by Eric Vall
“Please don’t swear at me, Sir,” the young boy muttered as he hung his head low. “I’m just doing as I’m told. If I allow you to use the signed check instead of a work order and come to find out you don’t work for the Duchess, it’ll come back on me. My mistress will have me lashed and will move me to a worse job than this, please don’t make me kick you out.”
“Goddamnit,” I breathed as I turned on my heel.
When I saw Edony earlier in the day, she was on the verge of tearing my head off with her bare hands, and I didn’t want to imagine what she’d do when I showed up on her doorstep and asked for a work order. I’d learned over our time together, it was best to do as she asked as soon as the words slipped from her lips or else, I’d feel her wrath. Images of the crook of her cane encircling my neck and dragging me to my knees flashed behind my eyes, and my hands instinctively curled into fists.
“Chaaaaarles?” a familiar screeching voice from behind me called, and I froze. “Is that the Alchemist Charles Rayburn?”
Alchemist… alchemist. The word bounced off the walls of my skull for a moment, but I plastered a grin over my features and turned to face my savior… Delphine Vallantine.
“Delphine!” I boomed as I crossed toward her, offered her my hand, and forced a smile to my lips. “How wonderful to see you!”
The plump gray-haired woman glanced down at my hand, studied it for a moment, and gave me a simpering smile as she reached out and took it. Her hand felt almost exactly like a cold, dead fish as I shook it, and I fought to keep the fake smile in place. Her brown eyes studied my face for longer than I would’ve liked, but thankfully, the chubby woman dropped my hand and replaced it in the pocket of her heavy skirts.
“How lucky of me to be in the store today,” Delphine simpered as she pushed out her flabby lips and clicked her tongue. “What can we help you with? Anything you’re looking for?”
“Well, yes,” I nodded as I fought to keep the smile in place. “I came in to buy some supplies for the super-secret project that Edony and I are working on, but this fine, young gentleman let me know that per the new rules and regulations, I’m not allowed to purchase the supplies without a work order or the Duchess here with me.”
Delphine glared at the worker out of the corner of her eye as the corners of her lips twitched into a grimace. The temperature of the air dropped suddenly as Delphine’s muddy brown eyes glowed white for a second, and a thin layer of frost sprung up across the young worker’s hand. The boy cried out, drew his hand away, stared down at it with watering eyes, and then held it tightly to his chest.
Just as suddenly, the vile woman grinned up at me with a look of adoration and grabbed me by the hands. I wanted nothing more than to pull away from her cold, clammy grasp, but I forced myself to stay put because if I moved, I’d cause more trouble for myself.
“Your employees are very well versed in the laws, and I commend this young man for following them to a T,” I nodded toward the dark-haired teenager, and he bowed his head in response to my kind words. “But since I have neither of those things, I have to drop by the Duchess’ manor to get a work order. I’ll be seeing you later, Delp--”
“No, no, no,” the stout woman cut me off, and I raised my eyebrows as she wrapped a chubby arm around my waist and snatched the check out of my hands. “You came all the way here, and I already know that you and the Duchess are working together. See? Here’s her signature, so we already have her approval to buy the things you need. Here, why don’t you let me help you? It’s my store, after all, and I know where everything is.”
I would’ve preferred to get the items myself or be helped by the actual employees, but I couldn’t refuse Delphine, it would only hurt me in the end. There was only one reason she wanted to help me, and I could see it clearly in her eyes: the disgusting witch wanted me.
I’d never been offered a position as a consort, though, I’d heard that those who refused the proposal disappeared and were never heard of again. Would that happen to me if Delphine propositioned me? I knew that I had the Duchess on my side, and I couldn’t finish the project if I were carted away to Delphine’s manor, but would Edony’s alliance make a difference? She hadn’t been exactly happy with me the last time I’d seen her, so would she stop Delphine from snatching me up?
“What do you say, Charlessss?” the stout woman purred as she pressed herself to my side. “Let’s go ahead and get you the things you need. Oh, my, the Duchess gave you a small fortune of republic ducats. That’s like ten years of wages for my store clerks, you should be thankful for the Duchess. She takes verrrry good care of you, doesn’t she?”
“Yes,” I nodded as I reached for the check, but the gray-haired woman jerked her arm away. “The Duchess and I are… close.”
“I seeee…” Delphine dragged out the word as her dark brown eyes studied my face with longing. “I assume that means that the Duchess has made you an offer? A contract to be a consort? I’ll have you know… I could match it or even surpass it, I am almost as wealthy as she is, look at my store, I’m practically bathing in money. Demetri, why are you still standing there? Listening in to our conversation, little rat! Get back to work!”
This time, I pulled my hands away from Delphine as she turned on her employee and raised her voice into a shrill roar. The gray-haired woman snapped her head back in my direction, and her jowls shook as her muddy-brown eyes met mine.
“The Duchess has never made me an offer,” I cleared my throat as I reached across the much smaller woman’s body and grabbed the check from her petite hands. “And I don’t think I’d accept, neither hers nor anyone else’s. I’m a doctor, a scientist in search of discovery, I’m no good unless I’m working in my laboratory. Now, please, Ms. Vallantine, can we find my supplies? I have important work to do back home.”
Delphine blinked rapidly, and then clamped her mouth shut, I’d seen this expression so many times before on other women, but it’d never been aimed at me. With my profession, I tended to stay away from women except for the Duchess, but I’d seen the disapproving looks right before the explosion, and I knew I needed to do something to satiate her.
Delphine took two menacing steps forward with her tiny hands formed into fists. The flesh of her hands turned a light blue and spikes of ice sprouted up like deadly projectiles. But just as suddenly, she stopped and unfurled them with a sweet smile and the ice disappeared with a crackle.
“Fine, Charles,” the gray-haired woman breathed as she batted her eyelashes at me. “What is it you need?”
This wasn’t normal, I knew that I’d overstepped my bounds as a lower-class citizen, but the way Delphine reacted… something wasn’t right at all. As much as I wanted to brush it off and let her lead me around the mercantile, I felt unsettled as if this were the calm before the storm.
“Well, I need a glass pane, four by three if you have that size,” I started ticking off the items I needed while keeping a watchful eye on Delphine. “I need about ten pieces of copper sheeting, ten by ten preferably. Then I need some bolts, I’m unsure of what size, they’re big enough to sit in the palm of your hand though.”
“Demetri!” Delphine screamed as she whipped around toward the rows of wooden shelves, and a few feet away, the young man popped his head out with a frightened expression. “Go to the back and retrieve one glass panel, four by three and ten pieces of copper sheeting, ten by ten. Take them out to Charles’ wagon and make sure they’re tied down, I don’t want a repeat of what happened to Ms. Van Haussen last week, do you understand?”
“Yes, Mistress, of course, Mistress,” Demetri replied in a monotone voice as he threw himself into a low bow, turned on his heel, and ran full force toward the back of the building.
“Poor thing’s entire order slid off the back of her wagon,” Delphine tutted and shook her head. “Wasn’t tied off properly. I’m telling you, Charles, the quality of male workers in this city keeps getting worse and worse.”
“But what about the bo--” I started, but
the gray-haired woman lifted a finger into the air.
“Now, shall we look at the bolts you need?” Delphine chirped as she took me by the arm and led me down a specific aisle. “I have quite a few different sizes, you’ll have to look through them and see which one looks best.”
I followed along with the short, plump woman through the rows and rows of shelving, and the farther she brought me, the more it felt like a labyrinth. It was darker here too, with fewer windows than the front of the building, and I craned my neck over the towering shelves to see how far we’d come. The massive entrance loomed in the distance like a last sign of hope, I wanted nothing more than to run toward it and escape Delphine.
“Ah, here we are, Charles,” the stout woman sang. “We have a few different sizes.”
I hurried after her and found her a few aisles over in front of a tall tower of shelves. The gray-haired woman gestured me forward, and I turned my back to her as I stepped closer to examine the different sizes of bolts. Delphine came up beside me, snatched one of the silver bolts from the crate, and then stepped back with the item held tightly in her palm.
“I read in the newspaper that out West, there is a female scientist who experimented on the corpses of her servants,” Delphine blurted out as she tossed the bolt into the air, and then deftly caught it. “She embedded bolts like these into their necks and zapped electricity through them to bring the corpses back to life.”
“Why would she do such a thing?” I exclaimed over my shoulder.
“Who knows?” the gray-haired woman sighed. “I personally think that her consorts kept dying because she… disciplined them too hard or something, and she was trying to find a way to work around it.”
“It wouldn’t work,” I stated as I held up three different bolts and scrutinized them.
“What do you mean?” Delphine shuffled closer and peered over my shoulder.
“Sounds like she tried to perform some form of necromancy,” I snorted through my nose. “Most scientists know that you can’t bring something back to life, once it’s dead… it’s dead, there’s no going back. If you want to exert change over a body, it has to be alive and--”
I clamped my mouth shut and hoped that Delphine wouldn’t notice my sudden silence. The project the Duchess and I worked on was top secret, though I didn’t know the reason why, and no one could know, especially Delphine. I peeked over my shoulder at the gray-haired woman as I casually tossed the bolts back in their bins. Delphine leaned back against one of the shelves as she examined her nails and didn’t seem to notice I’d stopped talking.
“Thank the gods,” I whispered under my breath as I reached for another bin.
My lips pressed into a firm line as I tried to remember the correct bolt I needed, held up two different sizes of bolts, examined their miniscule size difference, and then grabbed six of the correct one.
“Are you concentrating, Charles?” Delphine cooed in a low voice.
“Yes,” I nodded as I plastered a smile over my lips. “Why do you ask?”
“I’ve noticed you press your lipssss together a lot,” the gray-haired woman uttered in her thick accent. “I can never figure out if you’re simply concentrating, disgusted, or aroused.”
“Why would I be disgusted or aroused?” I gulped as I turned halfway around. “I have no reason to be either of those things.”
Delphine’s leveled her muddy eyes at me, and I saw the glittering implication in their depths. There was no way I could avoid it when she’d gotten me in the back corner of her store. We were utterly alone, and I was a man, the lowest living creature on earth, so she could do whatever she wanted to me back here, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“You have such broad shoulders, Charles,” the gray-haired woman breathed. “I know for a fact that the Duchess prefers her consorts to have broad shoulders. You’re awfully close to Edony, for a man, at least. Are you sure you’re not under contract with her?”
“Delphine,” I started in a low voice. “Nothing is going on between the Duchess and me. She hired me to work on a project, and that is all. I’m not under contract with her, I’m not her consort nor will I ever be.”
“Even if it’s a ssssecret, you can tell me,” the gray-haired woman simpered as she slunk closer. “I only ask because I have my own personal interest in you.”
“Please,” I pleaded as I glanced up and down the rows of shelves. “I promise I don’t have a contract with the Duchess, and honestly, I’m not interested in that type of thing, Ms. Vallantine. I’m a scientist and doctor, I’m married to my job. I have no time for those things.”
“Are you rejecting me?” Delphine snickered as she reached out for me and gripped onto the lapels of my jacket. “You? A man? Do you know who I am? I’m the second richest, second strongest woman in this town. I have more power in my body than you can ever imagine.”
“I don’t want any trouble,” I stated in a clear voice as I attempted to pull myself away. “I’m simply uninterested in contracts and being a consort.”
“What is she giving you in exchange?” Delphine shrieked as she slammed me back against the wooden shelves. “Huh? Money? I see that she’s paying you, what else is she giving you? Tell me, and I’ll double her offer!”
“Let go!” I grabbed her by the wrists and threw her away from me. “I already told you, I’m not in a contract to be her consort! I’m a scientist!
Delphine slammed into the wooden shelves on the other side of the aisle and held onto them for support as she glared at me. Strands of gray hair hung in her face, and she breathed heavily as she pushed herself forward and jabbed a finger into my chest.
“Listen, Alchemist,” the gray-haired crone roared. “I will have you, no matter what you say! You will be my consort, and you will tend to my every need, do you understand? You don’t have the right to say no, gladly accept my offer and be my lover.”
“And what if I don’t?” I spat out as I took two steps away. “What will you do then, Delphine? Huh? Force me?”
“No, I won’t force you,” Delphine purred as she threw back her head and grinned wickedly. “Do you know how easy it is to get a man condemned in this town? How easy it would be for me to have you strung up in the town square? You think the duchess protects you? With a snap of my fingers, it’d be as if you never existed in the first place. I have that kind of power, Charles, do you doubt me?”
“Why me?” I snapped as rage took me into its palm and held me tightly. “Why do you want me of all men? If you’re as wealthy and powerful as you say you are, you could have anyone that you want, why does it have to be me? I’m just a scientist! A plain doctor tinkering away in his basement! I should be of no interest to you!”
“I want you because the Duchess has you,” Delphine cackled as stray hairs stuck to her sweaty forehead. “And I get what I want, no matter what, Charles Rayburn, and I will have you, no matter how much you struggle and pull. You will be mine.”
“Even if the Duchess and I were involved,” I rasped with both hands held out at my sides. “What makes you think she’d let you? Do you know how much she’s already paid to have this project done? She’d never let you take me. No, she’d never allow the only capable scientist in the city out of her grasp!”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re working with her on a project or not,” Delphine croaked as she smoothed out the fabric of her skirt and stood up a little straighter. “I will have you, willing or unwilling.”
“And if I refuse?” I squared my shoulders and rose to my full height. “You’ll have me dragged out in the street and killed? Because I wouldn’t be your consort? You’d murder someone just because they didn’t want to fuck you, Delphine.”
“You act as if this is the first time I’ve done something like this.” The gray-haired woman smirked as she slunk forward. “I have my ways, Charles. So, consider this a peaceful warning. Your time with the duchess is coming to an end.”
Mixtures of emotions flowed through my body, and I shift
ed through each of them as I stared at Delphine. Horror, disgust, rage, and lastly, fear. They overcame me like a great wave as I took a few stumbling steps back down the aisle.
“Just think about it, Charles,” Delphine purred through her teeth. “You could have whatever you want, whenever you want it. You would live in my manor with me, a solid roof over your head, warm, delicious meals in your belly, a large monthly allowance, and I’d even allow you to do your pathetic little science experiments in my own basement… all you’d have to do is spend a few hours a week in my bedroom with me. Does it really sound that bad?”
Yes, it sounded fucking horrible. The idea of touching the wrinkly, saggy old crone made me want to fall onto all fours and vomit all over the floor. Unlike all other social interactions with aristocrats, I couldn’t keep my expression neutral in this case, and Delphine saw the disgust clearly painted on my face, but she didn’t seem to care. This was worse than all the other times the Duchess threatened me because at least with Edony, she only wanted to kill me, not fuck me.
Not degrade me.
“Mistress!” a clear voice broke out from around the corner.
Delphine’s lips contorted into a sneer as she whipped around, laid her eyes on Demetri, and raised her hand to slap the poor kid. Thankfully the young man skidded out of the way with a grimace and leaned against one of the wooden shelves. Demetri was visibly winded, and sweat trickled down the sides of his face as he bent forward and panted for air through a broad smile.
“Mr. Rayburn’s wagon is loaded,” the boy wheezed as he lifted his reddened face. “All tied down and everything. Those copper sheets aren’t coming off even if a tornado hits Edenhart!”
I gripped the check in my fingers, grabbed Delphine’s hand, and shoved the crumpled check into her palm. Then I hurriedly counted out how many bolts I held in my hands, and then hastily grabbed one more.