Raptor and Rapture Ch. 03: Sabre Ballet

The stage was suddenly lit by series of blue torches that were ignited one after the other. The mercenary assumed that they were using gas as a fuel source, but he'd never actually seen it used for anything non weapon related. The blue fire somehow turned to an orange fire, then was magnified as more gas was fed into it, and soon there was more than enough light to see the stage.

The orchestra broke out into a strong yet soft melody that was reminiscent of spring, and exactly thirteen women bounded onto the stage. Each dancer was wearing a pure white, skin tight, single piece dress, and each of them held a thin ribbon streamer in their hands that was bright red.

Tarquin noticed something else: each woman had a scabbard strapped to their waist, and from it, a keen looking sabre dangled.

The women wore padded ballerina shoes, and they span and dipped around each other expertly until each of them was lined up.

One by one, from left to right, the women tossed up their ribbons and drew their swords. Before the ribbons hit the ground, they each drew their blades and swept through the ribbon with cuts that were almost too fast to be seen.

Tarquin leaned forward and pawed his chin. He'd expected to be entirely bored by whatever the upper class folks of Carth considered entertainment, but he was finding himself more and more engrossed by the performance, especially as he noticed the woman that was undoubtedly his next conquest.

The woman in the middle of the line of dancers stepped forward and dashed her ribbon to pieces with the kind of speed that Tarquin had rarely seen anyone exhibit with a sword. She was as silver haired as he'd expected, but she was also stunningly beautiful. It wasn't the kind of beauty that her sister, Vana possessed, but she had the sort of face that made her look like a porcelain doll. She was a petite woman, and small framed to boot, but she carried herself with confidence and strength. Tarquin could note the definition in her shoulders and arms even as she stepped back to allow the next dancer to take her place.

Once every woman had sliced their ribbon, the thirteen began to dance. They raised their swords and span in unison before falling into a circular form and fanning their blades outwards. It was quite breathtaking, even for the mercenary, and he immediately appreciated both the skill it took to move in such a way and the inherent danger present in performing with such a deadly weapon.

The dance ended along with the song, and the audience clapped as the dancers bounded off the stage. Tarquin was relieved to find that he was at least allowed to clap at some point, so he joined along with the audience.

A short moment passed before the orchestra played once more, and four dancers came back onto the stage. This time, the music was more aggressive, and the dancers began to dance around each other quickly. At some point, they began to pirouette, and their swords were moving so quickly that they looked more blade than human as they span and flipped around each other. The edges of their swords came dangerously close to their peers at times, but Tarquin assumed that it was intentional. He wondered how many women had been hurt, or worse, practicing and performing such dance routines, but he let the thought go quickly as he allowed himself to sit back and enjoy the performance.

After the second act, a few more followed. Tarquin was so engrossed at one in particular that he barely heard it when someone came up beside him, "Would you care for some wine, sir?"

The mercenary blinked and looked away from the stage to see a handsome looking waiter lowering a tray of crystal glasses to him, "Oh... sure. Thanks," he added as he took one of the glasses.

"The lady Vana sends her regards, and asks that you receive a glass for her as well," the waiter said lowly as he kept the tray at Tarquin's eye level.

Tarquin pursed his lips, "Ah... I see." He took a second glass of wine and held them both upright awkwardly.

The waiter lifted the tray and went on to serve the other rows, and the mercenary temporarily forgot why, exactly, he was sitting through the performance.

A few more acts came and went before he saw movement come from the thick curtain that led onto the balcony. Since Tarquin was sitting in the backmost row, there was more shadow than light, but he could see that it was Vana who was approaching him.

"Mercenary," she greeted him lowly as she took the seat beside him.

"Tarquin handed her one of the glasses and smiled slightly, "Nice to see you again so soon."

She took the glass and glanced at him, "You clean up pretty nice... I'm surprised you found a suit that fits you in such a short time."

"You clean up pretty nice too," he grinned. "I've never been very good at subtle compliments: you look fucking amazing in that dress."

Vana smiled slightly, "I'm not sure what to make of you, Tarquin the raptor rider. No one has ever used the words fucking and amazing in the same sentence in regards to me before."

"At least you know I'm being honest."

"Indeed," she laughed lowly. "What do you think of the ballet?"

"Honestly, I think it's pretty great. I was expecting to be bored out of my mind, but I can get on board with watching a bunch of gorgeous women swing sharp objects around... it appeals to a certain part of my psychology. But..." he paused, "Surely you didn't come all this way to ask me about that."

Several seconds passed before she shook her head and took a sip of the wine, "No. I was hoping to speak to you a little further... regarding Ashey."

Coincidentally, the current act ended and the orchestra transitioned into a new song as Ashey leapt up onto the stage after the previous set of dancers had left.

"Yes, I'm listening," Tarquin replied as he watched the lithe girl begin to dance slowly.

"I want you to tell me what you want with her, exactly," Vana said flatly as she too watched the stage.

The mercenary took a slow sip of the wine he'd been given, but he barely tasted it as he replied, "I'm afraid to tell you."

Vana looked surprised, but only for a moment, "Why?"

"Because you won't like the answer... and you probably won't believe me."

The two looked on as Ashey danced a solo act on stage. The young woman was performing some sort of slow, interpretive dance, and she was hugging the sword closely to her body as she ran and leapt around the arena.

"I'll forgive you for assuming that I won't believe you, but that's only because you forgave me for unfairly assuming things about you," Vana told him after they'd watched her sister for a long moment. "I've helped you thus far, and I'm not even sure why... I want to know that I'm not making a huge, irrevocable mistake."

Tarquin sighed, "Will you promise not to immediately become unreasonable and throw your wine on me and try to get me thrown into prison?"

"That's an oddly specific course of events, but yes, I promise I won't throw my wine on you and become unreasonable."

"What about the prison part?"

"No promises," she drank once more, "Are you going to tell me or not? I'm taking a risk just by meeting you here. I'm sure you've noticed that my father and all of my sisters are sitting right over there... if my father sees me sitting beside some stranger there'll be a lot of questions. I have a hunch that I'll be able to bullshit my way out of that kind of trouble faster than you can."

The mercenary nodded, "Fair enough." He extended his palm to her and flattened it as best he could, "Look at this."

Vana did, and she furrowed her brow, "You have a map of the continent tattooed onto your hand?"

"Not tattooed, branded," Tarquin replied. "Branded by the goddess Ne'shita."

Vana blinked, "The goddess of social order?"

"Yes. She's looking for a way to end the race crisis, and for some reason she chose me to be her vessel."

Vana shook her head, "I can see why you're afraid that I wouldn't believe you... how can either of you end the race crisis?"

"I don't know how she plans to end it, but she told me that she needs me to help her put a stop to it."

"And how are you doing that?"

Tarquin took a deep breath, "See the marks on the map?"

"Vaguely, yes," Vana winced, "One is...here in Carth, apparently."

"Yes. Before I arrived here, I was in Makdesh. When I finished there, the mark on my hand disappeared."

"And what was this business that you finished that you're being so damn cryptic about?" Vana asked with a bit of an edge to her voice.

"Ne'Shita put something inside of me that she needs me to put inside of women from very specific bloodlines; bloodlines that trace back to old magic. When I was in Makdesh, I had to have sex with Crizet, the demon princess, in order to deliver that something. Now..."

"You need to fuck my sister," Vana said quietly as the two continued to watch Ashey dip and lunge around the stage.

"Yeah." Was all Tarquin could manage to say as he waited to see her reaction.

"You traveled all this way to have sex with a woman that you've never seen or heard about before?"

The mercenary nodded.

"I believe you."

Tarquin blinked, "Really? I mean, I'm glad you do, but..."

"It's too crazy of a story for someone like you to make up," she cut him off. "Who would tattoo their own hand with a map of the continent and have the audacity to even tell me their plan if it was truly made up? Honestly, I wouldn't have believed you entirely if it wasn't for the fact that you beat my mattatti time. The way you rode, your determination... you're serious about this." She paused, "And so?"

Tarquin was still recovering from the fact that Vana wasn't reacting the way he thought she would, "So what? That's it: I have to find a way to sleep with her, even if it takes me weeks or months."

"Are you planning on raping her?"

"Gods, no!" Tarquin hissed. "For fuck's sake, just how much do you hate your sister?"

"Not at all. As I told you before, we don't get along very well, but I don't wish ill of her. Still, if it's a matter of simply fucking and forgetting, why can't you just abduct her and have your way with her and be done with it? Why all this slinking around?"

Tarquin laughed lowly, "Have my way with her? You're an interesting woman, Vana. Contrary to popular belief, taking a woman against her will doesn't really do it for me. Regardless, Ne'Shita's magic won't work like that. Ashey is gonna have to want it...really badly. I have to work her around to the point where she'll practically be begging me to stick her, excuse my language, but I don't see how that's going to happen with all of these politics going around."

"Hm," Vana said as Ashey's solo performance was reaching its peak. "I can help you... but we can't talk here. After the show, meet me behind the building. There's a good sized rose garden there and a hedgerow surrounding a fountain in the center; I'll be there."

Before Tarquin could reply, Vana was already standing and leaving, and all he saw was her backside as she swept past the curtain.

After the ballet ended, Tarquin rose from his seat and tried to exit quickly. It took him quite some time to get to the exit between the throngs of the well to do that were already trying to catch their carriages before the rush, but eventually he managed gain the outdoors, and he headed straight for the back of the building.

Just like Vana had said, there was an impressively sized, well kept rose garden behind the theater. There didn't seem to be anyone around as he followed the slate path through to the hedgerow, but sure enough, as he rounded the corner and spotted the fountain, Vana was waiting for him there.

"Shit, how did you manage to get out here so quickly?" Tarquin gave her an incredulous smile as he stepped closer to her.

"There's more than one exit... if you know where to look," Vana replied with her own, confident smile. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for inviting me," The raptor rider examined the fountain as he averted his gaze from her for a moment, "I mean, this is more for me than it is for you, right?"

"What makes you say that?" Vana asked honestly. "You think I have ulterior motives, don't you?"

Tarquin lifted his eyebrow as he turned to her, "Nothing in life is free except death and insults. In this scenario, we're talking about you helping me to have sex with your sister... so what's in it for you?"

Vana chuckled as she nodded, "Fair enough." Her face became more serious, "If there's a chance that you can help end the race crisis, then it's a chance I want to take. my father, he's become... unstable recently. With everyday that passes, he becomes more and more obsessive over us, and I fear that soon he will try to keep us locked up on a daily basis or at least followed wherever we go."

Tarquin frowned, "I've only heard bits and pieces from the people around town I've talked to, but what's really happening?"

Vana set her jaw, "There are nine of us daughters, as you know. My father fears that he will never have a son to carry on his name, and so he plans to legally sign over his entire estate and title to one of us in the near future. For the last several years, he's forced us to compete against one another in more ways than one, and he's dangled us over the noses of several princes and monarchs more than once in hopes that he could possible obtain a son in law to carry on his name. When that didn't work, he gathered all of us and told us that by his sixtieth birthday, he plans to retire and pass everything down to one of us." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I think that daughter is me. It may sound terribly arrogant, but I suspect that I have somehow become his favorite over the course of my sisters and I vying for his estate, and I'm afraid that he's going to sign everything over to me and expect me to rule as president in his stead."

Tarquin listened intently and replied several moments after she'd finished, "Why don't you just run away? You could easily make a living for yourself on mattatti alone, and I have no doubt that your talents span further than that."

She smiled weakly, "I love my father and I don't want to hurt him. If I ran, I would never be able to compete in a tournament ever again; people would know who I was and what I did... I would be shunned by everyone I care about. Still, I want my freedom more than anything, and I'm tired of being locked up all the time."

"What do you mean, locked up all the time?"

She pursed her lips, "We have a curfew... all nine of us. Father wants us all home by midnight, and if we're not then he becomes very unhappy and almost frantic. A little over a year ago, my youngest sister, Zella, was secretly seeing a boy. When she didn't come home after midnight, he sent people out looking for her, and long story short, that boy is now imprisoned."

"Shit," Tarquin said flatly. "I can see why you're being so secretive about this."

Vana nodded, "Yes. We each have our own home at different parts of the estate, which is huge, but we also have men and women who basically babysit us at all hours of the day." She shook her head, "I'm getting tired of being treated like a child, Tarquin. I'm a grown ass woman with a curfew, for god's sake! If I want to go out with my friends or make a mistake and fuck some random guy and wake up in his bed the next morning, then I should be able to do that!" She clenched her fists, "I don't want my father's empire! I thought I did at first, but, as time went on, I realized that all I really want to do is live my own life and solve my own problems! You must think I'm insane," she laughed bitterly as she fought tears, "But I want to work for my own shit... you know?"

Tarquin smiled seriously as he nodded, "Hell yes, I understand completely. People can say what they want about me and my profession, but I can go anywhere I want at any time, and if someone tried to take that away from me they'd just have to kill me."

Vana smiled, "Yes, I see that you are very accustomed to doing what you please... I'm jealous." She sighed, "So, if you could end the race crisis, my father would be forced to lift his hand away from us, and I would gain my freedom. And Ashey, oh, that girl..." Vana chuckled. "She's a virgin for sure; god, she's so uptight. I used to be just like her when I was younger, but she needs a good, hard fucking."

Tarquin gave her a sideways smile as he laughed, "I'm not sure how to take that statement coming from you. I would think that all of you are virgins given what you've told me."

Vana grinned, "I didn't say that some of us have haven't had secret lovers in the past, I just said that Zella was the only one who got caught. You seem capable of delivering the physical end of your quest, at least. Speaking of which, how did you get the demon princess to disrobe willingly for you?"

Tarquin grimaced, "Three rounds in the Makdesh arena... then her father tried to have me assassinated."

"Shit," Vana laughed, "The worst that might happen to you here is that you get thrown into prison for the rest of your life."

"Oh, that makes me feel much better," Tarquin chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Seriously, though, how am I supposed to get to Ashey? She's like a damn super idol around here; people were already rushing to throw flowers at her when I was trying to make my way outside. Hell, they're probably still trying to kiss her ass in there."

Vana nodded, "She is the most sought after out of all of us. She's one of the best dancers in the country and she's a champion fencer. She's also a pretentious little thing who's never had to do a day of hard labor in her life. Most of us, myself included, weren't taken to live on my father's estate until we were well into our teens. Ashey has always lived a noble's life, so she's always looked down on us a little."

Tarquin frowned, "How does a man like me get a woman like that to spread her legs?"

"Good question, but the answer is simple. As much as I hate to admit it, her and I share a similar trait," Vana raised her finger, "We're both very competitive. You were able to beat me because I was blinded by my arrogance, and I would have bet anything of mine, including my own body, just for the satisfaction of seeing you fail."

"That's alarming self aware of you," Tarquin furrowed his brow with a smile, "And you're saying that she's the same way?"

"Definitely. We used to get into actual fist fights over the stupidest things, and even though she knew she wouldn't be able to beat me, she would never surrender. It got to the point where it was downright pathetic, and most times I would just mercifully put her out of commission in one blow rather than try to watch her swing at me fruitlessly." Vana paused, "Are you as good with a sword on the ground as you are on a raptor?"

"Better."

Vana grinned, "If it was anyone else, I'd call bullshit, but I'm in no position to question your claim after what you did earlier. Now... tomorrow, sometime after noon, Ashey will do what she always does and go to the red field to practice her form. It's a place some ways away from town, past the south gate. If you can find her there and challenge her to a match, I guarantee you that she'll accept...assuming you lay out the terms properly. If you need to drop my name, do it, but I'm certain that she'll give in and fight you. If you're good enough to beat her, she'll have to keep her end of the bargain... which I assume will involve her taking her clothes off. Either way, that's as much help as I am able to give you." Her face brightened suddenly, "Oh, I forgot to mention: Ashey's home is located near the eastern wall of the estate close to the corner. She lives in the old tower there; god knows why. Sometimes I think she likes the idea of being unobtainable by everyone who adores her, but, as I said before, she'll feel much better if she gets a little action."