Alice locked her bike to the wrought iron fence outside of Mr. William's manor with a sharp click. She nervously smoothed her pants with a hand, hesitating despite the heady rushes of confidence she had been dosing herself with from the magical ring. She knew that coming here could be dangerous, and paradoxically, the magical confidence ring was making her question her judgement. Was she only here because she was confident enough to be here?
No. Alice was needed. She had been a nervous wreck all day at the office yesterday when Abel didn't show, despite it being a Monday, and him having a 3:00 with the commissioner, of all people. She had needed to use the ring just to admit to the powerful man that Mr. Williams wasn't in the office.
Perhaps more worrying still, Circe hadn't shown up to reclaim her ring. Alice could get used to having it, but if both Circe and Abel had failed to show up, there was a good chance they were in danger, and a good chance that Alice was the only one who knew. She wasn't sure what she could do, but she knew she had to do something. She circled the ring twice more and felt confidence surge within her.
She would have to rescue Abel. Simple as that. Alice strode purposefully toward the door, and rapped the heavy brass knocker heavily three times. When there was no answer, she rapped heavily three more times. When there was still no answer, she circled the ring once more and lifted the knocker only for the door to open suddenly, revealing Abel's driver, Thomas.
Doesn't he have a butler? Alice wondered, as Thomas spoke up. "Mrs. Mahler is not taking visitors at this time." With that he shut the door in Alice's face.
Mrs. Mahler? Alice knew Thomas, and had Abel's address well and truly memorized from the office. Who the hell was Mrs. Mahler, and what had she done with Abel? Alice paced the porch several times before deciding. She would simply have to break in. She circled the ring again and felt that heady rush of recklessness she was beginning to associate with overuse.
Alice darted around the right of the building and began peeking into windows. No one in the smoking room, some servant she hadn't met in the kitchen. Dining room? Paydirt. Abel blindfolded and tied naked to the dining room table.
More confident than cautious, Alice removed her hat pin and slid it into the gap between window and latch, with a bit of effort for the tight squeeze. She jiggered the latch for a few seconds, and almost broke her favorite hat pin, before she caught the latch just so, and was able to pop it open. She slid the window open just enough to fit through and clambered in, rather stealthily, she thought with pride.
Confident, and yet excited by the risk she was taking, Alice couldn't help but feast her eyes for a moment on the man she would have as lover before moving to rescue him. He was blindfolded, and couldn't know how rudely she was staring, after all. Her eyes traced toned legs shapely abs, a softly defined Adams apple, and of course, an appealing, semi-hard erection lifting itself ever so slightly off of Abel's thigh. She reveled in the pleasure of being able to stare without being judged for it, but knew that time was of the essence. After a moment, therefore, she cleared her throat, and whispered. "I'm here to rescue you, lover."
Abel stiffened, flushed red, and then hissed back, "Its not safe. Leave the way you came, quickly!" He pulled his arm against the ropes binding him, as if to gesture for emphasis, but was unable. Alice was confident she would be able to free her man quickly, however, and ignored his protest, deft fingers unknotting the ropes at his feet.
Abel's feet were free already, Alice working at the intricate weaving of knots at his hands with patience and determination, when the a serving woman entered carrying a tray full of deviled eggs, and immediately screamed. Alice charged across the room to slap a hand across the woman's mouth, devilled eggs spilling across the fine green silk rug, but the damage was already done. Within seconds, someone extraordinary entered the room.
A short woman with rose gold hair burned the color out of the room as she entered, like sunlight leaving spots in Alice's vision of a world suddenly less vivid by comparison. Alice herself felt suddenly small next to the short nude woman, and only avoided dropping to her knees by circling the ring once more. As the familiar rush flooded her, she challenged the furious blonde, brandishing her hat pin threateningly. "You've no right to keep him here. I'm going to free him."
The blonde chuckled and the hatpin grew terribly hot, forcing Alice to drop it. She eyed Alice appraisingly, and set a hand possessively on Abel's bare chest. "This slut is my slave now, and I can't have you blathering about it. Still, it seems terribly wasteful to kill someone brave enough to threaten me like that, not to mention how pouty slut boy here would get if I mounted your head on a spike like in the old days."
At this Abel began pleading, but the woman silenced him with a shush and a touch of the golden collar upon his neck. Alice, rather easily feigning bravado, stared her down and asked the begged question, "You seem to be implying another option. You're telling me to be your slave too, or you'll kill me?"
"Sadly," the woman opined, "magic that impedes will is a lot more complicated. A spell forced under pain of death is liable to spontaneously reverse, whether by true love's kiss, or contact with a magical object, or perhaps a particularly forceful sneeze. More trouble than it's worth. Slut boy's spell only worked because I have so much history with him. I can commend your bravery before you die though. My name is Agrat."
At this, Alice's eyes went wide, and she took an involuntary step back, as half-remembered lessons from a mother she had thought silly struck her mind. "Agrat...bat Mahlat?"
Agrat twirled a strand of hair in a petite finger. "Brave and well read, I see. I'm not so famous as I once was. Maybe you are worth the effort, I really don't have as many slaves as I would like. See, for a slave spell to keep very well, the choice at least has to be a real one, if not a perfect one. This, this may work. Swear to me, or I will erase your memory of Abel, but promise to leave you unharmed.
Alice frowned. She thought the choice should be obvious. Abel had obviously gotten himself into this mess, one way or another, and, implied promises last week aside, she had no real commitment to him beyond that of a secretary. And yet her mind railed at the notion of cowardice, of letting him suffer this injustice alone. Her feelings for Abel were strong, her rejection of not-knowing this hidden facet of the world stronger, and her fear of the cost dim and remote, despite its immediacy. She wanted to be with Abel, sure, but she had just discovered that all of the fairy stories she had grown up with were real. Magic rings, ancient sorceresses. Demon Queens. What else was hidden from her? What else would be forever beyond her life if she agreed to lose this knowledge? Alice frowned again, dimly noticing the frantic shaking of Abel's head in the corner of her eye. "I choose servitude"
Agrat smiled broadly, a pretty, but slightly uncomfortable smile, revealing teeth which seemed rather sharp without being obviously unnatural in any specific way. She waved her hand and an open golden collar appeared in it, which she quickly snapped shut around Alice's neck with a soft click. "I had a good number of these forged a few centuries ago. So very handy. Now let's test the spell." Agrat gently stepped a well manicured foot onto one of the deviled eggs bespoiling the green silk carpet, and tapped Alice's collar. "Lick my foot clean."