For the Whored Ch. 054

Shaking his head he sighed. "I'm not sure there's a single breakable thing left in the place. Except for her precious mirror." A few people laughed. "She wanted me to..." He swallowed hard and wiped his face. "Well, she wanted me to... disgrace Zelinnia in the worst possible way. Wanted..." He began to shake. "Wanted me to..." He shook his head. "I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it! I proposed a new plan, one that would LOOK like I did the bad thing... without actually doing it." He sighed. "I convinced her that a complacent woman was easier to blame than a screaming one..." He said quietly.

"Still terrified of my sister's insanity, I set it up." He held up his head. "I... attacked Zelinnia in General Renwa's office." There were several murmurs in the crowd. "I actually thought that if I got myself arrested in the process, then I'd be free from my sister."

"Are you the biggest idiot on the planet, or what?" Mark snorted.

"Yes. Yes I am." John hung his head. "But, I fully believed that if I went to General Renwa with the truth, he wouldn't believe me. I had to do something stupid, in order to get arrested. Unfortunately, they locked me in the same room as my harpy of a sister." He raked his hand through his hair.

Elunara stepped forward. "What John did not realize, was that we had been alerted to this strange "plot" against Zelinnia some time ago, quite by accident. We had them trailed, curious as to where they were going with this. My agent confirmed that Kathleen was behind this, and that John was just her patsy in her schemes. In fact, I'm fairly certain John's drinking problem and failing health have been a direct result of Kathleen's machinations." She shrugged. "John has been given a choice, explain himself publicly, or stay with his sister." She grinned. "I think he finally got smart."

A few people laughed.

"So, there you are." Elunara held out her hands.

Grogek snorted. "I expect you in the training yard, first thing in the morning."

"Yes, sir." John nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"You have plenty of work to catch up on." He snarled, before turning and walking away.

People started to disperse but everyone froze when Mark punched John in the face. He shook his hand. "That's for Zelinnia."

General Renwa stepped forward, but John held out a hand. "I deserved that."

Zelinnia sighed. "Well, I don't think he deserves more than one." She rubbed her hand on her forehead.

"Hey, what's that?" Mark reached out and grabbed her hand.

Zelinnia blushed and stepped back. "Well, I guess we're telling people now."

Renwa grinned and took her hand from Mark. "Zelinnia has graciously agreed to be my wife."

There were cheers in the crowd.