Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Chapter 15: Wild at Heart, part IX Liry was pissed off. It had been such a nice cozy afternoon that she had spent with Elza strolling around in the park... and now she had to attend an emergency council meeting that lasted until late in the night. And all of that just because this stupid Syndicate Angel had had to pop up out of nowhere. Then the people had rioted. Bloody morons. While Liry stood on one of the many luxuriant balconies of the council's palace and looked down on Nargath, she came to the conclusion that she really had came to hate this city. And that after living here for just a little more than one year. There was no helping it. Liry was the daughter of a merchant and as such she had been traveling all her life. It was unnatural for her to stay in one place for such an extended period of time. How it had been possible for a sixteen year old merchant's daughter to become a member of the city council and also one of the richest people in town was a story way too ridiculous to retell it now. Liry also hardly ever thought back to these days. Nowadays she was busy with other stuff. Liry had stared at the burning city long enough. She turned around and returned to the enormous lounge where most of the council members were hanging out. Liry had been the youngest councilor of all time and she was still at least three years younger than every other of the forty-nine council members. Still, she was respected by everyone. Feared, even. When you were this rich, your age didn't matter in the slightest. Although the city was in uproar, hardly any of the councilors looked particularly busy. Some of them were engaged in small discussions, others were just dawdling away. Several of the council's members were even napping in the lounge's luxurious armchairs. Liry wished that she could've just gone back home and spent time with her wife instead of having to kill time here. One of the council members approached Liry. It was Medra, a lesser aristocrat in her late twenties. The woman with the elaborately knotted brunette hair had put on some fat lately and was constantly sucking on her pipe. From what Liry had heard, it was not only tobacco that she smoked. Medra acted very secretive when she addressed her: "Do you have a moment, Liry? I'd like to discuss our 'project' with you." Liry sighed. There really was no need for the secretiveness. At least half of the city council was involved in this 'project' anyway. "Fine. I guess the princess won't be here for a while still, so we might as well discuss it." Medra nodded in agreement and dragged Liry along, away from the other council members. "She won't be here for at least half an hour. So we have a lot of time. Come on, I'll show you something good." The princess they were talking about was the true leader of Nargath. Officially, the city council's only purpose was to give advice to the princess. But Princess Endolefinia of Nargath was only ten years old. Even though she was incredibly bright for a child of her age, the princess had a lot of other interests than politics. So most decisions were left to the city council who decided by a majority vote. But on occasions like this, the princess liked to pay the council a visit and check if everything was in order. She had the full power to make any decision she wanted. It had happened before that she had overturned the city council's vote. Still, Liry wondered if it was really necessary for the princess to show up tonight. Someone must've scared her and presented the situation a lot more shocking than it really was. For Liry that meant that she would have to spend a good portion of the night at the council's palace. What a drag. Medra led Liry down a long stairway and through several locked doors. The cellar underneath the palace was gigantic and contained lots of things that common people couldn't even dream of. One of them was the strange storage room that Medra showed Liry now. The shelves in the room were completely filled with small white flasks. "What is that?" Liry asked with a frowning look on her face. Medra grinned while she refilled her pipe. "Exactly what you think it is. The semen of over two thousand executed girls." What a grotesque sight. Liry took one of the vials and expected its glassy content. It was a weird thought that the girl who this semen had belonged to was already dead. But what was left of her in this little bottle was still enough to impregnate a woman. "What do you plan to do with these?" Medra looked a little shocked at the question. "How can you ask? Exactly what we always planned to do! Once we have gotten our hands on a demon, we'll pump all that sperm up her ass until she gives birth to the child of the prophecy!" Liry shuddered. Medra had a habit of becoming quite crude when not a lot of people were around. Rumors had it that she also enjoyed the company of prostitutes a little too much... Liry put the flask back onto the shelf. "But you haven't made any progress with that demon yet, right?" Medra acted quite confident. "Not yet, but we have already made contact with a person that... oh, by the way. There's something I wanted to discuss with you personally. We thought we'd let in Tana and Deriva on the 'Project Aras', but..." Liry was amazed. Even more people? She wondered if anyone in the city council really still believed in the official reason why they were murdering the prostitutes. Liry herself couldn't really have cared less about this nutty plan. "I'm fine either way. Let them in if you want." Medra shook her head and some of the ash from her pipe fell to the floor. "That's not what I'm talking about. We asked these two, but they said that they didn't want to be a part of the project. Now we're in a bad spot of course. Are you fine with letting them be assassinated?" Liry rolled her eyes. Assassinations were a common tool in the city council's intern politics nowadays. New council members were said to have a fifty percent chance to survive their first year. Tana and Deriva would be ones of those who didn't make it. "Yeah, I'm fine with that." Medra was obviously very relieved to hear that answer. "Splendid! Can we make use of one of your assassins for the job?" This was getting on Liry's nerves. She had killed enough people in the last few months. She looked into Medra's eyes as if she was ready to slap her. "Use your own goddamn assassins! And make sure to be quick. Your best bet would be to do it before the princess arrives." Medra gave her a baffled look. "You mean... right now?" Liry nodded angrily. "Yeah. Make haste!" While Liry walked up the stairway, she thought to herself. This assassinations were really getting out of hand. By now, most of the people who were invited to join the city council excused themselves and fled as quickly as possible to a faraway place. Some of them were assassinated even before they were notified about their invitation to the council. It was obvious that some councilors really liked killing. Liry couldn't deny that she had done it a lot herself. There was only a handful of council members that were considered to be immune. It were the people who were in favor with Princess Endolefinia. And Liry was lucky enough to be one of them. When Liry returned to the lounge, the princess had just arrived. Although she was still a child, the frail girl with the long dark blond hair was already an extraordinary personality. Intelligent, strong-willed, beautiful. Liry could've clearly seen herself falling for her if she wouldn't have been married already. Princess Endolefinia's eyes fell on Liry. "There you are, Liry! I was afraid that I would have to get through this meeting without you." Liry immediately got on her knees. "My princess. Forgive me for being late." The charming young girl laughed. "Oh, I didn't mean it that way. Get up, Liry! I'm happy that you're here." Liry got on her feet again, but didn't forget to sweep a curtsy before returning the princess' smile. It was always a good idea to watch one's manners around a girl of such noble birth. Not only had her mother been queen, her grandmother was a goddess of High Heavens. "Thank you so much for your kindness, my princess." Then the council's meeting started. It was the most surreal procedure. The room where the meetings were held was a giant rectangular hall with fifty small balconies- one for each of the councilors and one for the city's ruler. The balconies were spread evenly over the four walls and were all on same height- which meant more than twenty meters above ground. Since the floor of the hall was not lit, one was just staring into a black hole when looking down. Only the balconies were illuminated and from what Liry knew they were also the only way to access the room. Since the hall was very big and voices echoed a lot, one had to speak very loudly here. Still, for a person at the other end of the room it was usually not understandable. Every councilor had several messengers. They were not allowed to enter the meeting hall, so they were waiting on the other side of the curtains that separated the balconies from the corridor. Such a meeting meant a lot of running for these girls, constantly delivering secret messages from one councilor to the other. For a meeting like this, Liry employed a total of twelve messengers, all girls between ten and fourteen. She was infamous for treating them very strictly and when something went wrong during a meeting, afterwards someone would always feel the whip's sting on her delicate skin. The meeting began, as usual, with formalities. Forty-six of the council's members were present. One was sick and the other two were Tana and Deriva. Good job, Medra. Then the princess demanded to hear a summary of what had happened so far. The princess' voice was way too quiet for the giant room and the messengers always had their work cut out for them during her speeches. Liry was in the lucky position to be only two places away from Princess Endolefinia. Another sign of her strong position within the council. The report was made and the princess obviously didn't like what she heard. "People murdering and looting? Committing arson? Resisting the guards? Who do these people think they are? Councilor Liry, what do you suggest?" Liry was a little startled when she was addressed so directly. Everyone in the room was quiet and waiting for her reply. The princess obviously wanted some harsh punishment for the rioters. Liry cleared her throat. "My princess, it will be very difficult to find out all of the perpetrators. I suggest to make an example of a hundred people. Let all of them be whipped publicly, then hang forty of them for looting and burn twenty at the stake for committing arson." Liry knew that the princess liked public punishments and especially corporal ones. She hoped that this idea was to her liking. But the princess was shaking her head. "I heard that several hundred people took part in the riots! A several hundred people who don't obey our law! And if they don't obey us, then they have no right to live in our city!" Everyone was silent. Liry gulped. Her suggestion had been too mild. She could've kicked herself. "I have to agree with you in every aspect of what you said, my princess. In the light of this insight, I suggest the following punishment: Three hundred people shall be whipped publicly for an extended time, using long bullwhips. After the whipping, they shall be castrated. Half of the convicts shall then be put in cages naked and put on display for fourteen days. Of the remaining people, a hundred shall be hung and fifty shall be burned at the stake. Spouses of the convicted shall be exiled, their children shall be caned and then sold into slavery." Liry was sweating at the end of this speech. This had been a very bold suggestion and several parts of it were clearly unreasonable. But the princess was nodding and even gave Liry a little smile. "I think that is a fair punishment. Let the council decide!" Every councilor had two colored flags that they raised during a vote. Red meant approval, blue meant rejection. The vote ended forty-three to three. It was to be expected after such a fervent speech by the princess. But Princess Endolefinia still hadn't calmed down. Liry wondered if a girl of her age shouldn't feel sleepy at this time of the day. "Of course we cannot accept our people committing crimes under the pretext of fighting the Syndicate. On the other hand, I heard reports that genuine Syndicate members have also shown up in Nargath, killing both rioters and guards. What course of action do you suggest, councilor Jonei?" Liry had wondered if the princess would also bring up the Syndicate Angel. But since the guards had already failed once in catching her, this was a touchy subject. Some things even the princess of Nargath had to accept. Oh, if only Fel would be able to catch that angel... That would really raise Liry's reputation. Lost in her own thoughts, Liry almost forgot to listen to what Jonei said. "...and that is why I think the Syndicate only acted in self-defense today. Furthermore, we never had any conflicts with the Syndicate in the past. That is why I suggest to take no direct action against them and wait for the situation to calm down." Princess Endolefinia's balcony was several times the size of the other balconies. Enough room to walk up and down, which was what she was doing the whole time during councilor Jonei's speech. "So you basically suggest that we cooperate with the Syndicate and turn a blind eye on them murdering our citizens. A heretic organization that stands in direct opposition to the High Heavens..." The princess' voice was getting loud. "The High Heavens where our goddesses reside, councilor Jonei! The Syndicate is one of our vilest enemies in the whole wide world! Asking this council to cooperate with them is a sin that I can't forgive, councilor Jonei!" Jonei was as pale as death by now. She was shivering all over and clearly looked like she could collapse any moment. For a while, she just stood there in disbelief, then she suddenly turned around and tried to run away. But only a few seconds later she was carried back onto her balcony by the princess guards. The princess guards always acted on the direct order of Princess Endolefinia and therefore had absolute authority. One of them now cut open councilor Jonei's dress and stripped her naked. Jonei was screaming for her life. "Please, no! I beg you, my princess! Please forgive me! I was a fool, please spare me!" The princess gave her an annoyed look and then addressed the princess guards. "Make this traitorous woman shut up forever!" The whole council watched as the princess guards pulled out Jonei's tongue and then cut it off. The gargling sound she made afterwards gave Liry goosebumps. It wasn't the end of Jonei's punishment. With two quick stabs of a dagger, Jonei was blinded. To finish it off, her ears were permanently sealed with hot wax. Then the princess guards carried her away- disgraced, naked, blind, deaf and dumb. The princess had a very serious look on her face. "Does anyone else want to raise their voice in defense of the Syndicate?" Liry was only happy that she hadn't gotten involved in this discussion. Although it was impossible for her to admit it in such a place, she had some sympathies for the Divine Syndicate. And she also had to think about her afterlife at some point. Liry had committed numerous sins against the High Heavens, so there was little chance that she would get into their paradise after death. Since she didn't want to end up being tortured in hell for all eternity, she had to look for some other place where her soul could find peace. From what Liry had heard, anyone could get into the Syndicate's paradise as long as they were willing to support the Syndicate generously. She could buy a nice cozy place in their heaven for both herself and Elza... It was already way past midnight when Liry finally made it home to her mansion. She went straight to the bedroom. At first, she was happy to see that Elza was still awake. But her happiness quickly subsided when she saw what her wife was doing. "Really, Elza? I thought had you promised me not to do it anymore..." Elza gave her an apologetic look while she took the last drag from the opium pipe. "I'm sowwy... But you were gone for so long..." The skinny eleven-year-old girl with the enticing lilac pigtails fell into Liry's arms. She had tears in her eyes. "I missed you so much, Liry..." Liry had no chance but to forgive her little wife when she buried her thin face in Liry's boobs. "It's alright, sweetie. I'm back now." Elza looked up to her. Her face was so pretty. Even the long bright scar that began between her eyes and ended somewhere on her right cheek. Something the slave traders had done to Elza when she had been much younger. Liry never had regretted the decision to spend her life with this girl on her side for a single moment. Elza's voice still sounded like she was close to crying. "I had that bad dream again, Liry..." Liry petted her wife's cute little head. "It doesn't mean anything, Elza. Just forget about it." Liry closed her eyes. If only she herself could have believed in these words. Elza's voice was very soft and frail when she continued. "The horned woman said that she would visit me soon. That I am blessed. And... she said that she will have my child..." Liry slowly shook her head, then she tightly embraced her wife and kissed her forehead. "It's only a nightmare, Elza. Just try not to think about it anymore..."