Chapter 75
Chapter 75
The bird sat on Yegorka’s wrist.
He removed the spatial ring from the postal bird and took out its contents with a sinking heart. It was a beautiful red gift box. He opened the box and…
«Yes, oh yes… Oh, yeah!» – Yegorka said ecstatically, looking at a blue round pill with a pleasant medicinal scent and a piece of paper with instructions.
How could such a tiny ball cost him almost everything he had? Yegorka was afraid even to touch his treasure. He carefully put it back into the box, locked it and placed it in his ring. He was going to keep the pill until the party started… Then he would give it to his beloved girl, she would embrace him passionately, and they would swirl in a graceful, sensual dance before all the young talents of their kingdom… Such was his plan. He wanted to show everyone his intention to be Juno’s life partner. And even if her grandfather was against their marriage, Yegorka would convince him otherwise. Power meant everything in this world, and he had the best talent among the younger Stone generation.
His blissful thoughts disappeared as soon as he remembered the hated slave. Yegorka couldn’t get inside the mansion as he had been removed from the V.I.P. list. He had to find a way to get rid of the hateful jerk.
Yegorka could wait for the party and kill the slave there… But he would only demean himself and his bright future if he got his hands dirty on such a momentous day. His life as an influential aristocrat shouldn’t start like that.
Yegorka took his sound transmitter and called a friend who lived in Boston like the majority of the young Stones. Yegorka was one of the few who stayed at the family estate because Juno lived there.
He heard a respectful but not without a hint of mockery voice:
«Greetings, Yegorka. It is a great honor for me that someone magnificent and talented like you has deigned to call a little friend of no importance…»
«Shut up, Makar. I have no time for jokes.»
«My apologies… How is it going? What have you been up to?»
«I’m not calling for idle chatter. Listen carefully… Take Sicily with you and come to the estate. I need both of you to finish off an annoying jerk in Juno’s mansion… It’s a little over two weeks before the party… It’s right your way, anyway. So no complaints.»
«To kill someone? In Lady Juno’s mansion? How can there possibly be any jerks? Something tells me that we will get killed trying to hurt anyone inside the mansion. Are you kidding me?»
«Come on. I am talking about a slave… I want his life. Correction. I want his life to end soon.» – Yegorka said coldly.
«We have to turn the world upside down, at the very least, to get into the patriarch’s park! My sister and I aren’t allowed near there!»
«I am in Elder Rin’s good books. He will give you a pass if I ask him.» – Yegorka smiled arrogantly. Of course, he is in the good books of the elders. Talented people are cherished and revered here.
«Then why don’t you do it yourself?»
«I’ve been blackballed. I’ll tell you later why.»
«I see… And… I do not understand… What the hell is the slave doing in Lady Juno’s mansion?»
«My baby needs to blow off steam. I couldn’t let her beat me. No one will ever humiliate me, not even her. Cut her some slack here.»
After a short pause, Makar agreed with a sigh:
«I hear what you’re saying. We will do everything I can, buddy. As soon as the elder gives his permission… Not everyone can get into the best park of our family.»
«I’ll set it up. Come quickly.»
«Until then!»
Makar and Sicily were brother and sister and Yegorka’s old friends, the promising young Stones. They were no front runners of the younger generation, but they were only 14-15-year-olds. They had a bright future ahead of them.
Yegorka finished the call and looked at the entrance to the mansion. The weird slave had messed with his head. As a rule, Juno’s slaves were quick to expire and meet their end. This piece of meat didn’t only survive, he had gained Juno’s trust, ruining her greatness with his pathetic presence.
Yegorka suddenly noticed Flitz come to the entrance, accompanied by a hefty slave. Then they entered the mansion.
…
Juno came out to Flitz, a passive observer at the threshold, unhealthily coughing up his sleeve. {Old poop! How dared you to screw me like this? You brought me a slave with a defective subjugating formation! How dared you give me someone who does not know his place in the world? And how dared you hurt Marina?} – She wanted to say all this out loud and beat the old asshole to a pulp, but her mouth did not open. Every part of her body failed her. Instead, Juno stood frozen there to the spot with an indifferent look on her face. No one could tell about the storm that reigned in her thoughts at the moment.
Flitz looked like he had gained another 20 years (but who cared, anyway.) He stared at the charming girl, giving her a fake smile:
«Hello, baby. Don’t eat me with your eyes, it scares me. I’m inedible, just skin and bones.»
«I am not… Hi.» – Juno stopped mid-sentence and nodded slightly.
Flitz called the hefty slave and casually patted him on the back.
«Meet your new slave, Juno. His name is Alec. Just look at him. Isn’t he stronger than anyone you had? He will last at least a couple of days for sure!»
Alec watched Juno, captivated. He had never seen anyone more beautiful in all his life. The young lady was a real angel! The whole world around her had lost its color! Especially in the light of his complete loss of sex-drive… His big heart started beating wildly, and he hurried to bow.
«My lady. You are so beautiful… So-sorry, I can’t keep my mouth shut…»
Juno turned an angry look from the hefty bald boy to the old man.
«You… Old fart… Dared… Again…» – Juno’s tongue was pinched with the cage of orders. Her head was striving to turn aside. Her legs were forcing her to leave. It took all her will power to make herself stay.
Flitz frowned in annoyance.
«What did I dare? To bring you a slave? You told me to find you a new one, and now you suddenly change your mind? Do you take me for a servant? Should I dance before you? Pah!» – Flitz didn’t want to take his problems out on Juno. With an effort, he held back his anger and turned away. Anybody who had eyes could see that the old man was really upset.
Juno turned her “indifferent” look at the young bull who hastily took his eyes away, his cheeks glowing red at the greatest honor in his life – Lady Juno’s glance.
Alec respectfully babbled, bowing:
«My lady, take care of me, please. I will serve you faithfully!»
Juno finally lost it. She was boiling with a desire to kill him. Kyon had ordered her to hear “I order you” every time someone said the word “please.” That’s why it seemed to her that the slave had ordered her to take care of him. The scum was looking to get killed!
Juno violently pressed on her wrist. A couple of seconds later, Anna approached her.
«Yes, my lady.»
«Anna, send that… To the training ground.» – Juno nodded disdainfully at Alec.
«Yes, my lady…» – Anna bowed and took away the happy slave (his lady was so wonderful) to wait for her at the training ground. The maid was a little confused: why did the lady need a slave if she had a servant? But no one would ever answer that question.
Juno grabbed Flitz by the sleeve of his robe and took him to the bathroom, where it was as dark as under the blanket at night.
Flitz was taken aback when Juno locked the door behind them. He exclaimed with a fair amount of anxiety in his voice:
«Hey hey hey! I know I am handsome and all that, but your grandfather will make a sharpener out of my skull because of your little game!»
Juno gathered up all her will, all her concentration. She remembered the training sessions and tried to imagine that Flitz was imaginary, that she was alone in the bathroom. It didn’t work the way she wanted, but Juno could partially take part in the conversation.
Flitz was in total darkness, having no idea what the girl had on her mind. He decided to warn her, just in case:
«I see you are up to something, Juno. For your information, I have a headache, no time for this now, I am busy and… Well, I haven’t told anybody yet, but I have a husband!»
Juno shook her head as if shaking her mind:
«No! I… not… Flitz… Do you remember the slave you brought to me?» – Juno had to keep Alec’s image in her mind to bypass the cage of orders. She did master some self-deception techniques, after all.
Of course, Flitz thought of the other slave. Why would Juno ask, “do you remember” about the one he brought a second ago? Juno wasn’t mentally retarded after all. She was as far from being stupid as to the moon and back. Flitz knew her too well.
He scratched his nose in confusion.
«Um… Kyon was his name, wasn’t it? Did you bring me to the bathroom to talk about the dead? Or do you want me to invoke his spirit? Sorry, I do not have the skills of charlatan spiritualists. But I can light a candle for his soul if his spirit bothers you at night, which I doubt very much… After all, if the soul of every slave you killed with your little hands haunted you… Well, then I would be wearing black mourning clothes today… And then I would have to bury your grandfather who died of grief for his adoring little granddaughter.»
«No, no!» – Juno irritatedly interrupted him. Look at him cracking his jokes, trying to be funny even in her imagination. However, as soon as they talked about Kyon, her subconscious started protesting, activating the orders, forcing her to change the subject as soon as possible because she was strictly forbidden to talk about Kyon.
«Well then, I’d better…» – Juno started and stopped in the mid-sentence, bound by the orders. It took all her willpower to convince the subconscious that she was talking about Alec and not Kyon, that Flitz was imaginary and she was alone there. The three factors multiplied and weakened the chains enough to buy her some more time.
«I order you to cut off his… Cut off… His… Hair and… The round thing… Where they grow… His… His…» – Juno’s voice treacherously trembled. Her lips were not saying what she needed to say. All she wanted to tell him was to cut off the slave’s head, but her subconscious mind kindly reminded her that she should not give orders to kill anyone.
«Round… Round thing… Cut off… Well, his… That thing…» – Juno’s subconsciousness was in the trap of the formation, forcing her to leave the bathroom. Only with the help of autosuggestion, she won another unnoticed internal battle.
«To cut off his balls or what?» – Flitz asked, dumbfounded. It seemed quite logical to him. What was the point of cutting the head after shaving off the hair? What other thing was round on the man’s body?
«Yes! And… And…» – And again, her mouth could not pronounce the word “head.” Even in her imagination, she was forbidden to kill her vile master. Did she really screw it up?
«And cut off his hair, I got the message. I repeat: you want me to dig up Kyon’s body, shave off the hair on his head and cut off his balls, right?» – Flitz sounded extremely irritated as if little children were resourcefully torturing him and he hadn’t slept for three days in a row.
He was shocked to hear Juno scream with joy:
«Yes! Yes! Yeah, oh yeah! I want exactly this!» – Then Juno got scared. She had already ordered Flitz to cut off Kyon’s balls and hair… What was she going to do next? What was the point in all that if she couldn’t order him to kill the slave?
She was about to give up this stupid idea when her mind obligingly reminded her of Kyon’s harassment, his threats to take her honor, even if not in a direct way. And that nasty kiss on the neck… A moment later, Juno made a firm decision. It was too early to give up!
It was true, she couldn’t kill him. However, she could get rid of his dirty mind. No balls, no harassment. He would beat her half to death, perhaps more than once, but Juno was ready to endure any pain as long as he did not dare to think about her body anymore.
As Juno made her decision, she suddenly got even more scared. The slave had a sound transmitter! He could always use it and change the situation with a couple of pointed orders.
Juno added right away:
«And take away his sound-transmitter!»
Flitz was taken aback by Juno’s strange, illogical words. He could not believe his ears. He lit a match to look at her face in the hope that she was joking. But no, she wasn’t… Too bad. She must have gone crazy.
«Juno…» – Flitz began in an ingratiating, almost admonishing tone, wincing as if looking at a psychopath. – «…Tell me, girl. Did you have cereal for breakfast? Were there any suspicious-looking mushrooms with white spots on them?»
Juno was terrified to see Flitz’s face lit by the fire of the match. Her subconscious mind raised the alarm. Flitz was not imaginary anymore! She took off like a shot, disappearing around the corner. The old man watched her leave and quietly muttered under his breath: «Is she messing with me?» – and followed her.