Shadow of Her Sins, Chapter Four
Sep. 30th, 2013 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalThe next morning, feeling rather naked with only her stunner at her side, Ali attended on Lady Salli as the latter made some calls. The first was a lengthy one to House Darktail’s solicitor that ended with a strongly worded admonition for Alli and Lady Salli to stop talking to Commander Darksailor.
The second call was to Lady Melanie Lovejoy, formerly known as the Red Vixen. She was also formerly known as Ali’s mistress, back when Ali functioned as her bodyguard/scout/pet.
“This is not my fault,” Lady Melanie said, when Lady Salli explained the situation to her over the FTL com.
“It most certainly is,” Lady Salli said without sympathy. “If you had turned Ali over to the proper authorities when you found her, foxen authorities, not the Patrol, she would have been cleared of her crimes due to her age and received proper care. Instead you decided to make her your servant and slave, and then left her hanging out by her tail when you were through with her.”
Lady Melanie’s holographic image closed her eyes, rubbing her nose. “I’ve already admitted what I did back then was stupid. But you can hardly blame me for Ali blurting out a confession to a patroller standing right in front of her.” As this was pretty much the same thing the House Darktail solicitor had said earlier, that rather cut short Lady Salli’s argument.
“Are you going to do nothing to help?” Lady Salli demanded.
“Help how? Put on my bikini and gunbelt again and have the Red Vixen offer herself as a character witness?”
“Yes, but not as the Red Vixen, as Lady Melanie.”
“Certainly, and you’ll get to watch as your brother Rolas’ name is dragged through the mud for marrying an infamous pirate, and the Council of Countesses reconsiders their vote to grant you governorship of Greenholme, as they investigate whether you were in collusion with the Red Vixen to cement discovery rights to the system,” Melanie said brightly. “We’ll all be the talk of the party circuit for years.”
“Better that than risk Ali being imprisoned.”
“Salli, think it through. You used up the last of your pull with the Council to get the governorship of Greenholme. You don’t think any of the losers in that fight won’t be willing to use this situation as a wedge to try and get it for themselves?”
Ali winced. From a technical standpoint, Greenholme was a colony world of the Foxen Protectorate, and Lady Salli’s governorship subject to the Council of Countess’ laws. From a practical standpoint it was Lady Salli’s personal fiefdom, hard won and which she was loathe to give up. Which made her next words all the more surprising and wonderful.
“That’s irrelevant. If I lose this world I’ll always have our family’s holdings on Foxen Prime to fall back upon. I’d give up Greenholme in a moment if it meant that Alinadar would escape being prosecuted for crimes she committed while a slave.”
“You’re mad,” Lady Melanie said.
“I am not obsessed with making money, which seems to be your problem.”
Lady Melanie responded by changing the subject. “If I start giving testimony, I’d be in the same position as Ali. Actually a considerably worse position, given that I certainly wasn’t a slave when I started pirating for a hobby.”
“So you’ll let Ali be imprisoned to save your own ears and tail?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Well then what do you mean?” Lady Salli demanded.
Lady Melanie took a deep breath. “It hasn’t been two years since your mother was elevated to the position of Countess after the downfall of Countess Highglider and her son. Do you really want to get your family involved in yet another scandal so soon after the last one?”
“Not by choice, but we rarely have true choices in a crisis.”
Ali spoke up, saying “Milady, I don’t want your family to suffer more, just to save my own tail.”
“The pain and fear I experienced as my husband’s wife lasted only two years,” Lady Salli told her. “Your life as a slave lasted for almost twenty. I cannot, will not, ask you to suffer any longer.”
“Hey, she didn’t have it that bad when she was with me,” Lady Melanie objected. The withering glare she received for that remark made her backtrack a bit and ask, “I mean it wasn’t, right Ali?”
“It was a lot better than when I was under Bloody Margo. You were always kind,” Ali reassured her. She caught herself rubbing the uneven fur around the back of her neck, and withdrew her paw to her lap.
“Thank you.” Lady Melanie rubbed her muzzle, eyes closed as she thought. “Look, we’re thinking about this in a really binary fashion. We need to move laterally and find a third option.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Lady Salli allowed.
“How about this? I can arrange for one of the Scarlet Claw’s long boats to come pick up Ali. It’s stealthed, so the Navy frigate in orbit won’t see it, and you can certainly arrange it so Greenholme’s ground sensors won’t either.”
The ground sensors Lady Melanie was referring to were a series of eighteen automated sensor stations set around the equator and tropic lines, installed by Bloody Margo when Greenholme was her pirate base, to warn her if rival pirates or the Patrol ever came calling. Lady Salli had prudently kept them in operation when she ascended to the post of Greenholme’s governorship, making the colony unusually well equipped for its own defense.
“What would be the point of that?” Salli asked.
“Simple. Get Ali as far from Greenholme as possible. By the time her brother the patroller finds out she’s gone, the long boat will have had hours to run in every possible direction from the planet, and he won’t have a clue which way to send pursuit. I can arrange it so Ali can get settled on some neutral world, with more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life. Problem solved.”
“You want me to leave Lady Salli?” Ali said, her heart sinking.
“I am not going to leave Alinadar adrift again,” Lady Salli objected.
“Better adrift than locked in a cell,” Lady Melanie countered. “And may I point out a cell would be a best case scenario. If the Patrol decides to drop Ali’s case into the hands of a local planetary government, like the humans or gliten, that were affected by Lady Margo or my marauding, then things might get a lot less comfortable for her.”
“I… I don’t want to leave you, Milady,” Ali repeated.
Below the com screen’s line of sight, Lady Salli grasped Ali’s paw tightly. “You won’t… I mean… Well, as an absolute last resort it’s a consideration, but only as that.”
“Right, I’ll make arrangements,” Lady Melanie said crisply. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” Lady Salli said, still holding onto Ali’s paw, “you have absolutely no honesty in your soul and you’ll come to a bad end.”
Lady Melanie let out a long sigh. “So my husband Rolas has informed me. Repeatedly. Goodbye, Salli.” The com transmission cut.
Lady Salli shook her head. “What my brother sees in that vixen I really have no idea.”
“You’re not being fair, Milady,” Ali said. “You don’t know how much Lady Melanie did for me, after I was rescued by her.”
“’Captured by her,’ I think you mean, but given what you told me your life under Bloody Margo was like, I can understand your confusion.”
Ali opened her mouth to object again, then closed it. Lady Salli didn’t understand, and didn’t seem inclined to try. She doesn’t know what I did for Margo. She can’t know. Lady Salli had her own nightmares she had to live with, she didn’t need Ali’s on top of them. But she had to somehow understand what a paradise working under Lady Melanie had truly been.
Lady Salli squeezed her paw one more time before letting it go. “I will take care of this, Ali, I promise you. I’m not going to make you run away, and I’m not going let your brother, or whoever Commander Blacksailor truly is, put you away in a cell.”
“Thank you, Milady.” She stood up and bowed. “I should go and attend to my duties now.”
“Of course, and as well.” Lady Salli waved her away and turned back to her personal comp, the work she had delayed attending to while speaking to Lady Melanie demanding her attention.
Ali turned away, heading towards the colony's security center, raising the paw Lady Salli had held so tightly to her nose as she walked. It still smelled faintly of her, and of Ali's own scent, mixed together.
The second call was to Lady Melanie Lovejoy, formerly known as the Red Vixen. She was also formerly known as Ali’s mistress, back when Ali functioned as her bodyguard/scout/pet.
“This is not my fault,” Lady Melanie said, when Lady Salli explained the situation to her over the FTL com.
“It most certainly is,” Lady Salli said without sympathy. “If you had turned Ali over to the proper authorities when you found her, foxen authorities, not the Patrol, she would have been cleared of her crimes due to her age and received proper care. Instead you decided to make her your servant and slave, and then left her hanging out by her tail when you were through with her.”
Lady Melanie’s holographic image closed her eyes, rubbing her nose. “I’ve already admitted what I did back then was stupid. But you can hardly blame me for Ali blurting out a confession to a patroller standing right in front of her.” As this was pretty much the same thing the House Darktail solicitor had said earlier, that rather cut short Lady Salli’s argument.
“Are you going to do nothing to help?” Lady Salli demanded.
“Help how? Put on my bikini and gunbelt again and have the Red Vixen offer herself as a character witness?”
“Yes, but not as the Red Vixen, as Lady Melanie.”
“Certainly, and you’ll get to watch as your brother Rolas’ name is dragged through the mud for marrying an infamous pirate, and the Council of Countesses reconsiders their vote to grant you governorship of Greenholme, as they investigate whether you were in collusion with the Red Vixen to cement discovery rights to the system,” Melanie said brightly. “We’ll all be the talk of the party circuit for years.”
“Better that than risk Ali being imprisoned.”
“Salli, think it through. You used up the last of your pull with the Council to get the governorship of Greenholme. You don’t think any of the losers in that fight won’t be willing to use this situation as a wedge to try and get it for themselves?”
Ali winced. From a technical standpoint, Greenholme was a colony world of the Foxen Protectorate, and Lady Salli’s governorship subject to the Council of Countess’ laws. From a practical standpoint it was Lady Salli’s personal fiefdom, hard won and which she was loathe to give up. Which made her next words all the more surprising and wonderful.
“That’s irrelevant. If I lose this world I’ll always have our family’s holdings on Foxen Prime to fall back upon. I’d give up Greenholme in a moment if it meant that Alinadar would escape being prosecuted for crimes she committed while a slave.”
“You’re mad,” Lady Melanie said.
“I am not obsessed with making money, which seems to be your problem.”
Lady Melanie responded by changing the subject. “If I start giving testimony, I’d be in the same position as Ali. Actually a considerably worse position, given that I certainly wasn’t a slave when I started pirating for a hobby.”
“So you’ll let Ali be imprisoned to save your own ears and tail?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Well then what do you mean?” Lady Salli demanded.
Lady Melanie took a deep breath. “It hasn’t been two years since your mother was elevated to the position of Countess after the downfall of Countess Highglider and her son. Do you really want to get your family involved in yet another scandal so soon after the last one?”
“Not by choice, but we rarely have true choices in a crisis.”
Ali spoke up, saying “Milady, I don’t want your family to suffer more, just to save my own tail.”
“The pain and fear I experienced as my husband’s wife lasted only two years,” Lady Salli told her. “Your life as a slave lasted for almost twenty. I cannot, will not, ask you to suffer any longer.”
“Hey, she didn’t have it that bad when she was with me,” Lady Melanie objected. The withering glare she received for that remark made her backtrack a bit and ask, “I mean it wasn’t, right Ali?”
“It was a lot better than when I was under Bloody Margo. You were always kind,” Ali reassured her. She caught herself rubbing the uneven fur around the back of her neck, and withdrew her paw to her lap.
“Thank you.” Lady Melanie rubbed her muzzle, eyes closed as she thought. “Look, we’re thinking about this in a really binary fashion. We need to move laterally and find a third option.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Lady Salli allowed.
“How about this? I can arrange for one of the Scarlet Claw’s long boats to come pick up Ali. It’s stealthed, so the Navy frigate in orbit won’t see it, and you can certainly arrange it so Greenholme’s ground sensors won’t either.”
The ground sensors Lady Melanie was referring to were a series of eighteen automated sensor stations set around the equator and tropic lines, installed by Bloody Margo when Greenholme was her pirate base, to warn her if rival pirates or the Patrol ever came calling. Lady Salli had prudently kept them in operation when she ascended to the post of Greenholme’s governorship, making the colony unusually well equipped for its own defense.
“What would be the point of that?” Salli asked.
“Simple. Get Ali as far from Greenholme as possible. By the time her brother the patroller finds out she’s gone, the long boat will have had hours to run in every possible direction from the planet, and he won’t have a clue which way to send pursuit. I can arrange it so Ali can get settled on some neutral world, with more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life. Problem solved.”
“You want me to leave Lady Salli?” Ali said, her heart sinking.
“I am not going to leave Alinadar adrift again,” Lady Salli objected.
“Better adrift than locked in a cell,” Lady Melanie countered. “And may I point out a cell would be a best case scenario. If the Patrol decides to drop Ali’s case into the hands of a local planetary government, like the humans or gliten, that were affected by Lady Margo or my marauding, then things might get a lot less comfortable for her.”
“I… I don’t want to leave you, Milady,” Ali repeated.
Below the com screen’s line of sight, Lady Salli grasped Ali’s paw tightly. “You won’t… I mean… Well, as an absolute last resort it’s a consideration, but only as that.”
“Right, I’ll make arrangements,” Lady Melanie said crisply. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” Lady Salli said, still holding onto Ali’s paw, “you have absolutely no honesty in your soul and you’ll come to a bad end.”
Lady Melanie let out a long sigh. “So my husband Rolas has informed me. Repeatedly. Goodbye, Salli.” The com transmission cut.
Lady Salli shook her head. “What my brother sees in that vixen I really have no idea.”
“You’re not being fair, Milady,” Ali said. “You don’t know how much Lady Melanie did for me, after I was rescued by her.”
“’Captured by her,’ I think you mean, but given what you told me your life under Bloody Margo was like, I can understand your confusion.”
Ali opened her mouth to object again, then closed it. Lady Salli didn’t understand, and didn’t seem inclined to try. She doesn’t know what I did for Margo. She can’t know. Lady Salli had her own nightmares she had to live with, she didn’t need Ali’s on top of them. But she had to somehow understand what a paradise working under Lady Melanie had truly been.
Lady Salli squeezed her paw one more time before letting it go. “I will take care of this, Ali, I promise you. I’m not going to make you run away, and I’m not going let your brother, or whoever Commander Blacksailor truly is, put you away in a cell.”
“Thank you, Milady.” She stood up and bowed. “I should go and attend to my duties now.”
“Of course, and as well.” Lady Salli waved her away and turned back to her personal comp, the work she had delayed attending to while speaking to Lady Melanie demanding her attention.
Ali turned away, heading towards the colony's security center, raising the paw Lady Salli had held so tightly to her nose as she walked. It still smelled faintly of her, and of Ali's own scent, mixed together.
