Interesting. I looked “blurry.”
“You know what the Lord of Light’s teachings are on drunkenness,” I said in my best scolding tone.
“I know, sister, I know,” she said, looking crestfallen but still very confused, “and I am very ashamed to say that I have broken his commands on this topic on occasion.”
“Such sins, although grave, can be forgiven, but there are other sins, graver sins, that the Lord of Light is not so quick to forgive. Tell me: a beautiful young bishop such as yourself, must have attracted the attention of many men.”
“That is true, sister. I have had more than my fair share of suitors. But I have turned all of them away, and I gave neither my heart to my body to any of them. I have remained pure, sister.”
“Really? None of them at all?”
“I have never given myself to any man, sister. Never.”
I could hear the lie in her voice and could see her squirming in the face of my interrogation.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked. “There is no man, not even a single one, who has known both your heart and your body? I must remind you of the severity of lying about such matters to an Arch-nun of the Church of Light. Tell the truth, and your sins can be forgiven and cleansed from your soul.”
At this, Elyse grew defiant, and her jaw hardened.
“There is one man, but only one. He has known my body, and I his, and I cannot promise that it will not happen again. I, I’m in love with him, sister, and even though I must share his affections with other women, I cannot help these feelings of mine. And to tell the truth, I do not wish to purge these feelings from my soul. I know that perhaps this makes me a bad sister, but this man: he has set my heart and soul on fire in a way that I never knew possible. I cannot believe that the Lord of Light would allow me to feel such things only for me to have to deny them.” She glared at me, as though challenging me to defy her.
“You are right, dear bishop,” I said, smiling.
“Wait, what?” she gasped, looking even more confused.
“You should give yourself completely to this man,” I said. “Heart and soul and body, but especially body. A body like yours is far too incredible to be wasted on celibacy.”
“Sister! Have you lost your senses?”
“You have gorgeous breasts, nice, round and firm, like a pair of juicy melons. And what’s between your legs is so wonderfully tight, even when it’s dripping wet.”
“By the Lord, sister, are you insane? How can you say such things!”
“And despite your inexperience, you seem like an absolute natural when it comes to sucking—”
“Sister!” she shrieked, jumping to her feet. “I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing here, of all places, but I won’t listen to another word of this, this, utterly inappropriate and perverted drivel! Please, leave!”
I figured that this game had gone on long enough, so I dropped the mirror onto the grass. Elyse’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and then a rapid mixture of emotions flashed across her face: confusion, disbelief, amusement, anger, embarrassment. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mind was in such a jumble that no words emerged, simply a weird, strangled gasp.
“Surprise!” I said, flashing a shit-eating grin at her.
“How on earth did you do that?” she eventually managed to utter.
I picked up the Beauty Mirror and showed it to her. “This little thing is quite the party trick, huh? Lucielle’s Beauty Mirror.”
“So that’s why it felt like I’d had two bottles of wine while I was looking at you,” she said. “It was so bizarre. My vision around you was all blurry, but everything else looked normal. It was very unsettling.”
“You should see how well this thing works on people who aren’t Fated.”
“I’m sure. ” A deep blush darkened her cheeks. “Vance, about some of the things I just said, About, um, being, being in love with you. I, oh by the Lord of Light, I’m so embarrassed now, I—”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, “you were just being honest. I could tell you had a hard time lying, and that right there makes me sure that I can trust you. And that’s a good thing.”
“Okay. I just, I just don’t want you to think... ”
“Don’t worry, seriously.”
“All right,” she said, still looking a little embarrassed. “So, um, how are you planning to use the Beauty Mirror?”
“Well, I’ve discovered something that could be very useful to me. My uncle’s ‘vampire’ actor is a dead ringer for me, and he no doubt has direct access to my uncle. What I’m thinking is that we kidnap the asshole, beat some information out of him, and then, when I know how it is that he gets in or out of the castle, I use the Beauty Mirror to get in like that. Even if I come up against someone Fated, all I’m doing is impersonating someone who looks exactly like me, so they’re not really going to see much of that blurring effect you just described.”
“An excellent plan, but how do you intend to kidnap this actor?”
“I know a secret way into the ruins where he’s holed up, pretending to be me—well, a vampire version of me, anyway. The only problem is that my asshole uncle has the place crawling with snipers, and good ones too. I can get into the crypt of the ruins without being seen, but it seems that the actor isn’t too fond of going down there, and he only ever does to hide gold in his stash. And if I go up into the ruins to look for him, there’s the risk of being spotted by a sniper and turned into
