I Sing
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The Girl Who Must Not Sing Ch. 04 free porn video
‘I trust he has been retrieved.’
‘I wouldn’t be here otherwise.’
‘Then we can move on. Seems our little jewel in the tower is having difficulties with her earmuffs again.’
‘Digging into her head?’
‘And drawing blood, yes. Fiye caught it when she and the others went to inspect the frame under the roof. The wounds will turn infected if something isn’t done soon.’
‘I’ll arrange for a healer to come by as quickly as possible, Sire.’
‘No, I want Miss Belamy to deal with it once she is done moving the boy.’
‘Are you sure that’s wise, Sire? You know how well she and the girl get along.’
‘That is why they will not be left alone. Besides, she is more than capable of the healing necessary. See to it she doesn’t do anything that will get us all killed.’
===
Miss Belamy made no effort to soften the ride as she levitated Eldrian behind her. Every doorway, every corner and every obstacle became a potential point of collision, seemingly at random. A bang on the ankle from a banister. Scraping his ear along the top of a door frame. She must have done these things on purpose but she also made no indication that she noticed or even cared.
Trailing along behind her, Eldrian found the chance to get a proper look at the chief of child wranglers. She had her hair in a bun with two long ribbons, one blue and one purple, draping down to her waist. At present she wore brown leggings and a blue shirt with a white collar that folded wide over her shoulders. Even from behind, Eldrian knew the woman possessed a set of piercing eyes that seemed to plumb his soul for all the wrongdoings he’d ever committed. Even her nose looked sharp somehow. A knife of a woman through and through.
Miss Belamy dragged him through parts of the manor as yet unseen. A library, a room that looked as if it had once been used for dances, another with a huge window overlooking the garden. But finally the trip came to an end in a stone room beneath the ground. The only way in seemed to be the stairway Eldrian had floated down. Standing around the walls were coffins of some manner, made from gray slabs of rock. A stale smell filled the air and singed his nostrils. Other than that, the room was bare.
‘The escapee?’ asked a Vocal who emerged from the gloom. The occumarks on the hood of his gray robe were nothing more than specks of white.
Miss Belamy ended her spell, dropping Eldrian to his feet which gave out. She said nothing.
‘Since he turned himself in, and since it is a first offence… a day should suffice.’ The Vocal had a voice as grim and bleak as his room.
‘Ensure that it’s also the last offence, Vanet,’ said Miss Belamy before whirling on her heel and stomping back up the stairs.
‘As the miss bids it.’ Vanet waited until the child wrangler had thudded out of hearing before turning his head back on Eldrian. ‘Now, let’s see about those ropes.’
Vanet drew a knife from his sleeve, stooped down and slashed the bindings around Eldrian’s ankles, then his wrists. He ripped away the gag and pointed to one of the boxes that had a slab hanging ajar in such a way that it looked like a door to a very small room without a roof. ‘In there, shut the door and remove your clothes. All of them. Then your punishment commences.’
‘But—’
‘Disobedience earns a longer stay. I’ve been kind so far, you’ll agree.’
Eldrian’s heart had begun to race at the unknown but he obeyed regardless. A lock clicked from outside once he had pulled the slab into place. The space became so small that taking off his shirt proved to be a much bigger problem than normal.
‘Throw them out the top,’ Vanet instructed.
His arms scratched against the stone in order to slide past and hurl the clothes out. They scraped again on the way back down. Eldrian pushed against the back of the box but it didn’t move. Nor did any of the walls. A space so tight he couldn’t even hope to sit.
Overhead, stone ground against stone. He looked up in time to see a lid sliding into place. It made a thunk as it sat snug with the rest of the box, totally sealed save a tiny hole in the right corner near the top of the door, too high to peek out of.
‘Punishment begins.’
===
He’d gotten turned around somehow, there could be no other explanation. How else had the door vanished? But in such a cramped space, the walls hugging tighter with every passing moment, Eldrian found it hard to believe that he could shift his body so substantially without noticing.
How long had passed, anyway? Several hours, surely. Or perhaps closer to several minutes. His echoed breaths, warm as they bounced against the wall inches from his nose, served as the only marker for time. No, this couldn’t go any longer. If the door had truly vanished, he’d make a new one.
Eldrian forced his left shoulder against the wall as hard as he could. It stung his muscles all down his body. Arms, chest, stomach and legs, plaguing present injuries in places. But pain counted for nothing at the moment. He threw himself to the right and bounced back to the left. Right, left, right, left. The box started moving side to side, a little further with every shove.
It began to feel as though Eldrian’s shoulders might soon fall off. Another shove. Any second now and— Yes! A sickening lurch gripped his stomach and the box started to tilt on its own. It hit the ground with a mighty crash that shattered the doors hinges and sent him spiraling out across the floor.
Eldrian shot to his feet to avoid Vanet but quickly realized that he was alone. The room was empty, save the boxes. Yet even those were out of place. His wasn’t the only one that had tumbled. Another leaned yawning against the south wall, cobwebs tangling the inside. A third box had snapped in two when it struck one lying on the floor. Shards of stone littered the cobble and his feet left prints in the dust.
The stairs groaned and creaked as Eldrian crept up them. He walked close to the wall as some of the boards looked ready to disintegrate from rot or age. Motes of dust danced in the sunlight that streamed down. Apart from the noises he made himself, the manor had an eldritch silence to it.
The rooms were all in place, only the contents were wrong. The wallpaper in the parlor above punishment was peeling anyplace it hadn’t been stripped to the boards already. Dust coated every surface and cobwebs every nook. The windows were smeared in oily grit but through them Eldrian could just make out the garden. What remained of it, at least.
The ground stood bare of any plant life save the trees. Even those looked as though they had died decades ago. Twisted roots hooked into the ground and branches clawed the gray sky. The once-clear pond looked black and the marble statue of Dawn lay face down in the depths.
Bookshelves and their contents littered the floor of the library. One had half its burden slanted with shelf after shelf coming undone on a single side. The chandelier rested on the floor in the center of the room, having crushed a tea table beneath it and festooned its glass in all directions.
No place in the manor seemed to have avoided the instant eons. Even his dormitory, his bed and all his possessions, had either turned to dust or been covered by it.
Eldrian crossed the bridge to the second half of the manor. A gray sky hung over the outside world and the trees were all still. In the bottom of the ravine, the river ran dry.
Most of the doors were locked and refused to move no matter how hard he shoved against them. He couldn’t remember ever seeing the secrets behind them in the past and it seemed that, even now, the manor meant to keep things that way.
Ultimately Eldrian’s wanderings took him to the base of the spiral stairway leading to the top of the girl’s tower. He took a deep breath. It didn’t matter what else there might be up ther
e, only one thing held his fear. On the exhale, he stepped forwards.
Once again the stone walls, echoing with footsteps, were the only sounds in the manor. Eldrian’s shadows flickered under the light of lanterns and torches that were somehow still lit. Yet they seemed to grow dimmer the higher he climbed.
The black door, glowing with runes and warding spells, greeted Eldrian at the top. He brushed each spell aside as though he had done so countless times before, some other hand guiding him, perhaps. The doors snarled open to reveal the shadowed room and he stepped inside. He felt welcome on the familiar ground. From the dark, a voice uncoiled to greet him.
Come back… come back, it called. Come back to me…
This time he wanted to. Eldrian raised his hands and cast his light. The tower filled with a magical glow that flooded towards the far wall and the roof. He saw her again, the Marisin. Long vines entangled her body and pinned her to the wall. Flowers bloomed as his light shone upon them. She lifted her head and moss-laden hair parted. Another smile beneath emerald green occumarks.
I missed you, the girl whispered. Don’t leave me again.
Eldrian shuddered and recoiled as his head slapped one side of the stone box. He could hear movement upstairs. Dozens of footfalls from children going to todays work. He pushed against the door but found it remained locked. Punishment continued.
===
In the end, either because they had forgotten about him or because nobody could be bothered letting him out in the middle of the night, Eldrian’s punishment lasted half a day more. He emerged stiff and sore from standing so long. Bruised and scratched from scraping against the walls when his legs couldn’t take anymore. It hadn’t been until he had recognised the need to relieve himself that the reason for his nakedness became clear. That also explained the awful smell in punishment.
Once Eldrian had his clothes back on he trudged up the stairs, only to be greeted by Paetin the second he reached the top.
‘Go wash your feet in the pond, then come with me,’ the Skytouched said. Any friendliness that had once been present during their journey here had since vanished.
Once cleaned, Eldrian found himself shepherded by Paetin towards the upper half of the manor. Back to working in the orchard, he presumed. But rather than continuing in that direction, they veered towards the second floor, then the third and fourth. Finally they stood before a carved door of a rich dark wood. Paetin’s fist rapped gently upon the carvings.
‘Enter,’ came a voice on the other side.
‘It will be punishment if you disrespect Sire Mastro,’ Paetin hissed. Then he walked back down the hall, leaving Eldrian alone.
He looked at the handle to Sire Mastro’s door. Like everything else in this part of the manor, it drooled with expense. Shining brass in the form of a coiled serpent. Eldrian gripped it and turned, then stepped inside.
A miniature ship hung from the roof, tilted on its side such that it seemed to be capsizing. On the left, resting on a stand, was a large book, closed at the moment. Eldrian couldn’t see the cover but everything about it suggested its importance. Hardly any clutter occupied Sire Mastro’s desk. A pot of ink and some quills. A few pieces of parchment, not all with writing. Another book. Nothing else. Sire Mastro himself had his blond hair combed over and a neat little mustache that barely stretched out from under his nose. His clothes were plainer than Eldrian had been expecting on the top man. A simple brown jacket and tie with a white shirt underneath.
‘Ah, master Eldrian. I had hoped you’d stop by.’ Sire Mastro waved to the chair on the other side of his desk. Once it was filled, the Solar continued. ‘I’m sure you can guess the nature for our meeting?’ A cheerful smile. It only made things far worse.
Eldrian nodded.
‘Good. Then, if I may, why did you wish to abandon us?’
‘I don’t like it here. Your people are cruel.’
This time it was Sire Mastro’s turn to nod and he did so thoughtfully. Then he motioned for the conversation to continue. ‘Please, keep going. Let me hear everything before I make my rebuttal.’
Eldrian hesitated a moment before finding his words. ‘I haven’t been here long but you work us from morning to night. You told my father, everyone, that this is a school but it’s plainly not. You keep a Marisin locked in a tower as if she’s a pet, even knowing the danger. And you make children tend to her.’
‘Those are problems, yes, but are they really why you wanted to leave?’
‘Yes.’
Sire Mastro raised an eyebrow.
Eldrian’s resolve snapped first. ‘I want to go home.’
‘How?’
‘I’ll walk.’
‘It’s a long way. And when you get there, what then? What and where will you eat? Sleep? Not to mention the loneliness.’
Eldrian said nothing so the man continued.
‘I know you miss your home, but that’s in the past. You have the memories to keep you warm but dwelling on them forever won’t bring any of it back. The time has come to think of the future.’
Still nothing.
Sire Mastro began drumming his fingers on the desk in little, rhythmic waves. ‘Well, as for your complaints, they are understandable considering where you came from. You see, most of the children here weren’t as fortunate as you to have been raised in a loving home. I’m sure by now you’ve heard them use the slang ‘home shrimp’, either on you or another. By that they mean that you came from somewhere nice. Somewhere off the streets. But many here were not so fortunate and many more, after losing their families, would have found themselves there had I not stepped in. Yourself included, perhaps. There all of you would be, fighting or stealing for your next meal. Dreading the icy cold of winter when it comes. At least here you know that you will always be fed, provided you don’t misbehave.’
The way Sire Mastro spoke almost sounded familiar. Like father, Eldrian realized. That patient, logical manner that requested a silent, attentive audience without ever needing to demand it. He didn’t know if he should spit on the similarity or embrace it, given the circumstances. In his silence, Sire Mastro continued.
‘And as for schooling? These children are learning. When a child turns sixteen, they leave the manor with myriad skills that will help them find work and purpose in the world. And, just to be sure, we teach them to read and write as well. Book learning, as they call it. Tragically, many don’t place the same value on books that I, and clearly yourself, do.’
This time Eldrian’s lack of response came from lack of words rather than desire. It all sounded so wrong in his head but, when Sire Mastro said it, Children of Light suddenly became a beacon of Dawn’s compassion. Then he realized the one oversight. ‘What about the girl?’
‘Ah yes. Yet she is not the threat that all the children here seem to think she is. Why would I keep her in my home if she truly was?’ Sire Mastro shrugged. ‘But don’t take my word for it, you can see for yourself soon enough.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’ve been placed on tower duty today. Head down to the kitchen and you can meet who you’ll be assisting.’
It took every vestige of Eldrian’s willpower to pry himself from the chair. His stomach rumbled as he reached the kitchen but no breakfast had been served just yet. The hour had barely reached seven. Why then were they already bringing food for the girl?
The kitchen crew was hard at work as he walked in. All but a single Earthborn boy who sat on a bench at the far end. Eldrian recognised the face from his dorm but no name came to mind. ‘Are you on tower duty?’ he asked.
The boy nodded before thrusting out a hand to be shaken. ‘Dodeb,’ he said. ‘We have to wait a bit until the kitchen crew have everything ready.’
Eldrian sat with the boy wh
ile they watched all the other children milling back and forth in an effort to get everything ready. Today’s menu looked to be more porridge, judging by the large pots that were bubbling away. It must be easy to make for so many people, hence its popularity. Stew too.
‘Everyone’s talking about you escaping,’ said Dodeb. ‘They think it’s funny. And stupid.’
Eldrian refused to rise to the challenge. ‘It was just bad luck they caught me.’
‘Bad luck? You home shrimps always try to run off. And you always come back when you realize how much nicer it is here.’
‘I didn’t come back, it was bad luck. I’ll try again later.’
Dodeb shrugged.
The action, more than the words before it, bothered Eldrian. But he said nothing more.
Another child approached them then with a tray that held a big bowl of porridge and a jug of water. Dodeb took the offering and slid from the countertop before padding off, Eldrian in tow.
They were silent initially, both content to listen to the sounds of the house waking up. Laughter poured from one door, a girls dorm by the sounds of it. As they passed by, Eldrian heard the familiar voice of Iyda.
‘I’m trying to sleep!’ she shouted. The laughter died immediately.
As they crossed the bridge, and the girl’s tower drew ever nearer, Eldrian finally found his voice. ‘What’s the girl like?’ he asked.
‘I doh’ know, I never stay long. She’s a Marisin, ah. She turned that man inside out and threw him into the sun.’
‘Will she be there?’
‘Probably not. We just leave her food in the parlor and she stays in her room. Most of the time she’s still asleep. That’s why I get up early or she might be waiting for me.’
Up the spiral stairs they went, passing the other floors on which it landed, until the branches stopped for a while. Then, around the final corner, came the doors to the Marisin’s room. They were made from long wooden boards that looked incredibly thick and sturdy. A steel frame held the planks together and a lock occupied the center. No magic seemed to be at work.
‘Well, here we go. Let’s hope she’s asleep. I think porridge is her least favourite breakfast.’
Dodeb handed the tray to Eldrian before fishing through his pocket and retrieving a key. He pushed the piece of bronze into its lock and turned until a loud click rang out. The doors opened silently, a fact for which both boys were most grateful, to reveal a darkened room with nobody else in sight. At least, not yet.
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