by Andur
It's still strange. “But isn't it unlikely that the Jamaian Union can create a stable population of mind-magicians with just a few abducted individuals?”
“You underestimate them. We are searching for over a thousand people who disappeared during the initial raids. I am not talking just about members of acknowledged bloodlines. They abducted everyone who had even an ounce of magic ability. Even if they can create just a single generation of mind magicians who are loyal to them it would be a huge win in their war effort.” Grez shakes his head again.
“Celestial!”
I am hugged from behind and I immediately recognize my mother's voice. Then I am forcedly turned around and hugged again. “Hi, mom.” I pat my mother's back while I smile at my dad who also turned up.
“We are so glad that you are safe.” He hugs both of us while smiling. My mother is crying tears of joy.
“I am sorry dad. I guess I got caught.” I can't think of anything else besides apologizing. “But Liandra is fine. Though she stayed at home, so you can't see her immediately.”
“Home?” My mother finally stops ruining my dress with her tears. Aahh... whatever. At least they are safe.
“Ah. Yeah. She is in Sarn-Valley. I have a huge mansion there.” I smile broadly at them. Both are looking at me with dumbfounded expressions.
“Maybe we should try to have this conversation elsewhere. There will be much to talk about and we shouldn't disturb the ambassador any further. He was so nice to take us with him onto this ball to search for information.” My father smiles and nods at Grez who smiles back at us.
“Don't worry. I am more than happy that we didn't just find informations on their whereabouts.” Grez waves with his hand and starts to suck on his pipe again while taking out a fat notebook with names. He ticks two names from the list.
My father leads us a little farther away before hugging me himself. “I am glad that you are fine. But how did you end up in Norfolk after being abducted by Jamaian!”
Oh... well how should I explain all this? This could actually become a little hairy. There isn't really a good way to inform them of everything that happened. “Haah... that's a long story. But to make it short. The Jamaian slave traders sold me and Liandra as slaves. We were bought by Ascathon, a noble from Norfolk. He kind of saved us.”
“You were enslaved!?” Mother's expression immediately turns gruesome. “Where is that bastard! What did he do to Liandra.”
Urgh. That came across completely wrong! “Nono. No slave any more. See? No slave-rings.” I smile at my mother showing my hands to her.
“They put slave-rings on you two?” Fathers expression turns dark too.
“Yes. But now they are off. We are free people again. I was doing fine.” No reason to go on a rampage.
“We have to thank this noble then. If he saved Liandra and you out of good will, then he has to be thanked.” Mother grabs my hand and smiles at me.
Um. That's not the entire truth either.
“What's his name?” My father smiles at me.
“Um. His full name is Ascathon Asceron.”
Both of my parent's expressions suddenly become fearsome. “The Arenzien!”“The Arenzien!”
“Ah. So you know his previous family name.” Aaah. It will be a pain to change their opinions!
“Of course! We know of all members of that accursed family!” Father snaps.
“But he left that family and the country. And he actually doesn't like any of his relatives except his little sister.” I try to smooth the waves.
“That makes him a traitor too! My poor daughter! Did he defile you!? You can tell everything to me.” My mother hugs me again.
“He... didn't... exactly... defile... me.” Oh my god! Why did my mind just blank out!? How can I turn this conversation into a positive direction!
“He did! I will murder that....”
“Husband!” So. Now it's out. Better to drop the whole bomb at them and clean the mess later.
“Hus...”“...band?”
“~Yes.~ I married him. So please refrain from doing anything to your own son in law. He is a noble from Norfolk by the way, so you would create some diplomatic issues too by doing so.” I smile at them while my mother fights to keep standing with my support.
“Why?” My mother asks with a whiny voice.
“Didn't you guys always say that I should marry someone with power to save our house and ensure our safety? Well. I decided that marrying someone with power and gaining a citizenship would be better than staying a person with no legal rights.” I nod at my perfect explanation.
“We still have to see him to judge for ourselves!” My father folds his arms in front of his chest. His face tells me that he already made up his mind about the hermit.
“You don't have anything to fear. I wear the pants in our relationship!” I stand proud in front of my father while proclaiming this line.
“We will see... where is he?” My mother sighs and starts to walk towards the exit.
“I parted with him at the entrance. He wanted to get an appointment with the Jarl to further the development of our principality! It shouldn't take that long to make an appointment. So maybe he is already searching for me.” I smile at them. I may as well try to sell some of Ascathon's good points. Like having money and power. And being smart and having a high morality.
“He has a principality!?” Dad's expression drops a little. Maybe he just lost a little confidence?
“The whole of Sarn-Valley with about a hundred thousand inhabitants!” Hah! Maybe that will change their opinion of my choice.
I lead them slowly back the way I came while looking carefully around. It's still possible that we could miss each other but I hope that Ascathon would also take a direct route. So we should meet each other.
While I walk I decide to pile on with Ascathon's pros. The better my parent's impression of him, the less worries they should have. “And he is actually a very nice and emotional person.” He always has nightmares when I don't sleep with him.
“And he is reasonable too. If you have some good arguments you can always convince him to help you.” A little blackmail here and there and he will even marry you.
“And while he is really strong, he can be gentle too.” Yes. When he saved me he gently ended the life of that idiot who tried to buy me and Liandra.
“His skill in the bed is ~godlike~!” Ah! Damn! I got carried away. Their expressions turned fearsome again.
“And........”
“KYAAAAA!”
I was just about to enter the next hall when a scream destroys the atmosphere and a few people come running into our direction with pale faces and horrified expressions. It should be the hall which was filled with entertainers and various exhibits.
A few steps take me to the entrance and I peek inside the room.
What I find is a murder scene. No. It's closer to a massacre because there are multiple victims. I see seven bodies in total and there are stains of blood everywhere! I slowly walk forward while I observe the scene. There are actually a few nobles left within the room. They look around with dazed expressions but they don't look scared. Seems like the violence was restricted to a certain group of people.
All corpses seem to be Jamaian nobles. There is one who seems to have been wounded and actually managed to crawl a few metres towards the exit before a sword nailed him to the floor, right through his heart. The trail of blood makes his struggle evident.
Another two seem to have killed each other with their bare hands. It looks like they actually tried to peel the flesh off of each other while being in an all or nothing struggle for life and death! They are still entangled on the floor like two maniacs. A puddle of blood is forming around them.
One is sitting on the ground while leaning towards the wall. The wall has a human shaped dent!
On the far side of the room I see a hideously burned and charred corpse which looks like it was trying to reach a small pool with a warning of dangerous fishes
above it. I guess it wouldn't have mattered if he had reached the water or not.
Someone is hanging heels over head from the slowly spinning chandelier at the ceiling. Various cuts and bruises are covering his body. How he got up there is a mystery to me.
Then I see a pair of feet looking out of a big barrel which was used earlier by an entertainer to demonstrate his escapology.
*Smack* *Smack* *Smack* *Smack*
A silent, rhythmic and a little wet sound draws my attention towards a spot which was previously hidden by a table which is tilted sideways.
Someone is sitting on top of an eighth Jamaian corpse which is lying on its belly with all limbs spread out. He is working very hard to hit the head of the unresisting person into the ground again and again. The mangled head looks a little dented which probably is at fault for the wet sound that is created by the action.
I feel my parents following me while I walk slowly closer.
The person who is committing the desecration of the corpse has a knife sticking out of his right shoulder blade and deep red blood is soaking the traditional Norfolk clothing around the wound.
As I step closer I draw his attention and he turns around.
“Hi, ~sugar cat~. Did you have a nice evening?”
Ascathon smiles at me with a laceration on his forehead above his left eye. The wound is bleeding pretty heavily and obstructing his view.
“H...~Honey bear~? What are you doing?”
Ascathon has a really relaxed expression. I never saw him like that before. It's actually a little frightening. He doesn't seem to feel his wounds at all.
“Just using the opportunity to relieve some stress. Oh, maybe I should introduce you. That's the brother of a certain Jamaian idiot whom I had a little argument with at a certain slave auction. He tried to avenge his deceased family member.”
Ascathon smacks the head of the body into the ground a final time and a crunching sound can be heard as the skull finally yields.
24 - The law.
Norfolk, Fellmar
“I saw everything from the beginning to the end. The eight dead Jamaian nobles were the attackers. They walked up to that person and one of them stabbed him from behind with a knife. He fell to the ground and then they surrounded and started to kick him. But after some seconds something like an explosion blew everyone away. Then the assaulted person got up and fought back. It was so gruesome and everything happened very fast. I took cover behind a table. Just a few seconds of magical combat were enough to create this scene.”
Another eye-witness gives his report to the grumbling captain of the guard who is taking notes.
The guards arrived just a few seconds after Celestial. They sealed off the whole area and started to interrogate everyone. By that time I had already dealt with the bastards who attacked me without a word from behind.
What can I say to my defence? I simply snapped and murdered them any way I could? They babbled something about revenge and that I killed his brother. By listening and making a few guesses I came to the conclusion that they were related to Mr. Golden-Mask.
The captain forces a smile onto his face and turns towards me. “Looks like you acted in self-defence Ascathon Asceron. You can go for the time being. But please refrain from leaving the country until this case is closed. And try to stay away from the Jamaians who swore blood revenge against you.”
My head jerks up. “Really? No trial?”
“I don't see why I should waste my time with a judge if there are so many witnesses. And whom you killed during an honour-duel in a country on the other side of the continent is no concern of mine.” The guard stores away his notes and walks away. With the retreat of the guards an army of servants starts to clean up the mess.
Eh!? They simply left? No bureaucratic paper storm? “I ~love~ this country! The weather is nice. The people are reasonable. And now I find out that their judicature is fast and just!” It took the arriving guards just half an hour to interrogate all witnesses.
Case solved and documented.
Celestial and two other people were standing close to me while I had to answer the questions of the guards. Somehow Celestial doesn't look happy. Everything ended well, so why the sour mood? It was just a little problem.
I already healed my wound and the bruises but.... “~Sugar cat?~ Could you pull that knife out of my shoulder? It itches and I am not flexible enough to do it myself.”
“~Sure.~” Celestial reaches for my shoulder and pulls the knife out of it with a swift movement. I feel a stinging pain but my passive regeneration spell finally starts to work properly and the pain slowly fades away. I had numbed my feeling for pain by cutting several nerves with telekinsis.
I am a little afraid of this technique, so I don't use it very often. It's very helpful during a fight because you become a berserker who is able to ignore his wounds. The downside is because of what happens if you fail to execute it right.
In one of my past lifes I royally messed up and severed something at the wrong point. It interfered with my spell-casting too and so I ended that life in persistent vegetative state while slowly dying in my bed. Not a happy memory.
There is also a problem if I stay too long in this state. The nerves could heal on their own and it would become very hard to heal them up correctly again.
But the pain is finally gone. So I turn my attention towards Celestial and her companions. “So why the heavy atmosphere?”
“~Honey.~ These are Arduin Jasmine, my father and Idala Jasmine, my mother. Mom, Dad, this is Ascathon. My husband.” Celestial links arms with me while smiling.
Hmm. Parents? Parents in law? “Hi.” Oooh. Too bad I haven't invented a camera yet. Their expressions are genuine.
“Why don't we take this discussion elsewhere and give him time to clean himself.” Idala smiles at Arduin.
I look down at myself and realize that my right side is bloody all over. Celestial wisely stuck to my left which is still relatively clean.
….
…
..
.
An hour later I acquired another suit and am cleaned up. I am in the dining area at a table with fine food to have a discussion with Celestial and her parents. Celestial is placed beside me with her parents in front of us.
“I won't approve of this!” Arduin shakes his head in denial.
“I have no...” Celestial pinches me from behind to shut me up. It feels like she used a forceps. But I know very well that she did it with her bare hands.
“But I love him ~daddy~. You won't be able to break us up. Besides. Liandra likes him too. And she treats Violetta like her little sister. The two of them are inseparable.” Celestial takes my hand to make a point.
“Violetta?” Idala looks at us with a questioning gaze.
“My little sister. She will become nine this month and she already memorized most basic spells.” I smile. It's actually close to being a genius if you aren't someone with memories of a past life. So I can be proud of my little sister.
Arduin draws his breath to start a tirade but he is cuffed into his side by a smiling Idala. Her smile makes her look like a demon.
“Then you will forgive me if I take a look at this family-life of yours. And I want to see Liandra.”
“So you approve?” Celestial hugs me from the side while I try to keep a straight face.
“Unfortunately the war with the Jamaian-Union has ruined our family. They burned our estate to the ground and killed most of our servants. The remaining ones fled or looked for other employers because our land is too close to the border. It's effectively inside a war zone. Nobody wants to live there. We can only be thankful if Liandra and you have found a peaceful place to live.” Idala smiles at Celestial.
“Why don't you stay with us? The mansion is big enough and there is plenty of room. And Liandra surely misses you two.” Celestial calls out.
“Ooone moment! Two more pets weren't.....” Another pinch by Celestial shuts me up and Idala's smile becomes
even more fearsome.
“Pets?”
“Hahaha. It's just his strange way to think of anyone besides himself. His world-view is actually a little twisted but I am working on that.” Celestial waves her hand at her parents.
“Twisted? I don't think that it's ...”
“~Honey bear?~ Did you get your appointment with the Jarl by the way?”
“Yes. I even talked to him already and he listened to my proposal. He said that he would decide after talking to the other leaders of the country. But that's not...”
“You were fast.”
“Well. It's the Ball of Fellmar and he didn’t have much time. I just made a suggestion and gave him the proposal in written form. But th....”
“So we are ~done~ here?”
“Haaah... yes. But don't you want to see a little more of the ball?”
“We are already here for more than three hours and though I found my parents, my husband got almost killed because we have no guards with us. We danced, we talked, we looked, so I say we go home while there are no further problems.”
“I can't change it. If it would be allowed I would have brought our own guards with me. But unfortunately there is a ban on weapons and guards all over Fellmar during the ball.” I shake my head.
“Yet those Jamaians showed up in force and had weapons with them. I say we head straight for the Gate and go home.” Celestial doesn't deviate from her decision.
I sigh and stand up. Celestial links arms with me again and we head for the Gate. Her parents follow us without saying a word. At the entrance Celestial stops and holds me back. “Please be so nice and cast elemental protection.”
“Sure, how could I forget.” A blue bubble surrounds us and we step out into the snow.
“Celestial! Haven't I told you to always train your spells? You shouldn't rely on others. Hone your skills whenever it is possible. You need the practice.” Arduin starts to nag from behind.
“Ah, I am sorry dad. But I found out that I am simply not suited to be a spell-caster. I started to train my inner mana manipulation. Since I focused on that field I became worse and worse at casting spells.” Celestial snickers while we walk.
