The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

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>Adler: How dare she!

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"Not a chance," I snarled. Engaging in venery with a Sisterhood Floozy would be like walking into a trap! If I was going to prevail, I had to fight her on MY terms. "You barged in, attacked my student, put a knife to my throat, mocked and berated me, threatened to turn me into a mindless puppet, and now you intend to blackmail me into having venery with you? Have you no shame? Don't bother answering; I know you don't. And the very fact that you are trying to give yourself a high seat of power in my future government shows that despite your words, my plan does have a good chance of succeeding!"

"With my help, it certainly would," Lana quipped smugly.

"You would be my loyal Prime Minister, eh?" I sneered. "The same way you were loyal to Estmere? I haven't forgotten that the Sisterhood MURDERED MY BROTHER."

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"I heard that YOU killed him," Lana stated drily. "Nobody else seems to know that Estmere died of his own folly. He chose to sit on the Coronation Throne despite being told not to. Anyway, you should understand full well why he had to die. Even if he could have been convinced to abdicate the throne peacefully, there can be no loose ends. Not only was he a terrible Emperor, he was just a terrible person in general."

"He was a cool dude," I insisted angrily.

"Whatever," Lana sighed. "It's a bit late to start caring about him now. And yes, by the way, I am blackmailing you. I need to make sure that you fulfill your destiny. Even if you can do it without the Sisterhood, I still intend to benefit. Think about it: I could just beat you unconscious and take what I need, but where's the fun in that? Plus, it would spoil your looks and that would be a tragedy since your looks are all you have going for you."

"That's ironic coming from you," I scoffed.

"You're interrupting again," Lana scolded. "Since you're such a big grown-up prince now who's learned to care about other people, maybe you would be more inclined to take my offer if I tied you up and stepped out to have a word with that stupid rabbit I left drooling in the clearing. She will still be there. I know how to handle the time-slips. Perhaps I could slit her throat or break her neck. But you know what? After all of your whining, I think I'm in the mood to carry her out in the woods, hide her in a place she'll never be found, and break all her limbs so she slowly dies of agonizing starvation."

"Don't you dare!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, you don't like that? Maybe then you should shut up and take what I'm offering you. Or perhaps I need to pay your little skunk femme a visit. The Sisterhood has been planning this for longer than you can comprehend. We have too much invested to let you screw it up. The only reason you were born is because the Sisterhood willed it. You BELONG to the Sisterhood, and the Sisterhood knows well enough to leave no loose ends. That lowfolk femme is a loose end. What was her name? Vernier? It's a pity; she could have lived out her life in peace, but you made her into a loose end which somebody - probably me - will have to deal with. I could just garrote her and be done with it, but that wouldn't be very satisfying. Maybe I'll ruin her reputation and have her driven out of town. She does seem to have an unlucky streak, which will make this much easier to pull off. Just imagine her dying in an alleyway somewhere in a puddle of her own tears while cursing your name. Before the end comes she'll have to lower herself to doing shadow puppets for a scrap of food..."

>Adler: Something in you snaps as white-hot rage takes over. You feel the warrior fury of Irenaeus pulsing through you as you lunge forward

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At that point I must have had a brief flash of Irenaeid Battle Fury, because I don't remember lunging at Lana and grabbing her. The next thing I knew, I had her in a headlock through the stair railing and was twisting one of her arms behind her back.

"ENOUGH, FLOOZY," I growled. I was still furious but somehow aware of what I was doing. "I HAVE BORNE ALL THE ABUSE I WILL TAKE FROM YOU."

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"There's the old Irenaeus fighting spirit," Lana chuckled. "That's what I was hoping to see. Adler, buddy, baby, ol' prince, ol' pal, Your Highness, you and me, we're going places. Keep your mojo and share it with me. You'll be Emperor and I'll be your right-hand ewe."

"YOU WOULD BETRAY THE SISTERHOOD?" I demanded.

"Well, sort of," she wheezed. "Not so tight on the windpipe! We have contingency plans to cover just about every possibility. I'll just have to explain it to them. I might wait until after we succeed and you are on the throne; that will certainly strengthen my case. But in the meantime you can consider me your henchfemme. It's customary in these situations to seal the deal with a bit of venery -"

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"FOUL FLOOZY, EVER FULL OF TRICKS AND DECEIT," I declared as I apported one of Burnside's blades from the heap where I had tossed them on the porch overhead. "WHERE WILL YOUR POWER BE IF YOU ARE NO LONGER BEAUTIFUL?"