IceAndWave/SexViolenceAndAlcohol

Sex, Violence and Alcohol

In which troubles are washed away, hard answers are earned, and disappointment is rife...

The 26th Day of Resplendent Fire, Realm Year 763

Cassia looks up at Venia from her seat outside the inn, a little suprised. She nods, "...I... yes, please." She does a bit better for her time in the fresh air

Venia nods, and offers her arm. "YOu'll have to pick the place, though. I may be a little distracted."

Cassia takes her arm. She gives her a curious look at the distracted, but says nothing, walking through the streets, trying to focus on the good things they've done together, and not the things she just heard her say. She picks out another tavern, selecting one that looks very different to the one they were just in. "Is this place alright?"

"Sure. We can always find another if there's a problem. Think you're up to ordering for me?"

Cassia nods "Okay..." she leaves Venia at a table, wandering slipping easily through the crowd to the bar, ordering several glasses of strong, clear liquor. Not her usual drink but it was Venia's and, well ...

Venia lounges in her seat, fussing with her hair a bit to get it just right.

Cassia returns with the drinks, once more slipping through the crowd without being jostled and sitting at the table. She sips her own drink, puckering her face a little at the strong alcohol.

Venia chuckles. "I don't drink it for the taste. Lots of other good reasons, though." She sips carefully at her own, nodding and setting it back.

Cassia takes another, larger sip then sets it down. "...Definitely not for the taste."

"Nicely flammable, though." Venia takes a bit of a deeper drink, managing to somehow maintain her usual placid demeanor as it burns down.

Cassia considers burning the liquor. Decides to drink some more instead.

"You didn't seem too happy with how things turned out back there."

How could I be with what you said?! "...There was a lot of blood."

"Yeah... I was a bit disappointed in myself. Usually it turns out cleaner."

Cassia takes a another gulp of the drink "...Usually?" Then she remembers something "...Oh, yeah."

"Don't go too quickly. The kick is later. Learned that from hard experience... They have anything that looked edible?"

"...Food??" a sip this time, if a large one, "It didn't look that bad... but I wasn't really looking."

"See if there's anything that isn't made of blubber. I could use a bit of a meal, and you'll thank me for it later."

Cassia looks a little askance at the thought of eating now, but nods and leaves the table with another large sip of her drink. She scans the menu for things that are not blubber and are not meat. She despairs slightly at the options this leaves her, eventually settling on something that she doesn't think will be that bad. She returns to the table "It'll be here shortly."

"Good. It should keep your stomach settled."

Cassia looks at her in disbelief, gulping down more of her drink.

"It does, you know. Soaks up some of the alcohol, keeps it from wrecking your system all at once."

Cassia gives Venia a look to suggest that maybe this is the desired effect.

Venia shakes her head. "Fine... but don't blame me when you spend the night huddled up to the porcelain goddess. I'm a little surprised you're taking it this hard."

"...You wouldn't understand," she says quietly.

"I could try, if it helps."

Cassia looks at her, then down. "I'm going to remember what happened in that room for the rest of my life," she says after a bit of thought.

Venia thinks about this. "That is a burden I would not really wish on anyone."

Cassia carries on speaking after another gulp. "Every drop of blood, every word you said, every... scent."

"I suspect, in time, that you will remember it, and it won't seem that unpleasant at all... not what you want to hear, but likely the truth."

Cassia gives her a slightly disgusted look and finishes her drink.

Venia shrugs. "The nature of long lives. There is always something bigger, something grander around the corner."

"...that was grand?!" she starts on the second drink she bought

"No. I was trying to phrase it in a way that did not make it sound as if things only get worse."

Cassia shakes her head and takes another drink.

"They do get better, you know. We are did a good thing today, no matter how it looked. Icehome is better for your pain."

Cassia doesn't look so sure of that. "What are we gonna do about here anyway...?"

"I'm not sure. I am hoping that she can be brought back to her senses enough to get more information. This obviously goes farther than her. Eventually, she'll probably die for her crimes, once turned over to the proper authorities."

Cassia nods and drinks a little more.

Venia slowly works on the rest of her drink. Don't need both of them out of sorts. "Beyond sitting here and looking pretty, anything I can do to make you feel better?"

Cassia looks at her, then back to the drink.

Venia slides her drink over to Cassia.

Cassia smiles at her briefly, then takes a gulp from it. She laughs suddenly, "... Why am I doing this?" she asks, mostly of herself.

"The drinking? The stopping death cults?"

"... The drinking." she drinks a little more

"You want to feel less like yourself, different for a while. Think about how pretty the guy in the open shirt over there looks and wonder why you ever thought he was attractive in the morning."

Always she has answers! Cassia looks over the guy indicated, "... He does look pretty. Not as pretty as you though." she adds hastily, as if it needs to said.

"That's good. Men aren't supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to be rugged and handsome. Want to go over and talk to him?"

Cassia considers him. Then nods and stands herself up, shaking her hair a little to let it settle anew then walking over to him mostly straight and smiling at him "Hey."

Venia, for her part, turns her mind to the issues of tomorrow. Also how anyone in the north can survive on food like this.

The man turns at the sound of a female voice and his face lights up when he sees Cassia, "Hello there."

Cassia smiles a little wider at his reaction. She starts to talk and flirt with him, forgetting about the events in the room before for the moment, and about the horrid things Venia said ... and the arm.

The man responds as any man would when approached by someone as friendly and pretty as Cassia. He steals a kiss from her when she pauses for breath.

Cassia kisses him back, suprised but pleased.

"You're a pretty one, aren't you?" he grins, "What's your name?" His hands slides down lower than would normally be considered proper.

Cassia voices no protest at this "Yours first." she says playfully

"Very well," he smiles, "I am called Sella. I'm the local Councilman, and these are my constituents," he waves at the crowd, some of whom laugh raucously.

Cassia laughs a little "Sella hmm ... I'm Cassia."

"Cassia? A pretty name," he leans down and kisses her neck before whispering, "Are you here for long? At least for the night, I hope?" He lightly squeezes her butt.

Cassia gasps and whispers back "...I might be."

"What could make it more of a certainty, hmm?" Sella smiles, "This, perhaps?" and he leans down to kiss Cassia's neck and throat.

"Mmmm... ohhh... that helps," she kisses him back a little.

"This is good to know. How about this?" and he pulls her in for a long, deep kiss that has the crowd around chanting bawdily until it breaks.

Cassia gasps for breath when it does.

Still with his hand clasping her buttock Sella smiles, and leans in to whisper, "I have more at my home. Better, too. If you're interested?"

Cassia nods to indicate that she is, with a brief glance at Venia, then back to him and another nod.

Sella leads Cassia out of the tavern, and into his home, and his bed.

---

Sian waits until the womens' footsteps have faded before speaking, worryingly expressionless. He fixes the woman with a piercing look. "Can you hear me?"

Carefully tied to prevent her from harming herself, Diamond watches Sian closely, a thin line of spittle leaking from her mouth. "Yes."

"We're going for a walk, and you're going to behave."

Diamond looks strangely at Sian, "Where?"

"Someplace with thicker walls."

"Why?"

"I have questions I want answered." He drapes his coat over her to hide the ropes binding her hands, before hauling her up as if she was nothing. "Stay silent."

She obeys, as sanity seems to trickle back into her mind.

Sian leads her out, arm around her shoulders like she was a close companion, as he starts off towards the inn he stayed at last time. Along the way, he makes a couple purchases; a long length of dark cloth, and a small, sharp knife.

Diamond watches these purchases, but says nothing.

Sian requests a room, of course, just for the night. One where the sound doesn't travel. He fixes the owner with the unfriendly gaze if there are any hints of questions. The cowed owner hands over the key and takes the money silently. The couple go to the room, making sure the door is locked before Diamond is sat on the bed, while Sian locates a chair and sits nearby. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes. You are the father of the herald-child."

"Where is she?"

"With my master, as he makes ready."

"And where is he?"

"In the land of the Blessed Dead, at his citadel."

"The Fell?"

"I do not know. I have not been blessed with his presence."

"How do you receive your orders?"

"He sends messengers when he needs something."

"How often? Where do you meet them?"

Diamond looks up, "When he wants me, he tells me."

Sian just looks at her for a few moments, then locates his pack, removing from it the spider he brought along. "What are you going to do with these?"

"You know what they are." Diamond shrugs.

"One chance. What are you going to do with them?"

"Control. We are but few, but our reach is great."

Sian frowns, just slightly, before returning the item to his pack. "Very well. The hard way it is." He locates the knife, and removes his shirt, knowing Aia will worry if she has to clean bloodstains out of it.

Diamond blinks, "You won't use that. You can't."

"Why not?"

"You're too soft. You care."

"Not about you." He pushes her back, hand over her mouth as he holds her to the bed, slicing carefully through the sleeve of her shirt where the arm is connected.

"You can't do any worse to me than I already have to myself."

"Doing something painful once often produces a fear of it happening again." His hand tightens over her mouth, quieting her and keeping her still, as he pulls the cut sleeve away and scans the point where flesh meets metal. Venia would no doubt be quite impressed by his lack of emotion.

Diamond begins to struggle against the bonds.

Sian places a knee on her stomach to prevent much movement, and slowly pushes the blade into her shoulder, a bare centimeter away from where the metallic arm joins.

Diamond grits her teeth against Sian's hand, her body straining as she tries to pull her arm away.

Sian slides it right through, until the hilt is against her skin and the tip is poking into the mattress beneath her. Blood leaks out from around the wounds, and Diamond arches her back as she screams against Sian's palm.

He waits with infinite patience for these to die down, slowly moving his hand away to allow her to catch her breath. "What are you going to do with the spiders?"

"They're... ung, they're attached to people in power. We... we can control them."

"Who? I want names."

Diamond keeps her mouth shut, blinking tears away.

Sian closes his hand over her face again and sharply levers the knife sideways, tearing through nerve and muscle.

Diamond screams again, shaking and bucking against Sian, the trickle of blood becomes a continuous stream.

Sian's expression doesn't so much as flicker. Again, he waits for the noises to die down to whimpers before removing his hand. "Names."

"General Joster. Oligarch Iron Gull. Ugn... Councillor Sella."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, damn you!"

Sian commits them to memory. "What does your lord want my daughter for? Be specific."

"I don't know!"

Sian starts to cover her mouth, just as a warning.

"I don't know! It's what we are told. She will open the Soulgate and herald our triumph."

"Hm. Very well." The hand moves back. "What else can you tell me?"

"She is safe, my master needs her alive. For now."

Sian nods slightly. "What did you mean when you said 'brought low by the sun itself?'"

"What?"

"You said that Icehome would fall. Brought low by the sun itself."

Diamond shakes her head hard.

Sian's eyes harden, and the next bout of cutting lasts for considerably longer, leaving him sweating slightly at the effort needed to hold her down. The cords in her limbs stand out as she strains against the ropes, screaming against and biting into Sian's hand.

Sian doesn't pull his hand away until she stops, the pain helping him focus as his blood leaks into her mouth. He takes a breath before speaking. "What did you mean?"

"The walls..." Diamond takes a breath, "The walls are mined. Aaaagh!" She twitches, "When we are informed, they will be bathed in the sun's fire, and the Blessed Dead can take the city."

"Tell me how to stop them."

"The devices must be removed from under the walls where," a gasp for breath, "Where we buried them."

"Where are they? And how many of them are there?"

"Twenty. You have the last five."

"And do you remember where?"

"Under the watch towers. At the gates. Oh, Dragons it hurts!"

Sian does note that there is rather a lot of blood now, so fixes her with his gaze once more. "Hold still. It will only last a moment longer."

"What more do you want?"

Sian is silent as he covers her mouth one last time, taking hold of the knife and wrenching it in a full circle, having to reach around for the final portion as it severs the arm entirely. Diamond's screams fill the room, even through Sian's hand, and she curses him fluently in Icetongue and Old Realm.

Sian pulls the thing away, dropping it on the floor and reaching for the cloth he bought, wrapping it around the wound tightly to staunch the flow of blood.

"What..." she moans, "What have you done?"

"Do you think you can stand, or do I need to carry you?" He ignores the question, but his tone is somewhat less harsh than before.

"Stand? Why? Are you going to kill me now?"

"No." He removes his knee from where he had her pinned. "Can you manage a walk?"

"I... I don't know..." she staggers a bit against Sian. "Why?"

Sian drapes the coat around her again, putting his pack on then scooping her up. "Don't talk."

Diamond gasps for breath, her eyes glassy from the pain, and nods unthinkingly. Sian carries her out, not commenting as the owner stares as he exits, heading down towards where he spied (he hopes) a healer.

The sign reads "Medick and Herbalist" and the middle-aged woman behind the counter rushes out when she sees the blood trickling from Diamond's arm. "What happened?"

"I'll pay you double not to ask that again. Just help her." He sets the wounded woman down.

The medick swears when she sees the damage done to Diamond's arm, but gets to work quickly, giving her a steaming cup to drink from that smells spectacularly bad, but which sends Diamond into a fitful sleep in moments. Sian sits to the side and watches, trying to remain as emotionless as before but failing badly.

A hissing sound fills the room as the wound is cauterised with a metal plate heated to red-hot in a fire, and the smell of burnt flesh soon follows.

"She be okay?"

"Whoever did this was an animal," the medick mutters, "It's like they just tore her arm off. Bastards." She continues to work, making a poultice to wrap the stump in.

Sian quiets up, feeling not particularly great.

Eventually she stands up, sweating from the heat and the effort, "She'll live. It was close, and she will be weak for a few days, but she'll live."

"Thank you." He hands over the money, and then some. "When will she wake?"

"Sometime tomorrow. I gave her a large dose of sleeping draught. She will be in pain for weeks if that poultice isn't replaced every day."

"Can she do it by herself?"

"She can. It would be better if someone else did it. It has to cover the whole wound."

Sian nods slightly, and hands over a bit more money. "Could you make a few for me to use?"

"I can. They won't last long, though. Some of what's in them needs to be fresh."

"As many as will last, then."

She looks at Sian, "You're a good man, I think. Most people would just have left her on the street."

Sian responds with only the barest nod, cold inside. "Maybe."

Ten minutes later she returns with a cloth bag, "There are three poultices in here. I've also included the a list of the ingredients, so you can get them made up in other places."

"Thank you." He looks over at Diamond. "Is it safe for me to take her back to my inn? Or should she stay here?"

"She can move. Just, be careful, she looks like she's lost a lot of blood. Another fifteen minutes and she might have died."

"I will be." He is, as he scoops her up again, letting her lean into his chest in her sleep. "Thank you again."

"Look after her, won't you?"

"I'll try." He nods to her, and exits, starting a slow walk back to the original inn.

Diamond stirs fitfully, muttering, "No! No!" as Sian carries her back.

Sian tries to reassure her as best he can, feeling colder inside with every noise she makes. He settles her into his own bed when they arrive, making sure she isn't putting pressure on the wound, and settles back in a chair to watch her sleep.

---

Venia is sad to discover that no one here meets her standards, and decides to hunt down another bar. Cassia will obviously remember where to come back to, so should be fine. She recruits a fairly pretty young waiter who is about to go off duty to assist, though, leaning happily on him as they exit.

Sian is mopey! Feeling terrible and all the rest. He only leaves the room once, and that's to go get a small meal and something to drink. Venia notices when he does so, and shifts the waiter's attention from her breasts to steering her to meet her friend over there.

Sian just looks at her without much of a reaction, feeling too tired to get annoyed about her state.

Venia kisses the waiter on the cheek and sits, rapidly going from needing assistance to just mildly tipsy as the poor guy heads off disappointed. "Weren't you going to stay back with Diamond to prevent any unpleasantess?"

"I just came down to get something to eat."

"Ah. Good luck, most of it's blubber-related."

Sian shrugs mildly. "Food is food."

Venia rests her face in her hands, leaning on the table and watching him. "You seem out of sorts, too. Something go wrong?"

"No."

"Something go entirely too right?"

"I don't feel like talking, Venia, so please stop." He doesn't sound particularly annoyed, just drained.

Venia does so for the moment, just watching him quietly.

Sian just looks at his hands as he waits for his food to arrive.

Venia stands, moves over to his side, and gives him a big friendly hug.

Sian lifts an eyebrow slightly, somewhat questioning.

The food, steaming and smelling of whale, arrives shortly, accompanied by a large mug of mead. The servant bobs slightly and then departs for other customers.

Venia sits down in his lap, leaning over and inspecting the knife. She shrugs at the lack of razor edge, then saws a piece off for him, spearing it on the fork and pointing it at him. Sian sighs, and eats it, not wanting to put up a fight.

Venia nods, and busies herself with that. She can't help some suggestive movements and poses, but it's clear she's just trying to be helpful. "Good?"

"Excuse me, sir?" one of the inn's servants comes up to the table, "There's some strange noises coming from your room. Do you know anything about it?"

Sian starts to reply to Venia, when the man arrives. He almost-rudely removes her from his lap, and stands. "What noises?"

"It sounds like there's someone in there, but the door is locked."

Venia is not used to being pushed out of people's laps, but it's Sian so to be expected. She tries the bit of food on the fork and makes a face.

Sian doesn't ask any further questions, just walking quickly back to the room.

"You'll have to excuse him... a friend of ours is pretty badly sick, a fever. We don't want her wandering about while she's delirious, you know?" Venia offers the servant Sian's seat.

When Sian opens the door he see that Diamond is still laying one the bed he put her on. She is still in a drugged sleep, but moaning incoherently and rolling around on the bed. Some blood has leaked out from around the poultice on her stump and onto the bed.

Sian grimaces, and kneels beside the bed, trying to hold her still as he replaces it. The reminder of why he held her still before is not a pleasant one.

Diamond groans, "No! Don't! Please stop!" as she tries to writhe around.

Sian closes his eyes for a moment, and takes a deep breath, before returning to his work.

Venia eventually follows him up after confusing the servant more, closing the door behind her with an accidental thump.

Sian doesn't even notice, too intent on getting the bandages just right.

"Maybe I drank a bit much, but she had two arms when I left."

Sian actually starts at the sound of her voice, something he never does. "When did you get here?"

"A minute or so ago, when I came through the door you left open. This is what's got you all dead, isn't it?"

Sian hesitates, and then nods. "Yes."

"Did it yourself, or did she?"

"...I did." He turns back, and starts tightening the bandages again.

Venia is glad he's not looking at her, as she can't hide her sadness at hearing that anyway. "Oh. Was it worth it?"

"No. It wasn't."

"Didn't learn anything, then. Damn."

"I did. But it still wasn't worth it."

Venia taps him on the shoulder, tugging her nice new gloves off afterwards. "Move. I can handle this part."

Sian does so, after another moment of hesitation, sitting back on the other bed to watch.

Venia forces some of that cold cheer back into her voice as she sits on the bed and works with the bandages, soon having them tightened just right and re-wrapped. She carefully presses against the stump, and nods in satisfaction. "Clean cut, at least. Well, what did you learn?"

Sian takes a moment to remove most of the quaver from his voice before responding. "Three people in this city are under their control; General Joster, Oligarch Iron Gull, and Councillor Sella. They also have explosives planted at key points around the city wall."

"Mrm. You saved a city. Good job." She arranges the pillows to prop Diamond on, "Why did you do this, Sian? I would have done it if you'd asked..."

Sian shakes his head, then lowers it, deeply ashamed. "I don't know. I just... as soon as she yelled about my daughter, something just snapped."

"Don't do this sort of thing anymore. You're not good at it. You care too much."

"I'm not going to. Trust me, I'm not." He laughs weakly, then stops, one hand on his stomach.

Venia moves over to check on him, a gentle pressure as she makes him lay back on the bed, but one that doesn't really cease.

"Please... don't. I don't want to sleep."

Diamond seems to have settled down following the replacement of the bandages and poultice, and she falls back into a deep sleep, marked only by the occasional twitches of dreaming.

"It's either sleep, or get drunk and find a pretty boy to sleep with like I prescribed Cassy."

"Just let me lie here. I'll be okay."

"No, you won't. This is the most messed up I've ever seen you."

Sian nods slightly, not denying that. "If I sleep, I'll remember it. I know I will."

"You're going to remember it for years, Sian. You're not going to let yourself forget."

Sian closes his eyes, immediately terrified of that idea.

"But you're not going to be any use if you just mope around and let yourself waste away. How can you help your daughter then?"

"I don't know... I just..." He opens his eyes again and looks at her helplessly, lost for words.

"Shush. You did what almost anyone in your situation would. It is understandable. You did it for your daughter, and you may have saved her with it. Shut up, and think of that instead, not the hurting and the crying."

Sian does go quiet, accepting this for the moment.

Venia kicks her shoes off, and lays down on top of Sian, looking over at Diamond for the moment. She reaches out and drapes his arms over her. "You're going to sleep now, and you're going to wake up tomorrow and we're going to save the city, and we're going to find out how to help your daughter, ok? You did the right thing."

Sian nods slightly, settling his arms around her more comfortably after a moment. "I'm sorry, Venia."

"Didn't I tell you to shush?"

Sian starts to apologize again, then realizes what he's doing, hushing up properly.

Venia may not have great empathy, or charisma, but she is at the very least a talented mimic, and murmurs the occasional word of encouragement in his ear in Aia's voice as he falls asleep, using long practice to relax him all the way down into real rest.

Sian sleeps deeply, with only the occasional twitch.