Chapter 16

As I entered the back of the wagon, I fought to clear my head of the feelings her appearance was dredging up from the recesses of my mind. She looked so much like my mother had when I was young, and if felt the yearning a child has to be embraced by their mother. I had thought that she had made herself resemble my mother through manipulation, a way of adjusting my dreamscape to benefit her agenda. Now I believed that she merely used it, knowing through the dreamscapes connection that she looked like my mother. Reminding myself that she was the enemy, I closed the distance and stood before our bound and gagged captive.

“Who are you?” I demanded, allowing my anger at her visage to break through as I pulled away her gag.

“Why the fuck would I answer you?” the woman spat. “I do not answer to little whore sons like you.”

In a flash, the back of my hand connected with her jaw and I worried that I had not put the proper control into the blow. I could have snapped her neck or dislocated her jaw, and both would have been detrimental to my plans.

“So, u\you’re such a piece of shit that you are willing to hit a woman,” she said mockingly. “You are no better than an animal, yourself.”

I smiled, “First of all, you are not a woman, but a treacherous Voguel bitch. Second, be lucky I showed any semblance of control, as I could have snapped your thin little neck if I wanted to. However, you present a fountain of knowledge that needs to be tapped and that is what is keeping you alive.”

I saw her visibly pale a bit, though she did not let any fear show on her features. Instead, she continued to give off a mask of arrogance.

“You are going to answer my questions,” I said with a smile, “whether you answer them right away or after I force it out of you. If you want to keep your life, you will want to cooperate. However, the first time you lie, fight, or refuse to answer, you will be cut.”

I pulled out a dagger that we had kept, that was one that had belonged to their assassins. We had cleaned and removed the Curare from the blade and now it was coated in our concentrated cure. I watched her eyes widen as I drew out the blade and I could feel the unease of the others through the bond.

“Ah, I see you are familiar with this blade,” I said in an even and emotionless tone. “It is one that was used by one of many assassins that Brenson, or Blackheart as he liked to be called, sent after me.”

I waved it near her and saw her body tense up, and I made a mental note of that. She would have no way to know that the Curare mix had been switched with the cure. Despite this, she reacted as if it was extremely dangerous for her.

“I am going to ask you some questions,” I continued, using the same emotionless tone. “If I feel you have lied to me, or not told me the whole truth, I will cut you. Do you understand?”

For the first time she looked at me with genuine fear. I tried to hide the smug satisfaction that I felt from her reaction and focused on what was next.

I leaned forward, “What was your plan with Bardack Province? What did you hope someone as inept as Brenson would accomplish?”

She glanced at the blade apprehensively and said, “I did not even realize where he was until nearly five years after he had left. When I realized that, I came up with the plan to try and gain a foothold there. They would not be prepared or even know about Voguel. However, I did not anticipate the difficulty he would have learning to turn others. The plan was to gain a foothold in one of the villages or towns. We would either turn a Patron or have a Voguel become one, then work towards turning the Dran and other Patrons.

“If we were able to build a large enough Voguel force we would be able to conquer Bardack and then turn our sights on Vishant. By the time the other provinces learned of their predicament, it would already be too late. We would have assembled a force that no province could withstand alone. If it were not for your actions in Cartha, we would have been well along toward that goal.”

I sighed, “The problem was that Brenson could not leave well enough alone. Once he found out where my father and his friend were, he could not stop his revenge. By murdering my parents as he had, it made revenge paramount in my mind. I did always find it odd that he was so vicious with my mother, but now looking at you, I could understand his rage. Perhaps he believed she was you, or simply used her as a surrogate for what he would do to you. Still, he brought my wrath upon himself and his blunders made it possible to end him.”

“He was not without his merits, though, “she smiled evilly. “His experiments to create stronger Voguel were promising, and, though you destroyed his successes, he still passed on his knowledge to me and we have been having successes of our own.”

Hearing they were trying to enhance their Voguel and human minions as Benson had gave me pause, but with those I am fighting with, it should not be an issue.

“It matters not, the cure will soon begin being administered in all villages, towns and cities. All inhabitants will then be given the cure, giving the unchanged immunity, as well as turning any Voguel human. All weapons used by the soldiers and guards in each town will be laced with it. Even a scrape from a glancing blow will be enough to cure a Voguel. There is nothing you can do but hide, die or be cured,” I said smugly, enjoying the look of dread and fear on her face.

“You are bluffing, there is no way you could do that with a supposed cure,” she yelled as she fought against her restraints.

“Let me guess,” I said as I knelt down and brought my face in close. “You do not think that one dose of the cure would be enough. Well, you should be happy to know you are right, but it is easy to make and inexpensive. We have given them the means to regularly ensure that the people of Vishant will be kept cured. Not only that, but soon enough the other provinces will be given the cure as well. You will never be able to attempt a foothold in any of the other provinces and your kind will wither and die.”

“WE WILL NOT DIE!” she screamed, pain and rage radiating from her words. “WE WILL CONQUER THIS PROVINCE AND THEN SWEEP ALL OTHERS! THE VOGUEL WILL RULE”

I smiled at her reaction and said, “Your people have failed to conquer Vishant for millennia, and with each attack by the Voguel, you only make Vishant stronger. Since the last attacks, they have first found out how to tell who are Voguel outside of a blood moon and now there is even a cure. You have failed and not once learned from it; now you are on the verge of extinction.”

“You seem to know so much,” she said smugly, “but you have yet to find where we are. You do not know what we are doing and by the time you do, it will be too late.”

“Well, we shall see,” I replied with a smug smile of my own. “I know that you have a master of your own, so you will forgive me if I don’t mention anything of our plans. I would not want your master to learn any sensitive information. Let us not forget that I know full well what allowed you to pull me into that dreamscape and that you cut what little connection we had. You, however, are deeply connected to your master despite your wishes on the matter.”

Her eyes widened as she realized what I had said and the meaning behind it. I saw the fear she had for her master as well as the resentment that seemed to be there.

“Think on that for a while,” I said as I placed the gag back on her mouth. “Perhaps some time thinking about what I said will loosen your tongue.”

She stared daggers at me, muttering something through the gag, but I could not make out what she was trying to say to me.

I made my way out of the back of the wagon and was greeted by Faye and Ingrid. Both gave me a hug and kiss of reassurance before heading into the wagon for guard detail. I still felt very uneasy from her resemblance to my mother, though it was not as profound as in the dreamscape. She seemed more like a distant relative who shared common features, but it was still unsettling. I made my way over to the fire, taking a seat next to Janet and Lillian. Thanks to our new guest, Lillian was going to have to stay in her wolf form. We could not risk her learning she could change forms, though we did not know if our captive had recognized her and thus knew that she could change at will. For now, we would run under the assumption that Lillian’s wolf form is all that she is, but we would keep our eyes open to signs that her cover could be blown.

<< Are you okay love? >> asked Lillian, a touch of concern in her voice. << I could feel the confusion her appearance caused you. Does she really look that much like your mother? >>

I nodded, “She would not pass for my mother’s twin, but you would think they were sisters. Still, my senses tell me she was hundreds of years old, and perhaps she could be a distant relative. Perhaps it would explain how she could connect to me despite me not being a Voguel.”

Janet, who had been laying her head on my shoulder, looked up and looked into my eyes with a contemplative look.

“Do you think that we will live that long?” Janet asked softly. Her voice sounded uncertain and distant.

“I cannot honestly say,” I replied. “We could have abilities, but still would live normal life spans. Either way, it matters not. If I live to be eighty or eight hundred, as long as I have you ladies with me, I would be able to live happily. I can say that it does sound appealing to possibly see multiple generations of our family.”