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Tell the Northern Lights to Keep Shining	By : QueenHimiko Category: +S to Z > Slayers Views: 3352 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Slayers, I make no profit.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
AN: Chapter title is from "Crucify" by Tori Amos. This is a good time to mention that I see these events as happening shortly after TRY and in a different continuity from Revo/Evo.

The relief of finally reaching Seyruun safely battled with the dread that came with the knowledge that she was going to have to tell Amelia everything. There was no avoiding it. She had thought it was bad when Eris had put the bounties on their heads, but it was nothing compared to this. The horrible truth was that she was going to have to tell her story if she ever wanted to travel in peace again.

“Phil!” Chloe yelled as she ran into his study and hugged him.

Phil looked at her in surprise, “Chloe? I didn’t know you were coming.”

Eric and Pearl stood next to Lina and Gourry by the door. “Something terrible has happened.” She said. “We had Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry escort us here for safety.”

“You couldn’t have gotten better escorts.” He said as he glanced at them, noting their unusually subdued demeanor.

“I guess.” Lina said uncharacteristically, “Is Amelia around?”

“She’s in her study with Mr. Zelgadis.”

Lina’s eyes widened, “Zel’s here?”

“Yes.” He said, surprised. She didn’t seem happy to hear it.

“But he’s supposed to be in the Outer World!”

“He came back to take a position as Amelia’s bodyguard.” He explained.

Gourry looked at her as she swore. “Is there a problem?” Phil asked.

“Just another to top off the mountain I’m in.” she said bitterly. “Come on Gourry.”

They exited Phil’s study and headed for Amelia’s. “This is just great. It’s bad enough telling Amelia.” Lina moaned.

Gourry wasn’t sure what to say. Nothing would make it better. He settled for grabbing her hand and squeezing it. They walked in strained silence to Amelia’s study. Sure enough, Zel and Amelia were seated on the sofa talking amicably when they walked in. “Miss Lina!” Amelia exclaimed when she saw her.

She ran to throw her arms around her. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

Amelia pulled away and noticed her friend’s lined and worried face. She thought of the odd rumors circulating about her and the very real bounty on her head. “Last minute change of heart.” Lina said bitterly as she sat next to Gourry on the couch.

“Oh?” Amelia asked as Lina took off her mantle and started rummaging through it.

Lina said nothing as she finally found what she was looking for and pulled out a stack of documents. “Hey Zel, I found this research in the basement of some creepy sorcerer who was studying how to separate chimeras. Why don’t you putter off to the library and read it?”

Amelia exchanged a befuddled glance with Zelgadis. Was Lina, the one who was always so pushy about getting him to join the group, giving him the boot? Zelgadis’ eyes narrowed, and Amelia felt herself tense. While he would never admit it, Amelia believed he valued their friendship greatly. It must have hurt him to be so callously dismissed. “Is this related to the matter at Anilorac?” he asked.

Lina went white as a sheet as she hissed, “Get the hell out.”

Zelgadis stared at her for a moment before picking up the stack of papers and muttering, “Fine then.”

In a few strides he was at the door. “Zel.” Lina said. He turned to look at her. “The rumors. Do you believe them?”

“Not for a minute.” He responded.

She smiled wryly, “I’ll catch you later.”

“Later.” He repeated, and then he shut the door behind them.

Amelia regarded Lina and Gourry carefully. Lina looked unusually dispirited. Gourry looked strangely downcast, his eyes lowered as though he were shamed at failing in something important to him. “Miss Lina.” She said quietly, “What happened in Anilorac?”

“Gourry and I were traveling through like we usually do. Minding our own business like we usually do.” Lina started, “We stayed at an inn. And I woke up in the dead of night. There were three men. They had gagged me. They held me down and I tried to fight them off but they pulled out an ax and stuff happened.”

Her voice trailed off for a minute as she kept her eyes on the floor. She did not notice as Amelia brought her hand to her mouth in shock. She took a deep, heavy breath before finishing, “I killed them to make them stop.”

“They raped you!” Amelia exclaimed, the shock and disbelief evident in her voice.

Amelia’s words hit her like a blow as Gourry wrapped an arm protectively around her and glared at Amelia for her lack of tact. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Lina commented dryly.

“Well, I guess without the use of your magic powers you are pretty small…”

Lina buried her face in her hands and tore at her hair, “Why did I come here again?”

Amelia stood up and clapped her hand into a fist, “To see that Justice is served!”

“Justice was served!” Lina yelled, “I killed them! I already administered my justice! Only some duke in Semaj got his feelings hurt because one of the men was his son. And another was a police officer, so I’ve got them on my tail as well. I’m in trouble, Amelia. That’s why I’m here!”

“And you want me to use my diplomatic skills to get you out.” Amelia said as she sat back down.

“In a nutshell.”

“The Duke of Semaj.” Amelia said contemplatively as she worked to focus on the problem to avoid the feelings of disgust that bubbled within her as she thought about the horrible fate that had befallen her friend.

“Do you know him?”

“No. But I’m good friends with Queen Myra, his liege. I’m sure that I can work something out with her. In the meantime I can see that you can seek asylum here while you remain within the palace.”

Lina nodded. While she did not relish the idea of staying cooped up within the castle it was better than the alternative. Amelia continued, “We can even give you positions as guards, give you something to do.”

Lina exchanged a brief look with Gourry, “We’d like that. You don’t even have to worry about payment this time.”

“It must really be bad if you’re forgoing payment.” Amelia said. Lina looked at her with a haunted look in her eyes. Amelia felt terrible. These things weren’t supposed to happen to Champions of Justice! It didn’t seem possible! Besides, where was Gourry when it was happening? She glanced at him again, and it was apparent that wherever he was he was guilt stricken over the fact that he was not there to stop it.

“The last time we were here you said that the chambers in the western wing were ours whenever we needed them.” Lina said tiredly.

“They are.”

Lina stood up and was joined by Gourry, “We’ve not slept well during this trip. If you don’t mind we’re going to go and crash.”

“Of course.” Amelia said, torn between relief that they were leaving and feeling guilty that she was even thinking that. “Stop by later if you want to talk.”

***

“I’m sure I said all of the wrong things!” Amelia lamented as she stared at the window.

“It’s hard to know what to say. I felt that way with Chloe.” Phil said, his tone unusually downbeat.

“I just can’t believe it. First Miss Lina and then Pearl. And then that Captain, letting Det Ybund get away so he could arrest Miss Lina! Oh, the injustice of it!”

“I can fix that.” Zel said. He’d not said a word as he listened to Amelia and Phil relate the news that had befallen their friends. “I can lead a party to hunt him down, bring him to justice.”

“You just want an excuse to go after his research!” Amelia snapped, and then wondered what had caused her to lose her cool.

“No!” Zel protested, “I know what it’s like to have your body violated after all!”

“I’m sorry.” Amelia said quietly, “I never thought of it that way.”

“I’m afraid I will have to leave tonight. The more time that passes the more his trail goes cold.”

Amelia nodded. “I understand. It’s just, make sure you return to me.”

Zel got up and put a hand on her shoulder, “I shall.”

He kissed her on the cheek and then walked out. Amelia went back to staring out the window, “I sent a letter to Queen Myra, got that ball rolling. I’m hoping we can sweep this under the rug quickly. But somehow I doubt things will be that tidy.”

Phil watched her quietly. He knew where Amelia was, and she was safe in Seyruun. That had not always been the case. He thought of Gracia. It had been awhile since she’d last written. Was she okay? As a parent the last thing he wanted was any harm to come to his daughters. And while he would not have wished it upon Lina or Pearl, he was thanking his lucky stars that it was not Amelia or Gracia who was violated.

He put a hand on his younger daughter’s shoulders, “Somehow or another justice will prevail.”

***

Sunlight streamed through the curtains, and Lina stretched and then blushed as she felt a hardness pressing onto her back. Gourry squeezed her gently as he kissed her cheek. “Morning.”

“Morning.” She replied. It had been two days since they arrived in Seyruun. And if anyone had noticed that she and Gourry were now sharing a room no one said anything. Even though Lina knew that she was safe, it felt better to have him close by.

Staying in Seyruun had been a balm to her frayed nerves. People were not spreading rumors about her or singing songs about her depravity. They’d not been attacked once and Lina slowly felt her guard relax. Phil had even given her a bit more responsibility, saying that he felt that there needed to be some restructuring among the ranks and set Lina to it. She relished having a job to focus her energies on. She liked that even though she had been violated she was still respected enough to be given such an important job. And she threw herself into the work.

She turned in Gourry’s embrace so that they were facing each other as she battled with feelings of arousal and guilt. He was still hard and pressed against her stomach now. And despite the lingering worries she’d had that she was so corrupted that no man would ever want her, he obviously found her attractive and desirable. The proof was poking her abdomen! And part of her wanted to help him with it, to know what it was like to be with someone she had chosen and that she had loved.

The other part still felt guilty for having any sort of sexual feelings whatsoever.

She leaned forward to kiss him. She was not going to let those three bastards take that aspect of her away from her. She was with Gourry, who she trusted and loved. And somehow she was going to have to get comfortable with being sexual.

He parted his lips to receive her as she wrapped her arms around him, enjoying the feel of his firm muscles and the way their tongues glided and pressed into each other’s mouths. She lifted her leg up so it rested on his hip, allowing him to rub against a more intimate area through their night clothes. He broke the kiss to moan delectably.

Lina felt a thrill of passion shoot through her as she pulled him back to her to devour him with her mouth. His hands moved so that they brushed against her breasts, surprising her by how good it felt. As if he could read her mind his hands moved back to fondle her them. Her desire swelled to new heights as she wondered if she should undo her shirt while he wondered if he had moved too far.

She had said she wanted to take it slowly! And they were moving so fast! But her breasts felt so nice, soft and inviting. It was taking all of his willpower to keep from ripping off her shirt to expose them. The need to protect her was competing with his need to feel and possess her. He had to get his hands off her breasts and fast before he took it too far! Desperate for a safe place to grab his hands moved to her biceps.

He instantly regretted it. She stiffened like a board as she strangled a cry. In a flash she was no longer safe with Gourry. Instead she was held down and surrounded by three men. She pushed him away from her as she sat up and swung her legs over the bed, breathing heavily as she trembled.

The memory faded as the room she was in asserted itself. “I’m sorry, Lina, I forgot…”

“You forgot!” she yelled, “Of course you forgot! Were you dropped on the head as a child or do you just not care enough to remember anything?”

Tears welled in his eyes as the sense of failure he’d been struggling with for the past three month became unbearable. He’d been working so hard to make up for not being there the time she needed it that he’d paid scarce attention to his feelings of inadequacy. Protecting her was his life. What did it mean that he had failed so badly?

And now he had made her remember. Could he do anything right? He stole a glance at her as she breathed deeply as she struggled to regain control of herself. His heart sped up as he wondered if he was not worthy of being her protector. It was not the first time he thought it, but at the moment his certainty in it was overpowering.

“You deserve better than me.” He said quietly, his voice gruff with tears, “Someone who could have stopped them. I’ve failed you so horribly, and now I made you remember. I…” he closed his eyes as the tears flooded out of them. “If you want to find someone worthy of you I…”

“Shut up.” She hissed as her fists gripped the sheets. “Or do you want to leave? What’s the point of being with a woman who recoils when you try to make love to her anyway?”

He felt as though he had been kicked in the gut, “That’s not it at all! You deserve better!”

“Don’t you think that’s my decision then?” she snarled as she turned to face him. “I already told you, you are worthy.”

“If I were you never would have been raped!”

“Do you think that if I had been stronger I wouldn’t have been raped?”

“No!”

“Then how would you being more worthy have helped?” She insisted, “Dammit, Gourry, I’m alive! I can get through this because I’m alive. And I’m alive because of you. If you’d not been there to deflect that sleep spell, I’d probably be locked in a dungeon somewhere. If you’d not been there that night we found out about the bounty, if you hadn’t have stayed with me all night and not left my side, I would have done something stupid. If you’d not been there when I got rid of that thing growing inside of me I would have bled to death!”

His stared at her, mouth agape as she continued, “Do I need to go back even further? All of the times in battle you were there, keeping my back? Because it’s too many to count! Yes, I was in danger for my life that night. It was one time you weren’t there, one time out of hundreds, thousands!

“Now tell me, what is better than that track record?”

He stared at her, looking as if his brain was going to overheat, so she finished for him. “Perfection. And it doesn’t exist. So stop beating yourself up for it or I will have to beat it out of you!”

Tears glistened on his face as she took a deep breath. “Unless getting me through this has just been too hard, and you’re looking for a way out.”

“Never.” He said as he grabbed her hand.

She squeezed his hand. “I’m alive, and we’re going to get through this.”

He thought back to that horrible night when he’d found out about the bounty, to the complete despair she had felt then and now. Despite the setbacks the fighting spirit was still strong within her. “Unless you send me away I’m never going to leave you. I love you. Don’t forget that.”

She blinked rapidly. “I love you, too.”

He smiled as he caressed her cheek. “And I’ll be by your side as we get through this.”

***

Something about Amelia’s demeanor put Lina ill at ease. The princess’ smile was a little too forced, her shoulders a bit too set. Lina felt her stomach turn as she deduced that she must have heard something from Queen Myra. “Just cut to the chase and tell me what’s happening.” Lina said as she sat on the sofa.

The seat shifted under Gourry’s weight as he joined her. Amelia took a deep breath, “It’s not all that bad. And there’s some good news. Zel has apprehended Det Ybund.”

“Great, I’m sure there’ll be a party later. Now, what’s the bad news?” Lina said caustically.

Amelia wondered if there was any way to dress it up and then decided that it would be best to be straight forward. “I just heard back from Queen Myra. There’s going to be an inquiry.”

Lina groaned. Gourry looked confused, “What does that mean?” he asked.

“It means they are going to ask me a lot of questions!” Lina shouted.

“Why?”

“Myra says she sympathetic.” Amelia said, “However, she has to get a consensus among the inquiry that Miss Lina’s actions that night were justified so she can negate the bounty that Duke Semaj has put on Miss Lina and take action should he try to pursue her.” Amelia explained.

“Which means?” he asked.

“It means that a majority of the people on the inquiry have to agree that Miss Lina was raped and she was justified in killing those three men.” Amelia spelled it out.

“But she says she was.”

“But who is going to believe that the Dragon Spooker could let herself get raped?” Lina asked bitterly, “I wouldn’t have.”

Gourry put a hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off. He had another question but was almost scared to ask. Almost. “What happens if they don’t believe her?”

“I don’t think that will happen. First because Justice always prevails.” Amelia said, “Second, Queen Myra will really be pulling for you, Miss Lina.”

“I don’t want cherry trees and feel good talk about justice!” Lina snapped, “The numbskull asked a good question for once.”

Amelia sighed, “You would have to turn yourself in to the authorities.”

“No way in hell!” Gourry spat.

“We might as well just start running.” Lina agreed.

“It’s not like you to give up before a fight has even begun.” Amelia pointed out.

“This isn’t a fight I want!” Lina yelled. “I don’t even know why I’m here! They’re going to want to know everything, I’m going to have to remember it, and it will be plastered onto every bulletin board from here to the Outer World!”

“Then why did you come here in the first place?” Amelia asked.

“Because I owed it to the Rolats!” Lina cried.

“Then why didn’t you leave as soon as you got here?”

Lina looked down, “Because I couldn’t get two miles without being attacked.”

“Those men were extremely well connected, Miss Lina.” Amelia said. “A police officer with his entire family in law enforcement. The son of a Duke. Even the innkeeper’s son. His father is the head of the Innkeeper’s Guild. You will not be able to step into an inn safely. Right now this is the only safe sanctuary you have, but if you don’t do this I cannot guarantee it will remain so, nor will I be able to do it should you step outside of our kingdom.”

Silence hung in the air for a few tense moments before Lina asked, “Will this make it go away?”

Amelia nodded, “You have my personal guarantee.”

Lina stared straight ahead, her mouth open slightly. Gourry frowned, “How can you guarantee all that?”

“Huh?” Amelia asked.

“If this Duke is that powerful, and if all of those family members are so well connected, how can you really guarantee her safety? Do you really think if the inquiry finds her actions justified that they will accept it and let her go free?”

“And the man with bait for brains has another point.” Lina chimed in.

“Because if Duke Semaj pursues Miss Lina, Myra can have him stripped of his rank and wealth. She can have the Brody family removed from law enforcement. Captain Brody has already been suspended for allowing Det Ybund to walk free. She will have the authority to enforce measures to ensure Miss Lina’s safety.”

Lina felt ill as she felt Gourry’s eyes upon her. “Whatever you decide, I’ll be there.” He said quietly.

Lina took a deep breath. Running was tempting. She could leave this mess behind. She wouldn’t have to face the judgment and the awkward, embarrassing questions. But she would never be free. She would always have to sleep with one eye open. And she loved her freedom.

And no matter how hard the fight she had never, ever in her life backed down from one.

Her hand dug into Gourry’s knee as she took a deep breath, “Let’s try this inquiry thing.”

Amelia relaxed. “I’ll send for some tea. Councilor Rainclaff will be up here shortly. He’s going to go through what happened that night with you in detail, and then he’s going to work with you to help you answer the tough questions that they will ask.”

Lina nodded as she strove to keep it together. “How long until the inquiry?”

“Three months.” Amelia said.

“Three months!” Lina exclaimed, “I’m going to have to wait that long?”

“I’m afraid so.” She said as a knock on the door sounded, “Come in.”

A maid came in carrying a tray laden with tea and biscuits. She set it down on the coffee table just as an older man came in. “Miss Inverse, I presume?” he said as he addressed Lina.

She nodded her head, wondering what the young woman by his side with quill and paper was doing there. “I’m Councilor Rainclaff. This is Karen. She’s going to be taking notes while I go over some things with you.”

Lina nodded as Karen took a seat and readied her quill. Amelia took a seat close to Lina while Rainclaff sat across from her. He looked at Gourry, “You are Gourry Gabriev?”

“I am.”

“A pleasure.” He said briskly, “Now Miss Inverse. Let me start by saying that my job is not to get you to like me. My job is to get you off the hook.”

The hair on the back of Lina’s neck stood up. Just what was he planning to ask?

“My job is to look at this from every possible angle it can be viewed to find the perfect argument to refute whatever is thrown your way. At times you are going to hate me.”

“Just skip the formalities and let’s get down to business.” Lina interrupted.

“Very well. For the record, can you state your name?”

“Lina Inverse.”

“And what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a traveling sorceress.”

“What is your specialty?”

“Black magic.”

“How old are you?”

“I’ll be nineteen next week.”

“And who do you travel with?”

“Gourry Gabriev. He’s a traveling swordsman.”

“How long have you two traveled together?”

Lina frowned, wondering what this had to do with anything. “It’s getting close to four years now.”

“And what is the nature of your relationship?”

Lina and Gourry exchanged a glance. “What does that have to do with anything?” she asked.

“People on the inquiry are going to want to know.”

Lina hesitated before saying. “He’s my protector.”

“Are you intimate?”

Lina blushed, “I don’t see how this is anyone’s business!”

“A man and a woman traveling together for four years…”

“He officially started courting me about a month back.” She finally snapped.

“Have you engaged in sexual relations with him?”

Lina flushed crimson as she screamed, “No!”

“But there are reports that the two of you share a room.”

“He sleeps over the covers, I sleep under them. Safety in numbers.” Lina said dryly.

“You’re going to want to stop that. Right now you’re being painted as a sex crazed nymphomaniac and you do not want to add to that perception.”

The corners of her mouth twitched, and she was about to lay on a retort when he asked. “Have you ever willingly engaged in sexual relations with another person?”

“No.”

“Now, that night that Chris Brody, Regis Semaj and Pollan Skiro were murdered. Were you at the Ant’s Head Inn?”

“Yes.”

“There are reports that you were drinking.”

Lina looked at the carpet to avoid Amelia’s gaze, “We had a bottle of wine or two. Gourry and me.”

“Were you inebriated?”

“A little.”

“And there are reports that you were flirting.”

“With Gourry. And only Gourry.”

“Mr. Gabriev, can you confirm this?”

Gourry looked sheepish. For the first time in his life he felt horrible for not remembering something. “A lot of times when I get drunk I can’t remember what happened.”

“So you can’t vouch for Miss Inverse’s behavior that night.”

Gourry sent him a look that would have most people trembling in their boots. “I know Lina. She’s not the type to flirt with random people.”

“Exactly.” Amelia chimed in.

“But she was intoxicated that night.”

“I’ve seen Miss Lina drunk, and she still doesn’t flirt! She’s always safeguarded her virtue.” Amelia countered.

“But you were not there that night.” Rainclaff stated.

“Well, no.” Amelia said.

“I was.” Lina said forcefully, “And the only one I flirted with was Gourry.”

“And you two did not go to bed together?”

“No.” Lina said, “We weren’t ready for that. We were just blowing off steam.”

“Who did you go to bed with?”

Lina bristled. “No one. I went to my room alone and went to bed alone.”

“Did you lock the door?”

“I always lock the door.” She shot back.

“But did you lock it that night?”

“Yes.” Lina said, with more confidence than she felt.

“Then how did they get in?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Lina asked, “You said one was the son of the innkeeper. He could easily have gotten hold of the room key.”

Rainclaff nodded, “Indeed. Now Miss Inverse, what happened after you fell asleep that night?”

She took a deep breath as Gourry gently squeezed her knee. “I woke up when someone slapped me.”

“What did you find when you woke up?”

“That I was gagged. That I couldn’t see. That someone was holding me down by my arms.”

“Why couldn’t you see?”

“They had pulled my nightgown over my head.”

“Did you put up a fight?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

She swallowed hard, “They told me I could cooperate and they would make it nice, but that if I put up a fight they would make it hurt.”

“And what did you do?”

“I fought. I think I managed to kick one.”

“Why did you fight?”

What kind of a question was that? “Because I didn’t want to do it!”

“What happened next?”

“They put an ax to my throat, they drew blood. They said they would kill me if I didn’t spread them.” Her voice trailed off as she felt the cold steel of the ax on her throat once again. Gooseflesh formed on her skin as the sensation of being trapped rose within her.

“And then what did you do?”

She blinked rapidly as she struggled to hold back her tears as the humiliating memory of being forced to surrender bubbled to the surface. “I stopped fighting. I let them do it.”

“Do what?”

“Do I have to spell it out?” she yelled.

“Yes.” He said.

“They raped me!”

“How?”

“What do you mean ‘how?’” she snapped, “I told you! They gagged me, held me down, and put an ax to my throat!”

“I mean did they rape you vaginally?”

Lina flushed crimson and the room seemed to teeter on edge. “You have a hell of a nerve asking me that.” She hissed menacingly.

“Right now the Duke of Semaj has painted a portrait of you as a ruthless murderess. And your reputation as the Bandit Killer does not win you any favors here. Neither does your reputation for taking down dragons and high ranking mazuko. If you want people to think you were justified in using lethal force to stop them, then you will have to explain why.”

“I already said that they raped me!” Lina persisted.

”I know it’s difficult, Miss Lina, but this is for justice to prevail.” Amelia insisted.

She lowered her head. For some strange reason she had a hard time shaking the feeling that the ax was still on her throat. It was as Amelia had said, if she stepped out of Seyruun there was a pack of wolves ready and willing to tear her apart.

“Miss Inverse?” he asked.

The burning pain of the cut on her neck. The blackness that clouded her vision. The pressure on her arms, knowing that they were serious about killing her. The sinking feeling in her stomach as she realized her choices were to let them do it or die. The humiliation that filled her as she submitted, slaying her legs awkwardly as she felt an unwanted pressure applied between them, followed by someone ripping into her. The grief the flowed as they took her virginity.

In a flash the painful memories surged through her, threatening to drown her. The helplessness she felt revitalized itself. What choice did she have but to answer? “Yes.” She replied hoarsely.

“Where else?”

She said nothing as the memories of that night became more vivid.

“Did they rape you anally?”

Lina buried her face into her hands, feeling mortified. What would her parents think? What would Gourry think? She wanted to get up and walk away, but she could feel the ax to her throat, holding her in place. She could hear the second one say he wanted to venture into virgin territory. She’d had no idea what that meant, no idea that people did that. Until he struggled to force himself in there, tearing her apart painfully. She cried and he laughed as he told her she should have cooperated from the beginning.

It was gross. It was one of the most painful and dominating things they had done that night. She had tried to kill the memory and bury it deeply. The last thing she wanted to do was tell the world that she’d been forced to take it in the ass.

“Miss Inverse?” Rainclaff prompted.

“She doesn’t want to answer that question!” Gourry snapped.

Amelia put a hand on Gourry’s arm, “This is to help her.”

A tense silence filled the room before Rainclaff asked. “Dare I presume that is a yes?”

“You bastard!” Lina shrieked as she lifted her head up to glare at him.

“Did they force you to take them in your mouth?”

“No. That would have involved removing the gag.” She said tartly.

“Did they force you to give a hand job?”

Lina shook her head. “No.”

“Now Miss Inverse, let me return to the former question. Did they force you to perform anal sex?”

Lina felt like she was going to vomit. He had backed her up against the wall. She buried her head back into her arms. “Yes.” She whispered.

Gourry put a hand on her back as she cried tears hot with rage. “You’ve done enough.” He said, his voice rough as he wiped his eyes with his free hand, “And she needs a break. So why don’t you get the hell out of here?”

“I’m afraid this is just the beginning.” Rainclaff said as he took a sip of tea. “But I’ll give Miss Inverse a minute to collect herself. Now, Mr. Gabriev, where were you while this was happening?”

Gourry glared at him. “Passed out drunk in the next room.”

“And you don’t remember hearing anything?”

“No.”

“When did you learn that Miss Inverse had been raped?”

Gourry paled. Lina had not told anyone that she had been pregnant. And he did not feel that it was his place to say anything about it. Rainclaff noticed something amiss, “Let me rephrase the question. How long after the attack did you learn that she had been raped?”

Gourry inhaled. “A month or two. I’m not really sure.”

“So she kept it from you?”

“She was scared.” He defended.

“I didn’t ask why. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Miss Inverse, how long did the attack last?”

“It’s not like I had a clock to time it.” She said, her voice weak, “It seemed to go on forever.”

“If you had to estimate, how long would you say it lasted?”

Her eyes went unfocused for a moment, “I don’t know.”

“Miss Inverse it’s really important that you give an estimate.”

“Two, three hours?”

“And no one heard anything during those two or three hours?”

“How should I know?” she yelled.

“So your attack lasted as long as three hours and no one came in to investigate?”

I knew no one would believe me! she thought as she said, “May be it was an hour. I don’t know.”

“Miss Inverse, would you please settle on a time frame.”

“I was more focused on the ax to my throat!” she screamed.

“Have you spent much time traveling?” Gourry cut in, “People tend to mind their own business at inns. And she said she was gagged.”

“I still want to know how long the attack lasted.” Rainclaff maintained.

“Two hours.” Lina said, “And no, no one checked in during those two hours.”

“Did all three rape you?”

“Yes.”

“You said your night gown was over your head and you couldn’t see. How can you be sure?”

“After the first one to take a turn finished, they cut off my nightgown so they could see my face.”

“How many turns did they take?”

Lina shook her head, “Three? I’m not sure. I was too busy thinking about the ax.”

“They must have had some amazing stamina.” He said, causing Lina to pale, “Did they use objects to penetrate you with?”

She closed her eyes, but all she saw was the room where she had been violated. She opened them and stared at the carpet, working to remind herself of where she was even as the images of that night flashed before her. After the second time they did have a hard time getting it up, but any hope that it meant that they were done with her quickly vanished as they found other means to assault her instead. “A bottle. And I bet you want to know where they shoved it.”

“Miss Lina…” Amelia whispered.

Lina turned on her, “What type of perverted inquiry have you set me up with anyway? What are you playing at? Is Seyruun so desperate for cash that you’re having to…”

“Miss Inverse, are you wanting to get the charges dropped or not?” Rainclaff asked.

“Yes!”

“Then answer the questions. Did they penetrate you with a bottle vaginally?”

She whimpered as the agony of the moment seared her consciousness. The pain lanced with fear of what would happen if it broke inside of her. “Yes.”

“How about anally?”

“No.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“You’re sick!” Gourry yelled as Lina seethed, “What’s your game here? Do I look like I enjoyed it?”

“Did they keep the ax to your throat the whole time?”

“Right until the moment I took it from them!”

“Describe how that happened.”

Lina ran a hand through her hair. “They were drinking the whole time. The one who was holding the ax passed out drunk. I took the ax and I stabbed the one currently violating me in the stomach with it.”

“That is perfectly defensible. However, the autopsy report shows that he also had his throat slashed.”

“Yes. I wanted to make sure he was dead.”

“And the other two?”

“I knocked one out and slit their throats before they could wake up.”

“You didn’t try to contact the authorities?”

“Obviously.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know!”

“Why? If it wasn’t your fault…”

“Because it was humiliating!”

“But you didn’t have to kill them. You could have cast a sleep spell and let the law handle it.”

“I wasn’t exactly feeling trustful of anyone at that moment. Besides, who was going to believe me? And I’m used to taking care of the bad guys by myself.”

“Miss Inverse, one of the men you killed was the son of a duke. The other was a law enforcement officer. Laws are in place for a reason, and though you may be very powerful you are not above the law. We cannot look to endorse vigilante justice in these cases.”

Lina looked at him, stricken, “What should I have done? Tied them up while I strolled into town, beaten and bloodied? I could barely walk after all they did! I had lost a lot of blood from where they cut my neck because they didn’t give a damn about killing me. Right before I got the ax the one holding it had nearly cut my head off with it! I’d spent who knows how much time under an ax and I was still scared for my life! I could barely think straight! I had to cast a healing spell on myself when they were in the room because the wounds to my neck were that severe. What if one of them had woken up and attacked me again? I might not have been able to defend myself. I had to secure the scene before then!”

He smiled, “A valid point we shall have to drive home. What was your state of mind at the time?”

“Huh?”

“What were you feeling?”

“I don’t know. Numb?” She said as her voice trailed off.

“What were you thinking?”

“That I had to get out of there. That I couldn’t tell anyone, that I would have to forget it.”

Lina stared at him as he ate a biscuit. She was feeling exhausted, but somehow she knew he had still more questions. “What happened next?”

Lina swallowed. “I gathered my stuff and went to the bathroom down the hall. I cleaned myself up as best as I could.”

She was silent as she wondered how Gourry would react when he learned how she had gotten them out of the inn that night. She put her palms to her head as Rainclaff asked, “How did you leave the inn?”

“I didn’t want Gourry to know.” She said quietly. “So I cast a sleep spell on him, and then I cast a levitation spell. It got us out of the inn. I cast a ray wing spell and got us out of the area. I set up a camp site and made him breakfast and told him we had camped out the previous night.”

She did not see the stunned look on his face, nor the light bulb moment that flashed across it. She was thankful that his questioning turned to Gourry. “Do you remember that morning, Mr. Gabriev?”

“Dimly.” He said.

“What about it stands out?”

“Well, Lina said that we had been forced to camp out, but I was fairly sure I remembered reaching an inn. But my memory is not too good, and since I’d woken up in a camp site I decided to believe her.”

He squeezed her hand, causing a floodgate of relief to swell through her as Rainclaff asked, “Did anything else seem odd to you at the time?”

“Well, Lina seemed like she was trying too hard to be happy. And she was walking a little funny. I thought that she had hurt her leg or something. She doesn’t like to tell me when she injures herself.”

“What do you mean ‘trying too hard to be happy?’”

“You know when someone smiles too big and it doesn’t reach their eyes? Or they say everything is fine but if you turn your back for five minutes and look again, they’re crying? She would do that. If I was looking she’d plastered a big, phony grin on her face. If I wasn’t she was sad.”

“What else was odd?”

“She wasn’t sleeping. I could hear her pacing in her room at night. And,” he hesitated before adding, “She stopped eating.”

“Did you ask her what was wrong?”

Gourry nodded, “Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“That I was imagining things.”

“Did you believe her?”

“Not for a minute. But she’d get mad if I kept pressing.”

“Miss Inverse, why did you keep it a secret from Mr. Gabriev?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Why?”

“I was scared.” She said weakly, “I didn’t want him to think I wanted it or to leave me.”

“When did you tell him?”

“About two months after it happened.”

“What led up to that?”

Lina was silent for a moment as she stared at her hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Look, if you don’t tell me and they find out then I will have no defense whatsoever to plan for you. You’d ruin the case, and everything you told me today would be for nothing.” He pressed.

Lina felt as though the ax were digging into her throat again as Amelia added, “This is for Justice, Miss Lina! There’s no harm in telling the truth.”

What choice did she really have? When she spoke her voice was oddly detached, “I passed out one night. I’d had a miscarriage.”

Amelia gasped, “Miss Lina, you didn’t tell me!”

“No, I didn’t.”

“And you would have kept this a secret if you hadn’t have miscarried?” Rainclaff asked.

“That was the plan.” Lina said.

“Damn. This looks bad.”

“It was bad!” Lina snapped.

“They are going to say that you seduced those three men after Mr. Gabriev refused to sleep with you and killed them so he would never find out. And then when you had a miscarriage that you concocted some story about being raped so he would have pity on you.” Rainclaff said accusingly.

Lina turned white as a sheet, “That’s crazy! Who would do something like that?”

“You don’t exactly have a stellar reputation.”

“Well, you don’t exactly have a lot of tact!” Lina spat back.

“You’ve been here all this time, can’t you see she’s been hurt? Lina’s not the type to sleep around and then commit murder to cover it up.” Gourry said.

“It doesn’t matter what I believe, merely what I can convince the inquiry to believe. And thanks to your actions my job has become much harder. I can get you off the hook, though my own talents and not through any smart thing you’ve done since that night. But if you think that this interview with me was bad, just wait till you see what happens to you at the inquiry. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Now, I need a detailed written statement from you describing that night, and tomorrow after breakfast we’ll go over it.”

“Get the hell out.” Lina spat, feeling just as torn and defiled as she had that night. The scab that had slowly and painstakingly formed to cover the wound that night had left on her had been painfully ripped open, and once again she was bleeding.

“Miss Inverse…” he began condescendingly.

Gourry stood up, “She asked you to leave.”

Rainclaff exchanged a glance with Karen, “Let’s give Miss Inverse some time.”

They got up, leaving Amelia with them. Lina did not look at her as she said, “You too. Leave. We are not friends.”

“But Miss Lina…”

“I don’t want to hear it! Get the hell out before I…”

Amelia stood up, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said weakly.

“The hell you will.” Lina spat as she closed the door behind her.
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Tell the Northern Lights to Keep Shining