Mariwa: An Ivian Tale

The Children of the Lake Closure

Promise kept, Marquise watched over Cassia Seneschal's recovery.

It had taken a week after Holly's departure before she had the courage to venture outside. It had been adorable in an odd way to see her stumble down the corridors of Manor D' Sallia, determined eyes glaring down the sets of identical doors as if expecting something to challenge her passage, Marquise always there as her crutch, physically and emotionally. The face she made when she turned a left for the fourth time and came to the same hallway was priceless.

Realistically, there was no chance of danger, not inside the mansion. You couldn't poke a needle through a wall without rising some kind of alarm, and with her nearby to steer her away from traps, it was as safe as it could be. But why not let her have it?

Time cared for her more than Marquise. Little by little, she opened up about the darker side of life in Lesser Hollow under Keritist control, though that was probably not the way she would describe it. She listened carefully, paying closer attention whenever what she considered the most important topic glanced the surface.

And she had to admit, it was always nice to have a little Dashi companion to shoot the shit with. For all her lot had interesting quirks, faces and faceless alike were rarely the most riveting conversationalists, Marquise herself notwithstanding.

From there, things were looking on the up. Her complexion improved, she became more active, started to eat more, and at some point spoke out to complain about the recent lack of meat in her diet! Politely, but the point still stood. She was even reading from her own initiative, with little to no enthusiasm.

Eventually, inevitably, Cassia grew bored with her rather restrictive explorations of the manor and asked if she could be allowed outside. From a practical perspective, it was kind of a bad idea, as even rid of its worse elements the deeper valleys of the Ivian Chain were hardly appropriate for leisure walks.

Yet, who would Marquise be if she didn't oblige?

Didn't take too long for Cassia to start panting. Even this early morning, the jungle grew dark around them, with enough obstacles you couldn't walk a meter straight. Keeping to a path lighter in vegetation still meant they were often sunk to the hip in plants, and if weren't for Aram's deft hand pruning the way ahead, some rather troublesome brambles too.

It was good to let her build confidence, but at some point Marquise just had to intervene. "Sure you don't want a hand or anything, darling?"

"N-no," Cassia said. "I appreciate it, but I-I could thread rougher terrain w-w-whaa—while at the Hollows. T-this is nothing in comparison."

"Should I slow down anyway, ma'am?" Aram asked. From her place besides Cassia, Marquise saw her frown.

"Nope, keep following Lady Seneschal's wishes."

"Sure thing, ma'am."

So long as she weren't distracted, there wasn't a distance Marquise couldn't blink to Cassia's side if she slipped or worse, so there wasn't much to be worried about. She allowed things to flow their course as the group followed in a half spiral around the manor, until Cassia could not physically take it anymore and they were forced to stop.

Perusing their surroundings, Marquise found a small outcropping of rocks, tips flat enough to sit on without much discomfort, and led her by hand. It was a little mossy, with some inconspicuous webbing laid in darker crevices, but it was clean and lifeless enough it did the job.

"T-thank you, Lady Marquise." She panted. "G-goodness mine, I don't recall playing in the woods ever being so exhausting!"

"How young were you again, back then?"

Cassia flushed."Truth be told, young enough I could still climb trees. R-regardless, you have my most sincere gratitude, Lady Marquise, for this and for allowing me out here in the first place."

"Aaaaw, no biggie!" Marquise answered by reflex. Place disregarded, it was a pretty ideal day for enjoying nature, sunny and warm yet with that pleasant chill of the Cold Season creeping into the breeze. Not that she would know, but apparently the forest stank to the high heavens at the peak of the Flowering, and the further apart they got from that the best.

"Except it is." Cassia exhaled a deep sigh. "I cannot help but wonder sometimes if the value of my stories and faith match that of your actions..."

"Ain't that for me to tell though? And I think I told you enough times it did that I shouldn't need to remind you every time." Marquise said, keeping her tone light.

Cassia frowned, straightening back her spine. She took to poise like she had been born to it, and for all she didn't reach Marquise's collar at the moment, the airs she conjured lent her a gravitas that made her feel positively immense. "As a matter of fact, I do know their value. My father may be criticized for many of his actions, however in the confines of his home he always instilled the utmost of respect for the tales of the Father and his Sapling."

"But?"

Cassia froze, then hunched forward. "I... have been having my doubts."

Marquise nodded. "Hard not to, isn't it?"

Cassia's eyes widened for a second. "T-that is a rather disconcerting gesture, if you forgive me the insolence."

"Oh, and here I thought humans liked when I did these kinds of gesture? Just like they prefer me to keep my cute little giggles, gihihihi!"

"T-that is disconcerting at an entire different scale, Lady Marquise."

"Oh, c'mon!"

"However, it is as you put." Whichever good humor the digression had earned, it left rather fast. "I believe I'm failing to contend my upbringing against the nature of my situation. Something feels... amiss, I suppose I would say."

"Wanna talk about it?" Marquise offered. Instead of answering, Cassia threw an awkward glance at Aram, who now stood fiddling around with his machete. "Don't worry about him. He's like a third arm of mine, or a third leg? Whichever sounds better in your head."

"I suppose I could try," she gave a rueful chuckle. "Yes. All things considered, a third arm would not look too out of place on you, Lady Marquise."

Marquise sat besides her, stopping to take a good look at the miracle woman her agents had nearly skipped over. Dressed in mismatched rags and dull color, frame emaciated under that thin cloth, unkempt, somewhat unwashed, she still had a certain effortless elegance that was hard not to admire. The habit made the person, and at her weakest Cassia Seneschal still didn't know how to be anyone but Cassia Seneschal.

Decades ago, though it shamed Marquise to think on it, she would have been left speechless. Life among the Remnants had left her with a certain fascination for these alien creatures Galehold called nobles, the women specially. They had no analogues to their behavior and etiquette at the Sect, not even close.

That should have been left in the past. And yet.

"Has somebody ever said you are the living incarnation of the Household Princess, Cassia?" She just couldn't resist.

"P-pardon? I'm afraid I have never heard that name before." Cassia said.

"Really? Nothing similar either? Huh. What about that copy of the Codex of The Lion I gave you though? Never gave it a peek?"

"I'm afraid not, Lady Marquise, but be assured I will as soon as the opportunity comes! Speaking of, should you really be handing away such... precious material so easily?"

"Eh." She dismissed with a wave. "Paper isn't as precious as it used to be, and I have like five copies of the thing anyway. You absolutely should give it a read though! It a very interesting piece of Yine history and culture if you have it's context in mind."

"Oh. More Galehold history."

"Hey, don't give me that! That's your history too, you know?! Haaaaaauuuuu..." Marquise shook her neck. "So, to summarize: The Household Princess is, quoting the book, 'the heart of the cradle.' She is fierce, resilient, and competent! Yet, she is also kind, loyal, and patient. She is graceful in her everyday tasks, raises the next generation as a model of behavior, and observes the hierarchy of the house. Or, to give another quote I love, 'though she doesn't wield steel, she is Steel herself.' "

" 'Though she doesn't wield steel, she is steel herself'..." Cassia closed her eyes. "Not how I would describe myself.. Rather, it would much better fit the one I imitate.".

"Olivia Weaver."

Cassia nodded.

"I get the impression you didn't like her very much."

Cassia frowned."And I didn't. I-in fact, I would go as far as saying I disliked her! Make no mistake, I understand Elder Weaver has— had done a lot for my family and I, and that she only worried about imparting the right lesson deep enough we, the few ladies left on the Lesser, could perform our duties to the satisfaction of the village. Still, I have never forgotten her rigor, her severity, how quick she was to put us down, quicker yet to punish!"

"I know the type. Harsh people who lived harsh lives, right?"

"Indeed. I can understand her methods. And the other womenfolk? They admired her like the olden apostles of the Father Cosmical. Now that I can think on the matter clearly, I suppose I never forgave her for my adolescence."

Marquise nudged closer. "I still bet you washed her standards clean off, didn't ya?"

"Of course not!" Cassia giggled, "The best I ever achieved in her eyes was passable. There were better among her pupils, much better." Her mouth hung open, as if she wanted to say more. She closed it, swallowed dry, then looked at Marquise with eyes that twinkled with renewed life. "There was Hazel!"

"Your sister." And Holly's, though she didn't voice that last part out loud.

Cassia glared at her lap. "Elder Weaver always had an instinctive dislike of her, even when she readily put all the other girls to shame. She always got the worst scoldings, the worst beatings! But you should have seen her, how she held herself, how she walked, how she danced! If any other fit your description, it would be her."

"Yup, sure heard as much!"

"So long you ask, you will keep hearing! No matter what the Elders or those jealous b-b-b— hussies of our generation gossiped among themselves! She could repeat one of our stories perfectly after hearing them once, she could sew such fine threads you would never know her clothes were repaired, she could walk the Hollows in the night without tripping a single time!"

Biologically related to Holly, chances were high she had bore Skawla's Descendancy to some degree. That would explain a lot of seemingly innate skills, even if she had never bloomed into so much as a half-blood. "She sounds pretty cool. Must have felt pretty bad not having anyone acknowledge you."

"Even in that regard she was beautiful! I had not seen her cry or complain about the way she was treated since the cusp of her maidenhood! She was fearless, faced lads and peers alike eye to eye and spat on the ground they threaded, she— she did, she—!"

"Cassia?"

She jumped to her feet, the motion alone nearly sending her rolling forwards.

With a hard stomp, she regained her balance. Both feet firm on their heels, arms held wide to her sides, she closed her eyes and began. Left hand swung upwards, took a sharp turn down, bringing her chest along, right rising with a fluid swivel. As if carried by a power beyond her measure, she turned, foot dragging against the soil, moving without ever raising into a step.

Flexible and frantic, kinetic and solid, slow movements tugged along by fast gestures. Marquise knew the moves by heart, and it made her fingers itch. The Dance to Scorched Earth was a weapon wielded by the Missionaries of the Crimson, a blessing that aimed to bring the leadership of their cults closer to the Heirs they worshiped, and if anything should be taken as a statement to Lesser Hollows isolation from the general Keritist culture was that Cassia would dare use it casually, in front of one of the Headless at that.

She gave a subtle gesture for Aram to keep his cool, who shrugged. Ultimately, Cassia was harmless, she had made sure of it. A couple dozen seconds worth of nostalgia, and she was already failing her timing, half-assing critical steps and puffing like mad. She kicked a rock at a wrong angle by accident, and Marquise was there at her side, holding her by the waist.

"Cassia, Cassia!" She scolded with a tutting finger. "I don't mind you having some fun, but shouldn't you invite your friends along?!"

"I'm sorry, Lady Marquise!" She laughed, brilliant between heavy breathing. "I had forgotten! She loved dancing so much! I loved dancing with her so much, falling in step as she led me all night long! How could I have forgotten?!"

"I know I don't have to ask, but are you alright?"

"Alright?! Lady Marquise, I feel insane! Most days, I wake up and I cannot even tell what is real and what is not anymore!"

"Have you been having nightmares again?" Marquise said, trying to coax her back to the stones and facing some token resistance.

"Not those from before. Not often. These are... Dreams. Regular dreams of mundane events. I'm sewing one of Julius' pants, or bearing with another of my father's rambles, or... or I'm dancing with Hazel under the moonlight after another festival she wasn't allowed to join, hearing her soft laughs, watching her smile as she tries to explain the nuances of her footwork, and then... and then I wake up, thinking to myself it's the next day, until I remember..."

"It's alright." Marquise held her a little tighter. "It's alright."

"She used to act up, Hazel. Every morning, I look at that unfamiliar ceiling and think she has pulled some unexplainable prank on me." She sighed. "I feel like the lowest of the low for forgetting, and for not letting go when I well should have."

"Nah, that's normal."

"To whom? Not to us, my Lady. Us... Sun Followers, I don't quite remember the other name, are raised to believe death is transient. So long as you observe your duties to the Father, his lands will absorb you, purify your sins, then disperse you among his creation, allowing you the next phase of your life cycle. In practice we still grieved a child, a sibling, a parent lost, however we understood that core truth."

"But like you said..."

"... I'm having doubts."

"It's inevitable," Marquise had to push her gently until she sat down. This time, she herself sat on the ground, not minding that she would have to dirty another fancy dress. "Losing your faith in your way of life when it harms the people you love. Or so it should be, right?"

"Or so it should be," she nodded, tears filling her eyes, wiped away before they fell. "The manner it happened... I don't know how to place myself anymore, Lady Marquise. I'm not even sure how to word it."

"Try me." Marquise patted her knee. "I'll help you along."

"I was the sole survivor of Lesser Hollow, and I can't fathom why. If I was cursed by the Fa— by my deity for the crimes of my family, should I not have perished alongside them? And if it was a blessing... why? What have I ever done to deserve special treatment? Was it because I occasionally—"

Her eyes widened, and she stared at Marquise as if she had somehow forgotten her presence. Or rather, who exactly she was. No doubts what she meant to say there, then. Marquise mulled the situation over, wondering which would be the best way to keep her going this way.

"If you can't understand things from your point of view, perhaps another would help?"

"Another point of view? Whose—" Cassia flinched, catching on. 'Holly."

"I receive a letter from her recently, you know?" Marquise said. "She's mostly doing fine, but they might have gotten into quite the adventure right now."

That was underselling it, if her predictions were correct, but the situation wasn't unsalvageable and the sentence did its work getting Cassia curious. Curious, and judging by the mild glare absolutely furious too.

"No." She said.

"Do you still think she's cursed?"

"Does it matter? What has happened has happened."

"It has, it has. I just find it a little weird how you don't mind telling me about all those wild escapades you both had when you were kids, but them clamp down on her after. If there's anybody left who knows what you're going through, it would be her, right?"

"You told me you wouldn't push the topic without my consent." Cassia said, sounding genuinely hurt.

"And I won't! You tell me this conversation is over, then this conversation is over."

Their gazes met, and Marquise had to admire how Cassia figured out where exactly she saw from without ever being told. The forest sang and cried in the distance, the buzzing of the smallest insects deafening in that uncomfortable silence. Cassia was the one to relent first, smile wry, hands folded over her lap as her posture grew rigid.

"Have I ever told you my father would loath your person?"

"Well, no, but not like I would be too fond of the man from all the stuff I heard."

"Underhandedness was his mean of survival. For all the power he had, his real strength came from his secrets, the only thing that couldn't be meaningfully challenged by others. He would never accept your bold and bare faced style of exerting control."

"But it's refreshing, isn't it? No need to worry about the knife behind your back when you can see it plain and clear on my hands."

"No. It only makes you more afraid of which vipers nest under the sinkhole."

"Ooooh, I never heard that one before... Mind if start using it?"

Cassia glared at her. "Do I sound like I'm joking?"

"Nope! You're being serious, and so am I!"

Cassia gave in first again, but it wouldn't have taken a tenth of her experience with humans to know how she truly felt about the matter. None too satisfied, Marquise decided to do something she really, really would rather not.

"Deception is the weapon of aristocrats and merchants, my most lovely and perfect Marquise," she said, the voice coming out like a landslide with a history of chain smoking herbs, but the exact tone of gravelly she needed was hard to modulate. "You think anybody would look at a roaring bear and think 'ooooh nooo, I'm about to get a bolt to the back'? You both known you'll be biting and pawing, so stop the pretense and start clawing already!"

"...What?" Cassia frowned. "Is that a common saying among your kind, Lady Marquise?"

"Uuuuuuh, no. That's quoted right from the mouth of the person I hate the most in this entire world. Plus maybe some paraphrasing. Minus the mouth, but I'm sure you gathered that much."

"I'm unsure about the sentiment, I must admit."

"What I meant to say, Cassia, is that what is the point of useless deception when the reality of the situation is obvious for us both?" Marquise shrugged. "I don't mean to threaten you with what I'm about to say, so please listen carefully: I don't underestimate your intelligence, Cassia, so I know you know that if I ever wanted to take what I needed by force, there was nothing you could do to stop me, not even dying. But I didn't, and I won't."

"Then, you are saying you are the growling bear?"

"That, Cassia, is precisely what I was raised to be."

Cassia paled, a meek whimper escaping her lips, and Marquise immediately dialed it down. What had she even done— oops, that had to be it. That blankness, that hadn't been very Marquise of her at all, had it?

"Haaaaaaaauuuuu... Sorryyyy, didn't mean to sound so mad. Guess I still get a little grumpy when I have to think about that guy, gihihihih! Oh, wait, you don't like when I do that either, sorry again."

"S-so that's how anger sounds in your... how anger sounds to your kind, Lady Marquise?" Cassia smiled, voice trembling, a bead of undoubtedly cold sweat dropping down her temple.

"Its a little different for each of us, but essentially."

"If you don't mind me interrupting, ma'am," Aram piped up. "I don't think anyone else pulls it quite like you do."

"Oh, you! Flattery will get you nowhere!"

"I-if it displeases you so, perhaps we should move to another topic?" Cassia said. "I-I apologize for my rudeness, but I don't think I wish to hear you so... so..."

"Disaffected?" Marquise venture to a slight nod. Honestly, that was a bit too polite for the way she usually described it, but details. "Not rude at all, I get'cha. No biggie. To close this off, then, just let me say that even before that guy, I never liked lying in the first place."

Cassia lost some of her tension, but Marquise remained mindful. "And genuinely, I appreciate your frankness Lady Marquise, though I fear Holly won't fall for it. The Holly I knew has always been closer to a wild animal than a girl, stubborn and disobedient and so, so violent! It was hard to imagine her ever becoming a woman, so often she came home painted purple in bruises from fighting youngsters almost twice her age!"

"Hey, I'll have you know she was quite smitten with my beauty!"

"I mean it. She's skittish and distrustful, never holding any particular love for others outside my father and my sister. Once upon a time, my person as well, which is how I know how fast her affections wear off, so if you push it too far— S-something the matter, Lady Marquise?"

She had turned her front to the side as if to watch the woodlands, she had only intensified her stare at Cassia, and been met likewise. Suspicion confirmed. "You're just too sharp, darling. I do have a question: how long ago since the last time you've seen this wild, vicious Holly?"

She watched Cassia's forehead crease. "I had known her since she needed to be held, and seven times did the Flowering Season pass, until..."

"Until her changes. And how long since that?"

"...At least eighteen times. I am unsure of the anniversary. S-still, if there is even an inkling of her previous person there—"

"Cassia, the Holly you knew and the Holly I met are already completely different people."

She gasped, retreating over the stone bench as if Marquise's vicinity scalded her. That was more of a shock than she had predicted, had her tone dipped down again?

"I-it couldn't be entirely gone. People don't change like that."

"There are a lot of ways for a piece of somebody to go away that is not death or erasure. You as a Sun Follower should know that more than anyone, right? The man tends the earth—"

"...And the earth feeds the man. The earth tends the man, so man may feed it too." Cassia said. "Old words on decay."

"And progression. She knew, you know? That I'm manipulating her. From the moment we first talked, maybe. She said she didn't mind, that I should actually go harder, and I honestly believed her!"

Cassia shook her head. "I don't understand why you are so obstinate about her. O-or what I may even offer you in that regard if you consider my perspective so unreliable!"

"Because there is more about her you know than you admit. Because I need to know everything about her if I want to predict what comes next."

"W-what comes next?"

"Holly Seneschal is going to die."

The buzzing of insect wings paused. Cassia froze. The air chilled around them. Aram, being Aram, scoffed out loud.

"Let me rephrase that. The person that Holly Seneschal is now can't last. I've seen the seams and crutches that kept her standing, and the best built of them are all kludges. I'm sure she's aware of it, at least some, but that awareness itself will start digging into the foundations. You get what I'm saying?"

"P-partially."

What she left out was how swift that crumbling could come. Again, if her predictions were correct, it might happen in the next few days or weeks assuming a best case scenario. Maybe it was happening that very instant! "Once all that is gone, something will need to take its place, and that something has always been my goal no matter how crude it turns. That'll be the Holly who can endure the journey to its end, and that'll be the Holly that can lead us to our dream."

"...I don't understand." Cassia said.

"What? I can explain!"

"You, to start with!" She finally scooted away far enough she nearly fell off her seat, wasn't for Marquise to hold her again. This time, however, she fought back her own salvation, trying to push Marquise away with both hands. "I knew you weren't feeding me nor protecting me from the kindness of your heart, and believe me when I say I was ready to pay any price you desired, b-but this is madness! I-it's playing with matters beyond comprehension for the sake of nonsense! Listen to yourself, can you find any logic in your own words?!"

Cassia's tears finally fell, and Marquise felt some remorse. And she didn't intend to speak worst part of it!

No, that was pointless cruelty. She had to admit she couldn't remember how being this tender felt like. Or, if she had ever been allowed this kind of softness in the first place. She had taken her pain too lightly.

"A-and if I can't understand what you desire, how can I ever repay you? And don't you dare tell me nuggets of legend can satisfy you this time!"

"... Cassia."

"I know they don't. I know you wanted Holly more than anything, b-but I—!"

"Cassia."

"What?!"

"You're squeezing my boobs real hard."

Glaring, Cassia looked down. A beat passed as pallid skin turned berry red. She pulled both arms back so fast the momentum twisted her on Marquise's arm, and this time she fell on her rear end for real. It was a bit uncouth to think, but she found the shrill little "Yiiiiiiihhhh-" she made on the way down really cute.

"L-L-Lady Marquise!" she said, sprawled on dirt. "I-I'm so sorry! So, so sorry! I-I swear It was an accident, I hadn't noticed it at all, I didn't intend to-!"

"Oh, you Dashi are just so funny!" Marquise said, feeling her shoulders twitch as lungs she hadn't used in decades tried to awaken. "I'm just messing with you! Who cares about a little squeeze between friends?"

"I-I do!"

"Well, if serves as any consolation, everything is water under the bridge already! Just make sure to ask first next time, okay?"

"Y-you must think me immoral to even suggest such a thing!"

"Oh Cassia, you're adorable, but you have so much to learn about the world outside your tiny village, I don't even know where to begin from!" She crawled besides her, and for all she had said she didn't show any discomfort, save turning her still red cheeks away.

"I have learned enough for today, my gratitudes."

"... Cassia, have I ever told you your dream is mine?"

Cassia made herself comfortable, patting the dirt off her back with a frown. "I don't remember so?"

"I say it a lot. Too much, maybe! Some people are starting to act like it's a catch phrase or a reflex or whatever, when I meant it every time! It's why I have so few people with me. Can you imagine? Swordlight alone wants to be a sculptor one day, and Aram over there wants a mansion in silver and fifty servants at his beck and call, I'm already struggling with what I have!

"Yet, you are right. I don't do as much out of the kindness of my heart as I wish I could. We faceless don't generally care for all that unconditional love stuff, we want competence and obseiance. In that regard, I'm not too different from the others, including my agents, who expect me to work on their behalf as much as I demand them to work in mine."

"Including me," Cassia said.

"Yup. Holly too. And let me tell, that one isn't easy! You wouldn't believe how hard it is to pay someone fairly when they're practically begging you to swindle them, out loud! Not even exaggerating. And you, Lady Seneschal, saying you were ready to pay anything before I told you a price or revealed the scope of my services, don't go much further behind!" She tried to inject a sliver of mock anger into her voice, but it still came a little too amused.

"M-my apologies?"

"Rather then apologize, listen to me: What Holly requested won't be enough by the end, and by the time the change happens I want to be on top of everything already, and for that I have to have an idea what she will be, right?"

"You say this with such certainty, it's as if you can see what is to come..." Cassia said, shifting with unease over her carpet of weeds.

"It a gamble, just not the kind I make lightly."

"A game of luck."

"Not as much as you think. And I'm the best gambler around, so you better believe I know what I'm talking about!"

Because that was who Marquise was made to be!

"And if it doesn't come to be?"

"Then I adapt from there."

"What would that entail?"

"Whatever it needs to."

Cassia nodded, deciding to sit over her knees and folding her hands on her lap again. She didn't look too pleased with the answer, yet what mattered right now for Marquise was that she understood.

"Well, now that sounded dreary." Marquise scratched at the back of her mind's head. "Swear I didn't mean to make it that heavy. To put it another way, I—"

Marquise froze. Cassia saw, and froze right after. She crept forward, before Cassia spoke. "L-Lady Marquise, have I done something untoward again?"

"No no, just stay still for a bit, alright? Swear I'll be quick."

"W-what is it?!" Cassia said, head snapping left and right in search, "Is there something here?!"

"C'mon, slow down a bit, or it-"

Cassia spotted it, creeping over her shoulder and towards the front of her dress.

Black and roughly thirty centimeters long, a segmented carapace with flat tops, spiny sides, and at least twenty legs in total. Long soft antennae and a sharp rostrum tipping a disc shaped head helped the creature explore its surroundings. It rose its front tip for an instant, as if deciding to acknowledge both women.

Cassia's eyes widened. Her muscles tensed.

A hand slowly reached for the creature.

And against all expectations, it sure wasn't Marquise's.

"How strange." Cassia said, watching it give her knuckles a few quick pecks before climbing aboard. It explored her fingers with interest until it probably realized there was nothing to eat there, then turned towards the length of her arm. She didn't let it make it past her forearm, her other hand approaching at a gentle pace to bar its way, which it crawled over without aggression. "Is this a centipede? I had never seen one quite like this before."

"I wish. It's called a neela in Awinian, and a slumberbug in Yinian. It is also, and I'm sorry to alarm you, quite venomous as well."

"Is it now?" Cassia asked, eyes shining and fully enraptured by the not-an-actual-bug bug.

"Yes, yes it is, darling. I would suggest letting it go its merry way, if you don't want to stop feeling your arm for a whole day at best."

"So long as I don't frighten it, it won't try to defend itself. It's all about the approach, you see?"

A creature this rustic, not even a Phantasm, couldn't really understand words. Still, the way it rose on its stubby legs as if to briefly face its handler almost spoke otherwise. Cassia's expression hardened.

"Lady Marquise, would you consider it impolite if I requested a deal?" she said.

"Actually, I'd get kind of excited to hear what you cooked up."

"I will tell you everything. About Holly, about our god, about the things that I did, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me."

A part of her felt like joking if that whole "I own you my life, nothing less would repay my debt" thing had already flown from the cage, but now that would be impolite. "And what do you want in exchange?"

"... I want to know. I want you to help me understand everything."

"That's a broad request. Such as?"

"Why did I survive? Why did Hazel have to die? What comes next for me?"

Marquise hummed out loud. Deep inside, she had already come to a choice, but theatrics sold the image here. She extended a hand. "Seems fair!"

Despite being the proposer, it was Cassia who hesitated. Eventually, her fingers found hers, and turned the back of her hand up. Cassia pressed a gentle kiss on her hand. The neela fled her, crawling Marquise's arm. A classic Yine gesture. Not an agreement between equals, and not what Marquise had intended at all.

But she had to push through, regardless. "Well then. Would you like to start now?"

Deep beneath the surface, Rowa di Aila nursed his broken arm.

The operation days ago had been a disaster. To save one brat nobody really cared about in a mission he was coerced into joining two full bloods sacrificed their lives, forcing him to bear with the disgrace of fleeing alone. The family would be in shambles for the rest of the century, if it ever recovered and yet that had been only the beginning of the nightmare.

"I have told you everything," Rowa said. "Y-you will now let me go."

A monstrosity drank from a great bowl, a filthy muscular worm still bobbing its head up and down his disgusting prick. Languid eyes watched an orgy of vermin with an easy smile, the repulsive wet squelching of bodies writhing and penetrating one another all that could be heard above the moaning, the rank of fluids a miasma.

He would rather have been packed tight with rotting cadavers. It was a fight not to gag.

"To think so much was happening right beneath our noses. And I was none the wiser!" His voice bore the likeness of boulders being ground into dust, drawling in the language of the Brave as if it was his right to besmirch it. "Age does make one blind."

He patted his sucker in the crown, an Rowa couldn't bear to see it anymore. "I-I said, you will let me go!"

"My friend, why such rush?" the monstrosity chuckled, drawing attention from the vermin. "Let me remind you, it was your family who starte this mess, don't you think you own this old man at least a little of your ears? Come on, join the festivities, partake of the feast!"

He tipped over his bowl, and Rowa caught a glimpse of a soft, round object floating in the thick scarlet liquid. He coughed, "I will go home, there is much to be dealt with."

"Much? With the Di Aila gone, I imagine your duties would be rather lax."

"Gone? As if! So long as I breath the family survives!"

The monstrosity glanced his way, a glint of teeth forcing him to retreat. That day, he discovered the only thing more putrid than this smell was his own cowardice. "Then, you mean it is gone?"

"E-even a creature as low as an Aenexian would not be so craven to turn against its allies in their time of need. After everything we have done for you!"

"I suppose we did have a fruitful couple decades together ever since your kin tumbled down the Skawlan cliff and landed with both feet on my porch, surviving thanks to my orchard and the shield of my name." He chuckled, gurgling the scarlet liquid "Very Well! A favor, in name of the good old times: I will inform Lady Di Magwalran of your tragic passing while defending the sanctity of the Descendancy. I'm sure she will be moved into forgiving all your crimes, perhaps even allow your body into the family's mausoleum?"

He laid his bowl aside, coaxing his cocksucker away like a pet. He rose, towering over the orgy, over his throne, over Rowa himself as he clapped his hands.

"Your attention, everyone! A moment, and you may return to your pleasure!" His voice boomed, cheers chasing behind the echo. "A new arrangement has been set with our tenants, the Di Aila! Soon, the last blood member of their clan will arrive to our door, and we will be her hosts! Make sure to prepare, and be on your best behavior to welcome her!"

Racuous cackling, jeering, grunting. A head splitting grim turned his way.

Long ago, Rowa Di Aila promised himself he wouldn't let another soul step on his dignity again. He wouldn't let his family's tragedy be repeated if it cost his own life, and back then that had felt meaningful.

Facing one of Ivias' greatest abominations, feeling the tremble of his limbs, he just wished he could bring himself to go down fighting.

"As for you, make sure to do your best as well," he said. "A woman of this Mariwa's caliber deserves nothing less, does she not?"