The Tattooed Woman Pt. 17

THE TATTOOED WOMAN - Chapter 17

I hope folks are enjoying the story so far. Please leave comments, as criticism both positive and constructive is inherently useful. Plus, I like reading comments, so that's cool.

The Tattooed Woman Volume 2 - Chapter 3: Dinner and a Dance

Shalidar rose as Demeritus entered her tent unbidden. She had disarmed, her servants had carefully removed the segmented bronze carapace of her armour and with their usual attentive care, they had bathed and oiled her body before gently scraping the detritus of her travels from her skin. The sheer silk robe she now wore was comfortable and while she found its sensuous touch almost decadently pleasing, she had chosen it more for how well its cut accentuated the full curves of the shape she wore. Burned incense flavoured the air of the tent, but the candles could not entirely mask the unearthly and yet strangely enticing scent that seemed to emanate from the woman.

Sensing his fickle mood, she carefully schooled her expression and her mouth deliberately curled into a smile that was as broad and bright as it was insolent as she turned to face him, but despite her almost playful tone her eyes still glittered dangerously in the subtle illumination of her boudoir, "Cousin, how sweet it is for you to visit, how might I reward this kindness?"

"You disobeyed me," he growled.

The woman drifted to a small table with languid grace, knowing his eyes would be drawn to the tantalising sway of her hips as she moved, and she poured a generous measure of wine both for her uninvited guest and herself from a golden chalice before turning back to him and offering a goblet. Her tone was light as she replied, but Demeritus saw through the mask and noted the smouldering spark of rage concealed in the depths of her eyes, "How so? Pray elucidate, and explain my failings, your Highness, for surely my misery would be limitless if I thought I had failed you even in some small way."

The creature took a step forward and for a moment she thought he would slap the offered drink from her hand. With no small amount of discipline, she stilled her fast-beating heart and remained unmoved as he all but spat, "Do not play coy with me! You know damned well what I mean. Did I not say that you did not require escort, and yet you flaunted my direction by taking one regardless."

"Oh, is that all? For a moment I was concerned I had failed my mission in some regard."

"You dare..."

"Contain yourself cousin, firstly I did not disobey any command, for you did not prohibit an escort, you merely stated that I would not need one. Simply put, I did not trust the honesty of your intelligence, so I erred on the side of caution. Would you not do the same I ask?"

He drew an angry breath, his face contorted, and he bared his teeth in a snarl, "I should chastise you for your disobedience to my wishes!"

Shalidar's gold-flecked eyes flashed, and she crushed the goblet in her hand so suddenly that wine splashed in all directions, "You can try!"

The air around the creatures stirred as Demeritus took a step closer, "Your mate is gone witch! He is nothing more than a ruined, shattered husk! Now I am the eldest! I am the strongest! You would do well to remember that cousin."

Shalidar all but hissed as she spat back at him, "And you would do well to remember who it is you threaten dear cousin. I am not some witless Drow to be slaughtered meekly, I would resist your touch unto death, and while I might not survive, I would inflict such wounds upon you that you would remember their pain for a thousand years!"

With mercurial speed, her mood shifted, she checked her temper and favoured him with a truly wicked smile as she delicately licked the wine from her fingers. His gaze was almost involuntarily drawn to the deliberately provocative way in which she savoured the drops from under her razor-sharp nails, and her eyes glittered with gleeful malice at the quickening of his breath, "Then of course, you would have to explain to our Master, how you came by such wounds, and how it is you deprived him of a useful asset in time of war for no other reason than a fit of selfish anger. I'm sure he would understand, for he strikes me as the forgiving sort."

Demeritus took a shuddering breath and stepped back, "It would be prudent for you to rethink this strategy of antagonising me Shalidar, for one day you will push things too far, with ruinous result, for you."

"You are merely upset that I mated with Typhonos and not you. It is unseemly to bear such a petty grudge," she sighed, "however in the spirit of our kinship I will endeavour to be courteous, so I apologise for my behaviour cousin. My words were harsh, and my threats unjustified. There! Will that not suffice to placate you this day?"

Demeritus grumbled but drew another breath to steady his temper and sipped at the contents of the goblet before replying. His eyebrows went up almost involuntarily in appreciation of the heady flavour, "This is a fine beverage my cousin, what is the vintage?"

"Fomorian blood, I recently, and rather unexpectedly, came into a small supply and I thought you might enjoy it. What say you? Pax? For today at least."

He sighed, "Very well, Pax it is. I offer apology for my own behaviour, it has been a tiresome day, cousin, but that is a poor excuse for my ill manners."

She smiled, "No apology is necessary, you bear a heavy weight upon your shoulders, and it must be burdensome at times. Might I at least make my report to you regarding the errand you set me? I would have come earlier, but I saw you were ensconced with our Master and in truth, I was fearful to interrupt with merely a mundane accounting of trivial matters."

He gestured, "Please."

Shalidar poured herself another goblet but only sipped the brew, "In all honesty, there is very little to say on the matter. I travelled to the shrine as you commanded and found it unoccupied, though there was sign of some earlier battle. I suspect the hounds previously dispatched were engaged by a company of Dwarves..."

"Not more fucking Dwarves," he complained.

"Cousin?"

"Never mind, please continue."

She paused a moment before continuing, "Anyway, it appears the Dwarves destroyed the hounds, though at a cost. The shrine itself is, as you know, very old, and on investigation, I found it was possessed of an "echo" if you will, of its former mistress."

"An echo?"

She nodded, "Indeed, it was a most curious thing, but I believe the Phantom Queen herself once stood there, in person."

He nodded, "That is my understanding."

"Well, her physical presence seems to have infused the stone upon which she stood with some echo of her spirit. I cannot think what else to call it," she swallowed, and her voice trembled slightly, "she must have been puissant in her day..."

"Indeed so. Do you think this echo can threaten us?"

"I doubt what I describe could be of any real concern. But it was somewhat troubling to be near. She was an old enemy of our Master I understand, so I suspect her malice may be in some way specifically directed towards him, and thus also his allies, making it more quarrelsome than it might otherwise be. I would doubt that it would be overly antagonistic to one of another faction."

Demeritus finished his drink with relish, and as she refilled the goblet with a smile he mused, "Perhaps not, but mayhap I should dispatch some forces to level the place, nonetheless."

With the ease of long centuries of practice, she lied seamlessly, "As you please, I broke the stone at the shrine and would expect the echo to fade in time, though, in all honesty, I would not know how long that would take, mayhap a few days, possibly many years."

"Do you advise against destroying the place then?"

With a chuckle Shalidar offered a shrug of utter indifference, "I could not care less! I do not concern myself with such trivia, if you wish to pulverise a few overgrown and mouldering stones then be my guest," she changed the subject with a sly, half-hidden smile, "might I ask why you seemed concerned by Dwarves?"

"Oh, My Lord commanded they be left in peace for now until we have destroyed the Dökkálfar. He would prefer to devour our enemies piecemeal if possible."

She frowned, "They cannot threaten us surely?"

"No, I would not think so, but you know how militant they are, and how tiresome it would be to winkle them from their caves. It is more a matter of simplicity and neatness rather than any real military concern."

"That seems logical, but I am no student of tactics. I prefer to take my pleasure in softer things."

"You were ever the hedonist."

She grinned, "Typhonos did not complain of my appetites."

"Indeed."

"You are gloomy company; can you wonder why I preferred your brother to you?"

Demeritus looked puzzled, "He was the stronger then, why would you not prefer him?"

"Dear Gods, you are a total dullard when it comes to such matters..."

"Shalidar," he growled in warning.

"I preferred him because he was interesting, for all his strength he still enjoyed music, he appreciated beauty, especially mine. You, on the other hand, have a mind that only calculates. You scheme and plot endlessly, and when you tried to woo me, your efforts were as transparent as your intentions. You concerned yourself with the strength and power of our progeny and nothing more, never once did you pay me a compliment that sounded anything less than something precalculated. In short, you were a fucking bore!"

She ducked neatly and laughed as he hurled the goblet in his hand at her head, "Bitch!"

"At last! You say something honest."

He whirled to leave but paused, "One day I will have you on your knees begging for my affection, and I will remind you of those words! I swear it!"

"Going so soon? I shall so miss your company cousin. But before you depart, I would ask a boon."

He spluttered, "A boon! After such an insult, I should scorch the scales from your back not offer gifts!"

"Nevertheless, I ask for one. I have heard there is a thing, a spirit or somesuch that vexes our Master?"

His eyes took on a hooded and suspicious gleam, "What of it? And how did you come to hear such a thing?"

"I am not without resources cousin."

"Why do you ask?"

"I wondered if I might go deal with this quarrelsome spirit. I find this siege insufferably dull and your company detestable enough to provoke me to ask this favour."

Demeritus gave the woman a cold leer, "And what do I gain by agreeing to your request, dear cousin?"

She sighed and then chuckled mischievously, "I ask to get further away from you, not to offer you opportunity to draw closer. But I should at least be fair. Let me depart this tiresome siege and I will offer you in exchange one chance, just one! To entertain me for an evening. I offer nothing more than that, no promise to be sweet, no honeyed words, absolutely nothing, other than to give you a fair chance to be pleasant company for once. Consider it a challenge if you will."

"A fair chance you say?"

"My word on it."

He pondered, "How will you draw this entity here? My Master wishes no harm to come to the thing until he has had opportunity to discern its true nature and if it might be of some use to him."

"I shall use my womanly wiles of course."

He snorted, "You are no woman."

Shalidar unclasped her gown at the shoulder and it slid down her body revealing the nakedness underneath, and as if perhaps by magic the long braid in her hair came undone as the robe slid past and her blonde tresses unfurled, cascading down her back like a golden waterfall, "Cruel words my cousin, I may not be a human woman, but am I not feminine enough for your tastes?"

He swallowed, "A fair chance, yes?"

She looked over her shoulder at him with a sly smile and nodded.

"So be it then, go fetch the thing and bring it before our Master, and we shall discuss this bargain upon your return."

She bowed her head very slightly and her eyes glittered, "By your command."

...

The resounding "crack!" of impact as Matriarch Varro slapped Ashunara was easily loud and sharp enough to echo across the chamber, "You incompetent swine!"

The woman had put every ounce of her enraged strength into the blow and the Captain's head was whipped to the side by the force of it. Even so, the only sound Ashunara made was to chuckle as she tasted the blood that fell from her split lip, "You hit like a serving wench Aventine."

The older Dark Elf snarled furiously as she whipped her hand back, only to gasp as Ashunara caught her wrist easily and held it fast in an iron grip, hardened and strengthened by long, long years of swordplay.

The bodyguards took a step forward and Ashunara gave her Matriarch an evil smile, "I am not the girl you chastised all those years ago Aventine, I know that I soundly deserved that whipping, as I deserve your anger now, but if your guards take one more step, I'll split them open like overripe fruit."

Aventine stared into the woman's cold, dark eyes, so very much a reflection of her own, and knew it was neither a boast nor an idle threat. She gestured for the guards to hold fast, and her voice was almost a whisper, "You nearly got her killed! I could have lost her..."

Ashunara saw the woman's lip tremble slightly and she looked to the guards and servants, "Leave us, now!"

The Captain's hard tone of command, so seldom heard in this household, was not one to be ignored and the servants almost fell over each other in their haste to obey, and after a moment of hesitation and having been given no command to the contrary, the guards nervously followed.

Once they had withdrawn, and the doors were securely closed behind them Ashunara wrapped her arms around her sister and pulled her close, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Aventine."

The woman trembled in her embrace and sobbed, "S... She's all that I have Ash, she's everything to me, I could not bear to lose her."

Ashunara held the woman tightly, "She's not all you have sister."

After a moment Aventine drew a trembling breath and pushed herself back, "What happened?"

The Captain sighed and blew out a breath of resignation as she poured wine for them both, "No plan survives contact with the enemy sister, you know that. I shielded her as best I could, looking to keep her from the hardest fighting, as I would with any new and untested recruit, but things didn't just go awry, they went totally to shit, besides..."

"Besides?"

"Besides, if she is to earn respect in this profession then some risks must be faced, and face them she did, and she faced them well," she grinned, "no surprise that she should have mettle though, given the temper of her mother."

"I... I'm sorry I struck you."

Ashunara laughed, "I've had far worse than a split lip, and not so long ago to boot, in fact, it's been happening so regularly lately I'm beginning to suspect that being smacked in the face might actually be habit-forming."

"It sounds like there is a tale there."

"Perhaps, but I'll save it for another day."

Aventine looked at her sister and pursed her lips, "Why did you saddle her with this debt Ash, forcing her to accompany you seems cold, even for you."

Shaking her head the Captain smiled sadly, "I did not do that to her, I did it for you."

"I don't understand."

"Aventine, she wants to go with me, she wants this life, and in your fear, justified as it may be you would compel her to remain here with you in safety. And unlike me, she is a dutiful child, if you asked it of her, she would obey, and she would stay, and she would despise it, and eventually, in the fullness of time, she would resent your decision sister, and perhaps even come to hate you for it. I would spare you that, for I know, for all your faults," she grinned, "of which there are so many, you could never ignore an unpaid debt."

The older Dark Elf looked at the goblet in her hand and tears trickled down her cheeks, "I never stood a chance with her, did I? You were always there, with exciting tales of adventure and risk, while all I could offer was a life of tedious duty," she laughed bitterly, "who in their right mind would choose that over what you could offer?"

Ashunara gave a deep sigh of genuine regret, "It was not my intent at the time to encourage her to follow in my footsteps Aventine, but I admit, your charge is not baseless. Though I wish I could say otherwise. You may not believe me, but how I wish I had simply gone off adventuring and never returned to this house to regale the child with such tales."

"Was I so cruel to you sister?"

"Gods no! That is not what I meant at all Aventine, but when I saw her lying there almost bled out I nearly gave in to utter despair, I had to wait a whole night before I knew she would live and I've never, ever, spent such a miserable time. Those endless fucking hours before she stirred made all the weeks I spent in the hands of those bastard humans seem a happy memory in comparison."

Aventine laughed, "So much for being unsentimental creatures of eldritch nightmare. I fear we make poor excuses for Dark Elves."

"Well, I won't tell anyone if you won't sister."

Aventine smiled, "Very well then, we shall keep each other's secrets. Now tell me, sister, just what the fuck is going on?"

"Pardon me?"

"Where to begin? First, my daughter comes here practically arm in arm with a Sunkissed Elf wearing her collar, a collar you paid for I might add, and obviously completely smitten by the girl, not that she's not a pretty thing to be fair."

Ashunara chuckled, "They do make for a cute couple do they not."

Aventine shook her head, "Just don't. Then I find I have a Dark Elven maiden from another house, also wearing your collar I might add, held in my serving quarters as... what? A slave? A servant? Or is she a sister in arms of some kind? I have no idea. She would fetch a fair ransom, but you seem to be actively avoiding that outcome, I thought she was to be my cupbearer so I could see her off home while simultaneously enriching our coffers?"

Ashunara shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure myself, I think it's a case of time will tell with that one. She might actually be plotting my murder you know, it's a bit murky at present," she grinned mischievously, "but I'm sure it will all work out in the end."

Aventine nodded, "And the swordsman?"

"What swordsman?"

"You know damned well what swordsman! The one you hid in the serving quarters without telling me, and whom I'm reliably told that three of my maids were fighting over."

"Oh, that swordsman. He belongs to Nyx. Did he sleep with the serving girls? Because if he did, I don't think we'll need to worry about it for long for she'll like as not murder him when she finds out."

"Actually no, to my surprise I'm told he stole a few kisses after winning at strip poker or somesuch and got rather drunk instead. The maids were quite upset it seems and quarrelled. But if he belongs to your subordinate Nyx, why is he tormenting my servants and not residing with her? You do know that Matron Livia thrashed them for their feckless idiocy."

"Hmm, I didn't have anywhere else to put him, I would have placed him in a room at the Raven's Nest, but Nyx would have discovered him soon enough if I had done."

"Does she not know she owns this man?"

"Well, not exactly, the thing is I offered him his freedom and he chose to stay. He made some pitiful excuse, but he's totally fallen for the woman. I have his indenture contract, but he was initially to go to the arena, but now, well he wants to come with us to the North."

Aventine frowned, "She is literally twenty times his age and more, why the ridiculous subterfuge? Surely, she knows her own mind by now."