LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - ON THE WAY TO THE CAPITAL - SECTION 36

 

 

"Good girl!"  Zunrogo exclaimed in pleasure as he noted the mountain of bodies piled up before the still standing barricade.  The few who still showed signs of life were quickly disposed of then moved aside to clear a path to the blockage.

Disaidun Agripe (Ms. Jepipi) had been as good as her word, more than several dozen lives had been snuffed out by her excellent marksmanship; however, her lack of response to Zunrogo's call at present gave rise to silent speculation.

“Maybe she’s already done me the favor.” Zunrogo mused.

 

01- ZUNROGO TUGO- JP  19

Zunrogo glancing at the heaps of dead men, suddenly however noticed, another irregularity. Many more of the assailants had been cut down by a sword. These mangled and hacked down men were attacked by an expert swordsman or swordsmen.

“Oh, no!” A sudden alarm gripped Zunrogo’s heart, and he shouted at Tizan to help him clear the way quickly, for he needed to get to Disaidun at once.  Soon as they had a viable path (gap,), Zunrogo swiftly advanced through the narrow strip, while Tizan up ahead, continued diligently to widen the course.  Once through to the other side, Zunrogo knelt beside unresponsive Disaidun Agripe who sat with her head and back (leaned) slumped against the wall and quickly checked her pulse.  He was not entirely concerned about the state of her condition; however, first and foremost, he needed to know if the letter was still there. He shook his head to purge slight reminiscences of his last intimate encounter with her, then fixing his attention on the part of her bodice where she had concealed the letter, his hand quickly reached beneath, to promptly retrieve it and secured it underneath his armor.

Tizan’s curious, though somewhat licentious (profligate, wicked) gaze was met by the captain’s hardhearted and cruel smirk. Tizan swiftly turned his slightly reddened face away to conceal (hide) his dubious and racy thoughts.  “So, the captain’s prior, impious relation with her, his supposed foible, carried the purpose other than carnal (sensual) indulgence (desire, need).  As there is no room for mistakes in this detachment, I should have been more astute.”  

 

Zunrogo meanwhile, was beset with some unsettling facts that had suddenly invaded his brain and needed clarification. “Decidedly she’d been overwhelmed from behind; was this carnage result of the suspected, but never uncovered, covert Black Moloch infiltrator on board? Was he still on board; for clearly, he hadn’t retrieved what he must have been assigned to do? What scared him off? Later, in private and away from Tzan’s prying eyes, he must examine the letter more (closely) carefully. “

Zunrogo’s quiet reflections suddenly ceased (halted, stayed), when she slightly stirred and at the same time, a faint groan emanated from her throat. Though her pulse was faint and her breathing shallow, a brief scrutiny revealed that she had sustained grave injuries to her head, her shoulder and left arm, as well deep cuts and scrapes here and there; therefore, as much as he’d liked to, Zunrogo could not bring her around to a sensible state, to inquisition her. True enough, she was at death’s door; however, even if she lasted long enough, still, it would take no small miracle for her to regain her faculties and in her poor state, even if she’d regained consciousness, she would still not be cognitive enough to satisfactorily answer his imminent queries, luxury of time he did not have.

For a second Zunrogo’s suspicions fell on Tzan.  “No,” He quickly dismissed that thought. Tzan had fought valiantly by his side and besides, wasn’t Tzan totally passed out, unconscious when Zunrogo regained consciousness.

Tzan had all this time, with his back to Zunrogo, continued with his dismantling the barricade.

As he labored Tzan grimaced coldly.  “Wonder what it was he took from her? …. Still, in all these years under his command, never once have I seen him do anything without a sinister reason or an underlying dark motive.  I wonder what’s really at stake here?”

 

02- 11-TZAN JP

Proceeding with methodical efficiency, Tzan had, in no time at all, disengaged (severed, disarmed) remaining, pertinent, lethal traps and cleared away the key barriers.  The rest Tzan was told, could later be safely handled by the crew, after they are released from their locked cabins.  This measure of keeping the crew safe had been deemed necessary, for they were essential in manning the vessel of this size.

 

 Tzan was about to go upstairs to first, finish disposing of the corpses into the river, when he was just then called to Zunrogo’ side. 

"She's not dead." the captain announced coldly, indicating Disaidun Agripe (Ms. Jepipi).

 "Take her body to her cabin and let her husband deal with her last-minute rites.”

Tzan, leaning over her warm body, understood her grave state of health at once and looked at askance (sideways, suspiciously) at Zunrogo.  “He is not known for showing least amount of mercy to anyone who’s outlived their usefulness; unless… she still has some benefit (consequence) to be utilized… hmm?”  But Tzan shifted his body with unease as he was once more mired (puzzled, stumped) by Zunrogo’s enigmatic mind, unable to phantom the captain’s decidedly sinister, future objective.

Only few hours prior, she’d been so full of life; now she was barely alive, what further use was she to Zunrogo?  Tzan could not help feeling a small measure of sadness for her short-lived ecstasy.  Zunrogo, contrastingly, with not a shred of sympathy or remorse, was already headed down the hall.

 

The time it took for Tzan to pick up the pliant body of Disaidun Agripe, Zunrogo was fast unlocking the scholar Fradel Rurik Korvald's door. Fradel emerged just in time to see Tzan, with her limp, broken body draped over his shoulder, going down the hall towards her cabin.

The scholar's inquisitive (questioning) gaze constrained Zunrogo to give a brief account of her involvement in the struggle: how she, being an accomplished archer, had offered her services and how, despite his own reservations, he had engaged (utilized) her abilities to safeguard the rest of the passengers, including Fradel.  He curtly (briskly) praised Disaidun Agripe’s courage and skill, noting how she had claimed few dozen lives before she, herself, had tragically been injured beyond recovery (saving); hence, she’d been allowed this precious remaining time to be spent saying farewells to her husband and child.

"There’s really no way she can be saved?" Zunrogo shook his head and gestured to sternly cut off Fradel's anticipated next inquiry.  "Pity, all the courage she has shown is totally lacking in Official Ceros Agripe.” Zunrogo derisively (sarcastically) snorted and looked away. “Let him come to terms with this new reality and then grieve for his impending loss in private; besides, the last thing we need now is the complications from a hysterical husband.  The rest, including the official Luvet and the crew, will be appraised of the near miss peril they’d been spared, all in good time, well after all the corpses are made fish meal.” 

“Meanwhile, for their sake and for ours, the less they know the better." Zunrogo impatiently then added that he’d taken this ill-afford time, out of courtesy to Fradel, to appraise him of the facts.  Now that the danger had passed, all that remained was the cleanup. He next went on to say, as a matter-of-factly, how to prevent pestilence, in the aftermath (result) of the deadly fray (fight, skirmish, battle), it had been deemed necessary to immediately dispose of all the corpses, into the cold, watery grave.

Fradel (Nevetsecnuac) reluctantly concurred with this hardhearted, but sound decision, then solemnly offered his assistance, where warranted.

 

03- FRADEL (NEVETSECNUAC) OFFERS ASSISTANCE (6)

“Kind of you to proffer (volunteer),” Zunrogo curtly refused his help, saying that the only task remained then, was still too gruesome and taxing, for one with Scholar’s delicate sensibilities and fragile constitution. There was no malice in his tone, just fact, so Fradel let this affront (insult) go.

Fradel was asked instead to, for a little while longer, remain in his cabin, until all the unpleasantness, in other words, all telltale signs of skirmish on deck, had been thoroughly cleared.

Zunrogo had another reason for keeping the meddlesome scholar away from the scene of the battle. He was certain, there were no survivors left above deck, however, perchance there were some, Fradel, with his moral rectitude, would be gallingly adamant for the wounded to be properly (cared for) tended; this contrasting with Zunrogo’s deemed sound judgement of, finishing them off and then swiftly discarding all the corpses into the watery grave, to prevent  any possibility of unforeseen, future complications.

By the time Zunrogo caught up with his Lieutenant, Tzan having already delivered the barely alive Disaidun Agripe to the care of her hysterical husband, at present his mind totally engaged with his work, was in the process of routinely adding weights to the neck and feet of last (group) batch of tied up corpses, before they too, unceremoniously were dumped (discarded) overboard into the river.

 

04- CHURNING WATERS OF THE RIVER

Tzan mopped his forehead off perspiration with the back of his hand then stood back to check and admire his clever workmanship.  Seeing that there was a slight movement, a twitch, a flicker of life, in one of the presumed dead, he quickly lifted the bound (roped, fastened, trussed) bundle and carried it to the railing then tilted it overboard.

 " Enjoy your long, blissful sleep at the bottom of the river." he hissed with venomous sneer, as he watched it sink into oblivion beneath the waves. When he turned, he was startled to find Zunrogo standing right behind him.

"Was that the last of it?" Zunrogo asked Tzan, with an unreadable expression on his face.  Receiving Tzan's nod of affirmation, he grunted cooly. "Good work."  Then he simply turned and walked away. 

“Well, Lance Diostin, despite your invincible prowess, you are now, indisputably dead and gone; and perhaps if you are lucky, your vestige (trace, hint) of brilliant exploits will be written onto the pages of history.” Zunrogo musing, scoffed (derided) then exhaled slowly the long, tense breath, which he’d been unwittingly (unawares) holding.

 

                                                                                     ~

 

Shortly after dusk the deckhands were let out to scrub the gore from the decks and mend those parts of the ship that had suffered in the attack.  For most of the night the crew slaved away not daring to make any suppositions or ask any questions about the day's events.

To a man, however, they were in unison with their intention, to abandon this cursed vessel and vanish into oblivion the very moment they docked at the next port. For they all had their own secret reasons for not wanting to undergo, the inevitably lengthy and grueling investigation and consequently, the impending penalties.

 

                                                                                       ~

 

Subsequent days, while the top deck buzzed with a flurry of activity, silence reigned in the cabins below.

Soon as Zunrogo could get away, he had stolen into his cabin to quietly inspect the letter. Noticing right from the start some oddities about the sheath, his face darkened, and deep frown set in. He did not wish to tamper with it any further, but was convinced nevertheless, that the contents within would most definitely be fake, which meant that the actual letter was in possession of that covert Black Moloch’s agent.

“Is he still on board?” Zunrogo wondered “or had he clear gotten away. “ 

In any case, this setback put him in a real bad mood, which would last several days.

Eventually he did, very carefully, bypassing the deathly traps and poisonous dart, removed the fake inside letter and unfolding it, quickly perused the contents. What he read infuriated him still more, knowing if he had in ignorance delivered the letter to the Prime Minister, it would have brought about his immediate, ignoble (dishonorable, dastardly) death.  In his rage he promptly fed the letter along with its covering to the hungry flames in the brazier.

Later still, Zunrogo keen on discovering the particulars and whereabouts of this presumed Black Moloch spy, his tireless efforts, and astute observances, had eventually revealed to him the presumed identity of the culprit. He’d been one of the crewmen, one called Zack, most probably a pseudo name; what’s more, after the battle, he had mysteriously (gone missing) disappeared without a trace, never to been seen or heard from again. Yet, this had not alarmed anyone, including him?

 

05 B CREWMAN ZACK - A BLACK MOLOCK SPY ON BOARD BOAT (5)JP

Zunrogo now faintly remembered how on the day they’d boarded the vessel, his keen eye had (caught) noted the exceptional physique of this particular crewman; nevertheless, in the aftermath Zunrogo had been so completely taken in by Zack’s assumed ordinary demeanor. This infuriated Zunrogo, subsequently, his ire (indignation), his fiery temper had rained misery on all, especially since Zunrogo, upon further reflecting, became acutely aware of his own (failing) prior oversight, resulting in his sorely missing the certain oddities that should have alerted his senses.

After further thorough search of the vessel and questioning at length the other crewmen and Tzan, Zunrogo’s suspicions were affirmed; that Zack, had not been among the discarded corpses, which meant that, he’d had clear gotten away along with the actual extortion letter! Be that as it may, the vessel charting a ceaseless course in the center of this fast flowing, wide river with barely visible shorelines, however a good swimmer, could Zack still have defied all the odds?

 

 

                                                                                     ~

 

(END OF SECTION 36)

 LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - ON THE WAY TO THE CAPITAL - SECTION 29

Disaidun Agripe was brought before Zunrogo in a distraught state, crying bitterly and trembling like a leaf; but as soon as she was released from Tizan's iron grip, she turned to,  with fire burning in her eyes, unflinching, meet Zunrogo’s icy, stone gaze, then in resounding (evocative, ringing, decisive) voice  beseeched Zunrogo to be merciful, to spare her and not inflict this disgrace upon her family.

01-DISAIDUN AGRIPE 4 JP

Tizan, missing this entirely, looked at the captain expecting him to be furious but, with a cruel half-smile on his lips, Zunrogo was shamelessly sizing her up from head to toe, mentally undressing her with his eyes.

Turning his attention to Tizan momentarily, Zunrogo snapped, "What are you standing there for?  You are dismissed!"

"Yes sir." Tizan responded sharply, “Sorry, sir." 

As he whirled about on his heels to face the door he stole a brief, sly look at the quivering, terrified, distraught woman.  Outside the cabin he shrugged dispassionately, a broad smile on his lips, “Why not?  She is a looker.  Some savory dish…Bon appetite, Captain.”  

Then his face darkened, and a sinister grin painted his face, “Very interesting…  I guess he's not infallible after all.”

Still sobbing, Disaidun Agripe contemptuously watched out of the corner of her eye as Tizan closed the door tightly behind him.

Zunrogo, not in any great hurry, strolled to the cabin's porthole and stared out at the dense veil of congealed mist and fog.  He felt like he was floating in a cloud that obscured everything.  He reflected on how the tasks he had assigned to Tizan would take him at least a couple of hours to conclude, ample time for what he craved.

“Perhaps,” he thought, “it might relieve this oppressive boredom. It might even be entertaining in the slight, to toy with this captive mouse for a time.”

                                                                                  ~

 

Few moments after Tizan had left the room and she was certain that he was long gone, Disaidun Agripe abruptly ceased her dramatics, straightened her posture and then with a callous (uncaring) hand brushed the imagined dust off her skirt, as she waited patiently for Zunrogo to speak.  When no sound came forth, she briefly glanced at the door then asked, "Don't you trust him?"

"Why should he know everything?" Zunrogo answered truthfully, continuing to stare out the porthole as if distracted.

“Not a trace of fear in her voice,” he noted his back still to her.

“We'll see about that.”  His eyes narrowed.

"I suppose," Disaidun shrugged.  Surveying the room with avid interest her eyes rested on Zunrogo's magnificent sword with its jeweled hilt.  She rubbed her arm, the arm she could use if needed to effectively wield that sword in her own defense.

02- DISAIDUN AGRIPE JP 5

"He needn't have been so rough," Disaidun Agripe let out a plaintive grunt as she contemplated how best to edge closer to the weapon.

"He wasn't."  His back still to her, Zunrogo knew instinctively where her gaze rested, and he grimaced coldly.

 "Sit down," he ordered in a stern voice.

"Don't mind if I do."  Disaidun abandoned the risky plan and, swaying her hips, she sauntered in the opposite direction and sat herself boldly in the most comfortable chair, his chair, and rested her hands demurely on her lap.

"Now suppose you tell me why I was summoned here then," she indignantly demanded, a faint, seductive intonation hiding under her arrogance.

To try to get some emotion from this hardened, unsentimental warrior would be a real challenge.  Oh, but she loved challenges.  All men, no matter what kind, sooner or later had always succumbed to her charms.

She remembered her latest triumph (challenge), just before she came on board, and a fleeting smile crossed her lips as she thought of him.  “Yes, it had done a lot to boost her confidence even further and, what's more, it had been done right under her unsuspecting husband's nose.”  She shivered slightly as a special thrill coursed up her spine.

“But hadn't that clenched the deal, made the conquest of her prey even sweeter?  He coveted her affections despite the absence of his manhood.  He coveted her because he knew, as the half-brother of her husband; he could never openly claim her.  He craved her because, though many despised his kind, she did not.”

"Why aren't you afraid?" Zunrogo asked dryly, suddenly breaking the deliberately prolonged silence.

"Why?  Should I have a reason to be afraid?  Are you not just going to maul me or something?" Disaidun answered alluringly, suggestive in her coquettish shyness.

"Don't be so impertinent," he barked then half-turned.

His fiery gaze burrowed through her, making her flesh crawl.  "Only fools have no fear."

The awful threat implicit in his icy tone instantly sapped all the courage, the confidence, the arrogance from her.

As if mesmerized, Disaidun Agripe in that instant came to believe him capable of most horrific, vile acts.  Moreover, he had no weaknesses; he was immune to it all.

 A sudden, potent fear gripped her chest and made her heart palpitate wildly.  Yet, strangely enough, at that same moment she felt irresistibly drawn to him.  He awakened in her a strange set of conflicting emotions. “No, she'll never succumb to the likes of him; not ever again!” 

Summoning up all her courage and will to withstand the overwhelming pressure, she bit her lip and looked angrily away.  She will remain defiant to the end.  

“He did not scare her, not one bit!”

“Good,” Zunrogo allowed himself an inward smile. “I hate easy conquests.” 

Softening the expression on his face, he allowed a warm smile to reach his lips as he walked across and eased himself into the next (less comfortable) chair.  His tone as he subsequently addressed some non-committal issues should have disarmed her, but he could see that she was wary of him now and was fighting with all the resistance she could muster to remain vigilant.

03- ZUNROGO TUGO- JP  17

 Unknown to Disaidun, this pleased him more.  His voice was superficially polite, but stern he asked, "First tell me, is he for real?"  He kept the question purposefully vague to test her wit.

"Yes, he's legally my husband (spouse)."  Disaidun understood and responded truthfully.

“Stupid woman,” he scoffed. “You needn't have gone to such lengths.  You were set up to succeed with that despicable eunuch Zohuj Kez whether you had married his half-brother or not.”

Though Disaidun was studying him astutely she could not tell in the least what was playing through his mind, and this unnerved her once more.

Zunrogo’s demeanor unchanged, he tested her with another seemingly innocuous question,

 "What about the child?”  He knew the answer already.

“Tait is not mine.  Ceroz, my husband, lost his precious former wife in birthing it."

"And you stepped in, seizing the opportunity to fill the vacuum in his destitute heart and home." Zunrogo curtly cut her story short.

Then, grimacing wryly, he asked, "How did she die, again?"

She looked him straight in the eye.  "It was heart failure, I believe."

"That's how the coroner's official report read.  How did she really die of?"

Before she could indignantly demand what, it was, he was insinuating, he cut her short.

"Tell me, do you care at all what happens to either of them now?"  His voice was cold.

Disaidun shrugged, seeing no point to her denials, "Not particularly."

Smiling tightly, she then reached for the tea, "May I?'

"Help yourself.  And don't worry; it's not been tainted with the deadly ‘Sschrofik’ blossom."  Zunrogo studied how she struggled to keep her composure and failed, as her face turned ghostly white, and fear enlarged her pupils.

 "Only a slight touch of ‘Yourek” has been added." He indifferently, intoned.

 When she threw him a questioning look, freezing in her gesture, he added, "The truth drug.  You're not afraid of the truth, are you?"

Settling back in his chair, Zunrogo gave a short laugh and noted how she debated with herself whether to respond with a witty, convincing feint or a curt remark to put him in his place.

By then she had come to detest him. Disaidun would have wrung his neck if she could.  He was not there to arrest her, though, because of that she was certain.  What's more, she knew a squeeze play when she saw one.  Unfortunately, she could not figure out his angle.  What was it that he was after?

"You may serve me one as well."  Zunrogo decided to let her off the hook.

“So, he was just bluffing,” inwardly she heaved a deep sigh, “The nerve of him, asking me to serve him!” 

He was watching her closely and noted with some amusement her momentary outrage, followed by sound reasoning, subsequently, how she vacillated on whether to do as he bid her.

“She could accidentally knock the pot off of the table.”  In her defiance she had, for a spell, entertained an apt rebuff; but relenting, quickly aborted that snub also.  Besides, her throat was parched, and she had been craving some hot liquid ever since she had ceased all that emotional outburst, crying and pleading, in short, splendid performance. 

In the end she gave in and poured herself a cupful then, after a brief hesitation, poured one for him as well.  Her inbred (ingrained) manners took root as she offered it to him with a courtly flourish, "I can take the truth if you can."

His stone gaze deliberately pierced her to the quick and he inwardly savored how her hand trembled slightly as she stubbornly held the cup out to him when he did not move, right away, to take it from her.  She could have given up and placed the cup back onto the table, but she had a point to make.

"Thank you," he finally accepted it.

Seething in anger, she lowered her head and drunk the tea in quick repetitive sips to hide her irate thoughts.

In contrast, he took several prolonged sips then, with deliberate slowness put the cup down, his eyes glued to her all the while.

Her thirst sated, she looked up, unflinchingly meeting his stone gaze.  "There is no such thing as the truth drug, is there?" she asked.

His response was delayed.  His face showed nothing as he disregarded her question altogether, "I called you here because you may be of some use to me."  He lied, "And because I believe you are quite capable.  After all, you have succeeded, where others have failed, have you not?"

"Capable of what?" Disaidun’s coy laughter registered her nervousness.  She swallowed hard and lowered her eyes away from Zunrogo's stern gaze.  Then, raising them again she narrowed them instinctively as she studied him boldly, looking for any trace of deceit or lechery in those cold, gray pupils. 

What did he want from her?  But the wall he set up was impenetrable.

Zunrogo, surmising this, smiled again with a strange glint in his eyes.

For now, his sole requirement of her was to learn who dispatched her on this assignment, even though he suspected she would be ignorant of this, having been covertly approached by someone acting as an agent.  He was confident, none the less, of his ability to deduce who this mystery man might be from the gleaned bits and pieces of information from her.

Still, he was in no great hurry.  He rested his intense scrutiny on her briefly then, disinterestedly, looked away.

This put Disaidun Agripe more at her unease.  She hung her head.  “He's toying with me.”  

She decided to push, to get some answers.  "You say I may be of some use to you?" she investigated his face and demanded.  "But, if I were to do your bidding, what would I get out of it in return?  Will you release me unharmed to go on with my way?  Or am I destined to perish like the rest on board when it’s all over?"

So, she understands more than she lets on.  

Gripping the edges of the small table Zunrogo menacingly leaned across, his breath brushing her face and his expression suddenly hard, uncompromising.  "You are hardly in a position to bargain, Missy."

His cold, gray eyes again burrowed into Disaidun, eroding in an instant all the confidence she had fought so hard to maintain since that first episode when she had come into the room. But then unexpectedly, his expression softened once more and, with a broad grin, he leaned back.

"Certainly, you will be spared.  You have my word on that, Miss Jepipi.  I would not dream of obstructing you further."  He answered her with a cold voice that belied his warm, disarming smile.

Disaidun Agripe’s (Jepipi’s) surprise was clearly marked on her face.  "How do you know my code name?" she asked.

"I have my resources.  I trust you have completed your recent assignment with due expedience and satisfaction?"

Even though she knew that the attempt was futile, she met his gaze unflinchingly and flatly denied it, "I don't know what you're talking about.  I'm through with all that now I'm a happily married woman.  I lead a simple life, the kind I've always wanted."

"Oh, come now!" Zunrogo threw his head back and laughed, "A simple life?  That's hardly your style.  You're contradicting yourself; happily married indeed!"

His countenance suddenly became stern as he added in an icy tone, "But your secret is safe with me, Miss Jepipi, so long as you cooperate.  Now tell me, how much longer do you intend on keeping up with this farcical charade?"

His cold insinuation visibly startled her.

Clearly, she was done with her husband, but why hadn't she discarded him yet, why this ambivalence?

"Are you infatuated with him?" Zunrogo's question echoed in her mind.  "Granted he is good looking and rather well off."

04-DISAIDUN AGRIPE JP

“How much does he know?  He knows an awful lot already, as if he can see right through me.  Unnervingly, he seems most capable of deciphering my innate feelings, my innermost thoughts, even before I, myself, become aware of them.”  Disaidun Agripe took a shuddering breath and, after studying Zunrogo from the corner of her eye, turned her head away.

“He’s really beginning to terrify me; I must stand firm, must defy this overwhelming sense of panic.” 

Disaidun did not even notice the first effects of the ‘Yourek drug’ as it infiltrated her brain, causing the emotions to act with that small bit of control missing.  Such were its subtle effects that, as one sunk deeper under its spell, one was not even aware of one's loss of inhibition, or of its inevitable suppression of all normal censors.

Just then a thought, an idea flashed across her mind and, turning her curious gaze back to him she wondered, “Was he the same covert figure who had mysteriously appeared in my bed chamber in the dead of night and approached me with this unusual assignment?”

“No,” she quickly answered herself. “His voice, his manners, even his gestures are all so different, so wrong and Zunrogo is far leaner and taller than he.  Could he then be my anticipated contact?”  Again, the answer was negative.  “He didn't use the secret password for identification, and he hadn't responded when I posed the coded inquiry earlier.  This is proof positive of a leak.  When I do meet the contact, I must warn him of this infiltration and of the dire repercussions that are possible from this Zunrogo.”

Just as she, eyeing Zunrogo suspiciously with her guard up, was about to put a question to him, his abrupt, pointed inquiry startled her anew, "I trust that you have the letter, from…well we won't mention any names or titles, in your safekeeping?"

Disaidun Agripe threw him a furious, forbidden look as if to say, “No!  You can't have it!”

But strangely, he seemed not to be anxious about it at all, nor did he press his inquiry about its exact whereabouts or make the least attempt to seize it by force.

Having directed (turned) her concentration to the letter, Zunrogo, subsequently (in short shrift), through his artful manipulation, guided her into revealing to him all the pertinent information about the covert contact, to determine who it was that had dispatched her on this assignment.

When after a spell he had pieced it all together in his mind, the unexpected result took him totally by surprise, for his calculations had revealed the most unlikely candidate, one with an obvious conflict of interest and the one farthest from his mind.

While Zunrogo kept on the outward pretense of a grueling exchange to conceal his surprise, he quietly contemplated on the side, how best to confront this culprit in the future.

“Yes, armed with further proof, he would first humble him, grinding his nose into the dirt where he would squirm like a pig.”

Zunrogo looked away, suddenly delighted at all the prospects that had availed themselves, to him.

“This assignment,” he inwardly gloated, “has thus far provided me more advantages over my most ardent foes than I could have ever dreamed of.”

"Tell me", he abruptly asked Disaidun, "have you read the contents?"

"You know it’s sealed," she let out without thinking.

 Then, lowering her head she pursed her lips and grumbled, "Besides, it has been made perfectly clear to me that if I tampered with it in any way, it would mean my death."

 Coyly inclined her head, Disaidun Agripe looked away.

In fact, this had been a bone of contention with her.  Sensing the letter's grave importance, she had fought hard against her nature not to sneak a peek inside and see what all the fuss was about.

"Oh, come now, surely a resourceful girl such as you would not rest until your curiosity is satiated?  You mean to tell me that you made no attempt at all?"  Zunrogo could not resist his desire to further beleaguer (needle, pester) her.

"Think what you will," first was her initial curt retort then, realizing she had been manipulated; Disaidun expelled her breath and vehemently protested her innocence.

Inwardly Zunrogo was laughing up a storm, scorning her naiveté, her utter stupidity.

As it were, Disaidun Agripe had sealed her fate from the very moment she had accepted this assignment of securing the letter within her safekeeping.  It made no difference whether she had tampered with it. 

“Fool, you are just an unwitting, doomed courier, like so many others who preceded you.”  He almost pitied her.

Zunrogo’s ardent investigation thus far had uncovered that, within last two years at odd unspecified intervals, the task of safekeeping the letter had fallen on varied (diverse) individuals with covert sponsorships (backing, patronage).

Zunrogo had only recently identified, with some measure of certainty, the patron from the lethal sorority that had masterminded it all.

The secret organization (club) was none other than the most feared covenant fraternity, The Black Molochs.

The carefully procured couriers, the moment they’d outlived their usefulness, methodically perished/disappeared without a trace, severing the only weak link outside of this clandestine brotherhood. That is how The Black Molochs, had until then, avoided detection (exposure).

05-LANCE DIOSTIN JP  7

But once Zunrogo had discerned that Lance Diostin was the member of Black Molochs, that’s what had clued him in from the start; that, and the indisputable proof that the expandable courier was on board this vessel.  After that connection had been established, it made perfect sense why Lance Diostin was in such hot pursuit, to intercept them.

Zunrogo had never bought the advocated perception that, Egil Viggoaries, albeit furtively, gave any credence to superstition. Nothing, nothing at all (disconcerted) fazed that villain.  Typically, contrary to the fostered, erroneous belief, Fradel Rurik Korvald was not the bulls-eye target here, though it had no doubt served the Eunuch's purpose, as well as Lance Diostin’s, to on the sly, advance that cause.

 “Yes,” Zunrogo congratulated himself. “I’ve had had a significant breakthrough in these last few months.

 But even though the letter was as good as in his keeping, few details still needed to be ironed out. For one thing he did not entirely trust Disaidun’s husband, the Official Caroz Agripe, a supposed official on the way to taking up new post. Of course, Caroz had been thoroughly checked out and reports cleared him of all suspicion; however, Zunrogo still had his qualms about him. For one thing he was way too soft and cowardly despite his superb physique; it could all be a ruse, a good cover-up, to throw off suspicion. Zunrogo would devise an effective plan later to properly test him (flush him out); if he proved otherwise, he’d be then quickly disposed of. His wife Disaidun Agripe could be manipulated into playing a big part, a kind of borrowed knife; in setting him up and affecting his eventual demise. Meanwhile Zunrogo, not being privy to the covert identities of the rest of the Black Molochs, his next course of action could be placed in jeopardy; given that for all he knew, a Black Moloch affiliate, could have already infiltrated this vassal, going about all this time, totally undetected, keeping an eye on things while working to undermine him (Zunrogo). Once this impediment was flushed out and eradicated, his next course of action would then be, is to defeat Lance Diostin and take him alive so as to extract the desired information from him before his sure demise.

Competent as Zunrogo was, he was not entirely certain he could manage this daunting objective alone and so, considered enlisting Tizan’s help. That might be the key ingredient for his eventual success.  Afterwards he would decide on what to do with Tizan.

Zunrogo had been informed that the letter had always been kept in an airtight pouch of waxed leather.  The seal itself was indistinct but bore unique properties, not the least of which was the fact that it was laced with a deadly poison and a trick pin embedded cleverly within it, all to discourage unwarranted tampering.

“You have no inkling at all of what it is that you're carrying, do you?” he threw Disaidun (Jepipi) another cursory look.  “It’s just as well that you curbed your curiosity out of fear of reprisals, at least it has prolonged your life this little bit, long enough for me to...,” Zunrogo smirked and eyed her wantonly.

                                                                                              ~

 

 

(END OF SECTION 29)