Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1) (18 page)

Jezebel stood and opened the folder. “I have
a list of books that the accused has borrowed from me. Not one of
them has been returned in the same condition that she took it in. I
let the other incidents slide because she seemed, at the time, to
be a good maid and I do have a soft spot for the lesser fortunate
than I. However, the latest - which I have in my possession for
your viewing - was returned to me with every page ripped out. I
take this as a blatant disregard for me and my belongings. This was
the last straw which has caused me to have to take more aggressive
action towards her. There have been previous incidents as well,
including extensive damage to the furniture in my sitting room.
These damages ultimately resulted in me needing to replace the
whole set. I have just recently done so, and the cost to me
personally was quite significant. A large wine stain has appeared
on my library carpet as well, which I suspect she is also
responsible for – probably from wine stolen from my stock for her
personal use as she has seemed rather inebriated on many occasions.
Several witnesses will concur that I rarely drink wine myself, and
I certainly wouldn’t do so in my library.” Layna looked around and
noticed for the first time that three of Jezebel's friends,
including Renee, had taken seats in the back. Jezebel concluded, “I
have here a list of damages and their costs, which I respectfully
ask the court to make her pay.”

The attendant moved forward to take the
offered paper up to the Justice who looked this over as well. “This
is quite a list,” he commented before turning his attention to
Layna. “And what is your response?”

Layna's throat had closed up and she was
barely able to squeak out, “I didn't do any of that, she replaced
the furniture on a whim, I-”

“-And did you borrow these books?” the man
interrupted, reading a few of the titles to her.

“Well, yes,” she answered truthfully. “But I
didn't ruin them!”

The Justice did not respond but instead
asked, “And are you responsible for the cleaning of these
rooms?”

“Yes,” Layna confirmed again. “But nothing
was wrong with them.”

“So you're saying that this lady - who, let
me remind you, is your superior- is a liar?”

Layna knew better than to answer 'yes' to
that question and simply hung her head, awaiting the Justice's
decision. He thought for a few moments. “Hmm,” he said finally.
“This is a rather large sum of money you realize, Lady Jezebel. One
of her stature cannot possibly be expected to come up with it. Are
you interested in keeping her in your household as repayment?”

Jezebel answered at once, “I wish to
terminate her employment, but would compromise by being able to
make an example of her to the other servants. I would accept a
ruling of thirty days in my cell as punishment to deter the other
servants from similar behavior if she cannot come up with the sum.
I would be taking a substantial loss monetarily, but I think it’s
worth it to see that justice is served to those who are deserving.
And have it be a lesson for her and any others who would so
disrespect me.”

The man nodded and pounded his gavel. “All
right then, Ms. Nyx, I order you to pay the Lady Jezebel a sum of
fifteen hundred silver coins or serve thirty days under her
supervision.” The Justice gestured for them to leave the room.

The moment that the door closed behind them,
Jezebel turned to Layna and gave her a nasty smile. “You stupid
little slut,” she said vindictively, “I hope you enjoy Devon’s
hospitality.” She laughed at her and whirled away from them,
basking in her glory.

Devon moved forward and handed a paper to
Gryffon who had come up behind Layna to support her, and then
followed his mistress out. Gryffon unfolded the note and read it
quickly. “Apparently you're not the only one who's overstayed their
welcome. Jezebel is requesting that I remove myself from her
household at once and has asked the court to confiscate my
belongings to repay what I owe her.”

“You owe her money?”

“Why else did you suppose I was still there?
It didn't take long to figure out the type of person she was. But
by then I had agreed to repay her by acting as her liaison for the
manor's trading. Along the way she convinced herself that I was
courting her, and that's the story that she spread around. I
eventually just got sick of correcting people.”

The ride home passed in a blur, though at
least one of the court’s guards accompanied them instead of Devon,
giving Layna some respite from thinking about him. Gryffon kept up
a stream of optimistic comments, but they fell on deaf ears as
Layna continued to contemplate her bleak future. She found that
Gryffon had nowhere else to go either, as he filled her in on the
events leading up to his becoming Jezebel’s houseguest. Unless they
really did just run off into the wilderness, their options were
very limited. And that was assuming that she survived her thirty
days at all, which seemed like a lot to assume. Maybe Gryffon
really would be able to break her out. She didn’t see how though.
And if and when he did? She could return home, but disliked the
idea. Especially as it would put her parents in danger. If her
talent was ever discovered, no doubt her parents would be punished
along with her if she was living with them. She had no desire to
bring trouble to their door.

They reached the manor just then, and Layna
noticed a commotion at the gates. Her mood dropped even lower as
she realized what it was. Devon dropped a bag of what she assumed
were Gryffon’s belongings outside the gate in the dirty snow and
gave him a smirking look before heading towards them to escort her
back to the cell.

Then suddenly the world around her exploded.
Smoke billowed up from nothing and enveloped the entire front yard.
Layna heard a loud smack behind her followed closely by a grunt and
a thud of something heavy hitting the ground. Layna put her hands
over her head and ducked, peeking out around her arms to try to see
what was happening. She thought she caught a flash of someone who
looked very familiar racing around the manor to the right. Devon
followed closely on their heels.

Someone grabbed her roughly by the arm and
her heart froze in her chest until she heard Gryffon’s urgent
whisper, “Come on, let’s go.”

She followed him obediently around the
opposite side of the manor that Devon had just rushed around, and
he ushered her inside a waiting carriage. He threw two suitcases in
after her and then slammed the door. Layna heard the slap of a hand
again the horse and it neighed its indignation. Its footfalls
echoed off the cobblestones, slowly at first and then faster and
faster.

“Are you alright deary?” asked a voice. As
Layna’s eyes adjusted to the dim light in the carriage, she could
barely make out a figure sitting opposite her. The voice sounded
familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“I think so,” she answered, taking a moment
to take stock of her situation. Physically she was alright…

“Excellent. I would imagine you might have
quite a few questions at the moment.” Layna finally placed the
voice. “Mila?”

The woman chuckled. “Don’t sound so surprised
child, I’m not too old for a good escape yet!”

“How –“ Layna started, but wasn’t even sure
how to form the questions.

“It turns out your benefactor there is quite
resourceful, and it didn’t hurt that you have no few friends within
the manor. Your Gryffon contacted me as soon as he realized what
was going on and we made plans to extract you. Luckily, your friend
Katrina is a very remarkable young lady, and it was her who came up
with the distraction idea for Devon. I could easily create the
smoke which made seeing difficult while Gryffon knocked out the
guard, then we concocted an illusion to make Katrina momentarily
look like you – long enough to get Devon to follow her around the
corner where she had already planted tracks for him to follow. When
he came around the corner, all he’d find was one of the maids
pointing him in the direction the fleeing girl had supposedly gone.
Then it was a simple matter of me picking you up while Gryffon went
back to tend to the guard, as if you had eluded him as well, and
leaves Katrina looking like she aided in your attempted capture.
She did ask that I pass along the sentiment that she would miss you
terribly, but promised to visit when it was safe. She also that she
packed as many of your things into Gryffon’s bags as she could fit
without being caught.”

“Wow,” was all Layna could respond at first,
until part of what Mila had said hit home with her. “Wait a minute,
you said that Katrina said she’d come visit me? Visit me where? I
have nowhere to go.”

“But of course you do, my dear. You’ll be
coming to stay with me. I have lots to teach you.”

CHAPTER 12

Jezebel lounged in her new chair in her
sitting room and smiled at the lovely way this morning had gone.
She was quite pleased with herself that she had thought to add in
that bit about the sitting room furniture. The look on the
strumpet's face had been priceless. It was a shame that she had to
ruin several books for the occasion, but she already had Devon
procuring new copies from her father.

Perhaps she'd have to fill her father in on
this little scheme. But no, he'd probably tell her that she should
have done it differently, that she could have gotten more out of
the girl.
As if he could have done it better, hah!
No, she'd
simply have to amuse herself with it. Besides, she did get more out
of it than it seemed, the rest just happened to have come from her
father's purse.
And that's almost as good
, she thought
happily.

There had been that little incident with
Gryffon taking the girl's side and then Devon allowing her to
escape, of course, which put a small damper on the day. The news
had cost her several expensive vases, thrown in her temper. She had
eventually calmed herself in the knowledge that it wasn’t over yet,
and the stupid little creature had actually made things worse for
herself. The whore may not be enjoying being Devon’s entertainment
just yet, but she had no doubt that she soon would be. And besides,
having refused to repay her debt to Jezebel meant that the girl
would automatically be returned back to her if she was picked up by
the officials. And if Devon found her, no one would have to be the
wiser that he had her at all – the girl really had done herself an
injustice. Rather than only thirty days at Devon’s hand, she had
now possibly sentenced herself to a lifetime of his whims – no
matter how short he may make that lifetime. And Gryffon – well, she
had warned him what would happen if he crossed her, and soon he
would find out. She chuckled to herself. Oh no, she wasn't done
with the two of them just yet.

She had sent out several letters, including
one announcing her candidacy for a Council seat, as well as a
blacklist for the whore, so that she would not be able to get work
even if she did manage to elude the guardsmen. She would wither
away on the streets. Maybe the slut would have to turn to a brothel
house and actually become one of the Golden Girls.
No, not the
Golden Girls. That's too high class for one of her ilk. She'd have
to make do with one of the many street whorehouses, and maybe she'd
even get into that Sparkle Dust I've heard is the newest rage and
overdose on it. Or, better yet, sell her body into slavery for a
supply of it
. Jezebel sighed happily at that satisfying
thought.

A knock sounded at the door and Jezebel gave
permission for the person to enter. It was Devon, who slipped
inside to hand her a letter, announcing that it had just arrived.
Jezebel took the note from him and slit open the seal. It was
marked with a family crest that she did not recognize.

Inside the note read, “Lady Jezebel, I have
recently been informed of your candidacy for a Council seat, and
have a proposition for you. I have been working on a project,
details of which I will fill you in on if you will accept my
invitation for dinner. If you agree to help me with said project, I
will add my support to Lord Carlon's for your inclusion in the new
Council. If you are interested in hearing more, please accept my
invitation to the enclosed address at six o'clock sharp this
evening for a further discussion of the matter. I look forward to
seeing you there. Sincerely, Lord Farthen.”

Jezebel handed the letter back to Devon and
told him, “Let the cook know I will be absent for dinner tonight,
and make arrangements to have the carriage bring me to that address
for six o'clock sharp.” Devon nodded and exited without pause; she
certainly was keeping him busy lately. Maybe she'd have to arrange
a reward for him for all he'd been doing to ensure his continued
loyalty. She made a mental note of it and pondered Lord Farthen's
invitation.

Lord Farthen was a lower noble, but one still
worth mentioning. He had organized a group of traders and now held
a monopoly on certain foreign goods through these personal traders
of his. Mysteriously, any other merchants who had tried to import
the same goods were invariably attacked by bandits.
Bad luck for
them
, thought Jezebel sarcastically. Perhaps his project had
something to do with keeping the other traders at bay. But at far
as she had heard, no one had tried in some time to interfere with
his monopoly, so it seemed unlikely. She would just have to wait
until tonight and see. Maybe it would be a good end to such a good
day.

She decided to spend the last few hours in
her suite trying on dresses. She couldn't remember if Lord Farthen
had a wife or not, but it wouldn't hurt to look her best either
way, men were so easily swayed by women's looks.

Shortly after six o'clock, she strolled into
the sitting room of Lord Farthen. She waited while the young girl
who had shown her in went to fetch her master. The room was
decorated garishly with a hunting theme. Massive heads were mounted
all over the room and weapons were hooked to the walls.
I'd say,
no wife
, thought Jezebel, and as Lord Farthen entered the room
behind the girl, he pinched her round bottom, and she added
mentally,
and that's probably why
. She tried not to let her
distaste show on her face as she was presented.