(Continued from Ch 59, Inmates) The Chronicles of Rapina Chapter 60, Baladus It was the night after the ball and Bellany had waited patiently for Mary to fall asleep. Even though nothing had really happened the night before, it had been a night full of tension. Mary had patently disregarded her word to leave Bellany's bed at the first sign of feeling lust. Instead she had snuggled, but she could not get comfortable. It had taken half the night for them to fall asleep and the night had already been shortened due to the relatively late hour Mary had come back from the ball. In spite of their short night, they still had to get up in time for reverend Leland's sermon. After the sermon, Bellany had taken a very long afternoon nap, but Mary had been obliged to work in the library. Having missed so much sleep last night, Bellany knew Mary would sleep like the dead tonight. That suited Bellany's plans just fine. After slipping out of bed, Bellany moved some of the blankets on Mary's bed to Bellany's bed where Mary was now sleeping. It was indeed chill. Bellany donned a heavy sweater and a thick robe and then stole out of the room and into the library. Bellany knew the skeleton key Cooyman had made her, based on the impressions of the two keys she had given him, worked on the library door. While everyone was away watching the last of the tournament events she had tried it. She also knew it would work on the door to the librarian's cage since the same key that opened the door to the library worked on the cage. Yet, she was pleased when it also worked on the door to the spiral staircase. It unlocked both of the doors that Cooyman actually had impressions of the keys for. Bellany locked the door behind her, started up the stairs and then hesitated. She could review the magic books she had hurriedly read on previous nights, but there was really no need. They had done their work by bringing back a great many memories. She had hinted to Cooyman that she would try to get out of Vargrend's to see him, but she had also more or less told him that she might simply wind up able to get into the basement. She reversed her direction and tried the key on the next door down from the library door, the door that went into the office. It worked, but Bellany heard someone unlocking the door to the boys' reception area in front of the office from the outside. She immediately relocked the door to the spiral stair and stole down the stairs. She arrived at the bottom just in time to hear the door to the stairwell being unlocked. She dismissed her light and listened. She heard a voice or voices from up the stairs. It sounded like Headmaster Bristol. No doubt he had been a chaperone at the ball and was going to go up to his apartments in the smaller tower that rose from the roof above the library stacks. Perhaps there was someone else with him but it was impossible to tell for sure. After Headmaster Bristol was safely in his tower, Bellany looked at the door to the crypt. It was at the bottom of the spiral stair. She tried her key. The door to the crypt was a little difficult, but she was very curious about it after her conversation in the courtyard with Headmistress Vargrend. Besides, that was where the ghosts seemed to live. Her key did not instantly work on the door. Bellany knew she was risking her key, but she carefully fiddled with it in the lock. A few minutes later the door opened for her. Bellany held her blue light aloft but she could not see more than a few feet beyond the door. The minor magic that maintained her light was simply not very strong. There was a torch in a holder affixed to the wall just outside the crypt. Bellany took it down and sniffed it. It smelled as if it had been used within the last few weeks but not within the last few days. After attempting a fire finger cantrip several times but failing to create the flash of magical flame she was after, Bellany retreated up the stairs with the torch and lit it from the candle that was kept burning in the office next to the door to the staircase. She was able to see much more by the light of the torch. She returned to the crypt door that she had left slightly ajar. She read the words carved into the slab above the door, "House Bristol, The Hall of Ancestral Heroes and Their Valiant and Learned Retainers." Below that were two more lines. She read them easily as the prayer they spelled out was a familiar one. Bellany opened the door to the crypt and looked in. She remembered the first time she had seen such a crypt on Graveston Isle. The pirate named Backster had gone in before intoning the prayer above the door and had been trapped. Bellany checked the doorjamb and saw that two unusual deep, straight mortar joints went from the ceiling to the floor just beyond it. She looked up. There was a slot above. She conjectured that a metal plate might slide down from it to block the exit. It was an arrangement almost identical to the one used on Graveston Isle. She would not let the same trap catch her twice. Before stepping into the crypt she repeated the prayer above the door, "Hail thou hallowed dead. Rise not to greet this humble mourner, but rest in Mortaebius' grace... to rise only in the direst need," Bellany added, as was the custom of her order. Bellany smiled to herself as she entered the crypt. It felt good to be in a tomb again, and that could only mean she really was Deaconess Rapina, of The Order of the Shroud. The smell in the corridor she entered was that of ancient bones. To the sides the corridor went both left and right but also a little backwards so that each segment wrapped around the tower that held the stairway. The walls to the sides opposite the walls of the tower held stone shelves filled with bones. The walls of the corridor straight ahead of the entry door supported three tiers of stone plaques on either side. Behind each plaque was a grave. At intervals along the centerline of the corridor straight ahead were the plain or carved stone sarcophagi of important Bristols and Vargrends. They sat on stone slabs and seemed to be arranged by period such that contemporaries shared the same area. The ceilings were of ancient vaulted stone perhaps ten feet tall at the peak. Bellany turned left and examined the stone shelves on the outside wall of the corridor that ringed the stairway tower. All of the shelves combined contained the ancient bones of perhaps a hundred soldiers. Small bronze plaques that told what battle the men had fallen in decorated the shelves. The torchlight was too bright to allow her to see with her blue light turned black; thus she had no idea if any spirits had been bound to the bones to enable them to animate themselves. She needed her first sight spell to see magic. Bellany cast and recast the spell until she at last got it to work. She was rusty and tended to forget little things but she knew it would all come back with practice. The bones were ancient and by the look of the dust on them had not stirred for a very long time, but Bellany thought she could make out a faint aura of necromancy. She briefly examined the bones but made sure that she did not touch any of the rings that a few of the skeletons possessed on their fingers. She remembered that Kent had tossed a ring from the finger of an entombed noble at her party of pirates to activate a group of armored skeletons. Bellany returned to the door and shut it without locking it to keep her torch light from leaking out into the stairwell in case anyone should happen by. She turned and made her way up the corridor that led straight away from the entry door. She read the names and inscriptions on the plaques and sarcophagi as she went. The crypts of the ancient Bristols and Vargrends were arranged in corridors that fanned out from a central hub like spokes from a wheel. The tower that held the staircase and entry door was like a second very small wheel on the edge of the large one. The sarcophagus of Warlord Bristol, founder of the line, was on a raised circular platform at the hub of the spoke-like corridors. The sarcophagi of later barons were arranged around the base of the platform. Each pointed outwards towards a corridor that housed the given baron's contemporaries. Pointing towards the spoke where the first baron's men were buried was the sarcophagus of Alistair Vargrend. Bellany raised an eyebrow. Evidently warlord bristol had recognized Alistair, the learned priest who had started off as a slave left over from the Crabbets as a font of wisdom by the end of his life. Bellany would have opted to put the baroness in Alistair's spot, but instead the central hub was an all male affair. Bellany guessed that the many suits of plate armor standing around the hub area were skeletal guards but she did not want to check for fear of activating them. Near the hub in the entry hall she had come from, Bellany did find the sarcophagus of Elaine Crabett- Bristol although the inscription on her sarcophagus left out the Crabett name. Bellany stroked the carving of the woman's face. "I learned about you on the first day of the trivium. Your life was supposed to give me hope that a woman without the virtue of chastity could still amount to something. Of course, I never did put a lot of value in chastity, but I am sorry for what you suffered. You founded a dynasty but I get the feeling you were a slave in your own house, an object useful for her beauty and her pedigree. ...No fun in that." "Ooouu!" Bellany squealed and jumped as a chill ran up her spine. She dropped her torch and then picked it up only to suffer another chill. "Stop it!" Bellany commanded, brandishing her ghost hand. When she felt no more chills she turned her hand to find the location of the spirit. The feel was familiar but there was something different about it; She felt palpable despair. Something was wrong. "Something seems wrong with you. Stay there, Lady Ghost. I need to see you. Let me put this torch down one of the other halls. It is too bright for my black light." Bellany retreated into another of the spokes and put the torch into a holder then made her way back to Elaine Bristol's sarcophagus. When she arrived, she hastily summoned her bluelight and dropped it into her left palm to turn it black. This was the ghost that Bellany had formerly known as Lady Weepins. The silvery lines around the areas where Bellany had previously wounded the ghost had degenerated leaving a sizable hole in the spirit's chest. "I am so sorry that wound has grown worse. It was my intention to discipline you not to destroy you. I think I may be able to fix it but you must be patient and allow me to cast. I cannot do any serious magic with you causing chills. All I can do is rip and tear." Bellany held up her ghost hand. The ghost cowered. "Hold still." Bellany was about to attempted her bestow energy spell through the ghost hand but then realized that the ghost was more a construct of faint life force than it was a construct of negative life force. She attempted her bestowal spell using her right hand. The attempt was a failure and would not have healed a wounded person, yet even a failure bestowed a great deal of energy, the energy was simply insufficient to cause actual changes in a physical body. The ghost was a thing of much greater delicacy. The silvery lines grew exceedingly bright and the ghost quivered violently. "Goodness, I hope I did not mess up," Bellany said. The ghost floated to the floor and did not move. Bellany bent to have a closer look. The hole in the creature's chest was regenerating almost as if a gaggle of tiny silver spiders were re-spinning their web. Once she was satisfied that the ghost was getting better and not worse, Bellany lifted her very gently with the palm of her ghost hand and set her on her sarcophagus. When it became apparent that the ghost was not going to wake up anytime soon, Bellany decided to continue to explore the crypts. There was one man's sarcophagus she wanted to find in particular. "Baladus Vargrend, Priest of Mortaebius, Order of Death's Peace," Bellany read. "He definitely must have been an important man to have a sarcophagus like this." Bellany looked at the elaborately carved stone box. It was quite substantial. She pushed it but could not budge it. Either it was extremely heavy or it was built into the stone slab on the floor. Bellany began feeling the carvings. She jiggled the interior portion of a couple of spiral carvings on the front corners of the sarcophagus. She realized that they might turn. She wondered if she should turn one and not the other, or one then the other or both at the same time. She reasoned that turning both at the same time would take the most deliberate effort and would be the least likely thing to be done by a mourner. She examined the inscriptions once again wondering if there might be some booby trap for grave robbers. The only inscriptions were the name and priestly order of the deceased. Bellany knew the motto of The Order of Death's Peace since both Thane and Rames had received their original ordination from that order. "We are the brave Mortaebian warriors of death's peace," Bellany said. "Looters and despoilers shall not prevail against the might of our staves while we, the champions of the dead, protect their graves. We rest not, so that the dead may rest in peace." Bellany twisted both carvings towards one another. They moved but nothing else happened. She pushed on the lid, then tried pushing in another direction and pushed harder. Rollers within the lid loosed and the lid was suddenly sliding quite easily in the direction of the foot of the sarcophagus. Before it had slid more than halfway off, Bellany looked at the underside of it near the foot of the coffin. There were bronze tracks of some sort built into the lid. She could push it two thirds of the way off the foot of the sarcophagus with no worries that it would fall. _Is this really Baladus?_ Bellany wondered. The skeletal corpse radiated a faint aura of necromancy. "Baladus?" She asked aloud. "Take me to Baladus Vargrend." _Damn it! I'll never see Baladus. I know how to instruct skeletal minions but not how to command them. If this skeleton were alive I could explain but it's quite obvious that he was speared through the skull quite sometime ago and even if he hadn't been, I know how brainless and literal skeletons can be._ "Right bonehead?" Bellany asked as she patted the skeleton's skull with her left hand. The skeleton stiffened as if a bolt of lightning had just struck it. Bellany looked at her ghost hand. She suddenly knew the skeleton belonged to Lieutenant Gage, commander of Special Forces, but she did not understand why she knew that. A memory replayed in here mind; she heard Roger the death-skeleton speak. "Mortaebius knows where the dead lie," He rasped. She put her hand back on the skull. "Take me to Baladus Vargrend," She commanded. The skeleton now sat bolt upright. She heard some sort of mechanism. The floor of the sarcophagus began to lower. It was an elevator. Bellany caught on quickly. She climbed up on the sarcophagus and stepped into the area recently vacated by the now seated skeleton's back. The lid of the sarcophagus slid shut as the sinking floor reached a mark some six and a half feet below its original level. Perhaps seven feet later it stopped descending. Bellany stepped off the platform. She heard clattering from along the walls. All the way down the hall-like chamber she was in, armored skeletons brandished rusty weapons or decayed handles and came marching towards her. Some fell as their armor fell down or off due to rotten straps or joints that refused to properly flex. Nevertheless they rushed towards her giving her only a moment to realize that she was unarmed and dressed in a robe. She blocked the first rusty sword with her torch and had to duck the flying bits of decayed metal and rust as it broke. She pushed the skeleton forcefully backwards with a kick. It in turn knocked over three others, but there were many more where that came from. Bellany dodged numerous blades, shattered a few skeletal ribs and legs and kicked nearby skeletons into tangles with the ones in the rear. Yet she was overwhelmed and backpedaling. She was pinned in the corner when a skeleton with an ancient bronze mace knocked the torch from her hands. It flew across the room and nearly went out. Bellany screamed in the darkness and threw up her hands in a vain attempt to fend off a sea of deadly blows. The blows never came. As the flames of her torch rekindled across the room she saw that all of the skeletons nearest her had knelt before her and those that clamored over them rapidly knelt as well. "Oh," Bellany said. Suddenly she realized that, like the skeleton that operated the elevator, her ghost hand had swayed them. She went to touch one skeleton and the others rose and began to brandish their weapons only to kneel once again when she presented her hand to them. It took a little doing but she managed to keep her hand angled outward most of the time while touching each skeleton in turn. She found that touching their armor was not always sufficient, but touching bone was. If she touched the skull of a skeleton it often brought knowledge of that skeleton to her mind. "Obey," she said to each of them, willing them to heed her words as she took note of their names. When she had touched the last skeleton, Bellany wiped the sweat from her brow and shook herself. Her heart was pounding but she seemed to have things under control. She retrieved her torch and looked around the room. The previously clear floor was strewn with broken, rotting weapons and pieces of armor that were more rust than metal. It was obvious no one had visited this secret area in many decades if not a century or two. The skeletons themselves were in bad shape. She had damaged some of them, and some of the others had damaged themselves due to their rotted gear. There was an art to putting armor on skeletons, and Bellany knew that art. It had obviously not been applied to these skeletons for far too long. Bellany decided to explore further. She formed the skeletons into a column. Two of them would march ahead of her and two beside her. The remaining ten or twelve would take up the rear. She began having them open the doors along the walls of the chamber she was in. The layout was somehow familiar. Most of the rooms were empty storage rooms, but the one nearest the elevator had some ancient barrels that seemed to have been soaked in resin. There were also bolts of ancient canvas that were now largely composed of dust. Towards the far end of the room there was a large door. Bellany noticed that a few feet in front of the door the floor seemed to droop downwards when the skeletons began to walk over it. She turned and jumped back in the direction of the elevator and found herself hanging on the edge of a newly opened pit as the floor fell away below her. "Gods!" Bellany said. All four of the skeletons in the front had fallen in. "Mick, push my feet up," Bellany ordered. The skeleton of Mick got off the spikes at the bottom of the pit and pushed Bellany up. She got out and ordered all the skeletons in the pit to get off the spikes. She then had each one climb up on Mick and reached down to catch the hand of each of them to help them out of the pit. When the second last skeleton was standing on Mick's shoulders she ordered Mick to grab its feet and then hauled both skeletons out of the pit. "Thank goodness that trap was old and in need of grease," Bellany said. There was a narrow strip of flooring on one side of the pit that could be used to get to the door at the far end of the room. She ordered four of her skeletons across it before following. At first she thought the door was stuck but after shaking it she reasoned that it had been bolted from the other side. "Perhaps there was a secret knock," Bellany mused. She looked at the skeletons until she had determined that Mick had the strongest aura of necromancy around him. She hoped that he was a reaving skeleton and therefore had a little more brainpower than the others did. It would make sense to have a leader in the bunch, although they may have been created too long ago for that kind of sophistication. "Mick, knock on this door as Baladus and his compatriots knocked when they wished to get in." The skeleton knocked, "tap... tap-tap-tap." Bellany waited a moment and then tried the same knock herself. It sounded different because she had flesh on her bones. She heard some activity on the other side and at last the door opened. She wasted no time touching the skeletal doorman's head. "Daniel, you are not to attack me but you will otherwise continue to obey the last instructions given you before you met me," Bellany said to the skeleton. The next room appeared to be a study or conference room of some sort. There was a desk in the back and a podium standing before it with a huge ancient book lying open upon it. A rotted wooden table had once stood back from the podium but its legs had given way. Bellany ordered the skeletons ahead of her and made her way to the desk. The papers in it were ancient and she had to be exceedingly careful with the velum or it fell to fragments in her hands. The papers appeared to be letters and requisitions for needed supplies. Bellany pointed to the book on the podium. "If this book is Baladus' spellbook, it should be copied before it turns to dust," Bellany said. "Otherwise all his work will be lost." Bellany remembered Red Jack's story of the book that burst into flame. _I wonder if he put magical booby-traps on it?_ Bellany considered the issue for a moment. There was a cord hanging from the book that could be used as a marker. She decided that if she were going to trap a book, she would trap the page that was open, the first page and the last page, but she had no idea if that was right. Tentatively she touched the cord. Nothing happened so she grasped it, closed her eyes and softly blew the dust from the pages of the open book. She did not dare look at it to see how well she had done her work. She put the cord into the book and then closed it, keeping her eyes closed. After that she stepped back and glanced to see if there was any title on the book but there was not. The black leather binding was cracked and rotted. Suddenly the specter of a man materialized in front of her. She screamed and jumped backwards. Her heart pounded and she ran for the door but deliberately stopped herself against the wall next to the door instead. _I am a deaconess of Mortaebius. I am of the shroud. I am not some frightened little girl to be scared off by parlor tricks._ Bellany recovered herself, turned and walked back towards the ghost but the ghost faded away. "Joshua take my torch to the far corner of the room," Bellany pointed as she handed the torch to one of the skeletons. She conjured her bluelight and let it drop into her palm. She now saw the apparition that had so recently disappeared. He was standing near her with his arms raised and moving. She held up her left palm. "I am of Mortaebius. I mean you no harm," She said. The ghost hesitated. A moment later she saw the ghost of Lady Elaine burst through the door, glowing brightly and looking quite healthy compared to the way she had been. The two spirits seemed to converse briefly, although Bellany could not really hear anything. After they were done, the man looked Bellany in the eye and then pointed at the book. She walked over to it. He put one hand over his eyes and held up three fingers. She closed her eyes, opened the book and carefully turned the first three pages. She then tipped her head up and looked at the ghost without looking at the book. He smiled and held up ten fingers thrice without putting his hand over his eyes. "May I look as I turn the pages? It will help. I can be more careful with the pages that way. The book is in very delicate condition." The ghostly gentleman nodded. Bellany slid her globe of blue light back up onto her fingertips so that it went from black to blue. She slowly turned the pages. The language was old but she had no trouble understanding it due to all of the old books Thane had had her read in the past. "Ash Kinetics, Bumblebee, Chill of Fear, Drain Vitality, Firefly, Fleeting Stench." Bellany wrinkled her nose. "Ice Sickle, Slip, Throat Frog, Twitch... These are cantrips. I have seen Bumblebee somewhere before," Bellany said as she dropped the light into her palm and looked at the ghost near her. The apparition nodded. "These notes are priceless," Bellany observed. "You must have written them when you were learning these as a beginning caster. Wait, I see there are several sets of initials being used in the notes. It looks like several students who worked on this edition of the book contributed to the casting notes. Oh here we have a new chapter entitled, 'Elementary Spells.'" The ghost motioned her to keep turning pages. The spells were in alphabetical order. "Bestow Life Force I, Disease Cloud I, Draining Touch I," Bellany read. She shook herself as she read Draining Touch. "This was the first spell I managed to get to work. Some sort of magic damaged my memory but I cannot remember exactly how it happened. Seeing this is bringing back my memories of learning this spell though. The version I learned was a little different, but not very different. This Bestow Life Force spell is a lot like the healing spell I do but this one only banishes fatigue." The ghost held up two fingers and mouthed four words. "Are you saying my spell is Bestow Life Force II?" Bellany asked Baladus nodded. "That is interesting. I had the worst time trying to get bestow life force to work, and even when I got it to work I had to have very full reserves. Perhaps I needed to study this fatigue banishing spell first. My former mentor's education must have been less broad than yours. Either that or he just wanted me to have spells useful in battle and thus contrived to start me with a specialty of the most useful of the necromantic spells. He used a first tier drain spell as the foundation for a second tier bestow spell. What I probably also needed was a first tier bestow spell to serve as the foundation for the more difficult bestow spell. This bestow spell should be helpful. The drain spell is too different to serve well as the foundation of the bestow spell. He also taught me a spell to view magic, and that is not necromancy. Perhaps he was just trying to teach me the things that would be most useful first." Baladus shrugged and nodded. Bellany smiled and continued to skim through the writings as she turned pages. She read the title of each spell as she went. "Empathy, Fear I, Fumble I, Gentle Beast, Ghostly Whispers." Bellany felt a minor chill. She shifted her light into her palm and looked up. The spirit held up his hand in the signal to stop and pointed at the Ghostly Whispers spell and back at Bellany. Bellany began to read the notes on effect. "This allows a magician to hear the utterances of ghosts and spirits. I suppose you want me to learn it?" Bellany asked. The spirit nodded. "That makes sense. You are a necromancer not a mime." Bellany giggled. The apparition shook his head but smiled and said something to the other ghost. "I really should have brought some parchment and a quill but I was originally just going to go over the magic books in the stacks again," Bellany said. "Now that I have managed to get a nefarious skeleton key made, however, curiosity got the best of me." Bellany studied the spell for half an hour and then began to work on the semantic components. The apparition corrected her several times, but before the end of an hour her motions were perfect. She added the utterances. It took another hour to get them synchronized. Finally she attempted to shape the magic in accordance with the casting notes while doing the verbal and semantic components. Before she had got the spell to work, Lady Elaine appeared and pretended as if she were asleep and then woke up, wiped the tiredness from her eyes and pointed upwards. "Oh goodness, is it morning already?" Bellany asked, having been too immersed in her new project to realize how the time was passing. Both apparitions nodded. "Okay, I had better go. Thank you for the lesson. Is it Guardian Baladus?" The apparition nodded and then pointed to Bellany. "I look like Bellany Norwit, and I am not entirely sure why. Her parents nursed me back to health after some adventurers delivered me to a leech in the baronety of Norwit. Bellany had been captured by orcs the year before. I had also been captured by orcs and I was the victim of hostile magic or something. I still do not remember what happened. Currently I am posing as Bellany Norwit. Otherwise I would not be going to the most prestigious girls' school in the Duchy. My memory was damaged but some things have come back." Bellany curtseyed. "I am pleased to meet you Guardian Baladus; I am Deaconess Rapina, Order of the Shroud, apprentice magician. Lady Elaine I am so glad that healing seemed to work. I will come back another night as soon as I can. Thank you Guardian Baladus. I was getting so homesick. I know I should have my head examined but it is actually a relief to be in the company of you and these boneheads." Bellany motioned to the skeletons and smiled. Baladus smiled. "I guess I had better go." Bellany bowed. Balladas bowed slightly and made a motion as if to shoe her out. Bellany grinned. She was about to let her bluelight lapse when she realized that the torch in the skeletal hand of Joshua had long since burned out. She took it anyway and ordered the skeletons to come out with her and take their former places. She ordered them to attack anyone entering the room other than her, Baladus or Lady Elaine. She hoped that would do. She had to yell but she managed to order Lieutenant Gage, the bonehead in Baladus' coffin to lower the coffin floor. Soon she was making her way through the crypts with a smile on her face. The school commissary was located in the same building as the cafeteria. One passed over it if she used the bridge and covered walkways from the administration building to the cafeteria. It was next to the school leech's office and accessible from the cafeteria during meals and for two hours in the evening. Bellany looked at the candles and then returned to the counter. "Excuse me; do you have a box of candles? I don't want to clean all of the stock off the shelf," Bellany said. "Of course, we have them in boxes of two dozen or four dozen, stocking up?" The attendant asked. "After being chilled by the ghost in the library, I thought it might be prudent to have a night light," Bellany whisperd. The attendant giggled. "I would like three of the large boxes, please," Bellany said. Bellany took other items that she needed from the various commissary shelves. Eventually she had placed a large bottle of glue, a large bottle of ink, a crystal inkwell, a sheaf of quills, a penknife, a shaker of blotting sand, a sack of blotting sand, a horsehair brush, a sheaf of parchment and three thick bound volumes of blank parchment, one large and two small on the counter. She tossed a canvas sack on top of the other items and waited while the attendant tallied the cost. "It looks like you are buying your start of the term supplies all over again," The attendant said. "Sometimes being The Fallen Angel of Vargrend's means your things suffer," Bellany said as she paid the attendant. "Sorry to hear that," the attendant said as she handed Bellany her change. Bellany nodded. "Thank you." That night she was simply too tired for a foray to the crypts. Instead she opened her closet and dropped her sack of items into one of her trunks. Thup-thump. There was something odd about the sound. Bellany began knocking on the trunk and soon realized that it had a false bottom. After a while she figured out how to open it and did so. Inside were two small books, some scattered sheets of parchment and a portable Standish. Bellany opened the first of the books and read the title. _The Diary of Bellany Norwit, Captive of the Orcs._ Bellany raised an eybrow. The other was entitled, "Darkness and Despair." It was a book of poems written by Bellany Norwit, the real Bellany Norwit. This particular trunk was the very same trunk that had been delivered to the leech in northern Norwit along with Bellany's old clothes and one badly damaged body. Bellany flipped through it and read one of the last poems in the book. It was entitled, "Dark Lover." As she read the poem she realized that it was about the real Bellany's love for the high shaman of the orcs. She knew she would read both volumes, but for the time being she hid them back in her trunk. It was a lucky thing that she did because Mary came in just as she finished putting them away. Even though Mary snuggled, Bellany went right to sleep and slept until the monitor awakened her to get ready for her morning class. She did not even recall hearing Mary get up and leave for work at the library. Bellany knew her schoolwork was suffering slightly from her late night adventures. Headmistress Vargrend had even marked her off for a grammatical error on one of her papers for the trivium. She was not too worried, however. She had already read the books for the term and she found the homework easy enough, although trying to sound like a vindicator girl in her writings made it seem a bit more challenging. The next night after attending the optional drawing and painting class, Bellany returned to the room to find Mary already preparing for bed. "More fruit?" Mary asked as Bellany put down a board with her latest drawing project on it. "Yes, even the art books leave certain details off the human figure. I think they are putting off real nudes until after the last year of school," Bellany grinned. "Morality through virtue," Mary said quoting the school motto. "And don't you forget it!" Bellany grinned alluringly and gave Mary's lust just a subtle tug. Mary blushed. "I would have an easier time forgetting it if they let me stay in the boys dormitory," Mary whispered. "It is just not fair. What makes me so... off?" "There is nothing wrong with you, Mary. Your nature is a common human variation. It is simply a variation that the church of the vindicator finds no use for. There are other girls in this school who are as you are. They are all just busy hiding it," Bellany said. "Bellany, how can you say those things? Where is your faith?" "I am sorry Mary; since the orcs, my faith is more observance than belief. I know I should not badmouth the church while in the company of a true believer. Perhaps religion is not really what is bothering me. Perhaps I just feel badly about torturing you." "Torturing me?" Mary asked. "Yes, you would get on much better with a woman who was not sexually aware and had no interest in women. I am neither," Bellany whispered. Thankfully it is a relatively warm night tonight so you will not have to resist all that lust." Bellany winked. Mary rolled her eyes. "What makes you think I feel any lust for you?" she whispered as she finished undressing and fetched her nightgown. Bellany smirked. She put her hand softly on Mary's shoulder and watched her roommate's nipples rise. She did not even have to tug on the poor girl's lust. Bellany pointed at Mary's left breast and watched her blush crimson. Bellany snatched her hand back. "I am sorry. I should not toy with you like that. It is not right when you are trying to be such a model vindie girl. Obviously this imprisonment is getting to me," Bellany whispered. Mary looked at Bellany. The longing in Mary' eyes was palpable. Bellany groaned. "Now you are toying with me. Mary that tortured longing just drives me to distraction. You know I find it difficult to resist someone who really wants me. I suppose it is my own fault for toying with you. I am glad it is warmer and we will not have to repeat the night before last." Mary flopped onto her bed. "Vindicator forgive me," She said. Bellany smiled and slid into her own bed. "Goodnight Mary." "Goodnight Bellany," Mary said. In spite of the drama, Mary's lust passed to slumber less than half an hour after they went to bed. Bellany carefully took her candle from her nightstand and got her sack from the trunk. She waited until the hall monitor was headed for the floor below and then stole out of her room. She lit her candle from one of the candles in the hallway wall sconces and then went into the library locking each door she opened behind her. Finally she went down to the door to the crypts. She recited the prayer above the door and headed towards Baladus' sarcophagus. Once there, she recited the motto of The Order of Death's Peace, twisted the carvings, slid back the lid and took the elevator down below the crypts. She greeted the skeletons and made her way into the room that held Baladus' spellbook. She blew the dust from an ornate bronze candelabrum on the far side of the room and then filled three of its five holders with candles from her sack of goods. She lit them and blew her original candle out. She crossed to the podium and conjured her bluelight and let it slip into her left palm. The ghost of Baladus already stood near the podium, and Lady Elaine was seated at the desk. "Good evening Guardian Baladus, Lady Elaine," Bellany said cheerfully. "I brought some candles and writing supplies." Baladus nodded and pointed to the spellbook. Bellany looked the Ghostly Whispers spell over once again and began casting. It was frustrating. Bellany knew she had the verbal and semantic components down, but the shaping of the magic was more than just meaningful gestures and words of power. She looked at her ghost hand a moment. Somehow it connected her with Mortaebius. _This spell ought to be easy for me._ She tried again and yet again, listening for a voice when Baladus spoke. A few hours and countless attempts later she heard, "Can you hear me?" "I think I am getting something." Bellany advanced on the ghost of Baladus with a hand cupped to her ear. "Tell me about the weather outside," Baladus said. Bellany heard the whispered voice clearly. He was practically inside her ear he was so close. She softly tapped the ghost of Baladus on the forehead with the palm of her ghost hand as he spoke. "Mortaebius' will be done; Let no powers sway you but that one," Rapina intoned. It was an instruction she had learned while with Thane for clearing the minds of undead of compulsions. "The weather outside yesterday was overcast and fairly warm for October," Bellany said. Baladus Vargrend blinked as though struck. He looked taken aback for a moment but then smiled. "Then it is true you are of Mortaebius. Even though you passed my tests in making it to this room, I was worried that the vindicator had sent us a Trojan horse. Yet the dead know Mortaebius, and that was not the hand of the vindicator." Bellany nodded, "Sorry about that. I thought if I could trust anyone, I could trust a ghost, but I am aware that priests of other religions can sway the undead with the power of their faith. I had to be sure you were still of Mortaebius. I think you already strongly suspected that I was from my behavior with the boneheads. Rest assured I am of The Shroud, and this hand of mine must be of Mortae..." Bellany trailed off as her memory released images of the lair of the high shaman of the orcs. Reflexively she slapped her left hand to her forehead as the memories returned. Suddenly she remembered being in the land of the dead summoning its lord. "I remembered something just then. The orcs that captured me had taken me down into a trackless cavern to an underground city called Jooldig. I spent time with the orc armorers there. The high shaman of the orcs summoned me along with the shaman of the orc tribe that had captured me. The high shaman had been in love with the real Bellany Norwit and had sacrificed her to get power. He drugged me so profoundly that I found myself in the land of the dead. He conjured the soul of a dead lust spirit into me. Vulvilea, the same lust spirit whose stored essence I had merged with years ago. That merging was the result of a posthumous plot of my Aunt to avenge her own death at the hand of an evil reverend of the vindicator. "The lust spirit was doing something in my body... perhaps she was the one who changed my appearance so that I look like Bellany Norwit. In the end Vulvilea was in pain and screaming at the high shaman. Perhaps he double-crossed her. I was not paying much attention at the time because I was stuck in the land of the dead. I invoked Mortaebius while in his realm. He came to me, and that is all I remember before waking up in a leech's clinic in Northern Norwit with bruising that went clean through every part of my body." "If Mortaebius came to you, then you knew death, for one cannot know Mortaebius and not know death," Baladus whispered. "Then how can I be alive?" Bellany asked. "Mortaebius knows death like no other. There is a spell whereby a necromancer can restore life to the recently dead, but it requires the sacrifice of at least two others. Perhaps this high shaman was powerful enough to serve alone. Did he have some form of magic with which he was especially good?" Baladus asked. "Curses," Bellany said. "If you were reborn from his life force, then you shall excel at curses and if you were touched by Mortaebius then necromancy should also come easily to you," Baladus said. "Oh wonderful, curses and necromancy," Bellany said. Balladas chuckled. "Powerful aptitudes such as you will have will spare you time and drudgery, time you can use to pursue the areas of magic that are your passion. There is no need to allow yourself to become mired in the accomplishments of those who have given their lives or power to make you more than what you were." Bellany nodded. "My dead Aunt told me that a lust spirit was limited by its nature, but that I am a woman limited only by my ability to learn." Baladus nodded. "Inspiration and learning are of life, and Amorra, the goddess of love and lust has gifted you with a great measure of both. You will be able to use the power of Mortaebius and the lust spirit to draw the life force of others to enhance your own. Lady Elaine told me that your life force is pure lust." Baladus chuckled. Bellany blushed. "I have very meager reserves because I am locked in this school and unable to see men. Yet, I was able to give her some of what I had. I had no wish to destroy her, even if she has been such a pain to me." Baladus smiled. "Please forgive Lady Elaine. She is a very active ghost because she is able to draw sustenance from the fear of young women. In life she suffered a great deal of fear at the hands of Bristol and his boorish brigands." "Do all ghosts draw sustenance from fear?" Bellany asked. "Many do but not all. I find the anger of men more sustaining, perhaps because I spent so much time on the battlefield, or because I was angry at Bristol for enslaving and mistreating my father Alistair Vargrend and his beloved Elaine. In the end, Elaine and I fixed Bristol. I should have taken my rest, but the ghostly state comes more easily to priests of Mortaebius and I am of The Order of Death's Peace and of The Shroud. I watch over this tomb. Lady Elaine helps me by keeping up with the events of the day. Although she has no real magic, she feeds easily from the schoolgirls and this keeps her more alert and active, closer to life and more easily able to adapt to change." Bellany cocked her head. "Anger, battle, strife, maybe it is not as concentrated as on an actual battlefield, but you must get a boost from the tournaments," Bellany said. "Nay, Lady Elaine has overheard much talk concerning the tournaments but they are not held within the keep I knew in life. Headmaster Bristol provides what little energy I am able to obtain when he paddles errant boys in the dungeon. Unfortunately for me, he is not a violent man and I lack the energy to prod him in that direction." "He would not last long if he made a habit of beating the children of the peers and the wealthy," Bellany said. "Yes, I discovered that long ago with another headmaster," Baladus smiled. "You bad ghost," Bellany said, yet she could not help smiling. "Is there any way you could leave the keep?" Bellany asked. "Ghosts become anchored to a familiar place. It is possible to render a ghost more mobile, but the magic is beyond you." "Then I had better study," Bellany said. "Yes, and I must rest. Lady Elaine knows the perils of my book. You may speak with her about them. Manifesting to you the other night was not without cost to me, and then to remain active teaching you this spell. It took an act of will," Baladus said wearily. "I am Sorry," Bellany apologized. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Mortaebius has touched you with his grace. When you enter my chambers the spirits of the skeletal soldiers that now serve you rise as if living water had at last reached their long parched lips. Changes to my environment, including new people invading my space, usually trouble me but I find my spirits rise as well. In your diligence you have been kind to me in my infirmity. In a matter of hours you learned a spell that should have taken days or weeks of arduous labor. It is obvious to me that Mortaebius' art of necromancy is an open book to you, milady, a book opened by his mighty hand. Farewell." Guardian Baladus floated through a door on one side of the room and was gone. "Farewell Guardian Baladus," Bellany said as the spirit retreated. _Death and curses, I have no wish to become mired in those things. I am neither Mortaebius, nor the high shaman of the orcs. If it is true that I will understand those things more easily, then I should also be able to learn to use the principals in reverse for more positive accomplishments._ She realized that there was temptation to abuse any aptitude, just as there was a temptation to use the powers of the lust spirit in a way that would destroy her lovers. Somehow she was sure that Vulvilea relished destroying the unwary. Suddenly she realized that Lady Elaine was still there. "Lady Elaine, the librarian's assistant said there were three ghosts. What of the third ghost I heard about?" "That is my love, Alistair Vargrend. He is resting now." "Does he feed on the fear of the schoolgirls?" "No, he is moved by pain and powerlessness. He suffered a great deal of pain in life, both at the hands of the warriors of Bristol and also because he was powerless to prevent my pain. I alert both of the men when a paddling is about to take place. Sometimes the boys are angry and Baladus benefits, other times they feel powerless and Alistair benefits. Often they have mixed emotions and both benefit." Bellany nodded. "It is a shame I cannot take Baladus out to the tournaments with me. There is plenty of strife and anger in some of the events." "It might be possible for you to do that as you progress, but first we must get to know you and you must study," Lady Elaine said. Bellany nodded. "There are so many spells. I do not know where to start." "I think your former mentor had the right idea. Work diligently on those things that would be most useful," Lady Elaine said. "For instance you have a key to get into the crypts, but what would happen if you were discovered with it?" "I would get in big trouble. My parents would be notified and Headmistress Vargrend would take my key away." Lady Elaine nodded. "Normally Baladus gives his students a special key that the Headmaster and Headmistress recognize but you are posing as an enemy of Bristol. It would be too risky to try to convince Headmistress Vargrend and Headmaster Bristol that you are of The Shroud and too risky that they might inadvertently divulge such information to followers of the vindicator." Bellany nodded. "But there were no lock opening spells in the book," Bellany said. "Oh yes there were. You must simply realize what a key is. It is a small lever that turns, thus moving a bolt forward or back. Protrusions called wards prevent a key without the right notches from turning and thus moving the bolt. If you could move the bolt without a key you could open any lock. What spell might you use?" "Telekinesis?" Bellany asked. Lady Elaine smiled. "You are a smart girl. What spell will you practice then?" "First Ash Kinetics, that cantrip I saw for moving a bit of ash around a smooth surface with magic and then the various tiers of telekinesis spells in order of difficulty," Bellany said. "That sounds like a wise course of study. I noticed you were trying to organize the various drain and bestow spells into tiers. There really are no tiers or circles of mystery. Magic and magicians are far less organized than that. Baladus has simply taken similar spells and put numbers after them to denote orders of difficulty. It is likely that Draining Touch I will be easier for you to learn than Draining Touch II, but I caution you that just because a spell has a II after it does not mean that all spells with that numeral will be of equal difficulty. For instance, Animate Dead I is generally not mastered until after Draining Touch II is mastered simply because animating the dead at its most elementary level is more difficult than draining a bit of life force." "I guess that makes sense. There have been so many magicians over the centuries all with different ways of organizing their spells. There has had to have been duplication and near duplication of spells by isolated researchers as well. Plus there are always people who have a knack for making things more difficult than they need to be, or for making complex processes seem simple because of their deep understanding and insightful communication of that understanding," Bellany said." "Yes, magic was created by people, intelligent people, but you know how people are. What will you do when you are bored or tired of telekinesis?" Lady Elaine asked. "I need to practice what I already know and to recall my drain and bestow spells. My bestow spell is a bit anemic. I only seem to be able to get it to work when I have very full reserves, but now that I have got it to work on the orcs and now that I have a simpler bestow spell I can practice to strengthen my skills, I think I could improve it," Bellany said. "It is always good to retain what you know but by the leave of Mortaebius I am sure you will soon re-master and improve on your draining and bestowing skills. What else might you find useful?" "More potent light and vision spells. It seems I am always using this puny bluelight and I cannot see anything more than a few feet away save if I have it blacked and am looking for spirits. I could also use concealment spells so that I could sneak around with less risk. The telekinesis spells will be the most important. I will never leave the keep if I cannot open the gate lock. I need to leave the keep to see men. If I can see men often then I can easily get by on only two or three hours of sleep each night." "I don't understand," Lady Elaine said. "Just as you can feed on the fright of young women, I can feed on lust spent into me by men. It is a power I inherited from a lust spirit and it is why the energy I used to heal you with was, as you said, 'pure lust.' I suppose I might have tried to hide my nature from you and Baladus, but you already know about Timothy and what the character of the healing energy I used on you was. It would only be a matter of time before you put two and two together." Bellany said. "Now I understand why I was drawn to pick on you. You are a creature of lust. I lack your power and was forced to do what you probably relish. As you guessed I was a slave in my own house. In life had I had your power I would have been the lord of the keep but I do not think the pain of being a lady whore would have been any less," Lady Elaine said. Bellany nodded. "I had my taste of powerlessness. I took on the powers of the lust spirit in a desperate effort to escape the clutches of an evil man. At the time I did not realize that I could have enslaved him and controlled the town even though he thought he was enslaving me. It would not have been right anyway. I am sure that what I am gives me a unique perspective; it is not one that you would probably feel comfortable with, yet I hope you will not hate me for it." Lady Elaine nodded. "At first in my ignorance I hated you for your lust. Then I feared and hated you because you had the power to hurt me and used it. I tried to convince myself that you had overreacted, that you should not have hurt me but I could never completely convince myself that I could not have killed you on the stairs, or that I had not made a royal pain of myself by feeding from you so often. I should not pick on a particular girl. I have done that before to girls who were exceptionally terrified of ghosts. They provided abundant sustenance but at great cost to them. Yet you were less afraid than most and I persisted. You were so obviously a creature of lust that I tried to punish you. Then you healed me in spite of it all. Few mortals care about ghosts. We are vermin to be eradicated. The ghost hesitated. "Was the evil man of whom you spoke reverend Evangeline Avengene?" Bellany said nothing. "Oh my, you really should not say, should you? I feel so embarrassed now that I know you are the Life of Death. I should have known better than to pick on a beloved servant of Mortaebius." "There is no need to feel badly, Lady Elaine. Neither of us knew it at the time but you were doing Mortaebius' will. Without your prodding I would never have come to the crypts. I have you and my history teacher to thank for nudging me towards Baladus. Had I known just how potent Mortaebius' hand was, I would have been a bit less liberal with it. I hope you can forgive me," Bellany said. "I already have," Lady Elaine said. "If the healing was not enough, seeing you with the skeletons and with Baladus was. Chastity may not be among your virtues, but you have heart. That is far more important in the long run. I grew adept at using the lust of Bristol to gain a small measure of power, but I could take no joy in it the way you did with Timothy in the library. In a way I am very jealous of you. I never got to be a naughty girl. My life was too dire. Were it not for Alistair I would have lost the greater portion of my mind. I know I must have lost something or I would not linger here as a ghost. "Enough of this talk you would not be with us if Mortaebius did not have work for you. I will do my best to help you learn. I have only a small measure of telekinesis. Baladus is much more powerful than I, but he is so undernourished that it does not always show. Baladus has had a few other students over the years, but most of them were Vargrends and priests of Mortaebius. The book you are looking at is the third incarnation of Baladus' spellbook. The first two are only dust and memories." Bellany nodded. "I need to copy down all of the spells and everything pertaining to telekinesis. When I was learning the drain spell, it was techniques and refinements from a more advanced spell known by my mentor that finally helped me to cast my first real spell. First, I had better jot down some notes on the Ghostly Whispers spell." Bellany quickly jotted down some personal notes on the casting of Ghostly Whispers, and then she turned to the page where the Ash Kinetics cantrip was located. She hesitated. "I cannot just copy this. I am impersonating a vindicator girl. If I am caught studying magic, I will get locked up in a convent or worse." "There is a book on codes in the boys' library," Lady Elaine said. Bellany nodded. "For now I will just translate the notes into orcish except for the actual verbal components to the spells. Once I read the codebook I will create my own code and transcribe these notes into a small bound volume." Bellany began feverishly copying down the information on the Ash Kinetics cantrip. Next she copied the information from the pages on the easiest Telekinesis spell. She was working on the second spell in the telekinesis line when she felt a mild chill. She let her bluelight slide into her palm. Lady Elaine said something but it was obvious Bellany's ghostly whispers spell had lapsed. "I can no longer hear you Lady Elaine, the whispers spell has lapsed." The ghost pretended to sleep, and then to awaken. She pointed upstairs. "Oh goodness, is it morning already?" Bellany asked. Lady Elaine nodded. Bellany hastily finished the spell she was working on and then shook sand onto the page. While that page was drying she brushed the pages she had completed earlier and stacked them up. Finally she blew the sand off the page she had just finished writing and put it on the top of the stack. She relit the candle from her nightstand from the stubs now standing in the bronze candelabrum and then blew the stubs out. "I really appreciated the very practical advice you gave me tonight, Lady Elaine. I shall try to put it to good use. Farewell until the next time." Bellany waved. "One of these days I will repair the skeletons, but for now I will study the spells I need to keep and expand my freedom." Bellany waved to Elaine and made her way back up through the library. While peeking out the library keyhole she heard the library monitor knock on the door to her room. Time to get up, Mary. It seemed like an eternity before the monitor made it to the other end of the hallway even though she was walking at an even pace. Bellany locked the library door behind her and stole into her room. "Where were you?" Mary asked from the darkness. "I woke up a few minutes ago and decided to get us some fire," Bellany said, holding up the candle and holder from her nightstand. She handed it to Mary and took off her robe and shoved it into her bureau while Mary was busy lighting the candelabrum above the desk. Bellany thought feverishly as Mary got ready for work. _That was much too close. Should I ever get caught, I should have a back up story such as I am naughtily reading books in the stacks. I would get in trouble for that, but the repercussions would not call my identity into question like cavorting with dead Vargrends beneath the crypts. Since I have been leaving the crypt door open, I might as well just steal Mary's key. That way if I get caught I will not get caught with a skeleton key. I will stash my key in the secret compartment of my trunk._ The morning dragged by. After lunch, Bellany went on her usual walk with Cleopatra but bowed out of going to the thicket to read one of the books Cleo had borrowed from the temple of Amorra, goddess of love and lust. Instead she went to her room to take a nap. She was about to hang up her cloak when she realized that she had not given Nimbus, the raven, his daily biscuits. She opened the window and stared out through the wrought iron bars. She stood there in the window making raven sounds for nearly a quarter hour and was about to give up when she heard the fluttering of wings. Suddenly Nimbus came to roost on one of the crossbars that protected her window. Bellany smiled and held up one of the biscuits she had profusely buttered for her avian friend. He ate directly from her hand as she had been getting him used to her for several weeks now. For some reason Cleopatra had never been able to get him to take food directly from her, but he seemed to like Bellany. While he ate she talked to him. "This is my roost, Nimbus. I live here with another girl named Mary Duffy." "Gwaark pruk-pruk-pruk," Nimbus replied. After Nimbus finished his biscuits he flew away. Bellany left a note for Mary requesting that she wake her at the end of the midday break. After the break Bellany dragged off to classes and then returned to nap again. She woke as Mary came in for the night. "Sleeping in the afternoon again? I think you missed your art class" Mary said. Bellany nodded. "I was far too tired for art. For some reason I just did not sleep well last night." Mary nodded. "I hope it was not on my account." Bellany shook her head. "No, you were fine." Bellany finished up some schoolwork while Mary was doing the same, and then both went to bed when the monitor called for lights out. The next night was Thursday and Bellany spent all afternoon and evening reading through a book on code from the boys' library. She decided she would invent new symbols for the alphabet and would switch randomly back and forth between the trollish, orcish and common languages as she wrote. She would also use several alternative spellings with more or fewer letters than the originals for common words that could often be deciphered based on their frequency of use and their most common position in sentences. On Friday Morning she purchased another bound volume with exceptionally thin pages. By Friday Evening she had transcribed her notes on Ghostly Whispers, Ash Kinetics, Telekinesis 1 and Telekinesis 2 into her new coded book of spells and casting notes. That night she made a foray to the crypts using Mary's library key. She first went up to the stacks and blew the dust off the section on Mortaebius. She paged through a few of the books quite rapidly and then put them back. She was familiar with just about everything the books said. She simply needed to know which book was about which topic in case she needed to seem to have been reading books on Mortaebius to cover the real reason for her forays into the library. She decided that sometime during the day she would also try to take out some books about the undead if the library had any. When she got to the crypts Baladus was not around. Lady Elaine greeted her. Bellany returned the greeting and the two of them went down into Baladus' secret chambers. Bellany got right to work. She left some space in her coded spell book for further telekinesis spells and then started a section labeled "Necromancy" primarily for drain and bestow spells. First she shored up her notes on the Ghostly Whispers spell and included the actual verbal and semantic components. Then she started into the actual necromantic spells. She completed the first and second tier drain spells including Draining touch one, Draining touch two, the first drain at range spell and a drain over time spell called Leech one. After finishing those she copied the spells and notes for the banish fatigue and the first Bestow Life Force spell. After transcribing the notes for those spells she skipped forward and started a section on light spells. She left space for notes on her Bluelight cantrip and the Glowbones spell and then transcribed the notes on the willowisp spell that was used to create a bright globe of white light. Lastly she checked the notes for the telekinesis spells and made sure she had them right. She wanted at least a couple hours of sleep and thus resisted the temptation to transcribe the third telekinesis spell. Instead she simply read it while the ink dried on the last pages she had scribed. When she was through she brushed the blotting sand from the last two pages she had written in her book. She turned to the page with her transcription of the Ghostly Whispers spell and put it to the test. After a brief review she cast it. It worked on the third try. "Let me try something, Lady Elaine." Bellany stood close to the ghost and recalled the moment she was captured by Red Jack's crew, the moment she was paralyzed by Kent, the first time Thane touched her with his skeletal hand and the time she was rooted in place by a priest of the vindicator. Each time she attempted to accentuate the fright from those moments. "I hope that helped," Bellany said. Lady Elaine smiled. "It did, although you needn't worry about me. I feed easily." Bellany smiled. "Yes, I know but I could not think of any other gift you might be able to use." Lady Elaine smiled. "It was a fine gesture." "I am not sure when I will be back," Bellany said. "Tomorrow is a tournament. That is why I am leaving a little early. I need at least a couple of hours of sleep, to tide me over until I can waylay a man or two during the day tomorrow." Lady Elaine shook her head. "I am not the only one who feeds easily, lust spirit." "With the army of chaperones I must outwit, it is not so easy," Bellany said. Lady Elaine smiled. "Good luck then, Lady Lust. Remember to practice your magic during the coming week." "You can count on that," Bellany said. "I very nearly got caught yesterday morning. The sooner I can navigate Vargrend's without a key, the better. Besides, I am pretty sure the gates require different sized keys than the ones that fit the library locks." Elaine nodded. "Is it possible to hug a ghost without getting chills?" Elaine giggled. "Yes of course." Bellany carefully hugged the apparition, caressing the back of her head very lightly with her left hand. "Mortaebius' will be done; Let no powers sway you but that one." Bellany pulled away slightly and looked into the eyes of the apparition. "I hope there were no compulsions on you, Lady Elaine, but if there were, you should have your mind back now." "You conniving girl!" Lady Elaine squealed. "There were none that I know of. You took me totally off guard just as you did Baladus. Actually I can never tell with Baladus. He may have wanted you to make a move and simply have been glad that you made it for Mortaebius. He is resistant to the machinations of priests since he is one and he has kept us safe for many years." Bellany smiled. "It is fortunate that he is here. I know there are quite a few priests around and I don't relish the thought of them using you to find this place. Luckily the worst of them is a man and he is not likely to set foot on the girls' side of the school." "Who is that?" Lady Elaine asked. "Reverend Leland of the vindicator," Bellany said. "I am obliged to sit through one of his guilt-ridden sermons every Sunday to maintain my cover as a vindicator girl. If you ever see him, stay far, far away." "I will heed your advice." Lady Elaine said. "I have no idea if he can actually cast spells. He probably cannot but better safe than sorry. As you have probably overheard, the vindicator has made war on Mortaebius. The Order of the Shroud has been awakened." "I have heard bits and pieces." Lady Elaine said. "I will tell you more about it another time. I must get to bed soon. There is one thing I should ask you about before I go. Girls in my history class and I saw what looked like a ghoul out the window. Other girls have sighted the mysterious man in rags on several occasions. Do you know if there is a ghoul in the keep?" Bellany asked. "The Order of the Shroud removed all such creatures before the founding of the school. It would be far too dangerous to have ghouls in residence with the academies here. They feed on the living and cannot completely be trusted," Lady Elaine said. "That is a relief. Perhaps it is just a boy playing a prank as Headmistress Vargrend believes," Bellany said. "I must get upstairs before they miss me. Farewell, Lady Elaine." The spirit waved her ghostly hand. ------- Morning came all too soon and Mary was eager to get ready for the tournament. She had again volunteered to officiate at one of the baking contests. Abraham Steefl had also invited Mary to the tournament ball. This ball was to be held at Jordell Manor. Everyone knew that Jordell Manor was the grandest of all of the emerald estates. Bellany yawned. "Goodness Bellany didn't you sleep well last night?" Mary asked. "Not particularly. I did write a poem though," Bellany said. "I thought you had stopped writing poetry. Let me hear it," Mary said. Bellany smiled. "Don't you remember? My poetry is no longer palatable for virgin ears. Nevertheless, I find it therapeutic. I could not write after the orcs because the content would have offended too many people, including my mother. Thanks to the boys' library, I have a way around that. I have started a book of philosophical thoughts and poetic verse." "What has the boys' library to do with being able to pen your thoughts and verse?" Mary asked. "Cryptology," Bellany replied. "Mother would have defeated any lock in the name of parental supervision but she will not defeat this." Bellany patted her book. "You wrote your poem in code?" Mary asked. "In my own personal code," Bellany said. "Girls with vindicatorish mothers must either be good or smart, and you know I'm not good." Bellany giggled. "Bellany!" Mary chided. Bellany grinned. "What happened to your robe? It's all soiled," Mary asked. Bellany hesitated a moment. She knew she couldn't tell Mary that the side of the pit she had nearly fallen into was old and dirty. Instead she made something up. "I made the mistake of stashing it under my bed one morning as I began my exercises. There was a spot on the floor where dirt had collected. I will put it into the wash." Bellany said. Mary nodded. "Are you officiating at the pie bake-off again?" Bellany asked. "Yes, squash and pumpkin pies this time," Mary said as she got out of her nightgown. Bellany nodded as she also pulled her nightgown over her head and poured some water into the porcelain basin for washing. It was cold enough that her whole body felt like one big goose bump. Lust tickled up her spine and she turned to Mary and smiled. She finished and let Mary have the basin. "It's time to pick out an autumn dress. I think maybe this goldenrod colored one." Mary nodded breathlessly. Bellany tickled Mary beneath her breast. "Goodness Mary, you're flushed. I am flattered you find me so distracting but I know you care what reverend Leland would think, and I am sure he would scold you." Mary frowned. "How do you know I am not just cold?" Bellany grinned. Mary cleared her throat. "I think he would say I should not look on your nakedness if it tempts me. Don't you find me even a little distracting?" Mary asked in a whisper. "Of course I do, but I know you are just an extension of reverend Leland's long arms, otherwise I would have long since taught you far more than that single kiss. Instead of just dressing me you would be my personal pleasure slave." Bellany grinned. Mary blushed. "Bellany!" "Mary you have been assigned to take care of my womanly needs. Mary, Kiss this. Mary massage me here and Mary lick there." Bellany giggled. "Bellany you are horrible," Mary said. "Shouldn't you be just the opposite after all those orcs?" "I do not remember much but I think my body must have got used to entertaining an entire tribe of orcs because I seem to have enough lust to satisfy about that many men and you are no help in that department Mary. I enjoy your lust, but it is very distracting. You have to give me credit. Here I am The Fallen Angel of Vargrend's and I have not swept you off your feet, tossed you on the bed and did all manner of lewd things to you," Bellany said. "Do you really think you could pick me up and toss me on the bed?" Mary asked. "Maybe not if you were kicking and screaming, but if I took you by surprise..." Suddenly Bellany grabbed Mary and lifted her off her feet. Mary squealed. Bellany trotted to her bed, tossed Mary onto it and then climbed onto her and sat on her abdomen. Bellany bent down and kissed Mary on the forehead. "It would have been something like that only much juicier." Bellany giggled. Mary lay there open-mouthed for a moment looking up at Bellany and the undersides of her high, lush breasts. "Gods Bellany, you're as strong as a man but you are obviously not one," Mary said. "I am not as strong as most of my brother's athletic friends, but strong enough to carry you." Bellany smiled. "What would you teach me to do?" Mary asked. "Mary!" Bellany giggled. "I cannot say. You would succumb to guilt and soon you would be teaching all of my tricks to reverend Leland and that is not the kind of knowledge you want in the hands of a priest. Just ask Bruhnhilda Daelrath." "Oh goodness, isn't she the one who was raped by a priest of the vindicator?" Mary asked. Bellany nodded. "That is true if conversations among the emerald boys are to be believed. Celibacy is against nature. Some priests get twisted up from it." "If it is true she was raped, why doesn't Bristol snub her?" Mary asked. "Because Bianca Bristol is not quite that dumb," Bellany said. "Bruhnhilda Daelrath is Baron Daelrath's only living child. That means she could become Baroness Daelrath. Snubbing the person who protects Bristol's northern border from trolls when Bristol is having a conflict with its neighbor to the East would be horribly brainless. Baron Bristol has been stupid about that in the past. Lord Avengene was making himself indispensable to Daelrath until that lecherous priest and the whole Brianna Barter issue set him back. The Bristols were fools to let Daelrath fall under the influence of another lord. My guess is that with this religious conflict brewing, the Bristols are supporting Daelrath more than they had been in the past. If they are not, they deserve what they get," Bellany said. "It doesn't seem fair. If she snubs one victim of rape she ought to snub them all." Mary said. "That would be logical, but you cannot discount politics. Perhaps it does not count if a priest of the vindicator rapes you. I am sure that is what the priest told Bruhnhilda," Bellany said. "Bellany how can you say that?" Mary asked. "Don't get me wrong. I think it counts for sure, Mary. When it comes to priests raping young women, I have to call a spade a spade. I got in a lot of trouble for advancing that theory where Brianna Barter was concerned." "But that's impossible, Reverend Evangeline was practically a saint," Mary said. "Saint or lecherous man, I am not touching that topic. I have got in enough trouble over it already. Besides, I know very little about it and Bruhnhilda Daelrath is probably not about to tell me all about Brianna Barter. As far as I know, Bruhnhilda is the only one who has even seen her. I would show you a few lustful things but we mustn't be late for breakfast." Bellany grinned. ------- Charles Norwit's face reddened as he held his mouth shut. Bart Blaxton frowned. "She is a disgrace. She should not even be allowed to go to Vargrend's let alone sit at a table with future peers of the realm." "We will not sit with that Harlot," George Gransward said. Suddenly the heads of the athletes turned in unison and Gransward was no longer the center of attention. Saint Varlans cleared his throat. "Let's see, who do I want to sit with, an average looking guy with one title or a heart-stopping redhead with two great tit-les?" Vernon Saint Varlan's grinned. "Oh George you can't be serious about competing with The Fallen Angel of Vargrend's," James Jordell said. "Haven't you leaned that young men think with their balls? Look now there she is. That dress makes me want to puke, but they all insist on staring at her just the same." "You would have to be a fairy not to drool over Belle," Loyd Carnarvon said. James Jordel looked at George Gransward and Bart Blaxton with renewed interest. Suddenly he gave them a knowing smile. "Say, why don't you men stop by and see me sometime. I am sure we have a lot in common." The other young athletes laughed heartily. George Gransward's face went beat red with embarrassment. "I can understand you not liking Charles for political reasons, George, but why take it out on Belle? She is just a war-torn girl who has got nothing to do with this brewing conflict between Bristol and Avengene. Have a little charity," Lord Bostwick said. "Oh George don't listen to them. They fancy themselves virile young men and they have discovered that Vargrend's has a severe lack of bad girls. Why do they refuse to do the sensible thing and find hot men instead of drooling over fallen angels," James Jordell argued. "You men have no class. We are leaving," George Gransward scoffed. "Ooooh, may I come too, George." "Get away from me you faggot!" Gransward growled. "Is that any way to treat your betters? I am so offended. You will pay for this perfidy, Gransward," Jordell pouted as Gransward and Blaxton left for an empty table on the far side of the room. Lawrence Eagan shook his head. "Who needs them?" Charles snapped. "If it was you, Verne, I would suck up because no one handles a broadsword better, but Abe could pound the snot out of Blaxton at two-handed sword even if Blaxton is the school's champion." "Someone needs to teach Gransward some manners," Jordell said. "Now that the two nay-sayers have removed themselves, why don't you go fetch your sister, Charles? The Fallen Angel of Vargrend's is always welcome at our table," Carnarvon said. The other men nodded. Charles smiled as he stood to get Bellany. "Men, I admire your pure intentions and charitable benevolence." The young men laughed. ------- When Bellany entered the cafeteria, her senses tingled with the delicious lust directed at her. She could not help but soak it in, pulling subtly on the kindred energy. She ignored the usual scornful looks on the faces of the ladies. There was a disturbance at Charles' table for a moment and then she saw George Gransward and Bart Blaxton leave the group of young men clustered around Carnarvon and her brother. Bernadine Belgado came to the serving line behind Bellany. "Could you please get me one of those raisin muffins, Lady Norwit, I forgot to get one when I was in line earlier." "Certainly," Bellany said as she picked up a muffin and gave it to Miss Belagado. "Thank you," Deena said kissing her cheek. As she did so she whispered in Bellany's ear. "It is important that I see you this evening before the ball. A carriage will be waiting for you at six." "Okay," Bellany whispered. By the time she had finished filling her breakfast tray Charles was there to greet her. "Good morning Belle, the guys asked me to invite you to our table." "Thank you Charles, after all these sneers I have been catching, it is nice to know someone appreciates me." Bellany yawned. "Haven't you been getting any sleep, Belle?" Charles looked at Bellany's face. "I think you might have the beginnings of dark circles." "Really?" Bellany asked. Charles nodded. "I guess I had better get more sleep," Bellany said blushing. "Have you got something going with Mary?" Charles whispered into Bellany's ear. "Mary is pure as driven snow," Bellany whispered. "Good flavor then, I'll bet." Charles grinned. "Charles!" Bellany giggled. "Here she is guys, a little tired from those late nights contemplating purity and chastity with Mary Duffy, but still one of the three B's," Charles said. Bellany blushed. "Welcome Lady Norwit," Lord Carnarvon said. "Oh you can call me Bellany, Lord Carnarvon. That goes for all of Charles' good friends." "Then call me Loyd," Carnarvon said. "You have already been calling me Verne and I would like you to continue. Mister Saint Varlans is too long anyway," Verne said. "Okay, Loyd, Verne," Bellany said, drawing on the lust of each man as she said his name. "You already call me Lawrence and that suits me fine," Lawrence Eagan said. "My name is Brad. You can save Lord Bostwick for formal occasions," Brad Bostwick said. "Thank you Brad," Bellany said. "Paul," Paul Patel said. Bellany nodded. "Lawrence, Brad and Paul" she said nodding to each young man as she caressed his lust. "Abe," Abraham Steefl said. "Abe," Bellany smiled brightly. "Good to see you sir knight." Steefl blushed. "You can call me Jamie, honey, but you have to say it like you would say the name of a beautiful woman for public relations purposes." The ghost of a smirk crossed Jordell's face as the men around him squirmed. Bellany grinned at James Jordell. "Okay Jamie, I will see what I can do. I noticed Lord Gransward got awfully red when you were talking to him." The other young men laughed. "Oh I noticed that too. The poor man needs to get in touch with himself," Lord Jordell said. Bellany smiled as she tugged Jordell's lust. He acted as if he had no interest in women, but she knew his game. Men were safe and fun to bother. A little fun with them could actually be simply fun. Yet women might be more interested in Jordell's title, his name and his money than they were in him. It was an irony that Red Jack had made his estranged family extremely wealthy by avoiding the ships of the Jordells while terrorizing the Augustana River. ------- Bellany yawned as she sat with Vernon Saint Varlans and Brad Bostwick watching the rapier event. She really should have felt better after having waylaid Timothy in the thicket shortly after breakfast but she had directed his energy to her face. She knew it was vanity but she did not want to let dark circles get a foothold beneath her eyes. She would just have to find time to take a nap later. In spite of her yawn she was enjoying the match between Jamie Jordell and a young man from The Academy of The Rose, a school in The Barony of Rose south of The City of Rosehaven. Around two centuries ago The Barony of Rose had been forcibly taken out of what once had been Baron Brickner's territory. The alliance between Terrance Bristol and Mayor Rose of Rosehaven backed by the priestly power of Baladus Vargrend had been responsible. Sometime after Rose became a baron, The City Council of Rosehaven began electing the city's Mayors. The current mayor of Rosehaven was Bernadine Belgado's father. Bellany was a little amazed that Belgado would even talk to her since Bristol was snubbing her and Rosehaven was a city that straddled the Augustana River and was thus half in The Barony of Bristol and half in The Barony of Rose. Natalie Rose was certainly snubbing her. Perhaps free trade on the river between all baronies was more important to Rosehaven than baronial squabbles. On the other hand, the reason Bernadine was kind to her might be much simpler. Belgado preferred women to men. Bellany remembered the soft caress of Bernadine's lust when they had been out touring shops together. She smiled at the memory. Jordell's gay taunts did not seem to faze his opponent. Bellany realized that this young man must have had better coaching and a more even temper than the last one she had seen. Jordell actually had to work. Yet he was an artist. His movements were rapid and precise and he was quite lithe and graceful, more like a dancer than a warrior. It was a pleasure to watch him and Bellany took note of each move that she had not seen before. The match ended with Jordell up by two points. Bellany cheered and joined the line of people who were shaking the hands of the competitors. Bellany first shook the hands of the loser since he was a little easier to get to. "You fought a fine match Maxfield and you kept your head. It was a pleasure to watch you both. I am a student of the rapier myself. I wish I could dance as well as you and Jamie." "You said his name as if he were a she. I am curious, is there anything to his taunts?" "Jamie, er Lord Jordell is a bit... eccentric." Bellany smiled. "Some of the boys from the northern baronies seem to think all masters of the rapier are ah... like Jamie. Is that true?" "The rapier is a very popular blade with men of the city and elves. Just because a woman can learn to handle the rapier does not make its masters any less masculine. In a way we must be more masculine, milady. A man who fights with a rapier does not hide behind heavy armor. He faces his opponent and death directly. Combat with the rapier requires speed and wit. The outcome is often decided more rapidly than combat with any other blade." "Well said." Bellany smiled. "Tell me Milady, will you be at the ball tonight?" Bellany frowned. "I don't think so. I am Bellany Norwit and Bristol is snubbing me. If you hear talk of The Fallen Angel of Vargrend's..." "That is you?" Maxfield asked Bellany nodded. "If you do not mind my asking why do they call you fallen?" Bellany smiled enigmatically. "My carriage was taken by the enemy on the way to school last year," Bellany said. Then more quietly she whispered, "I spent last year entertaining a tribe of orcs." Bellany drew strongly on the young man's lust. "Aah." "It was scandalous. My pride and chaste reputation were blown to flinders. Thank goodness I still have my health," Bellany said. "Yes, yes health is the foundation of happiness," the young swordsman grinned. Bellany nodded, her coy smile concealed the power with which she drew on the young man's lust. "Oh Bellany, you mustn't steal all my prospects," Jamie Jordell chimed in. Bellany smiled. "Women are all smoke and no fire. You mustn't take them seriously," Jamie said. "You can have much more fun with a man." Jordell shook a few more hands as the modest crowd of congratulators paid their respects. Since she was now close Bellany shook Jamie's hand. "Congratulations Jamie. The last time I saw you fight you defeated your opponent with your tongue. This time you showed your true artistry." "Oh but I would really like to defeat this one with my tongue too." Jamie winked. Bellany squealed. "You are so bad, Jamie," Bellany said. "Rank has its privileges." Jordell smiled. "Again congratulations," Bellany waved. "It was nice meeting you also Maxfield. I must see if I can find a spot to stand for the crossbow event. I doubt Bristol will let me sit in _her_ bleachers." "A Pleasure, milady," Maxfield said. ------- Bellany raced off to the site of the crossbow event but was only halfway there when she tripped and sailed past a couple of young men talking. "Ooo!" She squealed as she tripped over something that felt suspiciously like a foot and fell headlong onto a muddy patch in the trail. She should have done a handstand to a flip but it had just happened too suddenly. Her training in unarmed combat did kick in quickly enough that she broke her fall properly, but the finesse she was capable of was absent. "Look, a soiled and fallen woman actually looking soiled and fallen," George Gransward's sarcastic voice bit the air. "The truth is at last apparent from the outside," Blaxton said. "Oh but I have forgotten my manners. Please, let me help you up, Lady Norwit," Gransward said patronizingly. Bellany cursed herself for not having realized George Gransward had been up to no good. She supposed he would make some excuse to make her fall again, yet she could not refuse his assistance since he outranked her. She reached out with her left hand and as he pulled her up her right hand was in motion. Just as she had suspected he let go of her hand when she was halfway up. She caught his retreating hand with her right hand, jerked and twisted sideways catching hold of his tunic with her left hand and pulling as he fell towards her. Splat! Gransward fell on his side and Bellany fell on top of him rolling him onto his back. Gransward looked genuinely surprised to be in the mud. "Now who displays the truth?" Bellany asked from two inches away from the young Lord's face. At first his lust had retreated from her as he found her a disgrace but she caught it and jerked it just as savagely as she had caught and jerked his hand. Now she played with it as she whispered, "Jamie would be so envious of me. This morning it seemed he fancied having you in his mud." Bellany abruptly stood up and ran off. The ladies grimaced as Bellany arrived and stood near the bleachers. The team crossbow competition was just getting underway starting with the fixed targets. The wind was strong today, offering a real challenge to the contestants at the longer ranges. After lots were drawn to see which team was to start the Harold made his announcement. "To begin this event Arnold Rees will shoot for the Academy of the Rose." The crowd cheered politely. "No Score," The Harold announced as the young man's bolt finished to the right of the target's third ring. Headmistress Vargrend appeared from behind Bellany. "Young lady, have you no pride, you are filthy." "I am sorry, Headmistress. I fell in a puddle with a little help from Lord Gransward, although I am sure he will deny it. It is no matter, though. He got what was coming to him. I will clean up straight away after the crossbow events. Mother would kill me if I did not tell the story in my letter. Charles is much too brief for her liking. He simply gives the scores without the story." "This feud is getting out of hand," Headmistress Vargrend snapped. "I cannot argue with that, Headmistress. Yet when a man's foot finds its way into a lady's path and trips her up and then he conveniently lets her hand slip while helping her up, I believe he deserves to have his hand caught. It is a pity the momentum of my backwards fall launched him into the muck, but he might easily have avoided his mud bath by not loosing his grip," Bellany said. "It is bad enough that the ladies scorn me without Lord Gransward and his lackey Blaxton adding bodily injury to my list of woes." Headmistress Vargrend nodded. "I will see that Mary has the key to the office. You should file a written report in case Lord Gransward persists in such unmannerly behavior." The Herald shouted above the whispered conversation, "Next up is Charles Norwit of The Bristol Academy." Before the crowd had finished its applause, Charles' shot was away. "Charles Norwit scores two points! Next up will be Vlad Nespet shooting for The Academy of the Rose." "Ooo," The crowd buzzed as Nespet planted his bolt in the first ring. "Vlad Nespet with a three point shot takes the lead! Next up is Erol Fobs shooting for the Bristol Academy," The Herald announced. "Bulls-eye for Fobs, bringing Bristol's score to six. Rees is now up for his second shot." "Awww," the crowd mourned Rees' shot. This time he had overcorrected for the windage and had wound up no better off than he had the first time when the wind had carried his shot to the right of the rings. "No score! Norwit is up next for The Bristol Academy," the Herald announced. Charles' shot pierced the second ring for 3 points. Shot followed shot and Bellany got no chance to relax. Arnold Rees missed more often than not. The wind was having a marked effect on his shooting. Yet Vlad Nespet was an excellent marksman. Charles, never the best with stationary targets, was doing markedly better than his usual and Erol Fobs was doing a little better yet. On the fourth shot Bellany bit her lip as both Charles and Fobs missed. "And now the final shots, Ladies and Gentlemen. The match is close with the Academy of The Rose once again in the lead with 16 points. The Bristol Academy trails by only one point with a score of 15." Rees took his shot but missed once again and then Charles stepped up with his usual bravado and released his bolt without seeming to aim. "Bulls-eye Norwit!" The Herald called. "Ahhh!" The crowd applauded. "Bristol Academy now leads 19 to 16. Charles Norwith's personal contribution stands at eleven points," The Herald called and continued as the others took their shots. "Nespet pegged the outer ring for one point, bringing his contribution to his teams score to thirteen points. He cannot help but have the single highest individual performance score for the match. He brings the total for The Academy of the Rose to seventeen points. Fobs has the luxury of missing this time up... But he most certainly does not! A three point hit for Fobs! Fobs has scored a total of eleven points for his team for the fixed range crossbow competition. The score stands at The Academy of the Rose with sixteen points and the Bristol Academy with twenty-two points! The champions of this team crossbow event are the young men of The Bristol Academy for Boys!" The next event was the ranged team crossbow competition. This time Charles scored twelve points for his team to Fobs' eight. Charles was definitely improving at stationary targets and was better than ever at moving ones. On the other team, Nespet scored ten points and the other young man scored a dismal six. After the team events were over, Charles and Vlad Nespet competed for the individual trophy. Charles was tailing slightly after the fixed targets but began to catch up as they shot at the moving targets. By the third shot the two young men were tied at a score of 19 points apiece. Nespet scored one point on his second last shot while Charles missed completely. Bellany gritted her teeth as Nespet scored two more points to complete his score at twenty-two points. The wind was making shooting difficult but these two young men were so good that they were still scoring. Charles stepped up and instantly fired. "Bulls-eye Norwit!" the Herald yelled. "Norwit comes from behind overtaking Nespet twenty-three points to twenty-two!" Bellany squealed. She could not believe the way Charles had risen to the occasion when he was put in a difficult spot. His indomitable bravado had saved him once again. The line to shake Charles' hand was a long one but Bellany did not dare leave to freshen up. It just would not be right not to congratulate Charles on his win. "I had no idea they were having a mud pie competition. Why was I not invited?" James Jordell said from just in front of Bellany in the line. "It was a private affair that George Gransward footed. Then he offered to pull me out and let his grip slip, but that suited me just fine. I caught his hand with my other and he wound up taking a bath himself." "It serves him right. A gentleman cannot afford such manners," Jamie said. "He will reap what he has sown." Jamie turned back and shook Charles' hand. "Congratulations, Bulls-Eye Norwit! Oh Charles, that was so magnificent. You have such finesse! I want your bolt in my bolt hole." Jamie winked. Charles blushed crimson as he shook Lord Jordell's hand. "Thank you Lord Jordell, uh I think," Charles said sheepishly. Bellany giggled. "You are so bad, Jamie. All the men are scared of you." "Well, not all of them." Jordell winked and waved as he sauntered off." "I heard you talking to Lord Jordell about the mud. Gransward is such an ass to pick on you like that," Charles said. "It does not surprise me considering he and Bianca Bristol are an item. If he did not outrank me I would give him what he has coming," Charles growled. "I am so sorry Belle." "It's okay; I will just pay better attention to where I am going next time. I was in such a hurry to see you shoot I did not notice the trick boot. I had better go get cleaned up. I will see you at Church in the morning. Have fun at the ball tonight if I do not see you before the end of the tourney, Charles." "Thank you Bellany. I sure hope things will change for you," Charles sighed. "There is always hope, Charles. Congratulations on your wins today. You are doing so well as the king of the crossbow; that certainly cannot hurt." Bellany shook Charles' hand, waved and rushed off to get cleaned up. She arrived back at the tournament just in time to see the last half of the jousting. Lord Carnarvon had barely managed to beat his first opponent, only to be thoroughly trounced by the next. Steefl fared similarly against the first opponent barely managing to keep his horse while the other man fell. Bellany shouldered her way through the crowd looking for Cooyman but was unable to find him. She stood on her tiptoes to watch as Steefl thundered towards the second, more skilled opponent. "Ooo!" she squealed as Steefl shot off the rear end of his mount. She noted that Steefl's opponent had fared no better and was also on the ground. Bellany shouldered her way to the rail and arrived just about the same time as the leech. She crouched and looked into the slit in Steefl's helm as the leach checked him. "Are you okay Abraham?" She asked. "I am bruised but bolstered by your concern, I shall prevail, milady." Steefl rose, clutching at the dent in the side of his breastplate. There were a few tense minutes while the two combatants got themselves horsed and ready again. This time Bellany was at the rail when the knights hurtled towards one another. Bellany wondered if maybe Steefl was riding a little too swiftly. His opponent's lance snapped against his breastplate but Steefl stayed the course as if made of stone. His opponent attempted to do the same but flipped backwards out of his saddle as if shot from a catapult. He landed hard and did not move. Bellany held her breath and then let it go as she heard the man groan. After congratulating Abraham Steefl, Bellany hurried to the girls' side to watch the pie bake-off. She hung back so as not to offend the ladies. Mary won third place. Bellany was about to get in line to congratulate her in spite of the frowns of the other ladies when Timothy Evin walked past her giving her a meaningful smile. A few moments later she met him at the thicket where he pounded her rump madly as he thrust into her wet, wanton cleft. He came almost violently, jetting her with his seed for the second time that day. His gasps were audible as she pulled his power into her. Bellany was so tired that she had let her control slide. After their tryst Timothy seemed a bit glassy- eyed but very happy. She embraced him fondly and nibbled his earlobe briefly before he had to run off for fear of the chaperones. She suspected he would be tired enough to go to bed early. It was a lucky thing scholarship recipients were seldom invited to balls. She doubted that he would be able to stay awake for such a party. She felt marvelous if a bit guilty. As she walked towards her room to get cleaned up for her meeting with Bernadine Belgado, she thoroughly drained the life from the seed within her. Timothy had been so delicious. ------- This ends, Baladus, chapter 60 of The Chronicles of Rapina. The story continues in chapter 61, The Fallen Angel. Copyright 2004 by Rapina