Kapitel 26: Almost a mother
Wei Lin cursed again and again. How could she put herself in such a situation? She let herself be kidnapped from the one who previously kidnapped her! It was just ludicrous how weak and powerless she actually was when she was on her own. She knew it was useless to let her temper go wild, instead it would be better to keep her cool and think of a way out. However, she was currently out of options and at her wits' end.
At first, her abductors had put her in a small room without window or furniture. She didn't know how long they kept her in there because she was already exhausted from the previous events and she fell asleep on the floor, like the poorest wench. She was or rather up until a little while ago she had been the favorite wife of the heir of an Empire and soon-to-be mother of a prince. Even though she didn't care much about this womanizer Zhou Xi who even went after her boy-maid and bodyguard Xian, he had given her a precious and prestigious position and let her live in luxury. She even missed the plots and schemes of the harem which showed how she wished she could go back to her previous life as one of Selnan's most influential women.
In contrast, ever since she had first been kidnapped from the Palace, she felt she had been thrown in Hell. She had fallen so low that it was humiliating. She couldn't even vent her anger and could only cry in shame. In her current predicament, no one would think she was royalty. Honor, riches, she had been stripped of everything. They didn't even let her keep the tattered nightclothes she had when she left the capital. Of course, as she was supposed to sleep at that time, she didn't wear any jewelry or fine gown. But even her nightclothes were far better than the coarse novice robe they forced on her. At least they didn't cut her hair short or shave her head. The priests around her, men and women, didn't seem to care much about hair or beauty. They only looked at her with contempt as if she were a disgusting worm.
But she could deal with contempt and shame. Maybe, as many palace maids whispered behind her back, she was a shrewd wolf in sheep's clothing. In any case, without a doubt, she belonged to the category of strong-willed people. She wouldn't break that easily. She could imagine the Empress Li Feng Lan admonishing her or her annoying and righteous rival Qing Chan spurring her to stand up and fight fair and square. Even the imaginary sneers of Qing Chan's cousin, the sly fox Qing Li Na, were enough to make Wei Lin's blood boil and make her want to fight back. However, she was currently so helpless it was utterly frustrating.
Every other hour, she would feel her entire room shake and move, often making her fall on her knees. And afterward the walls, ceiling and floor would just disappear, leaving her in the middle of a magic circle, surrounded by scores of priests and nuns. Then her torments would start.
Amidst some kind of hypnotic chanting so powerful it made her dizzy, the main priest would mutter a spell that put her into a special conscious trance. The effects seemed much stronger than any drug or poison she knew. She was still somewhat aware of her surroundings, even though everything appeared like a dream, however she had no control over herself. She couldn't even avoid soiling herself every time. But whether she felt shame, disgust, shock, anger or scorn, nothing showed on her face. She couldn't do anything, as if her body wasn't her own.
Then, a group of nuns would come and manhandle her until her body was rolled into a ball on the floor, still at the center of the magic circle, her naked back facing upwards for all to see. She couldn't resist them in any way but kept cursing silently in her head. Facing pain and disgrace, even her mind, spirit and wits were striped of the veneer of politeness and cleverness she maintained as a lady. Her high standard of upbringing aside, Wei Lin realized that her true self was foul-mouthed and unladylike but it didn't matter if it could help her stay sane.
The nuns went back with Wei Lin's soiled robe, standing near the wall in the round ceremonial chamber, and the numerous priests changed their chanting to another spell that lit the entire magic circle. Unable to move or resist in the slightest, Wei Lin hardened her resolve and endured half an hour before losing consciousness at the end of the chant.
However, except for the first time, she just faked her fainting, listening intently to the conversations after the ceremony. That was how she knew what they were doing and why.
When the light in the magic circle dimmed and went out, she would feel a piercing pain in her back. She didn't need, and didn't want, to touch. She knew what had been done to her body, they were steadily turning her into a monster.
Apparently, the magic spells and magic circle were used to change her bones one by one. Only her skeleton seemed to be of use, since it was where the blood was mainly produced. They started with her spine, processing her vertebrae one after the other, slowly but systematically, turning them into something akin to hard crystal with a sharp protrusion that pierced through the skin and jutted out like a long spike. She didn't want to imagine what she would look like once the two hundred or so bones of her skeleton were transformed and the ritual was finished. Something like a porcupine, maybe? She shuddered inwardly, this joke of hers wasn't even funny in the least.
All this painful ceremonies were only a mean to enhance her blood by changing her bones and bone marrow. The spikes would be used as antennas to gather magic elements more efficiently. She heard the last ceremony would be less painful and would create a magic core as she didn't have one. They "simply" aimed at shaping her into a living magnet to attract a huge amount of magic elements at high speed and use her as an inexhaustible supply of magic power.
She could understand the value of such a tool. The people using it would become so powerful they would probably be able to crush their enemies effortlessly. The unbridled ambitions of its owners would be reality in a snap. The rulers of all countries would vie for it and ultimately, the whole world would be thrown into chaos or submitted to a cruel tyranny.
However, she felt this had nothing to do with her. Such power was, in the end, the privilege and the burden of the direct bloodline of the royal house in Aliker. They had it from birth without the need for all the grotesque transformations she was undergoing. It wasn't even certain that the process would succeed. Just because her blood was not pure enough, these priests were destroying her, her body and her whole life. How come they didn't capture Xian? Wei Lin couldn't help but feel upset. Without a doubt, Xian should have been the one facing her current predicament.
He was a descendant of the direct bloodline, after all – or so she had heard. His blood had to be purer than her own. She didn't remember seeing him before she left for Selnan to be married to Zhou Xi. He was probably too young and she didn't pay attention to the babies and children. Moreover, even if she had royal blood, she was only a distant relative and didn't go to the Palace very often. Thus, she didn't know for sure what Xian's rank would have been, had the kingdom of Aliker not fallen.
When Soon-Yi came to Selnan with a kid, saying that he was a relative of Wei Lin's, the last survivor of the royal family, and that she had to help him, she only did it because she knew Soon-Yi was a powerful mage and both would benefit from this agreement. At that time, Wei Lin had been in dire need of support so she didn't doubt Soon-Yi's words.
While reminiscing, her mind wandering to escape from the reality of her physical pain and mental distress, the ceremony was over. She didn't dare to calculate how many more were needed and didn't react soon enough to fake a fainting like the previous times.
Some servants were cleaning up while the nuns were casting the spell to create a new room for Wei Lin. They didn't bother to help her stand. She felt dizzy, even coughed a little blood, and in a snap, she was on the floor of a windowless room, in the same position as during the ceremony, with her still filthy but now dry robe beside her.
She heaved a resigned sigh, she was a prisoner, of course nobody would give her any respect. She had to carefully choose her fights. She had not realized that she had been absentmindedly observing her surroundings, however the abrupt change of scenery startled her out of her reverie.
In the dark room, she could see a bright spot of light and felt relieved. They still let her see her only solace. She felt that the room was smaller each time they created a new one but maybe her body had changed more than she thought. She wouldn't bother making a fuss about her room, anyway, and she knew nobody could hear her while she was inside this strange space.
She couldn't help but wonder who these people were. When they talked, their accent was undoubtedly from Aliker. She had not heard it for years but how could she completely forget the way of speaking of her birthplace? However, they used unknown and incredible magic such as the spells for her transformation or the space magic to create her room.
Whether it was in Aliker when she was still a kid or in Selnan as a married woman, she had always thought that there were only four types of magic elements – water, fire, earth and wind, that most mages only had an affinity for one type and that the spells were derived from this. For instance, she had seen ice magic which was a subset of the water magic used by powerful water mages.
Her knowledge on magic arts and magic lore was definitely lacking. She already had an hint on several occasions when Soon-Yi had incidentally let her see a few strange spells and ancient artifacts in her tower. She also knew that Soon-Yi could manipulate magic elements other than her own water elements if they were in high density around her. Magic was undoubtedly a vast and interesting subject, too bad she couldn't develop a magic core and use magic herself.
In the past, she felt content to be unable to wield magic. She didn't really need it as she could have mages at her beck and call if she asked her husband Zhou Xi and most of all, it frightened her. It was an irrational fear from a childhood trauma but she had been unable to overcome it. However, in a few days, she would have her own magic core. She truly didn't know how she would react at that time.
Nevertheless, was it necessary to worry in advance when she had so many ordeals to face before that? She'd better think of a way to escape this place first!
She was able to move now but didn't have much energy left. She felt dejected and nauseous and at the same time she scolded herself for giving up the fight. She had to keep her spirits up and remain determined. How would she take her life back otherwise?
The pain in her back was starting to dim and she could relax her body a bit. She knew the nuns had cast a quick healing spell on her so that she would have recovered for the next ceremony, less than an hour and a half later. She didn't have much time to herself. She slowly but resolutely stood up, grabbed her robe and slipped it on before walking unsteadily towards the only light in the room, looking for solace.
It was a small bubble floating inside a cage. It looked like a magic ball of water with tiny shining dots surrounding a bean. It was a baby, still alive and growing. The magic spots were nurturing him in his mother's stead. She would have been in awe if she could feel anything aside from sorrow and anger. After capturing her, they had used magic to extract her own child from her womb and held him captive in the ball. He seemed so fragile and precious but a single thought from a priest or a nun could burst the bubble and kill her baby. She couldn't protect him in her body as before, moreover, they had severed the physical bond between mother and child. She could feel the emptiness inside her. It was so cruel. Her heart ached so much.
At the same time, she had never felt so emotionally close to her baby. She could see him with her eyes and watch its subtle movements whereas he had always been an abstract idea before. She knew the next heir of the Selnan Empire was inside her but hadn't any real attachment in her heart.
It was strange to see the baby before his real birth but now she felt like a true mother who would do her utmost to protect and care for her child, even if it meant she had to suffer, to face the worst or to sacrifice herself. He was both her best source of strength and her shackles and doom as escaping would mean abandoning and forsaking him. Would she be able to do that? But how could she bring him with her?
It was hard for Wei Lin not to fall into despair. Thankfully her mind was clearer and her strong-willed personality spurred her on. Her child was held hostage, they probably wouldn't harm him as long as she obediently endured the process of transformation. Meanwhile, she had no choice but to find a solution to save both her and her child. Ultimately, she felt she needed help. But who?
Deep in thought, she raised her head and was dumbstruck. The walls and ceiling of her small room had disappeared and she was now in a larger round cage floating in the air. Next to her, the two cages almost touching, was another prisoner, an old woman, staring at her.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein