Drachne Ch. 03

Suleos practically swallowed the entire flagon of ale in a single gulp. He put the mug down, "Another."

The elven girl's silver bell jingled as she curtsied, "Yes, sir."

A gold bell, like his own, meant he was a free citizen. A silver marked her as a slave. She was allowed outdoors, and to go unescorted to various places, but she was still a slave.

He hadn't met many enslaved elves inside the borders of the Golden Mountain.

"What's her story?" He waved to the tavern keep, who did recognise him from the night before.

The elf was timid and respectful, "Sindi? She was my cousin's sister, sir. But my cousin got sick. The plague, sir. Already had debts. I couldn't bear to see her sold off, so I bought her."

"Didn't free her."

The elf winced, "There's still debt, sir. My cousin left things to her, sir."

"I see." Suleos grunted. A slave can't inherit. She was being protected, albeit in a hamfisted sort of way. Ruining her life to protect her against a life in prison or being resold as a slave, again.

She returned with his drink, and he flicked her a silver tile. "You're agile, aren't you, girl?"

She squeaked and bowed her head, "I'm just a waitress, sir."

"I'm a hunter. Need someone who can run in the trees." He replied, "Someone I can teach. Ever held a bow?"

"Sir." The tavern keep interrupted, "I don't think I stressed how significant the debt -"

He stopped talking as Suleos produced a platinum coin and put it down deliberately on the tabletop. The coin was worth enough to buy the building they were in, and the contents, including the girl, and still have some silver leftover.

Almost as insane as the fact he could produce such a coin at all, was the lack of an explanation to where it came from. They'd undoubtedly searched his body after killing him.

Suleos nodded at the waitress, "Ever held a bow, miss?"

"Yes sir." She nodded, "I used to help my father go hunting in the forest. Rabbits and rats mainly, sir."

Suleos rubbed his chin, "Useful, but you are an elf, using a bow is to be expected. The kinds of things I hunt tend to be the things that hunt me back. Do you think you could watch my back, if I teach you?"

"I... Am not inclined to violence, sir." She struggled to understand him.

He smiled sadly, "Can you fight, if you're backed into a corner? Can you survive, when everything goes wrong? Things going right is peaceful. I'm interested in the crisis."

"I have fought so that I might run, before, sir."

"Good enough." He nodded and looked at the tavern keep, "If you wouldn't mind fetching the magistrate. So I can clear your cousin's debts and purchase his sister."

After the man left, Suleos relaxed a little and looked at the waitress standing around nervously. He lifted his wrist, showing his bell, "I hate these things. Having to prove I'm free. I expect you hate yours, for a different reason."

"I'm... Not allowed to talk about it." She said hesitantly.

He shrugged, "Far as I'm concerned, you're mine, now. I don't mind what you talk about. Including that I'm an asshole for expecting to just be able to buy you."

She sniffled, and shook her head. Unable to talk about it because she was about to burst into tears.

"What cocksacking wanker dared to get me before midday!?" An angry man shoved through the door.

Suleos dropped his hood back, revealing his horn, and turned to him. Smiling tightly, "M'lord. It's been a while."

"Lord Suleos." The magistrate said, turning as white as a sheet, before falling to his knees and touching his head to the ground, "My deepest apologies. Please forgive my outburst."

He shrugged, "I'd be drinking, too, if I weren't trying to buy this cute little thing. How much debt am I trying to clear, here?"

The magistrate raised his head hesitantly, "This woman? Oh. Eh... Three gold coins. But the estate is only in holding."

If he cleared the debt and bought her, then he would inherit the entire estate. Which could be anything from three square paces of land to as far as the eye could see.

Might come with servants, responsibilities and a house, or nothing at all.

"Done." He tossed the platinum coin to the ground, "Consider the excess a donation to the legal office. Paperwork, please."

The magistrate tucked the coin away carefully and stood up slowly. Another man who had followed him in unfurled a scroll of paper, and wrote in a few names.

The man looked up at him, "Lord Suleos, do you have any other title by which you need be recognised?"

"Honoured Saint of the Golden Mountain." The magistrate hissed angrily at the man, as if he were incompetent to even be asking.

The elven girl darted her eyes to him, staring, before she fell to her knees and bowed her head. He groaned and rubbed tiredly at his face, "Oh, don't you start, too. Stand up. I ain't into the submissive shit."

The scribe held out a quill towards him.

Suleos rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. A signature burning itself into the page. He picked up his empty flagon and looked at it sadly, and then up at the girl, "Mind getting me one more, as your last act as a waitress?"

She stood up, taking it with shaking hands and made her way behind the bar.

"Honoured... Saint...?" The tavern keep who had watched him be killed the night before stared in horror.

Suleos shrugged, "Just a title. Worn a few of those in my time. It's far less exciting when you're older than the empire. Human and elf. But, I did a favour to the empress a while back, and she acknowledged me."

The magistrate took the scroll and tucked it away, "The documents will be filed with the capital at the next mail run. The girl is yours, as is the estate. Do you need a guide, sir?"

"I need to do anything with the estate?" He asked glumly.

The magistrate shook his head, "To be frank m'lord, no one would mind if you burned it down. Though it would probably refuse to catch fire."

He heard the shatter of the mug as Sindi dropped it.

Suleos pulled out another coin and tossed it to the tavern keep, and stood up, "Ah, oh well. Was hoping for one more for the road. Sindi, mind coming over here, darling?"

The elf meekly obeyed.

Suleos looked at the magistrate, "You're a witness. Feel free to take note. The estate and everything is mine, now, right?"

"Yes, m'lord."

He took the woman by the shoulders, and spoke firmly, "Disenchant."

There was a crackle and smell of burning air, and then the bell on her waist fell away. A silver belt falling to the ground before dissolving into ashes.

She looked up at him in surprise.

He shrugged, "I do still need an apprentice, if you're interested. And if you'd care to show me to this house I just bought, I'd appreciate it too. But... You're free."

He didn't wait for an answer, pulling up his hood and heading into the street. Something in the room had smelled off to him, and he'd learned to listen to that instinct.

Sindi did skip up to him, following half a step behind. "The shack is this way, sir."

"You can just call my Sul. Don't want anyone thinking I'm a noble." He replied under his breath, so only elven ears could hear. Still plenty of people around who fit that description, however.

"Sul." She said lightly, "So... Why did you do that? You know I can't repay you."

"I hate bells."

The elf smiled sadly, "Ever been by the temple in the capital?"

"I've bought and freed a couple exotics, before. They tend to end up dead. Elves aren't friendly, even if you earn a golden bell." He shook his head, and now saw what his nose had noticed.

They were being followed.

"How long were you... Enslaved?" He tried to keep her talking, occupied so she wouldn't notice the threat before he had a chance to eliminate it.

She winced, "Dad... Dad bit the dust six months back. They're saying it was the plague, but the plague wasn't around then. I think he just got in too deep and everyone was sick of his shit."

"It happens more often than it should." He said sympathetically.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Which part? The deadbeat father or the town lynchmob?"

"Both." He replied, "I told you that I'm a hunter. That sometimes I get hunted back. I was truthful, but evasive. I can't actually lie. It's a part of my people. I hunt runaways, mostly. And sometimes worse things. I've seen more than my fair share of towns put to the sword for putting down someone they saw as problematic. It's never easy for the survivors."

Sindi swallowed, "Can... I ask... What you are? Is that too rude?"

"Unigrad." He replied and shrugged, "Though, that's something you probably don't want to spread around. We're... Rare."

She stared at him, and missed a step. Falling onto her face in the mud and dirt. He picked her up quickly, putting a hand behind his back to catch the needle that their tail threw his direction.

Except... It hadn't been aimed at him.

He pulled out a rough cloth and wiped at her muddy face, doing a poor job of things, "Sorry. Rare is an understatement, isn't it? I've never met another, before you ask."

"What about your... Parents?" She said, more fascinated than she was embarrassed.

They resumed walking, and he tried to guess why anyone would want to kill an elf who had been enslaved. Wasn't as if she could lay the blame on anyone who had killed the father.

It had to be another secret she knew. Likely one that she did not know that she knew.

"We don't have parents. We don't really age." He shook his head, "I came into being, as you see me now. I don't really know how long ago it was. Longer than elven memory, and long enough I hate most everything."

She nodded slowly, "So... Came into being..."

"My race were handmade by the goddess of mischief. She wanted to screw with the god of death." He sighed heavily, "I know it sounds like crap. Gods don't really happen. Most don't even think they really exist."

"But then... You remember her, don't you? Your goddess." She sounded earnest.

He nodded, "I only met her the once, at my... Birth is not the right word. I knew who I was, what I was. I knew what I could eat, and what I couldn't. I was... Fully actualised. She smiled at me, and told me she was interested in seeing what I would become."

The elf smiled fondly, "Sounds like she was a good mother."

"No."

Sindi's face fell, "Apart from the one-time meeting, I guess. A long time ago. She's a betrayer god, locked away, from what I remember."

"She was supposed to be, yes." Suleos nodded and sighed, "But that war... So many things went wrong... It never really ended. Not for them, only for us. Expecting her to be contained would be folly."

"You really can't lie, can you?" Sindi grinned at him, "I love it."

He looked at her carefully, and then realised why someone wanted her dead, and why she was trusting him so easily. It was the exact same reason, and it was a terrifying one for most mortals.

She stopped at a rundown and flooding street, pointing up the hill, "The place is up this way."

They were going to be attacked again, the moment that they entered that isolated alley.

All he knew at the moment was that the attacker was very good at staying quiet and unnoticed. That they used throwing weapons, though that was no guarantee they would stick to that method. The pin had also been poisoned.

"Lead the way." He waved, trying to step over the water and onto the curb, acting like he was nervous of it being sewer water or something along those lines.

He was actually enchanting the spot.

His foot left a small wet circle with a magical rune in it, and then he followed behind the elf, who seemed to be getting excited as they came closer to her childhood home.

"I used to dream about the gods, when I was a little girl." Sindi confessed. "Used to tell people the things they told me. But Dad said it was upsetting people. I didn't listen to him, until one day, I told my favourite apple seller she was pregnant."

The elf looked glum, "She committed suicide. I... I never really got over that. But I never talked about the gods again. But... It's nice to talk to someone who believes in them."

His guess had not been wrong.

"I tend to offer a prayer to the golden kitsune, before I go on my hunts." He offered, "I'm not religious about doing it, but she did create me. Sometimes I feel like I owe her."

"Other times?"

"I wish she never made me." He confessed unwillingly, cursing his inability to lie.

The elf winced, "Don't we all... After Dad... I tried. I didn't know the fucked bell shit would stop me. It really hurt."

Suleos grunted painfully as he felt the knife enter his back, where a spine might have been if he actually had one. He felt the poison enter his veins, his heart instantly pumping it around his entire body.

He fell down onto one knee, and his mouth went dry, "Sindi. Run. Survive."

Her eyes widened, but to her credit, she took off running. She barely hesitated at all. She was actually probably a decent apprentice for him, though he had just been intending to give her the house and walk away.

He closed his eyes and cracked his neck, "That... Was a mistake."

The assassin stepped closer to him, "The trap you set was a little obvious, magus. And now you've gone and annoyed me by sending the rabbit on its way."

They slid a knife into the side of his neck, right through one of the more painful nerve clusters. The poison was acidic, burning as it flowed into him.

"I'm going to enjoy hurting you, friend."

Suleos looked up at them, and nodded to make his hood fall back, "Like I said. Hurting me, was a mistake."

The man paused in confusion, "An exotic."

He felt the curse of the Unigrad already beginning to manifest. It depended how long since the last time he'd been dead, for it to kick in. It also depended on how interested he was in coming back.

For Sindi, he needed it to be soon.

"Got a god you pray to?" Suleos coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.

The man slid another knife into him, "I think I'm supposed to be asking that. What's with the brave act? Got a thing for an elf, beastman?"

Suleos rolled his eyes back and pushed himself off and into the void.

He wasn't there long.

It was painful, and messy, coming back. It was always so messy when he came back from that empty place.

"Ow." He said and rubbed the side of his neck, stepping out of the corpse. He paused as he saw that some time had passed since his death. That the one who killed him had been busy.

They were in a rotting house, and there was an elven girl in a ball up against a nearby wall, spattered head to toe in blood and viscera.

He crouched, producing a rough cloth and wiped at her face, "You're okay, Sindi. You will be. That's a promise."

She stared at him, "H-how...?"

"I don't stay dead. I may have wished for it, but it will never remain mine." He said sadly, still trying to clean her up a little. "You're safe. I hope."

"W-why...? Why did he want to hurt me?" She said, bursting into tears.

Suleos sighed heavily and patted her on the head, "Because you can tell when people are telling the truth."

"Huh?"

He sat down, leaning on the wall beside the terrified elf, "Those dreams you have, when the gods spoke to you? They weren't dreams. You're a soothsayer."

"What's a soothsayer?" She bit her lip, hugging her knees.

Suleos sighed, "One born every few hundred years. Someone who is different, and attracts the attention of the gods. But the gods can't decide who gets to claim them, so they agree to share the soul. Side effect is... You can speak to the gods. Your prayers are always heard. And nobody can ever lie to you, without you noticing."

"I'm... A soothsayer?"

He nodded tiredly, closing his eyes.

Sindi shuffled closer to him, "So... The feeling I get... I really can tell when someone is lying?"

"Yes."

She moved close enough she was touching him, "And you really can't lie?"

"No. I'm compelled to answer." He sighed.

Sindi took a deep breath, "Do you like me, Sul?"

"You're as infuriating as you are beautiful. I would bed you in a heartbeat." He felt the words leave his mouth of their own accord.

She laughed loudly, "Seriously? You turned that asshole into... I don't have the words. I must look like some creepy abomination, right about now."

"A bath would not go amiss." He agreed.

She poked his shoulder, "I asked a question. Were you serious? You would bed me?"

"I cannot be a lover." He said cautiously, "I have lived a very long time, my little elf. Long enough that I remember the day the Golden Mountain announced their independence from the Arausine Kingdom. You may feel long lived, beside other races, but I am old."

Sindi put her chin on his shoulder, "So... You're telling me... You don't want to get old and watch me die?"

"Yes. I have no friends. No family." He sighed, knowing she wasn't about to just let him rest, "I have seen too many good people die. Some by age, some by disease. Most because they strayed too close to me. My life is not always a safe one. I will always survive. You... Might not."

"You wanted to give me the house, didn't you?"

He nodded and yawned, "Indeed. Is that where we are? Your childhood home?"

"Yeah. You died, yesterday." She whispered, "I woke up, and he was attacking me."

He nodded tiredly, "Sorry. I thought I came back sooner than that. You must have felt betrayed. Alone."

"A little." Sindi whispered, "But... I want to offer something."

He turned his head, "You're determined, aren't you? You know next to nothing about me."

"I'm a soothsayer." She said arrogantly, before giggling, "I know everything about you that I need to. I'll stay here, in the house. You... Come back to me, after your hunts. Have you tried that before?"

"I would watch you age." He said with a shake of his head.

Sindi rolled her eyes, "I would obviously try my best to make you stay. I want you to bed me. After a bath. I really, really, do. I feel... Like this is supposed to be."

Not words he wanted to hear from a prophetess that made all other prophets look like blind men guessing.

"Do you own a bath?" He tried to get her away from him.

"I don't own anything." She said resentfully.

Suleos sighed, "The estate is all yours. We can formalise it tomorrow. I'm exhausted. Do you own a bath?"

"We have a tin bucket." She said hesitantly.

He pushed himself to his feet, "Which way?"

She led him to a small room on the edge of the shack, and he saw an upside down tin just large enough for the purpose. He turned it over, and tried to ignore it was a mess.

He waved a hand over it, and the steam began to rise. He smiled stiffly at her, "Careful. It's hot."

He went to leave the room, but she caught him by the elbow, "You made the mess. You should help clean it up."

"No."

"Fine. Just... Don't leave me alone. I'm scared." She insisted.

He sat down, guarding the doorway and not looking in her direction. It wasn't like he felt he had a great deal of choice in the matter.

He heard her clothing hit the floor, and then the gentle splash as she delicately stepped into the bath. "Can you... Talk to me? The Arausine Kingdom. Tell me about that. I've never heard of it."

---

Cookie glared up at over the edge of her sodden cardboard box, ears pulling back as she let out a loud hiss. The hand pulled back, and she let out a contented purr and hunkered down again.

The incubus leaned against the wall of the alley, looking at her in amusement. She blepped her tongue at him, before curling up into a little ball.

She didn't care that she didn't have a bell and had to basically run from everyone. No freedom for the beastkinds.

She was content in her box.

They had been through a couple problems since leaving the temple. One or two people attempting to corner a bell-less kitty to make her play with them. However, having an angry incubus as a boyfriend came in handy.