The Courier
Copyright 2008 by EC
EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/

(warnings: erotic discipline, sex between adults, medical fetish, 
forced public nudity, rape, harsh police interrogation)


Chapter 19 - Two conspiracies

Maria Elena woke up the next morning a bit disoriented after 
dreaming about her more pleasant experiences in Colombia.  At 
first she didn't recognize where she was.  Then she looked down 
at her cellmate, who was sleeping on the floor with her back 
facing the rest of the room.  She sat up.  Immediately felt the 
welts and bruises that covered her backside and the burning 
soreness in her vagina and sphincter.  She winced as she shifted 
on the mattress, and then noticed a spot of blood on the sheet, a 
reminder of the rough treatment she had received the day before.

She again glanced at her cellmate, finding it hard to believe her 
forlorn companion would have been capable of sleeping on a bare 
tile floor.  She wasn't sure what to do.  She wanted to tell the 
young Danubian to get up and lie on the mattress, but didn't dare 
because she knew that any spoken conversation could get them both 
in huge trouble.  Finally she simply decided to use the toilet 
and wash her hands, hoping that the noise would be sufficient.  
The Danubian did wake up, with an expression of despair combined 
with sad resignation to her fate.  She was completely withdrawn 
and did not want to look Maria Elena in the face.  It was obvious 
that besides being depressed, she also was stiff and sore from 
having slept on the ground.  

Maria Elena pointed at the toilet and then turned to face the 
wall so the Danubian could relieve herself.  The cell door opened 
shortly afterwards.  Of course, the man standing at the door was 
her tormenter.  Both servants immediately fell to their knees.  

The man put two plates of food on the floor, kicked both servants 
several times, and ordered them to eat.  Maria Elena noticed that 
the Danubian had glanced at her with total hatred.  As she 
nervously put her mouth into the food and tried to eat, she 
remembered having seen her cellmate eating normally the day 
before.  She knew that eating with utensils was a privilege that 
came only when a servant had completed training.  It also was a 
privilege that could be taken away at any moment if a servant was 
in disgrace.  According to the logic of the household, the 
Danubian was in disgrace because of her association with Criminal 
# 101025, even though that association had been forced upon her.  
It was a cruel psychological trick that forced the servants to 
blame each other for their misfortunes instead of blaming the 
Grand Duchess and her entourage. 

Maria Elena shot back an angry look, resentful that she was being 
hated for something she had no control over.  

----------

Criminal # 101025 began her regular routine on the second full 
day she was at the Royal Residence.  She spent much more of her 
time in silent training, learning how to serve food and drinks, 
practicing kneeling and standing for long periods of time, and 
coordinating her movements with the other servants.  The Royal 
Servants had to rise and kneel in unison, walk a precise distance 
from the others, and establish a pace of walking as a group that 
was choreographed as a single clean movement.

Between Wednesday and Saturday, Maria Elena saw very little of 
the Grand Duchess except at dinnertime, and even less of the 
Grand Duke and his three servants.  The Grand Duchess had 
satisfied her curiosity about the Colombian and no longer had any 
particular interest in her.  Eventually, when the Duchess got 
bored, Criminal # 101025 would be called back into her room for 
another round of sex, or a bath, or a massage.  However, the 
Duchess had numerous other servants and liked to rotate them.  
From the beginning it was obvious that Maria Elena would not be 
one of her favorites.

Not seeing much of her official owner was of little consolation, 
because Maria Elena's other tormentor, the Lord who was training 
her, was a constant presence in her life.  From the moment she 
got up until the moment she went to bed, he was with her.  His 
fascination with making her behave like a dog did not dissipate.  
He delighted in forcing her to go to the bathroom with him 
closely watching.  Her hair remained loosened and her bottom 
remained covered with fresh welts from his belt.  He was 
constantly slapping her across the face when she stood and 
kicking her when she was kneeling.  All the while he insulted her 
and forced other servants to dishonor themselves by touching her.  
He also told her that she had very little to look forward to, 
because it already was obvious that the Grand Duchess was bored 
with her and soon enough she would be turned over to him 
permanently.

----------

Because the Lord held Maria Elena in such low regard, he was not 
particularly concerned about allowing her to see details of his 
life that he would have wanted to keep secret from anyone not 
wearing a collar.  For example, he made her watch while he went 
to the bathroom, forced her to cut his toenails and put medicine 
on a planter's wart, pull hairs out of a mole on his back, and 
help him change his clothes.  More importantly, he had a tendency 
to leave papers around that she could see.  The documents were 
written in Danubian or English, but she could make out a few 
things, such as evidence of money transfers and correspondence 
with numerous foreign companies.

The official's lack of caution with his servants was even more 
evident when he met with various associates.  It was obvious he 
had numerous financial dealings and was ambitious about 
international investments and purchases.  He always seemed to be 
on the phone talking in Danubian or English about money.  Because 
Maria Elena spoke both languages very badly and was nothing more 
than dishonored property anyway, he was not worried about having 
her present when he was talking about very sensitive topics.

During most afternoons the two Lords hosted business meetings at 
a small administrative building that was separate from the main 
residence of the Royal Family, but still part of the property's 
compound.  Several naked servants knelt in the room, ready to 
serve tea or to present themselves as foot-rests.  If anyone in 
the room wanted to put up his feet, a servant was expected to get 
on her elbows and knees and present her back as a cushion.  On 
Friday afternoon the Lords met with a group of businessmen from 
the US and Brazil.  The men were a very sinister-looking group 
with briefcases full of documents.  Most of the documents were in 
English, but some of them were in Portuguese.  The discussion 
drifted from English to Portuguese and back, with various 
translations for the US members of the group who did not speak 
the language of Brazil.  As Maria Elena knelt with the heals of a 
foreigner's shoes digging into her back, she listened to the 
Portuguese portion of the conversation, hoping to get a clue when 
the gathering would end and she could get out of her 
uncomfortable position.

The meeting meandered on, without any hope for the kneeling 
servants that they would be relieved of being used as human foot-
rests anytime soon.  However, Maria Elena listened with 
increasing interest to what the Danubian Lords and their guests 
were talking about.  From what she could understand, the men were 
representatives of the US conglomerate Mega-Town Associates.  
Apparently the Brazilians worked for a division that was in 
charge of Mega-Town's lumber and wood products processing 
operations.  Folders and documents casually set on the floor 
within the Colombian's field of vision confirmed that all the 
foreigners in the room were working for Mega-Town.  That struck 
her as very strange, because she knew that the Danubian 
government officially had declared war on Mega-Town Associates 
and anyone helping the company automatically would be prosecuted 
for treason.  It was a capital offense for any Danubian citizen 
to associate with an employee from Mega-Town Associates, and it 
also was a capital offense for any employee of Mega-Town 
Associates to enter Danubian territory.  All of the men in the 
room were risking their lives if the guests were indeed 
representatives of Mega-Town.

Because she spoke Spanish, Maria Elena understood about half of 
what was being said in Portuguese.  The men talked about the 
Grand Duchess in detail, concentrating on her relationship with 
her husband and to what extent she could influence his decisions.  
The Lords were convinced that the Grand Duke was so disinterested 
in anything having to do with Danubia or the government that out 
of sheer laziness he would comply with whatever Anyia told him to 
do.  That presented Mega-Town with the opportunity it needed to 
move against Vladim Dukov's government, because with a simple 
Royal Decree the troublesome Prime Minister could be put out of 
office.  One of the US visitors commented:

"This is unreal.  Four years ago we lost 20 billion dollars 
trying to take out that fucker, and you're telling us that we can 
do the exact same thing with a Royal Decree?"

"Yes my friend, that is what I am telling you.  All we need is 
the word of the Grand Duke.  He will listen to the Grand Duchess.  
The Grand Duchess will listen to us.  It is that simple.  It is 
that simple because the people of this country love the Grand 
Duchess and they love the Royal Family.  There will be no 
argument, and the government of Vladim Dukov will be dissolved 
with a simple stroke of a pen.  You see my friends, it is 
tradition."

That comment was followed by a long discussion about setting up a 
new government and what role the two Lords would have in the 
project.  Maria Elena understood only a tiny bit of what was 
said, but she understood that the two Lords would take total 
control of the government, financed by Mega-Town money.  In 
exchange, they would grant exclusive concessions to Mega-Town 
allowing the corporation to take complete control of Danubia's 
natural resources.  There were a lot of jokes and laughter, 
followed by drinks.

Maria Elena was appalled by what was about to happen; that those 
two hideous Lords were about to become the new leaders of the 
country.  She was not as concerned about the fate of Danubia as 
she was about her own situation.  Danubia she didn't care about, 
but there truly would be no escape from her horrid life if those 
two were successful in their plotting with the business leaders.  

And the plotters most definitely would be successful, because the 
people who control the most money are automatically successful.  
That was what life had always taught Maria Elena Rodriguez-
Torres.  She saw no reason why this time would be any different.

----------

Criminal # 101025 had lost any hope that she could ever escape 
from the distorted world into which the Grand Duchess had buried 
her and the other Royal Servants.  She knew that her former 
Spokeswoman had no control over her.  She despaired that her 
lover could do anything to extract her.  As for the Prime 
Minister, it was apparent that his kindliness was totally 
deceptive, because has he wanted to stop the transfer, he could 
have done so.  She was at the Grand Duchesss residence because 
he had allowed it.  Anyhow, the Prime Minister didnt matter, 
because he would be out of office soon enough.

What Maria Elena had forgotten, however, was her conversation 
with the Priestess from the Temple of the Ancients.  The 
Priestess certainly had not forgotten about the young Colombian, 
nor had she forgotten about the prospect of talking to her about 
what was going on in the Royal Residence.  All of the Clergy's 
previous efforts to talk to Anyia's servants had been frustrated, 
but this time the Priestess had made sure that the permission to 
see a new servant for a confession and counseling was legally 
binding.  She fully suspected that Anyia's assistants would 
"lose" the letter that had gone to the Royal Residence with the 
criminal's transfer papers and assume there would be no proof 
remaining that the Church had any claim to be able to talk with 
her.  Several other such letters had disappeared and the Church, 
because it had trusted the Royal Household, did not make copies.  
Well, this time would be different.  Not only had the Priestess 
retained the original with the stamps and signatures, but she had 
scanned it in color to create a duplicate that looked identical 
to the original.  She turned over the scanned copy to the Royal 
Household to let Anyia's assistants think that, once again, the 
Royal Household had in its possession the only proof the Church 
had the right to talk to one of Anyia's servants.  Undoubtedly 
that paper would be "lost", but unknown to Anyia and her staff, 
the original letter was still in the possession of the Church.

The day after Maria Elena had gone to the Royal Residence, the 
Priestess and her superior, Grand Prophet # 4, spoke with Prime 
Minister Vladim Dukov about authenticating the document.  Dukov 
called in witnesses, including Jason Schmidt, Cecilia Sanchez, 
and Cynthia Lee, to verify the Priestess's claim that Criminal # 
101025 had indeed requested the right to confess to a member of 
the Danubian Clergy.  He personally drafted a letter to the Chief 
of Police of Danube City, granting him authority to enforce the 
order from the Danubian Church that Criminal # 101025 was to be 
escorted to a neutral location, out of earshot of anyone 
associated with the Royal Couple, so she could speak with her 
spiritual counselor.  An official Church order superseded any 
order given by the Grand Duke. 

To make absolutely sure the Church's edict would be enforced, 
Dukov presented it at a meeting of his ministers, most of who 
were perplexed that he would make such a move against his own 
daughter and son-in-law.  However, under the Danubian 
Constitution approval by the Cabinet was needed to make sure the 
Grand Duke could not delay by appealing to the full Parliament.  
On Sunday the Priestess would travel to the Royal Residence and 
speak with Maria Elena.  If the Grand Duchess dared turn her 
away, she would return an hour later with an armed escort and the 
legal documents needed to enforce the edict.  Dukov's letter 
included another condition, that Director Cecilia Sanchez would 
accompany the Priestess as a translator and witness.

Dukov already was thinking past the anticipated confrontation 
with his daughter.  On Friday afternoon he called Spokeswoman 
Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna and instructed her to draft a formal 
request that the custody of Criminal # 101025 be transferred back 
to the Ministry of Justice.  The request was post-dated to Sunday 
the day of the planned visit by the Priestess, in anticipation 
that the Church would find grounds to terminate Anyia's custody 
arrangement.  The Priestess would have to add her signature to 
the document, but Dukov was convinced that after talking to the 
criminal her approval would be guaranteed.

----------

Kim drafted the letter as ordered and was about to walk it over 
to the Parliament Building, when she heard a knock on the door to 
her inner office.  When she opened, she was shocked to see the 
Prime Minister standing alone, waiting to be let in as though he 
were any ordinary citizen or criminal.  She immediately saluted 
him, and he sadly saluted back.  

Kim could tell that Dukov was extremely depressed.  He said 
nothing as he sat in one of her guest chairs.  While the 
Spokeswoman prepared him some tea, he quietly read the draft of 
her letter.  For a long time he sat quietly, sipping his cup.  
Finally he made a very strange request:

"Kimberly, I wish to ask a favor of you.  I would like to sit at 
my old desk for a few minutes."

"Of course, Prime Minister."

Once Dukov had moved behind the desk that Kim now used, he again 
sat quietly.  After a few moments he commented:  "You know, when 
I sat at this desk and this was where I pursued my Path in Life, 
everything made sense to me.  My life...it made sense...but that 
was a long time ago, wasn't it, Kimberly?"

"It does seem like it's been a long time, Prime Minister Dukov."

Dukov responded another strange request.  "Kimberly, I do not 
wish to hear Prime Minister for a few minutes.  I would be 
grateful if you could call me Spokesman Dukov, just for now, just 
until we leave this office.  Spokesman Dukov...that is what I 
wish to be called.  I wish that...because in my dreams and 
fantasies...it is what I still am...a simple Spokesman...and 
not...what I am now...a man who works in the most dishonored 
profession there is...a profession that is even lower than that 
of a career criminal...dishonored..."

"Prime...I mean Spokesman...you're not dishonored...no one is 
saying that about you..."

"Kimberly...to be a politician is to live in dishonor...to be a 
politician is to live in duplicity, to operate in secret, to 
distort reality to achieve questionable goals...to plot...to 
conspire...and now I must conspire against my own daughter.  What 
father would do such a thing...other than a father who is a 
politician and the father of a public figure such as my daughter?  
Who other, than a dishonored politician?"

"But...Spokesman...it's your daughter who's...doing all that 
stuff...not you...you didn't do anything...and...all you're doing 
is just trying to stop her."

"Kimberly, consider this.  Had I not become Prime Minister...had 
I continued my life as a humble public employee...and had Anyia 
not met the Grand Duke...she would have not become what she is 
now.  She would be in college...or married...and leading an 
ordinary honorable life.  If only I had not become Prime 
Minister..."

"Maybebut, Spokesman...you had to become Prime Minister...you 
didn't have any choice.  What would have happened to Danubia if 
you hadn't been here to lead us?"

"I...I don't know Kimberly.  I don't know what would have 
happened..."

"I can tell you, Spokesman Dukov.  We'd have had logging 
companies in here right now clearing out our forests.  We'd be 
building a super-highway with our own money to make a bunch of 
foreigners happy.  Danube City would be full of foreign cars and 
all polluted.  Everyone would be in debt so we could import junk 
from China.  Our criminals would all be locked up in jail instead 
of working.  We would still be having border problems with our 
neighbors instead of peace.  We would have become just another 
dependency of Mega-Town Associates, and they'd be even more in 
control of the world than they are now.  We wouldn't be producing 
anything and everyone would be going out of business and everyone 
would be unemployed and the country would be broke.  That's what 
would have happened if you hadn't been elected.  There is nothing 
dishonorable about anything you've done.  Nothing.  You've fought 
with honor and you've saved the country."

Dukov remained silent.

"This is just another fight, Spokesman.  That's all it is...just 
one more thing you have to do for Danubia.  Get Anyia under 
control."

"Not just Anyia.  The Grand Duke as well.  He has dishonored 
himself every bit as much as she has.  If there were any justice 
in this world, both of them would go before this nation's courts 
and both of them would be condemned to 'Life without Honor'."

Kim was shocked.  "'Life without Honor'?  You'd actually do that 
to them?"

"That is what would be fair, Kimberly.  A 'Life without Honor' is 
what should happen to a person who squanders something as 
precious as the trust our people have in the Crown.  When the 
moment comes for me to confront my daughter, I will tell her that 
what she truly deserves is a life of serving the pig.  But, I 
have talked this issue over with the Clergy, and we have decided 
what would be best for the Royal Family, for the Crown, and for 
the Danubian people.  I suppose that what is best for our people 
is not that everyone is punished justly, but instead that we 
resolve this incident with as little stress to our nation as 
possible.  That means that Anyia and her husband will be spared 
the punishment they truly deserve.  They will live out their 
lives with their current titles, and the nation will continue to 
look upon them as our monarchs and the guardians of our 
traditions.  However, I will assure that Anyia, and the Dukes and 
Duchesses who come after her, never again will be in a position 
to disrupt the peace of our society."

Dukov held out a copy of the Danubian Constitution with a series 
of typewritten amendments.  

"You will notice that the role of the Grand Duke will change 
under this proposal.  The Grand Duke will become a public 
employee and will have to answer to Parliament.  The Crown will 
become a public service position, with a contract and 
responsibilities.  Failure to uphold that contract will result in 
dismissal.  The Duke's ability to interfere with the affairs of 
Parliament will be abolished and, as I've stated, the Royal 
Family will become public servants, no better than someone like 
my son Vladik, or yourself."

Dukov turned the page:  "Here I am proposing that all Royal 
Estate lands will become part of our National Park System.  The 
Royal Family will retain an advisory role in the maintenance of 
those properties, but ultimately they will become public domain.  
Even the Royal Residence will become property of the National 
Park System.  The members of the Royal Family will have the right 
to nothing except their regular salary and benefits.  The 
household staff on all properties occupied by the Royal Family 
will be employees of the National Park Service and will not be 
under the orders of the Royal Family members.  The right to hold 
custody over collared criminals will disappear."

Kim looked over the proposals.  She knew enough of Danubia's 
history to understand the significance of what was about to 
happen.  The Danubian Crown had ceded power to the Parliament 
over several centuries, always with the idea that if they made 
limited concessions at the moment, the nobility would not have to 
make deeper ones in the future.  The process started in 1780, 
with further concessions by the Crown in 1895, 1946, and 1972.  
The concessions followed a time of crisis or change, but always 
resulted in further reduction of the real power exercised by the 
Grand Duke.  After the reform of 1972, the Royal Family had 
managed to maintain the formal right to dissolve Parliament and 
to retain control of all its properties.  Now, a new crisis had 
arisen thanks to the Grand Duchess, and the result would be a 
final set of reforms that would turn the Royal Family into 
ordinary civilians.

Kim had little doubt that the Grand Duke would go along with the 
Prime Minister's reforms.  He really had little choice because 
the only alternative was for him and the Grand Duchess to face 
trial for the mistreatment of their servants.  The charges would 
include rape, assault, human trafficking, prostitution on an 
unwilling person, forced pornography, violation of a position of 
public trust, and the violation of the integrity of personal 
honor.  The scandal would shock Danubia and destroy the entire 
legacy of the Danubian nobility.  There was no way the Grand Duke 
would be willing to dishonor his ancestors.  However much he 
wanted to placate Grand Duchess Anyia, ultimately the reputation 
and perceived honor of the Royal Family would come first.  
Besides, the Grand Duke really cared little about exercising 
power.  If he could continue undisturbed with his various leisure 
activities he would be content with his life.  The problem would 
be dealing with Anyia.

----------

A few minutes later Prime Minister Vladim Dukov and Spokeswoman 
Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna decided to go for a walk.  Dusk was 
settling over the city and already the streets were becoming 
quiet as the government employees left for the day.  Without 
thinking about where they were going or what they were doing, 
eventually Kim and Dukov ended up in front of the Temple of the 
Ancients.  They passed through the building and emerged into the 
forested park behind the Old Temple, into the holiest land of the 
nation, the spot where Danubia began thousands of years before.  
The weight of all that history pressed down upon them.  

Kim suddenly felt the irresistible urge to something extremely 
strange, given that she was a public employee walking with the 
nation's leader.  She grabbed his hand.  He was surprised, but 
did not resist.  She felt driven as she led him through the 
darkness to a bench near the river.  It was the exact spot where 
she had been arrested almost a decade before.  She knelt on the 
ground, precisely where she had been smoking marijuana when 
Officer Malka Chorno spotted her and pulled out her revolver.  
The Prime Minister knelt beside her.

"You know Spokesman Dukov; every time I come here it seems that 
something significant happens to me and to those I care about.  
The first time I was here, I got arrested.  A year later I came 
back and Officer Chorno ended up losing her badge.  I came back a 
year after that, and made up with my sister.  I came back again 
and made up with Malka Chorno.  I came here again with her, and 
her husband found her sister's body."

"Yes Kimberly, indeed...an interesting coincidence, if that is 
what it is."

Kim took a deep breath and continued:

"Spokesman, that is why I needed you to come here, so I can do 
something significant with you.  I want to tell you that...you 
are the most important person in my life.  Not my parents, not my 
sister, not my husband, not my friend Eloisa.  None of them comes 
close to meaning to me what you mean to me.  None of them comes 
even close to what you have done for me.  I owe you my life.  I 
want you to understand that."

Dukov pondered Kim's confession of her feelings towards him.  
Finally he responded:

"Kimberly, you will understand that my Path in Life as a 
Spokesman for the Criminal was to do for all of my clients 
precisely what I did for you.  That was my calling."

"But you didn't see me as different?  Unique in some way?"

"I did, Kimberly.  Very much.  That I cannot deny.  Yes, you were 
one of many clients, but from the moment I saw you kneeling in my 
office, I knew that you were special and that because of you my 
life was about to change.  That I did understand."

Kim was not sure how to respond.  She was thinking about asking 
whether or not Dukov felt that her presence in the house might 
have had an impact on Anyia's behavior, but before she could 
think of how to put that thought into words, he continued:

"Kimberly, you feel that you owe me a debt.  That is what you are 
expressing to me, is that not so?"

"Yes, Spokesman.  I guess that's what I'm trying to say."

"Very well, Kimberly.  Then there is something I wish to burden 
you with.  I will tell you something that I have told no one 
other than Maritza."

"Yes, Spokesman?"

"You will understand that it was during the Fall Equinox the year 
after you finished your sentence.  It was when my son 
participated in the Day of the Dead procession with Criminal # 
98946.  That night, the dead chose to speak to me, and I 
witnessed something that haunts me to this day.  After all this 
time, I still have nightmares about it.  It remains in my mind 
constantly.  Every time I sign a law, or sit with my cabinet, or 
negotiate a treaty I think about it."

"A vision, Spokesman Dukov?"

"Yes, Kimberly.  A vision of what you alluded to when we were 
conversing in our office.  I had a vision and this is what I saw.  
I witnessed the death of our nation, the end of Danubia.  Not 
only the demise itself, but also how that demise was to 
transpire.  It wasn't just the end that I saw, but also the 
changes and events that led up to it.

A frightening change came over the Prime Ministers expression.  
He was trembling and clenching his fists.  Sweat trickled down 
his face.  It was obvious that he was tormented, but he forced 
himself to speak.

I saw what would become of our country if we ever were to submit 
to corporatist globalization.  II saw Danubia as an 
impoverished, polluted, deforested wasteland.  Danube Citys 
historical buildings were torn down and its smoky streets jammed 
with cars. I watched as street gangs roamed freely, attacking at 
random.  I saw desperate pensioners as they stood outside the 
dilapidated Parliament Building clamoring for what little the 
government could provide them in food relief. I walked through 
the plazas and parks.  They were full of drug addicts, and the 
hospitals full of AIDS patients. Billboards and advertising for 
foreign products filled the landscape, but from all the closed 
stores and factories it was obvious our people no longer were 
producing anything, not even food. As my mind traveled through my 
vision of our country, it seemed the only industries doing well 
were casinos and sex tourism. That was what I saw, Kimberly.

In other words, what weve managed to avoid so far, thanks to 
your government.

Dukov continued:

What I saw was what you mentioned, but then an even more 
frightening scene filled my mind.  My soul was carried east to 
the recently deforested mountains of Rika Chorna province. I 
watched as heavy rains washed vast amounts of mud from nearby 
hills into the Rika Chorna Reservoir. Suddenly, huge landslides 
plunged into the lake, breaking the dam and sending floodwaters 
downstream. The wall of water annihilated provincial capitols and 
many villages.  Then it completely leveled Danube City. My last 
vision was of a Danubian flag floating in muddy water, among 
thousands of corpses. I caught a fleeting glimpse of King 
Vladik's empty throne, and then I came back to the Realm of the 
Living.

Kim said nothing while she waited for the Prime Minister to calm 
down.  He took a deep breath and concluded:

"To this day I do not know if what I saw is an event that is 
about to transpire, or an event that could transpire if I do not 
work to prevent it.  The Creator has not revealed that to me yet.  
But I can tell you that flood was real, as real as us kneeling 
together at this moment, here in the darkness.  I could feel the 
raindrops on my face...I could smell the river...I could hear the 
screams of the dying.  I watched the Danubian people die as a 
nation.  When I looked back upon that event, I understood that 
our death really did not come with the flood.  Before our people 
died, everything that was good and worthwhile about Danubia 
already had passed into memory.  The society that vanished in the 
flood was but a shell of its former self."

Finally, Kim felt that she could respond.

"You know Spokesman, when I was marching the year before, I also 
saw something.  I knew what was going to happen to you, but I was 
afraid to say anything because I didnt want to spoil it.  I saw 
you a bit older, speaking in the Central Plaza to thousands of 
cheering people.  I realized that the Creator had something much 
greater in store for you that just being a Spokesman."

"I do not believe that being a politician is greater than being a 
Spokesman, Kimberly."

"ThenId think that must be the reason why the Creator made you 
the Prime Minister.  Precisely because the Creator knew it 
wouldn't go to your head."

Dukov felt uneasy with the compliment and decided to change the 
subject.

"Kimberly, you will understand that I am determined to remove 
your Colombian client from my daughter's house.  I regret that 
she had to go there at all, in the same way that I regret that 
the other servants have gone there.  My hope is that the 
dishonorable treatment they are receiving will cease by next 
week.  If you wish to take my hands, we can make a request of the 
Creator.  We should ask that by this day next week Criminal # 
101025 will be returned to your custody and again will sleep in 
the house of my brother."

"Yes, Spokesman."

For a very long time Vladim Dukov and Kimberly Annette Lee-
Dolkivna held hands and prayed.  The request was simple, that the 
Ministry of Justice would find justification to remove Criminal # 
101025 from the household of the Grand Duchess.  After they 
finished praying, the former Spokesman and his former client 
walked to the river's edge to contemplate the moon and its 
reflection on the water.  They stood quietly for a very long 
time, not saying anything because they both understood that words 
were not needed.

Finally they left the shoreline and walked back through the woods 
to the Temple.  As they passed through the main chamber, Kim saw 
the Priestess to whom her client would confess within a couple of 
days.  The two women exchanged glances and at that moment Kim 
knew that her prayer with the Prime Minister would be answered.


