Kovak was gone. Erdgar didn't understand even though there was a note left behind.
"To my kind employer, I must apologize. I shall leave your fine estate. I've become so interested in the murder of Fabrizio Aquabi that I've decided to perform my own private investigation. I understand that I have no legal authority over this issue, but I've never been one to care over such things. Fret not, Master. Now that he is dead, you have one less enemy, and I believe you may relax and enjoy your life as you did before. Still, I'm curious, and I can not rest until I have the truth between my fingers. Please forgive me for leaving you without any notice."
Erdgar didn't know if this made the man more or less suspicious.
***
Delma Roiters was no longer a Temple Child, and certainly not a Child of Hope. In the beginning, she thought it would be a good thing. The deciding reason, though, was her husband. "You don't need to work anymore," Maino had fiercely insisted, "because now you're the dragon's woman." That's how he saw himself, a great dragon to be feared.
Most of his matches were held in the spring and summer. There were a few other things for Maino to do in the off seasons, though. He was often paid by companies to endorse products in newspaper advertisements. He made a few paid appearances at festivals, schools, and even restaurants. The man was literally paid money just to be seen eating somewhere. In the beginning, this sort of treatment trickled down to Delma too. Sometimes, store owners would pay her to be seen browsing their products, or even using a product of theirs in public. One jeweler asked her to wear a rather heavy necklace of his at her next dinner party.
A celebrity's wife was a celebrity by association. It should be a charming life, a dreamy life.
The truth was, she didn't know Maino very well when she married him, and once she had learned more important details of his personality, she had decided that she didn't want to know any more of him.
Because no matter how handsome he was, no matter how much money he had, no matter how many luxuries he tossed into her lap, certain actions could never be forgiven.
Over time, he lost more and more patience with her, for his wife was less forgiving than his adoring fans. She didn't see him as perfect. She didn't worship him. So, his words grew harsher and crueler as time went on.
Then one day, when there was an argument, a stupid argument over nothing important, it happened.
With no understandable provocation, Maino stopped treating her like a spouse. He treated her worse than an opponent at a match. At least in a match there were rules.
Delma didn't go out in public for a few weeks. The couple was too embarrassed to have her face be shown. They let everyone believe she was ill.
Only the frightened servants and a paid off physician were given the truth.
One heartbreaking memory was when the butler, a dear man with gray hair, tried his best to defend her. He ended up with a broken arm and snapped ribs. Maino then dismissed him from his position and had him replaced with an easily manipulated man.
When winter started, Delma gathered up as much money as she could and tried to run away. She thought she might find shelter in a temple, perhaps one dedicated to the God of Marriage, and arrange a divorce from there. It didn't work. Maino caught up with her on the street and yanked her into his carriage.
Eventually, she became known as the "Sickly Former Priestess" because her husband's fans assumed that she was always ill. She couldn't attend any more public appearances. She wasn't paid any more money to be seen with any products.
There wasn't a day when her body wasn't hurting. Sometimes a bone was broken.
There was even a miscarriage, and despite the horror of it, Delma found herself to be relieved when the blood finally came out of her. She didn't want to raise a child with this man.
At least Maino was man enough to tell her that it was his fault the poor little thing died, one hundred percent. Delma had thought he might blame her, but he surprised her with a quiet apology. As for what the public knew, Maino didn't let anyone know she had ever been pregnant.
Sometimes, Delma wondered what Maino's parents had been like. She eventually learned that Maino was an abandoned child left at an orphanage. So, she didn't have much of a clue. She still wondered, though. Would they shrug? Would they be ashamed? Would they laugh?
She blamed herself, though, because she knew she never loved him, not even when she married him. There had only been a bit of lust. She knew she should have never married him. She put herself in this mess.
But ... to be fair, if there were signs of his true nature before they married, Delma hadn't noticed them. She had been truly surprised the first time she had been attacked. Maino hadn't seemed to be the type to do those things in the beginning.
Oh well.
All there was left to do was try to leave again, she supposed.
On a night full of snow, Delma decided to make another attempt, Ignoring the pain in her bones, she quietly slipped out of bed. Her feet found a low pair of slippers. She went to her wardrobe and chose an ordinary outfit suited for the cold. Then she took a small bag of necessities. She listened to her bedroom door's hinges, carefully pushing the door aside. She vaguely wondered if she'd be caught again, and how many more marks would be put on her skin, how many more days would she be in bed, how many more meals would she skip because her misery stole her appetite away.
Her clothing was so heavy.
Delma's exhale was rattling in the air like a sack of dice being spun about.
Then a jerk from behind, something pulling at her cloak.
Her fingers gave in, letting her bag drop to the floor with a loud thud.
Piercing pain right at her throat, vaguely reminding her of a dry bout of sexual intercourse. Then an odd feeling of something else going into her.
Delma tried to struggle, but her limbs didn't have the strength. A seemingly artificial lethargy put lead in her limbs. Her back curled over. She soon saw nothing, and then she felt nothing.
***
"How are you feeling, poor thing? Do you need to sit on a pot? Are you hungry?"
That voice ... it was far away but Delma recognized it. Kuno! Sweet, sweet Kuno! She wanted to reach out to him, but her body was disobedient. Opening her eyelids was a struggle, and she didn't see anything more than melted colors once that was done. She felt supportive softness beneath her and a heavy blanket above her. Was she in a bed? That was the most logical thought her weak brain could produce.
"Hold on, Angel. I'll get you to a pot."
There was movement. The blanket was taken away. The air was a little cool, but she heard the cracking and popping of a fire somewhere. She was lifted up. She heard breathing and then footsteps against a hard floor. Her arms helplessly dangled in the air.
A chemise ... she had on a chemise, nothing else. She could tell, could feel the material slide and fold around her body.
Then her body was held up, her back against a leather palm. The skirt of her chemise was yanked up and her bare bottom was settled onto a cool rim of what was likely a chamber pot.
"I know it's embarrassing, but you'd better do it now so you won't make a mess later. Someone else is using the bed pan."
A pause.
She honestly didn't want to do it with him holding her up.
"Come now, Angel. Relax your muscles a bit."
Well, she was feeling a little full, but she still groaned out a wordless protest.
"It's natural. All natural. Don't be ashamed of yourself."
Leather again! It was between her thighs, on her mons, the fingers framing the labia and spreading her a little. Delma gasped.
"Go on. It's the best thing to do." His voice purred in her ear. "Let me care for you. Be a good little angel and take a wee so I won't have to fret over you as much."
Well ... she did have to go ...
The sound of the liquid shooting and splashing in the pot was so mortifying.
"That's good and well. Now wait a moment." His hand rose and disappeared into the vague world. Then it returned with a cloth and she was carefully wiped and patted dry. "Alright. That's done. I'm going to put you back to bed. You need to eat."
More movement, floating, and Delma believed she was in bed again. The blanket was tugged up to her chest. "I'm going to get some soup for you. Wait here."
A few minutes after that, and Delma felt a spoon at her mouth, and then warm soup that tasted like chicken, beef, and butter beans. There were small chunks of some sort of green vegetable there too. It was pretty nice. As he fed her, Kuno gave her delicate little praises. He told her she was doing so well, and he was so happy to know that she was eating.
There was the sound of a bowl clinking against a tabletop nearby. Then Delma heard Kuno say beside her with a tone that was too content, "I'm a monster, Angel, a true monster. I've drugged you without your consent."
Her voice struggled. She wanted to say "What?!" All that came out was a gurgle.
"I'm sorry, Angel. I injected a mixture of drugs into you. I needed you to be unconscious for a little while, because I needed to get you out of that house quietly. I wanted your body to have a kick in the system too, to help it heal. All those bruises? They need to go. I don't know what sort of doctor's been tending to you, but he doesn't deserve any payment."
Delma considered the word injected. What did that even mean?
