by John Booth
“Just a few measurements, milady. I need you to stand up and turn around for me,” the woman said eagerly. “I’ll need you to try things on in about an hour.”
“Okay,” Sal said in resignation and hauled herself to her feet. The woman rushed to pick up one of the towels on the rack and gently dried her body. Sal turned slowly, standing in the bath as the young woman dabbed and dried her.
The woman was incredibly gentle when she saw the state of Sal’s bottom. Somehow, she managed to remove bubbles and water without Sal feeling more than a slight draft.
“You are lucky, milady, to have such a considerate master,” the woman said as she finished drying Sal’s bottom. Sal was surprised. She guessed the woman believed Peter had caned her, but she couldn’t see anything considerate about the thrashing she received at the hands of the sadistic headmaster.
“What’s your name? And what do you mean?” The young woman stepped back as if slapped on the face.
“I meant no disrespect, my lady. Please don’t punish me. I meant no harm,” the young woman began to cry. Sal got out of the bath to go over to her and lift her chin up so she could see the woman’s face.
“It’s okay, I don’t mean any harm. Please, tell me your name.”
“Mary White, your ladyship. Brought here when I was thirteen. I ran away from home because I wanted to see the world. But this man caught me at the railway station and brought me here. I’ve been a good servant, my lady. I truly have.”
“I’m sure you have, Mary. Tell me what you meant by the caning. I want to know.” Sal sat with Mary on a long wooden box used to store spare towels and put her arm over Mary’s shoulder in sympathy. She knew it must have been terrible to have been turned into a slave.
“All those marks, milady. He put them on you, considerate like. So they’ll heal and not leave any scars. Most of them don’t do that, they’re just interested in causing as much pain as they can.” Mary was sniffling as she spoke, but the fear of facing punishment faded from her eyes.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I’ll show you, my lady.” Mary stood up, pulled her knickers down, and lifted her skirt. A set of criss-crossed white lines covered her buttocks and went up her back. Sal put her hand out and touched Mary’s scars. Sal was shocked the Vampires treated the girl like this and also by the realisation that the white lines on Peter’s skin were exactly the same. He’d been beaten just like this girl.
“I see.” Sal realised she had a new set of questions to ask Peter when she got the chance.
“All the servants are saying Lord Cragus has broken with tradition and that he should have left you crucified on the battlements to die slowly with your eyes cut out. Lord Baldan is furious over it. He says it isn’t fitting for a new Lord Cragus to start his reign by being soft on Warlocks. Begging your pardon, my lady, but I’m only telling you what I’ve heard.”
Sal flinched at what she might have faced. Hellogon had never been real to her, just a place half remembered from childhood and then somewhere to hide from Gaz and his posse of thugs.
Despite being at permanent war in the Game, the races traded and drank with each other in the town of Tallus. She even saw Han No walk past with his retinue. He looked so different in dragon form from the man who patted her head when she was a child.
“What else do they say about Peter, er, Lord Cragus?” Sal realised the servants of the place probably knew more than the Vampires about what went on in the castle.
“Well,” began Mary, as she warmed to her new mistress, “they say Lady Ilarna tried to kill Lord Cragus when he arrived. The Vampires don’t know this…” she said in a whisper. “We see things they don’t. Anyway, when Lady Ilarna tried to kill the Lord, he forced her to put poison to her lips, and then let her go. Lord Cragus showed mercy to the first castle brat that tried to kill him. Who would have thought it?”
“She’s young then, this Lady Ilarna?”
“Oh yes, young and pretty as you like, with those big breasts of hers sticking out for everyone to see.”
Sal felt a peculiar twitching in her stomach she had never felt before.
“And what did Lord Cragus do with her AFTER he failed to kill her?” Sal said through gritted teeth.
Mary didn’t notice Sal’s tone and carried on. “Well, blow me if he didn’t get her to swear fealty to him, and unforced on her part too. She had her head in his crotch swearing so fast you’d have thought she planned it.”
“Head in his crotch?” Sal asked grimly, her lips and face tight. She was going to have words with Peter over this Ilarna woman.
“It’s a Vampire ritual. Looks funny to a human, you know like she’s, well you know. Then he makes her his Castlemaine. Head of the household. She’s been strutting around all over the place since.” Mary learnt closer to Sal and whispered to her “She’d be dead by now if Lord Cragus hadn’t told them if she dies, he’ll find who did it, torture them and kill whoever’s involved. That’s got the bigwig Vampires running for cover.”
“I don’t understand.”
“People under torture tell you whatever you want to hear. If Lord Cragus tortures an assassin, like as not he’ll name every lord in the place just to take them with him. She’s the safest person in the castle, apart from you, of course.”
“What? Why me?”
“You being a Warlock, Lord Cragus knew you’d be fair game. Even some of the servants might try to kill you to gain favour. Lord Cragus knew that, so he told all the lords he’d take the right hand of every lord in the Council if anything happens to you.”
Sal got dressed as the idea of soaking in the bath no longer appealed. She wanted to make sure Mary had plenty of time to get her clothes ready. Sal intended to give Mary all the help she could.
They talked while Mary worked and Sal came to understand that being a slave on Hellogon was worse than she imagined. Mary had been caught by a Warlock. She spent three years with him before he sold her on. Apparently, she was too old for him. Half the marks on her back were from the Warlock.
The female Warlocks and Vampires were worse than the men. Mary’s stories of mistreatment from women gave Sal a serious case of the shudders. Mary knew little about the Grimms. They rarely took human slaves.
Mary explained the Game to Sal. All four races were sick as far as Sal was concerned. If Peter believed he could fix all this, she was going to help him as best as she could.
Mary adapted a dress for Sal. It was beautiful and the bodice underneath lifted her breasts to make them look bigger than Sal believed possible. The dress was black, of course, but Sal enjoyed wearing black and it looked good on her. Mary produced a make-up set and helped her apply deep red lipstick, black eyeliner and a blusher.
“You look beautiful,” Mary said in admiration as Sal twirled around for her.
“She certainly does,” Peter said from the door. “Thank you, Mary. Tell your master I said you may take tomorrow off ... and that I’ll check to see it has happened.”
Mary stuttered her thanks, red in the face. She backed out of the room with her eyes on the floor.
“Tell me, Peter, how did Solly find it so easy to get me from Han No?”
“I knew you’d get the hang of this Great Game if you only got a chance to think.” Peter held out his arm to her. He’d changed into some elegant state clothes while away.
They looked as if they were going to a ball when they walked out of the room, arm in arm.
Chapter Seventeen
Death
They arrived nearly an hour early. Solly brought them through a portal outside the castle which linked with the archway nearest the stairs in his shop. Travelling outwards from Hellogon required no projected door. Only the unsupported portals such as the Sunner Door required a nudge to get them to work.
“I suppose you wanted to come through early to check for traps?” Solly asked Peter as they made their way towards the stairs.
“No, I wanted to come early so I can go and see my moth
er. It’s been nearly two days since I’ve been home and she must be worried.” Peter gave Sal’s hand a squeeze, “A certain person who was supposed to pass a message to my mum didn’t get the chance. Han No found a way to keep her mind off doing it, I suppose.”
Sal thumped him hard on the shoulder. “That’s not fair.” Although it was true that until Peter reminded her of it she’d forgotten all about it. A certain headmaster wiped it from her mind.
It was a warm summer’s evening. The High Street was as clear of traffic as it ever got, which meant all the cars on it were travelling much too fast. According to Peter’s watch, it was a Sunday. The twelve hour time shift between Hellogon and the Earth encouraged him to think more days had past.
Peter found it strange how the petrol fumes wafting through the High Street tinged with the smell of takeaways and fish and chips made him feel home. The air of Hellogon was clear of industrial waste products, though candle wax and oil lamps induced a similar fug within the castle walls.
Solly waited in his shop for them. To guard it, he told Peter, though Peter had his own ideas about what Solly might be up to. In any case, Peter wasn’t concerned about Solly’s machinations.
Peter opened the door and ushered Sal through in front of him. “Mum, I’m home!” he called out as Sal stepped into the lounge.
“And you’ve brought a friend. Or should I say, girlfriend?” Mel ran an appraising eye over Sal before rushing over to give her son an enormous hug. “Happy belated birthday, Peter,” she said, as she gave him an embarrassing kiss on the cheek.
“Mum, this is Sal Dark. I’m sorry I vanished but…”
“You were in Hellogon,” Mel completed for him. “Now,” Mel held both of Sal’s hands and gave her a much closer visual inspection, “you, I would say, are a Warlock, not a Vampire. Peter, have you already got into cross-species relationships on Hellogon?”
Peter’s face reddened. His mother always had a way of getting straight to the point and was always unembarrassed by anything, however personal. “Mum, how do you know about Hellogon?”
Mel gave her son a look that might charitably be taken as surprise. “Peter, I was married to your father. Do you honestly think he would have kept me in the dark about his life?”
Peter reassessed the situation. “And you believed it?” he asked, because he always believed his mother was the most rational person he knew. Rational people don’t believe in travelling to other worlds through magic portals
“Not until he took me there, I’ll admit. We sneaked in under the wire a few times.” Peter gave Mel a sceptical look. “Peter, I was a field agent for the Establishment for almost as many years as you’ve been alive!”
Peter’s voice became shrill. “Then you knew coming here was a set-up and never told me?”
Mel turned to Sal and led her to the sofa gesturing for her to sit. “Peter’s not usually this silly,” she explained confidentially, “it’s just he assumes I’ll tell him everything, and we girls never do that, do we?” Mel gave Sal a broad wink.
Mel spoke firmly to her son. “Peter Craig, you’re the son of a Vampire Lord who was a brilliant strategist and you have a mother who’s a better strategist than he could ever be. Would you like to think it through while I make your girlfriend a cup of tea?”
Mel stopped by Peter to gently lift his mouth closed while on her way to the kettle. Sal giggled, which Peter didn’t regard as helpful as he struggled to get his mind into gear.
A few minutes later, they were sitting around the coffee table and holding warming cups of tea in their hands. Peter looked at his mother who gave him an almost invisible nod.
“Okay. We got thrown out of the Establishment and you had to find work and somewhere to live. One of the job agencies came back with a ‘too good to be true’ offer from Hellogon Imports, along with the offer of a flat.”
“You recognised the name and knew this was a move in the Great Game and that I had become a target. Dad would have told you about the coming of age rules on Hellogon, so you knew they would be seeking to get me to Hellogon as soon as I became eighteen. As a result you weren’t surprised when I disappeared on Friday night.”
“Mum, you must have known how dangerous Hellogon is, and if I hadn’t turned into a Vampire when I arrived they would have killed me on the spot.”
Mel sat back and smiled at her son. She felt proud of him. He had reached all the important conclusions almost instantly, despite the shock. There were ones he couldn’t reach because he didn’t have the required information. She reached across and fondly patted his leg.
“Firstly, you’re assuming this is the first time you’ve visited Hellogon, but then you’d hardly remember the trip we made when you were 9 months old. I knew you’d change into a Vampire. Secondly, you’re far more dangerous than they are. Not one of them has your training. Thirdly, as soon as they set up the Saturday work for me, I knew Han No didn’t want me around on your birthday. If I resisted the invitation, they might have tried to kill me to get me out of the way.” Mel paused so she could emphasise her next words. She wanted her son to understand exactly why she hadn’t told him about Hellogon.
“Lastly, you’re far too useful for them to kill until they find out you can’t be subverted to their cause. Not knowing anything about Hellogon gave you an edge. They had to explain things to you, and hope you’d come over to their side. If they thought you knew about Hellogon and its politics, they might try to kill you sooner.”
Peter finally understood what his mother had done. He put down his cup of tea and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks for giving me such an interesting and challenging birthday present, Mum.”
“So how are you getting on?”
“Not well. As Dad anticipated, the direct line of Cragus is dead, putting me in charge of the Vampires. I’ve used their sense of tradition to keep them in line, but it won’t work forever. My humanity betrays me and the Vampires will strike against me soon.” Peter sighed and paused to catch his breath.
“God knows what the Grimms have in mind. I suspect they’ve got many different schemes running. They’re not truly loyal to the Vampires. Half the Warlocks want me dead before I hook up with Han No and the other half is working with Han No to subvert me to his plan.”
“Which half of the Warlocks are you with, dear?” Mel asked Sal. Sal blushed and dropped her gaze to her cup of tea.
“I’ll do whatever Peter wants me too,” Sal mumbled in response.
Mel laughed as though that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “She might last longer than a week with the ability to lie like that. I despaired of Establishment girls. I think in-breeding is finally catching up with the place.” Mel looked at Sal and spoke to her alone, “Peter needs someone as bright and devious as he is. You just might do.”
Sal found her face blushing, as did Peter’s. Mum’s trying to keep us off balance, Peter thought. I wonder what the question is that I’m not supposed to ask.
“We have a meeting with Han No in twenty minutes. Unless I manage to find a way to change the cultural mores of all four species, they’re doomed to committing genocide on each other. That would be a shame because I think the human race needs companions.”
Mel gave them an appraising look and spoke to Peter. “Your father believed you embodied his species' best hope for survival.”
“As an individual or as an approach, Mum?”
“Both. He would be so proud of you.” Mel reached out her hand to her son and he grabbed hold of it. She held out her other hand to Sal who linked hands with them. They sat for a while before Peter broke hands to check the time.
“We have to go, Mum. I’ll try and keep in touch.”
Mel caught Peter as he left the flat and pulled him back through the door and out of Sal’s hearing. “Peter, Hellogon Imports is Han No’s only legitimate business. He’s hidden his ownership of it so well no government could take it off him. Despite that, he’s using it for something illegal. I just can’t find out what.
He has agents scouring countries for something, but what he’s looking for, I haven’t a clue.”
“How long has the company existed?”
“Fifteen years, more or less, though I can’t see how that helps. I’ll keep you informed of anything I find out.”
“Thanks, Mum.” Peter ran after Sal, who waited impatiently for him at the bottom of the stairs.
* * *
Solly had placed a table in the centre of the corridor. The table was wide enough to block access down the corridor on either side. Solly stood on the same side of the table as Peter and Sal. Peter and Sal looked at the table in surprise.
“I thought the table would stop Han No from trying anything, Peter. He’s going to be coming in from the portal nearest my office,” Solly explained.
“It would certainly stop us from attacking him,” Peter said. “Good idea, Solly.”
At precisely the time agreed, Han No and two large Warlock guards stepped from the portal and walked towards them. A single chair graced either side of the table and Han No sat down on his as if about to give an interview. Peter stepped forward and sat on his chair with Solly standing to his left and Sal to his right.
“Greetings, Peter Craig. Did you enjoy my birthday presents?”
“What man wouldn’t? I trust you’ll pass on my compliments to the two ladies?”
“Alas, they are currently serving their punishment with the headmaster and would not appreciate your compliment. They failed to keep you entertained all night as I requested.” Han No sounded genuinely unhappy about it.
“But you knew I’d escape. You planned on it. It seems unfair to punish the girls for something you planned so well.”
“You have much to learn, young man. Though what you say is true, the girls did not know this. Thus, they failed me and must be punished. How else would I maintain discipline?”
“I understand.” Peter sighed.
“They were not the only persons who failed me that night. I see you have brought the wanton daughter of Grant Dark to stand by your side. You are aware of her past, I take it?” Han No waited for a response, but Peter gave no indication he was the slightest bit interested.
