194 Chapter 194

Albedo rarely chose to act herself, at least not directly. Not unless she had a particular target which she could trust to no other. But with the riots still in full swing two days later, she knew that if she sent her servants, they had a high probability of not coming back. With the doppelgangers stretched thin guiding rioters, and herself unwilling to permit her two mortal servants into Nazarick until their work was done, she chose to gather a few supplies herself.

This proved quite simple as the doppelgangers rose to positions of leadership in various factions of the coalescing mob.

She held out a painted rock with the inverted symbol of the Holy Kingdom. "Rations for three." She said when she reached the window of the thoroughly sealed building. There were peasants in lax stances wearing bloody and battered armor clearly not meant for them. They leaned against the wall holding halberds, pikes, spears, with no particular rhyme or reason to who was stationed where.

Albedo glanced out of the corner of her eye, some of the peasants who walked with exceptional swaggers in their steps showed why, the looted houses of nobles resulted in slapdash torn up fashions to intact dresses, but with almost equal brutality…

Hatred and revenge were worn as skirts.

Women who participated in the slaughter, seemingly eager to display their bloody hatred of the corruption they saw in the heights of power, went an extra mile beyond their menfolk. Seen worn in the form of the scalped heads with long hair still attached and sewn into a form of twisted dresses. Long silken strands of golden hair, auburn hair, once part of beautiful or well adorned women of high status to display their wealth, were now reduced to a fashion statement.

Bodies of slaughtered officials were still not cleaned up as the mob began to make the final pushes on the last soldiers holding out in isolated corners of the city.

The scent of blood and pride was such that Albedo couldn't help herself. She took in deep, happy breaths, inhaling it through her nostrils and not even bothering to suppress the excitement of their decadent corruption and what it did to her nethers.

The peasant responding to her request was hard pressed to do anything but stare at her while she was distracted, a few howls of pain in the distance brought fresh tingles to the demon, and somewhere far away, cheers meant another victory for the mad mob.

'Fools. Mere animals, they have no sense of control, they need the Supreme Being or they will never be worth anything at all.' She snorted and recalled the animals that dared strike her Master in the past. 'Fools leading fools, killing fools, doing foolish things…' As she thought of her longed for Master, her heart ached.

For month after month, she worked alone in the Holy Kingdom, her steady progress went back to Nazarick in the form of reports, each of which she kissed and caressed to leave her scent behind. So many nights she lay in bed and sought his mind in the night to give him the only thing she could.

A blissful dream. Yet not once had he summoned her to his bed. Even though she knew he now had a male member and could have her as a man could have the woman he loved. Yet still he hadn't expressed a desire to lie with her.

The train of thought brought her to the depths of despair, her eyes filled with tears, all the world ceased to be as she struggled in her heart to find peace and patience. 'My beloved… my precious Lord, you wanted me to love you above all others… why won't you let me show you…?' She asked with hopeless, silent longing.

After months of work, despite him being a mere 'gate' spell away, she had not been brought home.

The thought that troubled her most was… 'Does he think he made a mistake? Am 'I' a mistake?! Could he actually not feel for me what I feel for him? Am I not desirable in his eyes at all?! Was changing me a form of torture designed to make me suffer for some slight he has yet to reveal? Did I fail? Am I unworthy… am I supposed to love, and not be loved in return?!' Thinking any one of those thoughts guaranteed the rise of the others, and it in turn made her oblivious to the world around her.

She mechanically took the canvas bag of supplies and left the area to go back to her headquarters. She didn't notice that the peasant working there began sobbing uncontrollably, or that those who passed near when her thoughts overwhelmed her, sat beside the street and fell to the same sobbing that was trapped inside her own mind.

When she returned to the shared space, she tossed the canvas bag to Skana, whose bright smile vanished immediately. "My Lady?" She asked, her eyes filling with empathetic tears as Albedo's sorrow became her own.

"Are you… thinking about him again?" The peasant asked, she set the bag down, ignoring the growling of her belly and allowing Illyana to quietly approach and take the supplies to start working with them.

In any other circumstances, Albedo would have snapped, "Mind your place, insect!" or "What business is it of yours?!" or even lashed out with violence. But with none from Nazarick to speak to, not even the vampire whore, and any request to return home feeling wrong while her work was unfinished, there were no others.

However, as she looked the auburn haired peasant over, her bright, shimmering green eyes, so full of guile with her own kind, were guileless with her, empty of anything other than loyalty and devotion. And it didn't hurt that what Albedo wanted was to converse with a woman who might understand.

"Why hasn't he summoned me to his bed? You know our magic can take me home in an instant, he could have me for a night and return me here without missing even a meal. But here I am." Albedo said and flopped down in a chair before resting her arm on the table and drumming her fingers. The sounds of agonizing deaths in the distance and the previously observed proof of atrocity rendered meaningless in the face of her unfulfilled love.

Skana sat on the floor at the feet of her Lady, without thinking, Albedo sat her feet in the human's lap, and Skana moved not an inch. "I've dealt with a lot of shy men, either they think they're doing something wrong, or they like their own sex, or they're insecure, or they're not attracted to the woman, or their male parts don't work right. I guess… the last doesn't apply huh?"

Albedo was torn between bemusement and outrage before settling upon bemusement thanks to the rueful smirk formed by the thin, lipped human female.

"And he likes girls, you know that much, right?" Skana asked and removed Albedo's white sandals. As she began to massage the feet of her Lady, Albedo wiggled her toes and nodded.

"Yes, I can say that with confidence." The Succubus had no doubts on that front, he touched her in the ways of one who felt desire, want, and hunger. She had no doubt of his preference. Even when he had only a skeletal body, he was very clearly fond of the opposite sex.

"So… either he's insecure, not attracted to you, or he thinks he's doing something wrong." Skana snorted at her words, "My Lady is a succubus… beautiful… desirable… anyone capable of lust… they would trade their souls to have you in their arms…" She began to breathe a little harder and worked her fingers with greater vigor into the soles of her Lady's feet, bending and twisting them using all her skills to make the attempt at relaxing the demoness, a pleasing one.

Albedo did not miss what Skana said, or the throaty noise of want in another woman, but chose not to indulge it directly, "You're very observant, human."

"Thank you, My Lady." Skana said and cleared her throat as she brought herself under control.

When Skana was successful, she went on, "So that means he is either insecure, or he thinks he is doing something wrong. If he's insecure, you'd need to make him confident, praise works well for that, and maybe he is… even great men, especially great men, can be uncertain. The very fact that they 'are' great, means they're observant enough to think about how they could be better, when that's what they're like, they can worry about not being better, you know? But I kinda doubt that's the thing… maybe, maybe it could be too… but if I can guess, it's cause he thinks he's wrong."

"How do you conclude that peasant?" Albedo narrowed her eyes down at the former prostitute, dancer, and sometime merchant.

"On account of you're here, a long way away. Like," Skana grimaced as she tried to think things through, and moved her attention to the right foot of her Lady, "like sure magic can get you back quick, but you 'are' still far away, okay? So people put bad temptations as far from themselves as possible so they don't give in. There was a girl I was chasing once, she was married, but she wanted me and I wanted her. But on account of her being married, she avoided me. She went with her husband to town even though most wives stayed home. She worked on the far side of the fields, at village festivals she wouldn't drink in sight of me. Didn't work though." Skana said with a smug grin on her face and a lascivious licking of her lips.

"How did you get her?" Albedo asked with morbid and lewd curiosity both at once.

"There was a rumor I seduced her husband, it wasn't true, but she got real angry about that and came to my house. Now I didn't, I didn't like her husband, he used to hit her when he drank. I got standards, you know? But she still didn't like that, and she had a big black eye where he hit her when she confronted him. I took care of her black eye, said I'd never do anything with a man what does that kind of thing to a person they're supposed to love. I got her cozy, comforted her, told her it was okay to want to feel good, once she didn't feel it was wrong, we kissed and we liked the taste… that's how it begins, always with a kiss." Skana licked her lips and let out a little pretty laugh.

From behind her, she heard the soft voice of Illyana, "What happened when the husband found out?"

Skana looked over her shoulder at the sylvan woman who steadily stirred a stewpot over a crackling flame, the human's face became grave and serious. "He beat her up pretty bad. But then, something funny happened." Skana scratched her head, "he went out hunting one day and then just… didn't come back. It's right dangerous in them woods, you know. There's wolves, bears, who knows what kind of monsters. Never did find his body neither, like he vanished into thin air." Skana snapped her finger and her face became all smiles. "Maybe the gods didn't much like him beating on his wife and took him for judgement, for all anyone else knows. I took care'a the wife though, got her back on her feet when we couldn't pay for a healer to come out to the village, and she was my woman for bout a year before she got another farm boy and a kid from him after that. So I guess things worked out." Skana's enjoyment of recounting the story seemed all but boundless, but Illyana had a little frown.

"Weren't you sad when she got another person and left you?" The elf asked, and Skana shook her head a little, and looked back down at Albedo's feet while she finished working on them.

"Nah, not really, I started whoring around that time, and we don't get those pretty endings, besides, I can't even imagine what kinda person I'd want to settle down with." She chuckled with derision, "They'd have to be one in a bigger number of people than I can name, like… one ina kingdom, for me to even think about it."

"I see." Illyana said and ladled stew into bowls which she brought over to the table. She bowed her head to her demonic savior while laying it down within the demon's reach. "Though my fare is simple, I have given it all my devotion, My Lady. I pray that makes up for my lack of refinement."

She then handed a bowl down to Skana. "Here you go, enjoy," she said with a gentle little grin before going and retrieving a third bowl for herself.

"Anyway, Lady Albedo, if the only real problem is he thinks he's wrong for wanting you, just get him to see that he's not. A little liquor, sweet words, and show him that the real wrong is not being happy. That's like… the worst wrong ever. Let it, and this world'll take every bit of happiness away and leave you sad all the time, so show him how happy you both could be, an that it's alright, and he'll be yours."

Albedo quietly reflected on that and the trio ate in silence thereafter, with none really looking at the other.