Chapter 58 - Forbidden Love (Leaf's POV)

Leaf stared at the Chief for a moment before coming to her senses and she bowed fully, dropping to her knee and lowering her head in respect. It was not time to think about how or why he had come before her in this cell or about how that woman was the very one who captured her. Mudohoon leaned against the bar and grinned maliciously at Leaf while her head was kept too low to see.

“Leaf.” He asked more plainly, “Who told you to leave the warren and come here?”

“The Great Mother.” She said truthfully and without hesitation.

“Why?” He asked.

“For medicine to help Rock.”

“Did she say what medicine to look for? What does it look like? How would you know the right one?”

“No, she did not say or tell me anything. All I knew is I needed strong medicine to heal him.” Leaf whimpered, “Rock… I failed him… didn’t I?”

Mudohoon inhaled deeply and let out a heavy stream of his noxious breath, the decay and rotting teeth visible for a moment as Leaf looked up and recoiled just a bit. He had yet to say anything, but she knew already, “He’s dead.”

“Yes.” He pulled back from the bars, “And you will be next if you are not careful.”

“What can I do…” She whimpered.

“Where is V?” He asked, “Have you seen her?”

She shook her head and started to cry at having failed Rock, at having lost V. Mudohoon nodded and kept trying to read her face, not sure if whether to trust her or not. He was disappointed, but he asked one last question.

“Those who took V are dead. Slaughtered. She has awoken to the power of Belos and I fear she is going to attack the warren. She wants revenge.” Mudohoon sighed, “I was hoping you could lead us to her before it is too late.”

It had to be a lie! It had to be! V who would barely stick up for herself would never attack the warren. She knew V so well. She was so weak and so full of self-loathing that she barely did anything at all. Begging to be left alone, happy for a little chat, she was not the type to hold grudges or seek power. She could not have changed so quickly.

“You lie.” She stared at him, “V never would.”

“The Great Mother poisoned the warren and tried to take over; she plans to give V control of the warren and restore her tribe-

Leaf spit on his face and turned her back with a sharp, “Die!”

Nothing but lies. The Great Mother would never poison the warren. V would never seek revenge. The fact that Mudohoon was even here told her all she needed to know. He had not come here to claim her or to deal with the Mahn, but for his own reasons which involved working with them.

Mudohoon turned to Lady Hilda and spoke their language so quickly and naturally, Leaf let out a gasp at his fluency, “She’s nothing more than garbage; burn her. Turn her to ash like the rest of her kin. Stupid brat.”

Lady Hilda nodded and followed Mudohoon out, it was clear who was in charge at this point. Leaf looked at Jules slumped over the chair, and she nodded to him. She had risked her life and was stealing medicine for Rock. He was dead. And she would be next. She curled up into a ball and began to cry. She kept crying and crying, until sleep took her.

The shuffle of the guards entering the room awoke her, three officers stood over Jules and shook him. Paolo stood in the doorway in a daze. Jules was roused from his slumber with a start, and it took all three men to hold him down as he cried out, “LADY HILDA!”

“Easy boy! Easy!” one of the officers yelled, “It is alright. What happened?”

Lady Hilda entered the room with a smile on her face, “Showing affection to the prisoner is unfitting for a guard. These two had been playing cards with the Gobbo. I took the liberty of dealing with them while our honored guest spoke to her. Now, please gentlemen, leave me with the Gobbo. I have my own business with her. I do not need any assistance.”

Leaf saw those eyes fixate on her. How much time had passed since she cried herself to sleep? It could not have been long. The officers here were new faces, not of the normal six on rotation. Lady Hilda must have returned quickly after handling matters with Mudohoon, but then that meant she had returned for her. Those hands. Those eyes. She felt her knees tremble and she let out a whimper as the guards complied with her order, leaving the two of them in the room.

Lady Hilda waited until the door closed and reached out her hand to Leaf, “Come here.”

She shook her head weakly and refused to get near this terrifying woman.

“It will not stop me.” Lady Hilda pressed herself against the bars, the woman’s ample chest flattening and deforming as she leaned forward.

Leaf couldn’t help but laugh at the woman who pressed herself forward with such vigor could not understand that the bars would not bend or allow her to pass through. A small Gobbo compared to a woman whose chest spanned eight bars wide, could never simply pass through by throwing out those saggy bags of flesh. The cloth deformed, and shifted as the woman seemed to slip through, the woman’s bare flesh passing through, gliding through her body and letting her step into the cell. The woman, now completely naked, let out a little laugh as her hand reached out and grabbed the top of Leaf’s skull.

“This trick is always so fun.” Her words were clear for Leaf, “This is why I did not want the men here. I’m going to violate you in ways that you cannot even imagine, but bear with it and you’ll see your precious Raeyn again.”

“Raeyn?” She shuddered as Lady Hilda’s hand dipped into her mind, “How do you know that name?”

Leaf felt the whole of her life beginning to flash before her eyes, every interaction with V being pulled forcefully to the surface. All her thoughts about the Gobbo, her dreams and her hopes. She twitched and struggled, trying to resist as she pushed through the mental barriers that she tried to form. Desires to have V in her family, to have power and to have friendship. She saw how the two of them got along, how V was always indifferent and hurting. Leaf began to cry as Lady Hilda worked deeper and deeper through the memories, pulling them to the surface.

“Ah, so V is really kind and sweet.” Lady Hilda smiled, “She is not the type for revenge.”

Leaf’s eyes widened and she begged, “Please… no more.”

Lady Hilda pushed through and struggled as the Gobbo’s mind tried to force her out. The hand inside of Leaf’s head slightly pushed back, but she was unable to stop further intrusion. The woman grasped a hold of her repressed memories and pushed through. A memory of ten years ago pushed into her mind as if it was happening all over again.

“Don’t hurt Leaf!” A young V called out, “She’s my friend!”

“Ah V!?” Metal gloated, “A friend? No one is friends with a filthy qued.”

“She’s my friend!” V repeated.

Leaf’s bruised and swollen face was turned by Metal towards V as he mocked them both, “Oh look at this, needing to be saved by a filthy qued. Come on, tell her how you really feel.”

“Leave me alone, V. Go. Get out here! Run away!” She cried out.

V charged Metal and crashed into the both of them, slamming all three of them to the hard floor. V pushed and kicked at his arm, forcing him to release Leaf. As soon as Leaf was free, she began to run. V was ensnared by the Metal and the two began tussling about, elbowing, slapping and kicking one another. Leaf spared a quick glance back before she fled the tunnel.

Another memory led to another. Flickers, faster and faster speeding through her head. V constantly coming to the help of Leaf or others, always running to help without thinking. Always whining and refusing help. Memories upon memories of her soft smile, a smile that was never malicious. More memories, stronger memories as they got older, Leaf helping with V’s tasks.

“A Valo shouldn’t be hauling filth.” V complained.

“Oh stop.” Leaf grunted and strained as the two moved a heavy tub of filth up the slope to the exit, “You are too weak to do this on your own!”

“Leaf… you’ll get dirty.” V continued to complain, “You are a gilt now. No male will want you covered in-”

“I don’t care. Just keep moving, this is terrible! The sooner it is over the better!” She whined.

Lady Hilda couldn’t help but snicker as the memories kept popping up, but Leaf struggled more and more. Then a barrier appeared that kept the woman out. Her hand could go no further. To Lady Hilda it felt as if a thousand tendrils were pushing her away with all their might.

“Ah… these are your true feelings.” Lady Hilda realized, “Let’s see what your intentions are for Raeyn.”

Leaf whimpered as the memory surfaced of her trying to offer Muck to Leaf as a way to save her from becoming a slave of Mudohoon. Back in the dark tunnel, after having won her a space to rest for the night the night before the Dark Moon and her coming-of-age.

“Bear his child and move up. You will be family. And I will give you a true name. A new name.” She said while hoping that she’d accept and understand her feelings.

“Never.” V crossed her arms, “Never!”

“Filthy qued.” She snapped at V.

Powerless to stop the intrusion into her mind, she began to cry as Lady Hilda continued to go further into her shameful thoughts. Reaching the spring of that year. Her third fever, confined to the depths, isolated and alone. Her body wracked with shame and pain, shivering and rolling in a tattered blanket. One word on her lips as she broke down and gave in. She clawed, teared and thrashed at the simple wooden latch that locked her in the room, “I want to see V! Please! I want to see her!”

Her mother on the opposite side opened the smaller food slot and shoved the blunt end of a wooden spear into the cell, jabbing at her over and over again, “No! No! I forbid it! Never!”

Leaf crumpled and whined, “I can’t help it. I can’t… I…”

“I will disown you from the family! No. This will never work! Nothing good can come of it!” Her mother pulled the spear back, “No daughter of mine will soil herself with another female; or a qued!”

Leaf balled herself up and cried, her bruised and fever-stricken body taking over her senses. The hate, the love, swirling and swirling. Regret, lust, shame, self-loathing. Twisting and twisting inside her head. It went against everything she knew. It was unnatural. Swirling and swirling. Dizzying, nauseating and boiling to one single letter that meant everything to her. She begged from the depths of her soul, “V!”

Her mother’s cries on the other side of the door snapped her back to reality. She threw herself against the door and begged, “Please… mother… please…”

“What did I do to deserve a daughter like you?” She sobbed.

“Mother…” Leaf reached her hand through the slat, “Mother… forgive me! Forgive me! I’ll take a mate soon! I will! I will! The family will grow. I’ll bear a child next year!”

“Willing or not!” Her mother’s eyes flashed through the slot, tear-stricken, but furious, “Willing or not!”

Lady Hilda pulled her hand free to the surface and gasped, “You… you love her!?”

“Yes,” She struggled to move, but her body would not respond to her efforts, “She is the light of my life. She…”

“She loves you differently.” Lady Hilda smirked, “You’ll never have her.”

Leaf found the strength to move away from the grip of Lady Hilda, breaking the connection between the two of them for just a moment before the woman caught her again, “I did not say we were done. I am not done ravaging your mind. Now that you shared your memories, now I’ll show you hers.”

Leaf whimpered, “Please… no.”

“I love it when they beg,” Lady Hilda bit her lower lip.

Leaf smacked her hand away, “I said no. Her memories belong to her alone! I know she doesn’t feel as I do, but you don’t have to torment me. What is wrong with you? Have you no shame?”

“I prefer to break people down and build them back up. Only by accepting and sharing the depths of your shame can you grow, and perhaps even help you precious Raeyn.” Lady Hilda grinned, “She’s awakened to two powers. She’s helping us just like your Chief, but he's doing it out of spite. Raeyn is doing it for a friend, Violetta.”

Leaf’s eyes widened, “A female Mahn?!”

“Oh, so now you are interested?” Lady Hilda offered her hand, “Perhaps you want to see what the two of them were doing in the cavern.”

“Show me.” She demanded.

Lady Hilda smirked at that. Gobbos were so easy to manipulate. So simple, but with hearts so easy to read and aspirations so small, it was barely a challenge to mold and shape one into a suitable purpose. She had seen all she needed of Leaf’s memories to know that the only person that she’d never betray was Raeyn. Now, she just needed to be selective in sharing those memories and shaping her in the few days that remained. Memories of hugging and hand holding in the caverns was all she needed to break the fragile mind of Leaf, but the Gobbo needed to stew in her own fury before it would be effective.

“Not today.” She said as she slipped through the bars and picked up her robe. The Gobbo did not need her touch to communicate that very simple idea. Leaf bared her teeth in a truly malicious grin and Lady Hilda returned it.

Leaf stuck her head against the bars and bowed her head, so Lady Hilda offered one final piece of advice, “The soldiers have not returned from your warren. If Mudohoon’s account is correct, then Raeyn is a demon who will destroy everything. She is becoming more powerful with each day, and you may be the key to keeping her sane.”

She slipped her hand off Leaf’s head and headed out of the room. She did not know what to believe. Mudohoon’s account and ramblings of a letter spoke of things that were impossible. Raeyn was indeed special and to have the blessing of Maelyn and Belos already bordered on such absurdity. There were not many cards she had left to play, but Leaf and V cared for one another, even if they loved each other in very different capacities, it may be enough to avoid the worst outcomes possible. The thought that Raeyn needed to be kept alive at all costs, and that she’s imbued with two divine patrons and able to lead the way to Magnesia meant that Maelyn in particular was playing games again. She would need to consult Astra on the Full Moon, but until then she had to do what little she could.