Chapter 23: Life and Death 

Kaylene and Cynthia had joined me in Magistrate Welkington's
dining room. They were enjoying the delights of the man's kitchen
and his very talented cook. Cynthia was especially enjoying the
fruit tarts and warm cocoa. 

I was going through the court records from earlier today. It was
obvious that Welkington was corrupt. The problem was that he was
totally corrupt. The man never stayed bought. He would find for
one person in a matter, then turn around and find against them in
another matter. The man was stupid as well. He actually made
notes on his docket of who was paying how much to win.

And if someone expected actual justice, like poor Jeanelle
Gerwal, they were likely to end up arrested themselves, and
struck with fines that would leave the poor victim destitute. 

It was beginning to look like I'd be occupied in this township
for days, if not more. I sat back with a sigh and stretched and
closed my eyes. I was startled when Cynthia climbed up on my lap
and patted my face with a sticky hand. 

"Wake up, Pappa Alex. You have to sleep in a bed, not in a
chair!"

I smiled at her and took her hand. "I'm awake, I was just resting
my eyes while I thought." I dipped a napkin in one of the goblets
of water on the table and began to wash her hands. Kaylene
watched with a bemused look on her face.

"It is beginning to look like we will be staying here for a
while, Cynthia." I was speaking to the girl, but Kaylene knew I
was warning her, too. "If you ask her nicely, I bet Iris would
help you find some boys and girls to play with tomorrow."

Cynthia looked at me, then worriedly at Kaylene. "Can Kaylene
come, too?"

"I'm afraid not. She'll have to stay and help me with things that
will be very boring. I'm sure you'll have fun with Iris, though.
She's a very nice lady, too." 

Cynthia didn't look thrilled, but she didn't say anything else
about it. Not long after Kaylene took her upstairs and tucked her
into bed.

When she came back down, Kaylene sat across from me with a
teasing grin. "So, I get to work with you and be bored tomorrow?
I'd rather go out and play!"

I chuckled. "Actually, I expect tomorrow to be anything but
boring, unless you're a four-year-old. According to Welkington's
records, he's been royally cheating the people of this district.
We'll be cleaning up the mess he's made, and administering the
justice the people deserve. And undoubtedly make several wealthy
scions of the community angry."

As I'd expected, she grinned wickedly at those words. Few things
pleased her more than punishing the wealthy for cheating the
poor. 

I nodded. "Yes, I think you are going to thoroughly enjoy the
day, tomorrow. But I think some rest would be wise. I expect to
have to start fairly early."

I stood and took her hand, then led her upstairs to the former
Magistrates bedchamber. Though lavishly furnished, the man had
had no refinement, and Kaylene laughingly referred to the room as
"the apartment of a whore who would be Empress."

It had been several weeks since our last tryst, and we were both
eager. We undressed each other quickly and sprawled on the bed,
head to foot. As she lay on top of me and took my cock in her
hands, I spread her legs and kissed the insides of her thighs.
Then I kissed her sex gently before running my tongue between her
labia. 

With a sigh of pleasure, Kaylene took my cock between her lips,
drawing a groan from me. As her lips slid up and down my stiff
cock, her tongue would caress it wetly. My own tongue would
wander along her sex, sometimes pressing into her pussy, other
times teasing her outer lips, or flicking gently against her
clit. 

She took her lips from around me and gasped, "Oh goddess, please
make love to me!" She scooted around and slid her body down mine
until our pelvises touched. She kissed me hungrily as she reached
for my cock and rubbed it against her wet opening. I grasped her
hips and pulled her down, parting her sex and slowly filling her
completely. "Oh yesssss!" she moaned.

When I was completely buried within her, she sat up and rested
her palms against my chest and began to raise and lower herself
upon me. I reached up and gently cupped her breasts. She smiled
down at me and ground herself against me for a moment, then
continued to ride my shaft. I took her nipples between my fingers
and thumbs and pinched and pulled them to hardness and quickly
had Kaylene gasping in response.

When she was nearing her climax, she began to twist on the staff
that impaled her, and I pulled her down till her breasts pressed
my chest and we could kiss. When I began to nuzzle her throat,
she began to moan in delight and ride me faster, forcing me
deeper with each thrust.

When my fangs split her skin, she cried out her pleasure. Her
vaginal muscles began to clamp convulsively around my shaft,
drawing the juices of my loins into her womb even as her blood
flowed into my eager mouth. And as she collapsed against me, I
slowly lapped her throat with the tip of my tongue, closing the
wounds and caressing her lovingly. She fell asleep in my arms.

I left her sleeping form a few hours later, when the Mayor
delivered the list of matters for my consideration. I was amused
and unsurprised to see the docket the mayor presented was much
shorter than the docket of items Welkington had addressed the day
before. I began comparing the two. As I'd suspected, most of the
missing matters concerned wealthy residents suing poor ones for
overdue payments and lapsed contracts. I counted the missing
cases. Twenty-two. Filed by eight different individuals. I
summoned a squad of my soldiers and a squad of local militia.

I explained to Louis, the leader of my soldiers. "I want a mixed
group of soldiers and militia to go to each of these homes. I
want these individuals arrested and brought before this court.
The names are on these warrants." I handed him a small pile of
parchments.

"If the individual is 'unavailable', explain to whoever you speak
with that non-appearance will result in seizure of whatever I
decide is fair and equitable. And that the named individual has
until two hours after midday to appear before me." 

Louis nodded and led his troops out into the crisp morning air. I
expected him to find most of the suspects in their beds. But I
would not be surprised if one or two suspected what was coming
and had fled.

As servants prepared the main hall for court, I changed into my
robes of State. For some reason, the general public found the
pomp of court life reassuring. I was hoping it would help keep
everything calm.

I began the morning with several simple matters, public
drunkenness, brawling, and two petty thefts. Then more serious
matters. Disputes between land owners, thefts of animals and
coin. Most matters I decided as Welkington had, though on the
minor matters my punishments were much less harsh. The man seemed
to have a fondness for the stocks and the whip.

Lunch was finished, and the room was again crowded with
onlookers. This was the first case that had not been re-filed by
the plaintiff. It involved the alleged non-payment of a note by a
farmer to his neighbor. The neighbor was demanding the farmer pay
the note in full, or forfeit a parcel of his land. Looking at the
note, I found the farmer was actually two days ahead of schedule.
I awarded the farmer the release of his note, and twelve acres of
land belonging to his neighbor that adjoined his. 

The other twenty-one plaintiffs received similar decisions, and a
handful received lashes or imprisonment as well. I made it clear
such behavior would not be tolerated with in my Duchy.

The final matter on the docket was the fate of Magistrate
Welkington himself. To the delight of the onlookers, I declared
him a communal slave, available for use by all the citizens of
the district. 

To ensure that he not escape, I ordered his toes removed, thus
making running impossible. And I ordered him branded with the
universal symbol of slavery on both cheeks. When he was fully
recovered from his punishments, I expected him to find himself
working very hard for a great many folk. 

"One final matter. Alonzo Nedrick will be executed at nine hours
after the new day tomorrow, on the bridge over Langolier Gorge.
If it is in your heart, ask the goddess to ease his passage to
the next world."  

Langolier gorge was a deep canyon, carved by the Langolier River
over millennium. At the center of the bridge, the river lay more
than half mile below. Those sentenced to death in this district
were offered a choice of the headsman's blade, or being hurled
into the river. Most chose the blade. I was offering Nedrick no
choice.

When the last of the townsfolk had left, I made my way to one of
the few rooms I was comfortable in. It had a trio of soft chairs
and a large couch, with a scattering of tables. I collapsed at
one end of the couch. 

As I relaxed, the patter of running feet filled the halls, and
Cynthia began calling; "Pappa Alex! Where are you?"

I was about to reply when she entered the room. She dashed over
and crawled onto the couch, and began to eagerly tell me of her
adventures that day. Iris followed more sedately, and leaned in
the doorway as Cynthia waved her arms excitedly and jabbered
breathlessly. 

I was half-listening when she said, "It was so funny! It was
little and round, and it was so clumsy! And it tried to bite its
tail, and then it licked me and made me giggle! Then it ran back
to its momma and tried to hide under her! I'm going to go tell
Lady Kaylene! Thank you Lady Iris!" She ran out of the room,
giving Iris' legs a hug on the way out.

Iris watched her with a smile, then moved over and sat beside me.


"So, what got her so excited? I think I missed the first part,
where she told me what this fat clumsy thing was."

"One of the children we met knew where a bitch had recently had a
litter. Somehow they convinced Cynthia to come with them to see
the whelps. They seem to be almost weaned, and the bitch let them
wander a bit. Cynthia wanted nothing to do with the mother," I
nodded, remembering what she'd told me of Salazar and the hounds
in Gaiford, "But one of the pups found her, and decided it liked
her best of all the children."

"Even as we left, she was asking me if we could come back
tomorrow."

"I think a pet would be good for her. My daughter had lots of
them." I could feel my eyes moisten at the memory of my beloved
Francesca, and her mother Mialibao, their loss still painful
after centuries.

Iris lightly caressed my cheek then rested her head on my
shoulder. After a moment I asked, "So, do we know who the bitch
and pups belong to?"

"Yes, I found out before we came back. In fact, the owner would
be happy to get rid of them all. Maybe someone else in the
expedition would like one. Then, at night, they can sleep quietly
together. Whiny puppies at midnight make me thing of puppy-skin
gloves." 

I knew she was joking; Iris would never hurt a defenseless
animal. But I also knew what she meant.

A knock on the doorframe interrupted us. "You wished my service,
Your Grace?" asked Carlton.

"Ah, yes, Carlton. I need a potion for tomorrow. It must prevent
shock, and it's accompanying unconsciousness. It must actually
enhance the drinker's awareness. Can you prepare such a potion
for tomorrow?"

"Aye, Your Grace, I have the necessary reagents. This is for the
execution?" I nodded. "I take it that the execution will involve
more than a fall from a great height?" 

I nodded again. "I'll give you the details later this evening, in
case it changes your formula." 

"Aye, Your Grace, but I'll go start on it now." He slipped from
the room.

I turned to Iris. "I'll need to make special preparations for
tomorrow, as well. Perhaps you would select those who will assist
me?"

"Of course, Your Grace, as long as I am one of them."I laughed.
"Of course, Lady Iris. I'd be delighted with your assistance."

Later that night, I lay on the bed with ten beautiful women. Four
slept, having collapsed from intense pleasure and blood loss.
Three more caressed each other gently as the other three attended
to me. Iris knelt over my face, moaning as my tongue stroked her
sex to climax. Angelique's mouth moved up and down the shaft of
my cock, as my fingers played inside Raissa's vagina and anus. 

"Oh goddess, Alex, your tongue feels so good! Umm, right there,
yesssss!"

As Iris began to climax, my free hand began to manipulate her
clitoris as I moved my head from her sex. As she shuddered above
me, my fangs slashed the inside of her thigh, and as I fed, her
climax overcame her. Heather caught her as she collapsed, and
laid her with her sleeping sisters.

Within moments, Raissa was kissing me hungrily as she ground
against my hand, pushing herself to climax. And when my fingers
sank deep inside her ass, she offered her throat as she soaked
the arm she straddled with her juices. Then she too slept. 

At last only Iona and I were awake. She gently took my rigid cock
in her hand, and guided it into her very moist pussy. I filled
her easily, and she moaned with delight, then wrapped her legs
around my thighs and pulled me into her again. I locked my arms,
keeping myself above her and ground myself between her legs
before beginning to drive frantically into her. My orgasm was
almost immediate, but fortunately, Iona was also teetering on the
brink. And when I erupted inside her, the convulsions of her
vaginal muscles told me she was joining me.

I collapsed on top of her and drove my fangs into her throat,
drinking deeply even as her sex guzzled the fruit of my loins.
She wrapped herself around me with a sigh of happiness even as we
both fell asleep.


The next morning, the majority of my soldiers and five of my
Blossoms accompanied me to the gaol, where Alonzo Nedrick awaited
his fate. Kaylene had taken Cynthia to find the puppy again,
accompanied by the four Blossoms not resting in my bed. Nedrick
was bound and dragged along as we made our way to the Langolier
gorge.

When we arrived, my soldiers spread out, keeping the gawkers well
back from the condemned man. As I'd ordered, Alonzo had been
force fed Carlton's potion, and looked around with wild eyes. One
of the soldiers opened a pack, pulling out a coil of rope and a
coil of thin but strong wire.

"Alonzo Nedrick, you have been convicted of multiple acts of
sexual assault and rape. You have been sentenced to death in a
manner appropriate to your crimes. May the goddess treat with you
as she sees fit. Proceed."

Nedrick's punishment was vile and cruel. But if it prevented the
rape of another woman, I was content. First, he was stripped. A
forty-foot length of wire was tied around his scrotum and penis,
then laid out along the roadway. A forty-foot length of heavy
rope was tied around his knees and ankles, then laid out beside
the wire. 

The end of the rope was tied to one of the heavy bridge supports.
Five feet of wire was cut off the end of the length, then the
remaining length was tied beside the rope.

I'm not sure who realized what the result of this combination
would be first, Jeanelle's father, Alonzo Nedrick, or someone
from the crowd. I do know Master Gerwal looked at me with dismay
before walking to the end of the bridge. Alonzo was violently
sick, and looked as if he wanted to faint. Carlton's potion
prevented it, though. But at least one woman in the crowd of
onlookers did before the crowd broke into a sea of murmurs.

"Execute the rapist." With these words, two soldiers dragged
Nedrick to the side of the bridge and threw him over the railing.
His screams filled the canyon as he fell, then suddenly became
higher and more piercing when the wire went momentarily taut,
then suddenly slackened. The rope went taut a moment later.

"In twenty-four hours, a citizen may retrieve the body, or cut
the rope. Until that time, the rope will be guarded, and the
condemned will perish in the goddess good time."

Then we made our way through the crowd, and back to the township,
agonized screams and wails still filling our ears. 


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