Dexter chuckled. “That’s okay, Keshira, I’m for hoping that one day you’ll know.”
“If that pleases you, I shall try to understand, Captain,” she said, bowing obediently to him.
“Go ahead back to work,” Dexter said, dismissing her. Smiling happily at having a task from him, she returned to her place working on the decking.
Dexter watched her work for a while, thinking about her plight, or his plight, as he considered it, and wondered what Port Freedom would bring. He turned back around in time to feel the ship decelerating out of cruising speed. There, ahead some distance, loomed the moon sized planetoid that Port Freedom called home. Dexter took a deep breath and headed to his cabin to ready himself for what was sure to be an eventful confrontation.
Kragor and Jodyne stayed at the ship, keeping it ready to go just in case a hasty departure was necessary. All manner of ideas passed through Dexter’s mind, but he really had no plan for how it was going to work out.
Keshira trailed along behind him and Rosh walked beside her armed for war with multiple weapons and even a chain shirt over his leather sleeves and leggings. Bekka trailed behind them, watching everything with a keen eye.
Jenna was along for the walk as well, making it officially the most time she had spent with Dexter since Keshira had joined them. She took up the rear guard of their small procession, also wearing her full battle garb.
“This could sour fast,” Dexter said after he came to a stop a block away from the wizard’s large house. “Anyone that’s not for wanting the risk can go back to the ‘Hawk right now.”
Nobody spoke up or moved to leave, filling Dexter with a sense of pride at his crew. “Alright, Kragor gets the ‘Hawk if I go down, so treat him right.”
A few of them shuffled uneasily. They were not bothered by the thought of answering to the dwarf as Captain, but rather the thought of surviving an encounter that he fell in sat poorly with them.
Dexter turned and resumed his march, with the rest of them falling in behind him.
They were greeted at the door by Jarnella. She beamed at Dexter happily, then saw Keshira standing behind him and her expression darkened somewhat. “My Master will be displeased to see her return,” she said.
“About that,” Dexter said. “It was unavoidable. I’d like for him to break the bond she made so we can done with this.”
“There is no breaking the bond. She is made to be a servant for life,” Jarnella explained, turning and beckoning them inside the house.
They followed her in, each looking about nervously in case of a trap. Only Keshira seemed at ease as they moved through a foyer, then down a hallway and through a sitting room. Jarnella opened the doors to a large study, where Ormitor sat waiting in a plush chair.
“Have you any idea what you have done?” he asked, his tone one of irritation.
“I know only that I damn near lost my ship, my crew, and my freedom carrying your ‘product’.” As soon as the words left his mouth he realized he may have been a bit too aggressive.
“I want no part of your gold or business,” he continued, softening his tone slightly. “Undo this bond she speaks of and free her, then we may go our separate ways.”
Ormitor rose up and walked over to them. He looked at Keshira with a critical eye, noting everything from her posture, her look, and the same blue dress she had risen from the crate in. “The manufacturing and ensorceling of a pleasure golem is no simple task. The materials alone are far beyond your ability to comprehend!”
“Good thing I’m not for wanting her then,” Dexter said. “Undo this thing and we’ll be done with it.”
“There is no undoing it, you fool!” Ormitor snapped. “And now you’ve defaulted my agreement with Sir Drayful as well! You’ve no idea how much you have cost me!”
Dexter took a deep breath as Ormitor vented at him. He could practically feel Rosh tensing and fighting the urge to explode behind him. It only made him wonder how Jenna, who seemed especially incensed at the ‘pleasure golems’, was handling herself.
“No undoing it? Then what does she cost. I’ve no want of a slave, but I’ll accept the cost of ruining her for you,” he said, trying to mollify the wizard.
Ormitor laughed. “You fool, the cost is more than you will ever see in your life! She is worth hundreds of thousands of gold!”
Dexter cringed at the mere thought of that much money. While he hoped it would be otherwise, he could only silently agree with Ormitor that he would most likely never see that much wealth in his life.
“Why is she different from Jarnella,” Bekka asked abruptly, stepping out and throwing back the hood of her cloak.
Ormitor looked at her briefly, then dismissed her, turning his angry gaze back to Dexter. He opened his mouth buy again Bekka persisted.
“She is a brilliant creation, truly a work of art,” she said, praising her inventor. “Yet she does not have the personality that Jarnella does. Is each one designed for the owner?”
Pleased at having his work acknowledged and appreciated, Ormitor was taken aback. Grudgingly, he deigned to answer her question. “Each is unique, yes, tailored to the requirements of the purchaser. They learn quickly, Jarnella was not my first but she is my favorite. The personality of which you speak surfaces differently for each. Some are slow, some are fast. It has something to do with the strength of the soul used to animate them.”
“The soul used to… What type of monster are you?” Jenna asked, stepping out as well.
Dexter held out his hand, attempting to stall her and hold her back. Barely, she reigned in her anger and remained behind him.
“Monster? Hardly. I take a broken soul, shorn from its body and life, and give it a fresh chance at happiness in a new form. A form that is well nigh indestructible! These are not monstrosities, these are pieces of art!” Spittle flew from Ormitor’s mouth as he raved about his creations.
“These creations, they are bound to their owners forever? How do they survive when their owners die?” Bekka asked, desperately wanting to understand more of the mechanics behind the magic.
“Some persist, miserable and lonely,” he said, still proud of his creations, or rather, proud of his abilities in creating them. “A rare few find meaning to their existence, though they forever feel the longing for their master. Others perish, seeking out a means to their own destruction to end their misery.”
“So Keshira is stuck with me forever?” Dexter asked, feeling the room suddenly growing smaller around him.
“I trust you have no means of paying for her?”
Dexter shook his head and angrily said. “No means and no interest in purchasing such a thing!”
“I would have offered you a contract of service to pay off your debt, but I think you would find no appeal to that either?” Ormitor asked, walking a short distance away from them and putting Jarnella between them.
Dexter shook his head again. He heard Rosh inhale behind him and saw the man open his mouth to say something. The look Dexter gave him made the larger man close his mouth.
“Then I’m afraid her suffering will be short lived, for with your death I will have her destroyed as well,” he said matter-of-factly. “Your ship will be put to good use and repay some of your debt, I think. The rest I will accept in the service of your souls in my future creations!”
“Well now that just won’t do,” Dexter said, hearing the blades of his crew being drawn behind him.
Rosh charged forward, ignoring the unarmed Jarnella to his error. She lashed out at him, her arm crashing into his chest below the arms that brandished his great sword. Rosh flew backwards, his feet moving forward while his upper body was driven to the ground.
Jenna slipped past Jarnella, moving with a grace and speed that she had not displayed even when fighting Dexter in mock battles. She lunged forward with her rapier holding her short sword up in a guard position. Jenna grunted when the sword hit the wizard, for it barely plunged into his skin. She felt as though she had stabbed a tree trunk.
From behind her Jarnella landed a glancing blow to her shoulder with her fist, sending her stumbling to the side and making her trip over a plush chair.
Dexter intended to give Jarnella a fight, as she was closer, but he suspected that Ormitor was the key to success in the conflict. He slipped behind the beautiful construct’s back as she sent Jenna sprawling. He nearly abandoned his target to go after Jenna, but knew better than to lose what may end up being their only
