The Wicked Tower - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

“Good afternoon, Lady Norbana.” Vel closed and locked the door behind him.

Norbana sat up in bed so quickly that her boobs bounced into the open. She realized this and covered them with the blanket. Her cheeks darkened as she took in the northern barbarian with all his height. “Have you come to have your way with me again?” Her vagina gushed at the thought, but she kept her composure. She hoped she would not give in to this savage again.

“Maybe.” Vel removed his robes so that she could see the outline of his hardness under his tunic. “Let’s bargain. You will attend the wedding and tell anyone that asks that the Lord Lars has taken ill. You will inform your handlers that you were very thorough, but you have nothing to report on the duke and duchess.”

“And in exchange you’ll grant my freedom? And you’ll free my husband, too?” Norbana couldn’t take her eyes off the rise in the nineteen-year-old’s tunic. How had she taken such a thing?

“The opposite.” Vel smiled and pulled his tunic over his head. He lowered his underwear and gave his monstrosity its own freedom. He heard her gasp as his cock bounced in the open air. “In exchange, I will allow you to stay as long as you like and enjoy everything my castle has to offer.”

“I can’t … I can’t possibly …” Norbana pulled the covers up to her chin as Vel approached. “What about my husband? I can’t go to the wedding without him.”

“Let us see if I can coax you to change your tune.” Vel climbed into bed with the traitorous lady.

An hour later, Lady Norbana sang a new song. “Eeeeiiiiiiiiii, aaaauuuugggghhhh.” Although there were no words to accompany the undignified melody, by her fifth orgasm Vel thought he had her convinced. He seeded her at his climax. As he dressed, the nearly catatonic woman promised that she would attend the wedding and tell people whatever he wanted her to say. In exchange, she wanted several more sessions with the young duke. Vel agreed.

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The queens regent arrived the morning of the wedding. They brought with them their consort, but not the Princess Minicia. There was some wonder among the guests that the princess would miss such a significant wedding. But it wasn’t unprecedented. Minicia hadn’t been out of the palace in some time.

The male servants did not return for the wedding, which caused a terrible scramble to fill their roles. Some of the citizens of Ostia Novus donated their staff for the day. Among the people, there were rumors about what the duke or duchess had done to drive their servants away. The gossip ranged from reduced salaries and unjust punishments, to more sordid stories. Some whispered about the duke disappearing with the women of his family for wicked congress, and the servants that caught them in the act.

These miseries were minor to Cassia and Vel. There was so much more to worry about. They prayed that the day would go as smoothly as possible. Their maxim was “just get through it without catastrophe.”

Just after the ceremony, which went off without a hitch, the crowd retired to the north lawn for refreshments. A murmur swept through the people. Heads turned toward the east. Hands pointed.

“Oh no, Vel.” Naevia reached out and clutched her brother’s hand. “We should have waited,” she whispered.

“What?” Vel looked to the east. Right where the broken tower had been, a massive spire of rock and azure light spiraled into the clouds. Occasionally, he could see tiny dark specs floating up to the top of the growing tower. Vel figured they had to be stones torn from the city’s wall and buildings around the site. Just like in Kart Hadasht. He blinked. “You’re right, Naevia.” He looked for his mother, but didn’t see her in the crowd.

“Friends, gather round the stage. We have an announcement.” Valeria and her sister stepped up onto a platform that had been erected for reception speeches. “Would the bride and groom care to join us?” She held her scepter away from her body in a regal fashion. The wind billowed her dress to the side. Her patinaed crown contrasted against the gray of the castle behind her. Cesphea was a mirror image, but for the scepter. The consort regent, Tiberius, climbed onto the stage and stood between the two queens. He whispered something in Valeria’s ear. 

“Where is Mother?” Vel looked around at hundreds of people, but couldn’t find his duchess.

“You must leave now, Your Grace.” Norbana tugged at Vel’s formal robes from behind.

“Lady Norbana?” Vel turned to the woman. There was fear in her eyes. He looked back toward the front of the gathering, where his sister Bantia and her new husband, Lord Hostus Gala, moved between people toward the stage. Bantia looked radiant in her white, flowing dress. Lord Hostus’s smile spread from ear to ear. His ceremonial sword bounced with each step.

“They plan something dreadful for you.” Norbana pulled at Vel like she could get him to run away with her.

“Me?” Vel leaned down toward Norbana. “And what about my mother, and sisters, and cousin?” Norbana said nothing, but Vel could see her response plainly on her face. “Dreadful for them too, but you only mean to save me?”

“I see Mother.” Naevia pointed toward her sister’s tall form. “She’s there, with Bantia.” Cassia was talking to her eldest daughter, stretching up on her toes to get close to her ear. She was saying something urgent, but Bantia shook her head at her mother.

“We must go, now.” Norbana pulled on Vel again, but he shook her off. “I’m not going anywhere without my family.”

“I tried to save you.” Norbana leaned up, kissed Vel on the cheek, and raced away through the crowd.

Bantia and Hostus climbed the stairs onto the platform. Cassia stopped at the foot of the stage, holding her hands together.

“Do you get an unpleasant feeling, cousin?” Dellia stepped up next to Vel. She had her hand on the pommel of her sword.

“Norbana just warned me of something.” Vel nodded.

“If you look, a myriad of crimson capes abound.” Dellia’s voice had a hard edge to it.

“What an auspicious day.” Valeria’s voice carried out over the crowd. “The joining of two formidable, erstwhile houses of our great Surround.”

“Did she say, ‘erstwhile?’” Naevia frowned and pushed her shoulder against her brother’s arm. 

“A wedding under the shadow of a miraculously resurrected tower is propitious in ways many of you would not even know.” Valeria beckoned Bantia over. The young woman stood head and shoulders above the queen, her smile as radiant as her dress. Hostus held her hand and stood by her side. Valeria continued, speaking over the rising wind, “I would have you all listen closely now. And when you leave here presently, hold tightly to my benediction. Lady Bantia?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Bantia curtsied and bowed her head before the queen. She felt the weight of the royal scepter on her forehead and her pulse quickened. This was to be a special blessing. She stayed bowed low with the bust of Salacia resting just under her circlet. 

“We must all reap and sow under the watchful eyes of almighty Jupiter himself. You are deemed innocent in the eyes of the Crown.” Valeria’s face displayed no emotion. “Innocence, however, brings you no pardon for the misdeeds of your blood.”

Bantia turned her head slightly and exchanged a quizzical look with her husband. He had as little idea what was going on as his wife.

“The former duke Gallio Tullius tries to cow us with his blue magic. It is an unfortunate choice.” Valeria reached out and held the bride by her hair as she tried to pull away from the scepter. The queen forced Bantia to continue in her curtsey. “Unless your father slithers out of the shadows in twelve hours’ time, more will die. Come to us, Gallio, or be last in your line.”

Vel, Naevia, and Dellia moved quickly through the crowd toward the stage.

“What does she mean ‘more will die’?” Naevia had no sooner asked the question, than the meaning became plain.

Something exploded from the bust of Salacia on the scepter. A red mist sprayed behind Bantia’s head. The bride’s body quivered, and then went slack. Bantia was suspended in the air by a spike protruding from the back of her skull.

Hostus reached for his ceremonial sword, but Tiberius wrestled the young man’s arms to his sides.

“We’ll return you whole to your family, lad. No need for you to die.” Tiberius picked up the screaming, kicking man and carried away from the queens. “You’ll find a new wife soon enough, and you’ll appreciate the grace we show you today.” He passed Hostus to a group of waiting red capes and they whisked him away.

Back at the front of the stage, the spike recoiled back into the scepter, and Bantia tumbled to the wooden floor below.

A great cry rose up, led by Cassia’s scream which echoed off the turrets and spires of her castle. A moment later, confusion reigned.

Dellia’s sword was out like a flash. She spun her back to Vel to protect him from an assumed assassination. But there was only the churning sea of wedding guests around them. “Get your sword out, Your Grace.”

Vel looked down at his ceremonial sword. It wasn’t meant for fighting. The gears of his mind slowed to a standstill, a numbness spreading through him. He felt his sister’s hand in his, gripping him like a vise.

“Do you have a weapon, Naevia?” Dellia could see the castle guard in their formal green uniforms, skirmishing with the red-caped royal guard on the outskirts of the lawn all around them. The outnumbered castle guard was valiantly trying to push through to their duke and duchess, but their success was limited. The ring of royal guards let the wedding guests exit, but Dellia doubted they would extend them the same courtesy. She, Vel, and Naevia had to move while there was still a mass of confusion. “Let’s retrieve your mother and get out of here.” She made no mention of Bantia. It was clear there was no saving her. “And draw your sword.” She led them toward the stage, hoping to spot Cassia quickly.

“Do you see Mother?” Vel unsheathed his sword, trying hard not to accidentally skewer some panicked guest.

“You’re the one with the high vantage point. All I see are people.” Naevia stuck close to her brother.

As people cleared, Vel saw that there was a line of red capes ahead of them, too. “Dellia, wait.”

Dellia spotted them as well. “We must cut through them, Cousin.” She leapt forward and swung her blade up, catching the first man in the wrong defense, slicing his midsection right below his hidden lorica squamata armor. But two more royal guard were on her in a moment. She parried, gave ground, and counterattacked. But she couldn’t make it through.  

Not one to leave his cousin on her own, Vel charged. On his first stroke, his sword shattered when met with a guardsman’s blade. Left with two-thirds of a sword, he retreated a little. But the man followed him, taking ruthless cuts at the duke. Vel dodged and spun. He was now more than a dozen feet from Dellia and his sister.

“Watch out, Dellia!” Naevia could see two more guardsman rushing toward her cousin. And now, another guardsman turned and headed for her. The crowd thinned around them. She couldn’t see her mother or the queens. Oh, how she longed for her bow. She darted to the right, rolled on the lawn, sprang up, and darted back to her left. She was quicker than her pursuer. She zig-zagged again, her dress catching at her feet as she ran. She made her way toward Dellia, who was now hopelessly outnumbered.

“Stay … away … Cousin.” Dellia said between sword strokes. Naevia would surely be murdered if she came any closer. But her foolish cousin continued her winding path toward her. Dellia glanced about and saw that Vel was some twenty feet away. She swung into a parry and rolled between one of her assailant’s spread legs. She rose on the other side of him and knocked him over with the pommel of her sword.

Pushed farther and farther back, Vel tried to think how he could turn the tide on his opponent. His studies hadn’t included counterattacks with a broken blade.

A fifth royal guardsman moved toward Dellia’s rear. Naevia could see him plain as day, but she didn’t think her cousin had. The guardsman’s sword glittered in the afternoon light. Naevia sidestepped her pursuer again and screamed, “Behind you.” But Dellia wasn’t going to be able to defend herself engaged as she was. Naevia was so close now. She sprinted across the grass in a race with the fifth man to see who could get to Dellia first. An azure glow spread around her fingers and then blazed up her arms. She reached out and took hold of Dellia’s arm a split second before the sword could slash Dellia’s back. And just like that, she and her cousin were falling through the familiar darkness. She didn’t know where the magic would take them. She had simply wished them away from that horrid lawn.

“Naevia!” Vel watched his sister and cousin vanish. Distracted, he did not feel the man approach from behind. He took the broadside of a sword across his shoulders, staggered, and then tried to parry a strike from the front. His broken sword flew from his hands. The man in front of him swiped Vel’s leg with the broad of his sword, knocking him to the ground. The green of the lawn was so vibrant up close, and the fresh smell of it overpowered his nose. He took a deep breath. Something crashed into the side of his head. Blackness descended upon him.

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Had he ever been so miserable in all his life? Vel’s eyes slowly opened. His head throbbed and protested at his decision to look around him. He was in his own bedchamber. It was dark. Moonlight filtered through his windows. There was also a pinkish glow bouncing around him that he couldn’t place. His windows now had bars on them. He blinked. How had they brought in a metalworker so quickly? How long had he been languishing in blackness?

“It is unfortunate what happened to your sister. She was a beautiful bride.” The pink glow receded from Valeria’s hands. “Your father is a selfish man.”

“I’ll kill you!” Vel tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea hit him, and his head fell back to the pillow. Pain shot down his spine. One of the queens sat in the room with him. They had killed his sister. He vowed to himself to make it an equal exchange. 

“I thought you were the gentle one.” A smile creased Valeria’s pale face. “I’ve healed your wounds some, but don’t move too much. You took a vicious blow.”

“I … will … kill … you,” Vel hissed.

“What a charming refrain.” Valeria sighed. “Your father is the one responsible for Lady Bantia’s end. We had planned to take prisoners. But when that tower rose, Cesphea and I knew we needed to take a firmer hand with the Tullius traitor. We expect he’ll come for you.”

“My mother? My sister?” His head throbbed.

“You misapprehend our relationship, Vel. I am here to ask you questions. Not the other way around.” She rose to her feet and gently padded over next to his bed. “What do you know of your father’s plans? Is he in league with a goddess? If so, which one? When were you last in contact with him? You may answer in any order you like.”

“Which one are you? Valeria or Cesphea?” If she was going to kill him, he wished she’d get it over with and end the misery that moved from his soul to his body and back again.

“Will you answer my questions, Vel?”

“Will you fucking take a nosedive off the top of the east tower?” Vel looked away from the pretty woman. He had never seen a more grotesque sight.

“Then we are at an impasse.” Valeria sighed again. She so hated this kind of work, but it was necessary. “Your father has two hours left to show himself before we take the next member of your family. If you tell me something useful, I might grant another twelve-hour reprieve. I should tell you that your sister, Naevia, is next for the gallows.”

“You killed Fortinbras and Bantia. You mean to kill us all. You can rot with Pluto.”

“Pluto does not rot, young man.” Valeria smiled. “And as far as I know, your brother walks the Earth still. All I ask is an exchange. Your father for the rest of your family. It’s a fair trade.”

Vel shut his mouth tight and refused to look the queen regent in the eye.

“Very well, you have two hours to save your remaining sister. Someone will come by before your Lady Naevia hangs, in case you change your mind.” Valeria swept toward the door. It opened for her of its own accord and shut when she was gone.

Vel stared miserably at the wall.

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The pillow beneath Vel’s cheek was soaked with tears and sweat when he heard the sound of stone grinding on stone. A warm, yellow light filled the room, and then faded again. He sat up. Pain lanced down his spine. He quickly reclined again. “Hello?” How long had it been since the queen had visited? Was it two hours? Was Naevia’s time up? What would he say when they offered him one chance to save her? He saw no one at the door.

“It’s me, my sparrow.” Cassia’s soft voice was muted by her grief.

“Mother? I can’t move from the bed. Where are you?” Vel tried to look to the far side of the room, but bright searing pain dissuaded him.

“Why can’t you move?” Cassia quickly approached the bed and inspected her son. He looked whole, but cold sweat ran down his forehead. She used his sheet to wipe his brow. “What have they done to you?”

“The queen said she healed my injuries.”

“Do you have a fever?” Cassia put her hand on his forehead, with her thumb gently resting on his eyelid. She expected that familiar, beguiling heat to run up her fingers, but it wasn’t there. “You’re freezing.” Things were worse than she’d thought. “Try and sit up.” Her son gritted his teeth and grunted when she lifted his head. She put him back on the pillow, her eyes darting to the door. How long did they have?

“Did you use your magic to get in here?” Vel stared up at her beauty. Half her face glowed in silver moonlight. The other half hid in shadows.

“No. Our attempt to fill me with magic didn’t work. Or, it’s yet too early. Or, I don’t know how to use it.” Cassia sat on the edge of the bed wondering what to do. She wasn’t about to leave Vel there. “They locked me in my room, sealing my windows with some sort of enchantment. I wished and wished to escape, and tried to call up what mysterious energies I might have, but I was just a woman locked in her room. Then I set about finding your father’s hidden passages. It took me several hours to solve the puzzle, but I know how he thinks, and I’ve always been good at riddles. I traveled here by secret stairs, and I mean us to leave by the same.” She watched his chest slowly rise and fall, and tried very hard not to think of Bantia. She was grateful that Vel hadn’t brought up that soul-wrenching moment. Her heart burned in her chest, rent by a mother’s sorrow. “Let’s focus on getting you out of here. I am not going to lose you and Naevia. Even if I have to spit in every god’s eye, I will not lose you, too.”

“Naevia!” Vel tried to sit up, groaned, and went prone again. “They plan to execute her any minute now.”

“What they plan and what happens may be two very different things.” The faintest flicker of a sad smile passed over her face. “Both your sister and cousin disappeared from the north lawn and have not been seen since. I was slipped information by one still loyal to us. And the queens do not yet have your father.”

Vel sighed with relief. “They expect Father to attempt a rescue so they can catch him in the act. But he will not risk it.”

“No, he will not,” Cassia agreed. “Now, we must get you out of here while we still can. Come.” She tried to lift him, but he was so large and heavy. She could hear the pain in his shallow breaths. Desperation crept into her heart, a neighbor to her sorrow. She would not lose him, too. He needed to heal. “Come on, Vel.” To her amazement, an azure glow filled the chamber. It emanated from her hands and fingers. She touched his chest and the light spread through him. “Heal, please, heal,” she whispered. A bright flash and the light disappeared. Cassia’s stomach did somersaults.

Vel’s breaths became deeper. He clenched and unclenched his fists. “I … I feel better.” Vel lifted himself up onto his elbows and then swung his legs off the edge of the bed. He sat next to his mother and put an arm around her slender shoulders. “You fixed me. You have the magic, thank the gods. Now wish us out of here.”

“Okay.” Cassia closed her eyes and tried to summon the same forces. She wished for them to be far away, outside the city walls. When she opened her eyes, she still sat in her son’s chamber with his arm around her. “Can you walk? We must go by the secret stairs.”

“I think so.” Vel stood. His body felt quite well. It was now only his soul that suffered from the torment of what the queens had done. He followed her to a wall and watched her bend down. The sound of grinding stone filled the room again. A line of warm, yellow light grew wider and wider until a door stood before them with a flickering oil lamp on the floor just beyond the doorway.

“This is it. I think there may be a tunnel at the bottom that will take us away from the castle. But we’ll have to find it.” Cassia picked up the lamp and ushered her son into a narrow stairway. Her brain was a thorny tangle of emotions now. The more she tried to stuff down her sorrow and fear, the more tightly they seized her. To make matters worse, the magic seemed to have awakened her baser instincts. Her body was responding to Vel’s presence. She hit the switch for the door and led Vel by the hand down the stairs. The enchanting heat of her son’s touch trailed into her body and burrowed to her core. Her mind grew all the more confused. How many more steps before the snarl of emotions overwhelmed her? “Vel?” They continued to descend.

“Yes, Mother?” He watched the back of her shoulders tremble, outlined as they were by the lamp she held. He knew she was crying and understood her pain well.

“Let’s stop for a moment. I … I …” She turned to him. He was taller than usual standing on the stair above her. She stepped around him so that she stood on the stair above him, only slightly looking up into his face. “I need you to hold me a moment. Just hold me.” She put the lamp down behind her and held out her arms.

“Of course, Mother.” Vel bent a little at the waist and hugged her around the shoulders. He was glad she had healed him, for the force of her embrace was strong enough to have crippled a weaker man. They stood in each other’s arms without saying anything. Vel felt her body rack with quiet sobs. He could sense she needed more comfort from him, so he lifted her into his arms until they were face to face. He kissed away the tears on her round cheeks.

“Vel … Vel …” Cassia’s breath evened out. “I need to feel you.” She could feel his hardness press up against her. “Let me forget … if only for a moment … the pain of this day.” She reached under him and worked at his robes, tunic, and underwear until his leviathan was free. “I want your strength.” She pulled her stola out of the way and moved her underwear to the side. “I want your life inside me … I … aaaahhhhhhhhh.” Cassia slowly impaled her vagina on him. She wrapped her legs around his hips. “Plow under my fields and sow … ugh … something beautiful. New life … so that … I … ugh … do not have to think … of … our plight.” She held him tightly by the shoulders and moved her hips in a steady rhythm. The heat of him was now a vortex at the center of her.

Vel grunted in response, but didn’t know what else to say. She wanted him inside her pussy. And she wanted his cum. If this helped her with her grief, so be it. And … her tight pussy and the pressing curves of her body chased some of the torment from his soul. His hands moved down to her ass cheeks. He supported her in the air as she humped him. He could tell from her squeals that she was already cumming. He hoped that the walls of their secret passage were thick.

After her third orgasm, Cassia’s mind lost track of all but a single focus. To coax new life out of their joining. Her feet flopped in the air, sandals brushing against either wall. “Please … Vel … fill me … sow me … fill me …” She could tell by his grunting that he was close. “Uuuuggggghhhhhh.” She threw her head back as he emptied himself inside her. Just as the last of their quivering thrusts subsided, the lamp blew out. They were cast into darkness. She didn’t care. Blissfully, she didn’t care about anything but his cock twitching inside her. She hugged him tight, still suspended in air, but no longer moving.

When Vel had recovered some, he took hold of her hips and slowly slid her off his cock. He gently placed her on her feet and put his clothes back in order. The darkness was complete, so he reached out and found her hand. “We should go now, Mother.”

“Yes. Of course.” Her grief crept back in little waves, but she found it to be a burden she could bear. “I have nothing with which to relight the lamp.”

“Well, then we will find our way in the dark.” Vel grasped her hand tightly and traced the wall with his other hand. They descended.

The stairs ended and Vel almost walked right into a stone wall. “Are we at the bottom already?”

“It doesn’t seem far enough. But it’s hard to tell.” Cassia felt the familiar heat of him move up her arm from their clasping hands.

“There is a wall here. Hold on.” With his free hand, Vel felt around for some way through. His finger depressed a small button. The wall spun. He blinked at the bright light beyond. Through the gap he had created there was a long room. A small man in a strange suit of clothes sat reading in an armchair. He looked up and smiled at Vel and Cassia. Behind him, on the wall, was a tall, ticking device. Its mechanisms were open to the world and truly horrific. The gears were made of broken bone and gristly sinew. A pendulum hung from ropes of intestine. And the pendulum’s bob was a human heart that beat with each swing. Blood spurted from the thing every time it pulsed, pooling at the base of the machine.

The man’s smile faded as he took in their faces. He turned to look where their gaze fell, then turned back to the new arrivals. “Oh, that.” He shook his head. “Not our doing, I assure you. But when life gives you lemons …” He shrugged.

“Where are we?” Cassia stepped through the doorway with her son and looked around the room. Was it a library? The walls were covered in shelves, and the shelves were covered in books and other miscellany.

“Good question. You are a sharp woman,” the man said. “I’ve always liked that about you. You are … you are in my home.”

“But this is our castle.” Vel finally pulled his gaze away from the dreadful mechanism, tick-tocking away. There were worse horrors in the room. In a far corner near the fireplace, stood a woman who didn’t seem fixed. She was dark as a starless night but also white as northern snow. She was a small, decrepit thing. At the same time, she stooped as her head pushed up against the high ceiling. Her face was ugly, and beautiful, and animal, and woman. It hurt Vel’s mind to regard her.

“You’re in my home.” The man looked around the expansive room. The coved ceiling was painted like the nighttime sky. “And you can see that you’re not the first guests to arrive tonight. I wouldn’t look at her too long, lad. Pure chaos is tough to take in.”

“That is Discordia.” Cassia looked away from the abomination in the corner. She reached up and turned her son’s face away as well. There was another woman that she had somehow first missed, sitting in a chair opposite the man. She had one face, but also three. The woman was difficult to look at, but not like the woman in the corner. Azure light faintly glowed on her skin. “Who are you?”

“I am from a pantheon unfamiliar to you.” The man nodded at the woman next to him. “This is my friend Hekate, and you are correct about Discordia. I’m afraid she can’t talk. The poor goddess is a bit damaged by recent events.”

“We are dead. This man is Pluto.” Vel felt strangely calm.

“Wrong pantheon, Vel. I am your friend. I’ve helped you already and wish to continue.” The man winked. “Come sit.” He motioned to two vacant armchairs by a roaring fire. “We have much to discuss.”

Continued in Chapter 19

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