Chase smiled to himself. Casual to these people meant still wearing a bloody suit. Still he didn’t feel like dressing up. Rummaging through his suit...ase, Chase decided a pair of black trousers and a blue shirt would have to do. Twenty minutes later there was a knock at the door. Chase opened it to a pretty young maid. ‘I’m here to take you to the dining room sir.’ Chase smiled at her. She looked nervous, and Chase thought she had probably just started to work here. ‘Lead the way then.’ As. “You are a one of a kind girl, Valentina. A once in a lifetime girl. You do not need a blade or words to wound my heart. Your beauty has pierced it, deeply. It is only a matter of time before you shatter it. Please promise to be swift with your blade. Plunge it deep into my heart, ensure it will never be able to feel again, the instant your beauty shatters my poet’s heart forever,” he softly replied. Valentina swooned at his words. She reached for his mask, removed it and let it fall from her. Almost. I didn’t quite stretch that far.“We need to have you do some stretching exercises,” Mistress Sam said with her deep chuckle. “You body is way too stiff.”She then pushed my foot out until it touched the post. As Mistress Tracy tied that ankle to the post, I could feel things stretching in my groin. My arms were also pulled very tight and I could feel the muscles stretching in my shoulders.When Mistress Tracy was done, she stepped around in front of me and said, “And THAT is how to. Anything I requested was brought to me: food, wine, women, books, even students were brought to me for their edification. I was happy. My faith had been rewarded in this world, even before my death: a rare occurrence. The day came. I was led to the crossroads amidst a grand parade, still ignorant of my fate. I was brought before the pit that was to be devoted. A sacrifice was to be made, the duke said, the philosopher behind him. How naïve I was not to question that statement further. I allowed.