by Randi Darren
“Okay, that’s fine. Go stand with the other children. We’ll find you someone to care for you,” Jaina patted her on the shoulder. “I promise.”
“I don’t need anyone,” muttered the girl.
“Okay. Then go stand with the women,” Jaina said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders. “Your choice, your choice.”
Shambling off, the young girl picked up the provisions being given to everyone and went to join the women.
They were all working at putting together shelters from the various logs, sticks, and foliage Steve had been stockpiling.
It had set him back to build massive bunkhouses for them, but it was better to have them and protect them, than do the work by himself without them.
One of Nancy’s family members intercepted the girl and guided her to a different group. They were all much younger and seemed to walk the line between adult and child.
“Good,” Steve said softly, looking at Nancy beside him.
The swelling around her black eye was long gone now. The black eye remained, but it was fading quickly.
“I’ve told my taskmasters to make sure they take care of everyone,” Nancy said. “They’re resources and living people at the same time, not animals or things to be broken.”
Steve didn’t care one way or the other, as long as they were cared for. To him, everyone was a resource unless they were part of his family. He neither wished them dead nor alive.
Nancy made more sense to him now, though, with how she was handling herself. But not completely. She was certainly not quite a resource anymore, but not family either. The Wight was creating a strange middle ground in Steve’s thinking.
“Another to die,” Ina said, looking over at Steve.
Steve shrugged at that. “I mean, go for it? Don’t need my permission. Just make sure you get her clothes and that she actually has an execution pinned to her.”
Ina looked back at the woman as Jaina made the same grabbing motion she had earlier. The woman crumpled over to one side, clutching at her heart.
Bounty collected.
Coin to be collected (40s) at a government-sponsored fine, tax, and levy station.
Steve has gained prestige for enforcing a cardinal law of the Lamals.
Steve sighed, hoping this would be over soon.
He had work to do.
Need to go check out the village and see what’s left. Then go check on the other one we sent that other girl to.
***
Steve scratched at his hip and yawned.
The work parties, all wearing collars, were busily looting all of their own possessions.
One of the innocents they’d let free had apparently run back to the village to warn everyone there of what’d happened. They’d looted everything they wanted and hit the road.
It was a complete ghost town.
Not even the animals had remained. To Steve, it looked as if quite a few had been butchered on the spot and harvested, the remains left to rot.
Or so the forty-some-odd dead animals, that’d clearly been killed and cleaned in a hurry, seemed to suggest. They lay around the fields, flies buzzing around them in hordes, stinking of spoiled meat and foulness.
Clearly they’d been dead for the entire three days it’d been since they’d killed, freed, or collared everyone from this village.
“A waste,” Kassandra muttered. “They could have just as easily joined us. It’s already quite well spread around the camp that Nancy no longer has her murderer title.”
“They wouldn’t have known that when they took off,” Steve argued. “Besides. They were innocent. They can go wherever they want. It isn’t like we had a bigger claim to this village than they did.”
“Foolish,” Kassandra said, shaking her head. “All they had to do was serve you. Innocent or not.”
“Not really looking for servants. I’m not a king, or a governor, or anything like that. I want my farm and my lands,” Steve said. “Beyond that, maybe an army to kick over people I don’t like. I’m fine with that.”
Kassandra looked like she wanted to disagree, but she said nothing further on the subject.
“I’m going to go inspect the warehouse,” the Lamia said and then began slithering away.
“She’s very devoted,” Nancy said once she was out of earshot.
“Mm-hmm,” Steve said.
“Do you want me to learn everyone else’s secrets and report them back to you?” Nancy asked suddenly.
“Sure,” Steve said with a shrug. He didn’t care one way or the other. With any luck, it’d get Nancy out of his hair. She’d been acting like a giant barnacle since she’d come back. If she wasn’t within three feet of him, it was because he was taking a shit or he’d somehow lost her.
Fuck it. No reason not to use her as she’s asking. Then I can just blame it on her.
Besides, it’d be fun to find out more about the girls.
Nikki always has seemed rather mysterious, in a way.
“Just don’t do anything stupid or get caught. You’d be an awful secret keeper if it was obvious you were spying on them,” Steve said, making up his mind.
“Got it,” Nancy said. “I can do that. Will you take me to bed tonight?”
“No.” Steve shook his head. “I’ve got plans with Ina and Jaina. Remember?”
“I do, but I’m still going to ask,” Nancy professed.
He looked over at the rather beautiful Wight, who was definitely built for the comforts of home and a bed, and gave her a quick once-over.
She was dressed far more like Jaina and Kassandra today. At several points, Steve had also noticed her doing simple exercises, eating what Kassandra and Jaina did, and questioning Kassandra for information on weapon usage.
“How’s that going, by the way?” Steve said, not looking away from her. “Trying to become my mistress, bodyguard, and bed toy, that is.”
“Ah… I’m already your mistress, I’m getting advice on being your bodyguard, and the bed toy… well, no one will speak with me about that,” Nancy observed. “They just change the subject, and you keep telling me no.
“I’ve already put on some muscle, and I feel like I can run much farther than I could when I came back.”
“Didn’t ask you to become those things,” Steve said, finally looking away from her.
“I know, but I want to be the other things,” Nancy said. “I can keep my family in luxury if I am, and you’ll be less likely to kill me out of hand.
“I don’t believe for a minute you haven’t considered simply eliminating me.”
It was true.
He’d considered casually killing her several times. The price to do so wasn’t that bad, after all, and he wouldn’t lose anything for it.
“I think you’re far more cold… more… evil… than anyone thinks,” Nancy said. “I think you’d strangle me as casually as take me to bed. Or both. Bed me, then strangle me. I think you’re only keeping it contained because you see no reason to let it out.”
Hmm.
Curious. She seems to know me better than even Nikki.
“And that doesn’t bother you?” Steve asked.
“No. I think I’ll be more useful to you alive then dead, and I’ve been proving that,” Nancy noted. “You’ll keep me alive, bed me, and then consider me useful. See that I’m pulling my weight. Then I’ll be safe, and my family will be safe.”
Clicking his tongue, Steve considered reaching over and strangling Nancy right now. She was annoying him, and he didn’t like what she was saying.
“Don’t, please don’t,” Nancy said as if reading his mind. “I’m only telling you what you asked. I’m useful. Very useful.”
“Hmm. Alright, Miss Useful—you and I are going to go find that other village. The woman we sent to bring them in never came back, which means it’s time to check on them,” Steve said, looking at Nancy again. “If they catch us, I want you to remain behind so I can get away.”
Nancy nodded her head at that.
“Small detour to make, Miss Strangle-Me. I need to tell Kassandra where I’m going,” Steve said.
He wasn’t quite sure why Nancy was so quick to do such things. So eager to give all of herself to him.
But he wasn’t going to question it either.
He was growing fond of the idea of having a henchwoman.
***
“Well, that explains where she went,” Steve muttered.
Out ahead of them, tied to a stake in front of the city, was the woman they’d sent to talk her village into coming to the farm.
She was quite dead and looked to have been eviscerated.
The whole place looked like a giant shanty town surrounded by part of a wooden wall and barricades. It had the look of something that had been thrown together, held up with hope and mud, and was constantly being repaired.
“You couldn’t keep a cow out of this place,” Steve muttered.
“Yes,” Nancy agreed. They were laid out flat on the ground near the village, doing their best to pretend they were nothing more than clods of grass. “It’s never been a good place.”
The village was quite well prepared for people to try and attack them, despite looking like a wreck.
It would just be a fight amongst the houses themselves rather than at a wall.
Steve wasn’t a strategist, but he couldn’t see a valid way to get a hold of the inhabitants of the village without a lot of people on both sides ending up dead.
And he wanted them all for himself. Either to kill them or put them to work.
Murderers seem to be easy money.
With every woman that had chosen death from the square, Steve had gained coins and bounty prestige.
“Anything you can tell me about them?” he asked.
“Very warlike,” Nancy answered, shifting around in the grass. “Very aggressive. They’ll take men captive and bring them back if they can. Kill them if they can’t. Lots of children in there. And most everyone is pregnant. Even the young ones. They… all husband swap.”
Steve wasn’t sure what that meant, but he got the impression it wasn’t good.
Best he could figure was it meant men were more like communal property than husbands.
Could be good, could be bad. Depends on how good looking they are, I guess.
Well, that’s my thought at least. Maybe they wouldn’t want to be hip deep in eager women all day.
Sounds nice to me, though.
“Uh huh,” Steve said. “How do we capture them all?”
Nancy shrugged.
“I was able to convince my village through greed. I’m not sure what would convince the Felistins. They’re very… stubborn and violent,” she said.
“Hmm. Okay. So… trickery, subterfuge, or something like that,” Steve elaborated. “None of which I seem very suited for.”
“I’ll handle all that for you,” Nancy offered. “I’ll pick up the slack where you fall off. I’ll be your support and foundation with those things.”
“Think so, huh?” Steve asked with a chuckle. “And you think you’re qualified for that?”
“I’m very bright. Very intelligent. I learn quickly. I taught myself the rudiments of black magic. Invest in me, I’ll make everything else happen for you,” Nancy said, staring at him with wide eyes.
There was a certain madness to her that’d he’d come to recognize. She wanted to punish herself and be punished.
All the while becoming more.
He didn’t quite get it, but Nancy wasn’t quite right in the head.
“Fine,” Steve said. “Can you read?”
“No,” Nancy said.
“We’ll start there then, I suppose.” Steve looked back toward the village. “What’s the name of this shit hole again?”
“Felistin,” Nancy said. “It was fou—”
“I don’t care,” Steve hissed, interrupting her. “I don’t. I really don’t care.”
“Okay,” Nancy said.
“Anywhere we can bed down for the night?” Steve asked. “Probably should have asked you how far away it was before we left. I really don’t want to be stumbling the entire way home through the night, just to arrive before dawn.”
“There’s a scouting rest point my village used not far from here. We didn’t use it often, so it shouldn’t be known,” Nancy said. “And those who would know about it are wearing collars.”
Steve nodded and sighed.
“Alright, Mistress and Secret Keeper, tell me why I shouldn’t strangle you right now and leave your corpse here,” Steve said. “Tell me how you’re going to take Felistin. Why are you useful?”
He didn’t actually want to strangle her, but he wasn’t going to hide his thoughts from her. She’d already accurately guessed his mentality, so there was no reason to put on the Human mask Nikki had convinced him to wear.
Which meant he didn’t need to hide the fact that he didn’t see her as useful yet.
“Uhm,” Nancy pontificated intelligently, looking at the city. “You just want them captured, right?”
“Mm-hmm,” Steve said.
“Can I do it however I want to? Even if it made it so the church could try to execute us without a trial?” Nancy asked.
“Pretty sure they hate me already, or would if they knew about me, so why not?” Steve said.
“I’ll poison them. All of them,” Nancy said. “All we have to do is dig down deep enough with a well. Then I poison it with black magic. Magic that would seep through the ground and into their wells.
“A black magic poison that would incapacitate everyone within a day but not show any symptoms until then.”
“Hmm,” Steve said, thinking.
It was a reasonable plan. He had no idea how deep you’d have to dig to do such a thing, though.
Could do it quickly enough with the shovel. Wouldn’t even be an issue, would it?
Something to consider. I think I want to head back and talk to Nikki about all this first.
Then decide from there.
“Alright. Come on, Mistress,” Steve said. “Take us to that scout camp. Going to bed down there for the night.”
Damnit. Going to miss out on having Ina and Jaina, too. That’s fun. Always fun.
They make sure it’s fun.
There was something extremely gratifying and strange about having Ina and then finishing in Jaina.
Each woman pretending as if the other didn’t exist during the whole thing, but both getting what they wanted.
While Steve got to have both of them.
“Of course, this way,” Nancy said, as she started to crawl away from the village.
Eight
“Right here,” Nancy called.
Grunting, Steve moved over to one side and dropped the massive load of large branches and two chunks of logs he’d been carrying.
Moving to one side, he went to start pulling his boots off. He dropped them and sat down, leaning against the cave wall.
“Again, I’m sorry. I really didn’t think it’d be inhabited,” Nancy said.
“Yeah, well, it was. And I’m not about to go in there and kill a bunch of people who didn’t do anything wrong,” Steve said. “Maybe if they were murderers.”
Steve wasn’t really that annoyed at Nancy. He was mostly angry that the people they’d found at the scout camp had indeed been innocents.
They’d done no wrong to anyone. Which made Steve feel like he couldn’t really bother them.
They didn’t deserve his wrath.
“I never suggested you should,” Nancy countered, bending down over a small pile of sticks.
Their light was rapidly failing now. Nancy had been quick witted enough to suggest a cave she knew of. One with a jumpable gap that would prevent the Creep and its monsters from getting to them.
Unfortunately, it also had some problems. There wasn’t much
in the way of luxuries, the ground was rocky, and there were no supplies.
At best, they’d have a fire to keep warm.
“Though I’m glad you didn’t even consider it,” Nancy murmured, a soft repetitive click drawing his eyes to what she was doing.
Much like Nikki had done numerous times, Nancy was starting a fire for them.
“Shouldn’t you be like… living for the despair of others? Isn’t it what you eat?” Steve asked.
“Yes, I live on the despair of others,” Nancy confirmed. “But no, I don’t. I have a trick or two my mother taught me to keep me pleasantly Human. Otherwise, I’d probably have started doing exactly what you think I’d be doing.”
“Tricks?” Steve asked. He was curious. “Tell me your secrets, Mistress. Yours are mine, mine are yours.”
“I can feed off my own suffering,” Nancy answered without any hesitation. “The fact that I’m yours, that I have no free will, that I did it to myself, that I’m branded as a prostitute and property where anyone can see it, and that I’ll never be a wife—it’s all horrifying to me.
“It makes my heart quiver, and I feel like I want to throw up all the time.
“And it’s amazing. It’s… delicious.”
Nancy let out a soft whimper that sounded eerily like a moan at the same time.
“It tastes so wonderful,” Nancy said, still working at the fire. “My misery is so intense, and it’s the best tasting thing I’ve ever had. I want to suffer so much more. I want you to make it so I weep at night when I’m alone, curled at the foot of your bed like an animal. Maybe naked with just a thin ratty blanket.”
Nancy paused in what she was doing and bent over slightly, a hiccupping sob breaking through her breathing, immediately followed by a deep moan that was clearly sexual.
“It’ll taste absolutely incredible, I’m sure, when you do that to me. No blanket.” Nancy clicked the fire-starters together again. “No blanket. No clothes. Maybe force me into your bed, ravage me, then kick me out of it when you’re done with me. Only to have one of your wives join you in the bed.”
“So you’re crazy then?” Steve asked, scratching at his stomach.
Suddenly her responses to his threats, actions, and everything else made a lot more sense to him.
