Talia awoke with a start only to realize that Midnight was no longer in bed with her. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or worried, so she settled with indifferent. Reezara lay at the foot of the bed licking her talons, she had already found herself a few fat rats to dine upon.
'You better not have eaten them in this room, I swear to the gods if I catch you ripping a rat apart at my feet I'll give you the soapiest bath you've ever had. You'll stink of flowers for weeks.' Reezara shot Talia a dour look before peeling her lips back and licking at her snout.
'Don't worry, I ate them outside. I don't know what your problem is with rats, you literally bathe in strangers blood regularly. I've seen your worse sins. Rats pale in comparison.' Talia wasn't sure she was enjoying Reezara's 'teenage-phase'. She wasn't actually certain that Reezara was a teenaged dragon yet but she knew she certainly had the attitude to befit one. Or at least, she hoped that was the worst her attitude would get.
'I just don't like rats. Lets not dig into it.' She shuddered as she crawled out of bed. She noticed that the feeling in her legs had returned slightly, though she was still exhausted from overextending her mana the night before. She grabbed her chair and promptly wheeled over to her hidden project. Reezara followed slowly, her claws clacking on the stone with each step.
'Do you think the healers will deliver your breakfast this morning?' Reezara's doubt crept through her mental voice. Talia shrugged, they hadn't missed meals yet though their attendance had become spottier as of late. Not that she was complaining, it gave her time to prepare.
'If not they'll have Lotus do it, and I have plans for that little snake. Either way I'm getting things done.' Talia dipped her fingers in one of her carefully crafted potions, this one would ignite the flesh of the dead without her having to expend her own mana. It would be perfect for the healers, finally releasing them from the grip of their slaver.
Once she was finished readying herself she wheeled over to her dresser to peer into her mirror. Her hair was a mess, but she could always tie it back into a tight braid if the situation required it. As it was she had never worn it down for so long, it was starting to grow on her. The beads still hung proudly holding her hair out of her eyes. She fingered one of them absentmindedly as she put together a quick plan of attack. First she needed to put the healers down to effectively blind the King.
From there she would cripple his military force, without men to retaliate he would be much easier to dethrone. She was going to take everything from him and she wanted him to see it coming. It wasn't fun if she caught him unawares. With a smile she gathered up her ready poisons. She had just started to put them in the satchel hanging on the right side of her chair when a brisk knock came from the door. She didn't even have time to answer before the lead healer pushed his way through with Lotus following quickly behind.
"I am sorry my Lady, he was too quick for me...." Lotus started but the healer shoved her back out the door and into the hall. He quickly closed and locked the door leaving Lotus outside. Talia's stomach churned as unease trickled down her spine. He had never banished her handmaiden before, and Lotus obviously hadn't expected it.
"I'd like my handmaiden back if you don't mind. I'd like to get dressed." She said it as curtly as possible in an attempt to mask her unease. The healer's face as always was obstructed so she couldn't see his expression. He moved towards her and pulled a thick vial of dark liquid from his sleeve.
"You will drink this, willing or no." He hissed as he continued to move towards her. Talia noted that she had instinctively started moving her chair back. Reezara rose to her feet and slid herself between her rider and the healer, her lips curled to showcase her ever intimidating fangs.
"One wrong step dragon and your rider will never know the feel of walking again." The healer warned darkly. Reezara's mind sharpened with barely repressed rage, Talia almost recoiled at the overwhelming pressure in her mind from the dragon's reaction. She had to focus hard on pushing Reezara's mind back just so she could focus.
"Did you just fucking threaten me? I think it's high time you learned why they call me the Hound." Talia's own rage was already at a boil. She pushed herself from the chair which elicited a sharp gasp from the healer. He didn't have time to shield himself or run as Reezara wrapped her tail around his leg and Talia rushed forward. She grabbed his face roughly, the poison reacted instantly with his papery cold flesh and flames leapt out of his hood. For a moment Talia could make out hauntingly white eyes filled with nothing but death and loneliness. There wasn't time to come up with something witty or horrific to say to him before he fell into a pile of ash. She almost regretted not getting to play around with him more. But he wouldn't have appreciated her savagery, he was an unfeeling corpse after all.
'He's lucky you killed him, else I'd have consumed him limb by limb until he either screamed or died. He got off easy.' Reezara hissed darkly as she nudged the gray robes. Talia noted the dark vial roll across the floor and bent to pick it up. She uncorked it and sniffed at it delicately. Her nose wrinkled as a myriad of scents hit her nose. It was obvious the liquids intent was to put her in some sort of deep unwaking sleep. It was likely incredibly potent, but she already had an idea on how to put it to use.
'He won't be the last kill, save your bloodlust for the one's who will appreciate it more.' She replied absently as she strode towards the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open to find Lotus facing her with blank expressionless eyes. She bowed deeply the moment she saw Talia.
"Hello my Lady, I hope that the healer is finished? Does he need anything? Is all well?" Talia rolled her eyes as she grabbed Lotus by the hair on the back of her head. She tipped the woman's head back and poured a small amount of the dark liquid down her throat. Lotus let out one shrill squeak before her eyes dilated and closed. She slumped like a ragdoll at which point Talia scooped her up and started to drag her back into the room. She made it about half way when she heard a sharp gasp.
"Talia what the hell are you doing?" She closed her eyes and sighed deeply out of her nose before looking up to see a rather disheveled looking Midnight. Reezara hissed lowly behind her but remained sitting on her haunches, tail twitching every so often in annoyance.
"Oh good you're back, do me a favor and help me get her up on that table over there." Talia motioned with her head towards the dining table. Midnight looked as if she was going to protest but she swallowed it and grabbed Lotus's feet and legs. With both of them it was far easier to carry Lotus's limp body to the table where Talia lay her face down across the entirety of the tables surface.
"Care to explain what all this is? Don't think I didn't notice that empty gray cloak over there. Is this girl dead?" Midnight poked gingerly at Lotus's side with a skeptical look on her face. Talia leaned over and pulled her dagger from her hip pocket. She slid the blade under Lotus's clothes and pulled it down destroying every layer and revealing Lotus's light creamy flesh. Midnight grunted,
"I didn't take you for the type to force..."
"Shut up would you? I'm not after sins of the flesh, at least not those kinds of sins. Or any of my usual generally scummy habits I partake in. She's spelled, I'm looking for any evidence of it on her. I didn't get to check over the healer but I think I might know how it was done. Grab me my jar of olive-oil and chalk powder from that chest over there yeah?" She pointed to a large oak chest in the corner of the room. It didn't hold anything vastly important, just a few common supplies like her quills, inks, papers, and other such things. Midnight relented wordlessly and returned a few moments later.
Talia opened the jar of light green oil and carefully dipped her fingers into it. She then slowly smeared Lotus's back with it from her hairline to her lower back. She then grabbed the jar of chalk dust and poured a small pile onto her hand. She blew on it where it then covered Lotus's entire back. She leaned down and inspected closely every inch as the oil started to run off her skin. At first nothing was visible but after a few minutes she could clearly see patterns swirling all over her flesh.
"The fuck is that?" Midnight waved her index finger at Lotus with a look of sheer disgust. Talia stood and cracked her back with a triumphant smile. Her theory paid off, now she knew exactly what she needed to do to free the girl.
"That is a construct. It's bound her body and mind leaving her a husk of a person. But with a little patience and a lot of diligent work I might just be able to break it. From the looks of it, it starts here at the nape of her neck and runs to about here at the lowest point of her lower back. I'm kind of glad... It could be awkward if it was on her ass." She pulled her wheeling chair over to sit knowing that with what was coming she'd surely loose the strength to stand.
"I mean, it's only awkward if you make it awkward." Midnight shrugged casually. Reezara padded over with an unamused look on her face.
"I don't want to be grabbing someone's bare buttocks while they're unconscious. I'm not a filthy animal or a monster. I didn't do this to get nasty, I did it to free her. So keep that kind of talk under wraps or I'm going to tie you up and force feed you the same shit I gave her just to keep you quiet." Talia grabbed a paintbrush from her satchel and a pot of ink while Midnight scowled irately. She didn't have to be a mind reader to know Midnight was calling her filthy names in her head.
'Reezara how are you feeling today?' She asked while she positioned herself carefully at the table and lit a few candles. She could hear Reezara's tail slap the stone floor a few times before she replied,
'I'm doing well, I managed to catch quite a few rats this morning. My belly is full, and I have plenty of mana to spare.' Talia smiled as she replied,
'That's good. Would you lend me your strength? This could take several hours. I'll try to pace myself as not to burn through both our mana stores, but I can't promise anything just yet. These scripts are complex, I'll need to move slowly if I want to free her completely.' Talia opened her inkwell and dipped the brush before leaning closer to Lotus to study the large construct. It was indeed complex, but she was certain if she started at the top and worked her way down she could effectively unravel it. Reezara replied instantly by combining their mana, Talia could immediately feel the boost of power. It was almost intoxicating, her mind buzzed and her body felt lighter and almost weightless.
"So is this going to take a while? I feel like the third wheel here." Midnight's boredom was palpable. Talia shrugged as she carefully set the tip of the paintbrush to Lotus's skin.
"It will probably be four or more hours by the looks of it. I can't rush this. If you're bored there's some books over there you might find interesting. Or you could wander, I don't really care I'm not your babysitter." She slowly started cancelling out the spellwork imbued into Lotus's flesh. Midnight sighed,
"I'm going to go grab my stuff from the Inn and bring it back here. I'll grab Nico too. Maybe you'll be done by the time we get back and we can formulate a plan together. If you end up needing any help you know how to reach me." She waved as she marched out the door and closed it. Talia didn't bother to respond.
The first few hours passed quickly as her focus remained entirely on her task. Each swirling pattern was made with painstaking care, she worked delicately and slowly in an effort to keep mistakes at a minimum. Any error could cost Lotus big up until the master of the spell was killed, and perhaps even after depending on how strong the spell was. She was starting to figure out the handiwork and as she managed to progress she was getting a little quicker at breaking it bit by bit.
'Whoever did this is not new to the realm of magic or spellwork. They're a learned magi, and a skilled one.' Talia commented as she leaned back to wipe the sweat building up on her brow. Her eye was starting to throb with the strain, she wished she could pull the cloth off of her other eye but she knew that it wouldn't serve a purpose just yet. For now she would simply have to buckle down and keep going.
'I haven't noticed any particularly strong magi in this castle, in fact I'm not even sure there are any court wizards anymore. I never see any at the daily peasant punishment session the King likes to hold.' Reezara replied dryly while she nibbled at her claws. Talia hummed in response. Would mages even enjoy staying in Arboros when the stone naturally absorbed latent mana? It was like being sucked dry constantly, it didn't feel good. Necromantic mana flowed differently to mana produced by mages aligned with the elements of nature but Talia noted that even Nico felt the drain, so whoever was casting the spells was someone who had massive stores of mana on hand at any given time. Like her they probably started to build a tolerance to the stone, they had likely lived within the castle walls for years.
Nearly another hour had passed before Midnight showed up again with a thick traveling pack on her back and Nico riding on her shoulder in his raven form. His eyes shone red and his beak opened and closed as he excitedly flapped his wings and cawed at her. Midnight grabbed a hold of him quickly before he could fly over,
"She's busy, don't interrupt you impolite little flea!" She squawked at him as she threw her pack down onto the floor. Talia smiled as Nico's bird cries rose in anger and violence. It only took Midnight a few moments to get him piped down, once he stopped she made her way over to observe Talia's progress.
"So how is this.... This going?" She waved her finger at Lotus's still unconscious body with a look mixed between genuine curiosity and blatant disgust. Talia did have to admit Lotus was going to need a hell of a bath when she was finished, the ink towards the top was starting to run staining her unoiled skin black. Talia sighed and rubbed her temple before replying,
"It's a strenuous process. I'm at my wits end here, the candles are almost spent and I don't know how much longer I can go before I blind myself. I feel the worst headache coming on. This is the most I've had to do mana wise in a long time." Midnight snorted,
"The most you've had to do without going into a blind rage you mean?" Talia rolled her eyes irately, her temper was already frayed by wariness and stress.
"You want me to go into a blind rage? Keep bringing it up. Or you could do something helpful." She hissed the last part before bending back over Lotus. Midnight groaned for a few minutes before finally caving, whether out of boredom or a genuine willingness to help it was unclear.
"What do you need?"
"Food and something to dull this headache so I can keep going. Bring me as much food as you can carry, I'll need to recharge quickly before tomorrow. And if you find any raw meat bring it over for Reezara, she's getting pretty worn out too." Talia pointed behind here where Reezara was now semi-passed out. Every once and a while Talia could hear a snore. Midnight grunted as she made her way back out into the halls.
"I'll be your goddamned errand boy for a little while. Nico you stay here and keep her.... Company I guess." Midnight waved him off her shoulder. He flapped his wings quickly gliding over to Talia's bed where he awkwardly made himself comfortable. Talia sighed as she returned to work. Reezara couldn't even muster any remarks, instead she drifted back to sleep.
Midnight was away for nearly another hour before she returned with a surprisingly large platter full of what she could only describe as the most mouthwatering food she had smelled in a long time. In an instant her concentration snapped and she had to push herself back from the table. She was almost afraid she'd turn into a feral beast as Midnight grunted and set the platter down on an end-table.
"You should have just thrown her on the floor so we could eat like civilized people. As it is, this should get us all through the night." She lifted the lid to the platter revealing a pile of fresh breads, meats, fruits, and vegetables. Talia even spotted a few mugs of wine, she licked her lips as her growing appetite started to take over. What would she eat first? The glazed ham? Or perhaps the slow roasted brisket... Though she had to admit the whole turkey was looking entirely too pleasing.
"How did you manage to fit all of this onto that platter and then carry it up here?" She asked disbelievingly as she grabbed a fork and lifted the largest cut of meat she could find. Midnight grinned as she grabbed a few warm rolls and a slab of butter.
"I've been working out. Plus you're not the only one capable of magic, I just don't use it that often." She then promptly stuffed her mouth with an entire buttered roll effectively blocking Talia off from trying to engage in more conversation. She wasn't too displeased though, she was happy to focus on stuffing her face too.
'Is there anything still bleeding on there for me?' Reezara prodded hopefully. Talia smiled as she grabbed a thick cut of bloody meat and tossed it. Reezara snapped it out of the air long before it hit the ground. Talia was pretty sure she swallowed it whole too.
'Do dragons not chew? I never thought to ask.' She grabbed a warm roll and a mug of wine, stuffing the roll in her mouth first before washing it down with sweet, sweet alcohol.
'Don't worry about it, there's better questions to ask but do it later. I'm going hunting now that I've got some meat in my belly. I'll be back soon.' Reezara turned and rushed out the balcony doors before throwing herself out into the air. Talia watched her go with a small bit of surprise at just how late it was, the sun had already set leaving the world awash in darkness. No wonder she was so tired, or so hungry.
"How much more do you have to do on that woman? You look fit to collapse." Midnight managed to choke out from around her full mouth. Talia washed down more food before replying,
"It's hard to say. I'm not very pleased with how long it's taken me, but for a first attempt I guess I'd have to admit it's pretty impressive. But you're right, I'm exhausted. I don't know if I can finish tonight." She was slightly disappointed to admit it, but she couldn't push herself much farther. She was scared of the nightmares that would plague her if she fell too deeply. Or the monster that would claw it's way back and rip away her control again. But she couldn't leave Lotus in the state she was in. Midnight gobbled up some grapes and oranges before moving on to the quarter of the turkey that now remained.
"I could give it a try if you want, but I'm not nearly as blessed with mana as you. I could give you twenty minutes, maybe a half hour tops. I know the basics so no need to walk me through it, I can see the progress you've made so far. I'll take up the brush for a while, you finish off the food." She brushed her chin and grabbed the paintbrush and inkwell before standing over Lotus and carefully tracing the finished work with her fingers and mumbling to herself.
"Um... Thanks. If you need any help you know how to reach me." She grumbled before eyeing a beautifully rare steak. Was this meal the Kings? Because she'd enjoy it more if it was. She didn't slow down on eating for at least another twenty minutes. By then the meat trays were picked clean leaving nothing but bones. She even cleaned up the bread and fruits, though she left the less desirable vegetables. Even butter and salt couldn't coax her into eating them.
"Nico do you want the vegetables?" She turned to see him sitting at the edge of the bed watching eagerly. He didn't need a second invite as he glided over and started picked at the last of the edible food items. She stroked his iridescent feathers fondly for a moment as he too filled up.
"Don't eat too much or you'll be too fat to fly." She warned with a smile before she pushed her chair back and joined Midnight at the table holding Lotus. She noted with no small amount of surprise that Midnight had made a fair bit of progress. Now all that was left was the small of Lotus's back, it would be relatively simple to finish it off. She was almost relieved that it was nearly over, but she was still exhausted. If it took more than an hour she'd have to call it quits for the night and hope another dose would keep Lotus out for a while.
"Here, I'll finish up so you can recover. Make sure Nico's not eating himself to death and make yourself some tea if you like. I've got some..."
"I'll go grab a keg. I know you're jonesing for some by the way you guzzled that wine." Midnight flipped her hair with a bright smile before stumbling away. Talia frowned slightly as she wondered if Midnight was capable of navigating the halls at night while depleted of nearly all her energy. But she wouldn't say no to a keg... And Midnight was older and far too intelligent to get herself caught by a mere human.
Instead of worrying she turned her attentions back to Lotus and breaking what was left of the spell. She poured the very last bits of her strength into her work as she slowly closed in on the very last delicate lines of the construct. By the time Midnight stumbled back in with a small barrel wrapped in her arms Talia had finally managed to finish. She was sweating profusely and panting as she pushed herself back slowly. Her limbs were shaking with fatigue and her stomach churned uncomfortably as if it was threatening to spew out of spite of her efforts.
"Oh god... That bitch owes me as much fucking beer and chocolate as her pitiful amount of money can buy me." Talia groaned as she clutched her stomach. Her head was swimming and her heart racing, she definitely overdid it.
"Here, drown your sorrows. I got us some primo fuckin Stinger." Midnight slurred as she shoved a mug into Talia's hands. Talia eyed it in surprise, Stinger was not usually a drink humans kept around. It was famously potent and kicked like a dragon for anyone mortal enough to feel it. It was popular amongst the dwarves and Diomabe as a festival drink. It would certainly fuck Midnight up. Talia was hoping she brought enough to put her to sleep too.
"By the Gods, bless your black soul you devil spider." Talia guzzled at the mug eagerly relishing in the fiery burn as it scorched its way down her throat. Surprisingly enough it didn't upset her stomach nearly as badly as she anticipated. She was looking forward to a night of getting fucked up.
"First I need to put something on Lotus before she wakes up. She won't enjoy it if she awakes naked... And filthy... But I'm not going to worry about that." She mumbled dryly as she dug around her dresser for a robe to tie around the woman. If she didn't do it now she'd surely forget, the Stinger was already starting to numb her mind. Well, her mind and her fingers. Midnight chuckled as she poured herself another drink.
"Better lock the door, then we can get tanked in peace." Talia grunted, one task at a time. Once she had Lotus appropriately covered she wheeled over to the door and locked it. Now she could finally relax... Somewhat. She could finish the rest of the healers in the morning if the hangover didn't kill her before then.