Sufferance Ch. 14

"Got you some civilian clothes and a cloak," she said to me brusquely. "They're tucked in the false panel in the shoot. Get dressed now."

Shaken, I obeyed her order, hardly able to think past the moment. Jaunda saw fit to put a distinctly non-Consort wrap around Auslan's waist before hauling him up and pushing him toward the shoot. He had been amazingly quiet; perhaps he was simply that scared.

"What are you doing, Lead?" I asked after slipping on the plain shirt and pants, stuffing my feet into the plain boots before donning the cloak.

"Use the hood, cover your face," she ordered, doing the same. Then she added, "Simple. He knows you're pregnant, so he's not talking to his Priestess any time soon. Gives our Elder more options before the dung hits the ceiling. And it's about to in a big way."

My mouth gaped. Auslan had started trembling.

"Here, keep him upright," she said, setting him to stand next to me, "while I take care of a few things."

I watched as she searched the room quickly, picking out several empty healing bottles from the waste bin and adding them to a larger, generic sack she had located somewhere. Next she added in several of the relatively plainer articles of clothing from his wardrobe. She found all his unused vials as well, healing and prevention and possibly others, seated neatly in two padded boxes. She took the entire boxes.

I had long since begun to understand that Jaunda was taking enough things from the room to imply that the Consort may have left on his own. A runaway. Though I had not heard of one doing so before, that didn't mean it had never been attempted.

The Sisterhood was stealing one of the Sanctuary's Consorts. I couldn't believe it, yet some part of me was glad that he was going with us and I didn't have to leave him here. It was also smart not to leave loose ends.

Finally, Jaunda found a bloodstone in the vanity, eyeballed it, and stalked over to us. She set the bag down with minimal noise and then her hand darted out beneath Auslan's wrap to seize him by the testicles. He hadn't been expecting it and jumped, hunched over and made a muffled, plaintive sound.

I was struck by a strong need to protect him, and I felt the impulse to actually *punch* my Lead sweep through me. I quivered with the high effort that it took to resist it.

My Lead had her mouth near Auslan's ear and she spoke low and strong through the black bag. "I've got a bloodstone here from your chest of niceties. Yes or no, can this be used to track you? Answer honestly."

He deliberately shook his head, his balls still clutched in her fist although she didn't seem to be squeezing hard quite yet.

"You are saying, no, it doesn't track you," she repeated.

He nodded in agreement.

"Is it dangerous in any way?"

He shook his head, "no."

"Mind if I take it?"

Auslan hesitated, but shook his head, "no."

"Good. Does anything track your whereabouts?"

He nodded again.

"Is it something that can be removed?"

He hesitated, then nodded.

"Physical?"

A negative.

"A spell?"

A distinct affirmative.

"Got it." She let go of his scrotum, added the bloodstone to the bag, and looked at me. "Let's go."

*****

It had been a challenge to discreetly lower Auslan down from the roof with him bound and blind, even in light of the fact that he knew better than to struggle lest he be dropped. Jaunda and I had to work together and it was a slow task to purloin the grandson of Lolth from the Itlaun estate. He was tense but ultimately cooperative, and eventually we go to the two lizards waiting a fair distance from the manor.

Auslan went with Jaunda and I mounted by myself. He had been laid on his belly over the saddle in front of her, and I couldn't help but think how I'd once been carried exactly so by a Red Sister as well. With his whole head covered and the basic, almost servant-grade wrap he was wearing, he wouldn't look like anyone of importance from a distance. Neither would we.

As we got moving, Jaunda used one of her message pellets. I didn't know what message she sent, but I could guess it had been to our Elder even if I knew not what she would say. Or had already said. Jaunda had been waiting a little while from what Auslan had told me, stealing clothing and hiding out—she could have been updating D'Shea as well. It would have been hard to justify not doing so.

We were not headed in the direction of our cloister, the Tower, or the Court, but only seemed to be taking the long road out, figuratively speaking. Jaunda guided us through field and rock and used what dips and crevasses were available to avoid being seen from any distance.

We had covered a lot of ground before I finally thought it safe enough to pull along beside my Lead and sign to her, *Gaelan and Jael?*

*Alive,* she gestured shortly.

*Where?*

*Sent them ahead to D'Shea.*

*The wizard?*

*Sent him with them.*

*Alive?*

*Yes.*

I phrased my next question carefully. *Why did you determine it necessary to bring me to House Itlaun, my Lead?*

Jaunda expelled a breath, slowly and quietly. She was brusque as always. *After the blast, there was nothing to spare for you. Everyone used everything on them to save their own life first, even the wizard.*

I nodded. That was how we were trained; I felt no surprise or disappointment, regardless of my past action on behalf of Jael. *How was the option broached?*

Her mouth curled into a sneer. *Shyntre made a persuasive case, just as he did to convince us to search for you in the first place.*

I stared in disbelief. *He...what?*

*Somehow he knew where to look.* She shrugged. *He was right. I figured he was right about the Consort, too. Didn't have any better ideas or the time.*

I felt myself tremble on the inside. It echoed over and over in my mind: I was pregnant because of that idea. *Do you think Shyntre knew what would happen?*

*If he did, I'm going to toss his robed ass out of the top floor of Phaelous's Tower,* she signed. *But he mentioned the potions, and I heard this 'Auslan' say he had tried those first, and we all knew he'd be discreet. Those are the only reasons he's not dead yet.*

I fell still and thought it over more, trying to regain my discipline and my focus in front of Jaunda regardless of how weak and shaken I felt on the inside. I had noticed so far on our journey how easily distracted I was whenever Auslan moved his head or shifted and breathed loudly enough that I could hear him. Seeing Jaunda gesture the name that I'd given him had a somatic effect on me as well, but... I could still think past it, so...

Maybe I wouldn't end up as he'd threatened, to have a fate similar to Curgia's...?

How had Shyntre known where to find Kerse and me, anyway? How had they made it there in time?

*Wait...back up...*

Jaunda cocked a brow, expectant.

*D'Shea didn't send you?*

Jaunda shook her head. *Bad timing, gone somewhere. Rausery, too. Shyntre came to the cloister, found Gaelan first who saw fit to lead him to me. He was tense than I'd ever seen him, and I've seen him pretty up-tight before.*

She smirked at the joke but then it faded. *He was oblique at first but he uncovered that I knew about Kerse's odd behavior around you, he told me directly that the Draegloth was going to kill you unless we moved then.* My Lead frowned some then. *He was...persuasive.*

My brows rose up in disbelief. *He used a will spell?*

Jaunda actually grinned for the first time since she'd come out of hiding in Auslan's room. With her short, almost fuzzy hair, it made her look younger than her four hundred. *He knows better. He simply challenged me to sit and wait until we heard from Wilsirathon, and that I could knowingly let her have the first move over D'Shea. He was so confident, and the Leads and Elders already know he's magic-smart, especially for a male. I took the challenge. Gaelan insisted to go as well.*

When she paused, I interjected, *Jael was there, too.*

*Kind of surprised how much you were aware,* she commented. *If you hadn't been screaming, I'd have thought you dead already when we arrived.*

I swallowed but ignored that and persisted, *Jael?*

Jaunda breathed out and scanned the area again as she had been doing regularly. *Can't explain that one. She caught up to us about halfway and wouldn't go back.*

*She saw you head out?*

*Don't see how. She nearly killed her lizard how hard she pushed it. Had to have left long after we did.*

*Surely she said something?*

Jaunda thought about it, her eyes narrowing with memory. *Only that, no, Qivni hadn't sent her, and she owed you this. Again, I don't know how she knew.*

We fell still after that, lost in our own thoughts as we kept on the move. Eventually we sensed that someone else approached and Jaunda muttered, "At last."

Elder D'Shea met us within the circle of a rock outcropping, far out afield but not quite to the sentry border. Her face was set and determined and she neither spoke nor signed as she slid off her mount and went directly to pull the Consort off of Jaunda's lizard. Auslan made a muffled sound of fear as Jaunda helped her lower him to the ground. I clutched the reigns and had to work to slow my breathing when my heart rate picked up dramatically. As Jaunda dismounted, so did I.

*Watch her,* D'Shea signed to Jaunda, throwing a look in my direction.

I felt my face burn with heat but tried to stand steady; I sort of already knew why D'Shea had given her Lead that order. Knowing didn't change the outcome, though.

D'Shea lifted the hood off of Auslan, his chin and much of his face wet from his own saliva as the ball prevented him from swallowing effectively. My internal distress spiked as she gathered up his hair and gave it a twist at the nape of his neck. She withdrew an obsidian dagger and cut off his hair in two quick slices. The sound of despair that he made caused my chest to hurt, though I clutched my arms about myself and stood stiff and tense.

*No, no...not again, not another bond, I hate this...*

My Elder next grabbed what was left of his hair and used it to force his chest against one of the boulders so he was kneeling with his hands still tied behind his back. He struggled a little but D'Shea didn't dawdle as she spoke a few quiet, magical words and dug the point of her obsidian dagger into his back, just to the left of his spine between his shoulder blades.

*No—!*

Auslan's body jerked and he made sound even around the gag, and that was when Jaunda had needed to seize me and drag me back, covering my mouth with one ragged, gloved hand to keep me quiet.

D'Shea chose to ignore my insubordination as she continued her slow cut about a hand's length long and vertical down the Consort's back. He was bleeding freely and quivering from the pain but did not try to jerk away again.

The tip of the dagger started to glow a pale blue inside his flesh and the Elder Sister slowly withdrew her weapon as if coaxing the glow to follow it. Still held tightly by my Lead, my eyes wide, I saw that was almost exactly what happened. The magic seemed to stretch out in a thread like so much syrup, connecting the obsidian dagger to the open wound, and eventually the blade absorbed all of that glow. Auslan went slack as the pain seemed to stop and all that remained was the oozing knife wound.

I watched my Elder burn the Consort's length of hair and then smother and scatter the ashes with her boot as she sheathed her dagger. Auslan had settled onto his hip and leaned against the rock, breathing hard through his nose and looking drained. Jaunda still held me though I had stopped fighting her.

*Release her,* D'Shea signed, and her Lead obeyed.

I caught my feet but felt tremors still passing through me from the aborted surge of violent energy. I faced her and it was obvious my Elder was not happy with what she saw but she was saving it for later. Jaunda replaced the gag and the hood to cover Auslan's face after he'd regained some breath, and and D'Shea stood between me and the bleeding Consort.

She signed to us, *They can't track him now. Back to the cloister. We don't have much time and I still don't understand what all in the Abyss happened.*

I winced inside. The Abyss *was* what happened.

*****

D'Shea sent Jaunda ahead to make sure we could get Auslan into the cloister without eyewitnesses. The fewer Sisters who knew he was here, the better, at least for now. The Prime would always have the wards telling her how many bodies passed through which door during a cycle and whether they were Sisters or not, but she was not one to hand out information lightly. The Lead guided us through one of the lesser used back doors after sending a message via pellet when the hall was clear.

Only the fact that Auslan's blood would have eventually started dripping onto the ground or would leave little glowing arches from his bare feet did D'Shea see fit to wipe the Consort's wound with a mild topical healer while still out in the field. He was very surprised by the fact that the healing process actually hurt with that less refined potion, and it left a raw scab rather than new skin.

My Elder kept most of her attention on me during that event, and the part of me that wasn't demanding that I pay her back that unnecessary treatment was instead weighing the benefit of remaining stoic versus simply showing my Elder how I was being affected.

Knowing her as I did, I knew D'Shea would systematically increase the strain on Auslan just to get me to react, to find exactly where the breaking point was...but she could also simply punish us both as she saw fit whether I showed it or not, and my reactions would be the gauge for what hurt us most.

I found myself at a stalemate. I had needed to wait until we got to the cloister and D'Shea showed more of her cards.

Now, the three of us plus the Consort moved into one of the smaller interrogation rooms not far from where Rausery had tested and trained me against her subordinates. There was a simple chair for one Drow to sit down, but the rest had to stand or sit on the rough stone ground, or be chained to the wall. A Sister could sprint across the room in three or four long strides, and the ceiling was high enough to hang a chain or any contraption that used the large iron hooks already anchored above our heads.

D'Shea set what had to be a powerful privacy spell given how long it took her to complete it. A few small beads of sweat were on her forehead when she turned around and watched us all with a flinty gaze.

"I'm not sure why we haven't been summoned to the Palace yet, but let us get through this at least once. Sirana, in as few words as possible, what happened at the Sanctuary before Jaunda left to find you?"

I distilled it down as best I could while trying not to glance at the hooded Consort every few moments. "I drugged Wilsira with lenathum to get her to lower her defenses. She went insane with jealousy instead when Kerse refused once again to couple with her. I hadn't known that was going on or I wouldn't have used that particular drug on her."

My Elder was staring almost as if to bore holes through me. "Why was Kerse refusing her sex?"

I swallowed. "He didn't want her to see how he'd changed. He wasn't ready yet, but she forced the timing."

"Timing of what?"

"To capture me and free the Illithid in the Drider cave."

Auslan reacted to that one with an uncomfortable shift and D'Shea hissed to herself at the necessity of keeping him near enough to hear all this.

"Why...would he do either of those things?" my Elder asked slowly, as if I needed it to understand the question.

"The Illithid started it," I said. "It gave Kerse the concept of separateness from his Mother. It was only a matter of time before it offered a deal with him. Kerse accepted."

D'Shea looked shocked and very worried for a moment. "And was it freed? Did it escape?"

I nodded while feeling a great amount of fear for being the messenger here. "Yes, it did."

"Did you try to stop it?"

I felt just a little dizzy for a moment. "I...couldn't, Elder. Kerse had had the time to create a talisman with that cloth I'd thought I dropped. I couldn't move or speak unless he...told me to. The only part of me that still seemed to work was my mind. The Illithid was willing to talk a bit, but it was mostly gloating and enjoying my helplessness."

"And it didn't attempt to kill either you or Kerse? It didn't try to feed on you?"

"It...wanted to. I think it was wary of Kerse, it was too weak after its captivity, and the Draegloth was strong and magical enough to remove the collar around its neck."

D'Shea cursed softly, propping one elbow and holding a fist before her lips as her mind worked at a furious pace. "So it took the opportunity to leave, and Kerse let it. Why would the Draegloth do that?"

I looked down at my feet briefly. "To make more trouble for us later."

"He gloated as well, then?"

I shook my head. "No, not so much. Kerse was very quiet when he wasn't growling. But we were linked through the talisman for hours, Elder. I eventually learned what drove him. He wanted to cross over to the Abyss and leave us to our fate. The Illithid could lift the mental blocks on his form and that was part of the deal, one release for another."

She stared at me. "So it was as Gaelan said, then, Kerse was going to sacrifice you to open that gate."

I felt relieved that I hadn't needed to say that part. I nodded. "Yes, Elder."

"And his...changes...?"

"Many. He grew wings after the Illithid was freed. He had a secondary set of arms already; he'd formed those sometime between the worship ball and my escort mission."

D'Shea quirked a brow. "How do you know?"

"I think...I felt them touching my stomach one time when Kerse's main hands were...otherwise occupied."

Jaunda gave me an odd look but our Elder waved it away. "Very well. Any other changes?"

I hated the horror and shame I felt then as I glanced at Auslan still hooded and quiet on the floor, then back at my fierce-looking Elder. "What he had been hiding from Wilsira. His male parts. They'd become...demonic. Like what the Priestesses ex...experience."

The Consort reacted to that one as well; perhaps, after growing up in the Sanctuary and seeing other Priestesses' scars, and tending to my wounds not long ago, he could well picture what I was talking about. D'Shea, unfortunately, insisted on a more clear description, however, and I stammered through it brief as possible.

"It only happened in the past few weeks from what I heard Wilsira say, how long he had been holding out," I finished.

My Elder paced a little bit and ended up on our prisoner's side of the room with her boots very close to his head as she looked down at him. "And you, Consort, were somehow able to heal such damage."

She nudged him with her boot, and he shook his head with a muffled moan. Before Jaunda or I could offer to do so, D'Shea kneeled down to tug the hood off his head once again, his shorn hair falling readily into his face. She also removed the soggy gag, but was none too gentle considering how stiff his jaw had to be. He moaned and grimaced as he gingerly closed his mouth, licking his lips and swallowing repeatedly.

"Look at me, Consort."

Auslan did so, his fear evident but he made eye contact nonetheless.

"What do we call you?"

He hesitated, considering quite a few names or perhaps the best approach. "Whatever you wish, Elder Sister."

D'Shea smirked. "I understand one of us has a preference for 'Auslan.' Do you like it?"

"If it pleases you, Elder."

"You're avoiding my questions, Consort."

"That is not my intention, Elder."

"Of course. You're one of the 'yes, matron' whores, aren't you? You have no thoughts of your own, isn't that right?"

He was caught on how to answer—to agree or show her otherwise—and he glanced at me. That was the first time D'Shea struck him, kicking him in the ribs with her boot. I started and lifted my fists almost without thinking but Jaunda grasped my right shoulder hard in her hand.