(Continued from Ch 56, The Allure of Emeralds)


The Chronicles of Rapina
Chapter 57, Snubbery


For a long moment she saw only the blackness that had
shielded her from greater darkness these past few
months, and then she let him go and rubbed the white
star on his forehead. "I am sure going to miss you
Starstruck," Bellany said.  She turned reluctantly.
Bellany was in the large courtyard in front of the old
keep that served as the administrative building for The
Bristol Academy for Boys and Vargrend's Academy for
Girls.   She shook the hand of Sergeant Lime. "Thank
you Sergeant; I appreciate all the hard fighting that
you and your men did to get me here safely.  I am so
sorry about the casualties.  They were good men."

"Aye they were, but they died well.  That is the best a
warrior can ask for.  We will not forget them.  We'll
not forget yer valor either Sir Lady.  Ye fought by our
sides and saved lives.  Even if ye catch flack for it,
we are all in yer debt," The sergeant said.

"Thank you Sergeant Lime, I am honored.  I will see you
and the men next summer when you come back to fetch
us."

"Aye.  It has been a pleasure to serve ye, Lady
Bellany."

Bellany smiled and shook Lime's hand.

Charles held a letter up and then gave it to Sergeant
Lime.  "This is for father and contains the story of
the battle we had with the highwaymen. Men, you fought
valiantly, I am sure father will commend you.  Good
luck and a safe journey home."

The men said their good-byes, mounted up and rode out
of the courtyard.  Bellany was sad to see them go.

Charles took her through a gate and up a couple of
flights of stone steps that led up the side of the
motte that the old keep sat on. Just walk up that last
flight of stairs and into the girls' reception room,"
Charles said.  "I have to go around to the other side
of the building into the boys' reception room."

"Will we ever see each other, other than at
tournaments?" Bellany asked.

Charles pointed at the second floor of the keep.  "The
library is above the offices and reception areas.  You
can get to it from the dormitory on the third floor of
the girls' main building because of the linking bridge.
Shelves split the library down the middle into a boys'
side and a girls' side.  Right by the librarian's cage,
a wall of wrought iron bars splits the two halves.  The
Librarian is in a room with walls of bars kind of like
a bank teller and she can go into the boys' or the
girls' library area by unlocking a wrought iron gate.
You can leave mail with her for anyone at the school,
including me.  On Sundays, they allow us to go to
church.  Those gates in the north wall of the courtyard
opposite the stables lead to the various chapels to the
gods. You can hardly see them from the road because the
curtain wall is nearly as high as the chapels.  Most of
them are just one-story buildings.  I will talk to you
on Sunday, and I might see you through the library bars
before that."

"Okay, thank you Charles, you're the best brother.  I
really appreciate all you have done for me since you
got home.  Bellany gave her brother a hug and walked
slowly up the stairs. It was the first time she had
hugged him knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that he
was not really her brother, but she let habit carry her
through.  He was one of the few men she had tried very
hard not to attract, but they had spent so much time
together that she wondered if it had been hard on him.


She was about to enter a whole new world.  Formal
schooling was something she had never experienced.
Bellany paused before going into the administrative
building; It was a big step for someone who now
realized she was just a hunted commoner and spy. _Now
what have I got myself into?_ She did not know if her
training under Guardian Thane and this summer with the
tutor at Norwit would be enough to have prepared her
for Vargrend's. Prepared or not she strode into the
reception room and headed towards the desk.

The secretary behind the desk was a woman in her mid
twenties.

"Hello, I am Bellany Norwit.  Do I confirm my
registration here?" Bellany asked.

"Yes, you do.  Just sign here and let me get your
schedule," The secretary said.

Bellany signed in a book next to her name and then took
the schedule and the library card that the secretary
gave her.  She wrinkled her nose.  "Are the classes
below the line supposed to be something I picked?"

"Yes, at Vargrend's every girl must have an education
that is up to our high standards but we also like to
see the special talents of each individual young woman
developed.

"My mother must have selected these before I was well
enough to do this myself.  Poetry is not going to
work."  Bellany scratched the palm of her ghost hand
distractedly.  It was acting up.

"You are already scheduled Miss Norwit.  It is too late
to change now," The secretary said.

Bellany leaned over the desk so that her face was very
near that of the secretary.  "Unless you fancy poems
about the orcish gang rapes and tortures I endured
during the past year I would suggest you get this
changed," She spat through her teeth.

The secretary blanched.  "I'll see if Head Mistress
Vargrend will make an exception in your case.   Just a
moment," The woman rushed away.

A white haired woman with a weathered face came into
the secretary's office.  She scowled as if Bellany were
another headache that she had to deal with.

"I will take care of Lady Norwit's schedule.  Why don't
you go up to the library and fetch me Mary Duffy.  She
can take Lady Norwit upstairs when we are finished.

"Yes Ma'am," The secretary said.  She opened a door
next to the countertop where Bellany waited and
disappeared.

"Here at Vargrend's we try to pair young women of
roughly equal social status who also worship
similarly," Headmistress Vargrend said.  "Unfortunately
Lord Avengene decided to send his granddaughter to
school in Li'Yieraun this year and many of his subjects
followed suit.  Most of the students we do have from
Avengene were already enrolled last year and did not
wish to switch schools in the midst of their education.
Your father is an important vassal of Avengene.  I am
surprised he did not send you to another school."

"My brother Charles must have wanted to continue here,"
Bellany said. "It makes political sense because most of
the peers of the realm attend the Bristol Academy.  I
imagine they wanted us together so he could look out
for me."

"Charles must be an astute young man.  Now what is this
business of you wanting to change your elective
courses?  It is highly irregular," Mrs. Vargrend
snapped.

"I was captured by orc raiders on the way to school
last year and spent the lion's share of the year as one
of their few female slaves.  During my rescue, I
sustained wounds from a spell that damaged my body and
mind, particularly my memory, but I do remember quite a
few bits now and the others are trying to shove their
way to the surface.  When I try to write poetry like I
used to, any verses that come would be *extremely*
inappropriate."

Mrs. Vargrend took a deep breath.  "I see."

"I don't mind keeping music, and Lord knows I will need
ballroom dancing if I am not to embarrass myself at any
social functions this year," Bellany said.  "If I tried
to write poetry it would get me in trouble, and it is
so sedentary.  I need a great deal of activity - enough
that I will sleep too deeply to dream and scream and
sweat..."

Mrs. Vargrend stiffened slightly where she stood.  "We
mustn't have that, you'll wake all the girls and make a
spectacle of yourself.  Some of them will remember the
orcs captured you last year on your way here and soon
everyone will know.  That will cause you enough grief
without adding screaming nightmares.  I do not usually
allow a girl to take two physically taxing elective
courses, but in your case, it may be prudent not only
to allow it, but also to insist on it.  I will make the
necessary changes. If you find you need to keep very
busy, you may also attend an enrichment course after
dinner.  These courses are optional arts or crafts
courses.  Attendance is open and no formal grades are
given.  We also have guest lectures from time to time."

"Thank you Headmistress Vargrend.  I do not relish the
thought of frightening the other girls with my poetry
or my nightmares.  Did daddy write you about
mathematics?" Bellany asked.

"He did, but you mustn't get your hopes up," Mrs.
Vargrend said.  Our mathematics teacher is not
qualified beyond a little geometry.  I gave the letter
to Headmaster Bristol.  He still teaches a class in
mathematics just as I teach one in rhetoric to keep my
skills honed in spite of my administrative duties.  In
addition Bristol's has a qualified mathematics
professor, but only for the boys."

"Oh," Bellany said with an air of disappointment.

"You will be rooming with Mary Duffy," Headmistress
Vargrend said.  "She is not your social equal, but she
is a worshipper of the vindicator from a hardworking
family here in Bristol.  Since you did not have the
benefit of attending last year, Mary is the perfect
young lady to help catch you up on our rules and
routines here at Vargrend's.  She is a comely young
lady yet the boys do not faze her with their antics.
She is wise to the tricks they try to pull at tourneys
and social events.  You would do well to follow her
virtuous example."

"Of course, Head Mistress Vargrend," Bellany said
concealing her thoughts with a smile.  _Virtuous Mary
must have a flawless reputation for chastity. Virtuous
Mary is likely here on scholarship; therefore, she
works for Mrs. Vargrend.  The Warden of the prison has
sent a spy and exemplar of desirable behavior to be my
cellmate._

When she arrived with the secretary, the expression on
Mary Duffy's otherwise pretty, fine-featured face was
stony.  It was obvious it had not been Mary's idea to
room with Bellany.

"Mary, this is Bellany Norwit.  I want you to tell her
what we stand for here at Vargrend's while you show her
around.  Make sure she gets settled in by lights out
tonight," Headmistress Vargrend said.

"Yes Headmistress," Mary said a note of the long-
suffering slave in her voice as she turned to behold
her new charge.  There was a brief pause as Mary
collected herself.  "It will be my pleasure," she said
with a little too much breath.

"choo!" Bellany tried to make her dry sneeze as
graceful as possible. She had not been prepared for the
powerful tickle of lust virtuous Mary was sending her.
_No wonder Mary is unfazed by men.  All of her interest
seems to be concentrated on women._ Bellany had seen
something similar in men like Brackston, but had never
known a woman who was strongly attracted to women.  Yet
Mary could not possibly admit it to herself if she were
a worshipper of the vindicator. "Oh excuse me, there
must be a pollen in the air I am unused to," Bellany
apologized for her sneeze.

"Bless you," Mary said.

"Lady Norwit, what is that under your dress?" Mrs.
Vargrend asked.

"Just a bandage, Headmistress Vargrend.  I got a
scratch on the way here.  I have herbs and bandages for
it," Bellany said.

"Mary, you make sure to look at that.  If there is any
sign of infection I want you to make sure Lady Norwit
reports to the infirmary straight away and follows
Leach Lambert's instructions.  We will take no chances
with wounds," Mrs Vargrend said.

"Yes Headmistress," Mary said.

"We are all finished here Mary. Good day Lady Norwit,"
Headmistress Vargrend said.

"Thank you and good day Headmistress Vargrend." Bellany
curtsied.
-------

Although there were some dormitory rooms on the second
floor, Bellany's room was on the northwest corner of
the third floor.  The windows looked towards the river
on one side and towards the administrative tower on the
other.  There were two beds, a large closet, two chests
of drawers, a dressing table and two desks.

Mary held one of Bellany's dresses up to her chest.
"You have such beautiful finery, and so modest."

Bellany smirked. "It is fine fashion for a nun, yet I
feel so false pretending to be modest.  Mother seems to
think that if I act like a pious vindicator girl again,
my innocence will magically return. That dress looks
good on you, Mary, and its modesty is not out of place.
I bet it would fit you if we took it in a bit."

"Yes, I think you are only a little taller than I am,
but your figure - how do you keep the boys away?" Mary
asked.

"The real question everyone seems to be worried about
is _will_ I keep the boys away?" Bellany said. "Ever
since the orcs finished with my chaste reputation it
has resembled Humpty-Dumpty after his fall.

Mary covered her mouth with her hand.  "Goodness."

I have about as much virtue to preserve where boys are
concerned as your grandmother, probably less," Bellany
said.  Apparently I cannot get pregnant either; both of
which have my parents, the priests of the vindicator
and Headmistress Vargrend squirming like worms in a
churn.

"You wouldn't let the boys have their way with you,
would you?" Mary asked.

Bellany smiled. "You don't want me to talk about boys,
Mary."

"I don't?" Mary asked.

"No, I have no intention of trying to shatter your
innocence," Bellany said.  "Besides, Headmistress
Vargrend will expect you to report what you know and
that means I would be a fool to tell you anything that
might ruffle your virtue and get me in trouble.  After
all, didn't you tell me the school motto was, all about
virtue?'"

Mary frowned.  "Yes, I did.  I suppose you are right.
The headmistress will ask after you."

Bellany nodded, "I'll be on my best behavior for you
then and I won't talk about the orcs."
-------

The rosy light of dawn was only a promise destined for
the horizon as Bellany and her roomate began their
morning routines.

"Oh gods Lady Bellany what are you doing?" Mary asked
as she finished putting on her shoes.

"Sit-ups of course.  I have a morning workout.  You are
up early.  Classes do not start for another two hours."

"Yes, I know and I don't have a first period class
either.  I work mornings in the library."

"Oh, then I will have the room to myself for part of my
morning workout?" Bellany asked.

"Yes.  Is that good?" Mary asked.

"Yes, but you must knock if you come back
unexpectedly," Bellany said.

"Why?" Mary asked.

"For our mutual safety," Bellany said.  I do flips and
kicks.  If you open the door while I am flipping
towards it you could brain me with it, and if you open
it while I am kicking, I could knock your teeth out by
mistake."

"Heavens," Mary said a bit taken aback.

"Will you help me with my bandage before we go?"

"Surely." Mary said primly.

Bellany took off her nightgown and smiled enigmatically
as Mary's lust played down her spine.  Together they
removed Bellany's bandage.

"Goodness how deep is... It goes all the way through
and there is considerable bruising.  I thought you said
this was a scratch?"

"I didn't want Headmistress Vargrend getting all
worried and sending me to the leach.  I am sure he
knows what he is doing what with all the tournament and
training injuries the boys have, but I don't see the
point in visiting him when I know perfectly well how to
take care of wounds."

"How did you get this?" Mary asked.

"A highwayman shot me." Bellany said.

"Shot you?" Mary asked.

"Yes, with a crossbow," Bellany said.

"But you are a lady." Mary said with her hand to her
mouth.

"You can't expect a highwayman to have manners, besides
he and his partner were making off with our carriage
and he knew I was out to stop him."

"So he shot you?" Mary said incredulously.

"Of course, then when his shot only pinned me to the
roof of the carriage he drew his sword and came after
me."

"What did he do to you then?" Mary asked as she helped
Bellany clean the wound and apply herbs.

"Well it all happened on top of a moving carriage.
Footing was not the best and I was nailed to the roof
by this bolt. My options were limited.  I tripped him,
and then parried his blade aside as he fell on me.
Once I kneed him in the groin it was a simple matter to
cut his throat with my rapier."

"You... killed him?" Mary asked, the color draining
from her face.

Bellany nodded.  "Had I not discovered an ambush before
it was sprung and killed six highwaymen in the course
of a pitched battle I would not have made it here for
the second year in a row.  This time at least I had the
skills to do what was needed.  I am a swordsman.  That
is why I train every morning," Bellany said.

"But Lady Bellany... How did you learn to fight with a
sword?"

"I have a naughty brother," Bellany grinned.

"Did your daddy let you?" Mary asked.

"No, even after the orcs I was not allowed to know how
to defend myself.  I had to train in secret and when my
father found out he came after me with my brother's
practice sword," Bellany said.

"Did he beat you black and blue?" Mary asked.

"I think that was his intention, but the rapier is not
his best weapon and angry men, though formidable in
their strength and endurance are predictable."

"You beat him?"  Mary gasped as she helped Bellany put
on a fresh bandage.

"I had to wipe the floor with him, otherwise he would
have attributed it to luck," Bellany said. "I got
grounded afterwards but then he decided I knew enough
that I could at least get myself into trouble but maybe
not out of it.  He had me continue to train under a
couple of men in the garrison after that."

Mary stood open-mouthed for a minute. "Bellany I cannot
believe it.  How could you do those things?  That is so
unladylike.  No wonder Headmistress Vargrend is worried
about you."

"I am sorry Mary," Bellany said as she smoothed a stray
lock of her roommate's chestnut-colored hair back to
its proper location. "I no longer agree with the way
women must act in order to be called ladies.  Had I
spent my summer acting ladylike, I would currently be
dead or a highwayman's harlot instead of talking to
you.  When I was with the orcs I had the option to jump
in the stew pot rather than entertaining the raiders.
I decided against the stew pot but I also decided that
I was going to avoid being weak and powerless in the
future."

"Oh," Mary said. "I, ah... gods Bellany what happened
to you is not supposed to happen to a lady!  We will
have to talk later, I have to leave or I'll be late for
work."

"Okay, see you this evening Mary," Bellany said.

Mary nodded, gave Bellany a quick hug and hurried out
of the room.
-------

Bellany's first class of the morning was also her
longest class of the day.  She did not have any trouble
finding the room.  It was in one of the few second-
floor classrooms.  The hushed voices of girls greeting
one another and talking filled the classroom as
students arrived and took seats.  Bellany guessed they
were not supposed to be talking but the teacher had not
yet arrived. Some of the girls even seemed to be
pointing her out to other arrivals.  She had noticed
the same sort of behavior last night at dinner and
again at breakfast.

Two young women in perfectly pressed school uniforms
strode up the row next to Bellany's seat.  One began to
sit down.

"Sniff, sniff, do you smell something off, Bianca?" One
of the ladies said to the other at a volume far above
the whispers the other girls in the classroom were
using.

Sniff, sniff, yes we mustn't sit here Glenda, it smells
strongly of putrid pork."

"Well then I guess it is true what they say, aye
Norwit?"

"What?" Bellany asked in confusion.

"You are what you eat!"

The entire classroom full of girls erupted with
laughter.

Strangely the laughter sputtered out shortly after it
peaked.  Bellany looked up and realized why.
Headmistress Vargrend had entered the room. The
headmistress scowled at Bellany as if she were somehow
an affront to the equilibrium of the academy.  Mrs.
Vargrend walked swiftly to the podium and addressed the
class.

"Welcome to the Trivium, young ladies.  Summer is over.
A classroom is a place of learning.  If you wish to
socialize then you will do so in Vargrend's student
family room or outdoors. This class, the trivium, will
bring you one of your greatest opportunities to
exemplify the virtue of scholarship.  Who can remind us
of the motto of Vargrend's Academy for Girls?"

Bellany looked around the classroom.  A few hands went
up but not all hands.  Her seat was near the back of
the room and she decided just to keep silent since she
did not want to call any more attention to herself than
she had already been subjected to.

"Lady Bristol?" Headmistress Vargrend asked.

The motto of Vargrend's is, "Morality through Virtue,
but my question is how can someone who cannot possibly
be virtuous attend Vargrend's?  Wouldn't that be an
affront to our motto?"

Bellany grimmaced "Bianca" was Lady Bristol.  Bristol
had just snubbed Bellany and now the young noblewoman
was busy twisting the knife in the wound.

"That is a good question Lady Bristol and perhaps the
only way to answer it is with another question.  If a
lady is put upon by a band of armed men she considers
brigands and she is forced to engage in conduct
unbecoming of a lady, has she no chance at virtue after
that time?"

"Well I should think not.  She should die fending off
her attackers, or if that is not possible she should
throw herself off a tower so that her family at least
will keep their good name."

"Then you see no chance for virtue once a lady has been
sullied against her will?"  Headmistress Vargrend
asked.

"None whatsoever," Lady Bristol replied.

"No chance that virtue can yet spring from her?"
Mistress Vargrend asked.

"None!" Lady Bristol said emphatically.

"Then you are saying your family can have no virtue,
Lady Bristol?" Headmistress Vargrend asked.

"What?!" Bianca Bristol exclaimed crossly.

"Some 260 years ago the keep that eventually expanded
into this school was inhabited by the Crabetts.  Lord
Crabbet and his family had migrated from the south,
taking with them a young but learned priest of
Mortaebius named Alistair Vargrend to see to the
education of their children.  As they expanded their
holdings, a warlord from the northwest, chief of a band
of men the Crabbets considered nothing more than an
illiterate highwayman took the keep by stealth and by
storm an hour before dawn one autumn morning.

Elaine Crabett, third daughter of Lord Crabett survived
the battle, as did many of the members of her family.
One by one, their captors killed her parents and
sisters, but Elaine caught the eye of the chief of her
captors.  He forced her to become his mistress.  Later
the chief became more mannerly and they were married.
The captors retained Priest Vargrend as a scribe. He
helped to educate Elaine's children including her first
son who, incidentally, was conceived out of wedlock.
Do you know the surname of the man who became Elaine
Crabett's husband?"

Consternation was written all over Lady Bristol's face.
"Bristol?" She asked.

"That is correct.  If you really believe no virtue can
spring from a violated woman, Lady Bristol, you cannot
escape the conclusion that your family can have no
virtue.  Is that what you wished to say?"

"No!" Lady Bristol said.

"Mind you these were extreme circumstances.  Today, I
am sure all of you are aware that the purity of a Lady
has a great deal to do with the kind of husband she can
expect to get.  A lady's purity also upholds the
reputation of her family, but the virtue our motto
refers to is not limited to sexual purity alone.

"What is virtue, Lady Norwit?"

Bellany straightened in her chair.  She had been hoping
to sink into obscurity. Thankfully, she had read the
dictionary in Keep Norwit in the spring while trying to
lure her memories back.  At the time it had seemed to
her that she must have read such a book before.
"Virtue in regard to a person is a commendable or
meritorious quality or trait."

"That is correct, Lady Norwit.  Is chastity a
meritorious quality?"

"Yes, Headmistress," Bellany said; although she really
did not believe it.

"Lady Gransward, is chastity the only meritorious
quality a young lady can have?"

"No Headmistress Vargrend," Lady Gransward said.

Bellany rolled her eyes. Glenda was Lady Gransward, the
daughter or granddaughter of Baron Gransward the
baronial neighbor to Bristol on the West.  Suddenly
knowledge of geography gained in the library at Keep
Norwit collided with her pirate memories.  Grand Lake
was in the Barony of Gransward and in that lake was
Graveston Isle where the priest who had bested Red Jack
once lived.  That priest was none other than, Guardian
Thane, formerly her mentor. Memories of the vistas of
Graveston Isle blocked out the present and Bellany lost
track of the conversation.

"You are not daydreaming are you Lady Bellany?"

"Oh I am sorry," Bellany said as she looked at the
blackboard.  Headmistress Vargrend had written
chastity, scholarship, obedience, piety, and
industriousness on the board. "Did you want me to name
a meritorious quality a young woman might possess?

"Yes young lady, be careful not to let your mind wander
in this class." Headmistress Vargrend said.

Bellany nodded.  "Valor." She said succinctly.

"Valor? The headmistress said dubiously. "That sounds
more like a meritorious quality of a young man."

"A young woman who can load and fire crossbows, carry
water and ammunition, figure catapult trajectories and
dump oil from the parapets can make the difference
between a repulsed attack and death or slavery for
herself and her people."

Headmistress Vargrend raised an eybrow.  "Perhaps in
certain situations valor in a young woman might be
meritorious.  The headmistress added valor to the list
with a question mark after it... Miss Gleton, would you
like to go outdoors?  You seem to find something out
there quite fascinating."

Miss Gleton, a plump young woman with rosy cheeks
blushed crimson.  "I am sorry Headmistress.  I am
unused to seeing beggars in rags with dirty bluish skin
on the school grounds.  I just could not believe it."

"Come here and point him out for me Miss Gleton,"
Headmistress Vargrend ordered.

"Miss Gleton got up and pointed.  There, he is crawling
into that hedge.  He must have seen you standing in the
window, Headmistress."

"I do not see him, Miss Gleton, but since you are not
prone to embellishing the truth I will let this slide.
In any case your attention should not be out the window
Miss Gleton."

"Yes Headmistress." Miss Gleton said.

"If anyone should happen to see anything untoward,
point it out as a report should be made to the
constable.  Occasionally naughty young men from
Bristol's make it over to the girls' side much to their
later regret.   However, I will have to see it to make
such a report and this morning I did not see what you
said was there." Headmistress Vargrend said.

"One last virtue I will add is the virtue of civilized
and mannerly behavior.  Elaine Crabett Bristol was
mindful of the virtue of civilized behavior.  Following
her example, her husband became interested in education
and legitimate authority for his children.  Eventually
the King granted the son of this frontier warlord a
Barony, the Barony of Bristol."  Be mindful of your
virtues.  A moral society cannot fail to emerge if
every lady cultivates virtue even under extreme
circumstances.

To be able to cultivate virtue one must cultivate the
virtue of thinking clearly.  This class, the trivium,
is composed of grammar, logic and rhetoric.  Here you
will cultivate the virtues of thinking, speaking and
writing clearly, logically and with style."
-------

After the trivium, Bellany attended a course on
ballroom dancing under Miss Lesueur and then at last it
was time for the two-hour midday break.  Bellany made
her way to the building west of the central keep that
housed the shared cafeteria.  The girls ate first at
11:30 sharp and they were expected to finish within
forty-five minutes so that the tables could be cleaned
for the boys' lunch.  The food provided by the school
was actually good.  After filling her plate, Bellany
went to find a seat.

"Excuse me Norwit, I am Natalie Rose and this table is
where my friends and I dine, why don't you go feed on
your ham sandwich somewhere else."

Bellany grimaced; ham was not on the lunch menu.  She
was not sure who Natalie Rose was but she moved on and
tried another table just the same.

"Can't you see this table is for ladies?  We have no
use for the baronetess of bacon here.

Bellany looked at the speaker.

"Don't you look at me like that, Norwit.  You had best
mind your betters.  I am Deborah Hartmoor,
granddaughter of Baron Hartmoor.  Go find a table with
the commoners.  They will not be happy to see you but
if they did not mind their manners they would not be
here at Vargrend's."

Bellany retreated from Hartmoor's territory.  She
recognized the name.  The city of Turnmoor was located
in the Barony of Hartmoor.  Red Jack and his remaining
men had turned Turnmoor upside down when he escaped his
execution.  Everywhere Bellany looked she saw young
women turn away or meet her gaze with stony stares or
whispered remarks. _What have I got myself into?_ She
scanned the lunchroom for an empty table or at least
one that had only a few people sitting at it.

Bellany sighed as she sat down across from Miss Gleton.

"They are shunning you, aren't they, Lady Norwit."

Bellany nodded. "I am no longer a charter member of the
virgin club.  They keep making remarks about ham and
pork."

"They do that to me all the time but you're not plump,"
Gleton said.

"Yes but orcs have some pig-like characteristics
and..." Bellany said.

"...you were captured by orcs and... uh..." Gleton
continued.

"Forcefully *bumped* out of the virgin club," Bellany
said.

Gleton stifled a giggle and then whispered, "It is not
your fault about the orcs. It must have been horrible,
and their comments just show how insensitive they are.
You are welcome at my table.  I am sure they will make
me the butt of more jokes for it, but I have heard them
all already.  Anyway I can just say you outrank me so I
have no choice."

Bellany nodded and whispered, "Thank you, um, Miss
Gleton."

"My first name is Cleopatra."

"Thank you Cleopatra.  You can call me Bellany if you
dare, but Norwit or Lady Norwit is fine in any
situation that you need to distance yourself from me."

Cleopatra nodded, "I will probably have to sometimes,
just to keep them off my back.  They are bad enough
about my weight.  I have tried to loose it.  I am
supposed to be finding a husband but I love food far
too much.  Cleopatra smiled.  I used to say I ate no
more than anyone else and just gained weight easily but
no one believed me anyway."

"Maybe you could find a husband with a fat fetish,"
Bellany said.

"A what?" Cleopatra asked.

"A fat fetish.  Fetishes are little quirks that magnify
a man's lust.  A man does not choose any fetishes he
might have.  They just crop up as part of his makeup."

"So a man with a fat fetish lusts more strongly for fat
women?" Cleopatra asked.

"Yes.  Such a man would probably encourage you to eat
since the bigger you got, the more you would fuel his
lust."

"Cleopatra's mouth dropped open for a moment.  That is
impossible, where would I find such a man?"

"I have an acquaintance who might know someone with
that particular fetish.  He might be older like my
acquaintance, but there is a good chance he would be
wealthy like the man I know as well.  I could make
inquiries for you, but it might be a while since I am
locked in this school."

"Well I don't really believe it, but if you can find
such a man for me, I would be amazed."

"What are we supposed to do during midday break?"
Bellany asked.

"Some of the girls will go to the library or their
rooms to get started on the days' homework.  This time
of year many of the girls just stroll around outdoors.
They can play some outdoor games provided by the
school, croquet and such.  There is also a viewing
platform.  From there, you can watch the boys' practice
at arms on the other side of the fence. This time of
year the boys are establishing rankings during the
midday break.  The rankings will determine who
represents the academy at tournaments against other
schools.  It just depends on the person what you do
during midday break.  I always mean to take a walk but
it is hit and miss," Cleopatra said.

"Stick with me girl, you'll take a walk every day.  I
am used to a lot of activity, besides I want to see the
crossbow rankings when they are held in a few days.  My
brother Charles will be competing in them.  Cleopatra,
did you really see a man in rags with blue skin out the
window in trivium today?"

"I really did see what I said I did.  I could not
believe it." Cleopatra said.
You can call me Cleo if you like.  All my friends at
home do.

"Can you show me where it was outside that you saw
him?" Bellany asked.

"Yes, I think so." Cleo said.

"Good, it will give us a goal for our walk," Bellany
said.

As they left the cafeteria, they passed Bianca
Bristol's table.

"Oh how quaint, the porked and porker have found each
other.  Bianca said with a sneer.  The other girls
giggled or made pig noises until Cleo and Bellany were
out of earshot.

The landscaping of the grounds on the girls' side of
the school favored strolling whereas the landscaping on
the boys' side favored tournament practice.
Much of the girls' area was open, but there were
sizable areas adorned by bushes, flowers, hedges trees
and pathways.

"Here it is." From where she stood near a hedge, Cleo
pointed up to a window on the second floor of
Vargrend's.  "That's where we have our class on the
trivium."

"Where did the beggar hide when Headmistress Vargrend
looked?" Bellany asked.

"He went into that hedge," Cleo answered.  It would
help if I knew how to track," Bellany said...  "The men
of shadow returned to the darkness this way," a voice
spoke from Bellany's memory.  It was Doanthalas, the
tattooed wood elf.  On Gravestone isle he had tracked
some ghouls that had eaten some of the pirate sentries.
She remembered watching him as he followed the trail of
the undead... "Not so long ago I was a pathfinder in
the service of Lord Henrich Li'Yeiraun," another
remembered voice said.  It was Mansun Dido.  He had
shown her a few things about tracking before he left
the pirate camp with Drake and Adriana, but that had
been much later.

Bellany carefully looked at the foliage near the hedge
that Cleo had indicated to her. Bellany pointed out a
few broken twigs.  She touched her finger to one of
them.  "This one is still wet with sap.  Someone did go
under the hedge here recently.  Let's go around back.
The two girls took the winding path around the hedge
until they were on the other side.  Bellany noted a few
more broken twigs and then her eye lit on thread that
had snagged on a twig near the ground. She brought it
close to her eyes.  Bellany wrinkled her nose.  "Does
this smell like anything to you Cleo?"

Cleopatra took the thread and sniffed it.  "Eew, it
smells like rotten meat."

"Kent," Bellany said.

"Kent?" Cleo asked.

"Just a butcher's apprentice I once met," Bellany lied
and sniffed the thread again.  _Does it really smell
like Kent or only like rotten meat?  How can I be
certain about nuances of scent given the condition of
my memory?_ Bellany thought.
-------

The school library was the entire second floor of the
central Keep. It connected with the third floor of the
girls' wing on the north side and the third floor of
the boys' wing on the south side.  School had been
progressing for three days before Bellany emerged from
her room to do anything beyond going to classes,
partaking in meals and taking walks.  She had expected
the library would be more crowded.  It was not and the
current population heavily favored scholarship
recipients and those of lesser wealth and status who
could not afford research assistants.  Bellany idly
wondered how Charles managed to afford an assistant.
_Does father give Charles a much heftier allowance than
the meager amount he gives me?_

Floor to ceiling oak bookshelves defined the
semicircular perimeter of the girls' half of the
library.  There were sliding ladders that addressed the
higher shelves.  Countertops and a cage of bars
surrounded the librarian's area as if the librarian
were a bank teller.  Bisecting the librarian's cage and
the area just in front of it was a wall of bars that
separated the girls half of the library from the boys
half.  About ten feet in front of the cage the bars
ceded to a wall of bookshelves with a solid back. The
shelves separated the sexes even more convincingly than
the bars.  Behind the Librarian's area on the east side
of the tower was a cylinder of stone about ten feet in
diameter that stretched from floor to ceiling.
Apparently there was a spiral staircase within the
cylinder that granted access to the offices below and
the tower above.

Bellany braved the familiar scowls and found a table in
the library where she could sit down and read.  She
deliberately picked a table just northwest of the
librarian's cage so that she could see through the wall
of bars to the boys' side.  She was about to sit down
when a chill ran up her spine.

Bellany jumped and squealed.

There were a few stifled snickers from the girls
nearby.

A student librarian's assistant came by and whispered
near Bellany's ear, "I do not think I have seen you
before.  Are you new?"

"Yes," Bellany whispered.

"Welcome to The Alistair Vargrend Memorial Library.  I
take it from that chill that gripped you that Lady
Weepins has already given you a grand ghostly welcome,
but on behalf of the living, I, Patricia Aimes, also
welcome you.  The library rules are simple; say nothing
above a whisper.  This is a quiet place to do
research."

"Who is Lady Weepins?" Bellany whispered.

"A ghost, of course," the librarian's assistant
replied.

"Is she one of the old dead Vargrends?"

"How should I know?  Do I look like a spirtualist or a
magician who can skew her vision or cast spells in
order to see ghosts?"

Bellany's jaw dropped for a moment as her mind dipped
into the past.  Guardian Thane spoke to her, "Rapina
you are a caster.  Congratulations!  This is likely the
biggest breakthrough of your life!"  *Gods, I am a
witch just like the wanted poster at the church of the
vindicator said!*  Bellany idly wondered what spells
she was capable of.  If she could find some books on
magic then perhaps she could jog her memory. During
these revelations she was vaguely aware of what the
librarian's assistant was saying.

"Tradition has it that there are three ghosts at the
academy, Lady Weepins, The Scribner, and The Guardian.
Lady Weepins is the most often sighted by people who
see ghosts.  I am not sure the other two even exist but
I am pretty sure Weepins does."

"How can you be sure?" Bellany whispered.

"I can't, but during my two years working here, I have
seen quite a few chills and I have seen a book or two
just jump off a table or shelf of its own accord.  Some
girls claim to have seen Weepins too, but I cannot see
ghosts so I have no idea."

Bellany panned her hand until she got the peculiar
ghost itch.  It was like a sympathetic resonance as if
something in her ghost hand was like ghosts.  When she
exposed the palm of her ghost hand to living people the
feeling was entirely different, but ghosts and people
made an impression different than inanimate objects
did.  Starstruck, she noted, registered like a person
rather than a ghost.  Thus, she guessed her palm sensed
life force.  It was not as sensitive as her lust
senses, but it worked on animals, women and men who
were not even exuding an appreciable amount of lust.
It seemed to work on ghosts as well, if a ghost was
what she was sensing.  She wondered if a walking
skeleton would give her the same feel as a ghost.
Memories of the walking dead welled up in her mind.
Skeletal servants, soldiers, sailors, mounts, moaning
scribes, flaming warriors and ghouls like Kent
skittered down the halls of her memory until she had to
blink to put the nightmarish scenes to an end.

If she really wanted to know who she was, she would
have to find books on magic and Mortaebius and read
them.  Yet a worshipper of the vindicator would not
normally be interested in those things and would no
doubt be prohibited from perusing them at some point,
thus she would not risk asking a librarian's assistant.
She would go through the library shelf by shelf until
she had a good feel for what books were where.  Then
she would clandestinely read any that seemed like they
would give her further clues as to who she was, what
she could do and how it was done.

She was appalled when she found the section on
religion.  There was one book that summarized the
various faiths and in it was a notice that said that
one could ask for archived religious books at the desk
or get them from any of the various church libraries on
Sundays. Guests of other faiths were always welcome at
any chapel represented at Vargrend's.  Bellany wondered
where the archives were, as she knew she should not
make any appearances at the temple of Mortaebius.
After all, she was the daughter of a peer of Avengene,
or at least she was impersonating one.

The results of her search were lackluster.  Other than
a documentary book about magic that told about feats of
magic and the famous wizards who performed them, there
was nothing on magic other than storybooks. No theory
and no spell books, it was a total loss.  Surprisingly,
there was also nothing on alchemy.  The closest she
could get were books on herbs and medicine.  *Gods this
library is useless!  I wonder if the boys' side of the
library is any better?*  There was no time to find out.
Bellany took a few of the medical books to the desk,
checked them out and asked for her mail.  She had
received a short note from Charles asking her how she
was doing and what the girls' reaction to her abduction
had been.  She frowned.  Her social standing was in
some ways lower than that of the scholarship
recipients.  She would answer the note before bed and
drop her reply off in the morning before class.  She
made a mental note to ask Charles what books the most
advanced boys' math classes were studying.

The next evening after she finished up some homework,
Bellany returned to the library and walked up to the
librarian's desk.  She worried that she would be told
that she was not to read on certain subjects prohibited
by Avengene.  "If the girls' section does not have
something is there a way we can check to see if the
boys side has it?" Bellany asked a librarian's
assistant.

"Yes, you can find out by looking in the card catalog.
It indexes the entire library.  If the number of the
book starts with an 'M' it's on the young men's side.
If you see a book you want from the boys' side, just
copy down the number and give it to me and I will have
an assistant on the other side get it for you."

"Oh, thank you Patricia," Bellany said to the
librarian's assistant. Bellany found half the cards
were in alphabetical order by subject.  After reviewing
the titles, she wrote down five numbers from the boys'
section.  Two books were on mathematics, two were on
the Orcish language and one was on medical alchemy.
She gave them to the librarian's assistant who handed
them through the bars to the boys' librarian's
assistant.  Bellany nodded to the young man and smiled
sweetly.  The tug she gave his lust was just a little
tip.

He seemed rather awkward to begin with, but having a
girl smile at him seemed to make his head and his loins
spin.  His lust was hopelessly tangled.  He was not
tied into the vindicator's straightjacket like a priest
but instead he seemed paralyzed by his own lack of
confidence.  No doubt, his awkwardness had provided him
with plenty of proof that girls found him repulsive.
Yet his lust was very powerful and Bellany found it
somehow criminal that a boy should be so tangled. *If
he could squeeze through the bars I would untie that
snarl for him.*

The boys' assistant passed the books to the girls'
assistant and she looked at them.  Patricia slid one
back through to him and said, "She has a 'V' card.

"Oh," the boys' assistant said.

"Lady Norwit, worshippers of the vindicator are not
allowed to read anything on alchemy or magic, but we
got the books on mathematics and Orcish for you."

"Okay, thank you," Bellany said.  She took the books
back to a table and looked through one of the math
books.  It was the one Charles' note had said the boys
were using in their advanced math course.  There was
enough new material in it that Bellany decided she
would check it out just to keep up with the boys in
case she were somehow able to get Headmistress Vargrend
to get Headmaster Bristol to let her take mathematics.

The books on orcish proved much more fascinating.  Her
memory seemed more fluid since her encounter with the
statue of Mortaebius on the way from Norwit to
Vargrend's.  She looked at a chapter entitled
"Diplomacy: Dealing with Orcs."  Several sections into
the chapter she read, "Culach: The Duel," and her mind
transported her into the past.  She had gone to collect
bodies with her mentor near a destroyed fort when some
reinforcements from Avengene had caught her. She
diverted their attention so that the others could
escape.  The Orcs who had earlier defeated the garrison
of the fort then defeated the reinforcements that held
her.

Lieutenant Harms, the commander of the Avengene
reinforcements had wagered her and won their freedom by
defeating the orc chief in a duel to the death.  Harms
wagered her again on a horse and lost.  What followed
was a grueling march of the Rageblood orc clan to the
safety of the mountains.  Hluk, the orc who had won her
had done so at great cost and was carried while the
others marched.  She remembered the orc leach and
shaman, Chontral Oagmak.  The first night she had been
obliged to bed orcs surfaced in her memory as well.
Thalis had brought her to her peak and she had been
able to touch his mind.  Other allies among the tribe
had followed but he had been her first.

During her march with the orcs through some deep
caverns she had used a cantrip that had summoned a ball
of blue light and later she had perfected a healing
spell to save Hluk's life.  She had used the same spell
to heal the wounds of other orcs and had gained a great
deal of good will in so doing.  _Gods I am a witch, or
at least I was becoming one.  I think the priests of
the vindicator attributed much more power to me when I
was fifteen than I had so that they could pretend that
I had bewitched Evangeline rather than having been the
last of his many rape victims._  There was no longer
any doubt in her mind about her identity.  She still
could not figure out exactly how she had become Bellany
Norwit, but she trusted it would come back to her in
time.  She needed to remember more.
-------

As Bellany entered her room, her roommate greeted her
with a complaint.

"How can you stand yourself when you are being snubbed
by everyone!?  Just being your roommate is ruining my
social life!" Marry Duffy said as Bellany got in and
began to get ready for bed.

"Oh gods why did I come to this madhouse?"  Bellany
shook her head. "You are only seeing the tip of the
iceberg, Mary.  They pick on me constantly.  Yet I am
just a convenient excuse.  I am sure Bianca Bristol
would have come up with another reason to snub
worshippers of the vindicator if I had not come along.
If you want to preserve your social standing in
Bristol, I would suggest you change your religion.  The
vindicator and Mortaebius are at war."

"But," Mary started.

"Marquis Avengene did not send his granddaughters to
school in Li'Yeiraun for nothing.  He and Baron Bristol
are at odds.  Neighbors or not, Bristol is a bastion of
the god of the dead and when Avengene decided to expel
the priests of Mortaebius from his lands there was
bound to be bad blood with Bristol."

"Oh that's nonsense, a group of bandits whose former
leader was buried alive and turned undead by those
ghoul priests just went on a vendetta and burned those
fell temples.  Good riddance!"

Bellany looked at Mary dubiously.  "And once they were
conveniently eradicated a law against their returning
was enacted.  You really should move to Avengene, Mary.
You are just the sort of woman I am supposed to be."

"I am?" Mary asked.

Bellany nodded.  "If only I could believe what you
believe."

"But you can," Mary said vehemently.

"No, I cannot.  I lost my innocence.  You go on
believing, Mary. It is safer for you that way.  Good
night Mary." Bellany said as she got in bed.

"Goodnight Lady Norwit," Mary said but her voice
cracked.
-------

The next day after lunch Cleo and Bellany began their
usual stroll around the grounds.

"Lets brave the scowls and comments today and go up on
the platform.  My brother Charles is competing with the
other boys at Bristol's Academy for the crossbow team.

"He is?  Is he a good shot?" Cleopatra asked.

"He tends to embellish the truth sometimes, but I spent
a lot of time reloading for him this summer and he is
an excellent marksman.  I just hope he makes first
crossbow.  He could use the boost to his social
standing.  Gods know I won't help it any," Bellany
said.

The platform resembled a twenty-foot high section of
stone bridge that ended as abruptly as it began.  It
ran parallel to the stone curtain wall about ten feet
back from the wall on the west side of the gymnasium
and cafeteria building.  This building began just west
of the ancient central keep.

There were quite a few girls crowding up the stairs
when they arrived to find a place in the bleachers atop
the structure.

"Well if it isn't the porked and the porker.  Why don't
you crawl back under your rock?" Gransward sneered.

"Good day Lady Gransward," Bellany said.  "I do not
have the pleasure of getting under rocks this
afternoon.  My brother is shooting in the crossbow
competition and I mustn't miss it."

"We do not want your porcine puss up here," Glenda
said.

"I have tried to keep out of your way but today I am
sure you will indulge me because my brother is in the
competition," Bellany said.

"What makes you think we would be so gracious?" Glenda
said.

"You are a Lady are you not?"  Bellany asked.

"I am not going to step aside and let you up." Glenda
glared.

"You would force me to interrupt Headmistress
Vargrend's lunch over this?" Bellany asked.

"You wouldn't," Glenda said.

"My brother is competing, Lady Gransward.  My mother
expects me to be here so I can properly report the
events in my next letter to my family.  If I do not she
will be impossible to get along with.  Have you any
idea how good ladies of the vindicator are at laying on
the guilt?  Interrupting Headmistress Vargrend's lunch
would be a small price to pay compared to my mother's
incessant pricks, and I have had more than my share of
incessant pricks."

"A great deal more, orc slut, but I suppose I might
possibly let you come up as long as you beg nicely...
in orcish." Gransward laughed.

Bellany dropped to her knees, her head down. "Wal yal
neen Ee augn deez ksabow culahil, gatsisis?" she said
as she made a show of begging to see her brother in
competition.

Gransward raised an eyebrow.  "I see you have
experience at the slave bit.  Come along then slave
girl and watch your brother.  It's a shame he cannot
possibly win.  I hear they brought some gifted commoner
out on scholarship. What's his name, Erol Fobs, I
believe.  Last year will be the height of your
brother's brief reign as a tourney champion."

Bellany gritted her teeth.  Charles had worked so hard
and now they'd brought someone in who probably did
nothing but shoot.  She looked at the targets.  They
were placed at short medium and long ranges.  There
were three colored rings surrounding the red bulls-eye.
A herald explained that each ring was worth one point,
plus one point for each ring surrounding it.  Thus a
bulls-eye was a four point shot. Each man would shoot
five bolts for a possible total of twenty points at
each range or sixty total points.  The top five would
move on to shoot at moving targets.  Bellany could see
Charles pat another boy on the back evidently wishing
him luck.

"Is that your brother with the red hair?" Gransward
asked in a disinterested tone.

"Yes that's Charles," Bellany said.

"That boy with him is Fobs.  Evidently they have
something in common.  Like their class," Gransward
sneared.

Several of the girls snickered.

There were five targets at each range and about 30
contestants.  Before long Charles and Fobs stood at the
short-range line and fired. Charles fired his first
shot into the ring next to the bull's-eye.  Fobs scored
a perfect bulls-eye.  Bellany gritted her teeth.
Charles had worked so hard.  She hated to think that
all the crossbows she had loaded and the ropes she had
pulled to move targets would be in vain.  At close
range Fobs and another boy scored perfect twenties.
Charles' score was an eighteen.  Glenda Gransward gave
Bellany a condescending smile.

After some waiting Charles again stepped up to the
firing line, this time for the medium ranges.  Bellany
cheered loudly each time her brother scored a bulls-
eye.  Three of his shots flew true and found their
mark.  The other two were just a bit off giving Charles
a total of seventeen for the medium range target.
Bellany frowned. Fobs seemed so much more meticulous in
his aiming.  Charles just let fly with an easy bravado.
Three other boys scored eighteens while Fobs scored a
near perfect nineteen.

"It appears your brother may just barely make the cut
to compete at the moving targets," Gransward remarked.

"I hope I didn't spend all that time loading crossbows
for him this summer to see his hopes of victory in the
tourneys dashed."

"You loaded crossbows like a servant, how crass."
Gransward said.

"I enjoyed it, even learned to shoot a little myself."
Bellany shrugged and watched the boys shoot at long
range.  At last her brother stood at the line.  "No!"
Bellany screamed as her brother's first shot struck
outside the third ring.

"A zero.  I guess he is in the process of showing his
true colors," Gransward sneered.  "Now watch Fobs.
Huh, you see he hit the first ring, not a bad shot."

Bellany crossed her fingers.  She idly thought about
trying to ruin a few of the other boys' shots by
attempting a long-range tug on their lust, but she
decided against it.  It just would not be fair.
Besides if she got in the habit of using supernatural
powers in public she might eventually get caught and
that was something she could not afford.

Charles' second shot landed in the innermost ring. His
third was in the third ring and his fourth was in the
second ring.  Fobs scored a bulls-eye two shots to the
innermost ring and one to the third ring.

"Come on Charles," Bellany whispered under her breath.
She knew he would not make the top five unless he
pulled off a great shot.  Bellany winced as he hardly
aimed before firing his last shot... "Oh yes!" she
squealed as the magic of Charles' silly bravado scored
him a perfect bulls-eye.

The crowd hissed as Fobs final shot barely made it into
the third ring.

"How lucky.  Mayhap he will be one of the five after
all but he will hardly be the leading bowman."

Bellany did the math in her head and smiled.  Charles
had just barely made it.

A few minutes later the Harold announced the outcome
for the stationary targets, "In first place with a
score of fifty-one is Erol Fobs.  In second place with
a score of 48 is Robert Welsh, In third place with a
score of forty-four is Hal Jimes. Tied for fourth
place, each with a score of forty-three are Charles
Norwit, and Robert May.

Bellany smiled sweetly at Gransward.

"Well congratulations Norwit.  Mayhap you would have
been spared the quiver of a thousand corkscrews had
your brother been riding with you last year.  Rumor is
you got in a bit of a tussle this year too.  You didn't
fight did you?  Word is you fought with bloody blade.
How unladylike."

Bellany looked Gransward in the eye and spoke tersely
through her teeth.  "Spending one year as a slave girl
was enough.  This year I paved the road to school in
blood."

Gransward stiffened for brief yet satisfying instant.
"How barbaric," She sneered.

"The winners will now test their skills against a
swinging target at short range. Bowmen must release
before the target reaches the end of the second swing
or the shot gains no points. Barriers obscure the ends
of the target's swing so that no archer can take
advantage of the target's hesitation as it changes
direction. In these final bouts, all contestants will
fire at the same target so that movement will be
identical for all contestants.  Five separate shots
will be tallied," The Harold called out.

In his usual style Charles hardly aimed before firing,
yet shot after shot hit the bulls-eye.  Charles
finished with a perfect twenty at close range.  Fobs
got only a seventeen.  Bellany grinned broadly.
Charles was the king of the snap shot and there was no
time for meticulous aiming when faced with a moving
target.

"The next target will be a sliding target at medium
range," The Harold announced.

Charles' shot was always the first to hit the target.
He scored three bulls-eyes, one shot to the innermost
ring and one shot to the second ring to tie his score
of seventeen for stationary targets at medium range.
Fobs scored a respectable fifteen.

The long-range target was the same as the medium range
target.  The archers simply fired from a line closer to
the girls' fence. Charles first shot missed the target
entirely.

"Shhht!" Bellany snapped.

"Mind your language, orc bait," Grandsward snapped.

Fobs' arrow struck in the third ring.  The next shot
found the fortunes of the boys reversed with Fobs
missing and Charles scoring in the third ring. On the
third shot Charles landed a bolt in the second ring for
a score of two, while Fobs managed to pick up a three.
On the fourth shot both boys hit the third ring.
Charles' fifth shot marked the bulls-eye.  His arms
went up as the crowd cheered and then cheered again as
Fobs matched his shot.

"Your brother seems to be catching up."

"Yes, he is one point behind Fobs for the tourney,"
Bellany said, having already done the math in her head.
"None of the other boys compare.  Their ranged scores
have been well below their scores on the stationary
targets."

"Of course that is obvious," Gransward said.

"And now, the final test.  A target has been painted
around the heart of a buck that will be released at
long range.  This shot gives each contestant one last
chance to gain up to four points.  The boys will use
bolts with colored shafts in case the fletchings break
off when the buck falls.

As the buck flashed into view it hesitated for just an
instant and then two bolts found their marks before the
buck rolled to a halt, dead.

"In the third ring a score by Erol Fobs!"  The Harold
announced a few minutes later; "and as an honorable
mention a near miss by Hal Jimes."

Bellany was so disappointed.  Her brother had done so
well on the ranged targets only to miss the deer
entirely.  She could see Charles was talking to Fobs.

"Our winner is Erol Fobs!" The Harold announced to a
cheering crowd.

Fobs stepped up.  "I am not ready to claim victory
until I see the carcass," He shouted.

There were a few moments of confusion before a few
huntsmen carried the buck to Fobs.  He pulled the judge
and the chief huntsman down to a crouch with him and
the three of them scrutinized the carcass.

After a brief conference with the other men, the Harold
made an announcement, "The chief huntsman has informed
me that this buck died too quickly to have been killed
by the perforated lung caused by Fobs' bolt.  The judge
notes we have found an entry wound in the bulls-eye and
an exit wound on the other side!"

The crowd murmured with a hundred different voices.

The other men's bolts were carefully pulled from the
ground where they had stuck.  The judge made a show of
wiping each with a clean white cloth.  The Harold
announced each man's bolt.

"The yellow bolt of Robert Welsh," The Harold announced
as the judge waved the cloth.  It was clean save for a
bit of dirt.  The green bolt of Robert May, the Harold
announced as the judge waved a clean cloth.  "The
purple bolt of Lord Charles Norwit," the Harold
announced as the judge waved a bloodstained cloth.

The crowd cheered loudly, many standing as they did so.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The Harold announced. Our
investigation has revealed a four-point kill by Lord
Charles Norwit, this year's first crossbow of The
Bristol Academy for Boys!

Bellany jumped from her seat and cheered wildly.

"Congratulations to your brother," Gransward said, her
haughty expression diminishing for just an instant.
Now the event is over.  Run along and write your
mother, orc bait."

Bellany's grin lit her face as she spoke, "Thank you
Lady Gransward."

-------


Bellany left the platform with Cleo and headed towards
the girls' classroom and dormitory building.

"What did you get on that essay for Trivium?" Cleo
asked.

"I got an 'A+' for the grammar of the essay, an 'A' for
rhetoric and a 'B-' for logic," Bellany said.

"Really?  How can you do so well on grammar?  I got a
'B+' in logic, a 'B' in rhetoric and a 'C+' in
grammar," Cleo said.

"Grammar is easy if you have a good memory for rules
and exceptions." Bellany said.

"But if you are so smart, why did you get a lousy B- in
logic?"

"I am writing from the point of view of a vindicator
girl.  The headmistress wants us to think freely and
reason decisively.  I don't think she likes
vindicatorish logic.  I do not dare try any other type
of logic though.  I have to turn all my papers back in.
Mother gets them all by post.  Even if I did want to
inflict mother on myself and write from a different
point of view, I am not allowed to check out books from
the library on quite a number of topics.  Vargrend
emphasizes educated investigation from one side of her
mouth and agreed to restrict what vindicator girls can
read with the other side.  It is not fair."

Bellany nudged Cleo onto a less traveled path they
sometimes used.  "Tomorrow is Sunday, I have a favor to
ask of you if you would be willing help me act up,"
Bellany said.

"What is it?" Cleopatra asked?

"It's a special mission.  It says in the library that
anyone can go to the chapel of any god to learn more
about that god.  What a fat lie that is.  If I go to
the chapel of any god other than the vindicator I am
going to catch hell from the priest of the vindicator
and probably later from my parents when the reverend
squeals on me.  It is just not fair. I ought to be able
to visit all the other temples just like everyone else.
I had a thought about how I could rebel without getting
caught.

I have noticed that priests are often quite willing to
loan out their books to parties interested in their
gods.  Therefore I want you to go where I would
*really* catch hell for going.   Just make it seem like
you are interested in the god, borrow some books, and
then just happen to bring the books in your bag at
lunch.  Don't get anything too simple.  I want the gory
details." Bellany said.

"What chapel should I go to?" Cleopatra asked.

"Do you even have to ask?"  Bellany grinned.

"Mortaebius!" the girls squealed in unison.

-------

Bellany smoothed the bodice of her third dress and
frowned. "Mother your modesty is a curse!  Why is it
all my necklines come up to my eyelashes?  Oh well, I
think the lavender dress I had on before this one is
the best.  This brown is boring."

"Your mother has perfectly good taste, Bellany.  You
don't want the men getting any ideas," Mary said.

Mary, don't you enjoy some men looking at you and
getting ideas?"

"Heavens no!" Mary said.

Bellany giggled.  "Gods Mary, can't you just imagine
the touch of a man's hands all over your body?"

"Eeew!" Mary yelped.

Bellany shook her head.  "Just don't expect me to help
you find a husband.  It is not fair to pair a man with
a woman who is going to yawn or recoil when he gets in
bed with her."

"I know my marital duties," Mary said.

Bellany briefly put her face in her hand.  "Letting a
man at you and enjoying him are two entirely different
things.  Trust me on that.  I know the difference.  You
never talk about any of the boys, Mary. You never go up
on the platform and watch them either.  Perhaps you
should become a schoolteacher and never marry.  You
seem much more... comfortable with women."

Mary stood openmouthed for a moment.

"Do you think there is something wrong with me?" Mary
asked.

Bellany stripped the brown dress off her semi-nude body
and shook her head.  "That look you just wiped off your
face so quickly, that is about the same look I would
have if a man just started to undress in front of me."

Mary blushed crimson.  "Are you saying?"

"I am not going to say anything about it to anyone
Mary.  You can deny it all you want but it is as
obvious to me as the nose on your face.  Don't worry
though I doubt the innocent virgins around here would
have a clue unless..." Bellany trailed off.

"Unless what?" Mary asked.

"Unless they looked at women as you do," Bellany said.

Mary's mouth opened. "Do you?"

"You had best steer clear of me, Mary.  I would break
your heart.  I see everyone that way, but I cannot be
faithful to anyone.  I would make just as lousy a wife
to most men as you would, not because I would not get
magnificently turned on by them when they got in bed
with me, but because I would also get unduly turned on
by their best friend, their manservant and the chamber
maid as well.  I would have to find an impossibly
naughty husband who wanted a naughty wife rather than
one he would shelter from his proclivities.

"How scandalous!" Mary said.

"We all have our nature.  Yours really is not that
uncommon."

"It isn't?" Mary asked.

"Not at all.  It is very distracting though."  Bellany
smiled and tugged at Mary's lust.

"Mary's eyes bulged.  Oh gods I should not lust for you
Bellany!  I will have to talk to the reverend."

"If you pour out your soul to a reverend of the
vindicator he will surely squish it.  But, don't let me
stand in your way.  You should find out what the
vindicator had to say about women who lust for women,
assuming you don't know already."

"Why did this have to happen to me?" Mary said, on the
verge of tears.

"I am so sorry for bringing it up Mary.  At least I did
not grab you and start kissing you madly.  I just
cannot ignore the way you look at me any longer.  When
your heart races, so does mine," Bellany said.

"I guess this turquoise is going to be the best I can
do, Bellany said slipping into the tuquoise dress.
"Please help me with the bodice, Mary.  I rather like
your touch.  It does not bother me that you enjoy
women.  I noticed it the first time I saw you.  Just
relax and don't be silly about it.  You may be a virgin
but I am most certainly not. Besides we must be on our
way to church or we will both have to endure the
chastisement of the vindicator's pastor and flock."

"But, I feel so false!" Mary said.  "It is not right
for me to feel the things I feel."

"If you must torture yourself, do it later," Bellany
said giving Mary a hug which only seemed to drive the
girl into tears.  "I am so sorry Mary.  I really did
not mean to torture you.  I was an innocent girl of the
vindicator once.  It seems like it was so long ago.
Now I simply act like an innocent girl of the
vindicator.  No one seems to notice the difference
except me."  Bellany finished putting on the turquoise
dress with only a little help from Mary and in a few
minutes, the two of them were out the door.
-------

"There is never the slightest bit right about the vile
undead monsters consorted with by certain wicked
priests and magicians!  Gaining knowledge of such
things beyond what is needed to destroy them is shear
folly! Wickedness must be fought at every quarter!  No
one is exempt!" Reverend Leland roared from the pulpit.

"Even peers of the realm can be lured by evil power and
sucked in by sin. Why the Bristols themselves became
caught up in the evil of a wicked priest in a war
fought some two hundred years ago from the very keep we
now use as our school.  The Bristols kept their lands
and faith through the power of Baladus Vargrend a
priest who woke the dead to vanquish the righteous
warlord from the southwest.  The Bristols involved with
this fell priest maintained their power in the world
but died with a stain upon their souls!" Reverend
Leland preached.

Bellany oohed and ahhed her way through the reverend's
feast of guilt and recrimination and raised her eyebrow
at the end when he mentioned the Bristols in a less
that flattering light. She wondered if it were proper
or even wise to mention such things about the Bristols
while in Bristol at a school they sponsored.  His
preaching was beginning to wear on her making her fake
smile start to droop.

The price is too great," the reverend continued. "Do
not consort with such evil, for wickedness comes back
upon those who use its power!  Repent and preach the
ways of righteousness to the wicked!  Help the
vindicator save them before they are stained for
eternity!"

She tried to think about other things while pretending
to listen.  There were a few good things about Sundays.
Temple row was just across the courtyard from the
stables and just east of the girls' building.  With
luck, Cleopatra would soon be borrowing books from one
of the neighboring temples, the temple of Mortaebius.
Bellany hoped they would do something to jog her memory
back into shape.  Another good thing about coming to
church was that Charles and some of the male faithful
of the vindicator were present.  Bellany wished she
could sneak over to the chapel to Virtusar and lure a
few real men into the back room but she doubted that
would be possible.  She had to make do with projecting
the pretense of piety for half a dozen vindicator boys.

At last Reverend Leland finished his fiery sermon and
his congregation stood up and sung a rousing hymn. When
it was over the reverend spoke.

"Rejoice that our many prayers have been answered!
Lady Bellany Norwit was taken by the orcs last year on
her way hither.  A group of heroic adventurers rescued
her early this spring.  They left her sorely wounded
body at the office of a leach this spring. Others will
tempt you to blame her for being the victim of our war
with the foul orcs.  Yet, every soldier of the
vindicator who survives such an ordeal is a hero in the
eyes of our god and his servant Lord Avengene.  We are
having a picnic brunch today in the chapel yard
starting in half an hour.  Invite your friends so they
may taste of our wonderful fellowship," the reverend
said.

After the service, parishioners wandered around the
chapel foyer congregating in small groups.  The
students were getting reacquainted with those they had
not seen since before summer break.  The congregation
must have once been larger.  More than half of the
seating had been vacant during the sermon. Bellany
suspected that was because Lord Avengene withdrew his
grandchildren and many must have followed his example.
Bellany still wondered why Baronet Norwit had not
changed schools.

Charles waved to Bellany.  "Belle, come and meet some
friends."

Bellany grabbed Mary's arm and took her over to
Charles.  Mary was the only other worshipper Bellany
knew.

"Reverend Leland, I would like you to meet my sister
Bellany," Charles said.

"Welcome to the fold, Lady Norwit.  It is such a
miracle that you survived in the hands of those vile
raiders.  I rejoice that our prayers were answered.
How are you feeling?" the reverend asked.

"I am fit.  Hostile magic nearly killed me during my
liberation.  I was bedridden for most of the spring but
for practical purposes my body is fully recovered
expect for the hurt I took in the shoulder on the way
down.  My memory is still fragmented, but probably my
largest wound has been social, thanks to Bianca Bristol
and some others."

"The faithful of the vindicator will not back down in
our battle against vile necromancy.  Take heart, here
in Bristol you are being persecuted for righteousness
sake."

Bellany lowered her voice.  "I suppose there are some
political motivations behind Miss Bristol's actions,
but it is my lack of virtue she is attacking.  She is
aware that virgin and stew-meat are synonyms in orcish.
Her approach has been working well. I even get frowns
from the ladies of the vindicator, and I am ruining
Mary's social life just by being her roommate."

"You have had more than your share of tribulation,
milady.  I believe the men and women of the vindicator
shall show greater charity and empathy for you when
they realize what Lady Bristol is up to.  After all,
Avengene has long been at war with the orcs.
Abductions and deaths are a fact of life.  It is
wonderful just to see you alive," the reverend said.

"Thank you reverend," Bellany said.

"Now you must get on with your life. Put the orcs
behind you," The reverend said.

"Of course, I must put the orcs behind me," Bellany
said smiling at the memory of Smith Tzangzar pounding
away at her from the rear.

"You seem in good spirits, milady.  Please excuse me
there are so many people I must catch up with," the
reverend said.

"Of course, Reverend Leland, thank you for coming by,"
Bellany said.

"It was my pleasure," the reverend said.

"It is a year late, but I would like you to meet
someone.  Bellany, this is Abraham Steefl, Abe, this,
finally, is my sister Bellany.

"You are so beautiful milady; I regret your long
ordeal, but you were certainly worth waiting for,"
Steefl said.

Steefl was a big man, a bit taller than Charles and
broader even than Baronet Norwit.  His eyes were steel
gray and his hair was light brown. His disfigured face
might once have been mildly handsome, but he was
currently one of the least attractive men Bellany had
ever laid eyes on.

"Thank you Sir Steefl.  You are already a knight, are
you not?  Charles said something about having to
address you as Sir Steefl in one of his notes."

"Yes, I was knighted by Lord Avengene this summer,"
Steefl said.

"Congratulations!" Bellany said.

"Thank you milady.  Charles told me you were a poet,"
Steefl said.

"Not anymore," Bellany said softly. "My words are too
dark since I lost my innocence to the orcs.  The damage
to your face, did you receive it in battle?"

"The worst of it was from orcs when I was seven,"
Steefl said.

Bellany nodded.  I have wounds from my past as well but
they are written in my mind rather than on my body.
After the orcs, I refused to continue to be
defenseless.  I spent my summer learning to defend
myself, to wield a rapier and to ride astride on a fast
horse."

"I told you Abe, since she returned, Belle's become a
real war lady," Charles said.

"Thanks to my naughty brother," Bellany said with a
grin.

"If it weren't for the highwaymen, some of the guys
might have made me feel bad about teaching you.  Yet
the certain knowledge that I'd be pushing up daisies
had I clung to tradition instantly allays my guilt
concerning your training." Charles smiled easily.

"Mother will keep working until she finds a chink in
that armor," Bellany giggled.

"Like a skilled assassin stalking a lucrative mark,"
Charles affirmed.

"Speaking of marks, congratulations Charles.  You won
first crossbow of the academy in spite of that fellow
they brought in to steal your fame," Bellany said.

"Erol Fobs?" Charles asked.

Bellany nodded.

"Fobs is a good man.  Did you see the competition?"
Charles asked.

"Yes, I had to practically lick Glenda Gransward's feet
to get up on the platform, but there was no way I was
going to miss it.  I have already sent a letter about
it to mother and father," Bellany said.

"Fobs suspected I might have hit the buck too, and he
was man enough to make them check it when I mentioned
it to him.  Otherwise, it would not have been so easy
to get them to look.  I might have wound up playing
second fiddle.  Abe cleaned up this year as usual. Did
you see him?" Charles asked.

"No, I wish I could have watched more events but I
could only catch the crossbow competition.  Bristol and
Gransward would not allow more.  I am so snubbed,"
Bellany said.

"Abe messed up this year.  He tried to tip his helm to
Lord Carnarvon and take second in the joust, but
Carnarvon had a bad break and Abe won.  He is first
lance this year.  He also took first rank in two-handed
sword, flail and wrestling.

"Wow, are you going to be on four teams, Abraham?"

"No, milady, I will joust because it is the most
knightly of sports, and I will compete in one or two
other events, probably flail and wrestling because Bart
Blaxton is nearly as good as I at two-handed sword."

"That sounds prudent," Bellany said, doing her best to
act prim.

"Milady, the ball celebrating the winners of the
tournament rankings of this semester will be next
Saturday evening.  I would be honored to be your escort
for the dance."

"I would be glad to come, Sir Steefl.  It was kind of
you to ask.  Thanks to Bianca Bristol I am sure every
man at the academy now knows my virtue was compromised
to a hoard of orc raiders, a hoard that grows larger
with each telling, no doubt.  I would be surprised if
anyone will even dance with me."

"I will," Sir Steefl said.

Bellany smiled.  "Thank you Sir Steefl.  I see Lord
Avengene knighted you for more than your prowess at the
arts of war."

"How's that shoulder wound, Belle?" Charles asked.

"It is much better, Charles.  It is healing well."  In
truth it had been quite a pain in her dance classes
until she magically healed all but the outer surfaces
of the wound over the last few days.

About ten minutes after the flock began serving their
picnic brunch in the churchyard guests began arriving.
The class of one of the first groups of guests was
notable.

"Charles!" A familiar voice called.

Bellany glanced up to see Lord Carnarvon leading a
number of very well dressed young men.  After a glance
to make sure Steefl was looking at the new arrivals
and not her, she turned her smile on Carnarvon.  In the
warmth of her smile was an undertow that pulled his
lust with powerful subtlety.

"Loyd! Glad you could make it," Charles said striding
over to Lord Carnarvon.

Bellany raised an eyebrow.  When Charles had first come
to school he had claimed that Lord Carnarvon and he
shared a love for wine, women and song, and that the
future baron would be Charles' best friend.  Since the
two of them were on a first name basis only a week
later, Bellany gained greater faith in the charisma and
bravado of her eldest brother.  The way he had won
first crossbow certainly had not hurt his reputation
either.  Deep down she realized he was not really her
brother, but he had been like a brother to her,
therefore she regarded him as if he really were her
brother.

"Looks like you brought the whole who is who list with
you Loyd," Charles said.

Baron Carnarvon smiled.  "The Emerald Ladies are making
noises about snubbing your sister.  It is nothing I did
not see coming when you arrived this year.  Girls are
girls and Bristol is feuding with Avengene.  I told the
guys they should come over and see whom they were being
told to snub before they passed judgment sight unseen.
I did not bring George Gransward.  That seemed a lost
cause."

"Lady Bellany, let me introduce you to a few of my
friends.  You know Larry the mayor's son and Paul Patel
whose father bought the old Avengen manor.  This is
Brad Bostwick, son of Baron Bostwick, and Vernon Saint
Varlans the youngest of Baron Saint Varlans' grandsons
and the broadsword of the academy.

Bellany smiled as the two unknown noblemen kissed her
hand in turn.

"A pleasure to meet you Lady Norwit," Brad Bostwick
said.

"Thank you Lord Bostwick.  It is my pleasure to meet
you as well," She replied keeping his lust tingling for
sometime after he released her hand.

Next Vernon Saint Varlans took her hand and kissed it
very lightly.  "Pleasure to meet you milady, he said
nervously."

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Mister Saint
Varlans.  You have such a light touch.  You need not be
nervous.  I am not a rabid dog nor do I bite.  The orcs
that captured me were young, healthy warriors.  Many of
them had seen fewer summers than you.  I assure you
they did not leave me with any of the contagions
Bristol might have fabricated in her imagination to
frighten you."

Saint Varlans blushed crimson.

"Did Bristol make some plague up for my benefit?"
Bellany asked.

The boys laughed.

"She did," Saint Varlans said.

"It figures.  She has been pulling out all the stops.
I am perfectly healthy other than my crossbow wound,
and if you have trouble taking my word for it, just ask
the young lady over there.  That is my roommate, Mary.
She sees me naked everyday.

"My roommate's name is Harold. Would you like to
trade?" Saint Varlans asked.

"Mmm, and live over at the boys school where they have
all manner of handsome young men and a real mathematics
instructor?  I think I would enjoy that.  Do you
suppose you could charm Headmistress Vargrend into
making the switch?" Bellany asked.

The young men chuckled.

"Heads up, the chiefs of the conversation police are
headed this way." Charles whispered.

A moment later reverend Leland joined the group.  "It
is so good of you all to come," reverend Leland said.
I believe you know Lieutenant Herrington, Vargrend's
assistant constable.  What churches have you all come
from this morning?"

"Virtusar," Lord Carnarvon said, raising his fist.

"Mortaebius," Lawrence Eagan, the mayor's son, said
challengingly.

"Nurtriste," Lord Bostwick said.

"Nurtriste," Saint Varlans seconded.

"War, Death, Agriculture and Agriculture again.
Welcome to the house of the Vindicator, god of justice.
For those of you who may not know me, I am Reverend
Leland. Our ladies vie with the women of Nurtriste for
the top prizes in culinary artistry each autumn.  I
expect the ladies of Nurtriste will give us some stiff
competition this year since much of our flock moved to
Li'Yieraun.  Please enjoy the food.  You are always
welcome here."

"Thank you reverend.  Good day Lieutenant."

After much shaking of hands and a little talking the
"conversation police," left.

Bellany snagged Mary from the serving line and brought
her to the table where Charles and his friends were
eating.  "This, as I said earlier, is my roommate, Mary
Duffy.  Mary, this is Lord Carnarvon, Lord Bostwick,
Mister Eagan and Mister Saint Varlans.  Bellany smiled
as she introduced each of the young men to her
roommate.  Each greeted Mary in turn and kissed her
hand.  Eagan was quite attractive in a civilized, fine-
featured sort of way, and Lord Carnarvon was attractive
in the burly broad-shouldered way of the warrior. Saint
Varlans combined some of the best of both worlds and
was perhaps the most attractive man in the group, on a
par with Bellany's brother Charles who was quite good-
looking.  She gauged Mary's reaction to each of the
young men.  Mary's heart never skipped a beat.  Her
reaction was uniformly indifferent.  Bellany could feel
the lust of some of the other ladies of the vindicator
graze her person on its way to the attractive and
powerful young men, but Mary was not phased.

After some conversation about Saint Varlans' prowess
with the broadsword, and the difficulty of algebra,
Charles and the Emerald Lords excused themselves and
left the churchyard to go riding.  Steefl staid behind
for a study group led by the reverend.  Bellany
followed the young lords across the courtyard to the
stables.

Bellany looked at a huge stallion.  "These are huge."

"You are supposed to look at the horse, not under him,
Belle," Charles chuckled.

Bellany blushed.

"Most of the horses kept here are for use in the
jousts.  I brought a light horse for Charles from
Carnarvon manor, and Lord Bostwick brought one over for
Varlans," Lord Carnarvon said.

"Gods I miss riding.  May I come?" Bellany asked.

Lord Carnarvon smiled.  "We would be glad to have you
but the courtyard guards will not let ladies leave
unless accompanied by an approved chaperone.  That
usually boils down to the coach and servants of an
Emerald Lady or visiting parents or close relatives.
There are also a couple of school chaperones who can
take you to town to go shopping during the week, but I
think that is by appointment."

Bellany frowned.

"They don't call it 'Vargrend's Prison for Girls' for
nothing Belle," Charles grinned.

"They should let me go.  They are just trying to
protect the virtue of the girls.  Bristol has made sure
everyone knows it is a little late for that in my
case," Bellany said.

"If they did that I'll bet all the girls would
volunteer for deflowering just for the sake of
freedom," Varlans said.

"And I would be the first to volunteer for deflowering
duty.  Get your freedom here ladies," Charles said
patting his crotch.  "Speaking of which, have you found
any naughty young women for me over at Vargrend's,
Belle?"

"Unfortunately, with the snub on, I have not been able
to find out who might be interested in boys sans
chaperones."

"I heard Bruhnhilda Delrath is no longer a maiden due
to an errant priest of the vindicator," Lord Bostwick
said.

"She would not do for Charles.  There is the Brianna
Barter issue standing between any laison," Bellany
said.

"Brianna Barter?" Varlans asked.

"A commoner who killed Reverend Evangeline Avengene,"
Charles said. "He was the priest who put the church of
the vindicator on the map in Avengene and the church
has practically made him a saint.  Didn't you get in
trouble over Bianna Barter when you first got back to
Church, Belle?"

"Yes, they told me this beautiful fifteen-year-old girl
named Brianna Barter bewitched reverend Evangeline into
her bed and then killed him with magic.  I had trouble
believing a girl that young would or could force a
celibate priest of Evangeline's power into bed.  I am
sure he went kicking and screaming all the way, or
_someone_ did.  Of course, I got in trouble for saying.
Now I am very curious what really happened, but I
suppose if Evangeline did anything untoward the
Avengenes would have covered it up by now to save
face."

"I don't know.  I have seen Barter's wanted poster,"
Lord Bostwick said.  "That woman is _hot_.  She could
lure me into bed just about instantly."

"Can you get one of those posters for me, Charles?  I
need something to hang up on my dormitory room wall for
those long winter nights," Varlans asked.

"I'll see what I can do, Vern.  There were some less
than celibate rumors about Evangeline, but no proof.
Dad had a falling out with Baron Daelrath over the
Barter issue.  Well, that and the idiot priest who
forced himself on Bruhnhilda.  That ball-brain ruined
years of alliance building in one stroke," Charles
said.

"Could daddy have done anything even if there had been
proof behind those rumors about the lechery of
Evangeline?" Bellany asked.

Charles grimaced. "Blood is thicker than water.  Dad
never said it in so many words, but being baronet of
Western Avengene gave him power over just about
everyone in the baronety except Evangeline.  Sometimes
I think Evangeline looked on dad as nothing more than a
steward who ran the baronety for him while he attended
to spiritual matters that he considered more
important."

Bellany nodded.  "I never knew that as a child, but now
it seems so obvious.  If you fancy Bruhnhilda it would
be a coup to restore the alliance with Dealrath, but
without more information on the Barter issue you could
not get past the first conversation."

"Sure I could," Charles said.

"You could if you lied, but all Bruhnhilda needs is
another lying man of Avengene trying to get between her
legs.  If you are going to approach her, I would
suggest buying some integrity.  She is way too used to
the men of Avengene having none.  Maybe there is some
way we could find out if she is right about Barter.  It
would be stupid to base your relationship on a
foundation of lies.  It would just blow up in your
face.  Distancing yourself from the priest who raped
her would not be a bad idea either.  What god does she
worship?

"She worships Virtusar, like all good war ladies,"
Baron Carnarvon said.

"Oh, do you see her at church?" Bellany asked.

"Every Sunday," Carnarvon said grinning.  She is one of
Vargrend's three B's.

"B's?" Bellany asked.

"Beauties," Charles said.

"Three?" Lord Bostwick asked?

"I would say so, Saint Varlans said."

"I'll agree on Bernadine Belgado and Bruhnie Daelrath,
but It is hard to tell the way vindy girls dress.  You
never know how much is them and how much is the dress,"
Bostwick said.

"Necklines don't mean squat, Bostwick.  They can
bolster up from below to fool the eye.  You need to see
a lady in a variety of dresses to really get an idea of
what she looks like.  I have seen Bellany in two
dresses and she has looked the same in both."

"Belle could have used some extra padding last year,
but she really developed while with the orcs.  I don't
know what they fed her, guys, but whatever it was it
owned," Charles said.

"Charles!" Bellany squealed.

"It's true Belle.  I noticed the difference the first
time I saw you this summer," Charles said.

"There is no extra padding in this dress or my riding
dress if that is what you are wondering," Bellany said.
"Honestly, you are making me feel like a circus
animal."

"Sorry Bell," Charles said.  You don't get to be one of
the grade 'A' 'B's' without some serious consideration.
I can't vote on account of you are my sister, but
others raised the issue since they are not related to
you."

Bostwick cleared his throat. "I'll concede on the front
side, but you can't expect me to let the rear slide."

"Trust me on the other side," Carnarvon said.  I was
not trying to be ungentlemanly, it is just that Belle
zoned out and fell backwards against me as she
dismounted."

Bellany smiled at Carnarvon.  "Those memory fragments
can do that to me when they fall in place."

"Hey could you fall back against me," Bostwick asked.

Bellany cleared her throat.  "I may have lost my virtue
and my chaste reputation, but I still have a prudish
mother and a ferocious father.  Discretion is very
important in my situation.  If I were to bump my rump
against you in front of a group of young men in the
stables, word would get out in a flash and before I
knew it, mother would lock me in a convent.  That would
be no fun for anyone."

Bostwick grinned.  "You have a point there.  Looks like
I will have to buy some discretion."

"Stick with me," Carnarvon said. "His lip flaps like a
sail in a contrary wind."

The boys laughed.

"No good family would let their son marry me, so none
of you can really commit to me anyway, but that does
not mean I could not have friends if I were not locked
up in Vargrend's.  When I get out I have decided I will
stick with men who are trustworthy and discrete,"
Bellany said.

By this time the young lords had all mounted up.
Bellany frowned.  She was horseless and incarcerated.

"If one of us had a sister who we could get to invite
you over it would be great, but sisters are in short
supply this year.  If George and Glenda Gransward were
not being such asses about you because of Bianca
Bristol, we could have taken you on our ride,"
Carnarvon said.

"How about Natalie Rose?  Aren't the Roses sponsoring
Ryan Ludlow, the axe tosser of the academy this year?"
Bostwick asked.

"The Northern half of Roshaven is in Bristol.  There is
no way Natalie is going to go against Bianca's snub
order.  The way things are going none of us will be
able to break it either because technically, since we
are in Bristol Bianca holds a higher social rank than
the rest of us," Carnarvon said.

"But she is not even a baron to be," Charles said.

"True, but none of us are barons yet," Carnarvon said.
Steefl technically outranks us all since Marquis
Avengene knighted him this summer. Nevertheless,
socially we outrank him.  Likewise, the social reality
is that Bianca has Baron Bristol's ear.  She is his
favorite grandchild, the apple of his eye. She also has
the allegiance of most of the Emerald Ladies.  Socially
she has us by the balls.  I think most of the guys like
you and your sister, Nortwit, but Bristol has put
Bellany in quite a spot.  I am sure she would have
tried to do the same to you, but your skill with the
crossbow is the ultimate ace.  Everyone loves a
winner."

Charles grinned.  "Enjoy Vargrend's prison Belle.  It
is just the kind of place you are bound to hate."

Bellany scowled. "You are so right.  After being a
slave, I just cannot get enough of being caged.  Good
bye Lords and gentlemen, see you next Sunday or through
the bars of the library perhaps."

The men said their good-byes and Bellany left the
stables. In the distance, she saw Headmistress Vargrend
talking to someone near the far end of the north side
of the courtyard where the gate to the temple of
Mortaebius was.  Bellany frowned and then rushed
through the gate to the main keep.  When no one was
looking, she zipped up the stairs and into the girls'
offices and reception area.  About fifteen minutes
later Headmistress Vargrend and an older gentleman came
into the offices.

"Good day Lady Norwit.  This is Headmaster Bristol."

"Good day Headmistress Vargrend.  Good day Headmaster
Bristol," Bellany said.  "I know I am the last person
who you would expect to be here with this sort of
problem considering how Bianca treats me.
Nevertheless, someone with a lot of social clout was
saying some things about the Vargrends and Bristols
today that I found disturbing in view of the tensions
between the churches of Mortaebius and the vindicator."

"Tell me what was said, Lady Norwit?" Headmistress
Vargrend asked commandingly.  Bellany noticed an
increase in the ambient lust directed at the
Headmistress from the Headmaster but failed to notice
the headmistress doing anything to stimulate it.

Bellany cleared her throat. "Even peers of the realm
can be lured by evil power and sucked in by sin. Why
the Bristols themselves became caught up in the evil of
a wicked priest in a war fought some two hundred years
ago from the very keep we now use as our school.  The
Bristols kept their lands and faith through the power
of Baladus Vargrend a priest who woke the dead to
vanquish the righteous warlord from the southwest.  The
Bristols involved with this fell priest maintained
their power in the world but died with a stain upon
their souls!"

"Perhaps it is nothing headmistress, but it disturbs me
that anyone would come so close to fomenting rebellion
here in Bristol when tensions are so high between the
churches of Mortaebius and the vindicator," Bellany
said.

"No, you did right young lady.  Who said those words?"

"Reverend Leland said them before the entire
congregation of the vindicator this morning in his
sermon," Headmistress.

Headmistress Vargrend stood open-mouthed for an
instant.  "Why the nerve of that man!"

"A good student would look up your family history in
the library and read about the incidents to draw her
own conclusions.  However those of us with "V" cards
are not allowed to read about the Vargrends because so
many of them were priests of Mortaebius."

"I have never been comfortable with the censorship we
do for Lord Avengene, but I abided by his request
because of his peerage.  Now it appears reverend Leland
is stabbing us in the back for our trouble.  Headmaster
Bristol we must validate this young lady's statement
and then do something about this affront.  Baron
Bristol would not be happy," Headmistress Vargrend
snapped.

Again Bellany felt a surge of lust from the headmaster.

"Yes Headmistress," He said breathlessly. "This is not
right," he added.

Bellany cocked her head as she thought. _Something is
turning him on.  Is it when she gets loud? Or is it the
note of command?_

"Lady Norwit I need you to write what you said down,"
Headmistress Vargrend said.

"I am sorry Headmistress, if anyone sees that it is in
my hand I will get in no end of trouble even if they
tell you I will not."

"Headmistress Vargrend frowned.  Can you repeat what
you said?"

"Yes Headmistress," Bellany replied.

"Good let me get some parchment and I will put it in my
hand."  The headmistress briskly unlocked the door to
the offices and rushed in leaving Bellany with
Headmaster Bristol.

Bellany spoke quietly yet decisively, "Headmaster
Bristol, you have not got back to me in regard to my
father's request for additional mathematical
instruction for me.  I would be an asset to your
mathematics program.  Just imagine how hard the boys
would work if they knew they were being outdone by a
girl."

For a moment, Bellany took Headmaster Bristol off
guard.  She achieved surprise but not lust.

"Well now," he said. "So you fancy yourself a
mathematician? Let us say I have seven ripe, delicious
bosk pears and some unknown number of apples.  If I add
two to four times my number of apples and divide the
result in half, that number is equal to the number of
bosk pairs I have.  How many apples do I have, young
Lady?

Bellany stared into space for a few seconds.  "You have
*three* apples Headmaster," Bellany said forcefully.
When she felt the headmaster's lust begin to tickle up
her spine she latched onto it and tugged savagely as
she looked into his eyes.

"Yes Mistr-, Miss Norwit that is absolutely correct,"
The headmaster said breathlessly.

Bellany smiled.  "My father was not stretching the
truth.  I do hope Headmistess Vargrend remembered to
give you the letter from Baronet Norwit, my father.  I
am sure she has been very busy this first week of
classes."

"Yes, yes I am sure she must have.  I will make a point
to read it as soon as possible."

"You will. Thank you headmaster."  Bellany smiled as
she gleaned a satisfying flow of lust to latch on to
from the order that preceded her thank you. She was
being so bad playing with the headmaster but if she had
to suffer without a man then she could at least have
fun toying with the master of her prison.

The headmistress returned and broke Bellany's spell
without realizing what had transpired.  Bellany
repeated what the reverend had said so that the
headmistress could write it down.

"Thank you for being so responsible in spite of Lady
Bristol's behavior, Lady Norwit.  This is absolutely
not the kind of inflammatory preaching we need with
Bristol and Avengene on the brink of hostilities."

"Thank you Headmistress.  Is there some way I can sneak
out of here without being seen?"

"Really milady, is that necessary?" Headmistress
Vargrend scoffed.

"You have no idea, Headmistress.  It took being a slave
of the orcs to make me realize how much of a slave I
was at home.  I could get in no end of trouble if they
knew I told you.  If the reverend heard that I had
complained about not being able to look into your
family history for myself, he would verbally decapitate
me in front of the entire congregation.  The vindicator
may be the god of justice, but he is certainly not the
god of freedom," Bellany said.  She could see her words
had struck a nerve in Headmistress Vargrend.  The woman
did not like the censorship she had been obliged to
uphold.

"Very well Lady Norwit.  Come along; I will take you
through the breezeway we use in winter to allow the
girls to get from their building to the cafeteria
without braving the snows."
-------

This ends, Snubbery, Chapter 57 of The Chronicles of
Rapina.

The story continues in Chapter 58, Inmates.

Copyright 2003 by Rapina