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From: "Paradox116" <paradox116@comcast.net>
NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 04:23:12 GMT
Subject: {ASSM} Kindred, Chapter 20:  A Traitor's Death  (no sex, viol)
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 04:10:06 -0500
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Chapter 20: A Traitor's End  (no sex, viol)

When I made it safely back to my own forces, I took a moment to
thank the four quick-thinking crossbow marksmen. 

When I entered my tent, the first thing I did was pull the black
hood off, then let my batmen strip my armor off. Then I bathed.
Whatever you choose to call my existence, one thing is certain.
When I exert myself over time, I perspire. And it doesn't smell
any better on me than it does on any other person. When I was
finished, I dressed in linen trousers and soft leather boots. I
was sprawled in a camp chair when I heard her enter the tent. I
kept my eyes closed, wondering what she wanted, and what she
would do if she thought I slept. She stopped in front of me.

"What can I do for you, Cynthia?" I opened my eyes and looked at
her.

"They said you killed Salazar. Did you really?"

"Actually, no. I fought with him, but some of my soldiers
actually killed him." I sat up and pulled another camp chair
closer, and bade her sit. As she struggled to get into the chair,
I leaned over, caught her by the arm and lifted her easily into
the chair, then waited as she turned to face me.

"They also said he turned into a monster before you killed him.
What kind of monster was it?"

I sat back with a sigh. "He was already a monster, Cynthia. Only
a monster could have done what he did to you. But yes, he turned
into a beast, a wolf creature. I think most people call them
werewolves. I was taught of them by the name garou." 

I sat up and looked at her closely, cupping her chin in my hand
and studying her face. "How do you feel, by the way?"

She shrugged, as children were wont to do. "I'm feeling fine.
Well, actually, I'm hungry and bored. Aren't there any other
children here?"
"No, no children in camp except you. Do you have many friends in
the castle? We can invite some of them to come with you to my
house when we finish here." I whistled sharply, and a servant
hurried into the tent. "What would you like to eat, Cynthia?"

"May I have an apple, and some cheese?" She asked me hopefully. I
nodded to the servant and indicated with my hands that the apple
was to be sliced and cored. He nodded and slipped out. "No, I
don't have any friends in the castle. If they didn't ignore me,
they were mean 'cause they knew daddy was mean to me."

"I'm sorry. But there are lots of children in my castle, and I
know they'll make you welcome." I thought about it for a moment.
"Unfortunately, I don't thing we brought any of the dogs with us
this time, either" I noticed a frightened look on her face, and
she sat back in her chair. "You don't like dogs?"

"NO! Dogs are mean and bite and growl and try to get at me.
Salazar always made me watch whenever they fed the dogs, and told
me when I was bigger; he'd feed me to them. He said I'm too small
for now, though."

"Salazar isn't going to feed the dogs anymore, Cynthia."

She nodded, then perked up when the servant handed her a small
plate with an apple neatly sliced and a couple of chunks of
cheese. She ate hungrily, and I watched with amusement. "Didn't
Kaylene feed you breakfast?"

Cynthia shook her head. "No, she was still sleeping when I got
up. So I got dressed and came outside. I saw you come in here and
wanted to talk to you, but I was scared to disturb you. Then I
heard others talking about the fight, and they talked like you
weren't mean like daddy and Salazar. So I came in when no-one was
looking, so they couldn't chase me away."

I nodded, and looked at her closer. She was wearing the dress
from yesterday, and when I thought about it, I realized it
smelled of fear and pain. I also realized that when she'd crawled
into the chair, I'd unconsciously noticed only the top button was
done. Her feet were bare, and her hair looked like she had tried
to brush it half-heartedly. Basically, she looked like a
ragamuffin.

And then, almost as if summoned, I heard Kaylene outside
frantically asking the servant if he'd seen Cynthia. I knew he'd
told her she was inside when Kaylene dashed in.

She sank to her knees before me. "Your Grace, I am so sorry! I
slept right beside her, I was sure I would waken when she did! I
was so worried when she was gone!"

"It's alright, Kaylene, she's here and safe. No harm was done."

Kaylene turned to the girl, and I watched the child looking
around frantically as if seeking a way to escape. "You!" Kaylene
launched herself at the little girl. A look of terror filled the
girl's eyes as Kaylene grabbed her, but quickly faded to
confusion when Kaylene hugged her tightly. "Please, Cynthia,
don't wander off on me! You scared me to death when you weren't
in bed when I woke up! I didn't know where you'd wandered, I
didn't know if you'd fallen in the river, or gotten hurt by the
horses..."

The girl looked at me over the woman's shoulder, then awkwardly
patted her. "I'm sorry, Kaylene. I didn't want to disturb you. My
nurse always hits me when I wake her up. I didn't want you to be
mad at me for waking you up."

Kaylene sat back with a snarl and looked at me. I could see a
killing hatred for this "nurse" in her eyes. Fortunately, Cynthia
hadn't noticed, and Kaylene calmed before she turned back to the
little girl. She kneeled before the child and looked her in the
eye. "Cynthia, I promise never to hit you. I certainly won't hit
you for waking me up, or any of the other things every child does
or needs." She looked at the leftovers she'd spilled on Cynthia's
lap when she'd hugged her. "I definitely won't hit you for
wanting breakfast!"

She picked up the last few slices of apple, then offered Cynthia
her hand. "Come on, we'll feed these to the Duke's charger,
Horatio, then we'll go get a bath." 

The girl scooted off the chair and took Kaylene's hand. "After
bath, can we go see the river? I like rivers! And then can we see
the horses?" I watched them walk away, still discussing the
activities to come, then gave another whistle. 

When the servant entered, I spoke: "Find Mystique, and have her
attend me."

A short time later, Mystique sat in the camp chair that had so
recently served Cynthia. "The preparations go well for the
attack?" When she assured me they were, I turned to the matter
I'd actually summoned her for. "I know this is unusual, but I
desire it. Tonight, I want someone to find clothing for Cynthia
inside the castle. She can probably tell you where her bed was,
but I'm strongly suspecting you won't find anything decent there.
I want a half dozen nice dresses that will fit her with minimal
adjustment. Oh, and if your searcher does find Cynthia's room,
and finds a nurse there, I'd be pleased if the nurse died, either
"naturally" or a suicide is acceptable."

When I later saw Cynthia wander by with Kaylene, she was wearing
one of my tunics like a dress, and I suspected Kaylene had needed
to hem it quite a bit even for that.


It was the night of the attack. We had a waning moon, and
although a new moon would have been preferable, the heavy cloud
cover was good enough. My forces that were not already inside the
castle were ranged to either side of the gate, hugging the castle
walls in their pitch-black cloaks and hoods. Carlton finished
placing the containers that held a mixture of charcoal, sulfur
and saltpeter against the gate. The squad that would make the
first entry pulled back as he put spark to the coated twine that
ran to the containers through hollowed bamboo tunnels.

The night lit up as a fireball shattered the gates of Castle
Gaiford. We swept in and easily overcame the stunned and dazed
guards we met at first. I knew we were technically outnumbered by
2 to 1, but surprise had taken a good part of the advantage from
the defenders, and when Terrence's forces found themselves
trapped with attacker to the fore and behind, they yielded
quickly. 

But not all yielded, and the final battle in the Count's throne
room was fierce and bloody. Blade meeting ringing blade, screams
of pain and rage, officers screaming orders to troops preoccupied
with survival all filled the room. As I drove my blade through
the chain-mail hauberk of my opponent, I saw Terrence hiding
behind his throne. I jerked my blade from the corpse it skewered
and fought my way to the dais and the throne, smashing the hilt
of my sword into the face of one man that tried to oppose me, and
crushing the skull of another with my gauntleted hand.

Terrence saw me approaching, and began to run. I caught him in
the doorway behind the throne and smashed his head against the
doorjamb, knocking him cold. Then I cried out in a voice of doom.
"Terrence is taken! Throw down your arms and yield!" Then I
stepped from behind the throne and held him high by his collar
for all to see. 

Most threw down their arms and knelt in surrender. But a few
refused, and my forces quickly slaughtered them.

The rest of the night my people searched the castle for holdouts
and lurkers. I had all of the surviving occupants held in the
throne room under heavy guard while I went back to my camp with
Terrence. 

"Terrence, before I have you executed, I'm going to give you the
opportunity to do that which is right." We entered my tent, and
Cynthia looked up from where Kaylene was telling her a story. 

"Daddy!" She cried, and moved towards him. 

He stepped hurriedly back. "What magic is this? I saw her blinded
and silenced!"

Cynthia stopped, hurt by this rejection of her. 

"I brought you here to apologize to your daughter for the evil
you inflicted upon her. Would you waste this last chance for
forgiveness from the one who loves unconditionally?" 

"She is my daughter only because her mother was stupid enough to
carry her to term. I offer her no apology, and regret only that I
allowed Salazar to do my will, rather than using my own hands."

Cynthia began to sob at this vicious rejection, then ran to
Kaylene and hurled herself into the woman's arms. Kaylene
gathered her up, and carried her from my tent. But as she passed
Terrence I heard her speak.

"If the goddess granted us the time, I'd see you beg for death a
thousand times before she took you. Instead, take the knowledge
that the daughter you despise will live and lead HER people to
prosperity and greatness! May you scream for all eternity in the
depths of the Abyss!"

When she left, I summoned Carlton. "Prepare a sleeping draught
for Cynthia. I want her to sleep comfortably for at least sixteen
hours, while we attend to other matters." When I said that, I
looked coldly at Terrence.

He tried to glare back. "You dare not punish me. I care not what
you feel, because my Father is still your Liege. He won't allow
you to harm me."

"Actually, I received a message from His Majesty yesterday. He
washes his hands of you, and declares Gaiford to be Regency of
Warrington until Cynthia, Daughter of Terrence reaches her
majority or His Majesty sees fit to name a new Count or
Countess."

"He also instructs me to conclude this matter as I see fit. So,
with that in mind, I choose to punish you for your abuse of your
daughter."

He turned to run, and I slammed him to the ground, then rolled
him onto his back. I knelt on his chest and held my hand up for
him to see. I watched his eyes widen in horror as my nail
lengthen and curved into a wicked claw. 

"Did Salazar use a similar claw on Cynthia? I suspect he did,
since her eyes were mostly undamaged. But I have no such interest
in preserving yours." I ran the tip of my claw around his eye,
watching the terror on his face.

"Your Grace." Carlton spoke from behind me. Terrence looked up at
him with hope, but his face filled with dismay as I did nothing
to hide my enlarged nail and Carlton seemed unconcerned at the
sight. "Cynthia sleeps, as you instructed. You may begin the
prisoner's punishment with no worry of disturbing her."

"Thank you Carlton. I think we'll begin now. Terrence, I'm going
to take your eyes, then your tongue. I'm going to leave you your
ears. I want you to hear it when I pronounce your sentence."

I forced the tip of my claw into his eyeball, and as his screams
of pain rang through the camp, I pulled it out of the socket. A
long piece of tissue ran from the back of the eye into the
socket, and Carlton handed me a small knife to sever it. When I
did, it snapped back into the bloody hole of the socket. Then I
removed Terrence's other eye.

With Carlton holding his mouth open, I took hold of Terrence's
tongue, and ripped it from its roots.

"Did you prepare the potion to stop the bleeding? We don't want
him choking to death on his blood before we execute him."

"Yes, Your Grace." He handed me a vial, which I poured into
Terrence's mouth. He gagged and choked for a moment, but the
blood flowing from his mouth soon ceased. I got off him and
stepped away. "Summon two guards to assist the Count to his
throne room. I'll be there shortly, and I want his people to know
what I have done to him before I get there."

When the Count was on his way, I went back to my tent and dressed
in my robes of State. I placed the Ducal pendant around my neck,
and belted the Sword of The King's Champion to my hip. Then, with
an escort of ten soldiers, I made my way to Terrence's throne
room.

When I entered, the room fell silent. When I sat in the Count's
Throne, a cry went up from my forces: "All hail His Grace!"

"As commanded by His Majesty, Garret V, King of Alseron and my
Liege Lord, I, Alexander Halc'on de Pena, Duke of Warrington,
declare the County of Gaiford a Regency of the Duchy of
Warrington until Cynthia, Granddaughter of His Majesty by His
acknowledged bastard Terrence, reaches her majority." 

The crowd was suddenly very noisy, and I let the rumbling
continue for a few moments.

"Furthermore, by his actions, Terrence, bastard of Garret, has
shown himself to be a Traitor to the Crown. By His Majesty's
command, I sentence Terrence to die by strangulation, and when
his body is without life, that his head be stricken from his body
and displayed upon a pike before the gates of Castle Gaiford for
no less than ninety days. His body is to be chopped to pieces and
fed to his dogs. When said dogs have finished consuming him, the
dogs are to be killed and burned upon a pyre."

"My forces, with reinforcements sent by His Majesty and Her
Ladyship, the Marquise Eleanor, will remain in County Gaiford to
maintain the peace and security. Civil disobedience will be
punished severely." 

"The Regent Alexandra Simingtin will take Office tomorrow."

The news that the Regent was a woman caused a massive outcry, but
I'd expected that. I knew Alexandra was capable, and she would
eventually win the people's support, if not the lesser nobility.

With Terrence following me, I lead the crowd out of the gates of
the castle. A rope dangled from the sky, and if one looked up,
one could see a heavy beam had been attached to the rampart of
the castle. It stuck out a dozen feet from the stone walls, and
the rope ran through an eyebolt at the end of it.

Terrence was led to where the rope hung down. At my signal, the
rope was looped around his neck. "Behold, a traitor's death!"

At my words, the soldiers up on the wall began to drag Terrence
into the air. When his feet were twelve feet from the ground, the
rope was tied off, and Terrence was left to strangle in mid air.

I walked away as he died, and the next day left County Gaiford
for the quarterly audit of Warrington.


-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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