30 Years Earlier ~

Magnus

    The spread on the table was impressive. A whole roasted suckling human, and an array of breads and pastries. Enough food for a small party, all laid in Magnus's honor.

    "But the true treat is the wine I have managed to acquire," Dulane proclaimed when Magnus complimented his table. "The best vintage you will ever taste. I promise it will be life changing my friend." He smiled before turning towards the entry to the dining room.

    "Alice!" he called out loudly.

    Magnus looked to see the same slave he'd noticed on his last visit as she entered the room at her master's command, carrying a tray on which sat two goblets and a decanter of dark red liquid. She kept her eyes downcast, head bent, but he was certain it was she. As Alice set a glass down in front of her master, he grabbed her wrist tightly.

    "You stupid woman," he hissed. "Where are your manners? We have had this discussion already have we not? The best cup is reserved for our honored visitor."

    "Forgive me, Master," she said, quickly switching the glasses.

    "Just serve our guest," he answered, tone hard. "We will address your carelessness later."

    The woman's expression was blank a she looked up, but a large purple bruise around her right eye revealed the abuse she continued to receive at the hands of her master. Magnus shuddered to think of what new punishment she might face for her minor infraction.

    As the woman walked to him, head bent again, Magnus fought to hold his tongue in chastising Dulane for his unfair treatment of the animal. He could only imagine what Torvald would say if he heard tell of it. Still, there was nothing preventing him from showing his sympathy with Alice's plight, at least subtly. He still had hopes Dulane might be willing to sell her to him after all. Perhaps she would see already that he would prove a kinder master and help his cause encouraging Dulane to part with her.

    "Thank you," Magnus said softly as Alice laid down his glass, giving her a small, but genuine smile. The woman did not acknowledge his gratitude as she bent to fill his cup.

    "Don't drink it."

    Magnus felt a strange chill travel along his skin at the words she whispered as she rose again and her mouth passed his ear. A sound so soft he wasn't certain he'd heard it at all. But as he lifted his gaze from the cup, her eyes met his, focused with a frightening intensity. She looked to the glass and gave an infinitesimally small shake of her head to cement her message. Magnus felt his heart beat quicken as he stared again at the blood red wine.

    "Let us raise our glasses and toast. To a great new friendship."

    Magnus blinked in surprise at the sound of Dulane's booming voice. The slave was standing next to her master now. Her face was entirely expressionless, but Dulane smiled happily, his glass already raised.

    Magnus slowly picked up his own cup, trying to keep his hand from shaking. How could he insult the man by not drinking? But the intensity in Alice's stare had been enough to give him pause.

    It was then that he saw it. The slave's hand in the pocket of her dress, clutched around the handle of a knife. Their eyes met again. She knew he'd seen her. But Alice held his gaze fearlessly, her eyes sending a clear warning. Keep quiet. In spite of all his better instincts, Magnus did.

    What happened next was impossibly fast. In the blink of an eye, the woman had her hand tangled in Dulane's hair holding him captive with a knife at his throat. The man's eyes opened wide.

    "What are you doing?" he managed to gasp. The slave only pressed her knife more forcefully against his neck.

    "I am acting in the name of justice, Master," she said calmly. "You are scum, unworthy of life, and have always been so, but today you will breathe your last."

    Magnus rose from his chair, motivated to action by her words. He could not simply watch a slave murder his new business partner.

    "Release him, slave!" Magnus demanded. "Release him now and I will see to it your master will show mercy. This rash action is a mistake."

    The woman turned to him, an unreadable expression on her face. And then, she did the unexpected. She laughed. Long and hard. The sound sent shivers traveling down his spine.

    "Oh, Mr. Kendrick," she said, shaking her head. "My Master has no concept of mercy, I assure you."

    Magnus was surprised to hear his name from her lips. Dulane hadn't used it in front of her had he? Magnus couldn't remember. He watched as the woman looked down at her captive, frowning slightly.

    "Why do you not laugh, Cedrick?" she asked, yanking his head back further as if to demand a response. "He is trying to save you. Is that not humorous?"

    "Let me go you evil beast!" Dulane snarled.

    The woman sighed and shook her head in mock despair. "No sense of humor," she lamented. Magnus could see the edge of her knife pressing in even deeper into Dulane's flesh, a small indent of red appearing at the site.

    "You see, Magnus Kendrick, I am amused that you would attempt to save this man. It was after all his intention to kill you here tonight."

    "It's not true!" Dulane gasped, his eyes widening even further. "I swear it's not." The woman only laughed again.

    Magnus was entirely at a loss as to how he might respond. But then he remembered her whispered warning. He looked down at his glass.

    "The wine?"

    She smiled. "Very clever, Mr. Kendrick, she praised. "Though it is the glass actually. It has been coated with a very potent poison. I saw him do it myself."

    Was it possible? Magnus wondered. Perhaps this human was mistaken. Dulane had been so kind to him.

    "My Master does not give enough thought when he speaks around his slaves," the woman continued, clearly anticipating his skepticism."Mr. Dulane arrogantly thinks he is so high above us to believe we are incapable of comprehending the words he so carelessly leaves hanging in our ears. But I have learned who you are, Magnus Kendrick, and have observed you well on your visits to this estate. You strike me as a man with a bit more intelligence. Perhaps you will listen to me in spite of the fact I am indeed a mere human slave."

    "Ignore her, Magnus," Dulane commanded. "Make her let me go."

    Magnus stared at the terrified man, the sweat dripping from his brow, the panic in his eyes had only increased with her words. Magnus turned his attention back to the human. "Why did he wish me dead?" he asked. She smiled.

    "Don't you dare," Dulane hissed venomously in threat. Alice ignored him.

    "You have been working quite actively for human rights have you not?" she asked.

    Magnus nodded.

    "The large slave trader you brought down for their illegal activities," she said. "My kindly master was one of the illustrious owners of the establishment. A silent partner. He has been seeking your destruction since the moment he learned of your involvement in the destruction of his profitable business trafficking in human misery."

    "She is a mad woman!" Another desperate cry from the captive man. "you cannot possibly believe her ranting. We are friends!"

    Magnus kept his gaze fixed on the slave woman. "Can you prove it?" he asked.

    Alice shook her head. "Here and now that would be difficult," she answered. "But I can prove his murderous intent. Ask him to drink from your cup."

    Magnus picked up his glass.

    "Don't listen to her," Dulane begged again. "This is insanity!"

    "It is a simple thing really," Magnus said, rising from his seat. "If you drink from this cup you can prove her wrong. Will you do so?"

    "Magnus," Dulane said carefully. "You can't possibly believe this nonsense."

    "Whether or not I do is irrelevant is it not, my friend?" Magnus answered evenly, though his heart pounded in his chest. Dulane was a powerful man, and here Magnus was, listening to a slave who currently threatened his new benefactor with a knife. "If you drink the wine and there will be no question."

    The slave pulled her weapon back from the man's neck slightly, giving Magnus room as he approached with the glass and lay it on the table in front of Dulane.

    "Drink," Magnus commanded.

    "Damn you, woman!" Dulane cursed, his head turning ever so slightly to glare at Alice. "This is all your fault."

    "Leave your slave out of this," Magnus said. "This is between you and me now. I demand you drink this wine in my presence. If you will not do so, I will call for the authorities and we shall leave it to them to sort out."

    "Ha," Dulane scoffed. "There is none who would believe you over me. I will have you arrested, Magnus Kendrick! I will prove you tried to poison me. And as for you," he said to Alice. "I swear I will see you flayed alive for this. You will face torture beyond your wildest dreams!"

    It happened before Magnus could stop it. The woman grabbed her master's chin and forced the glass to his lips, spilling the wine into his mouth.

    Dulane coughed and sputtered, choking on the liquid, but when she pulled the glass away Magnus could see the fear in his eyes.

    "Behold, Mr. Kendrick," Alice said triumphantly. "The end your new benefactor had in store for you."

    Magnus watched in horror as the man's body became ridged. His eyes bulged and his face began to turn blue.

    "Know this Cedrick," Alice taunted. "Tonight your entire estate will fall. Your wife, your children, the overseers you employed, all will die and your estate will burn."

    "You... Will... Suffer..." he choked out.

    "I have already suffered," she answered. "And every one of your slaves are willing to sacrifice their lives to end yours." With that, the woman took her knife and stabbed him in the chest. Dulane's hand grabbed the handle for a moment. Blood trickled from the edge of his mouth.

    "Goodbye, Master," she said, twisting the knife deeper.

    Dulane gave one last sputtering cough and was still.

    Magnus stared in horror at the dead man.

    "Do not grieve for him," Alice said, pulling the knife from his chest and wiping it clean on Dulane's napkin. "He really was a bad man. Nasty stuff the poison he used. I should have let it choke him to death. But we don't have much time."

     Magnus stared at her weapon as she pointed it towards him. "I...," he stammered. "Will you kill me as well?" Magnus didn't think it likely that she could overpower him, but he was entirely unarmed, and she clearly had nothing to lose now. But the woman only gave a small smile and shook her head.

    "No, Magnus Kendrick. I have something else in mind for you." Alice turned the knife around, grasping the blade in her hand and presenting him with the handle.

    "Take it," she said. "We may need it still if you are to escape with your life."

    "I don't understand," Magnus said, staring in confusion at the knife.

    "I said take it," she repeated, holding the weapon out again. "We don't have much time. I told my Master the truth. Tonight the slaves of this estate will burn it to the ground. They will kill any sibla they find."

     Magnus's stomach churned uncomfortably. A true slave rebellion. And ironically he was stuck in the middle of it. For all the reform he'd advocated for, in the end, he might be destroyed by the very thing he'd warned of.

    "But I want to help you," Alice continued.

    Help him? Magnus stared at the woman in surprise. Why should she wish to help him? Moreover, how did she think she could if the slaves on the plantation were rebelling and he was trapped in the main house.

    "I don't know what we can possibly do if..." he began, but Alice cut him off.

    "I was born and bred here and know this estate better than any other," she said. "If you follow me we will escape, but we must hurry. You cannot go back to your vehicle. We will have to leave on foot."

    "And once we do?"

    "I suppose if we both survive, we will figure it out then," she answered.

    Magnus stared at the woman a moment, entirely overwhelmed by her words, still shocked by the violent altercation he had seen played out before him, the realization of how close he had come to death. But this slave. Alice. She had saved him once already and though he didn't fully understand why, he trusted her somehow.

    "I will follow you," he said. "Thank you, Alice."

    She smiled at the sound of her name from his lips. "I knew you were different," she said. "Magnus Kendrick, I thank you for your trust now come with me."

    Knife still in hand, he followed, leaving his dead host still sitting at the table.

——————

Magnus would never forget that bloody night as long as he lived. As Alice dragged him along a hidden passageway that ran through the walls of the house, he could hear the screams of Dulane's family as they were murdered in their own home. Gurgling gasping pleas unheeded, the piercing shrieks of Dulane's young children cut short by the knives of angry slaves. Alice increased her pace at the sounds, and Magnus was all too eager to imitate her speed.

A rickety staircase led to a door and Alice went to it carefully, Listening with her ear pressed up against the wood before she dared open it a crack to slip outside. They had scarcely stepped into the cool night air when Magnus felt her hand on his chest, pushing him roughly against the wall of the house.

"Gregory," Alice said, stepping into the light of the moon

"Is it done, Alice?" A deep male voice asked. "Is he dead?"

Magnus pressed his body closer against the house and into shadows, terrified of being seen.

"I stabbed him myself," he heard Alice answer. "From what I could hear, it appears the others have already taken care of the rest of the family."

"Then come with me," the male voice again. "They will burn this place to the ground now that you are clear."

"Tell Charles to go ahead," Alice answered. "I have one more thing I must do before I join you."

"But Alice," the man protested. "If we lose you...We were going to escape together."

Magnus felt his heart beat quicken as she hesitated to answer the man. Would she leave him there? Alert her friends to where he hid? Magnus knew he could hardly blame her for doing so. He still could not imagine why she had offered to help him at all. And, what if the slave had spotted him hiding?

He wondered what this man would do to them both if he discovered Alice attempting to protect him from the other slaves' wrath.

"I know," Alice answered finally. "Things have changed and there is something I must do first. I swear I will meet you if I can, but if anything should happen to me," she stopped again. "I wish you luck," she finished. " I wish all of you luck. Tell the others I said goodbye. The route I chose for you is safe. I can't say how far you will get. I have only dared travel a couple of miles from the estate, but with any luck, you will not be easy to find."

Silence fell for a moment again between them, the only sound that of screams in the distance, of both the savage rebels and their terrified victims.

"Take care of yourself, Alice," the man said.

"I will."

"And clear the house. You don't want to be here when it burns. Janet doused the whole place in kerosene."

"Thank you for the warning," Alice answered. "Goodbye, my friend. I hope we shall meet again soon, in this life or the next."

"In this life or the next," he parroted.

There was quiet again before Magnus heard the sound of footsteps receding. His breath stopped in his throat.

"He's gone." Alice's voice, right by his side. Magnus started, surprised he had not noticed her sneak up on him.

"We have to leave now," she said. "I'm certain you heard my friend? This entire estate will soon burn to the ground."

"But how can we avoid the other slaves?" Magnus asked, trying to keep down his panic. "If they see us together they will destroy us both."

"Then we best not be seen," she answered. "I know how the others intend to escape. I help design the route myself, though there are many who will stay and fight whatever sibla appear to help control the fire."

"But they will die if they fight against the reinforcements that arrive," Magnus protested.

"Yes," she agreed, "and likely take some more of your kind with them. They are angry, Magnus. They are fully willing to die for their cause."

Magnus didn't say anything in response. The idea that these slaves were so intent on revenge that they would willingly cut their own lives short to kill as many sibla as possible was highly disturbing. As he looked at Alice again he wondered how much bloodlust she still retained herself. Why was she helping him? Did she wish she might join her friends in their massacre? He had seen how easily the woman had stabbed her master.

"Come," Alice said, pulling him from his thoughts. "Follow me closely and keep as quiet as possible."

"Alice," Magnus said, hesitating. "Why should you help me at all?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Do you wish to die, Magnus Kendrick?" she asked.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed.

"Then why should it matter my reasoning if I am choosing to give you aide?"

He opened his mouth and shut it again, finding no answer to her question.

"I have already spilt blood this evening," she said. "I have helped others spill even more. But I do not wish for my last act on this earth to be one of murder. Is that explanation sufficient?"

"I," Magnus began, he didn't have the chance to finished his words as they were cut short by the sound of an explosion nearby, followed by the distinct smell of smoke and elated cries of victory.

"I am leaving now," she said. "If you value your life, I suggest you follow me."

And so he had. Magnus had followed her even as the building behind them exploded again and bright orange-yellow flames quickly engulfed the formerly magnificent Dulane home. He followed her through empty slave quarters, stepping over the bodies of dead and dying sibla overseers, ducking into shadows every time they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. But true to her claim, there was no question Alice knew her way. Before long they had cleared the estate, slipping into the darkness of the woods, leaving the carnage behind.

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Well...I did promise some answers. So now you know how Alice and Magnus first ended up together. Surprised? This might give a bit more clarity on the relationship they have in the present timeline, but the story isn't over yet...Thoughts? Was this exciting? Shocking? Did it explain things? This is kinda a big turning point in the 30 years previous storyline so any feedback would be greatly appreciated:-) Of course, if you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to click the STAR! <3