by Eric Vall
“Kill him!” the Duchess roared. “Do it now, you goddamn mongrel!”
The guard didn’t respond as he stared at the broken apparatus in his fist, rubbed at his bald head, and blinked in confusion. Daisy loomed behind him, lifted her hands over her head, knit her fingers together, and then brought them down toward the crown of his head. The bear-girl’s muscles in her arms bulged, strained, and flexed as her intertwined fingers slammed down onto his cranium. One second, the guard was there, sitting in front of me, and the next, his head was nothing more than an exploded mass of scarlet bone fragments, torn flesh, and splattered brains.
My shirt was soaked with his lifeblood, and I hastily brushed away the tiny bits of bone, cleared my throat, and raised my eyes toward the two women.
“I’ll go get my copy of the contract,” I stated flatly, as if my woman hadn’t just brutally murdered the duchesses’ five goons. “Then we’ll look it over together and decide what to do next, shall we?”
“I told you,” Edony snarled, stepped over the corpses, and stalked closer. “I know what the goddamn contract says.”
“Then you understand that as long as I continue the experiments in the laboratory, for you or anyone else,” I grinned, “I can remain on the property and hold ownership of the manor. The contract never stated an end date, or rules if the contract was broken… so, this is the only solution.”
Ortensia strode closer, avoided looking down at the limp, bloodied bodies, lifted her chin, and glared down at me.
“I’d like to see a copy of the contract, if you will.” The scarlet-haired woman stated. “It seems you’ve found a loophole, but… I’d still like to see it, if you would please get it for me.”
“Daisy,” I uttered. “My dear, will you get the contract? It’s in the desk in my office.”
“Of course, Charles,” the brunette replied, brushed off her dress, stepped over the dead guard in front of her, and hurried up the steps.
The Duchess’ violet eyes followed after the petite women, waited until she had disappeared, and then she whipped her head in my direction.
“I don’t know why, Charles,” the blonde started. “But there’s something about your and Ms. Browning’s relationship that throws me off. It’s not the same as other Mistresses and consorts, she treats you… differently than most, and I don’t like it. I promise you, I will find out the reason why, and do something about it.”
“You don’t like that she treats me like another human being?” I snarked. “That Daisy Browning shows me respect and doesn’t act as if I’m a dog, lying at her feet every second of the day?”
“I wouldn’t put it that bluntly,” Edony exhaled. “But yes, she treats you as if you were her equal, that’s why I wrote her family to inquire about their treatment of consorts.”
“Wait… you sent a letter to her family?” I asked as my stomach shot up to my throat.
“Yes,” the Duchess snorted. “I was very interested to know the reason why their daughter, who is rich, powerful, and influential, had moved to a small town such as this, chose a single consort, and settled down in my manor.”
“Why can’t you accept that it’s none of your business?” I uttered. “Does it upset you that much that I signed a contract with Ms. Browning?”
“I don’t care if you signed a contract with Ms. Browning!” the blonde screamed. “I care that you broke your promise to me! You used and abused my patronage and then cast it off as if the last few months we worked together were nothing! I paid you, and yet, I received none of the things I asked for!”
“Edony,” I stated. “You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said. I told you I needed more time, what you wanted couldn’t be created in a manner of weeks… Your venture would’ve taken a year or two to complete, but you didn’t give me the chance to finish it, and I knew if I didn’t complete it on time, you’d eliminate me.”
“Then what about this?” the Duchess gestured to the corpses lying at her feet. “Doesn’t this look like it worked? Yes, it needs improvement, but it’s getting somewhere.”
“This isn’t what you want,” I shook my head, glanced over at the scarlet-haired woman, and then went on. “And you know it, Edony. You asked for--”
“Silence!” Edony roared, widened her eyes, glanced toward Ortensia, and then snarled. “No one but the two of us were privy to the nature of our project, let’s keep it that way, Charles.”
“I have it here,” Daisy stated. “I read through it while I came downstairs, and what Charles said is true. The contract is indefinite, there’s no end date as long as he keeps inventing and experimenting in his laboratory.”
The brunette offered the crème colored papers to the Chief Constable, and Ortensia took it from her hands. The scarlet-haired woman glanced over the pages, flipped through them a few times, started from the first page, and read it for a second time. Ortensia slapped the packet closed, glanced over at Edony out of the corner of her eye, leveled her gaze at me, cleared her throat, and took a step forward.
“It seems… what the Alchemist said is true, Duchess,” Ortensia uttered. “He is allowed to live here as long as he continues his work in the laboratory…”
“Fine, if I can’t take the manor away, then I’ll just—” Edony barked, stepped forward, and swung her cane toward me, but in one swift motion, Daisy stepped down beside me, gripped the length of the cane in her palm, and glared into the Duchess’ face.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Edony hissed. “Let go this instant.”
“You will not touch Charles,” Daisy stated. “I’ve told you enough times it should’ve sunk in by now. Doctor Rayburn is under my care and protection… you cannot lay a hand on him.”
The brunette let go of the cane with a jerk, and Edony nearly fell as she pulled back. Her once pristine curls were loose and jiggled precariously as she stalked closer, tugged on her floral jacket, and snarled down at Daisy.
“Just wait until I hear back from your family,” Edony snarled. “I should be receiving a letter from them very soon. You never gave us a reason why you came to Edenhart, and I hope they explain it better than you did.”
“Why did you write a letter to my family?” the bear-girl snickered. “It’s none of your business why I arrived here, and it’s certainly none of your business why I contracted Charles as my consort. Can you not accept that I sought him out simply because I wanted him? I had no plot against you, I saw a man that I thought worthy of my patronage, and reached out to him.”
“You may say that,” the Duchess shrieked. “But I want to know why the Browning’s wealthy, prestigious daughter is meddling in my business! Don’t you have any manners? Didn’t they teach you that if a man is under contract with another woman, you shouldn’t proposition him? Have you no shame, Daisy Browning?”
“So, you wrote my family to embarrass me?” the brunette snapped. “To let them know that their wayward daughter ran away from home, shacked up with a man, and won’t leave their rightful home? You wrote them to tattle on me like a sour schoolmarm?”
“Yes! …No…” Edony narrowed her eyes. “I wrote them because, not only am I the Duchess of Edenhart, but I’m a concerned woman, looking out for the younger generation. You never know what young, impressionable ladies will get themselves into without a proper chaperone or governess. Some young ladies, I’ve heard through rumors and gossip, have run off and gotten pregnant by some brute, a man not of their approved breeding program. I’m sure the Browning family has a rigorous breeding program put in place for you when it comes time for such things, and if they knew you… ran off with a brute such as this, they might not be too happy.”
“Didn’t Delphine Vallantine have a breeding program like mine?” Daisy asked directly to me. “And she too took consorts… I believe I heard that she had as many as twenty at a time.”
“What do you know of Delphine Vallantine?” Ortensia asked, narrowed her eyes, and reached for her baton. “You’ve just come here, how could you know such th
ings?”
“I told her,” I stated. “What she just said is information I heard directly out of Delphine’s mouth the day I went to visit her. The deceased told me that her family had a breeding program, one not unlike the one you have, Edony, isn’t that right?”
“Where were you the night that Delphine and the Warden died?” the scarlet-haired woman questioned.
“What are you doing?” Edony snapped. “This has nothing to do with the reason we’re here!”
“It’s my job, Duchess,” the Chief Constable grunted. “Tell me, Charles.”
“He was here,” Daisy assured. “With me, all night, and the morning after. I would also like to ask why you’re bringing this up now? Charles was proven innocent of that crime; you have no reason to suspect him.”
“He may have been proven innocent at the time, but that doesn’t mean he is,” Ortensia growled. “He could’ve been involved… somehow.”
“I may not like Charles,” Edony snarked. “But I have to agree with Mr. Rayburn and Miss Browning, Charles is innocent. Milton is the one who killed Delphine, there is no other logical explanation. Leave the case be, we have more important things to attend to… like how I’ll get my property back.”
Ortensia glared at me for a second, turned her head back toward the Duchess, opened her mouth as if to speak, snapped it closed, and then stepped back behind the blonde. It was clear she had more to say, but in the presence of the most powerful woman in Edenhart, she could only obey Edony’s command. Ortensia may have been the Chief Constable, but she wouldn’t dare go against the Duchess. If she did… she may end up in the stocks, or worse, dead.
“You’ve read the contract yourself, Duchess,” Daisy breathed. “There’s no way that you can kick Charles out, not unless he stops working, which I know for a fact, he will never do. Now, if you would please leave, we have important things to attend to.”
“And take the bodies with you,” I grunted. “You brought them with you, you should take the pieces back with you.”
Edony glanced down at the slaughtered guards, rolled her eyes, scoffed loudly, turned on her heels, whistled for Ortensia, but the blonde paused as she reached for the carriage door. The Duchess stood there for a second with her hand on the door, and her left leg raised in the air, but she lowered them suddenly. Edony’s head turned, a wicked smile spread over her features as she moved to face us, pressed a gloved hand to her corseted waist, and strutted forward.
“You won’t leave the manor?” The Duchess echoed.
“No,” I stated.
“You’ll either have to drag us out,” Daisy growled. “Or fight me yourself. We won’t go, not when the contract is in our favor.”
“We both know that I own the manor,” Edony purred. “And you’re allowed to live here because I signed the contract, bequeathing you with the property… that I own.”
“Duchess?” Ortensia questioned with a tilt of her head. “What do you mean? You’re just repeating things we already know…”
“I know I am, will you shut up while I think?” the blonde barked. “But… if someone else were to buy the property, the contract would be null and void as we once believed.”
“No one would be interested in buying the property,” I stated. “You told me that when you first signed it over to me, you tried to sell it before. You said it’s so far from town. All the aristocrats like to be up close to that action, and within walking distance of the taverns.”
“That may be true,” Edony nodded, tapped her chin, and paced along the drive. “But I’m sure, as the Duchess of Edenhart, I could drum up some attention. Maybe announce our broken contract, I’m sure that the whole town would turn on you in an instant, and support me… Or maybe, I don’t have to sell it… if the price were low enough, and I spoke about you enough in town, someone would take it off my hands quickly and for a small price.”
“What are you trying to say?” I exhaled. “You’re going to sell the manor?”
“No,” Edony shook her head. “Selling it would take too much time, too much invested money. Not only that, but this house isn’t really worth anything. Its architecture is old, and out of style, the furniture is ghastly, and I never took the time to drag them all out and sell them, and lastly, as you said, it’s too far away from town for any aristocrat’s liking.”
“So, it’s unsellable,” Daisy assured.
“No, it’s sellable,” the blonde objected. “But to the right buyer, the right price, the right… the excitement of the moment…”
“What is that supposed to mean?” the brunette snapped. “Stop beating around the bush and tell us what you mean. We can’t wait all day until you decide to stop playing games with us.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you,” Edony giggled. “I’m not going to evict you, or sell the manor, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m simply going to auction it off, then the property, and most of all, you, are no longer my problem.”
“A-Auction it off?” I stammered. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m the owner of the property,” the blonde grinned. “I can do whatever I want with it. Selling it will take too long, you’ll pack up my machine and be gone by the time someone takes an interest. No, if I auction it, there’s no way that you can escape, and my machine will come with me when all of this ends. It’s that simple, Charles, you may have found a loophole in my contract, but you forget that I’m the cleverest woman in the city of Edenhart.”
“An auction,” Ortensia snickered. “Now that is a good plan, Lady Edony.”
“You understand what this means, right, Charles?” the blonde cackled. “Once I spread the news of our broken contract, our feud, Ms. Browning’s arrival, and the auction, aristocrats will be lining up and down the drive to bid on this house. They do love a scandal, they always have, especially ones between Mistresses and their men, though you weren’t my consort. They may be more interested in my story since it wasn’t sexual in nature, I simply contracted you for work, and you refused me after months of stealing my money.”
“You better find a place to live,” the scarlet-haired woman guffawed. “And don’t even think about laying a hand on the Duchess’ machine, she paid for it, and you know what that means. She owns it, it’s her property, and if you attempt to take it, that’s theft, and I can legally throw you in the stocks or a jail cell.”
Edony laughed once more, knit her fingers together, and cracked each digit menacingly. The blonde stalked forward, stabbed her cane into the gravel, came to stand at the bottom of the steps, leaned her head back, and sneered up at me.
“So, I’ll give it two days,” the Duchess warned. “Two days to allow my rumors to spread around the city like wildfire, and by this time on… Friday, the manor will be owned by some other woman, and then you and your Mistress will be homeless. I may not be able to kill you, at least not yet, Charles, but I can take everything away from you… piece by piece, bit by bit. Before you know it, your insignificant existence will be dismantled and thrown away by my hand. I may not be able to watch the light leave your eyes as you swing from the hangman’s noose, but I can witness your hopes shrivel up and die, like a brilliant rose without sun or water… yes, the thought of it is almost orgasmic to me, and I’m eager to watch it play out on my own personal stage. Remember this, Charles, after all this time, all the promises, my patronage, and monetary support, you’re the one who turned your back on me.”
Chapter Three
I stood on the last two steps as Edony and the Chief Constable’s carriages pulled away, rolled down the driveway, and disappeared from sight down the hill. My heart hammered in my chest, I breathed a shaky sigh, and then slumped down onto one of the higher steps.
“What are we going to do?” I grunted. “There’s no way we can keep the manor now… I just…”
“Charles?” Daisy murmured.
“I just want us to be left alone!” I dropped my hands, threw my head back, and screamed at the sky. “Why can’t the Duchess just cut her losses and
leave us alone?”
The brunette shuffled closer, laid her delicate, but gore-stained, hands on my shoulders, shook me slightly, and then leaned in close. The bear-girl’s calming, natural scent washed over me in waves, I leaned into it, let out a low bark of a laugh, and then collapsed forward into her arms.
“Charles,” Daisy breathed. “We can figure something out. This doesn’t have to be the end.”
“What can we do, Daisy?” I asked. “The loophole would’ve worked, but Edony’s right. She’s too clever, no matter how we try to trick her, she’s always two steps ahead of us.”
The door above us slowly creaked open, Valerie peeked out, glanced toward the drive where the Duchess had just disappeared, and then snuck out onto the porch. The feline-woman lowered her knees, crawled toward us on her belly, hopped down the steps with ease, and then curled herself around my back.
“Did you hear?” I grunted.
“Yes…” the ash-blonde woman nodded. “What are we going to do? What can we do?”
“Well, not all is lost,” the brunette started. “We still have two days before Edony auctions off the house, I’m sure we could figure something out by then.”
“Like what?” I uttered. “There’s nothing we can do at this point… we’re going to have to accept our fates, move on, and… and… I don’t know what we’ll do. How will we survive? Where will we live?”
“Well, we could go ahead with our plans.” Valerie purred into my ear, curled herself around me tighter, and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“We can’t kill the Duchess just yet, Val,” I exhaled.
“Oh, come on!” the feline-woman exclaimed. “It’d solve all of our problems!”
“But it would also cause a lot more unforeseen ones,” I snickered. “If she disappeared, at this moment with everything that’s going on between us, I’d be carted away to the jail again and then hung for sure this time.”
“Fine,” the ash-blonde woman grumbled. “Why don’t we do something to take our minds off of it? We could work on your machine, there are always improvements to be made! Science waits for no one, Charles! You have to chase after it yourself!”