The Sword of Truth (Legend of the Seeker) IC

[Hagazussa]

Meeru shivered but the gave Ellynara a grateful smile before he continued walking, leading the way to Ulyssia's chambers. The Mord-Sith's rooms where one decent sized chamber that contained a book shelf, a desk, a table and a few chairs, a cabinet and a narrow bed, nothing in here was to luxurious but it was of decent quality. There was also a door which lead into some other part of Ulyssia's quarters. Once inside the quarters Meeru sank down on the floor and sat there kneeling while he wanted for Ulyssia to return home, he did indicate a chair for Ellynara though with a slight smile.
"Please have a seat while you wait Ellynara."
Meeru said politely.

The two magic users did not have to wait long for Ulyssia to arrive, about five minutes after they had arrived at the Mord-Sith's quarters the door opened and the owner of said rooms came marching in. Ulyssia removed her gloved and tossed them onto her desk as she sigh.
"Incompetent guards and now a Confessor of all things...here at the people's palace! That one will be popular once my sisters hear about it."
Ulyssia's mutterings where more to herself than to anyone else for when she noticed Ellynara and Meeru she stopped talking and smiled.
"Ah Sorceress, thank you for talking care of my pet while I was taking care of things. I assume he did not cause you any grief."

Meeru crawled to Ulyssia as soon as the woman entered the room and he debased himself before her and kissed her boots in greeting, in the wizard's eyes where sadness, he did not enjoy this, there was still a bit of pride in him, he was a wizard of the Second Order and for part of him being humiliated and forced to act like this was worse than the pain he was put through, it was not a way for any man, let alone a wizard to live. Ulyssia dismissed Meeru after a few moments with a weave of her hand and the wizard crawled fearfully into a corner. The young Mord-Sith turned her attention to Ellynara.
"Can I offer you a cup of tea Sorceress, I am afraid I do not have many luxuries in my room, but I do have some fine tea and a bit of honey as well if you would like some."
Ulyssia gave Ellynara about as friendly a smile as a Mord-Sith could give a magic user.

[Ezmeralda]

Ellynara shook her head and smiled as nice as she could, Ulyssia didn't seem that bad. At least she didn't immediately strike Meeru with her Agiel upon entering the door...she rose an eyebrow at Ulyssia muttering about a Confessor, perhaps she could get help faster than she thought? She tucked that little piece of information away and let her eyebrow fall back down, "No, not at all. I'm glad to have met him. And no thank you. I wanted to....discuss a few things with you. Not as a Mord Sith and a sorceress, but woman to woman...." she glanced at Meeru, then back at Ulyssia.

[Hagazussa]

Ulyssia looked surprised at Ellynara's request to talk but she did nod after a while.
"If you want to talk with me then talk, Meeru know better than to think to much over a conversation which was not meant for his ears."
The Mord-Sith said and noted how Ellynara glanced at the wizard.
"Off course if it would make you feel more comfortable I could send him out of the room first."
Ulyssia gave a slight smile then she went over to the room's small fireplace and poured water from a pitcher on the night stand into a small, black pot before she added a bit more wood to the fire to get it going hotter again.
"Well if you do not want tea Sorceress I hope you do not mind if I have some, it have been a trying day."
The Mord-Sith said in an unreadable voice.
"Now what was it you wanted to talk with me about?"

[Ezmeralda]

Ellynara smiled, "He will of what I'm going to ask you."
"Do you have another room he could go to? Outside is....probably not a good idea." Ellynara sighed. She certainly didn't want another Mord Sith walking by to hurt him.
"I do not mind, of course. And call me Ellynara or Elly. It is....a bit strange being called Sorceress, as I only fit that term pretty vaguely..." she would wait for Ulyssia to move Meeru to another room before she went on.

[Hagazussa]

"Meeru, if you wish to read, you may choose a book of the shelf and go into the other room and do so."
Ulyssia said in a friendly tone.
"Thank you Mistress."
Meeru said meekly as he stood and picked a volume off the shelf that stood against one of the walls. The wizard gave Ellynara a smile and then he looked at his Mistress for a little while before he walked up to the door leading to another part of Ulyssia's quarters and vanished into the other room. The Mord-Sith glanced at the wizard and gave a slight, strangely sad smile.
"The books where his once, I have kept them and allow him to read as a reward...it seam to calm him."
Ulyssia commented to no one in particular then she turned her attention to the young sorceress. Ulyssia returned to the table with hot water for tea and put some herbs from a small cannister into the pot and stirred it well with a metal spoon before setting it down on the table to brew for a few minutes.
"Very well then Ellynara, now that we have privacy, what is it that you wanted to speak with me about?"
Ulyssia gave a friendly smile, or at least a sort of friendly one as she regarded the sorceress.

[Ezmeralda]

Ellynara looked the other woman straight in the eye, "I will be completely up front with you, Ulyssia. First, though, I must ask you; Do you love him? I mean, truly love him. Like a woman loves a man. Not a how you would love a pet, but as a lover."

[Hagazussa]

Ulyssia looked at the sorceress in front of her with shock in her eyes, then she looked towards the door Meeru had vanished behind and sigh, in her minds eye she saw the young wizard smiling, she felt his arms around her and looked into those nearly black sapphire blue eyes and saw only love and acceptance in them.
"I...Meeru is the only man I have slept with where rape was not involved."
Ulyssia begun and her mind go to that first night they spent together, it had been a new experience for her, Meeru had been passionate but gentle, kind and demanding at the same time, and he had been there because he wanted her not because he was forced to.
"He...he gave me control over his magic willingly to save my life and for two years we where together, not as Mistress and pet, but as a man and a woman...I..."
Ulyssia tried to regain her icy composure but she was not able to, not completely, one hand went to the pendant she wore under her white leather uniform, the pendant Meeru had given her once. Ulyssia meet Ellynara's gaze and her voice was strong and full of emotion when she again spoke.
"Yes I love him Ellynara, not as a pet but as a man, I truly do love him, but that do not change my duty, my superiors say to hold him prisoner, to torture him, and to a Mord-Sith duty is everything. I loved my father to, but he broke and died by my Agiel. I wished it was not so, I wished things had never gone the way they did, but even if I truly love Meeru I can not do anything but what I do for I am Mord-Sith first and woman second, and while the woman Ulyssia want only to take Meeru far away from here and protect him from any harm until he recovers and become like he was, but the Mord-Sith Ulyssia can do nothing but follow orders and keep him as a pet until he eventually die in my care."
Ulyssia's eyes had filled with tears but she quickly lifted a elegant hand and wiped them away and hoped such a show of weakness had not been seen by her magic using guest.

[Ezmeralda]

Ellynara kept her face cool, she wanted to be soft, but that would not get her point across. This woman needed the truth and the best way was to simply beat it into her, so to speak, still she spoke softly, silk over steel, "And so you do nothing? Tell me, Ulyssia. What has D'hara done for you? What has it given you? A home? Dead parents? Being forced to become a Mord Sith. My, how generous of them...." Ellynara scoffed. "Not that D'hara itself is a bad place, but I do not see where your sense of 'duty' comes from."

Ellynara crossed her arms, "What you do is not your duty. Duty brings action, duty brings courage, not being a sheep to your superiors....And what of Meeru? Do you not have a duty to your lover? To make him happy? To take all his pain away and make his dreams come true? Why do you do nothing to help him and instead be the very source of his pain? You know he does not deserve this. Meeru is good and sweet. His 'offense' is a mere misdemeanor at best. So why do you destroy him? Surely, he has paid for what he's done a thousand times over... And don't even get me started on bringing two more Mord Sith. He could die or worse, completely lose his very self...."

She sighed, uncrossed her arms and stepped next to her, "I do not intend to be hurtful, but these things need to strike home. I feel like you are willingly closing your eyes to the truth to avoid pain to yourself. Open them! Live your life as you wish to, not as someone else demands. Look at Meeru. Despite all these...ordeals he still loves you fiercely. He worries for you, even after you have broken his bones, spilled his blood, perhaps destroyed his very self, and brought him to death's door numerous times. He still wants nothing more than to live alone with you, forever. That is love. Do you not find it amazing? If I were you I would not wish to lose a love so strong, because you surely will if you do nothing...."

"I wanted your help in freeing him, and you, from this....nightmare. But I am going to do it with or without your help." Ellynara set the jar on Ulyssia's table, "Give him that before...tonight. Perhaps it will increase his chances of surviving and help with the pain. I will do what I can while there, but if he passes out or dies there is not much I can do. Dead is dead...."

She spun on her heel, wiped a tear off her own cheek, and started for the door, unless Ulyssia had more to say.

[Hagazussa]

Ulyssia stared at the sorceress with anger in her eyes, how dared this woman speak to her like that, the Mord-Sith's musculature tensed and her wrist flicked just a hint so that her Agiel danced from where it hung on a golden chain around her wrist and to her hand. Pain filled the Mord-Sith, pain that would have sent another screaming to the floor, but who where familiar and comforting to Ulyssia.
"D'Hara and it's people is a great Empire and for there to be greatness there is sacrifice. No one wants to become Mord-Sith to live a life of pain, to loose all you love and live only to torture others, Sure we now enjoy it, that is how we are trained, I delight in screams, I met a young wizard today and my first thought of him was how lovely he would look screaming and weeping on the floor, but while we do enjoy what we are, none wish to become like us, it is a sacrifice but some need to be sacrificed for the good of others. What have D'Hara done for me? It have given me the chance to serve, to live and die in my homeland's service and that is all anyone could ask."

Ulyssia where seconds from at least giving the sorceress a good beating, she could do it, powerful as Ellynara was she could not use her magic against a Mord-Sith and Ulyssia was a highly trained soldier, taking down magic users was what she was trained to do.
"Duty bring action yes, but my duty is to firstly D'Hara and not to the man I love. Yes I do not think Meeru deserve this, had h not been a magic user he would have been roughed up by a guardsman until he gave up his information and then let go, but that is not my call to make. What do you think would happen if every soldier on the battlefield did what he himself think best instead of listening to orders? I am a soldier and the first duty of a soldier is to obey the chain of command. I do action, I do my part to protect my homeland against hostile magic but to do so I have to obey my superiors even why they are wrong. There is nothing I want more than to take Meeru with me, to bring him to the Wizard's Keep perhaps, or even take him into the Old Wold where he could study among the Sisters of the Light. Meeru light up when he is around magic, and being able to dedicate his life to it and study it in such places could perhaps mend his shattered mind, make him like he was before I broke him, I would love nothing more than to be by his side and grow old with him and sit with him seventy years from now on some bench in a park and see him as an old, white haired, powerful wizard and remember the good life I had with him. Meeru makes me long for more than the life of a Mord-Sith a short life of pain and violence and then death as one more unsung soldier, but what I want do not matter Sorceress, only duty matter and as long as my orders are to keep him prisoner and torture him, that is what I have to do."

Ulyssia raised her Agiel ready to strike Ellynara but then she let it fall, the woman did not understand, did not understand how duty and obedience had been beaten into her and suddenly at the talk of how Meeru still loved her Ulyssia did not feel in the mood for violence anymore.
"If you find a way to free him, I would thank you, even if freeing him means killing me. I do not want to keep him like this, if you could find some way to change the orders I have been given, or if you could find some way to destroy me so my hold on him would be broken so you can help him flee, I would welcome death knowing he would be safe, I will however not betray my orders, I can not I am Mord-Sith and without duty I am nothing."
Ulyssia sounded tired now, she looked at the small bottle that Ellynara had placed on the table and she nodded.
"I can do that much for him at least, but I can not do much more."

[Ezmeralda]

Ellynara smiled and then laughed, "You sound like my mother before she met Lord Rahl. She used to think exactly the same as you do now. She was wrong, just as you are now. Follow orders with your head not your heart. Jumping off a cliff because your commander says so doesn't serve your country any good, now does it? Thank you for enforcing my opinion of a Mord Sith further."

She turned a bit to look the woman in the eyes, "Then why don't you? You only have one life. Live it as you want to. I don't care who you are. Soldier, commander, king...There are things you must do, yes, but do not let it rule your life. Especially when it's something as...terrible as being a Mord Sith. Make your own destiny. You say you love him, but to me it seems like you hate him if you're going to allow him to endure this. If you don't want to do it to him, do something about it. An opportunity isn't going to just fall in your lap."

"I have thought of your death freeing him, but I would prefer to avoid that. Meeru would be devastated." Ellynara watched her raise her Agiel slightly, "Hit me with that and you will make yourself a very bad enemy to have.... You are who you are. Duty does not make you who you are. Regardless, I must go. There is something else I'd like to do before...tonight." and with that she left, heading towards Alaine's quarters.