The Cartel

by E G Manetti

  After that naught is certain. As best Katleen can surmise, when the Seer returned to the kitchen, and the smell of scorching stew, she attempted to pull the pot free of the flame. In the process, she tumbled a jar of oil onto the fire.

  The herb garden is a crushed, muddy ruin. A dozen fire dousers tramped through the garden as they contained the fire. The kitchen is a disaster. A garden facing window is shattered. The far corner and ceiling are heavily damaged and will not withstand the coming rains. The cookery device is out of position and covered in debris. Soaked soot covers every surface.

  This day. There is only this day. I am the sum of my ancestors.

  Lilian dares not leave the kitchen in such a state. It will not be safe to open the foodkeeper with such toxins present.

  At eleventh bell, Lilian dismisses a protesting Katleen to find sleep. It is second bell after dark of night when Lilian finds her bed. She will gather a scant three periods of sleep before she must rise.

  Sevenday 10, Day 2

  Lucius dislikes his apprentice’s appearance. Her rigid posture and stoic countenance are masking distress. Yesterday’s taunt cannot be the source. Lilian was well enough when she left him the preceding eve. Whatever troubles her, it is not of the Cartel and must be endured. Lucius will not encourage complaint with an inquiry.

  As Lilian exits, Lucius experiences renewed frustration that Sinead's attendants have proven incorruptible. He would give much to know what transpires within the shuttered household of the Seer. He is not to know that a dozen readily corruptible fire dousers entered Lilian’s home the prior day.

  The destruction of herb garden was not incidental. The captain of the brigade made a point of repeatedly leading his team through the tender plants. Without the intervention of Sinead’s Keeper, the captain would have declared the cookery device unfit and taken it for sale on the gray market. Concerned that the Shrine might levy a charge, the captain falsified his records to cite an alarm error at an address three streets beyond Katleen’s.

  »◊«

  “Do you dislike my touch, Lilian?” The silken tones startle Lilian's eyes wide open to meet milord’s hard gaze.

  Since milord is touching Lilian very intimately and she has been actively encouraging milord, the words still her. The conference table is hard beneath her back and shoulder blades, slick against her buttocks. Lilian’s legs are wound around milord’s waist as milord stands over her, his hardened sex deep inside her.

  Shocked, Lilian exclaims, “Why would milord ask such?”

  Milord grasps her wrists and pins them on either side of Lilian’s head, leaning into her so that she can feel the tip of him against her womb. “I suppose because your busy finger play is designed to hurry a man.”

  “Milord is not pleased!” He was supposed to be pleased.

  “No, Lilian, I am not pleased. Should I wish a doxy, I could have one.” Dark anger flickers in Lucius as he presses Lilian to the table. How dare she? Lilian is his to enjoy when and how he pleases. How dare she attempt to manipulate him? To use her prodigy as license? She will regret her effrontery.

  Punctuating his next statement with a hard thrust Lucius continues, “Do no not behave as a doxy, again.”

  “As milord wills. I beg milord’s pardon.” Lilian has erred. Again.

  Lucius’ anger spikes. The woman spends too much time in the company of her doxy friends. He will cure her of emulating their behavior. “Lilian, as you wish to act as a doxy, I shall treat you as one.”

  Pulling back and out of Lilian, Lucius roughly grasps her waist, lifts her and turns her over onto her face.

  Lilian’s sensitized breasts feel bruised as her weight drops on them abruptly, crushing them to the crystal surface. Shifting his grasp to her hips to hold her in place, milord abruptly reenters Lilian. In a very few moments milord finishes and withdraws leaving Lilian clinging to the table.

  “Remain as you are until I release you.” Milord’s words are accompanied by the sound of his movement and then the freshening closet door.

  I am the sum of my ancestors. Rebecca had been so certain. I am the foundation of my family. “They all enjoy it,” Rebecca assured Lilian. “It intensifies their release even as it hastens it.” Honor is my blade and shield. The notion of hurrying is alien to Lilian. Honor knows not fear. Exhausted, unable to focus, Lilian was desperate for a meal and the energy it would provide. Honor endures. She has violated at least four strictures. Honor acts as duty commands. Milord is enraged. This day. Only this day. I am …

  The sound of the freshening closet door is followed by the sound of movement. Milord does not speak. Lilian can feel the weight of his presence as he stands behind her.

  … the foundation of my family. There is a faint whisper of sound, leather against fabric. Milord’s belt.

  Honor is my blade and shield. She is to be belted.

  Honor knows not fear. Milord is moving away. The reviewer by the couch comes to life.

  “Correct your disarray and go. Do not don your lingerie. Do not speak.”

  »◊«

  Chrys dislikes the appearance of his fellow raven. Contradicting Chrys’ expectations of a month gone, monsignor’s demands on Lilian have not lessened. They appear to be increasing. Now, Lilian’s unbound breasts and misery indicate she is on the wrong side of monsignor's will. Chrys cannot fathom why His Preeminence is trying the woman so. Monsignor is ruthless and known for harshness when his will is thwarted. Chrys cannot imagine a failure of Lilian’s that could warrant such cruelty.

  “Lilian, it is impossible.” Chrys’ words are quiet, pitched low to maintain privacy in the analysis chamber of the Synthetics lab. The shift in timbre tugs Lilian from her morose contemplation of midday’s fiasco.

  “Impossible? Chrys it cannot be impossible to find the right composition-” Lilian’s response is cut off by a shake of Chrys’ head and a quiet shushing sound.

  “I am not speaking about saltmarsh compositions. You have not attended a word on that topic. I am referring to whatever has put you on the wrong side of monsignor’s will.”

  In response, Lilian’s shuttered countenance closes even more tightly. Chrys ignores her reaction and insists, “Lilian, please heed me. Recall my ten years against your ten sevendays.”

  After a brief hesitation, Lilian nods, fully attending the technologist for the first time in the period.

  “Whatever the failing, it was not serious,” seeing denial in the gray eyes, Chrys hastens on, “Truly not. You show no evidence of corporal punishment. Minor violations of will are corrected with rebuke and mayhap humiliation. It is impossible to avoid such. No one, no matter how clever or disciplined, can truly give over his or her will to another.”

  Certain of Lilian’s attention, Chrys continues, “The system is devised to be so, impossible. Minor transgressions against will offer the opportunity to reinforce the apprentice bond. If you do not repeat the offense, monsignor is unlikely to recall the matter. By eighth bell tomorrow it will be unimportant to monsignor. It may already be so. It cannot be so for you. Do not repeat the offense. Release the rest to the Shades of the Five.”

  Listening to Chrys, the sick knot that has been lodged in Lilian’s midsection since midday begins to loosen. Finally, Lilian whispers, “I did put my will before monsignor’s.”

  Chrys’ response is gentle, “Of course you did. You must. You cannot manage a day otherwise. That is why it is impossible. Think you they know it not? It will become easier with time.”

  Chrys’ quiet confidence and assurance eases Lilian’s spirit. She is able to recall their purpose. “Chrys, could you show me again the required composition of an acceptable saltmarsh?”

  The complexity of the challenge is both distracting and soothing.

  “What think you of that Simon?” Seigneur Rachelle nods at the pair visible through the clear partitions that separate the lab from the analysis chamber.

  An observant scientist and an experienced department head, Rachelle easily determines
that the intimate exchange has naught to do with synthetics. The monitors provide only one word in five as Chrys’ voice is muffled by the surrounding buzz of electronics.

  Senior Associate Simon reminds Lilian of nothing so much as a stork. His sharp, pointed face mounts a short torso affixed with long legs and arms. The quiet, almost taciturn, technologist treats Lilian with the same indifferent courtesy he shows Chrys.

  “They will locate the saltmarshes. Let them comfort each other. They are more together than they are apart. Only transgression is in your mind.” The disjointed, mumbled response comes from Master Magnus, who, in typical fashion, wanders off to tap and speak with tubes and technology.

  After a moment, Simon responds, “With all due respect seigneur, I concur with our mad chemist.”

  Considering the young couple who are now clearly engaged in their assigned task, Rachelle agrees. “I concur as well. It will be well if monsignor does, when this comes to his notice.”

  Sevenday 10, Day 3

  “Seigneur Marco is with monsignor,” Mistress Marieth informs Lilian. “You are to wait.”

  Welcoming the reprieve, Lilian takes her seat facing the scarlet door. Eighth bell attendance was routine. Midday is always unpredictable.

  Seigneur Marco is one of milord’s most trusted retainers and a close cousin. A short, compact man of sixty plus years, given to the more dapper of styles, Marco’s blunt featured, square jawed face bears little resemblance to milord’s. Lilian has concluded that Seigneur Marco’s true responsibilities relate to milord’s ‘special projects.’ Commercial endeavors involving high risk and high return. That Marco is not involved in the Synthetics venture is a puzzle Lilian has yet to solve.

  Without hesitation, Lilian activates her slate. It will be impossible to miss Seigneur Marco’s exit. It is safe to concentrate on Master Straus’ seemingly endless queue of assignments. Twenty-five minutes into the period, the quiet hiss of a door alerts Lilian to Seigneur Marco’s exit. Simultaneously storing her slate and rising, Lilian awaits the seigneur’s acknowledgement.

  Lilian’s slight acquaintance with the important warrior is sufficient to recognize that the man is extremely excited about something. With a quick smile, Marco instructs, “You are to enter.”

  The scarlet door is recessing when Lilian is gathered into a demanding kiss, her body pulled tight to milord’s. The searing kiss, coupled with milord’s erection, indicates that milord is as excited as his kinsman. I wonder what they have in play?

  Lucius is tight inside Lilian. Replete, relaxed, he has yet to soften. The young woman straddling his groin has her head resting on his chest. Naked to the waist, her skin is warm silk beneath his fingers as Lucius leisurely strokes the line of her back. Lilian’s hands are locked on the arms of the chair.

  Over corrected, Lucius acknowledges to himself. He must carry her to the penthouse if he is to overcome this new inhibition before it sets. The enticing thought causes Lucius to shift slightly. Lilian tightens around him with a small sigh.

  Chapter 15: Traitor

  A Cartel associate executes ten periods of commerce First Day through Sixth Day. Attendance at the Cartel, or other duty site, is mandated between eighth bell and sixth. A minimum of sixty periods of commerce are to be rendered each sevenday, less the liberty reductions for contracted festivals and settlement days.

  Apprentices receive the minimal respite allowance of one and one-half period per day. Master Associates may claim as many as three respite periods in a day, although they must achieve the productivity that justifies their place.

  Few can manage to complete the expected assignment load without extra bells. Associates are within the Cartel for an average of eleven periods each commerce day. All associates are granted three periods each sevenday for physical training which is treated as commerce when executed within Serengeti training chambers.

  Sevenday 10, Day 4

  “Lilian, has someone struck you?” Lucius tilts Lilian’s jaw to scrutinize the small knot and noticeable bruise that cosmetics cannot conceal. They are seated on the couch in Lucius’ office reviewing Lilian’s budget projections for the Synthetics project.

  “No milord, it is a sparring injury,” Lilian replies with a small shrug. Split lips and splinted fingers are a common sight within the Cartel.

  Milord releases Lilian’s chin. From milord’s expression, further explanation is required.

  “I train in our courtyard, milord. The stone pillars are unforgiving. My mother supervises the exercise. She is a Master of Sinead’s Discipline.” Lilian quickly adds the last to assure milord that her training is well supervised. Despite Chrys’ words of comfort, at the least sign of displeasure from milord, Lilian finds herself over explaining.

  “I prefer you use the Serengeti facilities and you are to visit the Dispensary in regard to that injury,” milord wills.

  This is ill. It will be all but impossible for Lilian to comply with milord’s will. Any attempt to explain could be considered complaint. Falsehood is out of the question. Truth, but only pieces, is her best hope.

  “If milord pleases, I beg to be allowed to continue as I am. I find it difficult to maintain a consistent schedule within the Cartel, and the exercise is good for my mother,” Lilian entreats.

  Demon shit, Lucius bites back the vulgarity. Lilian is hiding something. He cannot risk pressing the matter. Lilian is rigid with anxiety, her eyes wide and blank. It has been so for two days. Lucius must carry Lilian to the penthouse soon or he risks losing what little he gained in two months of determined assault on her reserve. For now, he will retreat.

  After an eternity milord nods, “You must be tried by one of the Serengeti Masters. Should you pass, you may continue on as you are. You will wear a protective mask in your stone training chamber.”

  “Yes milord. My thanks, milord,” Lilian responds with relief. None of the training masters wishes Lilian as student. She will pass the trial. Were it not for the auto-racers, Lilian would not enter the training chambers.

  »◊«

  Entering the Synthetics Lab, Lucius is greeted by the enticing sight of Lilian’s derriere as she bends over a console to peer closely at a reviewer screen. She is listening intently to the young man in black seated next to her. Lucius’ eyes narrow as he notes that Lilian’s torso is a great deal closer to Chrys’ shoulder than it should be. Fortunately for Chrys, he is either indifferent to, or oblivious of, the proximity.

  Beyond the analytics chamber, the laboratory chamber is visible behind the glazed partitions. It contains a variety of apparatus used for testing, distilling and refining chemical compounds. Seigneur Rachelle, Master Magnus, Senior Associate Simon and Protégé Irina can be seen moving about the experiments.

  Noting movement from the corner of his eye, Chrys sights Lucius and rises immediately. At Chrys’ movement, Lilian turns and then comes to a stand.

  “Monsignor, with permission, I will inform Seigneur Rachelle.” At Lucius’ nod, Chrys enters the glass chamber in search of his seigneur.

  Addressing his waiting apprentice Lucius inquires “What do you here?”

  “Milord, I am reviewing the specifics of saltmarsh water chemical compositions. Apparently the minerals in the water found in saltmarshes make that water highly desirable to the synthetic process. As I understand it, not all saltmarsh water is equally efficacious. Some is more desirable than others. I cannot claim to understand it in any depth, however numbers are numbers. Either they match or they do not.”

  “What exactly are you attempting to match?” Lucius pursues.

  “Milord’s saltmarshes, the ones associated with the fisheries milord owns on the Western continent. Should they match the preferred compound, I believe – “

  “Do they match, Lilian?” Lucius interrupts impatiently. He normally enjoys his apprentice’s diligent and precise reports. At the moment he wishes results.

  “I know not, milord. Milord entered before Master Chrys and I completed the evaluation.” Lilian is eager to
return to the analysis. She is certain they are close.

  “Monsignor, they match,” this from Seigneur Rachelle who entered with her team as Lilian was finishing her explanation. “I beg pardon for keeping you waiting. When Chrys explained what Mistress Lilian and he were attempting, I executed the evaluation myself. They most definitely match.

  “Monsignor, with the addition of the Western continent saltmarshes, we have reliable sources for our prototyping efforts. All of which sources are all controlled by the Blooded Dagger Cartouche. “

  Lucius is very pleased.

  »◊«

  Crevasse swallow the man and his games. Do not think so. Never think so. Eighth bell is chiming and the penthouse is empty. Lilian checks her slate for the fourth time in as many minutes. Naught has changed. It lacks an attendance dismissal.

  In all her other entrances to the penthouse, milord has been waiting or has accompanied Lilian. It is her first time alone in the penthouse. What protocol, which stricture? Milord’s will. Milord brings Lilian to the penthouse for his pleasure. Lilian will not err again.

  Nude, Lilian settles on the great bead to wait. To anticipate milord’s pleasure. As ninth bell chimes she is chilled, anxious and in no manner aroused. She also requires the freshening closet.

  Returning to the bedchamber Lilian once again checks her slate. Milord’s attendance requirement remains in force. Milord’s will is inexplicable. With that thought, Lilian considers the bed and the chamber.

  Milord is demanding. Harsh when his will is thwarted. Milord has shown no evidence of such sly cruelty. Whatever milord’s intent in this, Lilian has failed to fathom it. She must rely on her own judgment. Holding fast to Chrys’ assurance that it is expected, Lilian evaluates her options.

  After ensuring the chamber door is open and will remain so, Lilian collects her slate. Milord’s discipline is unlikely to increase in severity does she add dwelling on commerce to her transgressions. Ignoring the desire for a meal and sleep, Lilian takes a brief tour of the chamber.