Countess Christa Monte

Disclaimer: This story is my intellectual property, and should be treated as such, do not plagiarize, or post without permission. If it is not legal to view writings that are sexually explicit and may have themes of bondage, feminization and other ‘deviant’ sexual experiences: don't read this. Don't read it, if it is not legal to do so where you live. Going any further is of your own free will, and responsibility is solely on yourself. Any similarity to real people or events is highly cliche, horrifying and unintentional.My rule for all of you:Enjoy.

Mistress Dyvia presents:

The Countess Christa Monte

By: Mistress Dyvia Chapter 1

The skiff dropped out of the superliminal slipstream. The ship, Mahverion stayed within the barriers of the slipstream ethers, impressively it managed to stay in place as the drop-skiff soared to a small moon with a small team to leave to the closest moon. 

The Moon was known as Elbania, and it was the only piece of civilization within three days travel of the moon when they had found that the captain was unconscious. They needed help.

They knew Elbania was off limits, it was a place of exile for a former conqueror, Leon deNaples. However, if they did not stop there, their Captain would certainly die as the ship did not have the appropriate medical facilities nor capable medical personnel.

The skiff landed, as the ship’s third in command, Dante Edmonds along with his best friend who was also the company's representative, Diego Vernonaccompanied him. They saw a group of patrollers outside and they tried to wave them down. They seem to move along without ever noticing them, at which point Dante held up a flare gun and shot a flare into the sky. 

The patrol came to an abrupt stop pointing to the flare, and then to the source of the flare: them. Dante waved his hands to show that he needed help and was trying to attract their attention. The guards on patrol Drew their weapons and charged. 

Dante held his hands up wide, showing that he was not brandishing a weapon. But a second later a knife at his foot told him that they were not being so cautious. Diego was the first to grab the weapon at their feet and throw it back towards the guards that were closing in. “Run, Dante!" The two men started running quickly back towards their skiff, but were cut off quickly as a man jumped off of his vehicle and landed on top of the two of them.

Dante was not experienced with martial fighting, but certainly knew how to throw a punch. The first person he struck, undoubtedly had a broken nose given the crunch, Diego, on the other hand, was an experienced member of the Galactic Armada who acted as both military and police within the galaxy.. He held his own against three men. And when the two were finally subdued, another voice was heard.

“Mr. Gray. If you wish to kill these men, feel free to do so, but understand… they are not mine.”

It was Dante who looked up and saw the unmistakable figure, the legend himself, the conqueror, Leon de Naples. He had seen many clips with this man leading charges…

The man known simply as Mr. Gray stood up and commanded his men to lift the two. There was a questioning, and they resolved quickly to inform him that their Captain had slipped into a coma and required medical assistance. Dante and Diego were put into cuffs, but were led back to the skiff, where they took the leader of the guards who commanded the crew to stay put. All were agreeable.

When they arrived at the base, the doctor did a couple of initial inspections of the captain's body and acknowledged to Mr. Gray that their captain was indeed in a coma. 

Dante and Diego were led to a room where they could sit and possibly sleep while they waited. Diego through a chess piece too. Dante, “the king is with you my friend! I can't believe that we survived that!” He said with laughter as he laid back into his chair.

"Dante.” The Voice came from the doorway, it was Leon. " Walk with me. I wish to know what I have missed in Pariseilles.” Pariseilles was the region of the galaxy that represented their local government.

Diego and Dante exchange looks, and Dante stood up and followed Leon. Leon asked questions of local news, and what was happening… nothing that viewing a news feed wouldn't have told him. But he seemed to appreciate it. Then he looked to the king's chest piece that Dante had been holding, “tell me about that."

Dante pulled it out of his pocket and showed it more fully, "it is a game that we play. Whoever makes an accomplishment gets to be the king of the day."

Leon laughed a bit, “we are all kings and pawns. Pawns being the most common chess piece, and the king being the most desired… and yet they are both the most limited." 

Dante nodded his head, but admitted, “I'm afraid I don't know how to play myself.”

"Let me tell you an interesting thing about chess. Everyone worries about the king. But it's the queen that controls how well the rest of the board plays." He reached out and looked at the chess piece, and then returned it to Dante's hand, urging him to put it back into his pocket.

“I also have another request of you, Dante. I'm not going to lie, it is forbidden. But I wrote a poem for an old lover. She will probably have someone find you knowing that anyone had landed on this Moon. I would like you to deliver it to her, I assure you it is completely innocent.” Leon then took a moment and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it to Dante. 

Dante reluctantly took it and he opened it and it was just as the man said, three poems. "I don't know.”

“I love that woman with all my heart. It will be delivered to her, or I swear you will not make it off this moon alive. Believe me, if the wrong words are spoken at the wrong time… They will believe you are one of my agents. I have done much for you, I have done much for your captain, and all I want you to do is deliver an innocent letter." 

Dante closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then stuck the letter into his jacket pocket. “And who will be asking for this?" 

Leon smiled and padded Dante on the shoulder, "you will not see her, but you can expect a Mr. Bassoon.”

Several minutes later, Dante was returned to Diego. And the two of them talked briefly, Dante mentioned nothing of the letter. Took his jacket off and put it over his chest as if it were a blanket and laid back in the seat. 

Hours had passed, and there was a silent tapping on Dante's shoulder, “your Captain died. You need to leave. Now." 

Diego and Dante looked at each other, they nodded, and quickly followed Leon as he led them to an exit where there were no guards. They exited through the door, and quickly ran for their skiff. 

The engines powered on quickly, the skiff pulled off of the Moon and headed to the Mahverion. As they reached the ship, the skiff attached to its main dock, then the small group of men went back aboard the ship. 

The first mate, Lars D. Philipson, was waiting. At this point he would be the acting captain, "I told you not to go down there. And what of the captain?”

Dante struggled to meet the man's gaze, “the captain did not survive." 

“So it was a waste… well, Mister Edwards, you are about to see that no good deed goes unpunished. You will stay in the brig until we arrive back at Mercy Port.”There was a bit of a protest, he looked at the men, “You think I am being too brutal? Maybe I am. But I take pride in that. I am relentless!” He then nodded to two men who each took an arm of Dante's and led him to the break. Diego, on the other hand, as well as the other crewmen were allowed to go back to their rooms. 

Four days later they arrived at Mercy Port. As they disembarked there was a building ahead of them, carved into a fresca with the name ‘Morales.’ above that was the man himself. 

His voice bellowed over the crew disembarking, "What has happened to the captain?" 

Lars Phillipson was the one to respond, “the captain has died and Dante Edmonds has disobeyed my orders.”

Morales stood tall, “both of you, in my office now.”

Dante handed the chest piece to Diego, “I don’t see any way I will be kind for the day today." 

Diego took the piece and patted Dante on the shoulder, "Good luck.” His best friend said with encouragement.

Dante followed Lars to the main building, and up to the second floor where the offices were. As they approached the transparent titanium doors, they slid open and they were able to approach Morales who urged them both to sit. 

“What has happened?" The owner of the shipyard demanded. 

Lars spoke, "the captain fell ill 5 days ago. He did not arrive on the bridge for his duty, so I sent one of the mates to wake him up, and he was non-responsive. His breathing and his pulse were slow. I commanded the crew to continue on toward Mercy. Second-mate Edwards contradicted my instructions and said we should go to Elbania as it was the only base for days. I refused. But he insisted and rallied the crew to agree. I told him that if he did it it was on him, he did. The captain still died. And here we are.”

Morales looked back and forth between the two men, "is that what happened, Dante?" 

Lars looked offended as if his word wasn't enough, but Dante just nodded his head, “that sounds about right, Sir." Lar’s offence turned to amusement as Dante had agreed with him. 

Morales looked right back to Lars, "why wasn't that your action?”

“Excuse me?" Lars seemed baffled by the question. 

"Why didn't you command the crew to go to Elbania? That shouldn't have been Dante's command, that should have been yours.”

"I was protecting the cargo.”

"You were protecting yourself.” Morales was clearly incensed and annoyed. 

“Dante, as of today you are going to be the new captain of the Mahverion.”

Lars gasped, "you are demoting me?" 

Morales turned back to him, “not at all. You were first mate, when the captain was gone you were still first made, you were just the acting Captain. And you'll still be first mate under Captain Edwards.”

“I will not be insulted like this. You cannot make me serve under him." 

Morales seemed to agree with him, "you're right, I cannot… do you choose to find employment elsewhere? Think it over and let me know in the morning.” 

Lars stormed out. 

Dante seemed baffled, he was expecting a captainship to take at least 5 more years. He was not prepared for such a momentous occasion. "Thank you, Mr. Morales." And shook his hand with a wide smile. Dante was still in his early twenties, and the smile showed it. 

Morales looked at him like he would a son. “You've done us all proud.” He paused for a moment, “I can imagine that there is a beautiful lady that would be excited to hear this?" 

Dante shook his employer's hand again, “yes, sir!" And he skipped out of the office and started running down the hall until he could find a path leading to the beach where he knew Diego would be talking to Lexeres.

As Dante turned a corner he saw the two of them sitting on the beach together. His best friend and his girlfriend were waiting for him. “Over here!" He called out, and Lexeres bounced to her feet and started running at full speed to meet him halfway. Dante ran as well and they stopped only when they were tight in each other's arms. A couple of kisses, and a second moment to adjust being so close to one another after so long apart. Then with reluctance, they slowly started to walk back towards Diego.

When Diego was close enough to speak he asked, "how much trouble are you in?”

A wide smile formed across Dante's mouth, “I am Captain of the Mahverion." 

Lexeres squealed in shock and delight as a high-pitched sound echoed into the water in front of them. But it was Diego that looked shocked more than anything else, “what?" 

"I am captain, and Lars will continue as my first mate if he chooses to stay with the company.” but that is the moment when he turned to look at Lexeres, “And I promise you this my love, I will soon have the money I need to afford a wedding ring that you deserve." 

She hugged him, and Dante looked to Diego and held out his hand waiting for the chess piece… “I believe that makes me King for the day!" He said with a little bit of a joking jab, but instead, Diego just grabbed his bag and started walking away. Realizing Diego was upset for some reason, he added, “you are still the best of us.”

Diego didn't even turn around, “I know." 

Dante wanted to follow after him, but he knew Lexeres needed to be his focus right now. They held each other and walked hand in hand along the beach. And they kissed… and they swam… and they made love… and in the evening they sat by a warm fire, he made a promise, “give me a few more months, my sweetest love… And I truly will buy you a ring that you can show off. I don't think the most beautiful ring in the universe would do you justice, but I will have something that you can be proud of." 

She reached into her hair and pulled out a small pin that she used to style her hair. “Dante… I need nothing special, just knowing that you love me. You have a wonderful heart." She bent the pin, and put it on her finger, “this is all I need, and I would gladly wear it for all my life as a symbol of your love. To let every other person know that I am yours.” And she wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled his head down to kiss him. 

"We are engaged…" he said with a laugh. “Come, let's get some wine, and tell my father the wonderful news!" 

They walked along the shopping district and came to a stop in front of a shop that sold spirits and other liquors. He went inside leaving her out front, and he found a bottle of his father's favorite. Moments later when he came back out, he saw Lexeres staring at a beautiful dancer. Something caught his eye, she was staring almost lustfully at the woman.

As you stared from behind her, he had to ask, probably a question that he knew he shouldn't ask, "You find her attractive?”

She almost seemed surprised by his presence behind her so quickly, "I do.”

"Does marrying me cause you stress? Are you missing out on opportunities because of me?" He was trying to hide how hurt her attentions were to another. 

But she simply smiled as she started into his eyes, “of course I like women. They are beautiful and soft… but no need to feel jealous, my love, for I have never met a woman with a heart like yours.” She leaned in closer staring him in the eyes, "nor eyes like you yours.” Her thumb briefly rubbed across his right eyebrow, “my Orion's belt…” and then across the left, "my Northstar.”

She had made the comments about Orion spelled and the North Star before. His eyes were green, a dark green, but in the upper part of his right Iris, there were three pale blue spots that made the shape of Orion's belt… it had have been century since Betelgeuse had gone supernova, but the iconography was still very popular… and on his left eye, just one big blue spot that was very noticeable, bigger and brighter than any other spot in his eyes… her North Star.

Her words of encouragement were all he needed. He hugged her, he kissed her, and then he took her hand as he led the way back to his father’s home.

He knocked briskly on the door to his father's home… in some ways it was still his own since that's where he stayed when he was in Port. The door opened, and there was his father, shocked to see his son… and the fiance that he didn't know yet was Dante’s fiance. 

“Father…” those usually more familiar with his father, he always addressed him as father for the first time when he returned. 

“Dante!" His arms were spread wide as he stepped forward and embraced his son. "That was a long trip, any fun stories?”

Dante looked to Lexeres and then back, “funny, you should ask…" And the two stepped in as Dante offered his father the bottle of wine…

A few hours later, they had finished the meal, and they had each had a small glass of wine. They had laughed hard at the stories that Dante told of the last trip…

His father held up his glass, "to my son, the captain, and his beautiful bride to be! They clinked their glasses together, and each took a sip… and then there was another knock on the door. No one realized how ominous this knock was so late in the night.

Dante watched as his father told everyone to sit and stood up himself. As he opened the door he was surprised to see the galactic authority. “How may I help you?”

The man stepped in with two other lieutenants behind him, “which of you is Dante Edwards?" 

Dante stood up, “I am." 

The man's stuff forward and held up a piece of paper, a warrant. "Dante Edwards, you are under arrest.”

“For what?" He asked, "what is the charge?”

“That is for the chief prosecutor to tell you,” And then he grabbed Dante and pulled him close, his hands were bound behind his back, and was let out. 

"Father!” He called out, "I'm sure this is a mistake… we'll settle this and I'll be back by morning!" 

“I will contact a solicitor." His father reassured. But he was rushed out.

The authorities brought him a hover carriage. And just like that they are moving down the road towards the city. 

Several minutes later, they were in front of the courthouse. The man once again each grabbed one of Dante's arms and let him down the halls. When they stopped, they were in front of the door marked ‘Chief Prosecutor Villas.’

They led him inside, and then they placed him in a chair in the middle of the room. There was a well-dressed man sitting at a desk, “leave us." 

The GA authorities let go of Dante, leaving him in the chair, and then they left. “Excuse me sir, I don't understand why I am here. Can you tell me what the charges are?”

"Treason.” The Man then stood up, he walked around his desk and leaned against it while looking at Dante, “my name is Gerfor Villas. I am the chief prosecutor in Mercy Port.”

Dante’s mouth opened slightly, his eyes widened, and his skin became pale, it took a moment to ask, “treason?" 

"I understand on your last voyage, you took a small ship to the moon of Elbion.” He paused, “against the instructions of your Superior officer.”

“Yes, sir. Our captain was sick. It was the only chance to keep him alive.” Dante admitted and defended. 

"Did Lars Phillipson accuse me?” Dante asked we're wondering who would have accused him of such a preposterous charge…

"His name is in the testimony, yes. If this goes to trial you will have the right to face him in an open court… now I'm told that you accepted a letter from Leon deNaples.”

“My friend Diego Vernonwas there. Do you know him? He will vouch for me.”

Gerfor not at his head in affirmation, "he is one of my more recent acquaintances, but I know him.” He then used a hand to dismiss the thought, "And was he with you when Leon deNaples gave you this letter?”

"No sir… he doesn’t even know about the letter. …But I was assured it was very innocent. It was just poetry for a loved one." Dante tried to reassure his interrogator. 

“This letter is the reason you are accused of treason. Did you deliver it?” 

Dante shook his head, "no sir. It's still in my pocket.” he carefully reached in and pulled it out, offering it to Villas.”

The chief prosecutor stepped closer and took the note, he looked it over… “it appears innocent.” then he ran his fingers along the edge of the page until it stopped, and then the other side… he walked it over to the desk, he grabbed a ruler from his desk and started sliding it along the imperfections of the paper. “But appearances are deceiving." 

"I don't understand…" Dante questioned.

“Those in the aristocracy are trained to find the imperfections of a page, and line these up. And before you know it, you find that these crisscrosses often spell entirely different messages. In this case, coordinates, and times of guard changes." There was a pause, “some members of the aristocracy don't even need to use a ruler to read this." 

"But he said it was innocent!” Dante doubled down. 

Villas put the letter down on his desk, and turned to look at Dante… evaluating. Finally he let out his sigh, “no, Mr. Edwards… you are the one that is innocent. But you must learn to be a little bit more suspicious, who knows what troubles will lie and wait for you in life if you don't learn to be smarter." 

“Sir?" 

"You are free to go. But please Mr. Edwards, don't just take random letters from high political figures in the future.” He paused, "I certainly don't expect to find you in front of me again." 

"No, sir.” He stood up and started walking towards the door, “thank you, sir." 

"One last thing, do you know who is supposed to contact you?”

Dante actually did know that answer, "a Mr. Bassoom." 

Villas turn around quickly, “say that again." 

"Bassoon.”

Villas took a step closer, “who else knows about this? Diego Fernon?”

Dante shook his head, "no sir. I have told no one except for you.”

Villas bowed his head then took the letter and brought it to a metal trash barrel, and set it on a fire. " We can't have such treasonous things sitting around, can't we?" 

"No, sir.”

“Thank you for everything you've done to help us. I will have my men take you to your home.” He pressed a button on his desk, and two guards walked in. As they stepped in, he tapped his desk twice, "since we have inconvenienced Mr. Edward, let's take him home as quickly as possible.”

One of the men answered, "yessir.”

Dante thanked all of them, and eagerly followed the GA authorities. He was led back to the vehicle in which he was taken there, and he stepped into the back. It lifted about a foot off the ground and started moving down the street. Dante sat there, staring at his hands in disbelief… he thought he had been in real trouble, and was relieved that everything had been resolved so quickly. He would certainly have to apologize to his father and to Lexeres. 

The vehicle came to a stop, and as he stepped out, he realized he was nowhere near his father's home. "Excuse me, sir, this is not my home…” it was a shipyard. 

One of the guards looked at him, “your new home is the brothel D'if." And then the man grabbed out his arm. 

“No!” He pulled back, "the chief prosecutor said I was innocent and free to go!”

"Shut up!” The other man approached quickly, but Dante managed to push the first one to the ground, and then uses elbow to push through the other man. He ran quickly, grabbing one of the MotoGins, His leg swung around the seat, and he straddled the ride with the GA Logo on the side and started racing down the side of the road quickly. 

He didn't stop until he arrived at Diego's home. He could fix things, he was of the aristocracy. As he burst in, he called out his friend's name, "Diego!” He called the name over and over, until his friend stepped down the stairs wearing pajama bottoms and slippers. 

“Dante? What's going on?” he asked his friend. 

"Villas… The prosecutor had me arrested, I escaped. I need help to get off world until I can prove my innocence.”

Diego immediately jumped to action, "of course. Do you need money?" 

“Yes." 

"Were you followed?”

“I believe so, probably just minutes behind me." 

Diego reached for a sword, "are you armed?”

“No." 

"Good.” And Diego pulled the sword out and pointed it at Dante. 

Sounds a little confused, “this is not the time for jokes.”

Diego slashed his swords slightly, but enough to cut Dante's finger. "This is not a joke, get on your knees.”

Instead, Dante ran to the other side of the room pulling another sword, he held it out but Diego closed the distance quickly. Every thrust that Dante used was answered with a slash against, his arm or a leg. Minor injuries. But they proved how outclassed he was with a sword. And in just a couple brief moments, Dante found himself on his knees. "Why?” Dante cried, "I am innocent. I took a letter…" 

“I know Dante. I read it, I know what it said.. I knew the messages in it. I am far more educated than you on these things and you certainly shouldn't have kept it a secret from me… otherwise I might not have had to turn you in." 

“You?” Dante's voice was as disbelieving as it was angrily accusing. “Why?" 

Diego rolled his eyes, "it's complicated. Let's just say, I am rich, I have ambitions, goals… I should not be jealous of some peasant, sailor boy like you.”

The door opened, since I heard behind him, and you called out to them, "in here!”

The GA approached. There were far more this time, about ten men. His arms were grabbed and restrained. And as they were about to take him out of the room. Diego ordered, “wait." And then approached his own jacket, and removed something. He brought it back to Dante and held up the king's piece. "To remember better days." And then placed it in Dante's pocket before walking away. 

The guards took Dante back to the port. And before he knew it he was loaded onto a ship and was taken away. Several hours later they arrived on another moon. Parts of it were flashy, It was likely a casino. Place for the rich. But he was taken to another a little further North, it almost seemed like a prison…

Once the small shuttle had docked to the prison like part of the complex, Dante was taken down a flight of stairs. Led to an elevator and descended even further into the depths. 

He was escorted to an office, on the front of it it said, ‘Gabrielle Dorceus, Madame Warden.’ A moment later he was escorted inside and he soon stood before a woman behind a desk. She wore a golden silk dress, her hair up high, with curls. Her makeup was done thickly, there was no doubt that she was wearing makeup. Many modern women would do their makeup in a style that enhanced their natural beauty, this woman advertised that she made a beauty that was different from her natural look. 

She spoke strictly, like an unhappy principle of a school, “you are Dante Edwards?" 

Dante nodded his head, "yes ma'am.”

“The correct answer is, ‘yes, madame Warden,’” she immediately corrected him verbally.

And he responded with respect, “yes, madame, Warden." And then he took a moment and added, "I don't know what they've told you. But I'm innocent.”

She giggled, “of course you are." 

Dante looked confused, "I am, you must believe me.”

She put her pen down and looked up at him, “I do believe you. This is a brothel. This is a place where you will be forgotten. You were not tried, you were not convicted. If you were, there are a thousand other prisons you could have been sent to. No, Dante, you were sent here. You are sent to the place where they send the people that bring shame. I know you're innocent… and this is where you will be punished for it.”

She stood up. She held what looked like a little round bandage smaller than the palm of her hand, she placed it to Dante's forearm and pulled it away. 

There was a black mark in the shape of an ‘M…’ no that was a ‘W.’ as this was a brothel… 

He watched as the ink of the letter seemed to ‘sink’ into his skin like quicksand… the guards picked him up and led him to a concrete cell. They stood around and watched… then the first symptom hit, fever. He felt cold. But he was sweating profusely. It was hard to focus his vision, hard to stand up. Soon he was leaning on the wall. 

The guards and the Madame Warden were also seemingly amused even as he fell to his knees and vomited a green goo. Again. And again. His hands seemed smaller, and dainty. He was able to kneel up for a moment… as he looked down at his hands, he caught something else: Two mounds on his chest, did he have breasts? 

He vomited again, the green goo spilled on the floor and his body seemed even smaller, though the new chest accessories seemed to have grown.

The night continued like this for hours and Dante finally passed out. His dreams were odd as a woman seemed to chase him down threatening to take over. 

He awoke in another room. A feminine bedroom decorated in pinks. He was still wearing his clothes, though they didn't exactly fit right. He was shorter. He reached between his legs, he was not a man. 

He stood up and walked over to a mirror. An attractive woman stared back at him with confusion, though her white shirt appeared to be covered in greenstains…

He was having trouble mentally reconciling the fact that the woman in the mirror was in fact him. “Are you real?” He asked the reflection almost startled by the high-pitched feminine voice that came from his lips. 

He started to look around, curious. There were some clothes hung over a small chair in the corner, and a note. 

‘put these on before your first client comes in.’

It was a red dress, a small box full of makeup, a pair of shoes, and underwear. She looked at it with a mix of emotions, mostly negative ones.

Dante was expecting her first client… And that thought was making her just as sick as vomiting that green goo was earlier…

Chapter 2

She was so small now. All of her musculature was gone, she was a woman. She knew technology could do this, but she never wanted anything to do with that. She looked down at herself, her breasts pushing forward on her formerly white-now stained green shirt. Her vest… her pants that didn't quite fit at all. Even her boots were so loose. 

She felt tears running down her cheeks, wondering if she was that overwhelmed, or if it was the fact that she was a woman, they cried so easily, right?

She looked at the fancy dress in front of her. She wanted nothing to do with that… but, she was so small now, she didn't know if she could defend herself. In fact, she was pretty sure that she could not. Lars, Diego, Villas had won. 

She looked at the clothes in front of her, it was a fancy dress, or at least it appeared to be one. And then to the side of it or boxes labeled with numbers. She closed her eyes and took a couple of steadying breaths.

And then she started to take off her old ‘Dante’ clothes… She didn't know what to call herself now. And in just a couple of brief moments, she was staring at herself in a mirror behind the dress. 

She was notgicing details, her breasts weren't particularly large, in some ways that was a relief, they looked about average for her body size. Her hair was long, a dark vibrant Brown… her eyes were the same color. In fact, her eyes were the only thing that seemed to be the same. 

She opened the first box, it was a pair of stockings attached to a garter belt. It was a single piece. There were instructions, and she found herself rolling these stockings up into little rings, and then rolling them up her legs one at a time. Once they were done, the belt itself came up over her waist, and clicked together in the front. 

The second box was a pair of boots That went just over the ankles. They were a maroon color, and they had very high heels. It had a large platform under the toes , and the heel itself was about the length of her forearm. There were no instructions, but she managed to put her feet into them and secure the straps. There was a rigidness around the ankles, and she thought that might prevent her from injuring them, and she was grateful for that . She attempted to stand, and she was not very steady on her feet. 

The third box had a pair of undergarments. They looked something like panties, except there was nothing in the crotch to protect a woman. She wondered if this was normal for the style of dress, or if this was because she was in a brothel. She knew she probably would never find out the difference. But she pulled them on regardless. 

The next box confused her, it looked like a skirt? She already had a dress… why would she need that? She saw the label on the inside of the box, ‘decency skirt.’ She didn't know what that meant. Nor was she oblivious to the contrast of the garment’s name and her new profession. But she took it anyway and wrapped it around her waist. It was fitted for her. And it went down to her knees. 

Then she opened the box marked ‘5.’ According to the label inside the box, this was a chemise. It looks like an oversized night shirt, but this one didn't give much protection for the chest. She pulled it over her head. It was relatively form-fitting, stretchable, breathable. And it went under her breasts, almost lifting them. And it went down just below her buttocks. 

The sixth box was opened and she found herself faced with something she did know about… a corset. Just like everything else, it seemed to be fitted just for her, it was seamless in the back, but she knew that was a deception. She starved in the back and brought it around her front, and slid the protruding locks into their corresponding holes, and a moment later there was the sound of the lock engaging, and almost immediately she felt the internal mechanisms of the corset tightening her waist… The corset also stayed below her breasts, but seemed to have an underwire to push her breasts up.

The seventh box was opened and she didn't quite understand what she was looking at. It looked like several rings but when she picked it out it dropped down and it almost looked like the shape of a skirt… she looked in the box it said crinoline. It seemed somewhat stretchable, or at least bendable. She stood in the middle of it and then pulled it up to her waist, and it looked like she had an invisible skirt on, with just bones to make it spread out in a bell shape. 

The next box had what they called a bustle. She didn't initially know what that was, but there were instructions. It went to the back of her crinoline to add emphasis to her buttocks. It took her moment to figure out how to attach it, but she got it… even with her longer nails.

As she opened the next box, it was a camisole. Just a shirt that seemed to cover her corset and went over her shoulders, it didn't give much protection to her breasts, yet again. 

And the final box was opened and contained a petticoat. It was a soft white covering for the crinoline. It was harder to put on than she would have imagined, especially given the nature of her nails. But when she did it she realized there was only one thing left, the dress.

When she finally lifted the dress, she realized it was actually in two pieces. A bodice and a skirt. They matched well, she had seen similar dresses before, usually highly ornate, it was a sign of upper class. But when they were not ornate, it was a sign of women who were easy. Most women did not wear such outfits…. But there was no surprise to see that the dtress was not ornate… they expected her to be easy, though she already knew that. 

The bodice was the first piece of clothing that gave her modesty in the chest area, at least some modesty.. it's tied shut in the front, but it was below her chest. It still exposed most of her chest, and showed off a bit of cleavage thanks to the corset and chemise, but the material did cover her nipples. The skirt attached to the bodice with buttons, and secured to become one piece. Despite the elevation from her boots, her dress only hovered a centimeter or two off the ground when she stood up straight. 

She stood there for a moment, she didn't even know if she could sit down like this… She looked at the small wooden chair, It had no arms and reminded her of a chair that she would sit at when eating with the family. Her feet were very sore at this point, her feet were not used to being in such a precarious position and she needed to sit down, she wasn't 100% sure how to do this. So she walked to the chair and put her hands on the back of it and found that she needed to kick her leg back up to lift part of the skirt and crinoline. She reached back and pulled it up slightly, and then walked to the front of the chair. She dropped the hoop of the crinoline on the seat itself and sat on the edge. And then there was finally some relief.

She sat for several minutes when she heard a lock mechanism from the door. Her first client was there… but it certainly wasn't what she was expecting. 

It was the warden. “I'm so glad that you decided to do that yourself. And here it brought two big burly men to help you if you decided not to do that.”

(Note for all my members, If you had voted for either of the two other options, those two men would have aggressively ‘helped her’ get dressed as she did above.)

She swallowed hard, glad that she had complied. At this point. She didn't know if she could have fought them back, she didn't know she could have handled them pawing at her and making her do those things. 

But then she noticed that the warden was dressed very differently, it was a black skin-tight suit, it was shiny, and covered her from toe to neck. Her hair was up, very efficient with no decoration to it. There was some sort of strange harness around her waist that went around and under her ass and connected to the front. She noticed that Dante was looking, she stretched a hand out to one of the guards who handed her some sort of black bar, with the lighting she couldn't quite make it what it was until she started screwing it into the front of the harness…

“You're my first client?" 

The warden nodded her head, "I am. I will fuck you, and then I will whip your ass… it's kind of a welcoming. And then every year on your anniversary I'll do it again.” And then she started walking closer to Dante…

Hours had passed, she was hurting, she was sore… and all she had left was the chemise. Everything else had been stripped from her. She was escorted to a shower, cleaned, and taken to a cell. It was more spacious than she would have expected, but it was all stone slabs and maybe concrete. Hours passed, and her door opened and she was taken to get made up. 

Things were different this time though, once her body was completely made up with the elaborate clothing, She was told that she was now to be called Tandy. Soon after she was led to a device in the corner. It was called a ‘mask.’ She was taken to it, and her face was put into it, there was flash, and she would learn quickly. It was a personality overlay. Once she was put into it, for several hours she was a different woman. A kind of woman they wanted their whore to be. She enjoyed playing with makeup, One like this she seemed to understand exactly how to walk in those shoes in such a way that it would invite gazes. 

She was agreeable. And because she was so agreeable, when she was taken back to her cell and she was still wearing those clothes which kept her warm. Several hours later her mind returned to her, and she was her normal ‘Dante’ self, or as close to it as she could be at that point. But truthfully, she felt that ‘Dante’ had died the first time she used the mask, she started to embrace ‘Tandy’ as she felt like she could never go back to her old life.

…and so became her ritual… days gave way to weeks… weeks gave way to months… and those months became years, it was hard to judge the time, but the warden had come to her six times… so it must have been 6 years.

One day she was sitting on the floor as she usually did in the corner. She tried to sleep, but it was too soon after coming out of the altered personality. It was always a struggle for her. But then she heard something scratching… and she started crawling along the floor, listening to where it came from, and then she heard it under a specific stone. She knocked on it back. There was only silence… everything became completely silent. Was there an echo?

There must have been somebody else on the other side. And she had spooked them… She decided to try something more secretive… three hard knocks, two soft and then one solid hard knock. There was a loaded silence as she waited, and then somebody returned it. And a moment later the rock slab that was beneath her, started to lift. And there was another woman, she offered a hand and Tandy pulled her up. “Hi." 

“Hi." 

The two looked at each other. The other woman was completely naked. “Sorry,” she said, “but I don't want to risk getting the dress dirty and risk letting them know that I've been doing this.

“Escaping?" Tandy asked 

"Escaping.” The woman confirmed. She held out of hand to shake it, "you may call me, Abigail Rafia. Formerly a man of leisure , a pleasure to meet you." 

Tandy returned the handshake, “they call me Tandy here, I used to be Dante... Formerly the almost captain of a small ship." 

"A common practice here I'm afraid… Do you mind if I look around?”

"You're the guest. I would be a terrible host if I said no.” and Tandy let out a soft little laugh. 

Abigail spent some time walking around knocking on the walls. After a couple of minutes she came back, "I can help you escape… but it's going to take years. And truthfully, finding your Cell takes approximately 4 months off of my original plan to escape since I don't have to tunnel around you anymore." 

“I would like that…”

“There are limitations given our circumstances. We don't ever remove so many cubic meters of dirt per month given our disposal methods. However, in our downtime if you would like conversation I can do that… I can teach you many things I know… Mathematics, philosophy, economics, psychology and so much more.”

Tandy looked back at her guest, "why would I need such things?”

"When you leave here… you will be like that for the rest of your life. You'll need to learn things, make yourself smarter… besides the chance to be better, people in control always want people such as you… dumb. They may tell you that they're educating you, they may teach you how to read, and write… and give you some basic numbers together, but they don't teach you how to think, they teach you what to accept.”

She contemplated that for a moment, “well, it's not like I have a lot of other things to do. Idle hands and all that.” She let out a sigh, "at least after the personality fades." 

Abigail looked up at her, “that's another thing. Stop using the mask. You're too loyal to them when you use it. It is not required. I certainly don’t want you accidentally telling them what we are doing.”

Tandy shook her head slightly, "it's bad enough I have to do those things, I certainly don't want to do it in my own right mind." 

Abigail stepped closer, “all the more reason to do it yourself. It is the only true freedom you have, the ability to do everything on your own. Do not let them bind your mind. Do not let them take more than they can already have. And besides, these are skills you will need on your own. Hopefully no one will make you do it, but you can use it to your advantage.”

She thought back to the night when she… he fought Diego. “Can you teach me to fight?”

Abigail nodded, "of course… a woman needs to defend herself. And sometimes the best defense will be a stronger offense. I'll teach you how to fight with your hands, I'll show you how to fight with weapons. I will teach you how to turn your small frame into your greatest asset." 

And thus their nights began. 

They went to the far side of Tandy cell, skipping months of digging around her cell. It was simple, she was not giving proper plumbing, however, she was washed once a day, twice if she was dirty before going into the brothel. That gave her two opportunities to remove about a handful of dirt, one in her bed pan as her food was delivered. It was a three-tiered tray that was inserted, there's a spot for her old bed pan, there's a spot for a new one, and there was a place for food… she was supposed to take her food and her new bed pan out and place the old bed pan in. She did so. She would take the dirt, and try to get another handful spread on her arms and legs so she just appeared to be dirty, and when they took her to the brothel, they showered her before they had her dress… and of course she was showered again when she was returned. 

This happened nearly everyday. But a handful was not much, so it would take months and years before they were ready to escape. They crawled into the tunnel together, compressed what they could of the dirt and pulled out of about a handful, it didn't take long everyday but they had discussions in their down time. 

Abigail had been a man of a simple nature. He had once served a great house, he had taught their children manners, he'd educated their children in ways that the state never would. He knew the things about being of the elite class. Apparently it had been rumored that she knew where the family had hidden the secret treasures. He didn't know where it was, he never did, but they put him in there and even gave him a limited amount of entertainment. Hoping it would slowly loosen his lips. Make him want a little more… but the fact is, ‘she’ didn't know. 

As the days turned into months, Tandy embraced the nature that Abigail required of her. She learned to be the whore, to be cheap and easy for the men she had been required to service. She did it without a mask. And she learned to do it without being angry at herself, and learned to embrace the good parts. If she had still been a man, it would have been easy to enjoy it, she had to learn that as a woman. 

The lessons got intricate. She would say to him, “remember, those who have earned their wealth. Have their goals. It's not just about getting enough money to get through their life… it becomes about generational wealth, they want to make so much money that it will last for generations. Their name will be remembered five generations later… Ten generations… a hundred generations… And they are relentless at making sure they get what they need. And they will make sure that every person below their standing will be pushed down to further their own agendas.”

"But no one needs that kind of money.” Tandy would say. 

"Perhaps not. And alcoholics don't need to drink. Obese people don't need to have one more helping… and fish don't need to swim… it's in their nature.”

And of course, between the lessons of how the Galaxy works, they would fight. First, Abigail taught Tandy how to throw a punch… and when she had perfected throwing a punch, they would spar… but Abigail never fought back, Tandy just couldn't make contact. “Your body is small, lithe. Flexible, and unfortunately does not take a lot of damage. You need to learn how to dodge, block without damaging yourself, you can't just catch a fist. You will not overpower a man. If you fight against a man that is your same height and weight, he will overpower you. But if a man cannot hit you, if he cannot grab you… but you can hit him, you can grab him… you can still win. 

These lessons were enhanced by lessons of anatomy and physiology. “Think of those places that you are most ticklish to a lover…” and she would point a parts of her body, near her ribs, her armpits, her lower back… behind her knees… “Those are where we are most vulnerable. Think about it, you've probably never laughed when somebody's touched you there if you did not know who they were. But if it's someone you trust, you fall into a laughing fit as a tickle you… cuz it is about trust. 

The lessons continued about the history of the Galaxy. “So the reason that we no longer use long-range weapons. Is because of the aristocracy. Before we left Babylon-begone, the aristocracy was inherited. But in the galactic era, aristocracy must be bought. Again. This goes to generational wealth. You can buy high position for yourself, and you can buy it for your children. If there's enough money left over your children can buy it for their children and so forth. But when your rich children are getting killed in warfare, after buying a high position in the army… they're a problems. A single artillery shell can wipe out a hundred people if done the right way. A nuclear strike can wipe out an entire planet. If you're aristotic child happens to be there, it's just chance. They took that away. Armies now fight the way they did in old times with swords, spears, and arrows. It's a sophistication.”

“But we still have weapons like those long range ones,” Tandy would argue. 

“Yes, because of the illegal use of them. Pirates, smugglers, black market dealers. But they are never used in an official capacity against other civilized conflict.” Abigail paused, “he's told me of your adventure on Elbania. If those guards had long range weapons, they would have used them. Instead they attacked you with knives.”

And as the months continued they got further into their tunnel. They were still years from escaping, but everyday there were at least a few inches closer. Everyday, Tandy became more experienced with happy deal with men… and occasionally women in bed as a whore. 

He learned ways of the military. Abigail would tell him, “so a very basic strategy when dealing with large numbers would be to take your Force and set a large number of them directly against your opponent. Now if you can swing around a specialized team to their side. It's called flanking… from here they will attack from the side or another angle making it almost impossible for the enemy to focus on a single group… if you could get a flanking action perfect you cut the lines in half, providing a clear line to victory… divide and conquer.”

Of course, Abigail was telling this while showing it on a map, "I see, so you can wipe out half the enemy, you only have half left, but you still have more forces… but what about this thing?" She pointed to a little mushroom shape on the map. 

“Yes… that is their supplies, if you can cut off their supply line, you will demoralize them, you will starve them, and you will deprive them… if you can take their supplies, you'll not only do all the above, but you'll be using their supplies to fuel your victory instead of your own, and that will help you last longer.”

The lessons had to be repeated, Tandy was never taught to think like this. But she was learning, this was becoming easier. 

Mathematics was a little bit trickier. At first Tandy started to learn the basics, she had known the tables to count, and multiply but there are simple numbers. Abigail was a relentless mistress, she made sure that her protege was just as good… it took a while but soon she was calculating high numbers with multiplication and division, then she was learning to calculate complicated numbers in her head. She would snap out in a number, and Tandy would give an answer. 

“Tell me Tandy, how much dirt are we removing? How far are we progressing?”

Tandy rolled our eyes for a second, not in disbelief, but in calculations… “approximately 9 cubic centimeters a day…”The equivalent volume of a snowball… “63 cubic centimeters per week… 252 cubic centimeters per month… 3276 cubic centimeters per year…”

Abigail’s tone was pleased, “How many meters is that?" 

Simple calculation, "32 point 76.” 

And then came the day, all the lessons that she had learned, and it was a comp. It started as a simple conversation that showed that she had learned so much about not only thinking… but showed that she now understood how to think. 

Abigail was sitting across from Tandy, “tell me again what happened that day with the prosecutor.”

“I told my side. I told you this. At first he was skeptical, he continued asking me questions. I answered honestly. He asked about the letter and I gave it to him. He read it and found that it actually was a treasonous letter. But seemed happy when I told him that I hadn't passed it along… I told him the name of the contact, I confirmed it. And then he burned the letter to make sure that no one else could get it…”

And Abigail, echoed it, "he burned the letter…" 

Tandy nodded her head as she had son so many times, “he didn't want any evidence…” And her voice suddenly caught, a gasp…

“He burned the evidence." Abigail rephrased as she realized that Tandy was putting the pieces together.

"Bassoom… he knew who it was… it might have been a friend.”

Abigail's head rocked back and forth as if it was possible, but she clearly thought it was doubtful. "Do you really believe that such an ambitious member of the new government that had distanced itself so much from Leon deNaples, would have friends with such loyalties?”

"No… you're right… it would be something more shameful… a family member.”

Abigail clapped her hands slowly, “bravo, my apprentice… he might just have what it takes to survive out there, in time you may just be sharper than me.”

"No!” Tandy was suddenly seething in anger, "this cannot be, Lars and Diego set me up, betrayed me… and Villas wouldn't even have wasted his time with such a conspiracy if it wasn't for the fact that I knew a member of his family had done this?" 

“Calm yourself… in through your nose, out through your mouth.” Tandy followed the meditation, “we are months away from escaping, we've been doing this for over seven years… it's been 13 years since you've been in here, it's been over 20 for me… we can start new lives. I know you want to go and get your revenge, but that is not needed." 

“They can't just rob me of everything… my life, my gender, my love, my hope… they've taken it all from me… what am I supposed to do?”

Abigail put her hands on Sandy's shoulders, "make a better life, some would say the best revenge is living a better life than those who would do you harm.”

And the digging continued… but with this new found information, Tandy found herself inconsolable, full of rage. Vengeance permeated her thoughts.

It was late one night when they were digging. As they were crawling through, something happened… there's dust falling down, “cave in!" Tandy warned. It started, she grabbed her friend's feet and pulled her back but there was a smash on her head, she was bleeding badly. “Abigail!" 

She did her best to pull a friend past her own room, into her own. She had more things there, hopefully something that could fix this. “Abigail, please stay with me." 

She looked up, she was having trouble focusing her eyes, "I'm dying. You're not going to stop me, and they're not going to come in time to find me…” she pointed to a box, "bring that to me.” 

Tandy did so. "You shouldn't worry about this stuff…”

She opened the box, and found a ring. She put it in Tandy's hand… "If you put this under an infrared projection, it will give you a map… to the treasure.”

Tandy looked confused, "I thought you said you didn't know where their treasure was.”

“I didn't… I know we're the one that my family has been safeguarding for generations is… and I want you to have it. Start a new life. Please don't get lost in vengeance. There's so much more to you.”

Tandy put the ring on her thumb, as none of her fingers were large enough to hold it anymore..

And in those few brief moments, Tandy's friend died in her arms. She sat there for hours crying over her dead friend. So many more things crossed your mind, she almost felt guilty that she worried how she now knew that it would take longer for her to dig the rest of the way out… she wanted to be free with her friend, and that wasn't going to happen anymore. 

And then the wall opened up. It waited for him to take the food and replace the bedpan… there was none. It had been left in the tunnel. She closed her eyes as she had to abandon the body, she crawled back into the hole and resealed the entrance. She sat on the other side of the wall looking through a pinhole, as minutes later, a guard opened the door and stepped in to find the broken body of Abigail. 

She sat there for a while as another came in to investigate. And opened up a large bag and then put her body into it. 

There was a thought, it was a good chance they would find the tunnel now… nothing in the room could explain the injuries that she received. And a thought occurred to her, and she hated herself for it. But if the situation had been reversed, she would have hoped that Abigail would have done it with her…

They left the body in the room in its sack… she had to act quick, and she let herself back into the room, she opened the bag, and pulled Abigail's body into the tunnel and resealed the entrance… she put herself into the sack, and tried to be motionless. 

Several minutes passed, and the guards re-entered. One picked up her sack by her head and the other by her feet; they took her up a flight of stairs and into an elevator. She was put down into some soft material, and she was pretty sure she heard the hum of a skiff powering up… she was in a ship and it was moving… it only took a few minutes before it landed, and everything dropped including herself… she had no idea what was going to happen. But she landed on the same soft materials that she had been sitting in, and they stunk… they were rotten… this was garbage. 

She worked her fingers to undo the laces of the bag she was in. And soon she was free, though she hadn't really planned this well enough, all she had was a chemise and bodice, no footwear… and she was in a pile of garbage in the middle of the woods. She started running… she needed to find her way back to the casino, see if she could find a way onto a ship…

She tripped over a branch and fell down a small hill and into a stream. They were rapids. She managed to grab onto a branch from a tree that was still on land and pulled herself up. But when she looked up, there were about 20 men staring at her. 

“Give her water." One of the men said. 

Another came closer, and offered her a canteen. She took a sip, "thank you…” she looked at the man who gave the order, "and you too.”

The one in charge stepped closer and knelt down in front of her, "well… I'd ask you your name and who you are, but given that the brothel D'if is less than 10 clicks from here, and their trash is only two clicks from here… why bother?”

He looked back at the other men, "however… your presence here does give a rare opportunity." 

“How's that?” She inquired. 

“My name is Mario Lupa… this is my crew. We are smugglers… to be nice about it. And we came here to deal with one of our own, you see that slug that's tied face down over there?” He paused just long enough for her eyes to settle on ‘the slug.’ "Well, it turns out he's been embezzling a little extra from our business ventures." He let out a little snort of a laugh, “surprisingly, he actually has some friends amongst the crew that are still defending him adn don’t think he should die. They think I should show leniency, which I really can't… since if I did I'd lose control of the whole crew…" 

She looked toward Mario, "so how does that work out for me?”

Mario put a wide smile on his face, “well a woman of your expertise… I figure we can do one of two things, we can put a knife in each of your hands and the two of you can fight to the death, and whichever one of you wins, we'll be welcomed into the crew… or back into the crew as it were. Or, I can offer you to the friends of the slug to keep them entertained and pacified, while I gut the slug. And everybody's happy.”

She looked back and forth between Mario and the slug… “what if I don't want to be your ‘pacifier,’” Whore. “And what if I don't want to kill the slug?”

"Then we gut both of you, and we're a bit under-staffed." 

Abigail didn't even have to think of an answer, “I would love to kill your slug, I've always wanted to be a smuggler… to be polite.”

Mario laughed a deep belly laugh as he pulled out a knife and dropped it at her feet, "just so you know, 'Esauo, He is the best knife fighter I've ever seen." 

She looked up and saw that the man was already on his feet, and a friend of his had already given him a knife. He was walking quickly towards her. 

“Well, you have seen me. And I'm better.”

The men started cheering their friend on. But she was quick on her feet, there were no punches or kicks that landed, Esauo Clearly expected their daggers to cling together, and in those moments he just found air. The man was getting frustrated, he screamed at her, but she kept doing her little dance. And then it was time. He charged her and she swung around, smashed the base of the knife to the back of his knee and a quick kick to the middle of his back between his shoulder blades propelled him forward. And he hit his face against a fallen tree. And before he had a moment to react, her knife came down hard…

She smirked at him, her knife landed perfectly inside of his earring pinning him to a fallen tree, face down. She leaned in, “if you want to live, do not move a single millimeter." 

Mario looked annoyed at how quickly this had ended, but she looked up at him, "Mr. Lupa… please let this man live, I believe he has learned his lesson and the likelihood of being gutted, he has been humbled by being the greatest knife fighter you've ever seen, defeated in mere seconds… and you'll have two more proficient people on your crew… not just one… or minus one.”

Mario slowly stood up to his feet and looked around at his men who were amused at the situation, some were still clapping… “very well… then you're with us… both of you.”

She felt the man under her turn around slowly, he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in, "whatever's left of my honor, and everything of my loyalty… I am yours… for life." 

She took his hand and pulled it off her neck,then petted the center of his chest where his heart beat, “of course you are." 

Then one of the men asked Mario, “what's her name?" 

He looked back in the direction of the brothel, clearly remembering that whoever she was didn't matter, “we will call her… Destroça." 

She smiled, “that sounds dangerous… destructive." 

He chuckled, "it means flotsom. Like ah…” He was thinking of a better way to explain, "floating debris… Driftwood." 

And as their skiff lifted up to go back to their ship, she stood at the back, watching the island and then the planet getting smaller… Dante died when he arrived on that planet… Tandy died when she left the planet… and now she was Destroça.

Chapter 3 

The interstellar galleon broke through the slipstream into normal space. They saw their target, a star liner. The ship was much smaller, but typically had much richer guests. As they closed in, thnere was a flash and they knew that there was weaponry being used. Long-range weaponry was typically illegal, but was largely ignored if used against pirate ships.

“All hands! Brace for impact! Portside prepare for boarding!” Destroça, heard Mario call out over the loudspeaker. This wasn't her first assault, she knew what to do. She felt the jarring vibration throughout the hull as they've been struck, it wasn't strong enough. 

The ship pulled in closely alongside the liner briefly, the ship was completely unscathed as it launched its own salvo, but they weren't going to risk damaging any of the merchandise… they were not going to destroy the starliner. But Destroça knew exactly what was happening, two large cannons shot cables that would have pierced the outer hull of the ship. And then used momentum to hold the line taut. 

Destroça ran to her station, made sure her sword was well secured to her waist, and grabbed a rocket line and attached it to one of the cables. Just like the others, she jumped as soon as the Bell sounded, and she was zipping across space with just a couple of millimeters worth of an energy field that was keeping a small atmosphere within her as she traveled across. There were 10 of them per cable line, and as they reached the other ship, there was a quick explosion as decompression allowed them to enter, and then sealed quickly behind them. 

Almost as quickly as the atmosphere of the ship was restored, there was a response… a physical response. A group of guards and soldiers entered and drew their swords. Destroça drew hers, she ran towards the enemy without hesitation. 

With the atmosphere restored, she could hear the clang of steel. She could feel the vibration of every strike against her weapon, she fought to disable, not to kill. There was a point to this. There were few that were killed by this group, they were here for a reason. And it was not to take lives. Mario prided himself as a smuggler, not as an executioner.

Block. Parry. Thrust. Slash. Dodge. 

She was quick and nimble, she didn't have a lot of strength behind her blows, but she knew how to use her weapon, and she knew how to use her opponent's own strengths against them. That was the reason she was always first onto the enemy ships.

Destroça herself was the fastest of them on foot, and fastest of them with a blade. Her face was covered behind a mask as was her hair, it didn't take long for them to take the bridge, cut off communications, and disable the power systems. 

Once the power was out, the crew and the passengers were taken to one of the lower decks. Luckily for those in the starliner, it was more of a recreational area anyway, Even if no one could see what was happening in front of their faces. 

The second team which had zipped acorss the other cable would likely have found the storage area by now. Once they're able to force open the airlock, The ship would be able to take the merchandise, and all I had to do was wait for the recall…

It was only about ten minutes, and the Bell went off. Destroça snapped her fingers three times and each member on her team withdrew following her back to the airlock. And energy to their Shields restored, they launched themselves out into the vastness of space, only to be picked up by their galleon seconds later. 

The device that had been used on the startliner’s power system was on a timer, Destroça was still looking back on the ship as it kept getting smaller and smaller as it got further away, and just as they're about to take the leap into slipstream, she saw the lights come back on, and knew that everyone was safe. Another mission with no fatalities. 

“Destroça!” Echoed Mario's delighted voice, "your strategies are impeccable. No injuries to the crew, no injuries to the mark… and the cargo is intact. It also looks like we're making one hell of a payday!" 

“I'm glad it worked out." 

He nodded his head eagerly, "and we should rejoin the armada in about 4 hours.”

“Armada? We have five ships." 

"And 3 years ago when you joined us, we had one. No other smugglers work in groups like we do. If any other smugglers came across us, they would be very much intimidated,” his voice was colored by his amusement. 

“I will admit that… that is fair." She said with a slow and deliberate voice that was very much humbled. They both knew that she was the reason that they had expanded the quantity of ships… and then three… then four… and now five. 

Mario had introduced the idea to his crew. They've taken on more people than they needed, and when they were attacked by the galactic authorities, they were able to repel them, left most of them in lifeboats, and they had an extra ship. They could have destroyed it, they could have sold it, or broken it down for scraps. But the extra ship, and the extra crew provided for an opportunity. Mario had taken some of the most loyal of his crew and assigned them to the new ship, ten percent of their take would go to him, and they would keep percent. But beyond that, if they could earn a certain amount, they could keep the ship and go off on their own, as long as they agreed not to smuggle in his territory without permission… and a cut. 

Technically over the last three years they had seven ships, but two of them had bought their way out of Mario's contract. But loyalty was still a thing, he could call on them and they could call on him. 

What most of the crew did not realize, the idea for this came from the enigmatic woman, Destroça.

Mario looked at his advisor, “When we settle in the Wolf's Den, we'll be having a dinner… a banquet if you will.”

The Wolf's Den was the home base for Mario Lupa. It was an asteroid that had been rebuilt as a mining facility, abandoned… found… and re-made more fun. 

“A banquet? What are we celebrating?" 

"Our success! Please… put something nice on, for once.”

“We will see." She was non-committal. 

However, that night she did something she hadn't done before, she did show up with something nice. She entered the banquet hall in a red dress, it was something very similar to what she would wear when she was a whore. The high heels which gave almost an extra foot to her height, an ornate red dress that was two parts, the skirt and the bodice. 

Unlike her time as a whore, this outfit was not cheap. The dress and the bodice were both made of extravagant silk, highly ornate, anyone who wouldn't know better would see this woman and think that she was very wealthy. She only wore this one other time, when she had to infiltrate another ship as part of the strategy. They saw it docked, knew it had stronger defenses than most other ships, and decided to get her a board so that when they broke from Slipstream she would be able to disable the fences before any major damage could be incurred. 

Not many had seen her wear it that day, but they had always joked about it as rumors flew about their tomboy little sister dressed as a lady. Everyone knew about it. And given that she generally dressed like them, she stopped the entire room. She walked slowly to her seat, kicked up the back of her crinoline, and sat on the edge of her seat.

As she sat down, she looked to the man on her right, “is there something wrong?" 

He blinked his eyes twice, "no. Destroça, sometimes I just forget that you're a woman.”

"A funny thing about that, I remember it everyday.” her entire table erupted in laughter. Then the conversation went back to normal, at least at their table.

People were still coming in, but it was Mario who came in and saw the one person dressed in bright red, his eyes widened, clearly surprised. He made his way over to Destroça, "I know I said to wear something nice, but I didn't even know you had still had that dress.”

“Well, you know me Mario, I like to keep people off balance. I thought the dress might come in handy again later. Clearly it did." 

He laughed hard, holding his hand over his belly, "yes, yes! You are good for unbalancing people. Especially enemies. But can you still fight wearing a dress like that?" 

She stood up gracefully, a smile on her painted red lips that matched her dress perfectly, “would you like to find out?" 

Mario looks from side to side for a moment, "no.”

The entire banquet hall erupted in laughter once again, and Maria seemed genuinely amused. He walked to his table and had a seat. 

Everyone ate their meal, conversation was good, the temperament of the crowd was pleased. These were people that despite their profession of being ‘smugglers,’ were overall happy people. They enjoyed laughter, and they all appreciated that Mario had lifted them from a place of difficulty in their lives. 

When the meal was over, Mario took his place at the head of the banquet hall, “my friends and colleagues!” Everyone stopped, they were quiet and stared up at Mario expectantly, “as most of you know, smuggling has been quite profitable these last couple years. I wish I could say it was all me, but as many of you know I had to reorganize my operations, and much of that was thanks to Destroça over here. Can we please get a round of applause?”

Everyone started to clap. Destroça stood up, and she gave a little curtsy in four different directions. The applause was joined by much laughter, she was generally not known for her feminine actions. She was known for her sword, and her strategies. Seeing her act all feminine seemed to change the mood of the room. 

But Mario continued, “ as you know, we have been much more profitable lately. And many of you also know that if you work hard for me, I work hard for you. And hard work can be very profitable.” He really liked that word. Then he clapped his hand twice, and the banquet doors opened and a large cart was pulled in by three people. They stopped at every table dropping off a tray full of little mini treasure chests. Each one had a person's name on it. 

Mario continued, "consider this your quarterly bonus. You have done much for me, all of you. Thank you." 

These banquets were held a couple times a year. That was part of Destroça's strategy as well. They all knew they had earned a portion of each job, but Mario kept the majority, he was captain of their ship, and he eventually became the leader of their ‘Armada’ as he liked to call it. But she had discussed this with him, and he was willing to separate himself from a small portion, and make sure that all those that were loyal to him were able to enjoy even more profits. It was to ensure loyalty.

And then Mario bowed before all of them, “I am humbled by your loyalty. And as such, the next gift I give to you is time. Two weeks leave.”

And once again, the crowd erupted in applause, cheering and laughter. Downtown was always valued, but to know that they had 2 weeks to go home, the two places of luxury, to see people that they cared about… or that just visiting whores… that sometimes made Destroça annoyed given her own circumstances… but she recognized that they needed their time away from being smugglers. A chance for them to remember what they were doing it for. 

When the speech was over, Destroça opened up her own little box, she wasn't surprised to see what was in it: credit chips, jewelry, precious metals, and precious stones. She closed it back up, and held it under her arm as she exited the banquet hall. 

Two days later she was again just as another crewman, a simple white blouse, with a black vest and matching pants. Her boots had no heels, She was walking along the porch side when she saw that they were coming out of the slipstream. 

She recognized the planet, and she recognized the shipyard. She looked at the buildings with a poignant despair. This place did not make her happy, but she watched as many of the men ran off the ship to enjoy their leave. 

She saw Mario out of the corner of her eye, he threw a little black bag at her, she caught it. “I swear to my friend, that you have eyes in the back of your head." 

"Sometimes I do. Just wish that I always did.”

“Most of the crew has gone ashore. There's many things over here. Many joys and pleasures to be celebrated in such a city. Why didn't you not join the others?”

She looked at her feminine hands for a moment, and then she looked over at the buildings in the city, most of the same, but somehow the city itself was different. "Mercy Port was my home. This is where I was betrayed. This is why you found me near the brothel." 

Mario put his hand on her shoulder, “and are there not people that you care about?" 

"There are. But there are other things that would pull me in.”

Mario seemed to hesitate in his words, "go Destroça. You have done me and all of us much. If you have a destiny, go and do it, you'll always be welcome back here, but somehow I don't think I will ever have you amongst my crew again." 

She smiled at him, “you have done well by me, And I appreciate you for that, but a woman, especially a woman such as me, may have a use for a man such as you in the future…" 

Mario laughed in his usual way, with a hand over his belly, "you know how to find me.”

“I do.” She put a hand on Mario's shoulder, gave in a nod of her head, in appreciation, and made her way back to her room. She had a decent amount of credits from their time, and a sack full of golden jewelry that fit well into her satchel. 

As she threw her stuff over her shoulder she saw Esauo, and shook his hand. "I'm disembarking, take care of yourself." 

She walked back up to the main deck and she saw that Mario was still there. He was waiting for her, he held out his hand, their business was completed. She shook it. "Thank you, Mario.”

“Take care of yourself, Destroça.”

She walked down the plank, and made it about a click when she heard footsteps behind her. Her finger slowly moved down to the dagger at her waist.

"No need for that, Destroça.” A familiar voice came from behind her. 

She turned and looked, “Esauo?” She saw the man with his own bag over his shoulder. 

"I told you that day on the beach…” And she remembered the moment very well, he didn't need to say another word. She nodded her head and continued walking, "where are we going?” 

“Looking for information." She explained. 

They walked for nearly an hour until they came across another shipyard. And when she looked up and saw the sign, a frown pulled at her lips. Once upon a time, there had been a beautiful fresco shaped out of the concrete in the name of ‘Morales.’ It was still there, but overgrown and barely recognizable because of the plants that had taken it. 

She understood that it had been 17 years since she had been here. 17 years since she had been a man. She understood that things change over time, beautiful and clean things, become ugly and dirty. But what really broke her heart about looking at the sign, was that that under the sign was a big, bright, neon sign that clearly illustrated what had happened since she had left… 

‘Philipson’s’

Lars Daniel Phillipson owned the shipyard now. But what had happened to Mr. Morales?

There was a public walkway that separated the business office from the actual space dock. Destroça and Esauo walked along as Destroça looked for something more familiar. Someone more familiar. 

She did see someone, a man that was operating a lift, she remembered him when he was simply a deckhand. And she approached him, “hi there." 

"Hi?” The confused man asked.

“Sorry I haven't been here in about 20 years or so, but I did business with a Mr. Morales, and I'm shocked to see the business no longer stands as he was very professional, and seemed to be the best in all of Pariseilles. May I ask if you know what happened to him?”

It was a tug of a smile for the man, he clearly had pride in Mr morales's reputation. The smile quickly faded to a frown, "indeed he was a good man, but there were a number of problems that he encountered many years ago. His reputation was affected by supporting one of his captains that encountered some legal troubles, then some of his shipments stopped arriving, sadly, it didn't take long before his business started going into the red… Captain Phillipson, was able to fix the problems, and took over… Mr. Morales ended up bankrupt, and was lucky enough to be taken in by his brother…"

This did not sit well at all with Destroça. “Do you have any idea where his brother is?”

“I'm sorry, it's not really my place to say." 

She reached into her pocket, and withdrew a credit, and placed it on a railing beside him. “Are you sure?" 

As Destroça and Esauo walked away from the dock, she looked at him, "my next visit, will be alone. She gave him half of her credits, “I need you to buy a ship, preferably something small, something that the two of us can handle. Maybe a star skiff? I'll leave it to your judgment. But make sure we have at least a little room for cargo. And this is where it might get expensive, I want an ethereal slipstreamdrive.” 

"You don't want to be followed?”

She shook her head.

“Yes. Destroça, you can count on me." And she watched as he walked away and turned around the corner. 

Twenty minutes later, she found herself knocking on a door. An old man that looks slightly familiar, but not entirely opened the door. "Mr Morales?” she asked curiously. 

“Which one?" He croaked.

"The one that owned the old shipyard… and may have known Dante Edwards?" 

She was hoping that he would answer appropriately, but a voice called from behind him, “that would be me." 

The man in front of her opened the door wider, and she saw the man behind him, and immediately knew why the first man looked familiar, it was definitely the brother… the man sitting in the back was more familiar. Much more familiar.

The first man just grumbled, "it's a bit late for visitors.”

But her old employer scoffed, “we're old men. We stay up late, and get up even earlier.” Then re-direceted his attention to the woman, “Please come in…" as Destroça entered the old man asked, “what is this about Dante Edwards?”

“Mr. Morales, honestly, I was looking for him. And no one seems to have heard of him. I knew him a little over 20 years ago, he had been sponsored to take a trade school for 6 months to learn the basics of sailing, and I was with him… oh, I'm sorry… you can call, Destroça.” She offered to shake his hand. 

He smiled, but it was a sad smile, “Manuel Morales, you may call me Manny… I believe you already met my brother Paulo." She looked up in time to see the man leave the room. “Don't mind him…”

“Last I heard, which admittedly was nearly two decades ago… Dante had accepted a job with you, I was hoping you could fill me in.”

Mr. Morales bowed his head. "Dante was a good man. It's not right what they did to him. They accused him of treason, and he was executed for it, he was a kind and innocent man, no way that would he do anything treasonous.”

She put her hand over her mouth, "executed?” So the world thought Dante was dead, just as well, since she did as well. "What about his father? Where can I find him?”

“You won't. He was one of four of us that approached the chief prosecutor, Villas. Myself, his father, his fiance, and his best friend-" It was a momentary surge of rage as she automatically knew that he was referring to Diego, “- and we tried to speak to him, we insisted on Dante's innocence. I said I'd put my reputation on the line for such a man… and his father demanded evidence."

“What was presented?" She asked. 

"Nothing… it was the Sovreignty's secret. And then Dante's father demanded proof, or he would cause such an upheaval, that no one would be able to ignore him for long…” She smiled at the thought of her father ready to burn the city to the ground in outrage, “Villas simply inquired if he was part of the treason… and if he opened his mouth again, he would be charged.”

Concern in her eyes,"was he?” She asked with genuine concern, wondering if one of the other whores that she had seen at the brothel might have been her own father…

“No… he killed himself the following day.”

Destroça felt a year run down her. She wouldn't even have been a woman yet, and her father had already been dead. "Where is he buried?" 

“They didn't… they cremated him, and released his remains into the star." What they did to the nameless and worthless. 

Her eyes closed and another tear fell. 

“I'm sorry young lady. I didn't know you heard that close." 

She shook her head, "it's okay. It just seems so wrong. What of his fiance?” 

“The Countess Vernon?” there was a pause, "They were holding hands when they left Villas' office… I thought it was strange, almost inappropriate… but they were married a month later.”

Destroça found that her voice was caught, she had no words for a moment. Lexeres was involved? She was part of Diego's plan?

"What about you?” she asked. 

“My fate is what it is. I still stand by Dante's innocence. But that conviction caused me troubles when Villas publicly questioned my character. Some of my clients were very political, and distanced themselves from me. Even some of my crewmen and captains left from the scrutiny.I had to rehire one of my captains, Philipson… and all the sudden shipments started showing up late… if at all. Some of my ships simply disappeared." 

He took a sip of his drink, and continued his story, “Someone started buying up my stock. And then I was forced out of the company, and then I found out that Phillipson was behind it all… I walked by several weeks later, and saw that many of my missing ships were returned. I knew he was behind it." 

“And what about Villas?” She asked, "were there ever any consequences for what he did to Dante?”

"No. He moved up in the world, instead of being the chief prosecutor of a big city like this, big. He's now the chief prosecutor of the capital. It all happened after his father and sister died suddenly. He left the Capitol, his reputation followed him… and he climbed through the ranks quickly." 

She nodded her head, “what of his best friend, the man that you mentioned?" 

“Diegfo Vernon? His father too, was murdered unexpectedly.. along with his brothers, and he was the sole inheritor. With a bribe, he was able to take over as the count of his family’s estate… taking up his father's position as well." 

Destroça about her head and appreciation, "thank you.”

Mr. Morales returned gesture, “I'm sorry I can now help you more.”

She pressed her lips together, "not at all. He told me what I needed. Dante Edwards is dead." And she reached into her satchel, and removed a small bag… a few precious gemstones, but they were worth a lot. "I hope your bad times turn around.” she placed it on the table in front of the old man, gave him a warm smile… and left. 

Destroça made her way to the public port, and she saw Esauo leaning against the light post. He handed her back a small bag, "your change.” 

She followed him back to the ship you'd purchased. It was a catamaran, but it had a detachable cargo hole between the two separated hulls. She looked at Esauo, "perfect, but how much did you spend on it? I shouldn't have had this many credits left over."

Esauo shrugged, “I paid for half.”

She seemed annoyed, "you didn't have to do that." 

"You kept me alive Destroça,” he paused for a brief moment, “I will take half your burden." 

"Esauo…”

He put up a hand, "lead the way.” 

Once the ship was inspected, they made their way to pick up some supplies, plenty of food for a few weeks, a few other emergency items, and of course the infrared projector. She found three separate maps, and it wasn't hard to decipher once she knew what she was looking at.

And soon the two were off. The first map was clearly the map that focused on one quadrant of the galaxy. It contained coordinates and a path to a nebula, it took them several days to arrive. 

The second map may have been worse, it led deeper into the nebula, which is known for clusters of rocks, debris, and other hazards of a more physical nature. Moving too quickly in such a nebula could be hazardous. Most areas of space were vast, the likelihood of striking a single Rock in interstellar space was minimal. Regardless, most ships operated with at the very least a minimal energy shielding which could handle a few rocks and would likely recover the damage in a few minutes. But if you went to an area that was too congested, it could destroy the shields, and rip apart the hull. 

Days were spent navigating through Rocky cores until they were finally led to the system… a simple planetary system with four planets and two asteroid belts within the inner solar system… and two gas giants in the outer solar system. At the very least there was some stability within this star system. 

They used the systems on the ship to map out the second asteroid belt. And then compared it to the infrared projection of the third map. And there they found their way. 

If it was one very large. Asteroid several miles across. There was an impact. Crater on the side facing away from the star. They landed there and found a cave. As they entered further into the cave, they eventually saw a glowing blue light. It only took a few minutes for them to clear the cave and find the source of the light, and that's when they realized the asteroid was artificial. 

Esauo asked, “is that what I think it is?" 

"yes.” There was an unspoken word between them, ‘superrarestium.’

“I've never heard of so much." Esauo said with awe in his voice. 

"Sure you have… the Lost Horde of Spada.”

Most people knew of it. Most energy systems in the Galaxy ran off of superrarestium, It had great energy producing properties, but was rare. Even centuries after its Discovery, it could not be manufactured. It could only be mined. Entire star systems could be mined of it and only found a few cubic meters. A cubic meter was enough to power a solar system for ten years. It was more valuable than gold was on Babylon-Begone.

But there were tales of one of the first great conquerors to tame the Galaxy: Spada. Supposedly he had an unlimited source of superrarestium. None of his ships ever ran out, but when they finally defeated him in battle, they never found out where his source was. 

And now they did. 

“Destroça… a cubic meter of this stuff goes for ten billion credits. The average worker makes less than fifty thousand credits per year. I can't even imagine what this is…”

"According to the scanner… 6 miles by 4 miles by 1.5 miles." Her mind was already doing the calculations, it was over 150 billion cubic meters… every cubic meter worth 10 billion credits. 

His eyes went wide, “this could make you richer than any person I've ever heard of." 

She smirked at him, "this makes me richer than any sovereign government I've ever heard of… maybe all of them combined.”

“How do we sell it?" 

"We can't. At least not all at once. If we did, we would ruin the market, and it would become less and less valuable as we sold. However, there is plenty here to make us rich beyond belief. And still have more for later.”

Esauo started laughing, "well what do you want to buy now?”

"Revenge.” she said coldly and matter-of-factly. 

"On who?”

“Lars Phillipson, prosecuter Gerard Villas, and Diego and Lexeres Vernon." 

Esauo looked at him a little confused, "that's easy, all I need are their addresses, I'll go down stabstabstabstab…” She smiled as Esauo said four stabs as if they were one word, “I come back. We spend the credits." 

She closed her eyes, “no. Esauo. They must suffer as I suffered. I will become like a star, and they will be trapped in my orbit… and as they get pulled in closer and closer… I shall strip them off all they hold dear and then… and only then will I will crush them.”

“You'll need to be called something other than ‘Destroça’ If you're going to accomplish all that…

“Then Destroça dies… and I shall become a countess.”

Over the course of several months, they removed eight loads for their ship. It was several meters, and even that insignificant amount of their huge horde, made them richer than any other. 

The money paid for many things, she had a new identity. And she paid for the nobility that came with it. 

She bought several properties throughout the Galaxy, and she paid for the history to go with it. Suddenly she had a history, a family history, despite no one knowing who she was. She was an enigma that all that saw her were curious about. She spent freely, and had a reputation for embracing a high standard of living… that was to say, she liked to buy very expensive things. 

And after two years, it was time to go back to the Capitol of Pariseilles. She had the largest home on the planet, and it was just outside the city. What better way to establish one's reputation than to throw a welcoming party to the neighbors? Every noble within 10 light years received an invitation. Printed on Platinum, with golden embossed lettering. Every invitation was hand delivered. 

When they arrived, they saw that there was no expense spare. Everything was top-notch from the music, to the food… to the luxuries. She was simply the talk of Parisailles And anyone who was anyone had to be at that party.

Then the time came, and all the nobles were there. Every single one of them looked at the decorations in awe. None of them would ever spend such extravagances just to announce their arrival. But she was nowhere to be seen. 

An hour after the festivities had begun, there was inconsistent murmuring echoing across the Sea of people… the Sea of nobility. And then the fireworks started. Explosions of color, and then everyone saw it. A large space yacht entering the atmosphere between the decorative explosions, it was nowhere near a spaceport, nor a dock. Everyone knew that such a maneuver required a permit that was prohibitably expensive, even amongst them. Usually only Kings and Queens had such flaunting wealth. The ship slowly lowered and a door opened, and there she was. In a golden dress. Her hair was up showing off her neck, the hair was twisted with golden strands that held her hair high. Her bodice was a mix of crimson red, with golden strands woven into the ornate designs that flowed into her wide dress. She was tall. Her lips and her eyes were decorated with gold sparkles, and given the amount of money she had spent on everything else, all of her guests knew that her makeup had real gold in them. This was a woman that thought nothing of spending money, because it would never end. 

As she was approaching, Esauo stood by the microphone, “ladies and gentlemen, it is my greatest pleasure to introduce you all to your host this evening, if I could have a round of applause for the Countess Christa Monte.”

And even as Esauo handed her the microphone, the applause was deafening. But when it all cooled down she spoke, “salutations," And stepped away. 

Possibly billions of credits spent to say one word… this guaranteed that every Noble man and every noble woman would want to know more of the mysterious countess.

Chapter 4

As the countess made her way through the crowd of nobles, she found herself being introduced to new people. Sometimes it was a friend that she had just met, other times it would be a wife introducing her husband. But here she was hosting a grand introduction of herself to these new nobles that she had never laid eyes upon.

Most of them she didn't quite care about, but she played the role exquisitely. Her manners were flawless as if she had been raised in such an environment her whole life. 

She was not surprised to encounter Lars, nor his wife who coincidentally was the sister of the chief prosecutor. Christa upon learning this days earlier had easily put together that this was a business arrangement. It might even have gone back to the incarceration of Dante Edwards. 

Strictly speaking, in a court of law she only had conjecture. It was a conspiracy between three men, and to make sure that he could not speak, Villas likely married his sister away to a man who could afford her lifestyle, and in return, his connections would be used to increase his weight in the business world.

Both Lars and his wife worked quickly to compliment the party, the extravagance, the food, the entertainment, and the attention to detail in all matters. He was quite the sycophant, he barely recognized this man compared to the person he knew 18 years earlier. 

But almost to her surprise, he quickly shifted the conversation about his own extravagances. Food that he normally ate, how much he spent on his own entertainment, how proud he was of his own business and how it elevated him high enough to buy his own nobility status. Though for all his brags, she waas aware of one thing, the truly rich, those born to wealth, would not care if their food was cheap or inexpensive. Clothing brands might have been a different story.

Watching him and his wife bounce back and forth between the sycophant and the braggart was almost entertaining in itself. And as much as she would have loved to entertain him if for no other reason than to find more ways to destroy him, there was a pretense to hold up. A cover… she was a countess after all. And she excused herself.

By her nature, she had learned over the years to be more of an introvert. Playing the host of such a party to hundreds. If not, thousands of guests was exhausting. At one point she excused herself, and made her way to the washroom. It's just a moment to get away. And of course she encountered another woman dressed in a lovely lavender-colored bodice and skirt, ornately designed. 

The countess could tell just by the woman's gaze that there was something called and calculating. Her smile was warm, but it was fake. “My name is Nira.”

The countess bowed her head ever so slightly, as if she owned the woman but did not want to rub it in her face, like a woman born into the role of a countess would. She gently shook the other woman's hand, "Christa Monte.”

"It's a pleasure to meet you. You do know how to throw a party.”

Christa laughed softly, "this? This is not a party, this is an introduction. It's not a true party until the GA has taken away my top guests… or buried them." She put on a consented and amused smile as she excused herself from Nira.

And so the mingling continued for nearly another hour before she stumbled across Nira yet again… and much like Lars' wife, she simply had to introduce her husband. “Christa, my friend,” She put a hand on the man next to her, “I would like you to meet my husband. This is the chief prosecutor, and my devoted husband, Gerard Villas." 

She offered her hand to the man and gave him a delighted smile, she had been waiting for this moment for a while. He took her hand and kissed it like a gentleman, and then shook it before taking his wife's hand again. “I've never heard of you before we received your invitation. But you do know how to make an entrance.”

"Thank you. Please enjoy yourselves, I spared no expense in making sure everyone feels welcome.” 

Even as she walked away, she was confident that she knew how the conversation would go between the prosecutor and his wife. She would ask him what he knew of her. He would tell her ‘nothing.’ He would remind her that he had made his way to prosecutor because of his ability to investigate… and he would find out more about her. 

But Christa, she already knew these questions would rise, she had studied the investigations he had conducted. She knew the questions he would ask, she knew the methods of wish he would find those answers. In the background she had created for herself would answer those to both his satisfaction and frustration.

She continued to interact with her guests, making smiles and empty promises. She knew the game better than a person of her history should have, but she was smart. She read between the lines, she knew the answers to give, and she had all of these nobles eating out of her delicate hands. 

But as the hours started to dwindle, she could not find her most imporant guests: Diego and Lexeres. She would know them anywhere, once her closest confidants, people she loved, and those that betrayed her. She would know them from 100 meters away. And yet she saw nothing of them. 

Finally, she did see someone that she knew well, Esauo. She made a way to him, “Esauo!." 

Esauo was dressed to be a servant, “your grace, how may I serve you?”

Christa put a hand on his shoulder, leaned in closely and whispered, "where are they?”

Esauo put his head down, “I'm sorry. They're not here. Apparently, Count Vernon had something scheduled for early in the morning. And from what I'm told, he'll need a full night of sleep to be prepared for it.” a slight pause, “and in such social circumstances such as this, until he doesn't know exactly when to stop drinking… and he needs to be sober for this appointment.”

Christa understood what he was saying, he was to have a duel with another Noble.

Making his introductions to them would be now more difficult, and require a new strategy. "Keep me informed.” was all she said before returning to her guests. 

The Countess Christa Monte had made quite the impact in Pariseilles social circles and politics due to her introduction. She found herself making new business acquaintances on a daily basis. But there were two people that she showed a keen interest in, two people she brought in closer. Lars Daniel Philipsson and Gerard Villas.

Lars made sure that she had received an invitation to a party of his own. She was sure that he would be surprised when she did arrive, there was no acknowledging the invitation, she just arrived fashionably late.

Phillipson's wife was clearly annoyed, she played the host very well. Although this was a party, and though the Phillipsons were hosting others, it became clear that Lars had a plan for the countess. With Christa being the person with the most money, and hence the person with the most attention in their lovely little home. They wanted something. 

His sycophantic bragging continued. He would come up and put his arm around her waist, in front of his wife, but then again she knew that he had balls. “My dear count is, as you can see the artwork I have decorated my house is quite expensive. Every painting is a rare one-of-a-kind and by very exclusive artists… these have all been commissioned.” And then almost without hesitation, " I know the paintings that you have are even more impressive.” Expensive. “You have such an eye for art based on what I saw in your home. It really is impressive. Maybe even more impressive than myself.”

He just continued to talk himself up, and then would butter her up even more by admitting that she was better. 

He created a pattern out of such interactions, where he would come up and point to something that she was looking at, inform her about just how rare whatever she was looking at was. Compared to something that she owned that was even more valuable and talked about how they had so much in common. Then move on to another guest..

Around the fifth time that he had started such a conversation with her, he went in a different direction. “They truly are amazing, aren't they?” He gave no chance for her to answer, “it's amazing how much we have in common, you'll know what they say, that old phrase. ‘great minds think alike.’ And clearly we both have great minds.’

She bowed her head ever so slightly, “I guess we do." 

He laughed out loud, “and because of that, the way we both think, we will strategize… and we both have plans for this world… don't we?" 

She put her hand over her mouth as she giggled, “I do have plans… I will give you that.”

“Excellent!" He declared and then quickly added, "and I might just have the perfect idea. An extra stepping stone for you, that can bring both of us great fortune.”

Her head lifted slightly, as if in surprise and curiosity, “what did you have in mind?" 

"This Monday, can you come down to the spaceport? Come down to the offices of Philipson.”

“I'll see what I can do… especially for a man with a ‘great mind’ just like my own." she said complimnenting the man she truly had no respect for. But compliments like so many other tools were a means to an end.

A few days later, she had made it a point to make sure that the capital's chief prosecutor had heard that she was attending a certain high class restaurant for brunch. She should have made it a point to have assistants of people she was interacting with Villas over hear plans. Of course that would be passed on to people who knew Villas. And in his own inquisitive way, he would be drawn out without a direct invitation.

Villas was an ambitious man. He was also a very curious man and by the time he would have heard about her brunch, he probably would have been deep in his investigation. He would have found out the history that she'd wanted him to find out, and that would have put him at ease. It should also have made him want to be part of her inner circle. A chance to hear things. 

The countess was sitting with a group of men when Villas arrived. “Hello Countess Monte, I didn't expect to see you here." 

She smiled warmly and stood up and gave a gentle kiss on the cheek of both the chief prosecutor and his wife. “I didn't expect to see my friend, the chief prosecutor, here either. Please join us." 

“Mr. Prosecutor, I would like to introduce you to Mr. Xiao, Mr. Rasputin, and Mr. Leone. Each of these men are great movers. They have paid a lot of money to remain anonymous. But they are the money behind the best leaders in this city. If you want to get somewhere, such as elected, these are the men you want in your corner.”

Villas was quick to shake he should of their hands. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm surprised the Countess was able to encounter you so quickly. Since she is so new here." 

Mr. Xiao seemed amused, “we found her quick enough. If you know the people we know, the Countess is paramount to continued success.”

"Oh, I must hear more.” The prosecutor spoke with a light tone, But he was digging for information. Information he would not find, but he did find new friends, the ones that would soon become his confidants.

Monday came, the countess was escorted by Esauo to the spaceport. She walked along the boulevard area which ended at the beginning of the docks. She walked by a few businesses as if she didn't know where she was going, but she did. 

She once again saw that overgrown fresco sign that would have said Morales had it not been covered by such greenery. And in front of it that, the wooden sign that said ‘Philipson’s.’ She had arrived. 

She walked in and told her receptionist that the Countess Monte was here for Lars.

She was told strictly that no one was allowed to see the owner on such short notice. There was a two-month waiting list for an appointment with such a man. He was a very important and busy man.

She knew this tactic, it was a technique of an uneducated man… even how far he had come, he shouldn't have tried such a simple technique, perhaps he just assumed that she was over-educated and would fall for such a thing…

Lars walked in, “Countess, you're here!" 

The receptionist looked at him, "sir, you said not to be disturbed by anyone.”

“No no, she's not anyone, she is the Countess Monte! She's always welcome here, she's a good friend of mine." 

This was rehearsed. And not very well.

She was given a tour of his operation, the simple business offices, to the warehouse, to the loading docks, and even given a tour of one of the ships… Mahverion. 

Unless you pretended like she had never seen the ship, he was bittersweet. She remembered that she was supposed to be the captain of this vessel. It had clearly been repainted since then, and the new colors did not match the soul of the ship. But she held her smile. 

"And what of this opportunity you told me about?”

“My company is publicly traded, I've been looking to buy more of it back. We are in an offseason, prices are down, but that is a very temporary thing. I don't quite have the capital to buy the stock I want to buy back. But I was hoping you could lend me the money, and I could return double in two months' time." 

“I'm not sure…” the countess spoke nervously, “ I tend to make moves on a sure thing." 

“This is a sure thing, the money I'm looking for would not only be the perfect amount to buy back stock, but the increase of money would allow me to get my hands on some other ships I've been looking at, and that would put me in a good bargaining position for a bid on a contract to Shangjing in the far galactic quadrant. It would be quite profitable. You would get double your money back, and I would be in a much better place financially as well.”

"Contracts would need to be signed. I would need reassurances.”

"Of course! Of course! My good friend. The prosecutor can have such a thing drafted as he knows our legal options.” Using the public prosecutor as his private lawyer? That was interesting. But then again, she did plan to use him as well.

"Very well, if the contract looks good, we have a deal.” she shook his hand, and left soon after. 

Villas on the other hand was delighted to see when the Countess arrived at his home. She was offered a seat and a drink. She had arrived without telling him, and she wanted to put some clauses into the contract with lars. 

"Of course I would be happy to do it for my good friend the countess.” He almost said dismissively, “those friends of yours, they are an interesting lot. We have been talking and we've seen some opportunities that might come to us. Chances to buy real estate… very cheap real estate. I could be turned over quickly. Investments in medical advancements and distribution models, And even some new ways of helping people to relocate. I didn't realize that there was such opportunities to make a profit in these industries… at least not these new ways." 

She bowed her head graciously, “I'm glad my associates were advantageous to you." 

“Very much so… now what is it that you needed in regards to this contract?” he asked shaking himself from ther opportunities that the countess had ‘unknowingly’ placed in front of him.

And she laid out the proposal that Lar's had given her, then he said simply, " he wants my money, I'm willing to lend it, but I want to make sure that it is a safe enough opportunity. If he cannot return the money and the time that he had promised, then all his businesses, his assets, his properties, his real estates will be mine.”

Villas looked concerned, "I'm going to be honest with you, he's married to my sister.” Christa, of course, already knew that, “I'm not so sure. I'm willing to put her in such a position." 

The countess had already anticipated this response, She brought her hand to her face, as if she were thinking, "demand to see his books. That way you can see specific amounts. But recommend that he put a certain amount in your sister's name, as insurance." there was a pause, “I will want to see these as well, make sure that noone is playing games.”

Villas nodded his head once, “agreed." 

And then there was Diego and Lexeres Vernon. Until Christa could find a way into their personal lives, there were other ways around.

As Esauo and Christa opened the dossier they had collected on the house of Vernon, a sing that they had put their knowledge and money to good use. 

Esauo pointed out on the first page, "He spends a lot of time at the casinos.” He started flipping through more pages, pointing out photos, "he arrives early, he gets drunk, he loses… they don't even cheat him. They have to cheat to make sure he has enough credits to come back.”

“I want to own the casinos by the end of the day. Every time he goes in there, get him drunk, and take every credit he has." 

By the end of the day, she owned the casinos. 

They went through another folder within the dossier, she was reading through it even as Esauo continued, "with the way he burns through money… It's problematic at best as his family is in the importing trade.”

"No, I am aware. His family used Morales for shipping, that's why he was on the ship with us. To be responsible for the cargo, as representative of his family." 

“He uses loans from the bank to pay for the shipping. Once returned to Port, the money made from the insurance will pay back the loan, the money made from the merchandise will pay back the loan with a substantial profit.” Esauo explained even as the Countess verified with the documents in front of her.

"Make significant donations to the bank, large investments… and make sure that they know it comes with a price tag, no business with Vernon.”

Esauo nodded his head, “how much?" 

"Ten billion each should do.”

And by the end of the day, it was done.

There were also investments. The Vernon Family had since most of their money tied up in investments, Diego's father was very good at picking the proper investments, how long to invest, and most importantly, when to strategically withdraw. He analyzed and he executed with precision. 

Diego was not his father. His investments were spread by word of mouth, rumor, and what he sometimes came across.

Esauo continued to explain, “the companies that he is invested in, they are not great companys, The returns are poor, sometimes they are big at the beginning, but they seem to dry out pretty quickly. 

The countess replied, "make sure they all lose. Pay the workers to sabotage the owners. Invest in their competitors. Make sure the value of the companies that he owns stock; plummets." 

A devious little smirk crossed her face, “make it so the only person she can go to would be Phillipson." 

Esauo simply bowed his head, "yes, your grace.”

But this was going to take longer than one day, but that was fine, as the next point of business came up. 

He placed a new folder on top of the others, “they have a child." 

Three weeks later in the capital of the sovereign territory of Romily. It was one of the most popular festivals of the year, people came from all the sovereignties, if they had enough money to come. 

Christa and Esauo stood in the shadows and watched. "What are we looking for?”

“Their daughter is wearing a blue dress. I’ve seen pictures. I'll know her.”

“And you are certain that tonight is the night?" She asked 

"Yes, your grace.” He was getting very used to saying that. She wondered if he had as much amusement in his voice saying it as she did. He continued, "I'm told that she will be distracted, they know the kind of boys that she likes. She will be taken, and she will be ransomed to her family.”

The countess nodded her head, "and that is the advantage that I've been looking for. Hand me my sword." Esauo placed her rapier in her hand. 

Those who were partying wore masks that evening. It was part of the celebration, a masquerade of sorts.

“There she is." Esauo pointed, then the Countess followed, slowly, and far behind. Even in the 10-inch shoes The girl was still quite short. A man approached her, bent down and kissed her, then playfully ran away quickly… apparently just her type. She followed after him. 

And the count also followed after her. Which led to an old building, it looked abandoned. She heard the muffled cry as the girl was taken against her will. And again the countess followed. 

Inside the building, there were stairs leading down into the basement. The basement had a tunnel drilled out. It led into some catacombs from under the older City. The light was very dim, she remembered darker places, tighter places… the walls in the brothel, digging night after night… this was nothing. 

She heard people talking. 

“Who are you people? What do you want from me?" 

A masculine voice responded, "we are greedy people, and we want money.”

The girl agreed, “you can take whatever I have in my purse, and my jewelry… but that's all I have.”

“That's not really the kind of money we were looking for… are you not the daughter of Diego Vernon?” the man asked. 

“Ransom?" 

"Yes, indeed we are looking for ransom!” The leader of the kidnappers confirmed. 

The Countess noticed of resignation in the girl's body language even as her voice declared, “write your letter." 

The man laughed, "we will. But then there's that six exaggerated exchange. I make demands… they want proof… they want to know you're alive. I have to send proof… so I need a way to prove it now. 

“My ring has the family crest." 

And then the man laughed again, "yes, that would be excellent proof… especially if it was still attached to your finger.”

The other men made a cacophony of joyous laughter. They mocked her. But she stayed stoic. “Do what you must.” The girl said, not even showing a bit of fear. 

“Keep your filthy weapons away from her!” the Countess Christa Monte called as she stepped into the chamber with them. The first of the kidnappers thrust at her and she deflected the blade, and a simple diagonal strike sent the man flying to the other side of the chamber, motionless.

She turned her attention to the others, there was a group that charged her, she dropped to one knee and pulled up slashing out. It was a man who called out, “she just took out six guys with one slash!”

One more charged and she side-stepped it. The man hit the air. And found a rapier to his own jugular, "cut her ropes, or I'll start cutting what's left of you." 

The man removed the ropes that held the girl down, she approached Christa, “thank you.-" 

But her thanks were cut off as Christa told her, “go directly behind me, keep walking until you see a light, go up there… My escort is waiting. I will be there in a minute, I want to make sure none of them want to follow you." 

The girl did not speak, she simply did as she was told. 

And when the footsteps had finally fully disappeared, she put her saber back in its scabbed, “you've done well." Reached into a person through something into the darkness. 

A hand reached out, catching the black bag, the rattling of precious metals was clear. "And it was a pleasure doing business with you, your grace," came the amused and playful voice of Mario.

A few minutes later, the countess Christa Monte emerged from the building and found Esauo with the young lady. She said, “Thank you. I really don’t know what else to say.”“I’m sure you would do the same for another.” was Christa’s brief response. She paused and looked at Esauo, “take her to wherever she is lodged." And then to her. “Tomorrow you will be my guest for breakfast.” It was a friendly gesture, but it wasn't a question. It was an assumption.

The girl gave the slightest curtsy, "I am Bertina, pleasure to meet you. And you are?”

“Clearly I'm a rescuer, tomorrow I shall be host… but if you wish to speak my name: The Countess Christa Monte.”

The following day, Christa sat in a chair looking out a window as she saw the vehicle approaching with Bertina. Christa made her way down the stairs, even in a temporary resonance, she had arranged to have one of the largest mansions in the entire Capital. 

The large door opened and Esauo stepped inside holding a door open, as soon as he had seen Christa he announced, "may I present, the Viscountess Bertina Vernon.”

A moment later the daughter of Diego and Lexeres stepped inside with a smile. She lived in a mansion, but it was not this big, it dwarfed her entire residence and this was a temporary home. “Thank you, countess, for the invitation." 

They embraced slightly and each gave a kiss on the other cheek, “it's my pleasure, Bertina." 

"I hope you don't take this as an insult, but I feel like I have to ask, how do you know they're going to kidnap me last night?” her gaze was very curious.

“It was nothing, you're a fellow Noble, you'll learn when it's your turn to take control of your family's assets that whenever you visit any location, it only takes a little bit of an investment of credits to be made aware of the seedy side of society. If you pay well to be informed, especially of the unscrupulous… you will be well informed. Quite frankly, knowledge of the kidnapping of a viscount is money well spent.” there was almost a look of shock on the young lady's face, 

“Esauo, is the food ready?" 

"I'm sorry Grace, it probably won't be ready for another half hour per your original instructions.” Esauo said with a bit of apology in his voice. 

“That's fine, I will show our new friend around the estate." 

And that is exactly what they did, showing off artwork, the elaborate garden, display pieces… Christa absolutely despised the way certain nobles looked at things as value just because they were worth money. She almost felt like Phillipson, tryignt o impress… disgusting. But she would need Bertina to report this back to her father, to make him more curious. And even as his money was slipping through his fingers, he would look at the countess as a much-needed investor… or mark.

The Countess was surprised for the second time by this young lady, first by her bravery in the catacombs, and then the second time when she was excited about the sparring room. Several fencing sabers and rapiers were lined on the walls. 

She almost ran to them, “do you fence?" 

The Countess left as she walked behind Bertina, "of course, why do you think I was able to fight in the catacombs so well?”

"My father taught me the sword. I'm good at it, but in such a sport, my father always taught me that men of equal skill will win. They are bigger and stronger." 

She took a blade off the wall, “I was taught a similar thing by my master, she told me that a man will always beat a woman pound for pound. And that's why women who choose this, need to find different ways to fight. Be faster than your opponent, do not try to overpower them, you will lose… but if they cannot strike you, but you can strike them, then you will win.” She did a couple of quick air parries, and a thrust. 

“I don't know about that, my father has techniques that are unbeatable. He uses one on me every time and is unstoppable. I can't find a way around it.”

The countess took a blade off the wall and handed it to Bertina. “Show me." 

Bertina demonstrated the moves that would lead to getting trapped into the position. "And from here, he will pull my sword down, trapping my blade in the downward position while he swings his sword around and gains a point from striking my side.”

The Countess smirked, “okay do this to me." And she struck in the way that Bertina said that she usually does, and soon she felt the sword getting locked into its position, there was a brief moment where Bertina's sword released. Christa as she came to strike at her side. But instead this time there was a clang of swords.

The young lady's eyes went wide open in surprise. “How did you do that?”

The countess smiled, "it's less about the sword-work for this move… it's more about the footwork. But to be honest, what I just showed you is how a man should block that… as a woman instead of just blocking it, you should angle yourself slightly closer like this…" she demonstrated, “And let the weapons momentum push you into a more advantageous position, and strike like this." They demonstrated to move a few more times until Bertina was comfortable with it.

"I can't promise you'll beat your father the next time you practice with him, but you should surprise him by getting out of his ‘easy win’ move.”

"Your grace… I'm sorry to bother you, there was a complication with the Spada matter.” He held out a sheet of paper while the Countess excused herself from Bertina. 

She read the documents, made a few adjustments, “hardly a complication, but thank you, Esauo.” A moment later he was excused. 

Bertina and Christa finished their tour by arriving in the dining room, which already had food set up. Apparently they were a little later than planned due to their sword play.

As they ate, Bertina wanted to know how she could make up the rescue to the Countess. Christa, for her part, said that it was unnecessary, that she was sure that if the situation was reversed, Bertina would have done the same thing. The look on Bertina's face said that though she wasn't sure if she would have before, she probably would in the future from now on. And then she asked, “you simply must come to meet my parents in Pariseilles. They would want to thank you in person." 

"I'm not so sure. I'm very busy these days.”

"Please, you must…" the young lady pleaded. 

Christa looked to Esauo, “where do we stand on the shipments?" 

"We don't expect the next shipment of superarest-” Christa shot. Esauo, a warning look, as if he shouldn't have used what the shipment was for," - err… uh merchandise to arrive for four more weeks.”

The young lady's smile grew wide, "that's perfect, you'll be there just in time.”

“Time for what?" 

Two Weeks later, Christa stepped out of the vehicle, and started walking towards the Vernon estate. As her assistant, Esauo was her escort and walked ahead of her announcing to those that needed who she was. 

Has she stepped through the entrance of the grand home, she remembered days as a child being here as friends with Diego. Now she was no longer a he, she was no longer a friend, she was a woman and a Trojan horse. 

A man from her left declared aloud, “presenting the Countess Christa Monte!” 

Not ten seconds. Had passed when she looked up at a balcony and saw Bertina, “Countess!" She was quick to introduce all of her friends and peers to the countess, referring to her as her savior in reference to the night in the catacombs. Meaning these people that meant much to her, was interesting, but the moment she had been anticipating had arrived when Bertina brought her before Diego. 

"Daddy, I want you to meet Countess Christa Monte.”

He looked her up and down with appreciation. “IN my circles I have heard much about you and now our family owes you a great deal of thanks.”

"No need, I've been looking forward to this moment for quite some time.” she shook his hand. 

The man was surprisingly gentle, especially considering the way she remembered how he used to shake hands. Though he was a man back then… then he added very loudly, “allow me to introduce my wife, Lexeres." 

The woman came over with a smile, daintily shook Christa's hand and gave a gentle kiss on the side of her cheek, “I don't know if you have children, but I don't think you would understand how much you protected my heart by protecting my child.” and as the young lady stepped back and looked into the countess's eyes, something seemed to twist on her face. Something bothered her. 

"Not at all. I'm sure you'll forget me in a few short weeks.” 

She looked like she was about to argue that point, when another announcement rang, “presenting the chief prosecutor Villas." 

Lexeres looked more than annoyed, almost disgusted at his appearance. That would have to be an interesting conversation later, perhaps she had an affair with him. They were Co-conspirators after all. “What is he doing here?" 

But given the way Diego moved straight to him as well, there seemed to be an angry little whisper match between the two, and that is when the Countess decided to interrupt. "Chief prosecutor, I'm so glad you were able to meet me here. I do have a little bit of business to discuss if you don't mind." 

Christa led Villas to a private corner, “I'm sorry to bother you. But given some of our mutual friends, they suggested I talk to you. I have a shipment coming into Pariseilles in the next couple of days, and I was wondering if you might know a way to get around troublesome inspections and customs. Nothing illegal, but definitely questions. I don't want to answer if I can avoid it.”

He looks back at the Countess, "I'll try to come up with something. Meet me at my office tomorrow." 

"Thank you.“ The countess knew the schedule for the evening fairly well, and she continued to talk to Villas until they heard the dinner bell.

As she made her way to the dinner table, she saw Villas and Diego start to talk, and then they moved to another room. Lexeres seemed annoyed and chased after them. Only to return a moment later with a look of despair on her face. Christa could almost imagine the conversion Villas and Diego were having. His daughter had mentioned superarestium and Spada, then Villas would mention avoiding customs. They would make plans to use Lars to steal it, and split it, restoring and enhancing all of their wealth. But that was only if thre plan went as he had strategized it.

A few minutes later Lexeres used a spoon to tap the glass. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to have your attention… Unfortunately, the count was detained by circumstances. And will be unable to give the birthday toast. That being said, I am going to-" 

“-Introduce you to me." Christa said as she stood up. "I know I'm a bit of a foreigner to most of you, and I have my ways. The count has a tradition of giving a toast to his daughter every year on her birthday but I asked kindly if I could give it. He agreed, as he is such a generous and accommodating host. But I'm afraid that I stepped on his feet a bit and that is why he is not here.” She bowed to Bertina, "my apologies for that." 

Martina seemed to have a frown on her face when she realized that her father would not be there… but that frown slowly turned into a smile as she realized that her new friend would say some words

"Bertina has made a big deal out of our little adventure. I had seen them take our favorite young lady, and as I followed into the catacombs, I listened as one of the men said that he would cut off her finger with her ring to send it to her family as proof that they had her." Christa saw out of the corner of her eye as Lexeres closed eyes and made a trembling fist, guilt for not being there, " you would not believe her response, I don't believe I would have had such courage, but she looked at them, her face was stoic, and said ‘do what you must.’" 

Some of the other young ladies that she was friends with looked horrified at the circumstances that their friend escaped. The young men looked on with admiration, no doubt many of them wondering if they would have had such courage. 

The countess waited for the murmuring to settle down before continuing, "life is like that tempest. Happy and celebrating… laying in the sun enjoying the warmth of the world, and then the storm arrives and shatters the coast, erodes, and destroys. You did what you should, you yelled out to the world! ‘Do as you must!’ For I will surely do as I must. And the world will know you… just as everyone in this room, viscount Bertina Vernon… the Lady." 

With a request of Lexeres, the count cut the first slice of cake, picking the 18 and putting it on a plate and hand delivering it to the birthday girl. “Happy birthday, my friend." Shortly thereafter, Villas returned saying his goodbyes to the Countess before finding his wife and leaving.

Diego, on the otherhand, carried two swords when he returned. This daddy-daughter dance was going to be different than most. Bertina seemed thrilled as the crowd moved to a larger room and made a circle. There were smiles and people cheering on the birthday girl. Two clangs and Diego scored the first point. One clang, and then Bertina scored her first. Diego laughed and bowed. The winner would be determined by the first to five points. The second and third points were quick as Bertina showed off her skill. Diego scred his second as Bertina scored her fourth. Then Diego won two more points leaving them at four to four. The next point would win.Lexeres was missing. Christa wanted to see her reaction. Did she not approve of her daughter’s pastime?He baited her into falling for the familiar trap, but the smile on ehr face, told the OCuntess she was waiting for it. Diego swung around expecting to score the final point, and clanged against the steal as Bertina became light onher feet, sliding back, and thrusting forward winning the fifth point.There was applause from all.

The party continued late into the night, The countess was one of the last to leave. As she approached her vehicle, Esauo opened the door and allowed her into the spacious accommodations, while he moved into a different cabin where the controls were. 

At the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Black… a black sheet of sorts? 

Lexeres. Covered in black, hidden in the dark corner. She pulled off her Veil, and she moved across and pressed her lips to Christa. "Dante.”

“Excuse me?" The countess asked the woman. 

"Villas told me that you had been executed.”

"Did he?” was the soft whisperer that escaped her lips.

The Countess called out, “turn this around, back to the Vernon estate." 

"No.” Her voice pleaded, “you're my Dante. I know it's you. Your eyes, the North Star, and Orion's belt…”

Christa shook her head, “I am not a man.” A slight pause, technology that could switch such things was common. “Did you love this man?”

Tears started streaming down Lexeres’ face. “With all my heart, for all my life."

"And just exactly how long after his death, did you marry your husband? 

There was a sudden shock and guilt in her face, "that's not fair… there were… it's not." Her head drooped… she put her head in her hands and sobbed. The vehicle came to a stop, and Christa opened the door and stood outside holding it for her. Lexeres, seemed apologetic, “I'm sorry… you cannot be my Dante.”

She bobbed her head slightly, “Dante Edwards is dead.”

She watched her walk away, and then summoned Esauo inside. He sat inside the vehicle with her, “your grace?" 

"I have set traps for my enemies. And they are falling into them one at a time. Do not interrupt that. Do not make me finish what we started the day we met.” there was such venom in her voice. 

Esauo's eyes, softened, “your grace… you can have your revenge… but you can have your woman too. I am your man. I promised you that, I meant that… I will protect you from everything, Destroça.… even yourself.”

Chapter 5 

“Countess! Countess!”

The familiar voice came from behind Christa. There was desperation in The Voice which made her turn around, and she saw the man running towards her, “Lars, whatever has you in such a tizzy?" 

Esauo, who stood next to her, who had turned as if on guard, visibly relaxed, then took a step back.

"The shipment. I just received word, it never arrived in Shangjing.” He stuttered nervously, "The entire shipment has just disappeared.”

She looked at him curiously, "what do you think could have happened?”

He shook his head slowly, looking down at the ground, “I don't know. It could just be behind… but it is very behind at this point. They could have hit into an asteroid debris field, there could have been a glitch in their star-charting software… I suppose on the outlier that could have been pirates… or even a mutiny. But that doesn't seem likely.”

She put a hand on his shoulder, "don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out.”

His shoulder seemed to sag at with relief, as if she had just taken the weight of the world off of them. “Thank you. I might need some extra time to pay back your loan."

Without changing a bit of her tone, “Lars, my friend, a contract is a contract. You still have to pay me… and you are expected to pay on time.”

“But I don't think I can. I'm sure I can find out something. I just need more time!”

"And you gave me assurances. And those assurances were based on a timely profit. We maybe friends, but people like me don't keep fortunes like I do by letting friendships get in the way.”

He snarled at her, "it's inhuman… brutal." 

A genuine smile pulled across her lips as she remembered something he had once said to her, “You think I am being too brutal? Maybe I am. But I take pride in that. I am relentless!”

He took a step away from her, completely taken aback as if she had said something that once resonated with himself. She was sure that it did, he said it so often.

He was confused as he stared at the countess, “why would you say such a thing?" 

She looked at him confused, "I'm a businesswoman with ambitions, I like my friends, but I cannot let them stand in my way. Surely, you know of this, you've pulled yourself up from the mud, have you not? 

“I think I was set up." 

"What would you do? If a friend came to you by asking for money, gave you assurances, and failed.. what would you do?” She could see by the look of despair on his face that he would have done exactly what she was doing. She didn't let him see the satisfaction she was having at how she had almost broken him. "But hope is not gone. You still have four days. Things can turn around." 

He spent a few more minutes trying to convince her, but he may as well have been speaking to the lamppost. With regret and despair, he finally left. 

Esauo asked her, “why let him think he has four days?" 

She looked at Esauo, "according to the contract he does. But more importantly, he will be all the more desperate for the credits when Diego comes to him, and asks him to steal from me.”

Hours later… the Countess and her assistant had found their way to the residence of the capital's chief prosecutor. Neera received her with open arms, giving her both a kiss on the cheek and a warm hug before inviting her in. 

“My dear friend, what are you doing here?" 

The countess got straight to the point, “I came to talk business with your husband."

Mere minutes later she found herself sitting in the study across from Gerard Villas. She was already sitting when he sat down and asked, “it is rather late for a visit from you, what is it that I can assist you with?" 

"I have brought the information on my shipment that we had discussed earlier.” She made a hand signal and Esauo bowed before walking towards the man and handing him the information. 

Villas scanned through the information quickly, “ how long will it be in Port?" 

“Just for 2 days. One night." She explained, her voice seemingly pleasant given the fact that the information was right in front of his face. 

“I don't think it will be a problem," he said.

The countess picked up on the terminology, " I don't want a ‘don't think,’ I expect ‘it won't be a problem.’”

Villas look confused for a moment, "just to turn a phrase. Nothing is sure in life, except death. But I know my people well, and as long as they are alive, nothing will happen to your boat." 

And suddenly she knew the plan, there was a caveat, ‘as long as his men were alive… He would put his weakest, more likely the newest guards at her boat. There would be an order that it was immune to inspection. Then philipson would arrive and kill them, take the treasure, and it would look like he had done his best to hold up his end.

"I expect there to be plenty of guards.” As if she saw a flaw in his plan, “at least twenty." 

His eyes widened, “you wanted to keep this discreet, twenty is not discreet." 

“I want assurances." There was that phrase again, "and keep in mind I have already done a number of things for you already. Things that will make you very influential." 

Now the man seemed confused, “how so?” 

She gave him an expression that told him that it should have been obvious, "I introduced you to Xiao, Rasputin, and Leone." 

“The investments they introduced me to shall make me much richer, but I don't necessarily believe that's just because you introduced me to them. Nor do I see how they would make me influential.” He said casually, as if minimizing her role in the transaction. 

“Investments? You didn't really give them your credits did you?" She said as if that were a dangerous idea. 

"Why wouldn't I?" 

She pressed her hand to her face as if she were about to explain something very obvious to a child, "they are the biggest crime bosses in the sovereignty. Surely, you must have had dossiers on all three of them." She knew that he did not, they were only crime bosses because she had funded them, and she had paid a lot of money to keep their names secret. "I introduced you so that you could place government assets in their hands so you could track the laundering… find out where the money was going, this was your opportunity to break the biggest crime syndicate on this side of the Galaxy.” 

His mouth hung open a bit, "what? What are you talking about? They introduced me to medical investments and distribution models, real estate, relocation. These are all above board." 

“No, they are not. I would not get caught dead investing in them, but keeping them close can be advantageous, you can learn things… but medical investments and distribution models? Illegal narcotics. Real estate? Protection rackets, tenant and owner intimidation to sell cheaply or move… relocation? Human trafficking… you are a fucking idiot. I handed you these over-confident buffoons on a platter.” She stood up paced for a couple of moments, “no less than twenty men protecting my shipment, if you can't get that, let me know and I will provide the security.”

She didn't give him a chance to respond, she was out the door, with Esauo following close behind. 

“Did you just make him think twice about stealing from you? Wouldn’t that ruin the plan?" 

She kept up her brisk pace and then came to a stop, "no Esauo. Fave faith in me. I made him double down on it. He knows it's only a matter of time now before he is exposed. He cannot undo it. And though he's significantly wealthy now, he does not have enough wealth to turn their eyes away during the investigation. He will need significantly more wealth to bribe his way out of this situation. He knows he is now in.”

As she predicted, she never received notification from Gerard Villas that he needed more security.

Then she came, and she stood in an alley across from a dock where she could still see her own ship docked. Lars stood near an airlock, commanding a group of people that looked a bit unscrupulous. They had moved several crates into hover carts, and started moving them to an older ship, one that the Countess recognized, Mahverion.

She looked at the man beside her, “now." 

It only took a few brief moments before vehicles with spotlights swooped in. The unscrupulous men looked like they were ready to fight to the death to get out of this. 

"Lars Phillipson!” The voice from one of the head GA agents called out. 

There was a pause, “... I am." 

“You are under arrest for piracy." Continued “you will put your hands on top of your head…”

"No!” He roared, "Villas and Vernon set me up!”

And finally the countess spoke from behind Phillipson, “You're going to steal my treasure? And try to pay me back with my own credits?" 

He looked stunned. "You don't understand… it wasn't my idea. Vernon Hired me, Villas said the men would be easy to dispatch." 

“And yet, they are not here." 

It was only then that Lars became aware that there was a skiff behind the Countess. His only real escape… she could see in his eyes that he thought she didn't know what was behind her, she could see the desperation in his eyes that he needed to get to that. 

He pulled out his sword, and he charged the Countess, the voices of the GA cutting through the air warning him to surrender. But she simply drew her own sword, and with a single thrust carved a line through his flesh from his thumb to his mid forearm. He dropped his sword immediately, confused at how he could have been outmatched so easily.

The Countess look down at him, then looked to his men, “I suppose most of you must know what is in these crates… and thus, you know that stealing such things will result in a life confined in a small box where you will never be heard from again… but I have so many of these boxes… I will not press charges against you, I'll even allow you and your men to keep one of my boxes, if you confess to exactly what you were hired for.”

One man stepped forward, "your grace. I am the leader of these men. Many years ago I was a legitimate captain, and this man had forced me to do some very bad things. He had me steal some ships and hold on to them until he told me otherwise. It gave him the position to take over a company. Once that was done I went off on my own, and I had not heard of him again for almost 10 years. And then he reached out to me. Told me he needed me to do this, And offered me a lot of credits… though now that I know what I was moving, it certainly wasn't enough. And I would also like to say that he killed all of these guards himself. None of my men killed a single one." That was a lie, but she had spent enough money on bribes that night that the GA agents would believe him.

The GA agent looked at him, “identify yourself." 

“Me? My name is Mario Lupa. I'm just a sailor with one of two bad things in my past that I would like to move beyond.”

Christa instructed the GA agent, "you heard him, I'm not pressing charges, and I will allow him to keep a crate of my cargo as a reward for making sure the rest of the cargo makes it back to my ship intact." 

Two men took Lars into custody, one hand on each of his arms as they led him to a GA prison vehicle. He was not cuffed, The GA agents had been paid not to cuff him, to give him a chance…

Lars did not disappoint, he pushed two of his guards to the side and ran back towards a skiff again. This time with no one between him and it he managed to hop railing and land right past the airlock. In seconds he was zooming into the night sky. 

There was a commotion, and the AG chased after him. But Christa simply looked at Mario, "one crate is yours as payment for doing this tonight. But I will allow you a second, if you give chase… a quiet chase. Make sure he spends everyday looking over his shoulder, never taking him, but making him think that you're trying. And you will only take him when I tell you to, and bring him to where I tell you to take him. 

Mario looked at one of his subordinates, "take two crates.”

Most of the GA had left, but the head lead agent was still talking to a group of others as Christa approached. “I think it's time we visit the Chief prosecutor… I also think that you should send word to Count Vernon's solicitor that he is to be arrested tomorrow morning. As a legacy Noble, give him the chance to surrender peacefully."

He clearly agreed, and walked away to make the necessary communications. 

An hour later she entered the private pool house of Chief Prosecutor Villas. The Countess walked alongside the pool, and the echoing of the high heels on the rigid surface around the pool grabbed his attention quickly. "Countess? What are you doing here?”

"I wanted to make sure all the appropriate arrangements were made for my cargo.” 

"Of course! I took care of it myself.” He said with confidence and a little bit of zeal. 

“Good, good… but I have another question for you. Why did you tell Lexeres that Dante Edwards had been executed eighteen years ago?" 

He suddenly looked very confused, “what do you mean? How did you ever hear that name?" 

"That's not the question I asked you,” she pressed further.

“He accepted a treasonous letter. It had to be done." He started pulling himself out of the pool. "What is the point of these questions?" 

“To be honest, I was trying to figure it out myself. What would the chief prosecutor get from telling her these things? And all I can think is ‘there is nothing to be gained.’” She told him directly. 

“Agreed, there would have been nothing for me to gain." 

"Then who would?”

“I don't think there's anyone that would have.” He seemed to be setting up a defense. 

"I would say Count Vernon.”

He started to walk past her, and found that the exit was locked, “why is this door locked?" 

There seemed to be a playful expression on her face, "Because we are not done talking." 

"But why would I help count Vernon, we never knew each other." He demanded, poking holes in her hypothesis. While his eyes darted around looking for other ways to leave.

“Yes, but your father was murdered shortly thereafter. He was swept under the rug pretty quickly as was your stepsister… two people that despite the politics of the time, boldly pronounced their loyalty to Leon deNaples. He was very inconvenient for such an eager little bureaucrat like yourself." He tried to walk past her, but a she managed to shove him back into the pool.

“I didn't want to bring extra attention to myself. He was already dead. Probably the results of a person who was offended by his opinions.” Gerard tried to defend. 

“Or perhaps, you had an arrangement. Diego Vernon kills your father and your sister… you kill his father and his brothers. You both get elevated, you both gain much…" 

“A foolish theory." He insulted the conjecture.. 

"But Diego has already turned on you. Taken the shipment for himself.”

“My father was killed by Diego… and he will never confess.” He started to run realizing that he had damage control to do if Diego had indeed confessed, if he had indeed stolen the treasure for himself… he found a door that opened and took one step in, only to take a step back a moment later… a group of GA agents followed him in…

The countess simply said, "But you just confessed…”

She arrived at her home with Esauo right behind her. He said his good night and walked his path to his room, and she proceeded up the stairs towards her.  A solid night’s sleep to prepare for Diego was all she really needed. She removed the gloves, and a little cape that hung around her shoulders… she was unbuttoning her bodice when she heard, "Dante.”

The countess spun around pulling out her sword, aiming it in the corner. Lexeres.

“I thought we finished this conversation earlier." 

She stepped into the light, "so did I… but funny thing: you said Dante Edwards is dead. Dead. I never told you his last name.”

The countess took in a deep breath and dropped her sword, it’s clangs echoed throughout the room. “Speak." 

“Where did you go? Clearly you weren't executed.”

“The brothel d'If, they changed my genetic matrix, forced me to be a whore and a prisoner for thirteen years before I escaped.”

"And what happened after that?" 

"So very much.”

She stood up angrily, “when you escaped it, what happened after that… as in, why didn't you come back for me?”

Christa walked to the corner of the room and opened a drawer, and walked back to Lexeres, “read it." 

And she started to read it… the confession. The very words that her husband had written to make Dante disappear. All part of their plot. In his own words, how he had accused Dante Edwards of being a traitor. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that she had given herself to the man who had ruined the life of the person she wanted to be with most. 

But Lexeres asked again, "why didn't you come to me?”

“Why didn't you wait for me?” Christa yelled back. “I ws trapped in a little hole in the ground, forced to be a whore for other people's amusement, while you are sleeping with the man who-” Her voice was cut off…

Lexeres head opened up the pendant around her neck, the same pendant that he had seen her wear everyday since he had met her again at her daughter's birthday party. But when she opened it, Lexeres revealed the pin that she had remolded into a ring that night on the sand right before they made love. 

They looked at each other, "you can't love the person I am now."

Lexeres took Christa's hand in her own, “you once asked if you should be jealous when I look at women… I told you, I did like women… I was attracted to them. But I would never be with one because they didn't have your heart… I could be with you. Because inside this bosom is your heart.”

Christa was torn, she was looking down at the woman she had crushed on for so long, the woman she had spent sixteen years missing… Sixteen years angry that she had been stolen from her… A life of love and happiness…  and the last two hating her for being the conspirator…

Lexeres was never a conspirator…

In a moment, they were kissing. And slowly, one article of clothing at a time. The two women undressed each other, kissing, holding, embracing the love that has been stolen from them for so long. 

Hours later, Christa awoke and saw her love.. her life's love, lying peacefully beside her. Today would be the final day, her event should be taken, and she could move on. She could find peace and love in her heart. 

She picked her sword up off the ground, and left the room. 

There was food in the dining room already waiting her, she started with a piece of fruit and made her way to Esauo. “When she wakes up, tell her to meet me at the spaceport tonight. We're leaving the sovereignty, starting a new life… and she's invited to come… with her daughter, of course.”

Esauo nodded his head, "and you?”

"I'm going to see Diego.”

“Do you have the dagger?" 

"In my boot just in case, but I doubt I'll use it.”

Several hours passed, Christa found herself at the old Vernon family estate near Mercyport. This is where Diego and Dante had spent their childhood having fun long before Diego ever became the count… long before she had ever become the Countess.

She went to the stables, it had been a long time since there were any live animals here. But the Staples were maintained quite well.

There were five crates, they looked like the ones that contained the superarestium. Christa stayed in the shadows as she heard someone approaching. The door to the outer stables were unlocked, and someone walked in. Diego. 

He opened the first crate and found that it was filled with rocks. He opened the second, and it was filled with rocks. He opened the third, and it was filled with rocks. And then he opened the fourth, and that only was also filled with rocks… But the fifth crate, that one was locked. He smashed it a few times but the scabbard of his sword, and then looked inside. 

Christa had planned this well, there were no rocks, in fact it was empty… except for a strange little thing. It was two chess pieces that had been melted, fused into a single piece. A king lying on its side with the queen above it. As he picked it up and looked at a curiously, She stepped out from the shadows.

“Christa Monte?” He looked confused as he called her name. 

“Queen takes King, there is no King of the Day, Diego." 

The look of confusion on Diego's face gave way to disbelief as he dropped the two pieces. Any other day he would never have recognized her.  But at that moment, her old name escaped his lips, "Dante?”

“Lexeres… She came home this morning, said she was leaving me… I thought it was because I confessed to conspiracy, piracy, and murder… but no… you took her…?

Christa nodded her head in affirmation as she stepped in closer, “...and everything else. Your wealth, your position, your freedom… everything… except your life.”

“But how did-" he started to ask. 

"- I plan all of this? With passion and delight… how did I escape? That was trickier… and now-”

She didn't have a chance to finish the sentence, he had drawn his sword and charged her. He slashed out at her, she parried. He thrust, she dodged, and a quick thrust of her own, and his sword was in hers quickly thrown  behind her. Then her sword was pressed against his chest. 

“We were supposed to be friends." 

"We were friends.” he said smuggly.

"Liar!” She cut his upper left arm with a quick and resort before bringing the blade back to his chest.

"I don't think you have what it takes to kill me.” He said smugly.

She took a step back, a cold icy stare that started from her eyes and spread through her whole body, her body tensed for the final strike, “you don't know what I've been through in these last eighteen years…

There was a quick was scuffling that came from her side, her sword was knocked down, and blue cloth stood between her, and her target… a blue dress with a sword.

Bertina.

“I can't believe I was so stupid. I thought you were my friend. Neera told me what you did to her husband, how you used me, to get into my father's life and ruin him as you ruined her husband.”

"Bertina… there is a history going back before you were born, it has to be settled. I can't let you get in my way." 

She held out her sword ready to fight, “and I can't let you hurt my father." 

The count is held at her sword as well, "I won't stop now.”

“Nor will I." 

And then the swords crossed. It was a quick flurry of thrusts, neither woman hitting the other. Their swords clanged, but there's no power in their exchanges. They were baiting each other, and neither was taking it. One sword would slash the other would parry, then a sword would thrust, only to hit the open air.

Bertina was good, but she was not as good as the Countess. Bertina's footwork was off, and her sword moved straight for her belly, until there was a clang. 

A knife had been thrown and it hit her sword which shifted it just enough to miss.

Esauo. Esauo had thrown the knife, and Lexeres was standing behind him. She ran between the countess, and her daughter. 

“I was lucky enough to find your note, lucky enough for Esauo to be with me, and able to take me here… but listen to me. Bertina… There are things you need to know. About where you came from. Where you really came from. You are the daughter of Dante Edwards… the woman you know as The Countess Monte.”

Christa herself was shocked at hearing this. Her mind was already calculating the dates. It was possible. But she'd been so single-minded in her revenge, she hadn't stopped to think about the clues in front of her. 

She watched as her… daughter… turned and faced Diego… He simply looked at her with disgust, “it is true… I didn't even know myself until this morning, your mother was quite the slut in her younger years, wasn't she?”

“And somehow you thought it was okay to let me fight her?" Bertina's voice was staggered and unsure…

"You always were disappointing… not like you did much against her anyway.” He reached out and took her sword in his own hand and punched her, knocking her to the ground.

Bertina's sword, now his sword was pointed at Lexeres. 

Christa took her hand, but looked at Diego, “leave. This is my mercy to you. If you leave now, I will show you mercy. I will not hunt you. I will not ruin you any further. I will not kill you. You can simply disappear. You will live.”

He thrust forward stabbing Lexeres in the upper chest. She crumbled to the floor with a screach of pain as Diego retreated. 

She pulled back part of Lexeres’ bodice, checking the wound, “Esauo, I need help." 

Bertina was holding her mother's other hand, sobbing.

The two of them were trying to look at the wound, when they heard Diego screaming, “Dante! Dante! Come out here and finish this!" 

She shook her head, she couldn't deal with him now. Lexeres was dying. 

Esauo stepped back, “finish this… I'll do what I can for her.” she nodded her head at him, and then grabbed Bertina’s hand. 

They both heard Diego scream for Dante once again. But Christa looked at Bertina, “ I need you to go for help. Esauo will do what he can for her, but I need you to find help for your mom. Go!" 

She looked at her mother, another set of tears running down her cheeks. But she said no more words that she ran out the opposite door from where her father would have been. 

Christa, with a sword in hand, walked out to meet her old friend. 

Diego looked at her with contempt, "I couldn't stand it when I had everything, and you had something. Anything at all really… what makes you think that I would live in this farce of reality where you have everything… and I have absolutely nothing?”

Christa had but no words left. She charged him, and he charged her back. The sword's clanged, and for the briefest moment, Christa had forgotten that she was so much smaller than him now. She bounced backwards, a slash turn across her left arm. 

Focus. Think of what her teacher had told her. But she had taught herself, what her instincts take over. 

He charged in again and slashed. He's spun around because he put too much momentum into the slash, expecting to hit something, but hit nothing. He charged, and she sidestepped, but something went wrong, she felt the rock at the back of her foot and she tripped. She fell backwards. 

He took advantage of her simple defensive block, resulting in her sword being launched skyward, and being caught by his left hand. Two swords to her two hands… there was a slash and then a thrust. He moved in, but so did she so he couldn't cut her directly, and he found her knee pressed directly to his chest. ‘Not a very good kick,’ his mocking expression seemed to state…

But then he realized what was happening, she was pulling a knife out of her boot and planting it right into the center of his chest. And he fell backwards….

3 years later…

The Countess had finally made her way back to the brothel. She had not been here in years. She bought it and quickly removed all but the most dangerous of prisoners. Most of those that worked there now did so of their free will, they made decent benefits, and were taken care of. This was very well-regulated. They were a few though that she didn't think were safe to release to society. They stayed. 

And she stepped in, there was a woman, “you are the one with the appointment?” 

"I am.”

Three whores were brought out for the Countess to inspect. "Would you like to pick one?” the woman asked. 

“No. I'll take all three.”

They were led to a private room, the first woman had fiery red hair and breasts larger than their own head, "would you like to feel? They're so hard, I love clients. Touch my beautiful titties.”

The second woman was blonde, her facial features were clearly artificial. They had implants, her lips were unnaturally big, and when she licked her tongue, she showed that that had been artificially lengthened as well. "You would not believe the pleasures I can give with my tongue." 

The third woman with the sky blue hair, had an artificially enlarged ass. She kept jiggling it as she danced to the music, "I like pegging a lot, especially when I'm the one getting pegged.” And she giggled. 

Krista looked at the three whores, “I know you probably won't understand what I'm saying, those masks keep your mind slightly boggled for upwards of eighteen hours a day… I'm going to say what I need to say." 

She stepped in front of the first whore, “Lars, everyone knows you ran, They do not know how you were hounded for years, they don’t know you were captured. No one knows you are here. In 13 years you'll be allowed to leave, but you will never be yourself again… Lars will always be hunted, but what will you make of yourself like this?”

She walked to the second woman, "Gerard. The GA hunts you everyday. After your conviction, I had some unscrupulous friends liberate you from your transportation and deliver you here. The Galaxy still thinks you're hiding. And in 13 years you'll be allowed to leave, but the Villas family is gone. Your wife is gone, married to another man by now. Your fortunes were taken by the government to pay off your debts to society… not just for conspiracy, nor to your family, but for the things you did with your friends." 

And finally she stood before the third whore, “Diego, that knife I stuck in your chest, made it look like you were dead. You had no pulse, no heartbeat, no brain activity for 3 weeks. The Galaxy thinks you're dead, and in 13 years when you are allowed to leave here… well… I've already made arrangements for that." 

The three women all giggled thinking this is part of a role play. Their minds would not recover for hours, and then they would be left with their own thoughts knowing what the count has had for them. 

She left the brothel and walked the distance to return to the casino. She made her way to the pool area where she saw Esauo attending to her daughter. "You said you had some business to attend to, will you have any fun during this trip?”

She nodded her head, I bought this brothel, this casino, because these were the hardest times of my life. It was a part of me that thought it would be best to shut them down. In fact, I still have secrets here. Secrets I intend to keep." 

Bertina about her head in acquiescence, “I won't push you for that." 

"Thank you… I spent more years as a woman now than I ever did as a man… it's kind of funny for all the pain that this place has caused me, and now I'm standing in the middle of it… with everything that truly matters to me.”

She looked at her friend Esauo…. And then down to her daughter, Bertina… And then the familiar hand coming from behind her, interlocking their fingers… Lexeres, her wife.

The End.

Thank you for taking this little adventure with me.  This is loosley based on the Count of Monte Cristo movies I have watched.  Unfortunately I have not read the book.  I love the 2002 version of the movie, and highly recommend watching it. For those of you who almost ended up with the Poignant ending choice.  Now that you’ve gone this far. Among the more despairing moments would have been finding out that Bertina was his daughter… after he stabbed her with a lethal blow… and of course, Lexeres could never be with the person who killed her daughter…  there were a few other things, but that was my sadistic psrt coming out to ruin your night if you had chosen that path.  >)  lol. Seriously, I’m delighted you all came with me and participated.  Xoxoxo!Oh, and if it is still March of 2025, you can order a physical copy of this story, it is a free members benefit on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/posts/youve-been-123432931). Connect with me!

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