trustworthiness by now . . . I will not betray you,” I promised. “On the life of our daughter, I will keep discretion about anything you tell me.”
She still didn’t look convinced, but she continued, anyway. “When we were girls, I was one of Rardine’s attendants – a high honor for the poor girl who had been cursed with rajira and was denied the life of the aristocracy. We even went to the convent schools together, before I went off to Alar to study magic.
“But at one of the estates we stayed at in Wilderhall, the girls were often left alone, without any but servants to oversee them. During those times, Rardine indulged in her nascent cruelty to the utmost. Encouraged by the other girls, even meaner girls, as so often happens they chose the weakest to play their jokes and pranks upon. And as we got older, those pranks became more vicious, more cruel, and more . . . intimate.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “What happened?” I asked, simply.
“Rardine and a few of her closest allies contrived to teach me a lesson . . . many lessons,” Isily said, through clenched teeth. “Unsavory lessons, as I was unwilling. But that was part of the process,” she revealed. “Part of the Family’s way of ensuring loyalty through the generations. It has been going on for years at this quaint little equestrian manor.
“It was during these excursions that our loyalties were tested, and our punishments dealt. We were paired with another girl, and as partners we did everything together. That turned out to be a lot more than we could have imagined. We were forced to beat each other. Pleasure each other. Help each other kill. As part of our process, we were given a peasant girl just a few years younger than we were, and were instructed to beat her to death. We did,” she said, simply. “We took hours.”
I was horrified. I had no idea that the Family was so brutal. She continued, still staring into the fire.
“I beg of you not to make me speak of the details of the tortures we endured and inflicted. We were tested constantly and judged ruthlessly. We were forced into the worst sorts of perversions, learning the intricacies of pleasuring men and women – and their weaknesses. We were given tasks to test our wits and initiative. My partner and I contrived to get another team of girls attacked and ravished by soldiers on one test, for instance, so that we would be the ones to earn the all-important praise from Mother.
“Finally, we were given one last test: we were to betray our partner. We were each tortured until one of us broke, and begged to have the other one sent away. We knew not where the other would go, merely that they would not return from the journey . . . and their suffering would be perverse and unimaginable. The Family has a cadre of unsavory men who enjoy such tasks. I’ve met them. I have no doubt that whatever happened to her, her last few days were spent in pain and torment. And I loved her greater than any sister,” she confessed, tears rolling down her cheeks. “After what I have done to her in the name of loyalty and self-preservation, I cannot walk away from the slightest command Rardine and the Family gives me. The guilt would be too great for me to bear . . . by design.”
“That’s . . . horrible!” I said, appalled. “And these are our leaders?”
“These are always our leaders,” she said, miserably. “I’ve learned much about the way things are done in other places. As awful as the Family’s approach is, it is almost civilized compared to what other states do to ensure the loyalty of their agents. Only my gaining of a witchstone and the successful assassination of Lenguin gave me the credit and prestige I needed to retire from more active service. Now I am merely to be mother to my own little family of killers, ready to strike at Mother’s direction.”
“It seems a rather full
She still didn’t look convinced, but she continued, anyway. “When we were girls, I was one of Rardine’s attendants – a high honor for the poor girl who had been cursed with rajira and was denied the life of the aristocracy. We even went to the convent schools together, before I went off to Alar to study magic.
“But at one of the estates we stayed at in Wilderhall, the girls were often left alone, without any but servants to oversee them. During those times, Rardine indulged in her nascent cruelty to the utmost. Encouraged by the other girls, even meaner girls, as so often happens they chose the weakest to play their jokes and pranks upon. And as we got older, those pranks became more vicious, more cruel, and more . . . intimate.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “What happened?” I asked, simply.
“Rardine and a few of her closest allies contrived to teach me a lesson . . . many lessons,” Isily said, through clenched teeth. “Unsavory lessons, as I was unwilling. But that was part of the process,” she revealed. “Part of the Family’s way of ensuring loyalty through the generations. It has been going on for years at this quaint little equestrian manor.
“It was during these excursions that our loyalties were tested, and our punishments dealt. We were paired with another girl, and as partners we did everything together. That turned out to be a lot more than we could have imagined. We were forced to beat each other. Pleasure each other. Help each other kill. As part of our process, we were given a peasant girl just a few years younger than we were, and were instructed to beat her to death. We did,” she said, simply. “We took hours.”
I was horrified. I had no idea that the Family was so brutal. She continued, still staring into the fire.
“I beg of you not to make me speak of the details of the tortures we endured and inflicted. We were tested constantly and judged ruthlessly. We were forced into the worst sorts of perversions, learning the intricacies of pleasuring men and women – and their weaknesses. We were given tasks to test our wits and initiative. My partner and I contrived to get another team of girls attacked and ravished by soldiers on one test, for instance, so that we would be the ones to earn the all-important praise from Mother.
“Finally, we were given one last test: we were to betray our partner. We were each tortured until one of us broke, and begged to have the other one sent away. We knew not where the other would go, merely that they would not return from the journey . . . and their suffering would be perverse and unimaginable. The Family has a cadre of unsavory men who enjoy such tasks. I’ve met them. I have no doubt that whatever happened to her, her last few days were spent in pain and torment. And I loved her greater than any sister,” she confessed, tears rolling down her cheeks. “After what I have done to her in the name of loyalty and self-preservation, I cannot walk away from the slightest command Rardine and the Family gives me. The guilt would be too great for me to bear . . . by design.”
“That’s . . . horrible!” I said, appalled. “And these are our leaders?”
“These are always our leaders,” she said, miserably. “I’ve learned much about the way things are done in other places. As awful as the Family’s approach is, it is almost civilized compared to what other states do to ensure the loyalty of their agents. Only my gaining of a witchstone and the successful assassination of Lenguin gave me the credit and prestige I needed to retire from more active service. Now I am merely to be mother to my own little family of killers, ready to strike at Mother’s direction.”
“It seems a rather full
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