The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 128: Interlude - Ferrovia

Chapter 128: Interlude - Ferrovia

If Ferrovia ever thought life at the palace would be better than what he’d been forced to do before, he’d quickly learned that the luxurious conditions came with a price.

A price paid by sacrificing honesty, empathy, and self-respect.

His master, Lanoch, was a leokin man with vast appetites. With Lanoch having secured his position in Aaru’s palace, the tournaments that had been almost non-stop took on a different pace.

Tower Lord Savat had ordered Lanoch to test every arena champion, and those that could hold their own against him were allowed to remain. Those that couldn’t...

As Ferro applied makeup to the bruise on his lip, he remembered what Lanoch had done only last night.

He’d been testing a beastkin man, one with tiger-like features. The two of them seemed to hate each other at first sight, but Ferro had only been there to hold the drinks. Lanoch was a maven, and his ability to manipulate weight was how he conquered the Coliseum.

His weapon of choice was a quadruple-headed axe - more like a staff with axeheads on both ends - and he swung it lightly when he needed speed, only to increase the weight suddenly for the strike.

And it wasn’t just his axe he could manipulate. The braces he wore weren’t for show, even if they’d had a more ornate reincarnation since he came to the palace.

Lanoch’s tigerkin opponent had made the mistake of thinking an unarmed brawl against Lanoch was a good idea... and when they were done...

Ferro shuddered. He’d never wanted to see anyone die... much less be smashed into a smear of red on the sands of the palace’s private fighting pit.

Lanoch had taken him hard that night, drunk off the victory and heedless of Ferro’s comfort.

Ferro had long since numbed himself to his situation, learning how to send his mind somewhere else while his body rode the waves of pleasure and pain. He’d long since stopped feeling guilty about learning that his body could find pleasure in any sex, but that didn’t mean he always wanted or enjoyed it.

It was all a performance. Seem vapid enough that no one found interest in anything but his body, but smart enough to escape inquiry as he searched the palace for any clue about his sister’s whereabouts.

Fortunately with Lanoch, faking it was becoming easier. The man wanted bodies, and once Ferro had projected an air of used exhaustion, he’d been allowed to slink off to a nightmare-filled sleep while Lanoch rutted some poor woman.

As soon as he was presentable, Ferro made sure Lanoch was passed out hard on his bed of pillows before sneaking out of the man’s harem.

Most of the guards didn’t care when a scantily clad man like Ferro walked the halls; as long as he got away from Lanoch’s part of the complex, he could avoid the other members of the harem - who gossiped incessantly.

Ferro had seen what happened to a girl who’d been accused of sleeping with another champion... She’d lived, but he’d forbidden anyone from treating the scars he’d clawed into her face before having her thrown onto the street.

As he arrived at the door, he assumed a more casual posture, sliding it open and nodding rakishly to the guards - who knew better than to touch him, just as he knew better than to ask any guard for anything.

Asking questions of those in authority was also asking for trouble. So he focused on the people that the palace authorities didn’t notice.

Today, Ferro’s goal was the mid-tower kitchen.

The spiraling heights of the palace were a trial to navigate, but one could generally find one’s way by going up or down the great staircase. The grand elevator, built through its center, was reserved only for the Tower Lord’s officials, who carried passes to show the guards.

Not being privileged enough for a pass, Ferro climbed the staircase. And climbed. And climbed.

He was out of breath by the time he was three of the palace’s massive five-measure stories up. Needing to maintain his appearance, he stopped to rest, staring out over the city.

In daylight, Aaru was a busy place. Not that it got any less busy at night.

He couldn’t see the coliseum from here but he could see a bit of Champion’s Row, where vendors sold food and arms to the many who braved the desert in order to fight...

It felt like so long ago that Ferro had braved the desert with his sister, just hoping for a life...

"You, catkin, what are you doing?"

Ferro suppressed his urge to swear as he was confronted by a guard. He’d lingered too long.

"I asked you a question!" the guard said as Ferro gaped like a fish, searching for an answer.

He couldn’t claim he was going to the kitchen... the harems had rules on how to get food, and one of Lanoch’s servants would cane him.

"I-I... I was looking for a book!" he said, his eyes following an old elf who was busy penning numbers into a massive ledger, in the first room of the floor he was on.

"A book? What sort of book does a harem slut need?"

Ferro looked up, now recognizing the lascivious gaze of someone who didn’t know what happened to people who touched Lanoch’s harem.

"Well, you see... um... Lanoch wants me to be more creative... in bed..." Ferro held his hands meekly, hoping that the guard would recognize the name drop, or at least think Ferro was terrible in bed.

Instead, the guard smiled broadly. "Well then..." he clicked his tongue, "I can show you a thing or two... at the library..."

Without waiting for a reply, the guard proceeded to place a hand on Ferro’s back, ignoring Ferro’s attempts to talk him into just letting him go as he pushed Ferro up three more stories and past the kitchen that had been Ferro’s original destination.

After that point, the air grew much cooler, yet Ferro found himself panting and out of breath as the guard opened a tall door and shoved him inside.

Before Ferro could recover himself, the guard grabbed him, pushing him against a table as he began to fumble with his belt.

Unlike with Lanoch, Ferro froze, unsure of what to do. Unsure of if he should just let it happen or fight and maybe wind up explaining to Lanoch or-

"Shit-"

Suddenly the guard swore and the fumbling reversed itself.

"Lady Oracle, I didn’t know-"

"Leave this place, Yeoman Etur Dane; lest you wind up a smear on the plaza once Lord Savat’s champion is done with you," she warned, in a voice that commanded respect and seemed unaffected by the faceless mask of mirror-polished grey she wore.

"R-right away... apologies for disturbing your studies..." the guard bowed effusively before grabbing Ferro by the back of his collar-

"Leave him," she commanded, and the pressure disappeared.

As soon as the door was shut, Ferro looked up at his savior.

"Th-thank you, um... Lady Oracle," he rasped, rubbing his throat where some of the collar’s golden charms had bitten.

"You’re very welcome, Ferrovia Rubi. I greet you as an equal today... equal at least in the love of the word." She gestured at the library around her. Under one arm she had a book, one that looked rather ratty compared to most of the others around.

"I know you wish to leave, but please stay. You will have much time to read since Lanoch will not awaken until tomorrow morning, but I have little time to talk." She began to walk deeper into the library.

Ferro swallowed his fear and followed, accepting a seat when she gestured next to herself on a bench. He’d heard only a few things about Aaru’s Oracle.

That for the last twenty or so years she’d guided Lord Savat and the city to prosperity undreamed of.

It was she who predicted the ascent of an adventurer who’d gone deeper than anyone in the last seven centuries - Demon Breaker Halie.

And that a word from her could drive one utterly, utterly mad.

But no one doubted her gift.

Ferro bit his lip, wondering what he should do; how he should address this mysterious entity who sat close enough that he could see the scars on her arm. The hint of hair shorn to the skin under her mask and its faux braids.

"You want to know where to find your sister," the Oracle stated.

Ferro jumped in his seat, "How did you-?"

"The servants talk. Sometimes I will sit in the kitchen below and listen. Give advice. They are far better company than most in this palace... And your search hasn’t gone unnoticed by those who care. Soon, you will be free... and I will be alone here again."

The mask tilted a bit, and somehow Ferro felt the impression of a smile... a sad, lonely smile. But Ferro didn’t trust her. Everyone in the palace had hidden claws. She had to have a price-

"Ferro, I will tell you now, that you must let go of Valera," she reached out and touched his hand.

Ferro froze. Both because of the kind gesture and the terrible words. The fact that she knew his sister’s name. Ferro had been careful never to mention it, only asking if anyone had seen another rustcat beastkin.

"Let go of her? What happened? Is she... dead?" his voice cracked.

The Oracle sighed. "In a manner of speaking... yes. The sister you once knew is gone. In her place is a much darker reflection of the one who put you in this terrible position."

"I-I don’t understand. Do you know where she is? I promised... I promised I’d find her and we’d escape- I-"

"You will not find her here, Ferro. Four days ago she sailed forth from Ironport. In the years since you two have separated, she has found her place... as the Captain of a Syndicate vessel, the Queen of Iron," the Oracle’s head lowered grimly.

"That... that’s can’t be true." Ferro stood, his body stiff with disbelief. "Valera would never! She’d never do what was done to us..."

"Cruelty begets cruelty, except in the rarest of cases, Ferro," the Oracle said. "I have paid a great price to know your future, and the next time you meet her will be the day she dies... unless something happens to change the future."

Ferro looked at the Oracle with horror.

"There is a chance, a slim one, for you to save her," she said, slowly presenting him with the book she’d been holding the whole time. "But the cost of saving her... time is not forgiving, even though it is not set in stone."

Ferro silently read the title, which was in Common script. Auren’s Enchiridion.

The Oracle had almost broken him of hope, only to suddenly restore it... and when he opened the book.

"This is a mage’s book..." he flipped through. "I can’t be a mage..." Someone had written notes in it, a lot of notes.

"It has traveled a great distance across the world," she said, her tone hinting that it was precious to her. "Just like you. You are not a maven, but if you can become a mage; if you can reach Chainsfree... I can promise the life ahead of you will be full of love, even if you cannot save Valera from her fate."

She touched him, right between the ears, with a slight scratch along his leftward stripe, just like Valera used to.

"And now you must go..."

-

Later, as Ferro hid in his bed, he contemplated the Oracle’s prophecy.

Everyone said her prophecies were always true... Now he knew why they said she could drive people mad.

He didn’t know what to believe... but he had already been broken. He had already suffered and clawed his way back to himself.

Yet it felt true. Her knowledge, the sense of knowing... Even as she confessed that what she knew could be altered.

He wondered what price she’d paid to know his future.

What price he would pay to see if it was true...

It took him some time to find his resolve.

If the only way out of the madness was through...

Then he had no choice but to pay the price.

He cracked open the book, and on the first page, he read, "The first thing you need to know about Auren is he’s half-wrong about everything..."