by Eric Vall
“I thought it was simply because women developed powers?” Valerie asked. “And they turned against men?”
“But there has to be a reason,” I grunted. “It can’t be ‘just because,’ there has to be a reason behind it all.”
“I bet the Queen knows,” Daisy uttered. “Rian said that the Queen is the oldest woman in history, she has to know what happened. Maybe she was the person who instigated it? If you think about it, really think about it, how did she come into power? How has she ruled for this long? You’d think that at some point, she would’ve stepped down and let someone else have a turn.”
“In the history books,” I told them. “They speak of a lone woman who rose against the ‘brute’ masses, but they’ve never named her… it could possibly be the Queen.”
“We don’t know Edony’s reasons behind wanting to take down the Queen,” the feline-woman murmured. “And I’m not trying to defend her or anything, but maybe that’s the exact reason that Edony wants to take her down. I mean, I certainly don’t want a country that’s run by the Duchess, but… the Queen has been ruling over us for hundreds of years, perhaps it’s time for her rule to end.”
“Look what I found,” Daisy gasped. “It was hidden under her bed.”
“Is that… a diary?” Valerie squealed. “Gimme, gimme, gimme!”
The brunette chuckled, crossed the room, bent down beside the ash-blonde, and opened up the small, leather-bound book. The two women scanned over the pages together, and then suddenly, the bear-girl’s honey eyes widened.
“We need to take this with us…” Daisy whispered.
“Why?” I asked. “I mean, if it has information on Josephine and us, we have to take it, but why?”
“It has all of Edony’s plans in it,” Valerie cried. “Like… all of them, there’s so much more to it than what Ortensia told us. I mean, it doesn’t explicitly say what she wants from the Queen, but here it says that they hired the new scientist to create the super-soldiers for Edony. Ortensia didn’t believe that it could be done, but apparently, the Duchess was very optimistic. Here, I’ll read this one, “This morning, the Duchess summoned me to the duchy. I complied, of course, since I am the person put in charge of the whole town, and I answer only to her. I arrived, and she immediately pulled me into the basement where her trophy room is located. The Duchess had set up a hasty looking laboratory, she said that she modeled it after Charles Rayburn’s. The Duchess then introduced me to her hired scientist, a man named Lucien, whom I don’t like very much. He is pompous, confident, and condescending for a brute. I hope, at some point, I can get some time alone with him, and beat some respect into him. Edony spoke at lengths about Charles Rayburn the entire time, I’ve yet to tell her what I suspect him of, but in the future, if his actions become more questionable, I will have to bring it to her attention. Though I’m conducting my own investigation of Charles, it seems as if the Duchess is quite obsessed with him, and I can’t tell if it is good or bad, I will have to question her more about it while not giving myself away,’”
“Does that have a date on it?” I asked.
“A few days ago,” Daisy tutted. “That’s the very last entry, it must have been right before we saw her at the way station.”
“It has to be,” I agreed. “That almost feels as if it was hundreds of years ago, but it was only a day or two.”
“Do you think she shared her suspicions with anyone else?” Rian asked. “It’d be awful if we did all of this work, and we find out later she told the Duchess or one of the other constables.”
“I highly doubt that,” I contended. “The aristocrats are so secretive, they barely speak to each other unless it’s meaningless gossip, we learned that when we first ran into Adelia, Lilliana, and Josephine.”
“Not only that, but we all know how the Duchess is,” Daisy nodded. “Edony would never tell anyone her plans. Even from reading these diary entries, the Duchess barely told Ortensia anything, just the bare minimum that she could get by with.”
“Ortensia may have been the Chief Constable,” Rian breathed. “But it seemed that she didn’t have a lot of power. You’d think that someone in authority such as her would rule this town with an iron fist.”
“You’d assume that,” I confirmed. “But in towns like Edenhart, the rulers are the ones that control everything, the constables and law enforcement are nothing more than extensions of those in power.”
“And then, those like the Duchess,” Valerie went on. “Are nothing more than extensions of the Queen herself. They all are small segments of the long arm of the matriarch, the Queen.”
“I may have some of Ortensia’s memories,” the red-skinned imp-woman muttered. “But I don’t understand the laws of this land at all. My father and mother ruled together, as a unit. He didn’t have more power than her, and the same with my mother, I wish that this world was the same as the impdom, it’d be so much simpler.”
“I wish it were like that, too,” I grunted. “Maybe it will be someday, but we can only hope, Daisy, do you have the letters? I’ve cleared out the desk. Have you two found everything?”
“I searched in the cushions of all of the couches, in her dressers, all over the place,” Valerie giggled. “Everything I found is in the pack and ready to be taken home, and burned.”
“The same with me, Charles,” Daisy hummed, rose from the floor, reached into her pockets, grabbed the letters, and then offered them. “What about you, Rian?”
“Ortensia is strung up and ready to be found,” the red-skinned woman smiled. “It’s a little strange to see her like this, though… I once was her, I feel no emotion when I look at her, but I know that part of her is within me… Well, I won’t dwell on it anymore, Daisy, do you have the threatening letter with you?”
“Here it is,” the brunette whispered. “Put it at her feet, so it looks like she had it in her hands, and then dropped it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Rian nodded, bent down, dropped the letter, glanced up at the corpse, and then shifted the letter a little to the left. “Perfect. I’ll place the chair a little farther back, but still close enough where she could’ve stepped off.”
I stepped closer to the roll-top desk, placed the letters from other harlots on the cherry colored wood, arranged them into a disheveled pile, and then closed the lid with a soft clunk. All of my women turned at the same time, smiled at me, and I sighed softly.
“We’re finished,” I sighed. “Finally, let’s grab the pack, and get out of here.”
We stood together in the middle of the room, my eyes shifted, and I examined each surface for anything we could’ve left. Nothing seemed out of place. Ortensia’s room had been a bit messy when we came in, and even after we rummaged through her things, it looked as no one else had been there.
“How long do you think it’ll take for them to know that she’s missing?” Daisy asked.
“Not long,” I uttered. “It’s already been a day, and I know how demanding Edony can be when she has a project. When I worked for her, she’d show up randomly whenever she wanted, but that was mostly to throw me off or intimidate me, I doubt she’d do those things to the Chief Constable. Maybe pressure her to show up and things like that, but she’s never stoop so low as to threaten another woman.”
“And yet she has the gall to threaten me,” Daisy sniffed, giggled, and then smiled sheepishly. “I mean, I know we’re lying about who I am, but you’d think she’d know better than to threaten another woman in power. For all she knows, the Browning family could be richer and more influential than she is.”
“Sometimes,” Valerie sighed. “I wonder about aristocrats’ families.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, from what you’ve told us, males are handed off to schoolmarms the moment they’re born,” the feline-woman confided. “But what about the females? I know that they’re allowed to remain with their ‘birth-givers,’ but are they given any affection at all? Do their mothers love them and care f
or them, or are they treated as coldly and as sterilely as they treat each other? Daisy, can you remember anything from Delphine’s childhood? How did her mother treat her? Was it lovingly? I only started thinking about this because of Josephine. You rarely hear aristocrats talking about their mothers, but Josephine does, she cares very much about her, and takes excellent care of her.”
“Delphine’s childhood?” the bear-girl asked. “I don’t have a lot of memories from her past, mostly the most recent events, and a bit of her adolescence but… there is something. Her mother would fly into fits of rage, throwing ice daggers at random servants, they’d scuttle out of the way, and she’d roar with laughter at their frightened faces… She often would encourage Delphine to do the same, and they’d often make a game out of it… Delphine’s mother did it a lot to her consorts, and if my memories serve me well, she killed at least two or three with her ice daggers. When she’d get furious, she’d do it to Delphine, too… the aristocrat had a healed scar on her left thigh where one grazed her, and she’d often apply salves to it in hopes that it would fade.”
“She sounds horrible,” Valerie grumbled. “I may not like the aristocrats, but can you imagine growing up in a house where your mother, the one person who’s supposed to love and protect you, throws ice daggers at you when she’s upset? Delphine may have been a terrible person, and she deserved to die, but it makes you wonder… if she’d been treated differently while growing up, would she have been so horrible? Would she have believed so whole-heartedly that men are innately evil?”
“I believe that it’s the way our society is,” I murmured. “But you have to factor in how Josephine was raised, too… it makes me wonder, is Josephine’s mother a brute sympathizer, too? Did her mother ingrain those beliefs into her as she grew up?”
“We should ask her!” Valerie giggled. “We won’t know unless we ask!”
“I… I could try,” I admitted. “We already spoke about what she said when she was drunk. I told her that I feel the same… but she shouldn’t be as loose-lipped as she is, especially if she drinks around other aristocrats.”
“Well, Josephine did say that she doesn’t associate with them very often,” the bear-girl countered. “She even told us that she was only there that day because Adelia and Lilliana saw her passing by and invited her to lunch.”
“That’s very true…” I nodded. “The next time I see her, I’ll bring it up, but if she seems uncomfortable, I’ll stop immediately.”
“You’re such a gentleman, Charles,” Rian sighed.
“Everyone finished?” I asked. “We’ve been here long enough, I think we should go before anyone notices we’re here.”
“I’m ready!” Valerie giggled.
“Me too.” Daisy nodded.
“Me three.” The red-skinned imp-woman smiled. I went around the room, blew out all of the oil-lamps, kicked the clothing
tucked into the door out of the way, and then reached for the door handle. Right as my hand contacted the metal, the knob turned, and the door exploded open with the bark of a familiar voice.
“Search every nook and cranny of this goddamned room!” Edony boomed. “I want this room ripped apart by the time you’re finished! Ortensia won’t get away from me this easily!”
Chapter Three
In an instant, Valerie’s hands slammed out, the feline-woman gripped me by the shoulder, grabbed Daisy with the other, and then slammed her back into Rian’s chest. The feline-woman forcefully pulled all of us into a tight cluster, held her breath in the darkness around us, and then activated her camouflage power. I opened my mouth to speak, whipped my head toward the cat-girl, but that’s when I noticed it.
All three of my women had disappeared.
“Wha--” I gasped, but an unseen hand slammed out, covered my mouth, and pulled me deeper into the darkened corner of the room.
“Shhh,” Valerie whispered. “They can’t see any of us… just keep quiet, all of you.”
I wanted to ask how all of this was possible, how was Valerie able to lend us her powers, but at this moment, I knew better. I kept my lips shut, breathed in quietly, and then aimed my eyes at the open door of the Chief Constable’s bedroom. Edony swept in, looking just as gorgeous as ever in a dark wine-colored dress, stepped toward the middle of the room, and then turned back toward the open door.
Edony was tall, maybe a few inches shorter than me, and rail-thin with a willowy build. The way she moved and carried herself often reminded me of an elegant crane with her head held high, and her brilliant violet eyes were trained straightforward. The Duchess held her cane delicately in one hand, and stabbed out at the wooden floorboards as she marched deeper into the room. Her long, almost colorless hair was piled high on the top of her head in full curls, and a few feathers the same color as her dress wafted out from the ringlets.
Edony looked just as she always did: elegant, beautiful, and intimidating, it was no wonder that the people of Edenhart respected her and obeyed her every word. Even though I may have despised her, I had to openly admit that I found her stunning. When I looked at her, it was like seeing a tigress for the very first time. She may have been able to hide her stripes, her long, yellowed fangs, and twitching tail, but she was nothing more than a territorial, predatory beast. From the moment I looked into her eyes, I knew that this woman could destroy me with barely a twitch of her hand.
Though her presence was oppressive, cloying, and overbearing, I had to admit to myself… I wasn’t afraid of her anymore. The Duchess had terrorized me for almost a year, and that entire time, I trembled each time I saw her approaching shadow, but now, surrounded by my women, I didn’t feel the same. If anything… I felt a strange sense of pity for her. Just like all of the other aristocrats in Edenhart, Edony was plagued with the constant need to be seen as powerful and influential. The more I saw the aristocrats struggle with their daily lives, it reminded me more and more of Josephine and how, despite her upbringing, she still became a brute sympathizer.
“Do as I say,” the Duchess barked. “I want this room torn apart by the time we’re finished. Ortensia hasn’t responded to any of my summonses, she’s been missing for two days now, and I need to know where she is.”
The two female constables rushed in, and immediately moved for the oil lamps around the room. Before I knew, all three of them bloomed to life, and light-flooded across all of the corners. The seconds ticked by, Edony turned on her heels as she examined the walls, and the rolltop desk, and suddenly, the blonde woman froze. The Duchess’ mouth hung open for a second, her delicate, gloved hands froze at her sides, and a strange, strained squeak rose up her throat. Her violet eyes wandered over the silhouette hanging from the beam, and the Duchess took a staggering step forward.
“Ortensia!” One of the constables cried. “Oh, gods, what have you done to yourself?”
Both of the women rushed forward while Edony stood back with a horrified expression. As the two women came closer, I recognized them as the two constables that had come to question me a long time ago, Constable Afton, and Constable Zinnia. They looked exactly the same as when they’d visited my manor, Afton’s mousey brown hair was a bit shorter, and Zinnia’s muted red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail.
“Cut her down!” Zinnia bleated. “Cut her down! Oh, gods, she’s dying! Look at her face! It’s all blue!”
All four of us stood silently still, held our breaths, and watched as Afton climbed up onto the chair, gripped a large hunting knife from her waist, grabbed the rope in one hand, and then slashed out at it. Zinnia gripped the Chief Constable by the waist, held her aloft, and then rested her on the wooden floor once the rope went slack. Both women dropped to their knees, pressed their fingers to Ortensia’s throat, and felt for a heartbeat.
“She’s cold…” Zinnia breathed. “She’s gone…”
“How long do you think she was up there?” Afton sobbed. “Oh, she must have been so alone… how could she do this? She had so much to live for?”
&nbs
p; Their words became distant whispers in the background as my eyes settled onto the Duchess. Edony stepped forward, bent at the waist, grabbed the paper from the floor, straightened, and then read it carefully. The blonde’s face showed no emotion, though her arched eyebrows raised slowly in surprise. Edony’s head turned, her eyes settled on the roll-top desk, and she hurried toward it with the letter clamped tightly in her fist. I pressed my lips together, fought down a grunt, held tightly to my women, and hurriedly sidestepped out of the Duchess’ way. Edony came within inches of touching my shoulder, and I slammed my body backward to avoid the contact. The blonde ripped the desk open, glanced over it, frenziedly rifled through the letters, grabbed one, unfolded it, and then glanced over the handwritten ink.
For a long moment, Edony stayed at the desk, completely frozen with her back rod straight. From the way her violet eyes raced over the wall and desk in front of her, I knew that she was thinking long and hard about everything the letters contained.
“What do we do?” Zinnia sobbed. “We… we have to wake up all of the other constables. I can’t believe this has happened… she was so good to us! She was so young! She had so much to teach us, and now all of that wisdom is lost!”
“I’ll go wake the others,” Afton sniffled. “They’ll want to pay their respects before we take her to the mortuary and prepare a proper funeral and--”
“Don’t.” Edony barked.
“W-What?” the redhead gasped. “We have to get her to the mortician and bury her! We can’t just leave her like this! Look at her beautiful face, oh, Ortensia! If you struggled with emotional problems, we were here for you!”
