Chapter 31:

The next week was one beyond her imagination. She was well aware he was not corrupted by Chaos, for he could stand her presence well enough, and only the strongest of Demons could handle her when she lit up. But he still took his absolute power over her to extremes, making her do horribly degrading and debased things wherever he commanded her to, often getting overly riled up when he did. This was the second ‘benefit’ of the veil, as it hid those marks when she went out among people.

And go out among people she did, as the King demanded it, to spread the name of The Master, and to enflame the passion of the people into his much desired cult. The phrase “Praise the Master” quickly spread through the city as the Holy Mother was often found helping out any in distress, and speaking such words when the distress was eased. It made Emia’s heart die to have her faith abused like her body by such a twisted creature. Her body she could handle, even though it was burned and beaten and whipped and used for his pleasure and the pleasure of his trusted men. Occasionally, one would go too far and would be executed for ‘abusing the Holy Mother’ which made The Master seem benevolent, protecting the purity and dignity of the Holy Mother. But this was generally only when they left marks that could not be easily hidden, or caused her robes to become stained with blood on a day she had a sermon to lead. The people fell under The Master’s rule, and even got immigrants, people coming from across the Underhive to see The Holy Mother and join in the Cult.

Emia had to admit at least, that people’s lives were improving. There were more people to handle the jobs laid out for them, they were enthralled by the Holy Mother, often coming up to her just to talk or be touched by her silken gloves. Slavery was so natural in the underhive that nobody batted an eye at their existance, though the raids slowed and then stopped as more pilgrims came, the news of the Holy Mother spread far and wide across the hive. The city expanded, growing into what could arguably be a respectable place here in the Underhive, illnesses and mutations cured by the touch of the Holy Mother, and fervor filling the hearts and minds of everyone. Hundreds of thousands were gathered, soon nearly a million souls in this giant city-state, a slice of heaven And at it’s center, where everyone looked up to, was the Holy Mother.

One day, heading out to give a speech about the benevolence of The Master, who had just last week raised an orphan from poverty and given her a position by his side, she was waylaid by the very man himself. From the way he grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, it was clear what he wanted. He was not at all bothered by the crowd outside, as after the third sermon he had grown tired of her words and the cheers, and soundproofed the palace so he didn’t have to listen to ‘such mindless drivel’ anymore.

“M-Master, I ne-need to give a sermon” she told him, as he lifted up her skirt and slid into her.

“Ahh, they can wait. Useless bunch of pricks, anyhow” he replied, taking off her veil and puckering his lips. She did as was ordered and kissed him, having slipped a few times in the early days and forced to watch her flock beaten in front of her.

“Master, they are your flock, your beloved. You should noahhck” she was cut off with his hands around her throat, squeezing tightly.

“Shut up. You are a toy to be used as I want. They are sheep to be led around by you for my benefit. So if they ever get in the way of my benefit, they are to be ignored if not discarded, understand? You are getting far too attached to this little cult. Maybe I should cull them and put some other priests in charge of keeping you from getting to big of a head, hmm?” He asked, ploughing into her and only letting her breathe when he had finished.

Coughing and spluttering to catch her breath, she so wanted to kill the fucker. But, even an angry glance caused someone to suffer a terrible price, so she had to keep herself contained. He seemed to like her breathless however, or was just drunk on his own power, as he kicked her in the gut, and then kicked again when she tried to get up.

“If I so will it, I will fuck you senseless in front of them all, you understand?” he growled, kicking her again before scoffing. “Now get out there and do your job” he ordered, before leaving her to get up and stumble out.

“Praise…The...Master?” she spoke, though with less confidence every words as there was silence. People looking up with stunned faces, an incredibly loud silence. And then she realized. The microbead that she spoke into so the crowd could hear her. The Microbead that she had been wearing when The Master had accosted her. The Microbead that The Master could not hear his own words through because the sermon irritated him and so he soundproofed the place to ensure he didn’t have to listen to it.

“........” Emia would look out at the crowd as shock was turning to a far worse emotion, and then fled back inside. Nearly tripping over her long dress as she ran to the throne room. She got there in time to hear an argument between him and one of his officers.

“You abused the Holy Mother! Right into the Vox! Everyone loves her, everyone looks up to her. You have a cult of nearly a million men wrapped around your finger with her! As the figurehead! And you’ve killed several men under the guise of protecting her purity and dignity. Then you go and piss it all away like a petulant child!” the officer shouted, clearly having heard from the crowd outside. Though, his cries didn’t get very far, as The Master shot him in the knee.

“You will not speak to me like that! I am the-”

“Master”

He would look over, furious at having been interrupted, and see Emia.

“You! Get your skanky ass out there and fix this damn mess! Then get to the bedroom, I am going to have a long talk about how you caused all this in the first place!” he shouted. Emia, for her part, gave a curtsey.

“Of course, Master. I am loyal to the end” she spoke, gentle and serene of voice.

“See? All you bitches whining” He’d spin around and gesture to the gathered men. “Complaining I ‘Abuse the Holy Mother’. She knows her place! She knows she is nothing but my property, and I will use my property however I see fit!” he shouted, glaring at the gathered people. And then, Emia stepped up and placed a hand on his head, blasting Holy Fire through his eyes and melting them in their sockets. His screams of agony and frantic, blind shots were echoed by the raging mob that had forced open the doors and stormed into the throne room.

“My Children! The Master has been possessed by an evil spirit. Though the exorcism has left him blind and we-” she tried to calm the horde, but was cut off by The Master screaming.

“Ahhh! Fucking kill them all! The Bitch as well! I want her fucked to death by every man in this hall!” he screamed, the pain driving him mad.

“Hmm, I tried to keep your benevolence with us, but it seems the Spirits of your Mind are-” She was again cut off by The Master screaming profanity at her. So she sighed and healed his eyes, bringing him back to healthiness. For a few seconds, anyway, before she threw him to the gathered mob.

“Alright, so he’s actually just an asshole. But can you fault a girl for trying?” She asked. The sudden tone shift stunned the crowd again, hearing The Holy Mother drop her delicate and pure cadence for one of the commoners. The Master got up from the ground, and with the last few bullets, shot Emia in the chest twice, the force of the blow barreling her over. The gunshots snapped the people back to reality, and with fury unbridled, they tore The Master apart in a savage fury.

Once The Master was a stain on the ground, they turned to The Holy Mother, who had been shot fatally by their corrupt liege. Though, Emia seemed to disagree with the lethality of gunshot wounds, and got back up, coughing a bit.

“Ow. Little, shitbag...Leave it to him to have his last act one of vengeance” She’d grumble, looking up at the horde and smiling behind the veil. “So, lots of explaining to do”