“Your continued use of profanities is uncouth and uncalled for,” Countess Voclain attempted to reprimand Jadis. “For the sake of decency, rein in your unruly tongue.”
“Oh, I don’t want to hear the word decency coming from someone who is literally trying to sell their own daughter!” Dys snarled at the woman. “I’m shocked saying that word doesn’t make you burst into fire!”
“That’s quite enough,” Severina said as she held up a hand. “Shouting is not going to—”
“This three-headed beast is the only one shouting!” Voclain shouted as she motioned angrily at Jadis. “She needs to be locked into a cage along with her pet demon!”
“Enough!” Severina commanded as her one hand slammed down onto the table in front of her. “Enough. Those words are unbecoming of a peer of this realm, Countess Voclain. Rethink your position. And Jadis,” she gave the three Nephilim a look, “Calm down.”
“Yes, I think it would be best if we all took a brief reprieve from this discussion,” Eir spoke up as she stood from her chair. “Count Holtz, is there a separate room where we might refresh ourselves for a few moments?”
“Of course,” the count said stiffly, but courteously. “I think a few minutes to cool our tempers would be for the best. Lambert will show you the way to the sitting parlor.”
The old mage dutifully rose and went to the door. His face was a perfect mask, showing no opinion on anything that had just been said. Others in the room were less circumspect, particularly the countess’ daughter. Estelle looked like she was going to be sick, and Jadis could see a few tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
The sight of the nearly crying girl only made Jadis even angrier. The idea of these people trying to manipulate Jadis by forcing someone to marry her was utterly repugnant. She almost started shouting again, though she managed to restrain her fury. Provoking Voclain had been a double-edged sword. Certainly, it had worked to reveal what the true plan was, but it had also stoked the rage inside of Jadis, which wasn’t ideal. Thankfully, Eir had given her the time to cool her head.
Jadis and her companions left the dining hall and followed the count’s court mage to a nearby parlor room. Other than asking if anyone wanted anything to drink, the mage didn’t linger. He left their group alone in the room, with a promise to return soon with a few pitchers of water.
“Well, that could have gone worse,” Aila sighed after the man had gone.
“It could have gone much better, as well,” Severina frowned. “You may have overreacted somewhat, Jadis.”
“I think the fact that I didn’t break that bitch’s face into pieces shows I was pretty damn restrained,” Jay grumbled as her three selves grouped together with arms crossed. “I can’t believe she’s trying to force her daughter into marriage with me! It’s fucked up!”
“Arranged marriages aren’t that unusual,” Eir tilted her head to one side, her expression an uncharacteristic frown. “At least not between noble houses that are seeking to bolster their power and political positions.”
“I’m not a noble house,” Jay waved a hand.
“You might as well be,” Severina pointed at her. “You may not hold a title, but you have far more real influence than most actual nobles I can think of. I can assure you, the number of nobles who can say they have the ear of not only both princes, but also the emperor, are few.”
“I don’t have anyone’s ear,” Jay dismissed the Seraphim’s assertion, though she frowned a little at the idea.
There was a moment of silence as those gathered in the room took a breath to gather their thoughts. Jadis wasn’t sure what anyone else was thinking, but when both Eir and Alex came up on either side of her clustered selves and leaned into her, she was reminded that she had the support of loved ones. That knowledge helped calm her swirling emotions, and she was able to let out a slow breath.
“So. They’re trying to force a marriage onto you.”
Jadis didn’t quite startle, but she did jolt internally at the old man’s voice. She had almost forgotten that Grand Da Morley was in the room with them. The aged orc had quietly laid claim to a comfortable looking armchair off to one side of the parlor and was leaning forward with both hands on a walking cane as he stared at Jadis’ selves intently.
“Uh, yeah, it seems that way,” Jay shrugged at the retired mercenary.
“So you could resolve all this ridiculous nonsense by adding that mouse to your ‘ha-reem’ if you had a mind to.”
All of Jadis frowned at Morley, but it was Bridget who responded first.
“She’s not going to marry that woman,” Bridget stated firmly as she rounded on her grandfather. “Jadis would never treat marriage as something so cheap. Never! She’d personally break the back of every bloody noble involved in this insanity before she would let herself be forced into a marriage like this, and I’d be right next to her, knocking their bloody teeth out!”
“Of course you would,” Morley growled as his wrinkled face contorted into an angry scowl. “Stomp them into the ground, nobility be damned! No warrior of my blood would do anything less! I’m making sure that one there knows it!”
The orc’s words were punctuated by a thick finger pointing at the three of Jadis.
“Damn right I know it,” all of her bodies spoke as one.
“Good,” Morley nodded once. “So. Now, how do we respond to this ridiculous attack on our clan, and on your honor?”
There was another brief pause, before Aila spoke up.
“I think we need to better understand why Countess Voclain is trying to force a marriage between Jadis and her daughter before we can form a true counter to their plans.”
“I think it’s pretty obvious why,” Sorcha grumbled without elaborating. When all eyes turned on her and she noticed everyone’s attention, she pulled back slightly and shrugged. “What? It’s not that complicated! Think about what that old bitch said back there. She clearly hates your guts, Jadis, but she said, ‘How anyone could expect me to hand my daughter over to filth like you is pure insanity!’ This isn’t her idea; she’s just a pawn. Probably her cousin, that General Egghead or whatever, he probably came up with this. Probably had the whole family backing the play, too. Isn’t he related to a duke?”
“Duke Colgrave, yes,” Eir supplied. “He is the father of General Egilhard’s wife.”
“Right. Colgrave. He’s one of Hraustrekr’s supporters, isn’t he? That duke probably wants you to marry into his family and that poor sap and her bitch mother are the only ones they could force into doing it. I bet he even pulled some strings with the other dukes around here, too. They’re all together, aren’t they?”
“Not exactly,” Severina shook her head. “There are many ducal titles in the empire and none of the people who possess those titles are what I would call friendly with each other.”
“Still, same side,” Jay nodded her head as she dragged her gauntleted fingers through her white hair. “Probably the sort of thing a duke would call in favors for.”
“So, they make her marry the girl. So what? What’s the point?” Bridget asked with frustration in her voice.
“Political capital.”
Everyone turned to look at Aila. The redhead’s expression was cold as she stared out one of the windows overlooking the mansion’s garden.
“Elodie is Duke Colgrave’s granddaughter. She is engaged to the Hero’s best friend, the Bulwark. That relationship provides a great deal of political capital for a man in a duke’s position. Not as much as if Elodie were engaged to the Hero himself, but it’s still a lot. If he were to have another granddaughter, Estelle, married to another important figure, such as the last living Nephilim who has been chosen by Destarious for a divine mission, well—”
“That would only further increase his status among the nobility,” Severina finished Aila’s thought. “I know many nobles who would spend a few favors and no small amount of gold to attain that kind of prestige.”
“Okay, well, I’m obviously not going to marry Estelle just because they’re threatening to extort a whole bunch of money out of Clan Warsong,” Dys waved her hands. “No offense.”
“Of course I’m not offended,” Morley grumped. “Except by these nobles! Ridiculous.”
“Right. So, we know what they want,” Jay continued. “And we know that a bunch of big dick swingers in the empire are behind this crap. How do we go about fixing all this so that they leave Bridget’s family alone? Other than a forced marriage that I am not consenting to.”
Jadis raised three pairs of hands to the room at large, welcoming any suggestions. She had a few ideas of her own, the first, second, and third involving great levels of violence, so she wanted to hear if anyone had any less bloody plans to deal with the situation. Everyone looked like they were thinking hard about what to do, but it didn’t seem as though any epiphanies were forthcoming.
“Taking this to the local magistrate is the safest thing to do,” Severina finally spoke up. “I believe that would be a woman named Oriana in this part of the empire. In the worst case, she rules against Clan Warsong for political reasons. If that happens, we will have grounds to take this to the emperor’s court. I believe he would rule in Clan Warsong’s favor.”
“Can’t we just skip the magistrate and go straight to Somerulf?” Jay asked.
“Potentially,” Severina frowned and shook her head. “But I would recommend against it. The magistrates are supposed to be the arbiters of imperial law, impartial in their judgements, and selected by the emperor for those positions. If we try to bypass the local magistrate, it will give Countess Voclain and anyone else involved in this situation cause to protest. They could even claim an aggrieved status. It would take longer, but following the chain of order is safer.”
As Severina explained her reasoning, someone knocked at the door to the parlor. Jadis assumed it was the court mage, Lambert, returning with the promised drinks. She didn’t move to open the door, though, since all three of her bodies were on the other side of the room. Instead, Thea quietly moved to the door and checked to see who it was.
“If we do go to court with this, how long are we talking about, roughly?” Dys asked the paladin. “And is it going to cost us any money to do so?”
“That depends on the workload of the magistrate,” Severina replied. “But I would estimate three to four months. And no, going to court would not cost anything itself, but the hiring of a barrister would. Clan Warsong would want legal representation. I can see to that, though.”
“Thank you,” Bridget told the Seraphim. “We, uh, we really appreciate the help.”
“You’re a true warrior of Valtar,” Morley said in what was possibly the kindest tone Jadis had heard the man express so far. He didn’t quite smile at Severina, but he did nod with approval. “A good, strong, just soul. Now, where’s that bloody tea! I hear that door opening over there, don’t think that I don’t!”
“I have it right here,” an unfamiliar female voice said. “Allow us entrance, and I will serve it to you.”
Turning her attention to the door, Jadis saw that Thea was blocking the way into the room, quietly facing down two unexpected figures.
The woman in the front was Countess Voclain’s court mage, Leonore. The stern-looking woman had a faint smile on her face and a large tray in her hands, which held on top of it a large teapot, a couple of pitchers of water, and many cups and glasses. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would perform what was typically a servant’s duties, but Jadis guessed right away that it was an excuse for her presence more than a show of humility.
Behind Leonore was, more surprisingly, Estelle. The woman looked far more in control of her emotions than she had a few minutes before, but she still looked far from happy. Thankfully, Jadis didn’t see Voclain behind the duo.
“Thea, it’s okay,” Jay called out. “Let them in.”
The former soldier politely stepped aside, silently allowing the two women entrance into the parlor. Both entered, but Leonore swept into the room, while Estelle’s movements were far meeker in comparison.
“Who would like some tea?” Leonore asked as she set the tray down on the mahogany table in the middle of the room. “Or water? It is flavored with some lemon, I believe.”
“Why are you here?”
Leonore raised an eyebrow at Jay’s question as she straightened upright from setting the tray down. Her hands came together in front of her as she regarded Jay with a patronizing look.
“I am here to serve you refreshments. I would think that to be apparent,” she answered in a somewhat chiding tone.
“That’s not what I’m asking and you know it,” Jay responded, though she moderated her own tone.
Jadis didn’t like the woman. She was, so far as Jadis knew, the person who sold the map to Countess Voclain, and therefore the one who started the whole mess with the property dispute and Clan Warsong. Maybe she hadn’t intended to cause any harm, but then again, maybe she was just as involved in the situation as Voclain was.
That said, Jadis didn’t get the same vibes of hostility from Leonore as she had from the countess. If anything, Jadis got the impression that the stern-looking woman was actually amused by the situation, but was doing a good job of masking her emotions. Laughing at other people’s misfortune wasn’t exactly a recommendation, but at least it wasn’t direct enmity.
“We are here to talk,” Leonore answered before turning slightly to look at Estelle. “That is to say, my charge is here to talk and I am here to offer my support. And pour tea.”
“Then give me a cup and let the mouse talk,” Morley said as he held out a hand towards the woman.
With a smile that contained a great deal of amusement, Leonore set to the task of filling a teacup for the cranky old orc.
Jadis focused the majority of her attention onto Estelle, waiting for the justifiably miserable woman to start talking. She kept one set of eyes on Leonore, though, as she still did not quite trust the woman. Not that she thought that she would try anything violent, but there was something inexplicably off about the woman that was causing a buzz of caution to go off in Jadis’ heads.
“My mother has sent me to make peace,” Estelle said as she curtsied. “She hopes that we might speak again, in peace.”
Estelle’s voice was far stronger than Jadis had expected based on her demeanor up to that point. She had come across as timid and weepy in the dining hall, so Jadis had assumed the woman would have had a shy way of talking, perhaps like Thea. Instead, Estelle had a strong and well-spoken elocution, like she had taken lessons on how to speak publicly all of her life. Which, when she thought about it, was probably true since she was a countess’ daughter.
“Uh huh,” Jay did her best not to glare down at the smaller woman. She was a victim in all of this, not the cause of the trouble. “And why isn’t your mother here? Why’d she send just you?”
“Your personalities seem rather incompatible, don’t you think?” Leonore answered for Estelle as she went around the room, passing out cups of tea or glasses of water. “I suggested that, under the circumstances, young Estelle might be the best one to speak with you.”
“I apologize for my mother’s words, spoken in anger,” Estelle said unconvincingly. “I hope that her outburst will not sour the potential—the potential relationship between us.”
Jadis tried not to scowl at the woman. Yes, it seemed that Estelle was sticking to her grandfather’s plan, but that didn’t mean it was willing participation. In fact, Jadis was all but certain that based on Estelle’s attitude on display from the beginning, she had about as much interest in marrying Jadis as Jadis did her.
“Okay, so you came here to try and make peace on your mother’s behalf,” Jay said. “I didn’t hear an actual apology in there, but whatever. I’m sure as shit not apologizing to her, I can promise you that. But since you’re here, you can answer a question for me.”
“Anything,” Estelle bowed her head in an accommodating gesture.
“How do you feel about all this?”
When Estelle finally looked up at Jay to meet her gaze, Jadis saw the confusion in her eyes, so she expanded her question.
“Do you want to marry me? Are you okay with your family forcing you onto me? Did you even know who I was before your mother dragged you out to this stupid mansion and told you that you’d be used as part of a political maneuver to ‘get at me’ or whatever this is?”
Estelle looked like she didn’t know how she was supposed to respond. Her shoulders tensed as her face stiffened, a clear war of confusion going on behind her wide eyes.
A soft snort was just barely audible in the silence. If Jadis hadn’t been paying attention, she would have assumed it had come from Morley. But the man was still as stone, eyeing Estelle like an angry old owl. Instead, Jadis was all but certain that the snort had come from Leonore. The woman had ducked her head low as she poured out another cup of tea, so even with Syd watching her, her face hadn’t been visible. But the noise hadn’t come from anyone else, Jadis was certain. She knew that sound to be one of barely contained laughter, which didn’t make much sense coming from Leonore, but there it was.
“I admit that these proceedings came as something of a surprise to me,” Estelle finally found the right diplomatic words to respond to Jadis’ questions. “However, I am honored to serve my family, just as I would be honored to join our two houses together in a… beneficial union.”
While Jadis took a second to unpack the woman’s statement, Leonore approached Syd with a steaming cup.
“Tea?” she quietly asked as she held it out with a smile.
“No, thank you,” Syd declined the offer.
“I will… Take it…” Alex said from where she was practically hanging off of Syd’s side.
“Of course,” Leonore passed the cup to the Demon without further comment.
It was only because Syd was paying such close attention to Leonore that she noticed the way Alex’s hand flinched when she took the teacup from the older woman. It was a small gesture, barely noticeable, but Jadis had spent countless hours studying even the slightest of Alex’s movements in her efforts to better understand the demonic language. While the flinch was not a word, it was a direct indication that Alex had been deeply bothered by something.
“You’re avoiding the real question,” Jay continued in response to Estelle’s answer. “I don’t want to know what your mother thinks about all of this. I want to know what you actually think about all this.”
As Jay spoke, Syd watched as Alex snaked a small tentacle out towards Leonore’s back. The silent appendage gently touched the woman’s black and gray hair. The touch was so soft and light, Jadis knew she would never have noticed it. However, as soon as the tip of the tentacle made contact with the woman’s bun, Leonore froze.
“I am speaking for myself—” Estelle was just starting to insist when Alex suddenly lunged forward.
Two large, monstrous hands snapped around Leonore’s neck and head like vices as tentacles, both large and small, wrapped around her arms, legs, and body. Estelle screamed in terror as others in the room responded to the unexpected attack, drawing weapons not to defend Leonore, but in preparation to attack her as they realized what Alex was doing. Even old Morley had jumped to his feet, wielding his cane like a sword as he pointed it towards the two now firmly entangled women.
“What are you…” Alex asked in a dangerously quiet voice.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Leonore answered, her expression and her tone both surprisingly calm considering her tenuous position. “I should think my nature is self-evident.”
Jadis shifted around so that all three of her selves were surrounding the immobilized Leonore. With slow but steady precision, Syd brought the tip of her sword staff to rest just under the woman’s chin.
“Nuh uh,” Syd said with just as much threat in her voice as her demonic lover. “Alex tastes what you are. And what you definitely aren’t is an over-the-hill human woman. Talk, or you’re going to find out what it’s like to be smote by a Demon.”
Leonore’s face shifted from placid, to a frown, then to an utterly blank slate.
“I should have known Destarious was setting me up,” the woman spoke in an exact imitation of Jadis’ voice. “Call off your Demon. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
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