"Oh... right... sorry; I kinda... forgot about that." Maria looked both relieved and a little sheepish. The propensities of Qadiran nobles was somewhat memetic around parts of Oppara.
She was rather stunned when Safina asked her question. "Well, I, um... I'm not sure. It isn't casual at all, I can tell you that. Um... I can't really put it into words. Spending time with you - no matter what we're doing - is wonderful. You're smart, beautiful, getting me to contemplate doing things that used to scare the hell out of me... I don't want that to end."
"I don't want it to end, either," Safina says solemnly. "But we both know this won't last. Once you finish your task here, the princess will call you back to Meratt for your next assignment. And I can only take a leave of absence from my responsibilities for so long. So... What are we to do?"
"Well... you could work for me? The same way Kara, Sasha, and the other agents do? I know it would keep you away from home for a while - and I don't know what your employment situation is, but... it's the first thing that came to mind, my friends might have other ideas. We have time to figure something out."
"So," she shifted forward, close to Safina, "until we figure something out, I say we make the most of the time we have." Drawing Safina in for another kiss, Maria found a more enjoyable way to spend their afternoon than worrying about the future.
"Oh wow... where has this been all my life?"
Zhi leans in close and kisses her wife again. This kiss is slower, but more forceful. When she pulls away, she rubs her thumb across Melodie's lower lip. "I was going to say the same thing about you," she says in a breathless voice.
She reaches out and with a finger traces a path from Mel's temple down to her jawline. "Cherry blossoms," she says after a moment. "You don't need anything to make you more beautiful, but cherry blossoms here," she says, retracing the path she touched. "Would highlight the beauty you have." She then leans in and duplicates the path with her lips. Although, the path her lips follow continues down the woman's neck.
The first thing Zhi becomes aware of are the bars. She knows them well. She's only seen them twice in the waking world, but they've made many appearances in her dreams. She feels helpless that while deep down inside she knows it's a dream, the feelings that accompany it are real. The pain is real.
She reaches out to the bars with familiarity. She knows just how they feel. They look rough and abrasive, but hundreds of years of human hands grasping them have worn them into an almost liquid smoothness. Despite the deceptively smooth feel, they are unyielding. She pulls on the single door, but she knows what she'll find - it's locked securely. Tugging on the door awakens the pain in her side, the grinding, painful sensation of broken ribs rubbing against each other.
On the other side of the bars, over against the stone wall is a small crude table. On it, she can see some of her tools, but they look worn and rusted. And out of reach.
Trickling into her awareness are people on the other side of the bars. They're faceless, but she can feel their disdain and dismissal. Unable to resist, she calls out for them to help, to hand her her tools so she can open the door and escape, but they each turn and slowly exit the archway leading to freedom.
One face she does recognize, though she knows she won't remember its appearance once she wakes. The woman in the green dress looks at her in sadness and shakes her head.
"Mother? Please?" she calls out. But the woman turns and leaves as well. "No, wait. Come back!" she calls out to the woman's back as she exits the chamber.
"Oh little Zhi," her father says. She realizes that he's there as well. His face is filled with sadness and disappointment. "Father? I didn't mean to get caught. I was just so tired, and I didn't get a chance to prepare." she mumbles out the excuse, but she knows that he puts no weight in such things.
"Why would you humiliate me like this," he says, his voice dripping with disdain. " I expected so much more from you. You are capable of so much. I can't bear to even look at you here."
"I can do better, Father. Just hand me my tools and I can show you."
"I cannot, little one. We must all endure the consequences of our failures. You failed, so this is your reward."
The man turns to leave.
"I'll do better, Father. Please don't leave me here!"
He's gone and Zhi falls to her knees, still grasping the bars. All the people are gone now. She's alone.
The scent of stale wine reaches her nose and she knows he is close. The crying of a baby echoes from somewhere. Is it a baby or is it a child - it's hard to tell.
"Hello, my love," a beautiful voice speaks.
"Mel?" Zhi says looking up to see the woman standing alone next to the table. Hope rises in her. Maybe this time will be different; Melodie is here. Her belly swollen with child, she glows with an angelic aura. "Oh, Mel. Please, hand me those tools and we can get out of here."
"It's too dangerous, my love. I can't do it."
"It's not. Please Just hand me one of those and we'll be fine."
"One of these?" Melodie says, picking up one of the larger files. The tool is rusty, jagged, and bloody. As the blood on the tool stains the woman's hand, Zhi can see that the blood is Melodie's. She notices now that the entire bottom of Melodie's dress, below the swelling of her belly, is soaked in it.
"No, this is too dangerous. I can't risk it," she says again. She picks up the rest of the tools and Zhi can see that they're all covered in sharp edges and blood.
The crying grows louder as Melodie makes her way towards the exit. The scent of stale wine grows stronger.
"It's too much of a risk." her voice says, echoing in the now empty chamber. "I must put a stop to it."
"No! Wait, Mel! Please don't ... " Zhi cries out as the crying is abruptly silenced. "No. She didn't do anything wrong."
A hand touches her shoulder.
"Now there's a sweet lad."
...
Zhi wakes and sits up soaked in sweat. She closes her eyes as the beating of her heart slowly subsides. The tears swell and roll unfettered down her cheeks.
Her breathing slowly returns to normal. She lays back down and moves to pull her wife close. Sleep is elusive, however.
As the ladies take their morning meal, Zhi looks nervously at her wife before turning to Zileska.
"Umm ... Zil? Would you have some time later today to sit down with us? There are some ... things ... I'd like to talk about."
"I can't cope with this any more." She says, fanning herself with a towel. "Just too hot. Would you like to move to the plunge pool?" She asks with a slightly pleading tone.
Shortly afterwards she scampered down a short corridor and leaps into a pool of cold water. This is followed by a delighted shriek as her overheated body is engulfed by the cold water. When Zhi joins her Meldoie is paddling around gently in the pool, enjoying though cooler water and the sensations of cleanliness that come with it.
"So, now we've got massages and then we're going out for dinner. No rush though. So take your time sweetheart, I fully intend to enjoy this massage for as long as possible."
The massages are everything Melodie promised, long, soothing and expertly delivered. By the time the masseuses are done both women are more relaxed than they have been in days, or maybe weeks. Finally it is time to reprepare. Returning to their original changing cubicles Melodie pulls Zhi in for a kiss.
"Remember, you said anything This is me calling it in."
Inside Zhi's changing room she finds four items. Her boots, which seem to have been cleaned an polished, and two wristbands that she recognises as ones Melodie often wears. The magic on them is easily identified. There's nothing else in the room.
"Umm ... Zil? Would you have some time later today to sit down with us? There are some ... things ... I'd like to talk about."
"Of course, Zhi. Whenever it's convenient. I'm happy to make time for either or both of you."
"Both of us for this I think." Melodie says, returning Zhi's glance. "After breakfast then?"
Zhi looks over the items in her changing room multiple times hoping that somehow she missed the clothes that should be waiting for her.
She rolls her eyes and smiles as she sits and pulls on her boots. The wristbands are placed on her wrists and she rises. She considers vanishing from sight, but those weren't her instructions.
She waits just a little longer on the off chance that her wife will stick her head through the doorway with a 'Just Kidding' and her clothes. When that doesn't happen, she takes a deep breath and steels herself to face whatever Mel has waiting.
She leaves the room to find her wife, a flush covering her face and descending down her neck and chest.
"Where are you, Printesa Mea?" she calls out in a singsong.
~~~~
Zhi looks at her wife for reassurance before turning to Zileska.
"There are only two people that I've told about this. Mel is one and the other ... he was a friend at one time, but I'm pretty sure he's not anymore." She looks down at the floor and then takes a deep breath. "When I was twelve ... "
In a monotone voice she relates her encounter with Papa Sweets.
"I dreamed about him again last night. He never goes away no matter that ... "
She looks at her wife. "There's more," she says. "I didn't tell you this part because I didn't want you to think that I ... I don't want you to think I'm ... a monster." She takes another breath.
"About a month after it happened, K ... my friend and I ... we snuck in to Papa Sweet's shop at night and dosed his wine with a sleeping poison that ... my friend ... acquired. Once he fell asleep, we tied him to his bed and gagged him. He was so angry when he woke up my friend almost left, but I talked him into staying."
She frowns, her eyes not focusing on anything as she sees the scene in her mind.
"We kept him that way for three days. For three days we taunted him and teased him. And I ... I cut him. Over and over. Little cuts that would sting and bleed but wouldn't kill him. We would sing to him as well and laugh. We'd let him sleep a little and then wake him up again with cold water." She swallows the bile in her throat. "By the end of the third day, he was covered in bleeding cuts. I don't think he even felt them anymore. He would just rage at us incoherantly."
Emotion finally begins seeping into her voice and her eyes start to glisten.
"I finally just wanted him to be quiet and for it to be done. So I ... I took the knife and ... I cut and cut and cut and ... " she glances down at her lap. "I cut off his ... and then I ... " She swallows again. "I pulled out his gag and shoved it into his mouth. There was so much blood. I pulled his gag back up and listened to him ... I can still hear that sound. The sound of him choking to death on his own flesh."
She reaches up, wipes her eyes and takes a steadying breath.
"I thought it would make me feel better. He's dead. He can't hurt me or anyone else ever again, right?"
She looks back at Zileska.
"I don't want to see his face anymore. I don't want to hear him anymore."
But, as it stood, Tash had a full magical enhancement set up in town ready to go. He still had to go to Lotheedar for various materials at times, but his magical aid would certainly help the town. There was still some faint suspicion around because of his distinctly more fiendish appearance but everything Maria had done had certainly improved general perception about tieflings around town.
Somehow, she also found the time to foster her agents.
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Zileska says, "I promise you, only good things. But to explain I need to back up a bit and provide some context."
"The Church of Calistria, such as it is, is largely decentralized. We have some temples in places like the Shackles, where we don't face persecution for our beliefs or our profession. Other than that it's either underground, or the work of a few isolated priests and priestesses, many itinerant."
"Because of our particular philosophies," the priestess says casually, pushing aside the papers that she was reviewing, "we tend to clash quite a bit with certain authoritarian groups, such as the church of Asmodeus. Which, you may recall, condones the ownership of slaves. To Calistrians, this is abhorrent: A slave has no chance to pursue their own dreams and their own desires. To be their own person."
"As... part of fostering the resistance against such tyranny I have engaged contacts in some odd regions, such as the Bellflower Network, a group dedicated to running slaves out of slaveholding regions - primarily halflings in that particular case. But there is always the question of, what does one do to help an escaped slave make a new life?"
"Self-determination, claiming one's own power, is key to the creed of Calistria. So, the Church invests in helping people to form new lives. To take revenge on their tormentors, or to pursue their new, better destinies. Part of that is what I'm doing with my funds in Stachys. The academy - which will come later - is the latter; it helps give people opportunities to learn who they want to be, to be free to make their own way in life with knowledge, poise, grace, and intelligence."
"The former, by contrast, is a business. I am investing in the construction of a new business in Stachys. That particular business involves contracts from a variety of widely-spread regions in order to source its necessary materials, and part of that network also subtly involves fostering the flight of slaves from bondage."
"It's a retail business and I'm sure that people will occasionally place orders or stop by your sleepy little town to visit because it's a bit exotic, but it's neither salacious nor political. I'm laying the groundwork for construction of the building now."
"The day-to-day business will be overseen by Otto Bauer, an expatriate from Sargava. He's an expert in the craft and in fact spent several years as a slave specifically for his talents. We've managed to secure his escape and I'm resettling him in Stachys to run the business and make a new life - and help fund our operations in other lands, through a variety of trade networks."
"I think your base of support will be better served working in the academy, once I get that underway. This is a small business but... think of it as a 'proof of concept' that we can get this to work."
Zileska crosses her legs and lazily bounces one foot in a motion that Melodie has come to understand means that she is excited but isn't showing it on her face or in her voice.
~~~~~~~~~~
Zileska listens quietly and nods occasionally as Zhi tells the whole story, start to end, without flinching or interjecting. Finally at the very conclusion, when it's clear that Zhi has said everything and she is deflating, the priestess stands up, crosses to the two, and leans forward and gives Zhi a close hug. She likewise pulls Melodie in to the gesture.
Finally she stands and adjusts the lapel of her short decorative robe and says, "You've been Calistrian all along and just didn't know it." She sits back down and thinks for a moment, then leans forward, elbows on her knees, and explains, "Zhi, the most damaging and most twisting work that abusers perpetrate upon their victims is to make you blame yourself for the abuse. To make you feel either that you deserved it, or that you are a bad person for rejecting it."
"As members of 'civilized society', we spin the tale that we pursue resolution of disputes peacefully. We tell the fiction that violence is only perpetrated by evil people. That warfare is glorious but a slave murdering a slavemaster is wrong, that dispossessing the poor and leaving them destitute with nothing to eat is simply business but stealing a loaf of bread is a crime against social order that must be punished harshly lest the fabric of society tear apart. This is a myth perpetrated by the powerful and wealthy to maintain the status quo."
"Papa Sweets had power. He had power over you and he used that power to abuse you. You reclaimed that power. You rose up against him after living a life where you'd been told that you couldn't do that and shouldn't do that and that it was wrong for you to do that. So you are trapped with this guilt for doing what you did to save yourself, because our society told you, all your life, that you are supposed to be a victim.
"The real reason for Calistria's infamous revenge is not because of petty b$%#*iness. Calistria's vengeance is reclaiming power. And the people who have power and abuse it are always afraid of being overthrown. So they say that people who do that are crazy. That we are petty. That we are malicious and vicious and that we will tear down anything because of our vendettas. But what they are really saying is, they are afraid. They are afraid of the victims saying 'no more.' They are afraid of paying for their crimes."
The priestess leans back and says, "Your wife loves you deeply and you share power in your marriage as equals. This is as it should be - not an imbalance, not ownership, not one partner using the other. A shared promise to fulfill each other. So your wife treats you as you deserve to be treated. Now you need to treat yourself the same way. You don't deserve to punish yourself for being a victim when you were a child. And your wife knows it; she sees everything worth loving in you and she knows that you are not a monster. You wouldn't call your wife a liar about her feelings for you, would you? Of course not."
"The real monsters are the abusers. The ones who do this to people. And you know what we do with monsters."
The priestess' eyes twinkle. "We slay them."
She takes a breath and says, "Melodie asked me earlier about a business that I'm building in Stachys. You are both going to be part of it now. It's a front, of course. The business is innocuous enough, but the real purpose is to help people escape slavery and abuse."
"Taldor has a poison, and that poison is the abuse of people by those of high station. The use of women or children as playthings by men of power and influence. The flaunting of wealth while people starve. The turning of people into objects. And we are going to break that power; we will burn out that poison."
"My business is a confectionary. The man who runs it is a former slave - one who was unjustly enslaved by the government in Sargava. A man who knows what it is like to have no power. To be abused. To be told that his pain, the pain inflicted on him by others, is his own fault."
"But the true purpose is to finance a secret road to transport slaves out of Sargava and Cheliax. And, most importantly, to serve as a clearinghouse for information-gathering and a secret hideaway for people that we free from bondage."
"We are going to sweep away those abusers. People who prey upon the innocent. Who beat women. Who think that they are above retribution. We will cast them down. And you will help."
"The haunting of Papa Sweets won't go away instantly. It won't disappear tomorrow. But as we do this together, as we find the men like him and destroy them, as we free the people who've been victimized and we give them a new life, you'll see his face again on the abusers that we throw down. And you will see yourself in the people we liberate. And one day you won't see yourself any more - you'll see them. The people you're helping to save. The people you've already saved, by working to make Stachys better, by fighting for an Empire that believes that women can be powerful, that people can rise up to be better, that the flaunting of wealth and power and privilege is not a sign of social strength but a sign of flawed character. On that day you won't be haunted any more, because the people you saved will do more for you than anything that Papa Sweets could ever do to you. And you'll know that you weren't wrong. You were the one who had the strength to fight against the monsters that hid in our midst, when nobody else would."
"It will take time, Zhi, but we will all get through this together. You aren't a bad person. You aren't a monster. You DO deserve love. You DO deserve a better life. And you didn't disappoint us. You didn't stain your family's history. You rose up from terrible circumstances and the chains that abusers put upon you are still trying to drag you down, but you will rise up, and you will fight for your power. Because once you have your power, you can fight for the ones who can't fight for themselves. That's why all the running around as a vigilante, isn't it? So you can be someone other than yourself, who has the power to fight for the ones who can't?"
"You're going to fight for yourself at the same time that you fight for others. And in saving them, you will save yourself. You have come into that power, and you will use that power to break their chains, and in doing so break yours."
The priestess' intensity lowers and she says, "Now I have some exercises for you to do - both of you. First, Zhi. You need to affirm your value to yourself. You have a mirror, yes? When you've finished your morning ablutions, arranged your hair, are ready to face the day, I want you to look into the mirror and you will speak a mantra. For now that mantra will be 'I deserve a good day.' In time we'll replace that but for now that's what I want to focus on. Your days have been broken up by these nightmares and memories and worries, and you are going to remind yourself that you deserve better than that. You deserve a good day. You are a strong, wonderful, magnificent person and you deserve to have good things happen in your life."
"Melodie, you are going to help her. When Zhi says 'sorry' and becomes meek, when she shrinks away or she turns insular, when she says 'I didn't mean it' or 'It doesn't matter, I don't deserve it' or anything like that, you need to touch her and tell her 'Take back your power.'"
"I know this sounds goofy. But hearing these affirmations is important. Seeing yourself telling you that you deserve better is important. You have to believe yourself for this to work. And Melodie, her love for you is so strong that you will help her to break through this. You will remind her that you love her no matter what. That she isn't bad. That she doesn't deserve to be silenced. That she shouldn't just meekly submit to the notion that her ideas are bad or that she just deserves to feel bad. She deserves better. You are the living proof! She married the best and she deserves it. She just needs to remember that. Hold on to that, Zhi. Hold on to remembering that you deserve better. Papa Sweets is still trying to abuse you from beyond the grave. Well he can't have you any more. You belong only to yourself, and you decided to share that with Melodie. You deserve better and you can claim it."
Letting out a sigh, Zileska says, "Sorry to go on at length like that. But this is not a simple issue and it will take time. Don't fret if you don't feel better instantly. But it will get better now. There are people here who love you who will make sure of it."
"If there's more you need to talk about, don't hesitate to say so. We should follow up every couple of weeks and I can see how you're doing and make suggestions."
"Also," she says wryly, "if you'd rather I didn't make it a confectioner's shop, I can come up with a different front for the underground slave liberation road."
As Zileska relates how the Calistrian philosophy absolves her of her past, Zhi listens raptly. At various points she frowns or nods. She almost speaks at a few breaks, but then changes her mind and chooses to just absorb the words and ruminate on them.
"Also," she says wryly, "if you'd rather I didn't make it a confectioner's shop, I can come up with a different front for the underground slave liberation road."
"No, I don't mind it being a sweets shop," she says thoughtfully. "The last time we were in Oppara I visited what used to be Papa Sweets' place. His nephew inherited it. They weren't even trying to find out who killed him. They expected something bad would happen to him. They knew he was ... he was doing horrible things."
She looks from Zileska to Melodie, her green eyes growing intense. "They knew!" She lets that sink in and then shakes her head. "And they did ... nothing."
The look of intensity is replaced by a smirk. "I actually thought about pulling in some favors and putting the place out of business. But perhaps it would be better to just buy the place and use it as a front. Would it benefit your operation to have a sister shop in the city?"
Melodie is wearing dark stockings and a garter belt which gives Zhi a lovely framed view of her rounded buttocks. She has a corset on, but the ribbons at the back are loose and trailing. Holding her hair out of the way with one hand she gestures with the other. "Do those up for me?"
Once Zhi has secured the corset Melodie turns around and presses Zhi against the changing room wall, kissing her hungrily.
"I've been looking forward to this for days." She whispers, [smaller]"I think I'm really going to enjoy dinner tonight. And desert, when we get back..."
Melodie, unlike her wife, does have a dress, a long one with a low-ish neckline which exposes the top of her corset-enhanced cleavage. To this she adds a thin necklace holding a ring Zhi recognises - her engagement ring.
"Wǒ xīwàng nǐ xǐhuān tā." Melodie says with a smile, adjusting the necklace so that it hangs right at the top of her cleavage. Her minkian isn't perfect, but it comes out fluently and with no more than a hint of accent - even without the ring on.
The last few touches, a jewelled hair pin and a ribbon choker (on which Zhi can see her own name, delicately picked out in gold thread) and Melodie is ready to go.
"So, this is a very nice rerstaurant. Private and Qadiran themed." Melodie explains. "They even have certain entertainments there, such as Veil Dancing. I'm told its quite a 'stirring' performance. You know how the wristbands work." It isn't a question. "Pick something appropriate, and I'm going to enjoy the fact that I know what you've really go on."
As she walks out of the changing room Melodie looks back over her shoulder to smile at her wife, "And if you're good you'll get to see what I'm wearing under this dress again later!"
She pauses a moment and then continues. "Thank you for the details. I'll write to Onora and make sure she's clear on what's happening, how it will improve Stachys and that it has my full support. The manor could use a domestic staff alongside the domovoi - and if they move on quite quickly to other jobs... well... that's no-one business but mine is it if I can't keep my servants?"
The message is clear, You can use the manor as a safehouse, I'll explain it away if we have to.
Six days pass in relative peace and quiet. Trade bustles in Yanmass once more, and there is plenty to do and see in the large city. Sara pays to have the enchantments of her two cloaks merged into one, and Safina agrees to work for Maria, helping to organize the tiefling's coalition.
Throughout this time, the Cult of the Twilight Child remains a pervasive, if benign, element in the city. Soon enough, the time will come to formally investigate its dealings.
Melodie is wearing dark stockings and a garter belt which gives Zhi a lovely framed view of her rounded buttocks. She has a corset on, but the ribbons at the back are loose and trailing. Holding her hair out of the way with one hand she gestures with the other. "Do those up for me?"
As Zhi tightens up the garment and ties it off, she can't help but lean close and trail kisses from Mel's shoulder up her neck.
...
"I've been looking forward to this for days." She whispers, "I think I'm really going to enjoy dinner tonight. And desert, when we get back..."
"Keep that up and you won't make it to dinner," Zhi says with a groan.
...
"So, this is a very nice restaurant. Private and Qadiran themed." Melodie explains. "They even have certain entertainments there, such as Veil Dancing. I'm told its quite a 'stirring' performance. You know how the wristbands work." It isn't a question. "Pick something appropriate, and I'm going to enjoy the fact that I know what you've really go on."
"Is that anything like 'Lap Dancing'?" Zhi asks with a raised eyebrow. "And if so, are you dancing for me tonight?"
The woman thinks for a moment and then closes her eyes. Her boots shift to sandals and the change continues up her body. When she opens her eyes she smiles at her wife. Her legs are covered by shimmering green and gold harem pants and her torso is covered - barely - by a vest of the same colors with glittering stones sewn into it.
"Is this satisfactory, Printesa Mea?" She smiles. "Give me a moment to fix my hair and I'll be ready to go."
With a quick use of minor magic, Zhi's dark hair is dried completely and brushed out. With quick hands she braids it. Upon finishing, she walks around behind Melodie and leans in close to the back of her dress. Mel can feel her warm breath on her neck as the small woman brushes up against her back. There's a hitch in Zhi's breathing as the single piece of jewelry she's wearing catches on the material. A hand slides underneath Mel's garment and the changeling feels a tug on her corset. Zhi returns to Mel's view holding a short piece of ribbon which she uses to tie off the end of her braid. Her face is flush and her pupils are wide.
"Let's go before anything else happens," she says in a low voice.
This week Sara is busier than she has been in some time, rarely seen in the hotel. At some point she shows up to the jail in tears, mournfully explaining that her lover, Cardinna Farkin, had been murdered and impersonated by a half-orc assassin, and the woman she had thought she was sleeping with was in fact a murderer. She provides a fairly accurate description of Inga, and is in crocodile tears the entire time.
Always willing to help the downtrodden, she busies herself with assisting in civil works, lifting heavy things and repairing potholes and other need-to-be-done, tedious and exhausting manual labor. She makes sure to invite each of the common people she helps to a rally later in the week.
It is there that she begins her new rhetoric, that there is precedent for the uplifting of all citizenship, the destruction of class boundaries: for a common born member of the military may receive a knighthood at any point, and every citizen of Taldor is willing to lay down their life in a similar manner, the Unbearded deserve to be heard and recognized as the last line of defense for the nation, uplifted into knighthood. She proudly waves the Standard of Conquest as a symbol of this message.
On the sixth day, she picks up her new cloak, the Lion Cloak with the cloak Martella gave them sewed into the lining.
And despite all this, she still has time to train her birds, for the first time in quite a while.
The restaurant Melodie has picked out is discreet and obviously expensive, a place where Taldan wines and Qadiran food are combined to form a wonderful meal that purists in both nations would disapprove of. The main floor is focused around a central stage, and numerous second floor booths offer additional privacy and an even better view of the stage.
Melodie has secured one of these booths, and requests that a window be opened when they sit down. Zhi's expression every time the breeze wings it's way across the table is everything Melodie hoped for, and she takes advantage of the privacy to sit close to her wife and to touch her at every opportunity - ranging from gentle caresses to 'accidentally' dropping an ice cube onto Zhi's lap and then, once the servers have moved away, dipping under the table the retrieve the ice with her tongue from the apex of Zhi's thighs.
By the time dessert arrives Mel has Zhi exactly as she wants her, a frustrated ball of sensation and lust. The superb fruit tart is savoured as the lights in the restaurant dim and a dancer emerges onto the stage, clad in layer upon layer of diaphamous veils. To the rhythmic pounding of Qadiran drums she begins a sensuous dance, gradually peeling off her veils one at a time before throwing them into the crowd in front of her. In the privacy of their booth Melodie pulls Zhi into her lap and one hand dips through Zhi's illusionary trousers to caress her wife slowly. As the dancer speeds up, removing more and more veils until only the flimsiest material covers her skin from the audiences hungry eyes Melodies hand moves faster and faster and, just as the lights go out and the dancer whips away her final veil, Melodie pushes right there, clamping her lips over her wife's to muffled the sounds of orgasm.
The bill is paid shortly afterwards and the couple make their way back to their hotel, eagerness in both their steps...
When Zileska gives them each their jobs she nods firmly. "I can do that." Then her face clouds for a moment. "Does that mean all of the time, because I quite like it when..." Her voice trails off for a moment before she take a a deep breath. There is no way I can shock Zileska.
"I like being in charge in the bedroom." She finishes in a rush.
After the six days have passed and everyone seems recovered Melodie chairs a meeting, a role she grew used to in Stachys. This meeting is larger, with Gallundra (who was still waiting for new regimental orders) and Safina present, swelling the group to seven.
"So," She begins. "This Cult. I've been trying to meet with a number of former members but I've not made it to any high ranking members yet. I suggest we take a few more days, but start to focus on them properly. Go in all groups to their ceremonies and scout around, may be try and set up something of our own. Use it to draw some of the higher cultists out and try to take them for questioning. I don't feel comfortable moving without information. If this really is Prince Carrius then we have to be extra careful." She looks down the table to her wife.
"Feel like joining a cult sweetheart?"
Zileska shakes her head in response to Melodie's query. "No, this is about when those dark thoughts are intruding and making Zhi think that she's worthless. It's very hard to make someone feel worthless with love."
She looks to Zhi again and says, "Zhi, we'll get through this, but remember that the goal is always to be better. You may experience sudden flashes of anger, eruptions of rage, or moments of fear as you relive memories. Anxiety that chokes your voice in your throat. Uncontrollable shaking as your body remembers old wounds. It's important to remember that part of overcoming your own abuse is breaking the cycle of abuse. Rising up to reclaim your power is important. And an important part of that is not letting your drive for vengeance push you into becoming the abuser. People like Papa Sweet need to be stopped and for many victims violence is their only resort. But you aren't powerless any more, you aren't trapped as a victim, so now you can stop people without having to do the things that you fear make you a monster. Abusing your power over others, that would make a monster out of you."
"Remember: If you stop worrying about doing hurtful things, it becomes easier to do them, and at some point you won't worry about it any more, then you'll start hurting people you care about. The circumstances of your life have changed; you're not a scared powerless girl anymore, who is trying to take control of her life. You are in control, and it is up to you to exercise that control to do things that protect yourself without looking for your satisfaction at the expense of others."
Leaning back again, Zileska finishes, saying, "There's going to be a lot to work on and sometimes things will be hard. Sometimes you two may argue and sometimes you may cry. But as long as you want to make things work, that's the first step to keeping your happiness together."
"Melodie, you have a lot of responsibility, and we are all glad to help. That responsibility also means willing to be vulnerable with Zhi. She's linked her life to yours, so you need to be able to be open to letting her take risks. You will face hardships together and apart, and you need to trust that Zhi can fight for herself. She'll ask you when she needs help. But you can't shy away from something just because you're afraid that something bad might happen. This isn't saying to take needless risks, but I am saying that as scary as it is, sometimes you should say 'Okay, we can take this risk,' instead of 'I don't know if I can protect you completely so we won't do this.' It's like when you were worried about protecting your baby, so you didn't want to have one. Yes, it's a real risk, and there are real threats to worry about. But you can't let a great and wonderful thing be pushed out of your life because you can't have complete control and you are worried that it might not happen perfectly. Life is messy. We can't always control it. Your child - the both of yours - will face hardships and reversals and problems too, and will need to learn to deal with them; that's part of growing up. Your job is to provide love and support and help where you can, not to say 'No, it might be dangerous, it might not work out, so we can't do it.'"
She smiles comfortingly and says, "This isn't a rebuke, just an attempt to open you up to potential good things."
"I think it might also be good for you to make some specific plans about your impending idea of having a child. Who will be the nurse while the two of you are away? Do you want to hire a private tutor? Will the child have a personal room right away or share your room? You should discuss these together. You are making decisions that will have a big impact on both of your lives, so you both need to talk about them and agree on them."
"I have some operatives that I could send in. They are not nearly as famous and recognizable as we are," suggests Zileska.
Zhi hides her nervousness well as the couple make their way from the bathhouse to Melodie's restaurant of choice. Her only concession to her concealed nudity is to shift Melodie to the other side of the street as the couple comes across a pair of youths traveling down the street in the other direction.
"Cutpurses," she whispers by way of explanation. "When they try to pick my 'pocket' it might get … awkward."
She is thankful that the night isn't cooler then it is, although the breeze that blows across her normally covered skin still raises goosebumps and reinforces the fact that she's walking public streets without any clothes on. She's finally relieved when they reach their destination and head inside. That relief is quickly reduced when her wife requests a window to remain open.
"Really?" she says with a raised eyebrow.
When Melodie begins her agenda of teasing, Zhi tries her best to remain above it and not show her arousal. However, when Mel's tongue moves up her thighs under the guise of retrieving an ice cube, Zhi can't help but spit out some Varisian explicatives while grasping Mel's head and pressing her deeper. She whines in frustration when the woman pulls away and returns to her place at the table.
She glares at her wife before finally returning her attention to the food set before them. After a moment, she smiles and reaches down to pick up a skewer with pieces of vegetable and lamb on them. As she meets Mel's eye she moves her tongue slowly over the morsels. Once she knows she has the woman's attention, she makes a show of grabbing one of them with her teeth and pulling it off to chew it slowly. She grins and licks her lips. She reaches up to wipe an errant bit of sauce from the side of her mouth with her finger before putting that finger into her mouth to suck it slowly.
When the dancer appears on stage and Mel pulls her into her lap, Zhi moans quietly in anticipation. She tries to watch the dancer on the stage and it does have an effect on her, but she can't ignore her wife's hands on her body. When Mel tugs on her heart charm she puts a hand to her mouth to stifle her vocal response.
And when she touches her there she's grateful for her wife's lips as the shudders take her.
"Well, I'm not cold anymore," she says finally with a giggle into her wife's ear. "So, I really hope we're going back to our room now, because I plan to have my way with you now."
~~~~
"We should attend a service. Although, I think we might be recognizable enough that we might not be able to slip in unobtrusively." She reaches up and touches her silver hairpins. Her face shifts to that of a Vadruni woman. "But with a little magic, we may be able to blend in with the masses."
You make a modicum of effort to disguise yourselves, and as dusk approaches, you head to the Encircling Bower to witness one of the Cult of the Twilight Child's nightly ceremonies. Once an imposing circular edifice, the brick arches and stone ornaments of this large theater are now scarcely visible beneath climbing rose, grapevines, and ivy—and this jumbled mass of foliage may be the only thing preventing the venerable theater from simply collapsing. The stone marquee set between the two entrances bears the nearly illegible text: "The Encircling Bower Welcomes You into Its Embrace."
Two dwarves keep a watch at each of two entrances as congregants begin to file into the theater. Each one is unarmored and wears sky-blue skullcaps, veils, and long tunics with an overlapping circle motif.
"Greetings, strangers," one says as you approach. They look you up and down. "All who seek peace and succor in these troubling times are welcome."
Sara curtsies, wearing a modest, full length black dress with sleeves reaching to her elbows, her tattoos just peeking out.
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The older Vadruni woman with her hair wrapped in colorful head scarves nods at the dwarves standing guard. "And peace to you as well," she says. She keeps her large bag held close, though.
Sara feigns stumbling as Zhi is inspected, trying to attract the dwarves' attention and distract them from doing a more thorough examination of the harmless older woman.
The dwarves nod and wave you into the theater. The ceiling of this round auditorium soars forty feet above the floor, but the theater's glory days are several decades in the past. Several rows of benches arc around a raised central stage, with four aisles providing easy access. The central aisles have runners of fresh, new carpet—just the barest beginning of necessary renovations.
Twenty feet above these seats are three large balconies, but they are in such disrepair that the flooring has fallen through in places. A thick rope and a placard reading "For Your Safety, No Access Permitted" block two staircases at the back of the auditorium leading up to the balconies. The round stage juts into the center of this auditorium, flanked by two short staircases that appear to lead backstage. A green curtain obscures the backstage area completely.
About forty or so other congregants mill about the theater. A few minutes before dusk, a woman steps onto the stage. She is dressed in the standard cult outfit of a sky-blue skullcap, veil, and long tunic with a pattern of overlapping circles. Only her golden eyes are clearly visible, but their unusal color and the melodic timbre of her voice mark her as something more than human--an aasimar. She quiets the guests and asks them to take their seats.
"I see several new faces in the crowd tonight," the woman says, pointing in your direction and smiling widely beneath her veil. "Welcome to the Cult of the Twilight Child. I hope you will enjoy tonight's sermon." The congregants turn to look at you, murmuring welcomes of their own.
As everybody finds their seats, the dwarven sentries lock the entrances and take up positions near the stage. They keep wary eyes on the crowd.
Once she sees the layout of the theater, Zhi uses the movement of the crowd to attempt to slip, unnoticed, past the rope barrier and up the stairs to the balcony.
A few squeaky floorboards ruin Zhi's attempt at stealth. The nearest dwarf notices her and quickly moves to intercept her. "The stairs are off-limit for your protection, ma'am. Kindly return to your seat."
The younger vudrani woman, whose similarity to the elder woman suggests that she must be a close relation to her, daughter perhaps, stands to wave to the crowd and acknowledge their greetings, before catching the leaders eye and making an elaborate curtsey. It's a little overdone but she pulls it off reasonably well. The fact that, for a few moments, all eyes are on hermight gives her 'mother's a chance to slip away.
Sara uses the distraction of Zhi's discovery to make a play of her own towards the steps.
Zileska leans over and whispers to Maria, "Weird. No cult actually calls itself a 'cult'."
The dwarf has already noticed Zhi, so Melodie's melodramatic grandstanding doesn't distract him, but the other sentry looks away long enough for Sara to slip by him. She quietly ascends the stairs to the upper level.
Three balconies protrude over the auditorium seats twenty feet below, each connected by a narrow walkway and accessed by two sets of stairs against the south wall. The balconies are in terrible shape, with gaps in the rotted floors and seats falling apart or already in pieces.
Zileska leans over and whispers to Maria, "Weird. No cult actually calls itself a 'cult'."
"Not that I recall, at least," Maria whispered back, "let's hope Sara and Zhi don't cause a ruccus."
As she climbs the stairs behind Sara, Zhi's disguise fades to be replaced by her mottled dark gray stealth outfit.
She then moves over to get a good view of the 'performance'.
Sara points out the footprints, leaning closer to examine them. "They go and then they just stop. What do you suppose this means?"
Zhi looks at the footprints, inwardly annoyed that she missed them. She examines them closer and then looks up.
"They either dropped in with a rope or they used magic," she whispers after a moment. "It looks like someone else besides us was interested in catching the service." She looks around at the empty seats. "Keep an eye out for company."
"Maybe that annoying man in the bird mask who harrassed us at the cafe?" suggests Sara, pushing up her sleeves to her bicep. "He was quite angry at us for not heading here first."
As dusk falls another aasimar takes the stage. He is tall and severe, and his arresting silver eyes sweep over the crowd. "Blessings upon you, my brothers and sisters!" he calls.
"Blessings upon you, Father Vaddrigan!" the audience responds.
"Let us begin tonight's service with the invocation!" Vaddrigan says. Three more aasimar join him, all identically dressed. They lead a simple chant in Celestial as they walk in circles around the stage. The chant is repetitive and easy to follow even for those who do not speak Celestial. Cult members in the audience chant along, and some ring bells or chimes they have brought with them.
---
Up in the balcony, Sara's suspicions are confirmed. There's a soft pop of displaced air as the bald man in the red bird mask appears in the shadows. He approaches Sara and Zhi with hands raised in a gesture of peace. "At last, you have turned your attention to what is truly important," he whispers. "The abomination at the core of this cult must be dealt with."
Zhi looks the newcomer up and down.
"So what's your stake in this?" she asks, her voice full of suspicion.
"A great sin has been committed. The guilty must be punished," the man states. He does not elaborate.
Zhi rolls her eyes in response and waits for the man to continue. When it appears that he won't, she shakes her head.
"Yeah, that's our job; punish the guilty," she says without a trace of sarcasm. "I take it that you're not going to offer us any aid other than moral support? Information other than 'a great sin has been committed' would be really useful."
The masked man crouches at the edge of the balcony and points to the stage where the aasimars are circling and chanting. From this vantage point, an obvious trap door is visible. "That is where the so-called Twilight Child emerges. That door is likely trapped and heavily guarded, however. The backstage area is your best bet for infiltration. The sentries never come up to these balconies. You can hide here until the ceremony concludes and then strike while their guard is down."
---
Down below, nozzles near the stage begin to spray a golden mist that slowly covers the stage and the audience. Several members of the audience sigh with relief and visibly relax as the mist reaches them.
Melodie coughs slightly as the fog burns the back of her throat. She squints at the stage suspicious now that the cult seems to be drugging its own members.
"That's not good," Zhi says, trying to wave away the mist. "Someone should tell them that if you have to sedate your worshipers, you're doing it wrong."
"A mild narcotic," Maria whispered to Zileska, pulling her borrowed shawl tighter around her mouth and nose, "light euphoria and renders the mind more pliable. Hopefully they're using that last bit just for illusions and not anything worse."
The assimars finish their chant and step back behind the curtain. After a few moments, Father Vaddrigan emerges again. His eyes sweep over the crowd again, and he appears to be staring intently at each and every member of the audience. Then he begins to speak.
"Brothers and sisters, I am so glad that you have come here tonight to give praise to the Twilight Child! He whose nobility and passion for the Taldan people allowed him to rise from death in Taldor's greatest hour of need. True believers like you and me have allowed this group to rise as well--to rise above the labels outsiders place on us. They call us a cult, and so we take that word for ourselves, we own it, so that it loses its power. But we are more than a cult. We are a community. Nay, we are a family.
"You know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that everything seems to be going well… True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life's journey. But the basis of this feeling of deep joy we share is the presence of the Twilight Child and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all. And above all, a love which is patient: patience is a virtue of the Twilight Child. Your prince waited for nearly two decades until the time was right for his resurrection! Patience is key, and he teaches us how to cultivate it in family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient among ourselves. A patient love. If love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centredness prevails and joy fades. But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society as a whole.
"Dear family, always live in faith and simplicity! The joy and peace of the Risen Prince be always with you! And now, he rises once more!"
Cult members in the audience seem to hang on Vaddrigan's words, and as he finishes his homily, the trap door on the stage opens. A young man appears to levitate up through the golden mist, hovering just above the stage. He wears golden robes with circle motifs, and though his expression is hollow-eyed, the man is the spitting of image of Princess Eutropia's younger brother, Prince Carrius, before his untimely death. The audience cheers as their god appears before them.
Melodie watches the whole scene closely, trying to work out if the 'Risen Prince' could really be Prince Carrius.
"Well, there is an illusion but of the mundane kind - he's still down below the stage, that's a reflection," Maria whispered to her compatriots, "saw a similar trick when Father and I were investigating a murdered illusionist."
"The Twilight Child sees your secret desires. He hears your inner thoughts!" Vaddrigan says. He points to a man in the audience. "Risen Prince, here is a man, a baker, whose neighbors owe him debts."
Carrius gazes at the man, then responds, "That which is owed to you shall be repaid, and shall multiply, as your dough rises beyond the pan."
As th audience applauds, Vaddrigan's points out another woman. "Risen Prince, here is a woman, a seamstress, whose husband travels far afield for work. She worries for his safety, and it keeps her awake at night."
Carrius turns to the woman, and says, "No matter how far he wanders, he will always find his way home. Keep your heart and hearth warm for him."
The audience applauds again.
Vaddrigan calls up another man onto the stage, whose complexion is pale and sickly. He rests his hands on the man's shoulders and guides him to Carrius. "Risen Prince, this man suffers from fevers and chills. Will you share a shred of your divinity with him and heal his sickness?"
The prince nods, and begins to make dramatic gestures over the man. After a few moments, the man gasps as color returns to his face. "It worked! I feel better! It's a miracle!"
The audience cheers once more.