“Armela, how are things coming along?”
There was a pause before she responded rather pleasantly
“Honestly, I think I’ve found my calling in life. I never would have believed that I could enjoy something so much. Especially not something like this, but I can’t help this feeling of pure… power. I don’t know if I could give it up now; you could bring me an endless stream of people and I don’t think I would ever tire of this.”
That did not answer my question in the slightest and, frankly, made me feel a little sorry for the men I’d thrown into her chamber of horrors.
“Well, I’m sure there won’t be any shortage of people to bring before you as we progress. It relieves me to know you’re taking to it with such enthusiasm. Have any of them given up information that might be helpful to us? Names, locations, or when potentially something might happen?”
She hummed before replying.
“I want to try something.”
A small request prompt slid into the bottom of my vision, alerting me that Armela was attempting to send me a packet of information. Bewildered, I accepted the prompt and was then met with what looked like a live recording of her ‘interrogation’ of the men from the diner.
The priests and ex-village leader were nowhere to be seen, so I assumed they were already long since dead. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to stomach viewing what she sent me, so I minimised the video and let the audio roll instead.
“Well now, it appears you’ve gotten lost somehow! Tell me, mutts, how is it you’ve found your way into my little web?”
There was a scream and then steel rasping against leather; they’d pulled their weapons free to fight Armela. A metallic ‘ping’ rang out as one of their drawn weapons snapped in half. A second scream echoed out, pain and anguish filling the small cave as the other remained silent.
“Alright, that was clearly his fault. I don’t think that blade would have ended up lodged where it is if you’d kept it in its sheath, you know? Obviously, I can’t be responsible for every errant piece of scrap that goes flying in a fight. Wait, where are you going? I’ve still got questions, you know? And you haven’t even answered the first one yet!”
More screams, more moaning and thudding. My mind had already scanned and analysed the entire packet she sent, so I ran an audio sweep to isolate the voices. Specifically, anything that could be detected as discernible words and played those sections back. I really didn’t have the stomach to watch or listen to the excessive violence taking place in the cave.
“Take this! You rotten, feral whore!”
***
“Gerd, go left! I’ll—ahhhhhh!”
***
“We won’t… talk, you fucking freak.”
***
“Fuck you!”
***
“Gerd? Gerd answer me! ahhhh fuck! My eeyyyeesss!!!”
***
“I’ll get you for this; it won’t be long now. I know I hit you with that dagger, that poison will—geehhhhkkk.”
***
“Please, no! Please—please—please, not that! Ahhhhhh!”
***
“Ahhhhh—Gerd! Gerd? You bitch. I know you’re still here. What do you want, huh?! Ahhhh what… what the fuck was that? What is that? Stop! Stooooopppppp! Someone! Heeellllpppppp! Someo—”
***
“I-I’ll talk. P-p-please let me talk. I beg you to let me tell you everything I know. Just… j-just please, spare me from that… again… please.”
***
“Ahhhhh, such a good boy. I’m so pleased you understand now! You know, it could have been this easy from the start, and… poor Gerd, it’s really such a good thing you can’t see anymore because I don’t think you could stomach seeing your poor friend like this. Truly.”
***
“Now, why do you think you’re here, my poor, pathetic little pet? And please, do not deceive me. I think you know what will happen.”
***
“I… we… Gerd and I were sent to kill someone. A heretic, so labelled by the church… I guess… somehow he must have found out… and sent us… here?”
***
“Ahhhh I’m so proud of you for that. Yes, you’re absolutely right. Now, who was it, specifically, that told you to come here?”
***
“Cardinal Heltor. We were promised one Gold each for taking the contract. He said something about Rel’s divine work, but beyond getting the description and where he was last seen, we didn’t really care why he needed to be dead.”
***
“The Cardinal didn’t tell you it was an oracle directly from Rel?”
***
“No… m-mistress. Far as we knew, it was a religious or political job. Those high-and-mighty types are always looking for our services.”
***
“Did Cardinal Heltor say anything about his fellow cardinals?”
***
“Uhh, no, mistress. I swear to you, we received a message through our network that the Church of Rel was looking for work. We let them know we were interested. Heltor met us in the slums two nights ago to give us the description of the man, where he was seen, and five silver as an upfront payment. That was all we were given. I promise you.”
***
“Have you dealt with the other Cardinals in the past?”
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***
“Yes, mistress, Cardinal Gritter, Cardinal Banset, and Cardinal Atmos. The other 6 I haven’t met.”
***
“Which was the cardinal my lovely mate killed?”
***
“I-I believe that was Cardinal Atmos, mistress.”
***
“Do you know the other names?”
***
“N-no, mistress, only the names of the Cardinals I’ve met. Heltor, of course, was the latest one.”
***
“You’re doing so well, my sweet. I may just decide to keep you if you continue this level of obedience. Now, do you have any other information regarding the church and its activities? Anything you’ve heard through your little network?”
***
“Uhh, there was a rumour about a day or so before we met with Heltor that the Church had sent messengers south to withdraw their crusade in the forest lands. I couldn’t get confirmation on it because no one had seen church riders travelling south. It’s possible they’d gone under a different banner to avoid gossip.”
…
“Ahhhh I’m so pleased, I’m so pleased! You’re doing so well. Ah! Vita!”
The playback ended, and I caught up with the present time.
I wondered what Armela had done to the man that had made him so compliant. I was aware of the video, but had partitioned it off so that I couldn’t directly access it. Almost as if a mosaic filter had been applied to it in my mind.
Regardless, it appeared we would expect trouble from the South whenever the crusading army of the church made its way north. I did not know how long that journey would be, but the messengers had been sent and were likely a good portion of the way there, if not there already. This was good information.
“You’ve done incredibly well, Armela. This information is valuable to us.”
I could feel her exuberance through our connection; she was giddy and happy. And then she asked.
“Do I get a reward? I did well, right? I want a reward!”
I chuckled; I could do that much for her.
“Alright, name it and I’ll do what I can for you.”
She didn’t even hesitate.
“I want this man. I want to keep him. Let me keep him.”
I winced. She had to know that she was asking me to keep him as a slave. Considering everything we’d done, and specifically what she’d gone through up to this point, I thought it would have dissuaded her from that track. I’d already denied her once before, but I’d not really considered that to be a genuine request.
There had to be something here that wasn’t triggering her recognition of the hypocrisy.
“Armela, are you asking to keep him as a slave? After everything we’ve been through?”
I could feel the hesitation from her end before she replied.
“I hadn’t seen it like that. I saw it as getting a servant; he’d be compensated and everything. His life is already forfeit, so why couldn’t I put it to use? He’s an assassin, and a well-trained one at that. There are a lot of useful things he’d be capable of doing for us.”
This was a good point. The man would die there in that cave like the others before him if another alternative wasn’t given. If he were put to work doing the same kinds of things he’d done before, only in our service, then perhaps it wouldn’t be as harsh a deal as I’d thought.
Not that he was being given much of a choice, but something was better than nothing, I supposed.
“Make him the offer; he can either die painfully in the cave like his friend, or he can put his skills to use for us. He’ll be entirely your responsibility, Armela. Make sure he understands that any hint of treachery will be met with swift and cataclysmic retribution.”
The last thing I needed was a snake taking refuge in my burgeoning Eden. The people I’d promised to protect could not be brought to harm by a decision I made.
“I’m much more comfortable imagining this as an employment opportunity for him than enslaving him. Let’s make sure it aligns with that.”
She squealed in delight before thanking me and promising not to let me down. It rankled me to take this course, but it was the best strategic choice. We lacked assets and access to information networks.
This solved both that issue and ensured Armela’s continued satisfaction, which was the biggest motivating factor in my decision. Especially considering my next item of discussion.
“I know you’ll do your best to make me proud; I honestly couldn’t ask for a better mate. On that point, I wanted to discuss something with you.”
I could feel her attention shift entirely to me over our connection as she dropped everything else she was focused on.
“As my influence grows, and more steps are taken toward fulfilling my God’s deed, I will have need of multiple aides to bring with me along my journey. Not specifically mates, but people I can trust and rely on. Though I have no doubt, many opportunities may present themselves for me to form bonds and connections that run deeper than simply acquaintances. As you are my mate, and someone incredibly important to me, I wanted to speak with you about how we would navigate those moments before they presented themselves to me.”
There was a pregnant pause before she responded.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I knew from the moment you rescued me from that cave that you were someone special. I’m happy enough that you chose to be with me, and that I’ll be getting to come along with you now, as I am. As long as you never forget our bond, and what that means, then you may court, keep, employ, fuck, kill, or bond anyone you damn well please. I’ll always know that no matter what, I was the first of your mates. And no one, not even the Gods, could take that from me.”
It was a much more casual response than I’d imagined. Especially considering her penchant for becoming irrationally defensive over me.
“Thank you, Arm—”
She broke in, clearly not done.
“That being said! If ANYONE. And I do mean anyone, even so much as thinks of fucking with you. I will slaughter them. And they will know it. I don’t care if you end up mating with Rel themself, I will shred them into pieces so small not even you could see them. Clear?”
Ah, well, that was much more her speed.
“I understand, Armela. I don’t plan on letting anyone into our inner circle I don’t already trust. And I know that if I did, my first and most respected mate would be there to correct my mistake.”
I could feel her huff through our link.
“And don’t you fucking forget it! Now, I think I’ll spend some time going over my offer to this fine pet of mine. I’ll let you know how things went once I’m done.”
With that, she closed the link. Belatedly, I realized I probably should have asked his name, seeing as I’d be employing him vicariously through Armela soon. Ah well, that would come eventually.
I’d made significant progress down the shaft—10 more metres and I’d hit the depth needed for my storage cavern. Unfortunately, I’d have to halt once I hit the bottom in order to head back to the inn to wrap things up with Rumi.
Armela had given me the go-ahead to manage and maintain my interpersonal affairs, so now all that stood in my way was how to tackle the problem. I didn’t know Rumi, or trust them all that much—while we’d shared a rather vulnerable moment, that wasn’t enough to garner much of my faith in them.
Offering my gift to them right out of the gate wouldn’t work. Armela had been something different; our chemistry had been immaculate from the start. She felt like a puzzle piece that had snapped neatly into my soul even before the bond. I didn’t get the same feeling from Rumi.
Rumi was still an unknown variable, and despite their offer of paying any price, I didn’t think they held much interest in either me or my God. I felt like I would be something more akin to a means to their end. A tool to be used to achieve their goal.
And while I could appreciate that drive, and understood their motivation, it would require a little more dedication before I would offer as great a gift as immortality. I would help them, though—my heart did ache for their struggle, and I could do something in the short term.
Something like an item would be sufficient; something to help them mask their appearance, something they could adjust and mould as they wished to appear how they desired. A literal mask, perhaps? I pondered this.
They’d made no mention of joining my faith, or my cause, and I would not ask them to. That would only ever be a voluntary action by those who wished to be part of the collective.
The more significant attributes of the necklaces would be excluded from my offer, and would not be a part of how the mask functioned. I felt this was an appropriate compromise for both of us; I kept my entourage limited to those I trusted, and Rumi would get what they wanted.
The mask would be a thin layer of my cells attuned to their body; when worn, it would respond to demands made from their thoughts before allowing Rumi to ‘lock-in’ the look. After that point, regardless of how their body changed or shifted, the mask would remain unaltered.
Naturally, it would still perfectly mimic the natural movements of their face in order to hide the existence of the mask completely. There would be no straps, no buckles, no bands, and no ties; the mask would ‘cling’ to their face and only release when they wished it to.
I believed it would be a good opening salvo to our relationship. Reaching the bottom of the mineshaft, I levelled out the floor and then traced the outline of the door that would lead into the room. As I excavated material, I took in any semi-precious or precious minerals I’d come across, finally bringing my material levels back up to their optimal amounts.
I produced the mask in my hand; it was a standard theatrical mask with a purely neutral expression. Hopefully, they liked it. I opened a rift and stepped into my room at the inn, only to be greeted by a terrified Rumi.
