The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) (43 page)

All this nonsense needed to stop before there was any blood shed. Dissension and bickering had aided Allysix in her plan until now, but bloodshed in a council meeting might be enough to undo everything. It must be stopped now.

“Enough!” Allysix shouted, as she rose to her feet, “Baalnar arrest these two men,” she said motioning to the two men wielding daggers.

Everyone in the council room froze in place, including Baalnar. All fell deathly quiet and no one in the room made a sound. All eyes were glued on Allysix now, most wore looks of shock and surprise on their face. Baalnar most especially since he wasn’t certain if he should attempt to carry out the order to arrest the guild heads.

Now Allysix had stepped in the horse dung. She had let her temper get the best of her, and she seriously overstepped her authority as adviser to the magistrate. That infuriated her even more than anything. She was the Blood Witch and her authority had no bounds, but for now, she must play the part, or else see all her plans laid to ruins in an instant.

Not only was it unheard of for even the magistrate to order a guild head arrested, unless the accused was brought up on formal charges by a vote of at least four or more of the other council members. But the adviser to the magistrate did not order guild heads, or the captain of the watch, or anyone in this manner. The adviser to the magistrate had no real power over anything since they were only an adviser, nothing more. In truth, even the magistrate himself didn’t really have authority over the guild heads. That was one thing Allysix was going to change once she was in charge. She would make certain that all the guild heads answered to her, and knew she was the one in charge.

“There,” Allysix said with a forced smile, trying to recover the situation, “now that I have your attention, can we please act like council members and not like street thugs? Please put those knives away and sit down so we can continue the meeting with the dignity the head of a guild should possess. It would disturb me greatly to see two upstanding men such as yourselves stoop to bloodshed in a council meeting. I know that you as guild heads are much more dignified than that.” Allysix hoped that the dressing down of the two men was enough to diffuse the situation.

The two men who had been fighting were unsure of how to take Allysix’s outburst. They were clearly surprised at being spoken to in such a way. They glared at each other, then at the gathered assembly, as well as at Allysix. At last, they seemed to be at least a little abashed at their behavior. Slowly, reluctantly, they sheathed their knives and took their seats once again at the council table.

Allysix took her seat next to the magistrate and smiled coyly at him. Jaren returned her smile with a suspicious and irritated look of his own. It obviously had not pleased him that Allysix had spoken out this way in the council meeting. It reflected poorly on him to have an adviser that did not know their place. Allysix would have to dispose of Jaren very soon. She was tired of subjugating herself to this man, or anyone for that matter.

After a few moments, Jaren spoke addressing the council. “Do we have any further matters of importance to bring before the council before we retire tonight?”

“Yes,” a wiry little man spoke up. Allysix thought he was the head of the shipwright’s guild. “There is the matter of the……dead bodies that have been found.” The wiry man continued in a whiny tone, “In the past there have been occasional deaths from brawls that got out of hand, or the rare murder out of passion or anger. But those have been few and far between. But now there have been at least six dead bodies turn up the past few weeks.

There are troubling rumors down from north of bizarre happenings, strange beasts roaming the land and terrorizing villages. There is even talk of the Blood Witch. Some are saying the witch is free and here in Yilavo City,” the man finished almost in a whisper.

Mention of the witch started the room buzzing. Shouts of agreement could be heard saying the witch was in the city, and something needed to be done. Others said that the witch was still imprisoned. Still other said they were being fools, that the witch never even existed, and was only a myth or legend. Had anyone ever even seen the witch? There was no proof that she ever really lived. The dead bodies must be from something else. Perhaps there were cults, or fanatics performing black magic or some sort of evil rites in the city. In any case, they needed to be rooted out and eliminated.

This was not good at all for Allysix. It would only be a matter of time before some of these superstitious oafs started realizing that her arrival coincided with the dead bodies. Not to mention the possible unwanted attention this could bring to Maggas or the Circle. She could not have that happening now, at least not until she was well and thoroughly in charge. Then it would not matter. But now she needed this meeting to be over before it got even further out of hand again. She dared not say anything herself after her earlier outburst.

Leaning close to Jaren, Allysix said, “Isn’t this a waste of time? It’s getting us nowhere, and tempers are flaring. Would it not be prudent to dismiss the meeting for now? We can have the City Watch look into the matter of the bodies. That at least should appease most of them who have concerns.”

After a moment, the magistrate nodded his head in agreement. “You’re right. I grow weary of this. It’s late, and I want to go to bed,” Jaren said impatiently.

Standing from his seat at the head of the table, he addressed the council, “Rest assured that we will have the City Watch look into the matter of the dead bodies thoroughly. They will report their findings at our meeting next week. There is nothing more we can do at this time. We will adjourn until next week.”

There were grumblings from many of the assembled council as they began to file out. But in the end they all left peaceably.

After the council meeting was over Allysix made her way back to the Carp District where Maggas would be waiting for her. Baalnar was supposed to meet her there as well, and should have already arrived. She needed to talk with both of them to discuss their progress. When she arrived at the headquarters, Baalnar had already been there for some time and greeted her when she entered.

“I think there is something you will want to see,” Baalnar told her with a smirk.”

“And what might that be?” she said a little impatiently.

“A spy has been discovered among us.” Baalnar responded with a crooked smile, which was not at all appropriate for the situation the way Allysix saw things.

“What do you mean a spy?” Allysix spat in disgust, “How did a spy manage to infiltrate their way into the Black Brotherhood?”

“Apparently he has been in the Black Brotherhood for quite some time. It is Evan, one of Maggas’ most trusted men. Evan has been with Maggas almost since the beginning, but it seems he has turned coat and betrayed us,” Baalnar said in a disgusted tone.

“How do we know for certain he is actually a spy? And for whom is he employed?” Allysix asked.

“Talvin has been suspicious of the man for some time, so he followed Evan to find out what he was up to. Evan met with Bakus on more than one occasion. It seems his greed for money is stronger than his love for you,” Baalnar said with a sardonic smile, which fueled Allysix’s anger even more.

“Where is this Evan now?” Allysix asked, wearing a furious look, “I will teach him a painful, permanent lesson on what becomes of those who betray me.”

“Maggas has him…occupied…at the moment.” The wicked smile on Baalnar’s face said that Allysix might not get a chance to teach the betrayer a lesson.

Baalnar lead the way to the inner chamber where Allysix had first taken control of Maggas and the Black Brotherhood. As they approached the room, screams of pain and torment could be heard through the closed door. Allysix entered the room to a wonderful scene of anguish and torture.

There was a man seemingly suspended a foot off the ground in the center of the room. Maggas was standing across the room facing the man, with a wild-eyed look of fury mixed with pleasure.

“How long?” Maggas growled, “how long have you been a traitor?”

The man’s screams of pain subsided for the moment and he struggled desperately for words. “He…….he offered me so much gold. More than I had ever seen before. I……I just wanted to be rich. I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. I have been a faithful servant all these years, up until now. Does that not count for at least a little mercy?” Evan pleaded with the black mage as tears streaked down the traitor’s face.

The man’s words cut off, and the screams of pain began anew. Allysix studied the work of Maggas closely as he continued his deadly art form. Evan writhed and screamed in pure agony. It almost seemed as if Evan was getting…..taller. The black mage stared intently, as the betrayer body seemed to elongate several inches. It was almost as if the traitor was being pulled, and stretched from both his head and feet at the same time.

“You sicken me. There is no worse crime than betrayal, and I trusted you,” the mage said to Evan with a look of disappointment and fuming anger. “Who else are you in league with? Who else have you betrayed us to?”

“No one, I swear. It was only Bakus. He offered me gold to bring him proof that Allysix…well Brigette as he knows her, was allied with you. Bakus wanted to bring the evidence before the council. He thought if he proved to the council that….Brigette was at least associated with you, then he would be able to gain his position back as adviser and clear his name.” Evan’s voice trembled with pain and fear.

“What proof did you provide him?” Maggas asked deliberately. biting off each word as he spoke.

“Nothing yet, I was to meet with him on the morrow. I have only told him some of what I know. But I told him nothing more than he already suspected. We had not yet come to an agreement. Bakus was to bring me the gold tomorrow when we met. I would bring him the proof he wanted.” Evan broke of into sobs and whimpering.

“When and where was this meeting supposed to take place?” Maggas asked, with an all too calm expression.

“Tomorrow night at midnight, down near the docks on the west side, at the abandoned guard shack. I think Bakus has been hiding out west of the Carp District, out in the swamp lands.” Evan said in a rush in hopes to appease the black mage.

Maggas glared at Evan for several long moments while sweat poured down the traitors face until finally the black mage smiled at the man.

Evan seemed to visibly relax thinking he had escaped punishment, and earned some sort of mercy. The man obviously didn’t know Maggas as well as he thought he did.

Almost immediately the screams of anguish started once again with even more intensity. This time it looked as if the betrayer was enlarging like a wine bladder that was overfull.

Evan’s skin was stretching to the point that he almost looked as if he would burst. In fact, cracks started to form on parts of the man’s body oozing blood and other fluids. Evan’s eyes bulged, blood began to trickle from his nose, ears, and mouth and the screams of torment rose to a furious level.

Now the man’s skin was ripped and torn in many places all over his body. Blood began to drip, then flow freely from the ruptured skin. The process was extremely slow and agonizing, and went on for quite some time before the screams turned to a gurgling rasping noise in Evan’s throat. Finally, the man’s convulsions slowed, and then eventually stopped. No other sound came from the man other than his blood dripping into the pools that had formed on the stone floor below him. It was several moments later before Maggas actually released the body and allowed it to fall to the floor, a lifeless, torn, bloody heap.

Allysix was impressed. She knew Maggas was quite strong in the black arts, but this……even she had to admire the black mage’s work. Maggas slumped over slightly from the effort he had spent wielding his black magic. The mage took several deep breaths to compose himself before crossing the floor to address Allysix. Bowing deeply he said, “Great Mistress, I apologize for this atrocity. I cannot believe that one of my own men would betray us……you, in this manner, especially Evan. I’ve known him for many years and would have sworn he could be trusted. I stand ready for whatever punishment you see fit to bestow upon me for my failure.” Maggas said contritely as he knelt and bowed deeply before Allysix, awaiting her command.

Allysix studied Maggas for a moment before answering, “Stand up Maggas, there is nothing to apologize for. Men have a weak nature, and are given to greed. Even the most trusted many times can be bought, given the right incentive. From what the traitor said, he had not yet revealed anything of importance. The betrayer was discovered in time to avoid serious damage, and you handled the situation……. masterfully. That is what truly matters.” She said with a warm smile.

“Nevertheless hold this man up as an example to anyone else who might have thoughts of betrayal.”

Evan’s body was now twisted and torn to the point that it was barely recognizable as a man. It should serve as a very good warning to anyone who has similar thoughts of betrayal just to gain riches. Especially considering Evan had been one of the black mage’s closest friends from the beginning. Allysix didn’t think that there would be any further problems with greed or betrayal within the Black Brotherhood once they saw what would happen to them if they did turn traitor.

“Oh and one more thing,” Allysix said as she was turning to leave, “I am sure you have already thought of this, but send Talvin to meet with Bakus tomorrow in Evan’s stead. There’s no use in allowing Bakus to continue to stir up trouble. And make certain Talvin is rewarded well for his part in ferreting out the traitor. As I have said, there are great rewards for those who serve faithfully.”