FIC: Unforseen Consequences, WIP
Mar. 19th, 2007 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalAs I mentioned in my last post, I finally figured out the narrative arc for Unforseen Consequnces, so I was able to get rolling on it again in between answering calls at work. So enjoy...
What Has Gone Before: After Tez deflowers Maria in theclimax conclusion of Unexpected Diversions, Maria wakes up the next morning and drags Tez off to meet her mentor, the Most Merciful Garvin, the grandfatherly Death Priest in town. That evening they have more hot elf on beast-kin action gentle lovemaking, and Tez engages in some pillow talk, wondering what Maria's experience at seeing a god was like. In all his lengthy years he's never seen one, suprisingly enough.
The next morning Maria wanders over to talk to her tenant farmer, Sinod, for a bit, then returns home to find some unwelcome vistors. The estranged sister of her late master has come to visit, along with her personal Death Priest, having finally learned of her brother's death some four years after the fact. Unsurprisingly, she's not happy to find her brother's ex-slave in ownership of his manor now. This is doubly awkward for Maria, since the will her master supposedly signed on his deathbed was in fact a forgery she'd made, making the Marchcioness in the right. Reluctantly, she permits them to stay overnight, in the hopes that by allowing the Marchioness to loot her late master's library of magical tomes, she'll be satisfied and be on her way.
The next morning, things began to go very, very wrong. Deciding that she badly needed reinforcements, Maria sent Tez to town with a note for Garvin, begging his presence at the manor as soon as he was able. The old Death priest came back on Tez’s heels, sandals flapping as his came up the steps to the front entryway.
“Maria, be at peace,” he greeted, taking hold of her hands. “Tez has attempted to explain everything to me. You needn’t worry. The will your master signed and I officiated is quite genuine in the eyes of the law.” Thankfully, he didn’t add, Because no one will ever know any different.
“ Tell them that,” she said to him, grasping his own hands tightly. “Oh, Garvin, I should have known something like this was going to happen.”
“Yes, it’s always amazing how prescient you imagine you can be when you look back on events,” he told her. “I’ve walked that road, Maria. I would beg you to avoid traveling upon it yourself.”
“I suppose you are right,” she agreed. “Come, they’re in the library, looking through Master’s books.” He followed her inside, where the Marchioness and the Most Merciful Alfred were sorting through stacks of texts. Prominent among them was Master’s private notebook, which contained the records of her own creation within it. She tried not frown. There was no particular reason why they shouldn’t take that book with them, even if it was her only record of how she was made. “Garvin, this is the Marchioness Evelyn Liriel du Aramis, and theMost Merciful Alfred du Miens, High Priest of Thanatos. Marchioness Evelyn, Most Merciful Alfred, this is the Most Merciful Garvin, also a Priest of Thanatos.” Though you already seem to have known that.
“Death’s mercy upon you all,” Garvin said cheerily.
“It’s good that you are here, Most Merciful Garvin,” Evelyn said. “It will help in resolving this situation.”
“There’s nothing to resolve,” Maria said. “The will is quite clear.”
The old woman’s tone grew chill. “Maria, I hope you realize that whatever you imagine your situation is, you can not be the master of this manor.”
She felt her stomach clench in all too familiar tension. If she had not doubted the Marchioness’ claim to be her late master’s sister before, the relation became clear through the commanding tone of her voice. It made Maria want to drop to her knees instinctually and beg for forgiveness.
You are no longer a slave, she told herself. So she stiffened her spine and replied. “The manor and its lands were willed to me. Do you imagine your brother was magicked, that he did not truly know his own will?” Which was a horrid bluff to make, given that Master surely had been senile when she had written and forged his signature, but surely the Marchioness had no way of verifying that.
“There were, as we noted earlier, irregularities,” Most Merciful Alfred said calmly. “The fact that the will was not written in his own hand being the most pertinent.”
“And as I told you, and as was noted in the copy held by the town’s temple, he dictated it to me and then signed it himself,” she said. “You did see the Most Merciful Garvin’s notation upon it, did you not?”
“Yes, but questions remain,” Evelyn said. “That is why High Priest Alfred is suspending it, until it can be brought to review before the Council of Mercy.”
“Suspended? What does that mean?” Maria demanded.
Garvin looked suddenly pale. “It means what it says. The terms of the disputed will are held in abeyance until its status can be resolved. Until that happens, the previous will in the Temple’s records, if any, is in effect.”
“What?" No!
“This is extremely irregular, Marchioness,” Garvin said. “Such disputes should be brought forth shortly after the Passage, not four years after the fact.”
“I was unaware of my brother’s passing until less than a month ago,” the Marchioness stated. “I should have received notification far sooner.”
Garvin ran his hand nervously over his bald pate. “Well… well… until this is resolved, I suppose we should come to some arrangements of the collection of rents and the manor’s assets.” He offered Maria a reassuring smile.
“There is nothing to agree to,” Evelyn said, her voice filled with ice, “the previous will on record in Meins states quite clearly that all of my brother’s property reverts to me. In other words, Maria reverts to me.”
“What?” Maria and Garvin both exclaimed almost simultaneously. “I am a free woman…” Maria began to say, as Garvin cut in, ”The law clearly states the manumission of a slave can not be revoked, for whatever reason!”
“If she were human, elf, half-bred, or even an ogre, that would be true,” Alfred allowed. “But Maria is not. She is a beast-kin, a made thing, even if incubated in a woman’s womb rather than grown in a garden. From a legal standpoint she is livestock.”
“I am no such thing!” Maria cried out, as her head began to pound. Not now!
“The horns on your head and the red of your beast eyes say otherwise,” the Marchioness said. “You are mine now, to do with as I will. As my brother’s final creation I suppose I will keep you on, rather than sell you, if you can prove yourself worth while.”
Maria could feel her breathing quicken, as the familiar red haze clouded her vision. “Get out! Get out of my house! Get off my manor! Remove yourselves immediately!” she shouted.
“I… I think that would be best…” Garvin said uncertainly, plainly shocked by Maria’s tone of voice.
“I said get out!” she roared. “Tez, to me!”
Tez, who had apparently been waiting just outside the office, sidled inside, standing between Maria and the Marchioness. “You called, Maria?” he asked calmly.
“Yes! Help me remove this woman and her pet priest! Throw them off the grounds!”
Tez glanced over the Marchioness and the Most Merciful Alfred, and then back to her. “No, I think not.”
“You think not?” she repeated in disbelief. “You think not? What makes you think you have any choice in the matter!”
“Well,” he noted calmly, “it does occur to me that, assuming that you yourself are a slave, you could hardly own me. So either I’m a free elf, or my ownership transfers to Marchioness Evelyn, who at least has the advantage of being fully human.” He stepped back a pace, to stand beside the older human.
“You… you little… I thought you…” Maria felt her whole body shake with rage. She rushed forward, intent of grabbing Tez’s throat and snapping it.
Somehow, even through scarcely two paces separated them, she managed to miss his throat as she tripped. She felt her feet fly out from underneath her as Tez’s fist met her stomach, doubling her over as she fell to her knees. Then someone struck her on the back her head and the world went black.
TBC
What Has Gone Before: After Tez deflowers Maria in the
The next morning Maria wanders over to talk to her tenant farmer, Sinod, for a bit, then returns home to find some unwelcome vistors. The estranged sister of her late master has come to visit, along with her personal Death Priest, having finally learned of her brother's death some four years after the fact. Unsurprisingly, she's not happy to find her brother's ex-slave in ownership of his manor now. This is doubly awkward for Maria, since the will her master supposedly signed on his deathbed was in fact a forgery she'd made, making the Marchcioness in the right. Reluctantly, she permits them to stay overnight, in the hopes that by allowing the Marchioness to loot her late master's library of magical tomes, she'll be satisfied and be on her way.
The next morning, things began to go very, very wrong. Deciding that she badly needed reinforcements, Maria sent Tez to town with a note for Garvin, begging his presence at the manor as soon as he was able. The old Death priest came back on Tez’s heels, sandals flapping as his came up the steps to the front entryway.
“Maria, be at peace,” he greeted, taking hold of her hands. “Tez has attempted to explain everything to me. You needn’t worry. The will your master signed and I officiated is quite genuine in the eyes of the law.” Thankfully, he didn’t add, Because no one will ever know any different.
“ Tell them that,” she said to him, grasping his own hands tightly. “Oh, Garvin, I should have known something like this was going to happen.”
“Yes, it’s always amazing how prescient you imagine you can be when you look back on events,” he told her. “I’ve walked that road, Maria. I would beg you to avoid traveling upon it yourself.”
“I suppose you are right,” she agreed. “Come, they’re in the library, looking through Master’s books.” He followed her inside, where the Marchioness and the Most Merciful Alfred were sorting through stacks of texts. Prominent among them was Master’s private notebook, which contained the records of her own creation within it. She tried not frown. There was no particular reason why they shouldn’t take that book with them, even if it was her only record of how she was made. “Garvin, this is the Marchioness Evelyn Liriel du Aramis, and theMost Merciful Alfred du Miens, High Priest of Thanatos. Marchioness Evelyn, Most Merciful Alfred, this is the Most Merciful Garvin, also a Priest of Thanatos.” Though you already seem to have known that.
“Death’s mercy upon you all,” Garvin said cheerily.
“It’s good that you are here, Most Merciful Garvin,” Evelyn said. “It will help in resolving this situation.”
“There’s nothing to resolve,” Maria said. “The will is quite clear.”
The old woman’s tone grew chill. “Maria, I hope you realize that whatever you imagine your situation is, you can not be the master of this manor.”
She felt her stomach clench in all too familiar tension. If she had not doubted the Marchioness’ claim to be her late master’s sister before, the relation became clear through the commanding tone of her voice. It made Maria want to drop to her knees instinctually and beg for forgiveness.
You are no longer a slave, she told herself. So she stiffened her spine and replied. “The manor and its lands were willed to me. Do you imagine your brother was magicked, that he did not truly know his own will?” Which was a horrid bluff to make, given that Master surely had been senile when she had written and forged his signature, but surely the Marchioness had no way of verifying that.
“There were, as we noted earlier, irregularities,” Most Merciful Alfred said calmly. “The fact that the will was not written in his own hand being the most pertinent.”
“And as I told you, and as was noted in the copy held by the town’s temple, he dictated it to me and then signed it himself,” she said. “You did see the Most Merciful Garvin’s notation upon it, did you not?”
“Yes, but questions remain,” Evelyn said. “That is why High Priest Alfred is suspending it, until it can be brought to review before the Council of Mercy.”
“Suspended? What does that mean?” Maria demanded.
Garvin looked suddenly pale. “It means what it says. The terms of the disputed will are held in abeyance until its status can be resolved. Until that happens, the previous will in the Temple’s records, if any, is in effect.”
“What?" No!
“This is extremely irregular, Marchioness,” Garvin said. “Such disputes should be brought forth shortly after the Passage, not four years after the fact.”
“I was unaware of my brother’s passing until less than a month ago,” the Marchioness stated. “I should have received notification far sooner.”
Garvin ran his hand nervously over his bald pate. “Well… well… until this is resolved, I suppose we should come to some arrangements of the collection of rents and the manor’s assets.” He offered Maria a reassuring smile.
“There is nothing to agree to,” Evelyn said, her voice filled with ice, “the previous will on record in Meins states quite clearly that all of my brother’s property reverts to me. In other words, Maria reverts to me.”
“What?” Maria and Garvin both exclaimed almost simultaneously. “I am a free woman…” Maria began to say, as Garvin cut in, ”The law clearly states the manumission of a slave can not be revoked, for whatever reason!”
“If she were human, elf, half-bred, or even an ogre, that would be true,” Alfred allowed. “But Maria is not. She is a beast-kin, a made thing, even if incubated in a woman’s womb rather than grown in a garden. From a legal standpoint she is livestock.”
“I am no such thing!” Maria cried out, as her head began to pound. Not now!
“The horns on your head and the red of your beast eyes say otherwise,” the Marchioness said. “You are mine now, to do with as I will. As my brother’s final creation I suppose I will keep you on, rather than sell you, if you can prove yourself worth while.”
Maria could feel her breathing quicken, as the familiar red haze clouded her vision. “Get out! Get out of my house! Get off my manor! Remove yourselves immediately!” she shouted.
“I… I think that would be best…” Garvin said uncertainly, plainly shocked by Maria’s tone of voice.
“I said get out!” she roared. “Tez, to me!”
Tez, who had apparently been waiting just outside the office, sidled inside, standing between Maria and the Marchioness. “You called, Maria?” he asked calmly.
“Yes! Help me remove this woman and her pet priest! Throw them off the grounds!”
Tez glanced over the Marchioness and the Most Merciful Alfred, and then back to her. “No, I think not.”
“You think not?” she repeated in disbelief. “You think not? What makes you think you have any choice in the matter!”
“Well,” he noted calmly, “it does occur to me that, assuming that you yourself are a slave, you could hardly own me. So either I’m a free elf, or my ownership transfers to Marchioness Evelyn, who at least has the advantage of being fully human.” He stepped back a pace, to stand beside the older human.
“You… you little… I thought you…” Maria felt her whole body shake with rage. She rushed forward, intent of grabbing Tez’s throat and snapping it.
Somehow, even through scarcely two paces separated them, she managed to miss his throat as she tripped. She felt her feet fly out from underneath her as Tez’s fist met her stomach, doubling her over as she fell to her knees. Then someone struck her on the back her head and the world went black.
TBC
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:19 am (UTC)*Crosses fingers and waits*.
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Date: 2007-03-20 10:20 am (UTC)Poor Maria. I think this is coming too much for her (and I certainly hope she didn't get knocked up from quite the first try... *shivers*)