by Eric Vall
“Go on,” Edony urged in a whisper. “Maybe I’ll have mercy on you.”
“The poachers…” the Warden grunted. “They killed my men.”
“I already heard,” the Duchess snapped. “I don’t care about the lives of two worthless men. That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
Milton’s left eye opened a little wider, met my gaze, sparkled, and then… winked? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Why was this little toad of a man winking at me in a situation like this?
“I came to Charles to see if he could build a trap,” the Warden groaned. “To catch the poachers. We’ve tried so hard to catch them just on horseback, but nothing’s working. I thought he could build something like a steel trap, a mechanical t-thing to catch them.”
“Absolutely not,” Edony roared. “Charles is far too busy to build such a silly thing for you. You’re the goddamn Warden, Milton, you have a handful of men at your disposal, brainstorm something, do whatever you need… just don’t bother, Charles! Your problems aren’t as serious as mine.”
Edony pulled back the cane, shifted it in her hand, and then slammed the tip down on the wooden floor. Milton fell forward onto the floor, gasped for air, reached back, and held onto his shoulder. When he pulled away his hand, and glanced down at it, there was a small streak of blood where the cane’s hook had stabbed into him. The Warden whimpered, shifted his legs, wobbled, and then slowly stood.
The blonde leaned against her cane, wiped off the few droplets of blood off the crook, leveled her eyes at me, tilted her head, and then squinted.
“Milton, go out and get into my carriage,” Edony instructed. “I have important matters to discuss with Dr. Rayburn.”
“W-What?” the Warden gasped. “Why?”
“Is that any of your business?” The blonde snapped her head. “Go out to the carriage, get into it and wait for me. I’ll take you back to my manor, and you can resume your patrol, which you should’ve been doing in the first place, Deputy Warden. Now, go out to the goddamn carriage.”
Edony turned, gestured toward the still open door, waited, and glared down at Milton as he slunk past. The stout, bald man paused for a moment, opened his mouth to speak with a single finger lifted but then dropped it and trundled down the stairs.
With the Duchess distracted for a moment, I turned, glared down the hall at both Daisy and the hidden Valerie. The cat-girl’s shape twisted, hunkered down, and then phased into view with wide, pleading eyes.
“Go downstairs now!” I mouthed, but the feline-woman shook her head. “Right now! This instant!”
The feline-woman sighed, phased out of view, crawled across the floor into the kitchen, grabbed the bear-girl by the arm, and tugged her out of sight. I let my head roll back, closed my eyes for a second, and let out a low whisper of a sigh.
“Charles,” Edony snapped, and my eyes flew open.
“Yes?” I answered.
“Where the fuck are my super-soldiers?” she asked, and with each word, she took a menacing step closer. “I’ve waited long enough. I’ve paid you hundreds, housed for months, practically fed you out of the palm of my hand and yet… you’ve given me nothing in return?”
“Edony… you don’t understand.” I shook my head. “I’m close. I just need a bit of time.”
“I’m tired of you saying that, Charles,” the Duchess boomed, and her almost white hair lifted into the air as sparks rained down all around her. “I’m tired of waiting and hoping that each month will be different. You’re no better than the rest of them, I believed in you, stupidly and against my better judgment, but I did, and now, I have nothing to show for it. Months of waiting and preparing for my beasts that you promised, you promised them to me. When I sought you out, you didn’t say ‘I’ll try to make them for you,’ no, you promised them! From the moment we agreed to do this together. I’m disappointed, in you, in myself, in the machine, and at this point, I’m not sure what to do.”
“Edony, please,” I begged, stepped backward, and only stopped as my back bumped against the far wall.
“No, you don’t get to plead with me,” Edony snarled, and the electricity surrounding her body crackled louder. “I gave you everything. Maybe, just maybe I should take you down into your ‘laboratory,’ the laboratory, may I remind you that I provided, and use you in the experiment? Maybe it’ll work then? Who knows? Either I’ll get what I want, or you’ll be dead… though no one will mourn the loss of your life. I surely won’t, you’ve been nothing but a hindrance since the moment I met you. I should’ve gone to a female scientist, maybe then my machine would work, and I would finally receive what I want.”
The Duchess glared down at me, inclined her head, lifted a hand encircled by raining sparks, and pushed it closer to my face. A wicked smile spread over her face as I cowered away from the biting heat that sizzled across my skin each time a spark connected.
“Stop,” I whispered. “I’m trying, Edony. I am close. I just need--”
“What?” the Duchess barked. “Do you want more money to make improvements to the machine? You’ve tried that twice, it hasn’t worked, you can’t escape your fate, Charles.”
“I! Need! More! Time!” I hadn’t realized it, but I was shouting at the Duchess now.
For the first time in our entire affiliation, Edony looked afraid of me as if I were the beast she’d always assumed I was. The electricity died from around her body, and she held her delicate hands to her chest, and stared at me with wide, horrified eyes. Then just as suddenly, her expression hardened, the lights in the room bloomed brighter, and she strode forward with the snap of electricity.
“You dare scream at me?” the blonde screamed, drew back her over her shoulder, and prepared to swing. “Our contract is over, Charles. Do you know what that means? You have failed to produce my super-soldier, the one I paid you to create, do you know what this means?”
I was so tired of feeling afraid and hearing the threats over and over. Every day of my life, every woman I came into contact with, it was all the same. Since the day I was born, I’d heard the same phrases repeated every day, and I was nothing short of exhausted… How much longer could I listen to this same rhetoric? How much longer could I carry on with the threat of death hanging over my shoulders?
I’d finally snapped, after all this time, all of their words had gotten to me, and I released all of my pent-up anger. It wasn’t the best decision I’d ever made, and I would probably pay for it in the end but… it felt so good to say all these words aloud, to the woman who had been the bane of my existence for the last year.
“You’re going to kill me,” I barked through a laugh. “I already know, Edony, you’ve been threatening me with death since the moment I signed the damn contract. If you want to do it so badly, then do it! I’m not afraid of you! I’ve struggled, turmoiled, and broken my back over my damn machine, but no matter how hard I work, it will never happen! Even if you kill me and move on to a female scientist, it will be the same, except then, you can’t kill a female scientist, can you, Edony? You can’t raise a hand against another aristocrat, can you? You wouldn’t even dare try! That’s why you chose me in the first place, to threaten and scare me the whole time while I spent hours building the machine you wanted! Kill me, find another scientist, but expect the same results.”
“I should’ve gotten rid of you after the first experiment didn’t work,” Edony chuckled with her hand still held aloft. “One failure is enough to condemn a man, and I should’ve let that be a sign. You’re not worthy of my patronage, you weren’t from the moment I met you, and yet, somehow, I still had faith in your measly ability. Charles, you’re not some world-renowned doctor, running around curing diseases and saving lives. Do you know why you’re not? All those doctors are female, and you’re just… a man that fit some pieces of metal together and runs electricity through it. It’s not impressive anymore… I should’ve let you rot on the side of the road I found you on… like the trash you are.”
“I built you a machine fr
om nothing,” I spat. “I have done great things, things you’ll never see or know about because you won’t open your goddamn eyes, Edony! I’ve accomplished things that only you could dream about! You had a vision for the machine, but I’m the one who brought it to life with these two hands! Could you ever do that? No, but… I’m just a man who can fit pieces of metal together in the shape of a structure, what do I know?”
“You… you insolent little--” Edony’s voice rose, the sparks flew, and a single bulb above our heads exploded, but another voice rang out from behind us.
“Enough,” the feminine voice commanded. “That’s enough.”
Edony’s violet eyes widened, her jaw set, her lips set into a tight line, and she turned her head so slowly, I could hear the tendons creak with strain. Over the Duchess’s shoulder, I spied a familiar face standing in the hall, and I shook my head in disbelief.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Daisy growled, placed her hands on her hips and took a menacing step forward. “You shouldn’t speak to him like that.”
“Excuse me?” Edony roared. “I can talk to my employee any way that I want!”
“You shouldn’t speak to me that way, either,” The brunette sighed. “You’re a woman, I am too. Show some goddamn respect.”
Edony took a deep breath, and her nostrils flared as she smoothed out the front of her blue dress, set her jaw, and turned toward the petite girl.
“And you are?” Edony raised her eyebrows.
“Daisy…” the bear-girl trailed off. “Daisy… Browning.”
“Browning?” the Duchess clicked her tongue. “The influential Browning family from Aunux, the largest city in the east?”
“…Yes.” Daisy uttered, glanced in my direction, and then snapped her honey-colored eyes back to the Duchess. “Yes, I’m from Aunux… in the east.”
“I didn’t know you were coming here to our small town of Edenhart,” the Duchess sniffed. “Absolutely no idea.”
“I just arrived.” Daisy snapped, curled her right arm up, and examined her fingernails. “Any more questions before I ask you to leave… again?”
“Yes, why are you here?” Edony gestured around the room. “In the manor, I own and loan to this man?”
“Oh, the answer is easy,” Daisy shrugged. “Charles Rayburn is my consort.”
“Wha-what?” Edony gasped, glanced at me, and then whipped her head back. “Excuse me? That cannot be true, Charles Rayburn wouldn’t willingly become a consort! Trust me, I know, I had to hear all about it from goddamn Delphine!”
“He is,” the brunette nodded. “He signed over his rights to me earlier today. So, per our contract, Charles Rayburn is my property and you… you’re threatening my property. I don’t like it.”
“I own Charles,” Edony protested. “I own this house, and everything in it, including my machine down in the lab. Everything is mine, you’re trespassing on my property.”
“You may own this house, yes,” Daisy nodded, upturned her eyes, studied the chandelier, and then the suits of armor. “You don’t own Charles anymore. He’s not your consort, you may have a contract with him, but that is devoid of all meaning now that I’m here. Your contract with Charles is null, he’s my consort now, and I’ve instructed him to drop all ties to the scientific world, which includes you and your… experiments.”
“You… you…” Edony stammered, pointed to my first, and then swung her arm towards Daisy. “You can’t do this, I’ve paid him… I’ve paid him hundreds… it can’t be over, just like that… no, I won’t let it.”
“Leave, now.” Daisy snapped, waltzed forward, gripped the front door by its hand, and swung it open.
My eyes bulged from their sockets as the bear-girl pulled too hard, and the door came completely off its hinges.
Both the duchess and I gasped.
“Woops.” Daisy held the heavy, wooden door aloft for a moment, flushed bright red, rested it against the wall and cleared her throat. “See? That’s what happens when I get angry, so you better do as I say. Or else, we’re going to have trouble, Duchess of Edenhart.”
Edony’s mouth fell agape, and her violet eyes swiveled between me and the petite brunette for a moment. Then, her spine snapped to attention, she rose to her full height and took a decisive step toward the door. The Duchess paused for a moment in the doorway, craned her neck and glared over her shoulder at me.
“This isn’t over, Rayburn,” the blonde roared, twisted her head back to Daisy, and scowled down her thin nose. “You haven’t won, Browning. I will have him, he will finish what we’ve started, or I will execute him. Just because you have a consort contract doesn’t mean his life is spared, I’m the Duchess Edenhart, I decide what stays and what goes.”
Edony floated down the first stair right as her carriage door slammed open, banged against the outside, and Milton exploded out.
The Warden raced up the stairs, grabbed the blonde’s hands, and then pointed down the drive.
“Duchess, look!” The Warden giggled. “Do you see what that is? Do you see it? You can take him down now, even after what he’s done to you!”
“Were you eavesdropping, little worm?” Edony barked, raised her head and squinted off into the distance. “What is it, Milton? What did you see in the godforsaken darkness?”
All the blood drained from my face, and I shuffled my feet anxiously as my eyes settled on what the Warden pointed to.
“That’s the constable’s carriage,” Milton sniveled, rubbed his hands together like some type of plotting rodent, turned, and grinned up at me. “Are they coming to take you away, Charles?”
Chapter Eighteen
I just wanted to be left alone, that’s all I’d ever asked for. All I’d ever wanted was to work in my laboratory uninterrupted, and yet, all of these idiot people just kept showing up. Even when I first came to the manor, I’d sent away most of the manservants because there were too many fools bustling around at once, and since I’d created the first monster-girl, I had none in the house. Even now, as Daisy and I stood on the porch just outside of the open front door, there were too many people here.
“What have you done, Charles?” An evil smile snaked over Edony’s features. “Why are the constables visiting at such a late hour of night?”
Milton glanced between the Duchess, me and then Daisy, opened his mouth to speak, thought for a second with squinted eyes, and then snapped his jaw shut. The Warden couldn’t tattle on me without first implicating himself. Luckily, I’d wrapped him up tight in his own string of lies, and he couldn’t escape.
The constable’s carriage rolled closer, came into view just beyond the gate, and my eyes fell upon the back end of it where a small cell was built into the wood. Would I be going in there? Had they somehow… someway found out what I’d done? There was no possible way, I’d covered all of my tracks, and even now, if they searched my laboratory, they’d find no sign of the bear or Delphine. I hadn’t checked compartment B, but I was sure that the horrible woman was nothing more than a pile of ash or a mutilated corpse at this point.
The shiny, black carriage pulled into the drive, the chauffer pulled back on the reins, slowed to a stop, and rested directly behind the Duchess’s horse and carriage. The plain door slammed open, banged against the outside, a dark-clothed woman hopped out, offered an arm in, and then helped a second woman out. Their uniforms matched perfectly with tailored wool jackets in a deep blue so dark they were almost black. Golden buttons worked down their fronts with a single one at the end of their sleeves and wrapped around their forearms were cloth badges with Edenhart’s seal embroidered onto it.
Both constables were females who stood taller than most women. They carried heavy looking batons tied off to their belts, and they stepped forward with the assured ease of someone with authority.
“Charles Rayburn?” the redhaired constable called, pulled out a pad of paper from her breast pocket, glanced at it, and then held it tightly in her palm. “This is Constable Afton, I’m Const
able Zinnia. May we ask you a few questions?”
“What is the meaning of this?” I stepped down the stairs, crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at them. “Why are you here?”
“Yes, as the Duchess of Edenhart,” Edony purred through a smirk, came around her carriage, and leaned out. “I demand to know what this man has done.”
“Ah, Duchess,” Afton, a mousey brunette, raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t see you there. May we ask why you are here? Milton too? Who is that woman? On the stairs?”
“I’m here on personal business,” Edony sniffed, leaned back her head, and gazed down her nose at the two constables. “I hired the Alchemist for a job a few months ago.”
“And the Warden?” Zinnia raised an eyebrow, held her pen over the pad, and eyed Milton with distrust.
“I am also here on personal business,” Milton answered, sweated under the gaze of both constables, and then went on. “Two of my men were murdered last night… by poachers, and I came to ask the Alchemist if he could construct a trap to help catch them.”
“Ahhhh,” Afton sighed, nodded, placed her hands behind her back, and stepped closer. “Yes, the poachers are getting out of hand. We’ve been dealing with their underground trading of the pelts for a long time, but we can’t seem to get ahold of them, the little weaselly brutes. They can be none other than men, of course, no woman would lay a hand on such beautiful creatures in such a way.”
“Constables.” Milton swung his heavy boot forward, folded his hands behind his back, puffed out his chest and stomped forward. “Please allow me to join you in this investigation, as the Deputy Warden, I’m sure I could aide you in some way or another.”
Zinnia, who was obviously the leader of the two women, glanced over at Afton, raised a single eyebrow, scoffed, and then shook her head.
“No, thank you… sir,” the redhead chortled with a shake of her head. “Us constables are trained specifically for things like this… I’m not sure, as the Deputy Warden, you’d be much help. You may even hinder us, or get in our way. Also, you work for the duchess while we work for the queendom. It is a conflict of interest, so we politely decline.”
