Daughter of Treason Ch. 07

The bloodstains on the cobbles in front were too numerous for her to pick out Tanner's, and Kei wondered idly if the bloodthirsty guard had survived. Slinking around the side was barely a challenge, even in her injured state. As she approached the corner where her rope dangled, a snippet of conversation drifted out from an open window. "...a bloodbath in there. Most of the sorry bastards had their throats cut, but the ones that tried to run..."

"What about the girls? Any sign of them?"

That was Dorren's voice. Time to get a move on, she thought, and unsettled the grappling hook with a quick tug.

"Looks like most of them got away, thank the gods." As she coiled the rope and slunk away, the conversation faded, but Kei's first thought was, 'Most?' Damn, guess the waif wasn't fast enough. A pause, as she navigated around a beam of light. Or ran.

Those and other unkind thoughts filled the young vigilante's mind, but didn't survive much longer than the long and painful walk home. A glance in the window of the house she and Shino shared, and she was sighing. The place was full of girls and young women, clad in the remnants of several different bedspreads and tablecloths, blood staining one or two of them. As she slipped through the door, she began to wonder what, exactly, she had gotten herself into.

"Kei!" Shino's voice was surprisingly loud in the nearly silent house. She winced, and thought, Aren't kids supposed to be loud? He didn't seem to notice, and picked his way across the room. He cleared the last cluster of girls, leaned in close to Kei, and asked, "So, uh... why are there gaggles of naked girls showing up at our door? Cause it's kinda freaking me out."

"That makes two of us," she said dryly. Now that they were here, Kei really had no idea what to do with them. Well, start with baby steps. "They need a place to stay for now; they've had a rough night.

Shino was looking at her. "I'll say. Some of them were bleeding, and I don't mean in the usual places."

Absently, Kei wondered what a 'usual' place to bleed was other than the one he was referring to, but she kept that thought to herself; his expression held too much worry, confusion, and strangely a little bit of fear. He wanted reassurance, but she had none, so she gave him what she could; honesty.

"Shino, they were being raped by the guards and their guests. I got as many as I could, but I have a feeling that even if the men I killed won't be missed, the girls will. I don't know who will come looking for them, but they need a place to stay."

He listened silently, and though horror and revulsion coursed through him at the appropriate moments, at the end of it she sensed a new resolve underneath it all. His words only reinforced this notion, as his thoughts turned from the emotional to the practical. "There aren't many orphanages around, and they're usually overburdened as-is. Maybe some of them have families?"

Kei shook her head, unwrapping the mask. "From what I know of the... recruitment process, any family they have are likely dead or captured as well."

"Oh. Well, it doesn't hurt to ask."

Kei cast her eye over the group, which was almost uniformly watching her silently, fearfully. "Right now? I think it might. Let them rest. We'll ask in the morning."

"Yeah, the morning," he said absently.

It was at that point that the door jerked open and Miranda came ambling in, carrying a bucket. She paused only a moment to give Kei a small bow and breathless, "Mistress" before continuing to pick her way through the tangle of girls. Shino rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and explained, "I pressed her into service drawing and warming water, I'm afraid. I just thought it might be good to give them a bath before clothing them in whatever we could."

Kei nodded. "Good thinking." She frowned. She'd been hoping to have a bath, but these girls obviously could use it more. So instead she sighed and resigned herself to an even longer night. "How can I help?"

<<<<<Malefactum malefactoribus beneficiumque bonis face>>>> >

Morning came too soon, in the form of knocking. Though the sounds of the city flitted in from outside, the house was silent. Rolling out of bed, Kei reached for clothes to put on before realizing that she was already wearing a dress. She had changed from what she had begun to think of as her hunting outfit to the dress to tend to the new guests, and had been too tired to take it off before falling into bed. Rumpled though it was, it would do.

As Kei put weight on her injured foot, she winced. Shino had helped her wrap it, and it wasn't bleeding any more, but to say it was uncomfortable would be like saying the sun was warm. Stepping gingerly over Miranda, who kept picking the floor at the foot of the bed as her resting place, Kei made her way to the door, steeling herself against the pain. She paused only to grab her rapier belt, though she doubted the guards could have tracked her back to her house so quickly.

After descending the steps, she came to the living room where the girls were awake and huddled together, silently, along the far wall. A few of the older ones were obviously afraid, with the younger ones just wary. One of them, a nearly-mature elf who was doubtless the oldest of the bunch, was walking towards the door with an expression of restrained terror on her face. Brave, but unnecessary. Thought Kei, who waved the willowy brunette away.

She peeked behind the curtain. Pausing only to lean the sword-belt on the doorframe, she opened the door to a smiling Gerome.

"Good morning!" He rumbled, a huge smile on his face.

Right, more magic lessons. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and Gerome's smile faded. "Are you alright? You, uh, look like you had a rough night."

"Not as rough as some," she said absently. The idea had struck her that some of the girls could use some healing magic, to say nothing of her foot, and she would definitely feel better having them all looked at by a medical professional. For a moment, she worried about whether or not to trust him, but pushed the thought away; he'd been nothing but trustworthy so far, and had given her no reason to doubt his intentions.

Besides, I'll be with him the whole time.

"Do you have any healing spells prepared?"

The tall Miasian blinked, caught off-balance by the apparent non-sequitor. "Today? Not specifically, but if the occasion calls for it, I'm sure the Wild One wouldn't mind a little inconsistency in what I ask for." He frowned. "Why? Did you get hurt again?"

"No. Well, yes, I have a minor injury, but I ask because I recently came upon a... collection of young girls who need some help." She trailed off, noticing a laborer loitering nearby paying a bit more attention to the conversation than she would have liked. Wanting to be back inside, she looked back at Gerome and waved him in, pushing the door shut behind him.

After locking it, she turned to find Gerome looking around the room with an expression somewhere between awe and approval. "Well," he said after a few moments. "That's... quite a collection. Which ones am I looking at?"

"Any of them who are hurt," she said dryly, "but if you need a place to start, you can begin with that one."

Kei had pointed to the stab-happy waif, whose eyes went wide. Frankly, Kei would rather not have her there at all, but she was injured and as annoyed as Kei was at her, and the waif was entitled to some healing. And so Kei turned to head upstairs to the bathroom, saying to both man and girl, "Come; let's get some privacy."

On the first step she winced. Gerome gave her a quizzical look, and apparently anticipating her needs, stepped in. "Hold still." He murmured a quick prayer, and Kei sighed with relief as the pain receded.

"Thank you," she said, then proceeded up the stairs. On the way, she nearly bumped into a bleary-eyed Miranda, and was struck by an idea. "Miranda, put some food on for our new guests, will you? And..." She glanced back down the stairs where they still sat, silent, still and afraid. "Try to calm them down while you're at it."

The tall blonde murmured a groggy, "Yes, Mistress," and ambled off down the stairs.

Kei led Gerome and the waif to the bathroom. After closing the door, she turned and said to the girl, "Strip."

The waif froze, and Kei tapped her foot. "Well? Get on with it."

Gerome winced. "Uh, Kei, is that really necessary?"

"She has a nasty bruise on her head and several bruises on her body. Might be nothing, might be a concussion, or it might be something else similarly unpleasant. The others have, at worst, vaginal tearing, which while painful, won't kill them in the next few hours. This one was beaten; I want to be sure they didn't do any permanent damage."

Gerome's eyes went wide. "Beaten? Tearing?" She nodded. "Where, exactly, did you say you found these girls?"

"I didn't."

To his credit, it didn't take him long at all to backpedal and try a different angle. "Uh, okay. Well, normally we try to be alone with the patient, for privacy rea-"

"Not going to happen."

He frowned, and she could tell he was getting angry. "Look," he rumbled, "that's the way we've always done it, so if you could just leave, I could-"

"I'm sorry."

"What?" The apology had come from the waif, and the surprised inquiry came simultaneously from Kei and Gerome.

"I'm sorry," repeated the waif, her eyes pleading with Kei, "I tried to get the others out, really I did. But the guards came so fast-"

"Later!" Hissed Kei, but Gerome had already caught the scent.

"Guards? What the hell happened to these-"

"They were rescued from a life of slavery. More than that is not your concern."

"The hell it isn't! There could be more of them out there!"

A silence, as Kei stared down Gerome. When he started to look uncomfortable, she said dryly, "Doubtless there are, given what this one said. Rest assured that it will be handled."

"I really tried!"

The waif was so insistent that Kei had to say, "Calm down. You did the best you could, given the circumstances." Even though you tried to stab me, thought Kei. "Nobody can blame you for not having enough time." No, for that you can thank Dorren.

A pause, then more boldly, "What will you do with us?"

The waif had lifted her chin and stared Kei in the eyes with those words, though the way her hands worked the sheet wrapping that was serving as a cloak broadcasted her true feelings. She's terrified. Brave, but terrified.

The question itself caught Kei so off-balance that she could only respond with the truth. "Nothing."

Anger and despair showed on the waif's face. "So that's it, then? Just turn us out, send us on our way?"

"What? No!" Truthfully, Kei hadn't thought that far ahead, but a glance at Gerome's face was enough to see how well doing nothing would sit. So she made a snap decision. "No, you'll be free to go- or stay- as you wish." We're going to need more beds.

The young girl looked up at the older Fractorian. "Really? You mean it?"

"Yes," Kei said with a strained smile. "I do." As the waif visibly relaxed and started undressing for the examination, Kei wondered again what she'd gotten herself into. A year ago, I wouldn't have done this. A pause. What is happening to me?

Gerome stared at her for a few moments before grumbling, "You're lucky you can't lie worth a damn, or I'd wonder which side you were on. Alright, let's see what we got."

Suppressing a retort, Kei merely pursed her lips and nodded to the now undressed, and visibly bruised, girl. "Get on with it. We've a half-dozen more to look at this morning."

<<<<<Malefactum malefactoribus beneficiumque bonis face>>>> >

It was well into the afternoon by the time they finished, though the time had not been squandered. Gerome had asked each girl their name which, though Kei hadn't much cared at the time, did have the benefit of figuring out how to address her new charges.

Their injuries were about what Kei expected; some nasty vaginal tearing, but mercifully nothing life-threatening. Gerome looked suitably uncomfortable during their examinations, but did his best to stay professional. Though his facade fooled and reassured the girls, he didn't fool Kei; the tiny curl at his lip, the way he leaned back ever-so-slightly, the gentler-than-necessary touch showed his real feelings; he was revolted that they had been treated this way.

This was just the right reaction; she could tell that he wanted to know who did this, wanted to do something. Twice, between patients, he had asked in a roundabout way if he could help. The first time she told him what the girls needed most right now was examination and treatment, dodging his true question. The second time she met him head on and assured him, with a huntress' smile that it had been taken care of.

He did not ask again after that.

The rest of the exams went smoothly, and after he administered as many cure minor wounds as he could squeeze out to reduce pain. He even applied a cure light wounds spell to the first girl Kei had rescued, a tiny Miasian girl by the name of Talia, who was by far the youngest of the bunch. She couldn't have been older than eight, and as such had the most damage. Gerome had barely been able to get a name out of her though, surprisingly, she latched onto Miranda quite readily. Now, he was speaking quietly to Kei about abortives while Miranda escorted the last girl back downstairs.

"There are a few options out there, but the least intrusive is probably an herb called Cragsweed. Have you, uh...?" Kei wasn't sure what he was implying, and so gave him an impatient look. He took the hint and abandoned his query, pressing on, instead, with his instructions. "Uh, it's a more uncommon abortive, partly because it only grows on the high mountains of Halast or the Cloudspine, and partly because it gets toxic after repeated use."

She frowned. "How unpleasant will it be for them?"

"Other than a bad taste and a heavier than usual flow if any of them actually are pregnant, nothing. Like I said, it's the least intrusive option. Are you, uh, sure that they want this?"

"They're children, Gerome. I've seen enough too-young mothers to know they'll be better off avoiding that fate."

"Still," he said, "Shouldn't you at least ask them?"

Kei thought of the night they'd had, and their reactions to her; they were too afraid to make any decisions at the moment. "They're in my care," Kei said evenly, "and as such it's my call."

Gerome looked doubtful. "Alright," he said in a voice that implied it wasn't, "IF you say so. You might have to hunt around a bit for it, but any good apothecary should carry it and be familiar with its use."

Kei gave a small smile. "I know just the place."

<<<<<Malefactum malefactoribus beneficiumque bonis face>>>> >

Jenny's shop was busier than Kei remembered it, which was to say there was one other person inside aside from Jenny. "Come on, throw me a bone here." said a shorter man Kei didn't recognize. "I like you, but I can't help you unless you give me something to work with."

"Alright, alright, fine. Now get, I've got a customer waiting."

The man beamed. "You won't regret it."

A smile crept up on the face of the Northrendian. "See to it that I don't."

Kei eyed the short, brown-haired Halastian warily as he strolled out of the shop. The black-haired Fractorian woman turned a concerned gaze to the red-haired Northrendian, but the concern did not appear to be needed; as the shop door swung closed, Jenny burst into a grin. "I have a date!"

"A date?" Kei asked, trying with limited success to change gears from vigilant to conversational.

"A date," she said in her lilting accent, "You know, where a man you rather like takes you out to a nice dinner? Although," she leaned in conspiratorially, "I might let him eat a touch more than dinner, if you're catching my meanin'." A pause as she took in Kei's blank expression, then playfully, "ARE you catchin' my meanin'?"

Kei could only think that all her dates so far had involved ships, slaves, or blood. "Is this a common thing?"

"Oh, short of arranged marriages, it's the only way I know to meet a good fella. What, that's not how you got your man? What," she said, eyes twinkling in merriment, "Didja just climb on top of him and ride him into submission?"

Kei blushed all the way down to her shoulders, and Jenny howled with laughter. "It wasn't quite so simple as that!" the shorter Fractorian said hotly, though she nearly had to shout to be heard.

Mercifully, Jenny calmed down enough to notice Kei's clenched fist relatively quickly and said, "Oh, begging your pardon, I did not mean to offend. It's just..." Her grin, which had faded to a small smile in an attempt to look contrite, came back in force as she slapped Kei on the back, "Oh, I can't tell you the number of times I've wanted to just say, 't' hell with it all' an' do exactly what you're doin'. Oh, I oughta give you a damn metal."

Kei blushed more and mumbled, "I didn't mean for it to turn out that way."

Jenny put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Oh, I know you didn't, sweetheart, but that doesn't make me admire you any less for it." Kei ducked her head and mumbled something incoherent as the redhead resumed a slightly more professional demeanor. "So, what can I do for you today?"

Though her cheeks were burning, she managed to center herself enough to say, "I need some Cragsweed."

The way Jenny's face fell was telling. "How much will you need?" she said in a carefully neutral tone.

"About..." Kei did a quick mental tally, "seven doses."

Jenny frowned. "I'm afraid I cannot, in good conscience, give you that much. There are better forms of birth control if you're determined not to keep the baby."

Kei snorted. "It's not for me. A small group of girls has recently come into my care; it's for them."

Jenny's frown turned into a look of incredulity. "Girls, hm? And they need Cragsweed? Just how old are these girls, hm?"

Kei sighed. "Far too young for comfort, in some cases."

"Oh. They... oh my." As she spoke, a look of horror grew on her face. "Oh, they didn't even want it, did they?" Kei didn't speak, but the answer was written across her face. "Oh no. Who would-! What kind of monster-! Are they all right? No, of course they're not all right! How could anyone-! Ooooh, that makes me so damn angry!" Her face was almost as red as her hair. "Oooh, I hope the guards catch them and string them up!"

A muscle in Kei's face twitched. "Quite."

"Oooh, Voice of the Tyrant, how can you be so calm about this? Have you even told anyone about it?"

Kei was getting irritated now. "I can be calm because there's nothing more to be done for these girls but give them shelter and let them heal. And I haven't told anyone because, frankly, it's not their business!"

"Like hell it isn't! The guards should know-"

"The guards are the ones who did it!"

A silence fell on the shop. Kei blanched. I shouldn't have said that. Jenny's posture shifted from confrontational to something more passive. Kei looked away, not wanting to see the look of mixed horror and disappointment on Jenny's face. "Look, just give me the Cragsweed and I'll be on my way."

"What? Don't go! I... I beg your pardon. I did not mean to offend. I-" Kei still wasn't looking at her, so Jenny tried again. "I'm sorry, alright? It just made me so mad, I-" Jenny took a deep breath, thought a moment, then her face lit up. "I know! I'll let you have the Cragsweed for free, by way of apology."