Chapter 283 – Nature is a natural pain

*** Elora ***

"Your Highness," a maid says. "Shall we bring you dinner?"

"No," I say. Hold back the tears, Elora, you've been here before. There is someone I can take this out on. Put all the pain in a box and shove it onto her. Your work wasn't wasted. You helped the commoners and made their lives better. After this, if Alzi stays away, you can just run around, hide your face, and help them again as the nobody you are.

Elora slowly gets up from the desk, trying to keep her body from shaking. Elora, you have a prisoner who has been by your side, betraying you every day for months. She said she had your back, Elora; she lied to you and took everything you had left. Make her give it back to you, Elora.

No, she can't do that. Just give her all your pain, Elora, give her all the pain. Make it go away. Make it disappear. Do it. Do it. This, or the rope. Give it all away, Elora.

"Dear?" Shimmer says. Is she talking to you? Why would anyone call you dear? "Are you ok?"

"What?" Elora says. "Do I look like I have a problem?"

"Yes, dear. You have a problem. You are shaking, crying, and look like a mad woman right now. You heard what your Mother said."

The prisoner, Elora. "Elora is..."

"Do not talk to me in the third person, Elora Elagwyn. Tell me exactly what you are about to do, and don't think of lying about it. I will be following you no matter what you say."

"The prisoner. Elora- I need to make sure she understands what she did."

Start back towards the wavering door. Do you need anything to punish the spy, Elora? No, a personal touch would be best.

"This way, dear," Shimmer says. "She is in the cellar. But remember, she didn't do this to you. The family caused this outcome."

"Just show the way."

Shimmer leads us through the manor, a maid in tow.

"Elora, dear, you need to be careful. The changeling must survive so we can give her to Lady Alzi and let Sedriresa get a chance at the one that took her."

"She is the cause of this."

"No, dear. No, she is not. That is us. We should've married Alzi correctly, then we wouldn't be in this mess. If you keep acting like this, I will put you to sleep until the morning."

"She is part of the problem."

"I suppose. Maybe I should just put you to sleep right now."

Shimmer doesn't do anything. She just shows the path to the cellar, though Elora knows where it is. Yes, a door in the kitchen. Why wait behind Shimmer when the prisoner needs to be punished?

The changeling is tied up against the wall, naked and gagged with a dirty rag. Perfect for getting her punishment.

There is no need to give her time to prepare; just start. She didn't give Alzi time to prepare for her pain, her torment, or the raping. No, they didn't give Elora's love a chance to prepare a single time they hurt her. Not for the pain when they took her away to whatever ritual they did in that temple.

Just grab her arm and snap it. The snow elf is already broken enough. They need to be blood pairs in this cellar.

Her arm disobeys the command to break, a Skill needing to be used to get it to snap. The changeling's eyes go wide as her arms try to hold out. Her mind catches up as she grunts and shakes, hoping to free her arms, but it isn't happening. No, just a single Skill, and there it goes.

A club, Elora. No, you don't deserve to do this the easy way. No, a failure should work directly with her hands to fix the issue. Swing your arm into the ribs; she must match the snow elf.

A small thud comes before she screams out in pain.

"Elora, stop this. The changeling is a spy and will be punished, but if you do this, she will die before she can be brought to her trial. Do not take revenge away from Lady Alzi and Sedriresa."

"She'll make it."

"No, her arm is almost outside her skin. Stop. With the elf, we had Alzi to fix her. We do not have that luxury this time. Stop. She belongs to Lady Alzi."

"She caused Elora's love to leave. If she just stopped, Lady Alzi would still be here. She would be married to Elora, and the wedding would happen tomorrow. She..."

"Stop!" Shimmer shouts, forcing Elora's head to face her. "STOP! YOU ARE ELORA! My wife and love. I care about you, and I will not see you act as if you are some other person. You've got your pound of flesh, Elora. Now stop it. You fucked up. You. Deal with it and move forward. Are you going to go crazy right now over this? When you wake up, I hope you'll be thinking correctly. This is not the woman I married and not a woman I will stay married to. You are our wife and will need to lead us forward and give us a chance to make up with Alzi. Get your head on straight, or I'll take over."

"El..."

*** Alzi ***

I didn't get to many of the women last night. Petra did have a list of every woman that was injured memorized, name and rank, ordered by severity or nobles, letting me move swiftly from patient to patient. But I just struggled to move.

Shyla came all the way out here to wake me up with the sun. I am not sure why, but she seemed to be hurt. I don't know what would cause that. Maybe the fact that I didn't take her with me? But she and Sarania took me back to the city to teleport back to the capital. A few women are fixing the rune so it can actually take us there.

Should I pray to my wife? She showed up for me at the divorce, was one of the few trying to help me, and even showed me how her pregnancy was going.

Of course, there are my ex-wives to check as well. They have an extra prisoner besides Shifty. She's in about the same shape as her, but I wonder where she came from.

But my wife is more interesting. The Princess can handle the prisoners.

"Hello, dear," Space says. "I was hoping you wouldn't forget to visit your beautiful wife when you were so close. Sorry for the surprise yesterday."

"Hi," I say. I didn't even pray. Does she know all the thoughts that happen in her temple?

"Almost, dear. Any thought that is about me or my affinity, I can hear," Space says, pulling me into a hug somehow. I guess her manipulating space shouldn't be surprising. "I'm so happy for you. This isn't over, but it'll be better. Stressful, but you'll have true support this time. Even if you have to keep some women around that you hate."

"I..."

"I know, dear. I know I'm hinting at something you won't like. I don't know if it will go there, but just know that you'll be in control. Take everything. It doesn't matter what they say they are offering. Take what you want, and then take even more. You've earned that much from them."

"Why can't I be left alone?" I ask.

"Fertility has messed with the world too much, and the Goddesses are imbalanced. You saw what we are at the divorce. A mess, fighting for everything. That's changing one baby at a time. But that won't fix the mess that has already been made. It'll take too long for us to become what we should be. And until then, you are in danger. All of the Goddesses want the new Goddesses to follow them. For that, they need to capture a Goddess or a mortal that can breed freely. And the mortal is easier to get. This is our fault, and I'm sorry you have to deal with it."

"Ok," I say. I may not be the Goddesses' favorite show, but I am their favorite toy.

"I'm not sure about that. Fertility has a plan that requires some sacrifices. The brothel owners would be perfect for that, but we need time and space. I can get you the space, but Future isn't going to help us. We'll have to earn time another way."

"Can the other Goddesses earn me time?"

"Yes, but they won't do it for free. I don't have a good answer right now. I'm trying, but Nature is an elder. The elders don't flex their power much anymore, but no one really wants to go against them. We aren't certain if they just don't have that much more power or if they just don't care right now. I'm sorry to tell you such bad news. I want to celebrate your peace so badly. I promise to do everything I can to keep you safe."

"Will I get to be there for your labor?" I ask. A stupid request when we've been talking about a Goddess wishing to kidnap me, but I don't know what else to do about that. I'm forever a toy for others.

"I would love that, dear. And you aren't a toy. You're a powerful woman who everyone wants to have. I'm happy I get to work together with you to build a happier future for both of us."

"Thank you," I say. Her simple robe disappears and lets me rest a hand on her womb. Another kid, I wonder if she will be a Goddess as well. I seem to have a gift for making them.

...

"Seems they are done with the circle," Space says, playing with my long hair. "I can't wait to see your Mother put your hair up. You'll be stunning, fully done up like that. Visit me soon, love. I'll teleport you all directly to the castle."

"Thanks," I say. "I'll try to see you soon."

I see a white flash, and then I appear in the connecting circle. Women in golden armor jump and start to point their spears at us, but then they spot the Princess.

"Princess Elora, welcome. We didn't get the message that you were coming through," a woman says.

"Yes, Lady Alzi has a relationship with the great Goddess of Space. It seems she is helping us save some resources," the Princess says. "Is the Queen ready to see us now?"

"Yes. Lady Alzi, the Queen would like you to join us as well."

"Fine," I say. I guess she is about to ask me to remarry her daughter.