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Mexican Magic
Chapter One - Kevin
By Lauren Mickens
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"Chloe, I have to leave now!"
"Kevin, dammit, will you at least take a pop-tart? You need to eat."
"Fine then, cook me a pop-tart." A warm pop-tart appeared in her hand at
her will. Irritated, I grabbed it.
"Daddy!" Bianca came running up and hugged me as tight as she could.
"Honey, Daddy has to leave." Chloe said, scooping her up.
"No." She wailed.
"I'll be back honey, don't worry." I kissed her on the cheek; she
grabbed my tie.
"No."
"Bianca Lynne, let go of your father's tie this instant." Chloe
demanded. Bianca gave us both a stubborn look.
"Where?" She asked.
"Daddy's going to work." Chloe answered, prying her small hand off of my
tie. I re-adjusted it.
"Where?"
"I'll show you on the map after Daddy leaves, okay?"
"No."
"Bianca, daddy has to work. He has to leave now. Either you say good bye
or you're taking a nap."
"Bye." She said stubbornly.
"Bye sweetie, bye Chloe." I kissed Chloe lightly on the lips and
teleported.
"Kevin, I've been looking for you." I looked up to see Nova
running toward me. She skidded to a stop, and then postured herself as
if nothing happened, fixing her hat. "We have switched the teachers
around a bit. We now need you to teach S.S.D.C, Jasmine will teach
Brewing."
"Oh, Goody, I get to spend a week in the library finding all of the
books. I was never very good at S.S.D.C."
"I know but, unfortunately, this will be Jasmine's last year of teaching
here, and, as a last favor to her, I put her as teacher of her favorite
class." Jasmine is getting pretty old.
"Alright, I'll do it. But if students complain because even I can't do
something that they're learning, it's not my fault." She smiled.
"I knew you'd understand." Geez Kevin, you're 20 years old, and probably
can't even do a simple summoning spell.
Nova had changed the dress code around a bit too, inspired
by my outfit at the end of term ball two years ago, and given names to
the groups instead of A, B, C, D, and E. They all have certain colors
and symbols, and it's a lot easier to tell which person belongs to which
group. Boys now wear exactly what I wore-minus the sword. Why do I feel
so old? The group's names are the last name of the teacher that watches
them, except that I used Chloe's maiden name, not mine. I'm in charge of
the Black group (originally group C). The symbol is the dragon that
appeared on Chloe's lower back in the other world, and, against the name
of the group, the color is green.
A week later.
"Class, Class, settle down!" They shut up immediately,
startled by my voice. "Thank You, is everybody here?" They nodded.
Starre is a very uptight group, as Nova sets extra rules on top of
school rules for her group. "I'm warning you now, I'm really bad at this
class and hope that you can bear with me." A few of them smiled.
"Alright, we'll start with a summoning spell, which my wife tells me, is
the easiest." I wrote the words up on the board. "Picture one simple
thing, like a pencil, and summon it." It took a couple of tries, but
eventually, we ended up with books, cats, scarves, you name it. One girl
raised her hand. "Professor Davidson, you didn't do it."
"I don't need to."
"Will you show us, please?"
"All of you got it down pat, I see no reason."
"So you can learn it too."
"Alright." I pictured my cat, and said the spell.
Come to me, Come to me, I need the one thing
that I see.
My cat appeared on my desk. "Happy now?" I really don't use magic unless
it's totally necessary, so it bugged me when they asked for me to do
today's other spells too. "No, I've done my time in this school, you're
supposed to be learning it; not me." I finally said.
Thank God the bell rang early. Wait a minute, why'd it do
that? Nova's voice crackled on the loudspeaker. "Students will please
return to their dorms, teachers, report to the front gate." I ushered
Starre back to their hallway and ran down to the gate. "There has been a
break in." The teachers gasped.
"So, what do you want us to do?" I asked.
"Find them, of course." She pointed us all in separate directions, and
we took off. What would I do if I did find them? I forget how to freeze
things. I jerked around when I heard a twig snap. Bianca came running
out to me and hugged me. "Bianca?" I asked; bewildered. "Daddy," she was
sobbing hard, and handing me a letter. I ripped it open. Why was Bianca
here? Did something happen to Chloe?
Kevin,
I have kidnapped your wife.
Well, duh, obviously. No signature. Great, just great. Some kook's
kidnapped my wife, the Goddess, and I have no clue who or why. I rounded
up the teachers. "I found the intruder." I said, lifting my daughter up
and handing Nova the note. "She came with this."
"How'd she get in?" I shrugged.
"I have to go home and get this worked out, now." Nova nodded.
"I will take over your group. Go, quickly."
Screwing all of my luggage, I teleported Bianca and I home,
appearing in the front hallway. Tables were over turned, dead maids laid
on the floor, vases were broken, and one spot in the living room was
clear. What had caused this chaos was a witch or wizard, because the
windows and door were still in one piece and locked. "Shit." I knocked
the only standing table over.
"Daddy,"
"What sweetie?"
"It was a girl, with this color hair." She said, holding up Spooky,
Chloe's black cat.
"Black?" she nodded and dropped Spooky at my feet.
"Ow."
"Hey Spooky, what happened here?"
"I'm not quite sure myself, but, here goes. Chloe was playing with
Bianca when this dastardly witch appeared in the living room. Chloe, not
wanting to introduce Bianca to magic yet, threw anything that she could
get her hands on. I remember the witch freezing Chloe, I bit her finger,
she threw me against the wall, seized Chloe, killed every living thing
in sight, and vanished, leaving Bianca hiding behind a chair and a note
in the middle of that clearing." The tiny cat was actually crying, and I
was close to it. I grabbed my cell phone off of the table and called
Tony.
Kat answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Kat, it's me, I need to talk to Tony, now."
"I thought that you were at Mystica."
"So did I, until Bianca showed up on the grounds sobbing and holding a
ransom letter."
"Oh. TONY! NOW!" Tony came on the phone.
"Tony, she's been kidnapped." I said, now crying.
"Who?"
"Chloe."
"I'll be right over." Literally. He teleported himself over here. Bianca
clung to my robes, sobbing for all it was worth, while Tony inspected
the place. "I can't call the cops. It's too risky to pull them into the
whole magic thing."
"Well do something."
"Call Azreal."
"What?"
"Call Chloe's dad, you know, the big guy."
"I would if I knew how."
"You don't know how?"
"No."
"Try silent talking to Chloe."
I did. Chloe, can you hear me? No reply. Chloe, please, answer me. Still
no reply. Chloe, where are you? A small reply came, faint as ever. Mike.
But, when I asked what had happened, the small voice didn't answer. It
had taken probably all of her remaining strength to mutter just one
word. "Well?" Tony asked. "One word. She was too weak to say anything
else."
"And that word was?"
"Mike."
"Mike, why would she say that..unless." He looked at me wide-eyed.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"But why would he."
"Let's just concentrate on finding her, I don't know."
"But Spooky said it was a woman."
"His latest girlfriend? I told you I don't know. I'm gonna take Bianca
back to the school with me and try to get some help."
"I'll go get Gina, in case he decides to kidnap her and his son too."
"Good idea."
"See ya." We both said at once. Tony disappeared. I picked up Bianca.
"Mommy." She wailed softly.
"Mommy's going to be just fine, honey, don't worry." We teleported to
the school. I appeared right in the middle of the class that Nova was
teaching. "Nova, we need to talk."
"Excuse me class, start on your homework." She led us out the door.
"Chloe's been kidnapped. We think we know who did it, and Tony is
getting another girl who we think he might try to take."
"Who?"
"Mike-before you say I'm jumping to conclusions, Chloe herself told me
it was Mike. He beat her to the point where she's almost too weak to use
magic. I tried to call her, with telekinesis, and she was only able to
whisper one word before I felt her fade away into a state of
unconsciousness, and that was 'Mike'."
"Michael, your old roommate?"
"Yes. Tony is getting Angelina and her son right now."
"Isn't Mike her son's father?"
"Yes."
"Smart move, fetching her. Mike and her son are bonded by blood. He can
act through him. It might sound strange, but he can possess his own son
into maybe killing Gina."
"Should we separate them?"
"NO! Absolutely not. Her son will feel sad and depressed, making him
more vulnerable to his father. All Mike would have to do is go and fetch
the child."
"Alright. Nova, we're going to need all the help that we can get."
"Fine. We'll help as much as we can."
"There's another thing."
"Yes?"
"Bianca says a woman took Chloe. Spooky says so too. Be on the look-out
for a miniature Diana."
"Alright. What are you going to do?"
"Tony is bringing Gina here. This is the safest place, with all of the
people here. Bianca might be staying here as well."
"Would you like me to take her?" Nova asked as Tony, Gina, and her son
appeared behind me. "Thank you." I knelt down to Bianca, whom I had set
on the floor. "Honey, go with Miss Starre, okay? Daddy will be right
back." Bianca nodded and grabbed Nova's hand. Nova took her into the
classroom and set her at an empty desk with some crayons and paper.
"Gina, are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Nobody has broken into your house or anything?"
"No."
"Do you know what's going on?"
"I didn't tell her." Tony said.
"Chloe was kidnapped."
"Oh, no. She can't be! Who did this?"
"Mike."
She stood there, transfixed on me, thinking about what I had told her.
She lifted up her son and held him close. "Can he do anything to Berit?"
"Yes." She looked horrified.
"They are bonded by blood. If he has learned the right amount of Dark
Magic, which he has, to be able to kidnap my wife, he can possess him."
"NO!"
"Yes. He can posses Berit and make him kill you. I suggested separating
you, but Nova said that would make him more vulnerable. Sadness would
lead him to darkness.Mike would just have to say 'come Berit', and he'd
obey."
"This cannot be happening." She started to cry, sending Berit into a fit
of confusion. Tony took him and calmed him down, taking him to draw with
Bianca. Watching his mother cry would make him even sadder and mad at me
for making her. Mike could use that to his advantage. I hugged her. In
two years, having a kid aged her. Not physically, she still looked
nineteen years old, but her spirit, her zest for life, her happiness and
freedom, were gone. Raising a child by herself, she doesn't have time
for fun like old times. She's got a job, third shift so Berit doesn't
even notice that she's gone while he's asleep. She can barely afford the
babysitter she's hired, and she has deep bags under her light blue eyes.
"It is, and you need to stay with me and Tony, where it's safe. He
hasn't tried to visit you, has he?"
"Yes, once, but the restraining order.I called the cops, and he went
away."
"Only once?"
"He's called me a lot. I was in the process of getting my number changed
when Tony came and disconnected the phone line altogether."
"Have you told Chloe?"
"No."
"You should have, but it's alright. We'll find her and get rid of Mike,
okay?"
She was crying into my robes. I held her tight for a moment. "Tony," He
lifted her off of me. I went in and got the kids, handing Berit to Gina,
who had done a good job mopping herself up. Bianca handed me her
picture, all of scribbles of different colors. I smiled. "Thank you."
She grinned bashfully. Tony laughed. "Lily does the same thing."
"Tony, maybe you should go get Kat and Lily too."
"Good idea." He disappeared. I led Bianca, Gina, and Berit to my room,
and didn't leave them. I have to at least wait for Tony. One of us needs
to stay with them while the other hunts down Mike and Chloe. Tony, Kat,
and Lily appeared, and Lily ran and gave me a hug. Lily is a year older
than Bianca, and already able to talk, well, short, non-descriptive
sentences. "Tia' Chloe?" She asked. Tia' means 'Aunt' in Spanish. Lily
was basically asking me where Chloe was. "She's at home." Lily looked
satisfied with answer I gave her. She went back to her mother. Kat
smiled. She looked just as scared as I was, but, being the mother she
is, she tried to be reassuring. Tony pulled Lily out of earshot into the
hallway. "Chloe's gone."
"I heard."
"How much did he tell you?"
"Everything."
"Okay." I walked outside, and Lily skirted past me into the room with
Kat. "Tony," I started.
"I know. You need to find Chloe. I'll stay here with them."
"I can get Nova to watch them."
"No. One of us needs to. We're the Guardians of The Goddess of Magic.
You go look for your wife. I'll keep them safe."
"I certainly don't feel like her Guardian and Husband, I let her slip
right through my fingers. We have no clue where she is."
"Think about it. If you were Mike, where would you take her?"
"Well, Trixie took Gina to the Old World.I'd say that I would take her
to the Old World because you would think I wouldn't try that?"
"Go for it bro."
"Alright."
"See ya."
"What about Bianca?" Tony thought for a moment.
"Best if she stays with me."
"What about the loneliness? Won't that make her vulnerable?"
"Has he seen her before?"
"Yes." I admitted. Mike had been to see us a while ago; he claimed he
hadn't seen us in a while.
"Best if she goes with you then. He can get her."
"Bianca!" I called. She ran out to me. I picked her up. "What about Mom,
can she stay with her?"
"Is she close to Mom?"
"Yeah, two peas in pod man."
"Leave her with mom then." I teleported to Mom's house. "Kevin, Bianca,
where's Chloe?" My old Nanny asked.
"Long story. Where's mom?"
"In her room."
"Thanks." I walked up the stairs and opened my Mom's door. "Hi mom."
"Kevin, Bianca. How are you?"
"I need you to watch Bianca."
"Why, what's happened to Chloe?"
"She's been kidnapped. I can't leave Bianca with someone she's not close
to right now, Tony and I will tell you everything later."
"Well, you'd better. Go, find your wife." She snapped.
"Thank you." I teleported myself to the edge of the forest, the one we
had found a portal in the first time we transferred to the Old World. I
think I should lay off the teleporting for a while. I walked slowly into
the forest, as if Mike had planned this and set guards here. Thinking of
how long it had taken to find the portal last time, I transformed. I
effortlessly changed into the form of a wolf, as easily as Chloe had the
day after her rise to Divinity. I'm good at it now, and barely need to
think about it. I ran as fast as I could.
Finally, in a few hours, I reached the arch of leaves. I had
learned the spell to open it shortly after we were married. I changed
back to my mortal form, out of breath. I muttered the incantation, and
the portal opened before my eyes, the black nothingness swirling inside
of the arch. Awkwardly, remembering how I'd landed last time, I stepped
into the portal. Surprisingly, I landed on my feet, in proper clothes.
My first thought was that I needed a woman. In the first city, Men own
women, and in the next, the opposite. I had never been further than
Flaerie. Ah, I'll buy one in Dragonia. I magically summoned enough money
to do so, along with a horse and Chloe's sword, with a black ribbon,
hoping that would scare off challengers. I somehow got it onto my belt
and mounted the horse. Before nightfall, I reached the city.
I checked into an inn, getting strange looks for being
woman-less. I walked to the tavern next door, getting flashbacks of
seeing Chloe in her leash and collar, and Rand telling us our alias.
Suddenly, those haunting words that Chloe had said in that tavern came
to me No thank you, Master. That had sent a shiver up my spine, her
calling me Master. I sat at a small table for two and ordered an ale,
watching the women dance. I had half-expected to Chloe up there as
Leona, dancing away and beating Trixie. Then afterward, getting stabbed.
Two men were holding a contest. They had almost shook hands when I
approached them. "I'll buy the winner of this challenge for.let's
say.this whole bag of gold." I slapped it on the stage in front of them.
They eyed it amazingly. "Deal!" I shook hands with both of them and
returned to my seat, sipping on my ale. Well, the women's dancing has
certainly improved. They danced as Chloe had. I really need to stop
talking about her; I'll keep that up until I find her, relating
everything to her. I love her too much to let her go. Both of the girls
were pretty, rare in this time. They were pretty according to The Real
World's standards. Skinny, big chested, clean; pretty. One wore all
black, a tube top that cut off to show her flat stomach and tattoo on
her lower back and tight pants. The other wore black also, with a
long-sleeved belly-shirt and long skirt, which slit up the side to
reveal soft, slender legs. I won the one with the tube-top. I approached
them as the bartender threw the loser off the stage. I half-expected an
attack like Trixie did. The loser began to cry and sob at her master's
feet, begging for forgiveness. "My woman please." I told the man, who
was clipping her leash onto her rhinestone-studded collar. "You sold me
Master?"
"He offered a whole bag of gold for the winner of the match. We shook
hands, Clara."
"As you wish." She bowed to the both of us. The man handed me the leash.
"Thank you. Pleasure doing business with you." I nodded my head briefly.
He did the same. We walked out of the tavern and back to my room at the
inn.
She had black hair to match her black outfit, it was long
and curly like Kat's, but the girl had green eyes, not blue. She sat on
my bed, silent, waiting for an order. "You can take you leash off if
you'd like. I'm not from here and don't treat women as slaves." She
looked surprised as she pulled the leash off. "Then why did you buy
one?" She asked. I looked at her and she clamped her hand over her
mouth, looking horrified at what she had just done. "I'm lonely." I
lied. She released the breath that she had been holding, bracing herself
for me to hit her. "I won't hurt you." I said. "I need to get through
these next two cities, and, since I came alone, I needed a woman to own
here, and also to pretend she owns me in Flaerie." She nodded. "So,
you're basically free. You could walk out, but you'd most likely be
hung. After you get me through Flaerie, you may go as you wish."
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes."
"You paid all that gold for me, and you just need me to walk you through
a city?"
"Yes."
"Wow. You must be rich."
"Very."
"Well, the least that I could do is make you less lonely." She purred,
beginning to unravel her tube top, which, in reality, was just a long
piece of fabric wrapped around her breasts a couple of times and tied in
the back. I let her go. Maybe this will help take my mind off of Chloe
for a bit. Tomorrow, I'll wake up and be right on track. Tonight, I
suppose I could relive the stress of my wife being kidnapped. I threw my
cloak over a chair and undid my shirt. I began to kiss her, letting her
undo my belt and lay it and my sword on the floor. I pulled off her
pants, she pulled off mine, taking my boots with them.
When I awoke, she was laying on the cot, which she had
stubbornly insisted on sleeping on after what we did last night. I had
sent her down after she got dressed to get it brought up. She had said
that even though she had sex with me, she wasn't allowed to sleep in the
same bed as me. Strange. She was pretty good, but not used to what I
liked like Chloe does. I tried talking to Chloe again. Chloe, I paused.
Kevin.came the weak reply.
Honey, where are you?
Mike.he.she trailed off. I'm in his bedroom.
His Bedroom!?
Old World.don't know where.
I'm in Dragonia. I've bought a woman to get me through Flaerie. I'll
find you, Chloe, if it's the last thing that I do.
He-he-he raped me Kevin.
He raped you?
Yes. Beat me, too. Was too weak to reply yesterday, still very weak.can
barely move.
Don't try to.
He's coming.I heard the door open and close. "Awake huh?" I heard Mike
ask. Somehow, I can hear what Chloe hears, but can't see what she does.
"Can you move?" He asked. He's being awfully nice to her, after raping
her and beating her. "No." I heard Chloe manage to whisper. "I'm sorry
Chloe, I was mad. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Why?" Chloe whispered.
"I can't find Gina. She's gone, my son too."
They're both with Tony at Mystica. I told her.
"Her son." Chloe corrected in her small, weak voice.
"He's my son too!" Mike yelled.
"No, Gina raised him. You beat her and left."
"Don't talk back to me!" I felt the sound of flesh on flesh. He hit her.
I heard him take a breath, deep, shuddering. "Sorry." He mumbled.
"Chloe, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I'm acting under orders."
Chloe, though she didn't speak, I know she was giving him her funny
little questioning look.
"My superior.he told me to do all those things I did to you last night.
He has.a bond with me. If I don't do what he orders, he can kill me by
releasing that bond."
"Death Bond." Chloe whispered.
"Exactly. A Death Bond. He's going to visit me in my office in five
minutes. Pretend I beat you really bad. He's going to come in here to
make sure I did, alright?" I know that Chloe nodded, to agree. I heard
the door open and close again. Did you get that? Chloe's voice, barely a
whisper, asked.
Yes.
Good.very weak.I'll try to get you a visual on this place and this guy.
No, don't. You'll hurt yourself.
I'm already in a lot of pain, Kevin.
I know, but don't put your life on the line. I'm fine with audio.
No, you need to see where I am.
I can after you regain strength.
I won't regain strength. Mike's going to rape me every night. You know
him.
Cooperate. Give him what he wants. He won't beat you then.
Are you sure?
Yes. Go ahead. You have to.
Alright.
She was gone. I looked guiltily at Clara, lying naked on a cot across
from my bed. Well, at least the two of us are even. I pulled my pants
and shirt on and woke her. "Yes Master?"
"Get dressed and pack my things. We're heading out as soon as possible."
"Yes sir."
"I'm going downstairs. I'll bring some breakfast back up for you."
"Okay."
"One more thing."
"Yes Master?"
"Don't call me Master."
"Yes M- I mean, sir."
"Thank you." She nodded as she began wrapping her top back around her
chest. I closed the door behind me and walked down the hallway.
Breakfast turned out to be gruel, but Clara was satisfied
with it, and even if she weren't, she most likely wouldn't have said so
anyways. I thought it was nasty, but since I'll be the slave in the next
city, I might as well get used to it. I forced it down my throat and set
my finished bowl on the bedside table for the slaves to get when they
clean out the room. Clara set hers, barely touched, on top of mine. She
picked up the three bags I had, to make myself look less suspicious, and
followed me wordlessly down the stairs. Hastily, almost forgetting, I
clipped her leash on at the bottom of the staircase. I checked out and
helped her strap the bags on my horse. I mounted, but she didn't follow.
"C'mon, I'm not going to let you walk."
"I'm not allowed." She whispered.
"I don't care. I can easily say I'm not from around here and get us out
of trouble. I wouldn't be a true gentleman if I let you walk."
She shook her head.
"Get up here, now!" She looked surprised at the order I had given her as
she scrambled up behind me. "Much better." I tied her long leash around
the saddlehorn, still giving her a bit of slack, and urged my horse
forward. People kept giving us glares, but I pretended not to notice and
kept on going. Finally, when we were out of the city, I untied her leash
and put it in my saddlebag. I turned in my saddle to face her. "See? You
weren't killed." She smiled slightly. I reached around and undid her
collar, taking it off and putting it with the leash. She put her hands
around her neck. She probably had never felt what it was like to be
without a collar. She slid her arms around my waist to hold herself on,
and I put my horse into a trot. "Thank you." She whispered in my ear. I
smiled. At least one of us was happy.
We set up camp in the very same clearing I had with Chloe,
Rand, and Mike, before Mike was stupid enough to go after Gina, who was
camped nearby. Clara looked amazed at the old grass shelter. I
explained. "Last time I came here, I was with a witch. It was raining,
and she set this here to shelter us." I didn't dare say the witch was my
wife. She nodded wordlessly. Tonight though, the sky was clear, and I
used a knife to cut a hole in the top of the dome and lit a fire under
it. I could almost see Chloe lying next to me, Tony and Kat lying on the
other side of the fire that wasn't there before, and Rand off to the
side, not wanting to disturb us. I heard a rustle of leaves and a curse.
I poked my head out of the door, Chloe's sword at ready. Though I
couldn't see the intruder, they saw me. "I'm sorry My Lord, I didn't
think that anybody would be here." The intruder stepped into the light,
where I could make out their face. "Rand, Rand Almeada?"
"How do you know my name?" I ignored the question.
"Do you know who built this shelter?" I asked, stepping out.
"A witch, My Lord. I was traveling with her at the time."
"Stop calling me a lord, you know I'm just a military school drop out."
"Excuse me?"
"My girlfriend raised this shelter, two years ago."
"Kevin?"
"'Bout time you realized it was me."
"I couldn't tell. You look a lot different." I dropped my voice to a
whisper.
"Being a dad can do that to a man."
"You have a child?"
"A daughter, Bianca. Me and Chloe."
"I didn't know that you two were married."
"Shush. The girl in there thinks I'm single. Don't talk about it." I
walked back into the shelter with Rand behind me. "Clara, this is an old
friend of mine, Rand. He will be staying with us for the night." She
bowed deeply, as she was used to with men.
"Rand, I bought this girl in Dragonia. I have freed her, but she still
needs to get used the fact she doesn't have to wait on us hand and
foot." Rand grinned. "I can use that to my advantage." Clara blushed and
sat down again. Rand turned to me. "I've got a small group of six men
out there."
"Bring them in." I said, looking at Rand's now black ribbon tied around
his sword hilt. I smiled. "You were a blue last time I saw you."
"And your ex-girlfriend was carrying your sword." He winked.
"Yep." He left and got them.
He had said they were men, but that's what a captain does.
There were two women with the group. They all bowed, thinking that I was
nobility. I'll play along. I nodded my head in reference. Clara had
quickly pulled her collar back on, thankfully, now I can make them think
I'm from Dragonia. "I'm sorry you caught me like this. I wasn't
expecting company this far off the road." I caught the women looking at
my muscular torso and paid no attention. Clara had swung a large plate
of steaming hot pork in front of us. She set it down in the middle of
our circle, set extra plates next to it, and went to get some water.
Rand smiled. "That's alright My Lord. We don't mind. Though I would
suggest pulling a shirt on before my archers get friendly." The two
women archers blushed. "That's fine. I'm getting bored of Clara here."
The men laughed, the two girls blushed even more. "What are you doing
out here Captain?"
"We were heading to Dragonia to negotiate. We were hoping they could
pull some of their men out of Flaerie, they're starting to scare
everybody, burning down houses, hanging a few village ladies, quite
obscene."
"I'm sorry about that. I've tried to talk to him about that. He won't
listen, keeps rambling on about blasphemy." I made up some odd excuse.
"My wife," One of the soldiers added.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"They hung my wife, right out her bedroom window."
"I'm sorry." He hung his head. Clara brought over goblets of water and
whispered in my ear, since she's not supposed to speak in front of other
men. "We haven't enough goblets, Master." She added, in case someone
heard. I nodded. "We don't have enough goblets for everyone to have
their own. You wouldn't mind sharing, would you?" The soldiers shook
their heads. "So, this Clara, My Lord?"
"Yes."
"She's pretty. Not big, but not too small.nice chest.pretty eyes.how
much did you pay for her?"
"A whole satchel of gold."
"Well, a lady that beautiful would fetch quite a price." He commented as
the soldiers grew wide-eyed. Clara blushed at the comment. I smiled
again. Rand explained to the women, who had been looking at Clara,
scared that it would happen to them too. "He's from Dragonia, and there,
they own women. You should know that."
"We knew that, sir. It's just.we've never seen how badly they're
treated." One chattered. "Are you cold?" I asked. They nodded
wordlessly. One thing I've noticed is that women get cold way too
easily. I gave one of my tunics to each of them, and they pulled them on
over the clothes they were already wearing. I pulled out another and
handed it to Clara. "Thank you Master." The soldiers looked surprised at
my extent of kindness. "Last thing I need is a sick servant." I said
harshly. Clara pulled it on. She looked quite cute, the tiny thing she
is, wearing my tunic, which was way too big for her. It reminds me a lot
of Chloe. "Thank you." The other girl piped up from her hiding spot
behind the other. "You're welcome. Rand, this is one of your archers?"
"Yes, I know, she's young."
"How old?"
"She's fourteen My Lord."
"Call me Berit, please. How did a girl this young get into the militia?"
I asked, pretending as if I were used to talking to men, not women, not
asking her directly.
"Well, she's an orphan. I adopted her last year."
"Oh. So she's always with you, and used to war and such?"
"Yes. I taught her how to use a bow first thing, so I'd have a little
less worry on the battle field."
"Is she good?"
"Yes."
"How good?"
"Can you hit a bird in the eye from a mile away?"
"Wow." I looked at the small little girl hiding behind the other archer.
She smiled bashfully. "Brave one, she is."
"Yes. She has to be."
"Yes, but that's the only female I've ever seen smile at me."
Rand laughed. "Well, if you don't mind me saying so, you are quite
intimidating to women."
"Yes, I know. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. You may stay up as long as
you wish, so long as you don't keep me awake." I warned. I turned and
walked to the other end of the shelter.
Chloe, I tried calling her exhaustingly.
Yes?
Have you tried to find out where you are?
They're moving me later tonight.
Where?
They don't tell me anything. Mike's "buddy" is here, and he makes him
treat me like shit.
Even if you do what he says?
Yes, not as bad if I obey, though.
Keep obeying, and try to find out where you are.
I'll try.
Do what he says.
I will.he's coming.
She did the same thing as she had done earlier, I could hear what she
did.
Mike closed the door. I don't hear another voice, he must be alone.
"Where are Gina and my son?"
"Her son." Chloe corrected again. "I wouldn't tell you if I knew."
"Watch your tongue, I might just decide to cut it out."
"You wouldn't dare." I don't know what he did in reply. "Why did you
kidnap me if you wanted Gina?"
"She kept cutting off contact with me. If I took you, her best friend,
she might surrender."
"Never. She would never. She knows you can't kill me." Mike gave a small
gasp. He had forgotten!
Why did I open my big mouth? What will he do next?
"You can talk to Kevin, can't you?" Chloe remained silent. "Answer me!"
He yelled, hitting her. She didn't speak. She may be in pain, but she
knows she can't die. "You are, aren't you? It's a damn good thing we've
never told you where we're taking you."
Chloe, don't let him hit you again.
How?
Do what you do to me when you're in 'that mood'.
Act sexy?
Exactly. I give you my full permission to keep him from beating the crap
out of you again.
Alright.
"Oh, come on, Mike, loosen up a bit. I haven't been strong enough to
talk to him, you made sure of that." Mike sighed. She continued. All of
the sudden, I could see what she did. I was almost in her place, her
eyes, seeing exactly as she did. She was crouched behind him, her arms
around his broad shoulders, her head resting on one, by his neck. "How
about a little something to take your mind off things, hmm?"
She started rubbing his shoulders. She's got him wrapped around her
pinkie finger. Her head turned toward the window, close enough to see
out of it. One clue, that's all I need. All we could see was pitch-black
night, a few stars, not enough to make out a constellation. She began to
work his neck, and let go of her powers so I couldn't see or hear
anymore.
