A Fox in the Works Singularity Collapse By Fox Cutter Chapter Fifteen I felt a great deal of satisfaction as I returned to Aster's small house. After a week of sleeping on the ground, the wooden floor and ratty couch looked positively appealing. It also meant that we had managed to keep me hidden the whole way there, thus keeping everything from starting all over again. Samantha came in after me, took a quick look around the room, then turned around and blocked the door. "I'm going to need some time alone with Fox, you three wait outside," she told the men. "Very well," Ravindar said, gently pulling Aster back from the doorway. "I'll be outside the door in case you need me," he said. The younger man pulled out of the tiger's grasp and sighed, "I guess I'll tend to the horses," he said as he gave me a short glance before turning away. Sally followed after him, looking a bit annoyed herself, and understandably so. "Thank you," Samantha replied as she closed the door on them. She then said a few sharp words as she touched the edge of the frame. I walked over to the fire, looking into the water pot, and found it half full of water and still lukewarm. Good enough for what I needed it for. "So, why do you want to be alone with me?" I asked her as I dipped the washcloth into the water and started to scrub at my fur. She came over to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. "So, what did they do to you?" she asked me as I felt her hands growing warm against my fur. "I'd rather not say," I told her as I worked the rag over my arms, watching as the dirt start to come free, the soap helping with the task. She shook her head, "Fox, I'm healing you as best I can, and I can feel where the damage is. It will help if you talk about it," she told me. I paused in my washing, and thought about what to tell her, and if I should tell her anything. "What do you want me to say?" I finally asked. "Whatever you need to say," she replied, her hands moving down the fur of my back. With a sigh I hung my head against my chest. A thousand thoughts went through my mind, racing around and brushing past each other. My first reaction was to close myself to her to hide what had happened, but she already knew so there was no point in trying to hide it. I decided to at least tell her what happened. "What is there to say? I was raped, plain and simple," I said in a quiet voice. Samantha let out a soft gasp and pulled her hands away from me. I lifted my head and turned to looked at her, seeing the look of shock on her face. I frowned at her, clearly she hadn't known anything, and only said what she had said to get me to talk to her about it. Now it was out in the open, and it was going to have to be dealt with. After a few moments she regained her composure, but I could see anger flickering behind her eyes as she clenched her jaw. "You hurt the son of a bitch?" she asked as she returned her hands to my back, the warmth returning a moment later. "I managed to scratched him up a little, but he managed to pin me to the ground pretty effectively," I replied, and closed my eyes as it replayed in my mind for the thousandth time. "God, how I am suppose to tell Oriana about this? She's going to want to come back here and crucify the son of a bitch." My friend chuckled, "I'm going to help her," she said, her warm hands reaching around to stroke the fur of my belly. "Would you be able to recognize him?" "In a moment; you left a very distinctive scar on his face," I told her as I gave her a small smile. She nodded her head, her fingers swirling around my bellybutton. It sent warmth spreading deeply inside of me, flicking over my stomach, which started to rumble. Slowly her hands worked lower down my body, and it finally was started to make me uncomfortable. "Careful, there are some places you aren't allowed," I told her. "Of course," she replied, and moved her hands back over my stomach. "I'm not a doctor, but I can fix most of the worst damage from malnutrition. You should get yourself looked at after we get home." I nodded, "I'll make an appointment as soon as we get back to the house," I told her. Samantha nodded, pulling her hands away. "That's all I can do for now, I'm sorry I can't do more," she said as she walked around to look at me. "You did what you could," I replied and stretched out, finding that I did feel better. "Thank you," I told her as I resumed washing myself. She bent down and gave me a tight hug before pulling back away, "If you need anything..." she said, the words trailing off as she saw the look in my eyes. "Don't treat me like a cripple because of this. I hate to say it, but this isn't the first time this has happened to me. I can handle it," I told her as I returned her hug. "But thank you for the offer." She sighed as she pulled away from me, her tail flicking slowly behind her, the ragged end of the cloth brushing against the floor. "You're a lot stronger then I am, Fox," she said as she walked towards the door. I laughed and I scrubbed my fur. "I'm not stronger, I've just been through different kinds of hell than you have. I just hope you don't have to walk through them yourself." She nodded and opened the door. "I'm going to bring Sally inside so I can heal her, then I need to find both of you some clothing," she said. "That's fine," I said with a wave of my paw, "and if you could bring me more food, I think my stomach can take it again." "That is something I can do," she told me as she walked out the door. * * * Rodrick started to worry when he saw King Alexander waiting for him at the base of the tower. The young man was resting with his back against the door, his arms crossed over his chest and with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Zain was standing a few feet away, watching the Mage as he approached. "Your Majesty, Zain," he said as he approached the door, starting to form the spells needed to unlock the tower. "To what do I owe the honor?" he asked. "I want the homunculus," Alexander said, leveling his eyes at the Mage. Rodrick looked at the young man, then towards Zain. "She is mine to do with as I please, that was the agreement we made," he said as he let the key spell fall away, uncast. "That was before... now things have changed," Zain replied, looking up at the tower. The Mage frowned as he looked the King over, "And what has changed?" "The Church has declared a new Highest, and he has condemned our actions in removing the Priests from the City, and for seizing the Holy Relics," Zain said. Rodrick nodded, rubbing his chin as he looked at the two men, "I don't see how that changes anything with my possession of Rhea," he said. The King shook his head as he looked at the older man, "That is only the start of it. I have just learned that Samantha has managed to escape her captors. Which brings all our plans to ruin," he said. The Mage frowned, trying to act as if he hadn't already known of the young women's escape. "Once more, I do not see how that changes anything with Rhea." "I want you to bring it to me, so I may kill it," Alexander replied as he grasped the hilt of his sword. Rodrick closed his eyes tightly as he let out a long sigh, "How will that serve Your Majesty? The death of a homunculus will not affect the Church, and I can not see what it will gain us." "With the death of the rest of the group, it is the only tool we have left to take advantage of," Zain said. "Rhea wasn't even there when your life was saved," Rodrick pointed out. "Even if we can use her death to our advantage, it would be a smaller advantage than killing Fox, Samantha, or even Ravindar," he said. "But Fox and Ravindar are dead, and Samantha is out of our control. The homunculus is our only option," Zain replied. The Mage paused, thinking for a few moments as he rubbed his gloved hands together. "That may not be true," he said as a glimmer of an idea started to form in his mind. "There is another possible course of action we can take that would provide significantly better results than killing Rhea." "And what would that be?" the King asked. Rodrick smiled, his eyes glowing as the plan started to fall into place. "What does Samantha look like? How can you tell her apart from anyone else, how can you tell that she is even a Mage? We are the only ones who have seen her for longer then a few moments, and there are no portraits of her. When it comes down to it, no one really knows what she looks like." "Your point?" Zain asked. He smiled at the two men, moving in a bit closer to them. "Look at it this way, Samantha is whomever we say she is. We need to find a brown haired woman in the Holy City, preferable one scarred like a Mage. We attach a tail to her, and then kill her just like we had planned to do with Samantha. Alexander started to slowly nod his head, a long smile pulled across his face. "I see... that is a plan that has merit. Do you think your men in the Holy City could do that?" he asked Zain. The older man nodded, a smile on his own face, "I believe that they could. It will take a few days to find such a woman; she would have to be as healthy as Fox and his companions. We will find one, however, and by the end of the week our plans will be on course." "There you are, you have no reason to kill Rhea," Rodrick said as he reached for the door to his tower. "Now if you will pardon me, I have work to do." The King grabbed his arm in a firm grip, his fingers clenching hard over his gloves, sending shooting pain up his arm from the wounds the gateway spell had created. "We are not done here," Alexander said, a dangerous look on his face. Rodrick pulled at his arm, frowning at the young man. "You Majesty, there is not a single reason left for you to kill Rhea. What I'm learning from her is changing everything I know about building homunculi. I can't loose her, not when I'm this close." "I can sympathize with you, Rodrick," the King said as he let go of the Mage's arm, "but my plans require it to be killed. What you want is irrelevant to the matter. You will provide her to me, and you will do so now." He let out a long sigh and looked at the young man. "Give me two more days with her," he said. That would be long enough to save her, but it would bring the King's anger down on his head. "I need her for tonight," he replied. "Why tonight?" Zain chuckled, "We have plans for tonight, and we need her. She will be killed while trying to kill Alexander. We will declare she was under the control of the leader of the Priests outside of the City. That will allow us to expand our control of the Church from North Village to Weathertop." The Mage let out a long sigh and nodded his head. "But why does it have to be tonight? Can this not wait at least until I can finish my experiment on her?" he asked. "We have learned that the leader of the Priests is staying inside the City tonight. If things go well we can take him by the morning," Alexander said. Rodrick nodded, the logic of it made sense to him, and he would have been more than willing to support it if he had still considered Rhea to be a thing. He knew better now. He knew better and understood the cost of killing her, and he could not allow it. "How long until you need her? If I could just have a few more hours, until this evening at least, that way I could try to learn all that I can from her," he said, trying not sound like he was begging, and desperately trying to make plans to keep the lioness safe. The King frowned and looked to Zain, who thought for a second then said. "We won't need it until nightfall." "But once the sun has set," the King said, stepping forward, "she is mine." Rodrick sighed and bowed his head, "As you wish, Your Majesty," he said. * * * The bottom edge of the sun was just within reach of the distant horizon as we approached the gates to the City of the Crown. Ravindar and I were together, riding side by side on horseback as we passed through the stone archway. We were both dressed in plain clothing: long pants, drab shirts, and worn boots. In addition I wore a pair of gloves to cover my paws. We both wore cloaks, but I kept the hood of mine up, hiding myself from prying eyes. We passed through the gate unmolested, the bored guards waving us past without even giving us a second look. As far as they cared we were just two of the thousands of people that passed through the City every day. Aster and Samantha were already inside, waiting for us and laying the groundwork for our exit. Sally was waiting for us back at Aster's home. If we did not return by dawn, she was going to leave, to protect herself. We rode through the streets, moving deeper into the City towards where we going to meet our friends. Soon the sun started to vanish behind the mountains, the light fading with each passing minute. "How much longer?" I asked as I hunched over the saddle, twitching my tail against the ropes that held it to down under my cloak, preventing it from slipping into view. It also held it at a bad angle and was starting to cause me a great deal of pain. Ravindar nodded, understanding the tone of my voice. "We'll be there soon, Fox, it's just down the next street," he said as we turned another corner. "I hope you know where you're going, because I'm lost," I grumbled. "Aster gave me directions, and they have been correct so far," he told me as he watched the buildings pass. I nodded, noticing a small sign hanging off one building in the center of the street. I couldn't read it, but the images implied that it was a pub of some sort. There were a dozen horses tied in front of the place, most of them looking away from the setting sun. As we approached I saw Aster standing inside the doorway, watching our arrival. Samantha came outside as we stopped in front of the building. "I was starting to worry about you," she said with a smile as Aster started to untie the reins of their horses. "I'm not going to be late for this. You get everything set up?" I asked her. She nodded as she pulled herself onto the back of her mount. "Down to the letter. We have to get to the east wall of the City an hour before midnight. Our contact will be waiting for us; he will take us out of the City." "Good, and thank you. Now Aster, you still want to go through with this?" I asked the younger man. "You still have time to turn around and get out of here before anything can go wrong." He shook his head. "I'm not going to abandon you now, not after everything that has happened," he said as we started down the street towards the palace. The sunlight faded and the shadows of the city closed around us as we neared the Palace. I was nervous. I still didn't trust Rodrick not to betray us. I had Ravindar's extra gun on my hip, and Samantha and Ravindar had their own firearms. Aster had his own sword, which he said he could use, but I hadn't seen him in action yet. I just hoped that we wouldn't be needing any of them tonight. We reached the Palace just as the last of the sun's rays vanished over the horizon, and just in time to watch the drawbridge as it slowly lifted into the air until it hung at a forty five degree angle. There wasn't a moat around the large fortress, but there was a trench pit with sheer stone walls about nine feet deep and twelve wide. Aster nodded as he saw this, and turned his horse to follow the Palace wall. The rest of us followed him in silence. I knew there was a back way into the building. It was how I had been taken inside the last time I had visited, so I knew things were still moving to our plans. I was a bit relieved to see that Rodrick was waiting for us at the back entrance to the Palace. The man was alone, with no sign of Rhea with him, and he looked worried. He came up to me as we approached, his hands clenching as he hurried to us. "Things are going wrong," he told us as we reached him. "In what way?" Ravindar demanded, his hand settling to rest on the butt of his pistol. "Alexander took Rhea," he said with a sigh and a deep frown. "He's going to kill her." "When?" I demanded and I jumped from my horse. He turned his head back to look at the Palace, his hands clenching into tight fists. "Right now," he said. I stared at him in disbelief for a moment, my mouth agape. "You have got to be kidding me!" I snapped at him, my claws sliding free of my fingers and through the material of my gloves. "There is still a chance," the older man said as he looked between the four of us. "It's a small one, but you can still save her." "How?" I demanded as I moved closer to him. By this time we had all dismounted, and moved into a circle around the older man, preventing him from going anywhere. Rodrick sighed softly as he looked towards we. "The King has a plan, a play to act out. He wants me there to witness it, but he won't wait for long." I nodded, "Where are they?" "The Throne Room," he replied. "We'll need to get past the guards," Ravindar said as he looked towards Samantha. She nodded. "It won't be easy, but we can probably do it." Rodrick shook his head, "There will be no need for that. Alexander doesn't trust his guards to not tell what they have seen. Not even his personal guards, after what you did to them," he said as he glanced to me. "There will only be six people in the Throne Room once we get inside." I nodded, pulling my gun free and pushing off the safety. "Lead the way, and if Alexander does kill Rhea, I'm going to gut him like a fish," I said growl. The older man started to say something, but bit it back with a gulp. Instead he pulled a bundle from his clothing and threw it to Samantha. "This is yours," he said. "Oh! My Holocaust Cloak!" Samantha said as she pulled it over her shoulders. I turned to Aster, giving the young man a sharp look. "Do you still want to do this? You will be going face to face with your King, and you will probably be killed if you are caught." He licked his lips, his eyes flicking between Rodrick and myself. His arms shook as he reached down to grasp the hilt of his sword. "I'm with you, no matter what may happen," he said. I let out a long breath and nodded my head. Without saying a word I turned to face the High Mage, motioning for him to lead the way. For the first time in this whole damn mess, we were about to go on the offensive. To Be Continued... ----- This story is copyright 2005 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy reprints limited to one per person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.