Unable to keep silent anymore, Lucien erupted into laughter before standing from the bed.
"What if I told you there was no military force, that I did all of this myself?"
A chuckle came from Livia before she answered "That's impossible. You would never have made it through all the guards."
Lucien looks over his shoulder at Morrigan and without a word she understands what he is asking. Pointing to one of the women, Morrigan says one word "Her."
Taking a single step, Lucien positions himself near the head of the bed. As he looks down at Livia, he tells her "You do not understand who you are dealing with."
"How could I underestimate," her words were cut off by a tight grip forming around her throat as Lucien's towering frame easily lifted Livia from the bed.
"You shall learn just who you are dealing with."
These words were not in the air long as Lucien's left hand reached out to the forehead of the woman indicated by Morrigan. The tip of an armored finger rests there as fear fills the woman's eyes. Livia kicks and struggles against Lucien's grip, unable to break free or force his grip to loosen. A wicked grin comes to Lucien's faces as he says "Your soul will never forget this lesson. Tûl Lon Ku Cir"
In an instant four slave girls erupt into columns of purple flames. Not one was able to scream out in agony as their deaths were instant. All that remained once the purple flames of Gihen dispersed were their charcoaled remains lying on the ground. The only sounds heard were the horrified screams of the girl Lucien did not bring harm.
The wicked grin on Lucien's face transformed into a wide smile giving Livia a perfect view of his teeth. Her eyes went wide in realization and fear. Lowering her so that they can be face to face, Lucien asked "Do you understand now? You hurt my Morrigan and I will make you pay a thousand-fold."
One woman Lucien is touching cried profusely as Livia with her false red hair struggled against the strong grip of the creature Lucien.
"You probably now understand that everyone else is already dead. The guests, the guards, the duke, the slave girls and you. Only fifteen will live to see tomorrow and you Livia will not be one of them."
Lucien then slammed Livia down onto her bed, cracking parts of the wooden frame as he removes his fingers from the last survivor. Letting go of Livia, Lucien turned to Morrigan ordering her "Find me a spear." His head then quickly turned to face Krystyna and ordered her as well "Take care of this girl."
Quickly both women carried out their orders leaving Lucien there to tend to Livia. Slowly he inspected Livia’s body, focusing on where she had been poisoned. The signs of the poison were still visible as the dark purple blood vessels shown through her skin surrounded by sickly greens and yellows. Impressive work by Morrigan who had very little to poison.
Outside the room with the last slave girl, Krystyna did her best to calm her down and clean her best she could. From inside the room through the open door they can hear Lucien tell Livia “I must admit that you have taken quite good care of yourself. Despite being of middle-age, you appear to have maintained your beauty quite well. If you had treated my servant as Krystyna or Elizabeth had, you would have lived this day, and I may have taken your offer.” His voice then turned cold as he finished “But you lost that chance the moment you decided to bring harm to my Morrigan.”
Hearing a faint giggle, Krystyna quickly looked over to find Morrigan standing on the opposite side of the door, spear in hand. It was apparent that she had been there for a few moments and was happily listening to Lucien’s words. But she would be drug into the room once more as Lucien asked “Why are you waiting? I ordered you to bring me a spear, not stand there listening to me speak.”
Entering the room, Morrigan hands the spear over to Lucien, “Here you are my lord.” Spear now in hand Lucien inspects it momentarily before looking at Livia. Without a word needing to be said Livia understood what was about to happen as her eyes went wide. But before she could even leave her bed, Lucien’s grasp had found her once more.
Slowly dragging Livie across her bed over towards him, Lucien continued speaking “You appear to take great pride in your abilities as a seductress, manipulating men and women alike to do as you will. I assume you were once a high-class prostitute who successfully navigated her way out of the lower rungs of society and through the complexities of the nobility. A commendable achievement.”
Livia resisted the best she could, her nails digging into her bed trying to pull herself free of Lucien’s grasp as he continued “You must be quite proud to have slithered your way into your position beneath the duke. But now I cannot help but wonder what he thought of you and your seductions, if he thought about you at all.”
Not giving her a chance to speak at all Lucien said as Morrigan dug through Livia’s wardrobes, “Your accomplishments fueled your arrogance that would blind you to your death. You thought me a servant of your king and thus someone you could use your skills on. This is why you were able to attempt bargaining with me, though an accepted bargain under other circumstances.”
Pressing the tip of the spear beneath her pelvic region, Lucien leaned in close to Livia’s ear, “You thought yourself better than that damned duke but in the end, you were the same arrogant fools. You should have feared the legends like Count Draeken and your king who went word to me on the duke’s treatment of my Morrigan.”
Before Lucien could force the spear inside of Livia she began to plead with him for just one thing "Please wait. Please a moment. My daughter. I have a daughter. I want my daughter to be safe from the wrath of the remaining nobility. If they learned that I had a daughter, they would seek to kill her or enslave her to strike back at me."
Pausing, Lucien pulled the spear away from Livia and stood straight questioning her, "What daughter?"
Fear had filled her widened eyes as Livia swallowed the lump in her throat. "I have a daughter named Liviana I hid away on a farm outside the city that's owned by a trading company from the east."
"Who is the father?"
The silence that followed suggested that she did not want to answer that question, but that silence served as the answer. "I understand. Did the duke know?"
Shaking her head, Livia answered "No I never told him. I had Sebastian helped me hide my pregnancy and I managed to convince the family that ran the farm to take her in for me. I still visit her weekly."
Lucien briefly looked around the room before returning his gaze to Livia, "You have my word that I will see to it that your daughter is able to reach safety."
A brief prayer was offered by Livia before her thanks were interrupted by her agonized screams as she learned what it was like to be impaled by an expert such as Lucien. The impaled Livia was then mounted to the bed with her on display for all that would see.
Exiting the room Lucien saw a shocked Krystyna who was still mumbling in disbelief that Livia had a secret love child with Duke Castellen. Ignoring this Lucien walked up to the final survivor and asked for her left hand. Quickly he removed the middle finger from it and healed the injury, with the girl's scream bringing Krystyna back to her senses, "What's next? Can we go free now?"
Morrigan would now exit the room fully dressed in the only luxury dress she did not mind saying, "There's still a few missing. Mainly that spindly bastard and Darroll." There was particularly strong venom in Morrigan's words when saying the second name, alerting Lucien to a special hatred she harbored for that man.
A sigh would escape Krystyna when Lucien looked over at her and without hesitation she answered "The spindly bastard is the duke's steward Sebastian. He should be in his quarters on the third floor. Where at, I don't know. Slaves were not allowed on the third floor, but I would assume it was near the duke's personal quarters."
She then took a breath before telling Morrigan "Darroll left earlier today. He went to visit his favorite brothel in the city. It's likely he fled the city with your lord causing so much chaos."
Morrigan cursed loudly hearing this and threw a dagger into the wall of the mansion. Lucien thinks back to earlier in the day before asking "What does this Darroll look like?" After a brief description Lucien curses this time, before saying "I had the chance to kill him. I met him coming out of the brothel and he gave me the directions to the estate."
Those poisonous green eyes of Morrigan's widened upon hearing this information but Lucien was quick to add "I did scar his face," as he motion the cut he gave Darroll on his own face. "He will be found eventually."
Angered by Darroll's escape, Morrigan coldly nodded her head before telling Lucien "I get to kill him when we find him my lord. I gave him my word that I would once I was free."
All Lucien could do was nod his head in agreement before turning to Krystyna "Take this new girl and go meet with the others. You are free to go now."
Krystyna could only stare at Lucien, not believing his words. It was not until he motioned her off with his hands that she offered a grateful bow before turning and dragging the last woman with her. Lucien watched and waited for them to disappear from his sight before releasing the magic barrier around the mansion. He then looked at Morrigan and said, "Let us finish this," before turning towards the next set of stairs leading up to the third floor.
Movement through the third floor was much slower going than they would have liked. There were many doors leading to different rooms. Neither knew what room would hold the duke's steward and so they searched them all. They searched until there was, but two doors left unopened. Lucien picked one at random and threw its door open. Inside was a man kneeling before an altar to the God of the Fourth Heaven Virgintala, Wyldraine.
“I see you’ve finally arrived creature.”
Lucien walked up behind the man and stood there listening as Sebastian spoke on how head been waiting here praying since the first screams rang out after the gate had been destroyed. When Sebastian had finished speaking Lucien remarked “I am surprised to see you worshipping Wyldrain. I would have taken you for a follower of Syver’s cult.”
A smile that could be seen even with his back turned came over Sebastian's face. "I understand why you would think so but no. I prefer Wyldraine's gifts over Syver's and I prefer to carry an Amulet of Esahilia for daily protection."
This was interesting from a dead man but left Lucien with questions over just what type of man he was dealing with. Now exploring the room Lucien asks wanting his questions answered, "How does a bastard like the duke earn the loyalty of someone like you?"
Putting his amulet on the altar, Sebastian slowly stood before straightening out his clothes. When he turned to face Lucien, even with a slight hunch in his older age, Sebastian still stood to Lucien's towering shoulders. Looking up into Lucien's eyes, Sebastian began "My lord may have been a man of great excess, but he was also a man of great promise. He may not have understood every decision he made, but he had great instincts that never once failed him."
Lucien milled about the room looking through the stewards belongings as he listened carefully to what was being said. Morrigan offered a scoff at the information being presented to them but Sebastian ignored her and continued speaking "My lord had heard about me through a rumor of a educated and intelligent man living in a village near his familial estate outside of Salver. After recruiting me into his serving I saw a man that never once made a poor decision. Everything he had ever decided was the correct course of action.
"Livia most likely would have told you that my lord was a fool who was losing everything he had inherited by poor decision making that is not the truth. My lord did not know how to execute his desired plans and so asked my to find someone who could. And so, I brought in Livia to carry everything out. What she thought her own ideas and achievements had already been planted by my lord; they just needed the right care that he was incapable of giving."
The image Sebastian was trying to paint of the duke was not one of foolishness but raw untamed instinct. Something that made Lucien dislike the duke and Sebastian even more. And these feelings were only amplified as Sebastian continued "All of the nobles you killed today were chosen by him. My lord possessed an innate ability to determine who was like him and who was not just by having a short conversation with them. He did not once fail to figure out who someone was."
Interrupting the man Morrigan asked “Then what about taking me? It cost him everything he had and was ever going to have. How was that the right decision?”
Sebastian smiled at her as he admitted "Ah yes that was a mistake. If he had not taken you, he would have become a great king." Despite the admission Sebastian began trying to rationalize how it was not a mistake, once more trying to paint his lord as the epitome of instinct, "But in the end it was the right decision. Not for him perhaps but for the people of the kingdom it was. An entire faction of the nobility was destroyed here today. A faction that in a few years would have been powerful enough to war against the crown and install my lord as King of Reval. If he had feared the legends as King Richard and Count Draeken do, then you would have been set free, and he would have become a king. So, you see in a way it was the right decision as it protected his people from the destruction of a civil war."
Now tired of this Lucien put down the item he was inspecting and said, "You are as much a fool as your lord was." He then drew his sword and, in an instant, cut down Sebastian.
"A fool amongst fools."
Morrigan scoffed once more before adding "Leave it to a whore to learn how everything works around this damned place."
Now finished with cleaning his sword on the dead man's clothes, Lucien sheaths it as he asks, "Are you ready to leave?" Without speaking Morrigan spat on the corpse before turning to walk out of the room.
As they leave Sebastian's quarters, Morrigan moves for the stairs, but Lucien stops by the only door they had not opened yet. Questioning this, Morrigan turned and looks at her lord who answered, "To the victor the spoils."
A smile came over her face as Lucien opened the door to the opulent room that had served as the duke’s personal quarters. Inside they did not waste time and quickly found the most valuable pieces there and gathered them together in a chest that they were also taking. They then repeated this process after returning to Livia’s room as Morrigan did her best to avoid staining her sapphire-colored dress. Artwork, jewelry, clothes and perfumes were taken and put away in the chest before they finally left the damned estate.
Outside the estate's destroyed gates Lucien said to his servant "We will need supplies for you. I want you to make the return trip safely." Morrigan was quick to add to this "We also need to take the horse back my lord. He might still be at the stable if we're lucky." Lucien then threatens the poor stable owner and his family "If he is not, I will make sure the stable owners understand their mistake."
