Happy Thor’s Day
Rogue Wizard’s Journal January 14th, 2019 (cont.)
As I regained consciousness, I cursed myself for once again falling to the power of a cute face. How often does this have to happen before you realize that some women are fucking with you? Sorry, that is a rhetorical question. Probably as long as men follow the wrong head’s advice. I quickly put this aside and tried to remember the last moments before consciousness left me and realized that my wards had not gone off. No magic was used by Lunette. So that left alchemy. Shit. No way to detect that. Lips coated with a alchemical knock out drug. Bitch. Something else to guard against.
I quickly switched to assessing my current problem of where I was and what state I was in. My eyes fluttered open but they didn’t help much. Dark room with no light. I was naked as I could feel no clothing on my body and chained (I could feel the metal shackles) with my hands over my head. My feet barely touched the floor but I was supporting my own weight.. My arms were definitely aching as well as my feet because of this. I was wet indicating someone had hosed me down or washed me. I was also gagged with one of the those ball gags that you see in BDSM. Shit, was this to be my final fate as some sex toy for a member of the House of Venus? Worse ways to go, to be honest.
Under normal circumstances with your average mage, all this prevents spell casting and enhancement by worn objects. They removed my clothes, even my underwear in the fear it might be enchanted to augment or give me certain powers. They washed me down to get rid of any alchemical substances I might be wearing. The gagged me to prevent verbal spell triggers and immobilized me for the same reason with gestures. Pretty good way to make a spell caster ineffective.
Joke’s on them. Being a hedge wizard, I don’t have the problems associated with normal magical training. The normal process is so conditioned that things are standardized. I never had any of that, so I learned things that probably other wizards have conditioned out of them. Like the need for words or gestures to focus magic. No doubt I use them because it is easier to do things with them. Much harder without them to be sure, but I learned long ago that, they are not really needed. It just takes a lot more mental focus.
What to do though?. It was a difficult question as I had no information about who Lunette was doing this for or if it was something she was doing herself. The chains though indicated she was probably on a contract. Her last words of ‘this is for your own good.’ kind of pissed me off but also alarmed me as things had been for an unknown time out of my hands. I dislike it when people think they know better than you what is best for you. Shit most people can’t run themselves and then they think they can run your life? Fuck them and fuck that.
I was in the dark figuratively and literally and I needed information and answers and it came to me that the best way to handle it was to act like I was still out and see if anyone showed up. It was a nice plan but apparently I was being monitored because the lights came on nearly blinding me and a voice spoke. Feminine but commanding.
“Awake at last I see.”
I was gagged, so conversation was out.
“Mr. Raby, I want you to know it has been very difficult to arrange this meeting between us. Very expensive. I would like to have conversation with you but I need some sort of assurance you won’t level my place to the ground. You can see my point can’t you?”
I nodded and smiled behind the gag. Damn Skippy, lady if my hands were free a lot of fires would be burning right now. Not that I couldn’t with a little meditation start some right now. Best keep that little fact to myself until the opportune time.
“Good. I will remove your gag if you promise me to hear me out.”
I nodded slowly and deliberately keeping my eyes shut to avoid them being blinded.
“Very well. Let’s see if you can be trusted.”
I few seconds later I heard a door open and managed a peek from under my eyelids. the door was actually behind me so I couldn’t see who came in. The room itself was painted a dull grey and was untrimmed. The floor was grey as well – concrete. I heard footsteps directly behind me and then they circled to my left an then a woman appeared in front of me.
She was probably a lot older than she looked. You could tell by the eyes that were grey pools that had that ‘I have seen some shit’ look to them.She wore the emblem of House Venus on her red robes which, while flowing did little to hide her plunging cleavage or her midriff down to her navel. Curvy, sensual and her face was that cute heart shaped thing. Red lips and perfect makeup. Her hair was black as night and in a wavy manner flowed over her shoulders like a black waterfall. She smiled and it was disarming. I had no idea what magic she specialized in so my mental exercise defenses were up.
“Here, let me remove that.”
She removed the ball gag. I flexed my mouth a bit to remove the stiffness.
“You know I have used these many times, but never experienced the ‘pleasure’ of one in my own mouth”
“Maybe we can hook up later and I will let you try it out. You can bring that one.”
She laughed. Is it possible to have feminine commanding laugh? After hearing her – yes.
“Lunette said you were a sarcastic smart ass.”
“Better than being a dumb ass.”
She smiled again.
“Mr. Raby, as much as I appreciate the banter, I have a proposal to run by you and it is in your best interests to accept. Trust me on this. This is truly for your own good.”
“You know, I would really like to determine that for myself. But if it will get me down from here and my clothes returned that would be great.”
She looked down my body.
“Clothes? For a middle aged man I would say you are doing well. You are not shy are you?”
“No, part time nudist actually, It’s just you House of Venus types tend to look at men like they are a side of beef with a flesh dildo attached. Makes me self-conscious”
She laughed again. Despite the circumstances I liked it.
“Mr Raby, you do understand our house. But where our my manners. Lioness Harper. Janice Harper.”
So, the Lioness of House Venus herself. Oh, Lunette what have you dragged me into now?
“Well, I thought House Venus had a price on my head along with all the other houses. This is an awkward moment for you. I mean how the fuck do you expect to keep me a secret and alive in a House that has every reason to want me dead?”
“Because, we no longer desire you dead. Rather, we wish to offer you a job.”
“Well, this is a hell of a interview. Don’t you have a bounty on the head of Lunette too, and aren’t you and the pixie world at war? Fuck lady, what are you up to?”
“Trying to end the war and reestablish peace. Mostly, I think this whole affair is stupid. I should probably tell you that the whole of the events that have befallen you this last few months since your wife’s death, were orchestrated in part by me.”
“Orchestrated?”
“Yes, the attack on you the restaurant. Raven’s little chat with you. The accident that caused the rerouting of the cars past the church. I knew that those ghosts would resonate with you. Lunette’s involvement.”
“Well, the church thing helped. The rest of it seems like throwing curves at me. Both politically and the ones attached to the female of the species. It definitely worked. Here I am, now what?”
“I would like you to join the Revolution. I would like you to participate in faking your own death and joining this fight against the tyranny of the Council. Once they are defeated, you could return to your family. But to protect them they need to think you are dead.”
“That would be causing them a lot of grief and sorrow.”
“Yes, but the stakes are high and on your own you know that you will not last the year. The council fears you and they will eventually push to have you killed. If they at least think you are dead for a bit, you can start anew and on the down low. You could fight with surprise and on your own terms again. Ed, you need friends and I need you to fight the Council. I believe you are the one that can ultimately defeat them. You are the one to tip the scales.”
“Seems like the fairy world could do that better than me. I mean you wizard types have always feared them and this war could do that job for you.”
“Except for one thing. The fairy world is losing. They are losing because their is imbalance. The Red Tree Grove is gone. Because of this, they are weaker than the mages this time have he upper hand in power.”
“Gone…but…how?”
“The dryad that was connected to the tree is gone. Over the last twenty years, it has faded, dying and just last year the power that was sustaining it finally collapsed completely. The tree is gone and the grove. That’s why we need mages to turn to revolutionaries. That’s why we need you. Otherwise the council will enslave or destroy all other magical creatures.”
I stood dumbfounded for a minute. Fuck, she was right. The Council would either destroy all magical beings that could destroyed or enslave them. Pixies for instance would be pleasure slaves to feed the magical power of the mages. Dammit. No choice.
“OK, I’m in.”
“Really, Lunette said you could be persuaded, but I had my doubts. OK. Let me get the key to your chains….”
Her voice trailed off at that point, because I cast a spell – no words, no gestures and the manacles sprang open to my knock spell. Lioness Harper looked dumbfounded as I rubbed my wrist a second. Then I turned on my shield with my left hand and my flame in my right.
“Let’s be clear Lioness Harper. If you ever chain, cage or otherwise imprison me again, I will be very pissed off. You don’t want to see me pissed off.”
She nodded.
“Now, where are my clothes?”
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
The Grey Wayfarer 