Sinaan woke up with Ra'Shaal curled up on his right side in her new, young, svartalf body. She was turned away from him, using his hand as a pillow while her plump bottom was pressed quite nicely against his side.
The priestess's body that Ra'Shaal was inhabiting had been of a minor noble house. Her name was Prodaenoff, fourth daughter of Llnodis the eleventh cousin of Drifeniel High Seat of House Hrodengae. She had been a very beautiful nobody. Barely nobility. Now she was captured in a state of spiritual suspension. Not dead, but not alive either. Her body, though it was still technically alive, was nothing more than an empty container.
Three white half-inch long, half-buried, shards of pearl marred Prodaenoff's once flawless ebony skin. The Shards of Sin Sulabha called them. The first shard, the Sin of Pride, was centered on her forehead. The second shard, the Sin of Envy, rested between her breasts low on her sternum nearest where her heart once was. The third shard, the Sin of Gluttony, was buried in the fatty skin of her smooth pubic mound just above her sex. Each pearl was embedded in bone like a sharp spear point, and then cast a spell of Keeping within the body cavity creating voids.
The Shards of Sin represented four parts of a soulstone, called soul pearls. Using the spell of Keeping, three shards envelop the Wells of Enlightenment, the Spirit Well, the Well of Power, and the Soul Well, in the process capturing and sealing away the internal organs that make a body a living soul and creating incomplete Soul Pearls. The fourth shard, the Sin of Flesh binds the body to the soulstone. Unlike the other shards, the Sin of Flesh could manifest anywhere on the body. Prodaenoff's was low on the back of her pelvis just above the crevasse of her buttocks.
Each Shard of Sin was a fragment of one of the four Soul Pearls, hence shattering the Sin of Pride, Envy, or Gluttony would break the Keeping and return Prodaenoff's Wells of Enlightenment to her body. However, if the Sin of Flesh was broken without the Wells of Enlightenment being released first, then the body would join the rest of Prodaenoff within the soulstone.
Shifting to snuggle closer on his left side, Sulabha laid against him, her curly, fiery-red hair covering her face, most of his shoulder, and cascading across the pillows behind her to fall off of the bed. Her hair was long enough that even with a bed as large as his, her hair still touched the floor. Some of the short strands were in his mouth and covered his nose making it easy to smell her. Vanilla root and subterranean lavender with a hint of cinnamon mixed into the oils the maids washed her hair with.
Lower her overly plump breasts, each the size of his head if not a little bigger pressed into his ribs and laid halfway across his chest like soft pillows between his body and hers. Her uppermost arm was wrapped possessively around his midriff, and a muscularly thick thigh was draped across his leg nearest her.
She was the reason that Ra'Shaal lay on his other side in a body that wasn't hers. She was the reason why Prodaenoff's soul was currently trapped within a soulstone making her into what Sulabha called, a Soulless. Sulabha was a Necromancer of dark and deadly power. An avatar of death.
At the command of her brothers she ripped Prodaenoff's soul from her body leaving it an empty shell. Upon transforming the Prodaenoff's Wells of Enlightenment into a soulstone, she then consumed it. Swallowing down everything that had been Prodaenoff to a place called the Fornacem. An additional organ at the bottom of the stomach closely related to the Fallen and their Nymphilli and Nephellum offspring, the succubus and incubus. Sulabha thought that her power, her necromancy, originated from the Fallen since they are the only beings with the additional organ.
Fornacem meant furnace in the Fallen's language of incantation, and within the furnace Sulahba could store an infinite number of soulstones. Sinaan knew she had at least three within her furnace now. The three priestesses, but only the gods knew how many others she had consumed while under the influence of her brothers.
Sulabha was indeed a very powerful, and very frightening woman. For example, once Prodaenoff was a soulstone Sulabha was able to keep that her soul imprisoned all her life, or all of Prodaenoff's. Sinaan wasn't sure how it worked, but it seemed that despite being separated by magic, Prodaenoff's Soul Pearls that make up the soulstone and her body were still connected in some fashion. For instance blood pumped by the heart that made up the circulatory system but was removed as part of the Well of Power, still somehow pumped blood to the body's muscles, arms, legs, breasts, and skin. Eating and drinking were no longer required. The spell of Keeping kept the internal organs just as they were upon entrapment, but sex of any kind, vaginal, anal, or oral, filled up the voids within the body cavity like pouring wine into a bottle. It was very strange, and Sulabha didn't know anything more about it.
What she did know was that if the body was destroyed the soulstone would change color. Turning from white to black, and then it would slowly dissolve turning into nourishment and life-force that she could then use. It was also possible for her to feed off of soulstones right away, but in doing so she would be marked. Changed forever. So that the evil she had done on the inside was reflected on the outside.
That was only a small part of what she could do though. A soul was so much more than a spirit. A living soul was everything that made a living person alive. By that definition the Spirit Well, or Well of Mind as some call it, was the brain of the body but so much more. More than intelligence, wisdom, or emotion. It was consciousness itself, a person's self-awareness, that indescribable piece that makes a living person more than a robot or computer.
The Well of Power was most commonly thought of as the source of the ocean of life-essence and the lake of life-force, but it is also the heart, lungs, blood, veins and vessels, and so much more. It is the seat of motivation. The force that drives a person to be, to do, anything.
The Soul Well. The foundation by which the other two Wells stand. Strength. Constitution. Dexterity. Those are the enduring forces forged within a living soul, and yet, it is also the intestines, liver, stomach, kidneys, everything in the abdomen. In women this also includes the ovaries and uterus. Sulabha hypothesized that, in reality, the whole body makes up the Wells of Enlightenment, but only learning to commune and listen to the body can a person ever really achieve that enlightenment.
As easily as Sulabha could rip the Wells of Enlightenment out, everything that makes a person a living soul, and then transform a person into soulstone to be stored or consumed, she could also summon them too. Once summoned a soulstone could then be implanted inside a vacant body. What Sulabha called a mutandae corporum. It was this that she had done to Prodaenoff's body when she inserted an assassin's soulstone and sent it off to kill Sinaan's mother.
Desperate for freedom or death, she took three assassins' soulstones and implanted them inside three priestesses, in hopes that at some point someone would retaliate and either free her, or kill her. Sinaan curled his arm around his old friend's head, disturbing her vibrant red hair highlighted with streaks of gold and copper. Giving her hair the appearance of being aflame. They had been friends in another life. On another earth known to the people of this world as Midgard. He hadn't killed her as she wanted him to, and now it was weird to think of his old friend in such a way. To him, all he could see was Sulabha. An incredibly beautiful woman with the graceful edges of a svartalf and the exotically voluptuous curves of a jorndvergr.
Ra'Shaal had been the first to join him after everyone went to bed. When Sulabha came knocking quietly, it was Ra'Shaal that invited her to join them. She didn't know of Sulabha's previous life, and Sulabha may not have had eyes to plead with but she had a plump bottom lip that quivered with emotion. Years of abuse at her brother's hands had changed his old friend. Made her more fragile, and more merciless. She had come to his room completely naked, and one look at her body, at her emotional distress and he wasn't able to refuse her.
Unable to sleep, worrying about his sisters and Gunngrul and Hayden's escape and the third assassin still at large, Sinaan inhaled the soapy scent of Sulabha's hair as the previous day played out in his mind again. Ra'Shaal shifted and then turned over. When she moved, he opened his eyes and gave a start. Ra'Shaal's pale, reversed colored, shadow face was grinning down at him. Her new, younger, physical body still laid beside him completely still. Not even breathing. Its head was still in his hand and its cushy bottom was still pressing against his hip.
"I want you," Ra'Shaal signed as her lovely mouth moved to the same words in utter silence.
Her shadowy form was like all of Sulabha's Grimasalas. Whatever their coloring had been in life, it was reversed upon rising as a shadowsoul. Once ebony skin was now as pale white as it had once been black. Her hair, once as white as the moon on a starless night, was now as black as the void. Only her eyes stayed any semblance of how they were in life. The whites of her eyes were black, but irises that had been as red as polished rubies were now a deep turbulent crimson. No pupils, just glowing crimson coals.
Ra'Shaal flipped over to straddle his waist. She was as light as smoke, and yet he could feel her pressing into him as solidly as if her body were more than shadows. Her skin felt like the caress of a soft breeze. A warm caress. Her pale, ephemeral knees passed through Sulabha's thigh and body like she was even there. On the other side it was the same for Prodaenoff's cushy bottom.
Ra'Shaal put a palm down on his chest and then lifted up so she could guide him inside her. It was a very strange feeling. She could solidify her body or make it intangible, and being with her, being inside her, didn't feel like any other woman he had ever experienced. Not even Ra'Shaal herself when she was alive. She was warm inside but also very cool. Too cool. It lent to a feeling like she was pulling his body heat right out of him. As she moved on top of him, grinding her sex on his, her insides seemed to stroke and undulate around him in ways that no natural woman could. She moved like a woman possessed, a woman enthralled and addicted, and if her expression was any indicator at all, the euphoria she was experiencing was way more than she ever had when alive.
"Oh goddess!" Ra'Shaal screamed exultantly though not a sound could be heard.
Sinaan only knew because he read her lips. As she peaked she lifted her head up, her mouth wide open, her eyes closed, and her body quivering like a plucked guitar string. Then he felt his own release upon him. His mind went momentarily blank as joy flooded his body, and then his seed was rushing through his groin and out and into Ra'Shaal.
She seemed to exhale explosively, soundlessly, and then her reverse colored skin and hair seemed to pulse and dim as it tried to revert back to the colors of her living body! He lay there stunned. Staring up at her. Ra'Shaal's chest was heaving for breath that she no longer needed to draw, then she opened her eyes and looked down at him. Dead or not, shadowsoul or not, she had a beautiful, very satisfied, smile.
"Okay, now, once more in my new body," She signed as she giggled girlishly without sound.
If she could have made a sound she would have been purring as she wiggled, making her breasts wobble wonderfully as she moved off of him and laid over Prodaenoff's body. Several seconds passed by and Ra'Shaal didn't stir. Suddenly she sat up out of her body once more, still a grimasalas. Looking over at Sinaan her expression panicked, she signed, "I can't bond with my body!"
Moving his arms, Sulabha stirred and sat up. Closed eyelids, sewn up years before, regarded him and Ra'Shaal. She apparently wasn't as asleep as Sinaan had thought. Ra'Shaal spoke to Sulabha. She didn't bother with sign language. Sulabha's overly plump mouth frowned. She was the only one that could actually hear her grimasalas. Lifting an ebony hand, crimson magic outlined it as her magic wafted out like shadowy tendrils and connected to Ra'Shaal then she moved to Prodaenoff's uppermost hip.
"There is some sort of discordance between the mutandae corporum and Ra'Shaal," Sulabha said, explaining for Sinaan's benefit, "I didn't expect this."
Moving around the bed she knelt over Prodaenoff's body and touched each of the Shards of Sin before she continued, "There is a strange flicker of life and then death in the Sin of Flesh, and between Ra'Shaal and Prodaenoff's soulstone. It is as if Ra'Shaal is summoning the girl's Soul Well on her own. I think I can fix the discordance by returning only the Wells of Power and Soul to the body."
Pointing to the white pearl buried in the body's forehead, she looked at Ra'Shaal and continued, "Then I will bind you to the Sin of Pride. If this works then the bonding to the mutandae corporum will be permanent. You will not be able to separate again until it expires of natural causes, is killed, or the Sin of Flesh or Pride is destroyed. Should the Sin of Pride be destroyed then you, Ra'Shaal, will be destroyed and Prodaenoff will regain her body. Should the Sin of Flesh be destroyed then you and Prodaenoff will both be destroyed. Understood?"
Sinaan watched Ra'Shaal as she absorbed the warning. She frowned as she nodded then held her hands over her own belly as if the discordance there inside her before she signed her question, "Will I be able to conceive again?"
Sulabha frowned as she thought, and after a moment replied, "I don't see why not. You will conceive emotionally, but this is Prodaenoff's body, so it is she who conceives, not you. It is her blood and genetics that make up the child that will be born, not yours. Do you understand? Your body is dead and destroyed?"
Ra'Shaal nodded, and then said something Sinaan couldn't hear and couldn't follow visually. Sulabha shrugged, and then nodded before rolling off the bed to stand over Prodaenoff. Ra'Shaal then shifted to sit on her haunches beside the body.
With a snappish gesture Sulabha commanded, "Turn the Mutandae Corporum onto its back and straighten it out."
Twisting around, Sinaan and Ra'Shaal worked together to straighten Prodaenoff out. Sinaan felt a spike of regret for her cushy bottom no longer pressing against his side. Sulabha summoned her dark crimson magic and let it outline her hands as she rotated them around each other like she was molding a ball between them. Seconds passed by and a white glowing ball slowly appeared and coalesced until it solidified into a large white pearl. Then Sulabha tapped it and it broke apart into four smaller pearls.
Picking one out, she held it above the Sin of Gluttony embedded in the pelvic bone just above Prodaenoff's sex. The shard lifted up out of her ebony skin, not leaving so much a mark, and then the shard was absorbed into the pearl before she sat it in Prodaenoff's navel.
Picking out a second pearl, she held it over the Sin of Envy embedded in Prodaenoff's sternum between her breasts. Like the first, the shard withdrew from the body, leaving not a scar, and was absorbed by the pearl. Setting the pearl on Prodaenoff's sternum, Sulabha put an index finger on both pearls and gave a slight push down. Pressing the pearls into the body. As Sinaan and Ra'Shaal watched, the pearls slowly sank deeper and deeper into the body until they disappeared. Then Prodaenoff gave a massive shudder, and then took a deep inhalation.
"The mutandae corporum now has its Well of Power and Soul Well, and with them it's innards. Heart, Lungs. Liver. Stomach. Kidneys. All of it. Yes yes, Ra'Shaal, vagina, uterus, and ovaries as well," Sulabha chuckled in response to Ra'Shaal's worried question before continuing, "Now all we must do is bind Ra'Shaal shadowsoul to Prodaenoff's Sin of Pride. If this works, it will be permanent, but if it doesn't I fear Ra'Shaal and Prodaenoff might both be destroyed."
Ra'Shaal said something as Sulabha looked a question at Sinaan and asked, "What are your wishes, my lord?"
He looked at Prodaenoff's slumbering body and then at Ra'Shaal. Her pleading features seemed such a stark contrast to the severity of her shadowsoul forms reversed coloring. Running a finger down her cheek he signed "I love you" before answering, "Proceed. This is what she wants, you have already given her the body, and I can not think of a good reason to deny her this chance at being alive again."
Sulabha nodded, and then took the two remaining pearls in her hand and combined them back into a soulstone before tossing it into her mouth and swallowing. Turning to Ra'Shaal, she placed a hand on her shoulder. Ra'Shaal looked up, her eyes worried, and then her mouth opened wide in a soundless scream. Before Sinaan could react Ra'Shaal's shadowy form wobbled and then she shrunk almost instantly into a crimson outlined sphere of pure darkness.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Sinaan asked, his voice pitched high with worry.
"No!" Sulabha hissed in answer before chuckling nervously, "Everything I'm doing is by the skin of my ass! My magic seems to respond to my desire, but other than that, this is a first!"
Sinaan's breath caught as the crimson outlined sphere solidified into what looked like a black soulstone, then watched as Sulabha placed it on the Sin of Pride in Prodaenoff's forehead. There was a flash of crimson magic upon contact, and then the black sphere was absorbed by the Sin of Pride. Black, and white, and crimson colors swirled within the shard, and then settled. The once white shard pearl was now as dark and colorless as the void, but still somehow emitted a crimson glow that outlined it.
Sinaan ran his fingers through Prodaenoff's hair, Ra'Shaal's hair now, and combed her hair out of her face so that he could see her delicate features. Seconds felt like minutes as he waited, and then her eyes fluttered open and bright violet eyes gazed up at him. He sighed with relief and she smiled as she pressed her cheek into his hand.
"I am alive again," She whispered, "At least I feel alive. I can feel my heart beating. My lungs are drawing in air and exhaling. I feel hungry."
Placing a hand on her lower belly she smiled even more broadly than before as she continued, "I can feel my womb, and my… desire. Even my need to relieve myself. It's not like I am wearing a bodysuit like before, rather it feels like it is my body!"
"It is," Sulabha said as she stood up and knuckled her lower back, "You are a shadow of your soul, and you will become one again one day, but not until this body dies."
"Thank you," Ra'Shaal cried as she sat up suddenly and hugged Sulabha fiercely, "Thank you!"
Sinaan took his turn hugging his aunt and kissing her as she pecked his lips joyfully. When she let go he found his britches, and pulled them on. He was buttoning his shirt when Fjallindae came sweeping into his room without so much as a knock on the door. Matron Forelain Faline was close on her heels.
Fjallindae's eyes widened as she took the scene of Sulabha and Ra'Shaal already in the room with Sinaan. It was the only sign of shock on her face. Forelain's eyes widened too, and then her lips compressed as her eyes narrowed, in barely contained outrage. She seemed to be trying to bore holes through Sulabha. With jerking, angry motions she signed, "Do you hate me so much daughter that you would bed my betrothed without at least waiting until after our marriage night?"
Fjallindae's reaction was quite different. Walking over to Ra'Shaal, she looked her up and down, examining her, weighing her as competition. She did the same to Sulabha, who responded by pulling her shoulders back and thrusting out her chest. Which made her already very generous bosom seem even larger. Fjallindae snorted as she stood directly in front of Sinaan and purred, "It seems you were very… energetic last night. Maybe this morning as well?"
She raised an eyebrow with the question and pursed her lips before they curled into a familiar naughty smirk, "It seems, I will have to pay you a visit soon, and remind you which aunt it was that made you into a man."
Fjallindae didn't see Forelain's murderous glare at her back. Meanwhile, Sulabha cut her eyes from Fjallindae to her mother and answered, "It is not that I hate you mother. I just simply will not be denied. Sinaan found me first. He captured my interest first. We have a history. And I will do whatever it takes to stay by his side. The fact that you swooped in and declared yourself his betrothed changes nothing. If he can marry you, then he can marry me also."
Forlain's mouth twisted into a snarl, and she was about to sign something in return when there was a loud clap of the hands. Everyone turned to stare at Fjallindae. Her disposition had changed from mischievous to seriousness as she pinned everyone with a determined stare. Once she was satisfied no one was going to say anything more she tilted her head and said, "The maids are on their way to dress you all quickly. Our Matron Hela Abendroth has summoned you all to the grand hall."
The maids swept in then and Sinaan and Sulabha were all being dressed in the finest clothes that could be found for them. Ra'Shaal strangely enough ran off, but soon returned wearing her priestly habits. A silver underwire that framed the under curves of her breasts before wrapping around her back. Several bracelets on each arm, a ring on each finger, earrings in both ears, a nose ring dangling from the columella of her nose, large hooped nipple rings with a chain with rubies dangling from connected to each hoop, a belly chandelier that hung halfway down her lower belly, five anklets on each ankle. Around her hips, loose enough to ride just below the chandelier was a silver waist chain, a clip on one end, a large teardrop ruby on the other, and long enough that even as loose as the chain was, the ruby still fell to her left knee. From the looped chain hung a long crimson skirt of diaphanous silk. It was almost completely transparent, and it was long ago sized for Ra'Shaal's hips and buttocks so that the cloth met at the top where the chain connected to itself while the fabric was cut diagonally to completely bare her left thigh. In her right hand she held a book of spells, and in her left hand, a dagger.
Sulabha, herself, wore the same priestly habits as Ra'Shaal with the absence of a navel chandelier. Then there was the addition of a belt around her waist holding a pouch on her right hip and a dagger on the left. Draped down her legs from a gold chain was a diaphanous red silk skirt overlaid with dyed black leather in a spiderweb pattern. Fjallindae wore almost the exact same garb as Ra'Shaal except that her skirt was black silk 'Lace of Arachne's Web', and was well and truly transparent. Matron Forelain Faline wore purple silk 'Lace of Arachne's Web' that accentuated her pregnancy very well. She wore rings and chains in her long pointed ears. A ring in the columella of her nose that dangled in front of the philtrum of her top lip. Rings and bracelets bedecked both arms and hands. Chains and bracelets tinkled on each ankle while small ruby encrusted chains ran from two particular ankle chains down to each of her toes.
Sinaan himself wore black pants with soft leather boots that lace to the knee. Followed by a simple linen shirt under a black leather chestplate sewn over black-steel chainmail. He wore his magic cloak of many pockets, and a silver encrusted black leather belt with pouches on each hip and two scabbarded daggers in the small of his back.
Within the half hour they were entering the grand hall to appear before Matron Hela, High Seat of House Abendroth. On his left arm was Matron Forlain, High Seat of House Faline, and on his right arm Sulabha Fjolkyngi-Bol daughter of Hrun'durgahl Logijarn, exile of House Faline. Immediately behind them was Fjallindae and Ra'Shaal to be followed in turn by Forlain's honor guard, Beinbalkr, Aldrnari, Deild, Aetla, Katr, Baer, Istas, Svartsilki, and Gloa. All of whom were wearing their House Faline maids uniforms.
The Great Hall of House Abendroth was something Sinaan had grown up with, and so was used to the grandiose architecture. For those not born and raised in House Abendroth, the room was built to flaunt their wealth and power, and to intimidate. The room was a massive oval with the entry doors on one end and the Seat of House Abendroth on the other. Ten large columns supported the ceiling. They ran in two rows to each side of the entry doors so that those that entered could immediately see the Seat of House Abendroth and just how far they would have to trek in order to approach her imminence. The floors were silver veined green marble in remembrance of grass, the columns were pure white granite, and the walls and ceiling were all made to be one piece of art of raised veins of silver relief fashioned into the likeness of a massive spider web. Behind the web the wall was covered in small polished onyx stones. It all met at the peak of the domed ceiling where a massive silver light crystal was carved into the likeness of the moon.
Across the hall Hela Abendroth sat in a heavily engraved chair lacquered to a glossy black. The sides and back were worked in spider web reliefs. The four legs and the armrests were carved in the likenesses of large spiders. Above Hela's head the back was finished with a large carving of a spider and inlaid with silver light crystal in the likeness of a crescent moon. Some might have thought it was a throne. It was sized perfectly for her and any Abendroth woman, and itself was on a raised dais that put her head and shoulders higher than anyone in the room. Down on the floor and to Hela's right sat the Governor Elhanor Svendahlain in House Abendroth next grandest chair, the Seat of Arachne.
It must have taken several of the workmen the better part of the night to carry it out of the Abendroth Temple of Arachne.
On Hela's left side, sitting opposite of the Governor, were the High Seats of the three highest houses in Idavollr. Matron Resinquahl of House Metisnir, second only to House Svendahlain and not by much. She was also the oldest living person in the room, if not all of Idavollr, at nine hundred and fifty-two years old.
Next was Matron Oxildaehl of House Ljos'svendahl, third most powerful house in the city. She was young. Only one hundred and ninety-nine years old. There had been a fierce war of succession within the halls of her house. It was said that any of her family that didn't kill each other for the high seat, she had assassinated including her younger siblings, just to make sure there were no more challenges to her claim. It spoke to their strength that almost the entire House could kill each other and it was still one of the strongest.
The last was Matron Mjolganir of House Villrsvart. She was middle aged at five hundred and two. The rumors say that her mother waited until she was five hundred and sixty before she had children. Then she ruled her House with an iron fist until she died at nine hundred and eighty-seven. Now her daughter rules the House much like her mother once did.
Sinaan looked down at his arm where Forelain's hand was in the crook of his elbow. Her hand had been the lightest of caresses before entering the hall, but now her fingers dug into the thin material of his shirt and into his skin. Other than that she appeared completely composed, but he knew, he could feel she was scared far more than she appeared.
Flexing his arm he did what he could to reassure her though he wasn't sure why he did it. This was his house. The woman they were approaching was his mother. Forelain was not his family, she was an outsider. His loyalty was to his mother and House, at least more so than to House Faline. So, why was he trying to comfort her?
He pondered the question until he came to a halt just before the Governor, the High Seats of Houses Villrsvart, Ljos'svendahl, and Metisnir, and Hela Abendroth. Forelain and Sulabha curtsied which put Forelain's retinue nearly on the floor. Fjallindae and Ra'Shaal curtsied as well but then moved to the side and around until they were able to join Hela, each standing behind and to each side as her councilors. Sinaan himself knelt down on one knee to his mother, put a hand to where a sword would be if he had one, and the other hand over his heart.
"My life for yours, mother. My life for House and hearth," He announced loud enough for all to hear, "My body is your weapon. Use me at your discretion. I am yours, mother."
"You are too familiar," Hela greeted with a vexed sigh, "As usual, my son. However, your greeting is acceptable."
"Salutations," Forelain signed into the following silence, "Thank you for inviting me into your presence. It is an honor to stand before Matron Hela of House Abendroth to whom I hope to soon call mother. It is also an honor to stand in the presence of Governor Elhanor of House Svendahlain, Matron Resinquahl of House Metisnir, Matron Oxildaehl of House Ljos'svendahl, and Matron Mjolganir of House Villrsvart."
"Greetings Matron Forelain of House Faline," Elhanor replied, interrupting Hela who was about to respond, "We have heard much in these last few hours about your House. It came as a surprise to us all to hear that you still lived, and your daughter it would appear. It is good to see that the… apparent propaganda of your demise was a lie, and it is good to see you still have rooted out and destroyed the rebellious elements within your Household."
They all stared at Sulabha then. Looking her up and down. Judging her. Seeing that she was of a height with them all but built more robustly and with a curviness that was not markedly svartalf.
"Yes Matron Elhanor," Forelain signed in reply, "There are still some holdouts within the nursery, but over all, my House is my own once more and will will be stronger for it."
"Stronger?" Resinquahl laughed as she shook her aged head, "Stronger! My reports say that your House is decimated. That almost every male joined your sons in their revolt, and that your closest female aids and staff as well. Stronger? It will take you decades if not a century or two to recover from your sons' coup."
"That is, if her crippled House is not gobbled up by some other ambitious House looking to move up in rank," Mjolganir purred, as if it was a foregone conclusion that it was going to happen.
"And that is precisely why she is here in my home," Hela interrupted, bringing the meeting to a point, "Matron Forelain Faline has been many things to House Abendroth, but she was never a fool. Indeed, much of the animosity between our Houses predates her, or I. However, she was shrewd enough to see her House's decline and has come to House Abendroth, her closest adversary in hopes of bridging our differences and uniting our Houses."
"As I have stated before, I object to this union," Oxildaehl announced loudly as she shook her head, "Uniting the assets of House Abendroth and Faline could upset the balance of power within Idavollr too greatly. They may even be powerful enough to challenge the governorship."
Elhanor nodded as she judged Hela, then the three High Seats opposite of her, and then Forlain before she responded, "I have given this much thought, and my concerns are not far off from Matron Oxildaehl's. But, unlike the Matron I have access to the census records of both Houses. With House Faline's power currently reduced as much as it is, even with her forces still out on the latest raid, if House Abendroth and Faline align they will still be weaker than the top five Houses. So, I will support this… union."
"I will support the union on one condition," Resinquahl said in a thin reedy voice, "House Faline and House Abendroth remain two distinct Houses with their own individual assets."
"I will support the union, but I too have a condition," Oxildaehl said, her voice low and husky despite her shorter, more petite, built than most svartalf, "No half-breeds should be allowed on the Seat of any House. Matron Faline's daughter, Sulabha is the heir, is she not? She is obviously svartalf and… something else. Her titles and rank must be renounced. Exile would be preferable, but disowning from House Faline will do as well, I suppose."
Mjolganir remain silent for a long time as she regarded Sinaan, Forelain, and Sulabha, then she turned to Hela and stared at her for a long moment before she finally spoke, "I have a feeling that no one is more concerned than Matron Hela for the ramifications of this alliance. Otherwise, why request the Governor and our presence. This is a good development for her and her House, but she does not want us to see it as her trying to gain power and influence for her own aspirations for greater authority. As witnesses of this union, we hereby consent to this alliance. If we find it amicable then how dare any House between us and House Abendroth take issue with it, though, I fear dear Hela, that those just above your House will anyway."
She took a long inhalation as she looked back at Sinaan and Forelain, "Yes. I will support this union, and without conditions. I believe Hela will have plenty of her own. I am more interested in watching the spectacle that this stirs up unfold much more anyway."
Finally it was Hela's turn to speak. She inhaled as she looked from Sinaan to Forelain, and then Sulabha standing up. Descending her dais, she approached and stood squarely in front of Forelain and said loudly enough to be heard by everyone, "Before these witnesses I set out these conditions of alliance. Matron Forelain of House Faline, you are currently pregnant. Whose children are they?"
"One of my rebellious sons," Forelain sighed, then added, "All of the rest of the women of House Faline were… purged. Only Sulabha and I remain. We were imprisoned, and I don't know how many children we may have born for my sons."
"They also took your tongue and Sulabha's eyes so that neither of you could pray or glamor them," Hela said.
"Yes," Forelain sighed.
"Is it true that more than half of House Faline's arms men are dead due to this revolt?" Hela asked.
Forelain took a deep breath, then nodded as she sighed, "Yes."
"Thank you for your honesty," Hela said as she gave Forelain a small consolatory smile, "Matron Forelain, here are my conditions. First, pertaining to the rights of succession. To make sure that this union lives beyond you and I, House Abendroth will adopt the babies within your belly and any other child which has a claim to the Seat of House Faline. In exchange House Abendroth will gift, for adoption into House Faline, young men and women of marriageable and procreative age. Male for male, and female for female. This includes Sulabha Fjolkyngi-Bol daughter of Hrun'durgahl Logijarn. I will also give as many as five priestesses for adoption into House Faline for the purpose of rebuilding your Temple. In this way, your daughters from Sinaan will tie our Houses together indefinitely.
Second, House Faline will pay tribute for House Abendroth protection in the amount of ten percent of all revenues.
Third, House Faline may keep her armsmen. But they must wear the House Abendroth crest to denote they are our leigemen. Also, until House Faline is able to rebuild its guard, House Abendroth will station a garrison of its own men and women to help fortify House Faline. Similarly, House Faline must display an Abendroth banner wherever a Faline banner is displayed. In this way anyone who molests House Faline or any of her men knows they are provoking House Abendroth as well. In like manner, since House Abendroth accepts the dangers of protecting House Faline, likewise House Faline must support House Abendroth one hundred percent in any armed hostilities.
If you accept these conditions, then despite his age and customs, I will give Sinaan to you as consort and husband."
Forelain's nails were daggers in Sinaan's arm. He could feel her shaking though he couldn't see it. Sulabha actually looked eager. There was a long pause as Faline considered Hela's proposal. There wasn't much she could do to object though. House Faline needed House Abendroth much more than Abendroth needed Faline, and it was doubtful there would be better conditions from any other House, if approached. Most likely another House would just sack House Faline and take the noble and slaves alike as workforce, battle fodder, and breeding stock.
Kneeling down on both her knees, Forelain reached up and took both Hela's hands and kissed them, palms and backs, and then she signed, "I, Matron Forelain, High Seat of House Faline, do hereby swear to abide by all of the conditions Matron Hela Abendroth has set forth. From this day forth she has my absolute loyalty. May what happens to House Abendroth also happen to House Faline. May the union of Sinaan Abendroth and Forelain Faline unite our houses until there are no more tomorrows."
When Forelain was done Hela gave her a hand up and kissed Forelain on each cheek and then on the mouth. The simple pecks, and then a hug as she whispered, "Welcome home… daughter. May your womb and your House find shelter under our roof, and may you womb be blessedly fertile."
Then in an even lower voice that no one heard but them two, "But, if anything happens to my son, I will flay your skin off and then spread parts of your body from one end of Idavollr clear to the other end. Then afterward I will kill every member of your House and raze it to the ground. Understood?"
Forelain nodded vigorously. She did indeed understand completely. Pulling away from Hela's hug she signed so that only Hela could see, "Your son saved my life and my daughters life when he didn't have to. He could have simply passed us by and left us to my sons. I will never betray the compassion and mercy he showed me, my daughter, and my House. We were all at my son's mercy and your son freed us!"
Hela nodded slightly and then they both took a step back. She looked at Sinaan and for the first time all morning her expression broke into a warm smile. Stepping in, Hela hugged her son and gave a kiss on each cheek and then a final kiss on the mouth, then stepped back while still holding his hands. Turning towards Forelain she passed Sinaan's hands to Forelain's and said, "Now, what I need you two do is go and save my daughters. Forelain, only you will be able to stop your armsmen that are led by your sons."
"I understand," Forelain agreed with a quick hand signal and a nod.
"Yes mother," Sinaan said with a grim nod.
"Matron?" Sulabha said her excitement gone as she grabbed at Sinaan's elbow, "I am very grateful to be adopted by House Abendroth, but I wish to stay with Sinaan."
Hela shook her head no, "You will have plenty of time with him later, but for the next month he and Forlain will celebrate their union. In the meantime I would appreciate you returning to House Faline and helping gather those that are you brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and your sons and daughters, and bring them here. I also want you to report to those you mother left in charge what has transpired."
Sulabha's expressions changed drastically as she reined in her emotions, but she finally curtsied respectfully before turning and leaving the great hall. Fjallindae and Ra'Shaal were the next to climb down the dais where they had been left to stand by the Seat of House Abendroth.
"Matron," Fjallindae started as Ra'Shaal said at the same time, "Sister."
Hela turned to regard them with raised eyebrows as she replied, "Sisters?"
Fjallindae looked at Ra'Shaal while she returned her look. They both nodded, and then Fjallindae continued, "Matron, we both also desire to stick close to Sinaan. So, we both volunteer to be two of the priestesses you give to House Faline in order to rebuild their temple."
Hela gave them both considering looks. She knew exactly why they wanted to stick close to Sinaan, and no doubt there would be others as well that would volunteer just so they would be closer to him. It wasn't the best reason in the world to want to stick close to any male, but then, those that volunteered because they wanted to remain with him were also more likely to make sure nothing untoward happened to him too.
"Agreed," Hela answered with a firm nod, but then added while both Flallindae and Ra'Shaal were rejoicing, "I want you two to find three more that wish to stay with Sinaan for similar reasons, and then I want you to join Sulabha before she leaves for House Faline. You will have your work cut out for you when you arrive, tending to the sick, the wounded, and tending to their spiritual needs. You are to leave Sinaan and Forelain alone for the next month, understand?"
They nodded, and then they too left in a hurry.
Once they left Hela turned to Sinaan and Forelain and stared at them until they both began to shift their feet with uncertainty. Looking past them to Forelain's maids she said loudly so they would hear, "Matron Forelain, you have good staff. Very loyal. I know you two would like some time alone before you must leave for the raiding party, you may leave me now so that I may speak with my guests."
Forelain curtsied and Sinaan bowed. Beinbalkr stood and organized Forelain's maids quickly with herself, Aldrnari, Deild, and Aetla as a foreguard, Katr, Baer, Istas and the rearguard, and Svartsilki and Gloa walking the ceilings for the trip back led to Forelain's room, not Sinaan's. When the door closed with the maids on the outside and only Sinaan and Forelain left in the room alone it was with a nearly feral growl that she began tearing Sinaan's clothes off.