Jon briefly considered staying put, but she couldn't do it. She decided to get up and search. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and she really was at a loss as to how her situation could be much worse. She might even prefer the dungeon to her impending future as DeMorrell's captive bride.
The advanced state of her pregnancy made it hard to do some things like lie down and look under the bed, but she managed. Endtables, armoires, closets, behind pictures on the wall, Jon had checked nearly everything and was close to despair. At least until she noticed an old clock on the mantle. The time was wrong and there was a small smudge on its glass face, a smudge that looked suspiciously like a fingerprint. Jon's new form was shorter than before and his belly made it hard to get close to the fireplace, but she stretched her arms as high as she could and almost had the clock in her hands. That was when DeMorrell walked into the room--he must have been fairly silent, for the first thing she heard was him opening the door, at which point it was too late.
"You really shouldn't do that, Jonni," he said, "I didn't hide anything in there, and you run the risk of getting soot on yourself."
Jon was caught. Too scared to speak, she tried to produce a look of innocence, thinking it might be easier to do as a girl.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm no fool. Your situation obviously disturbs you and you search for a means of escape. You shouldn't try such activity, it's bad for your health right now."
Jon backed away from the fireplace and sat down on the side of the bed, carefully watched by DeMorrell all the while. She frowned, "You're concerned about me, but you're not concerned enough to end this."
"There's only one way this can end," DeMorrell waved one hand toward her, "I wished you would become my wife. That wish can't be changed. If I were to let you go now there would be some freak accident that brought you back here and put you in a situation where you would anyway. Assuming the magic didn't just compel you."
"Can you at least tell me what's going on? You'll be king of the world, and I'm going to be mother to a god?" Jon unconsciously placed one gloved hand upon her belly, the baby wasn't moving inside her now as if it too were scared of DeMorrell, "You said that and then you never mentioned it again. I take it this isn't the 'creates the universe and teaches peace and forgiveness' kind of god. In fact, I don't see why you'd want to have a god around anyway, unless you think gods do what you tell them to."
"If you must know," DeMorrell sighed with a put upon air, "I need to find a certain artifact first. I expected to have it by the birth, but things are moving slowly. It seems the stone's magic won't work to find it. Perhaps I should slow down the pregnancy and keep you expecting until I do? I might have been over-ambitious making you so far along right off the bat."
"No... no! This length of time is bad enough," though, in truth, Jon had mixed feelings about that, since she was in no condition to have sex with DeMorrell as long as she stayed pregnant. "I feel sick or tired a lot, my breasts are sore, I can barely get around, and I've got your baby inside me!"
"Hmm," said DeMorrell, an eyebrow arched in suspicion, "You do seem to have a negative attitude. Not quite what you were saying before. Well, I have an offer for you."
"An offer I can't really refuse?"
"It depends on how you look at it, my dear. I want you to be comfortable. If having my baby is traumatic for you, I can wish that it's not. All I have to do is wish that you want to have my children and raise them together with me," DeMorrell paused and then added, almost as an afterthought, "For their sake, whether you love me or not."
"I remember what you did to get me pregnant," a trace of anger crept into Jon's soft voice. It was hard to play submissive when she dwelt on what had been done to her, "You overwhelmed me with lust so I submitted willingly, except I really wasn't. You might as well have used a date-rape drug!"
"Jonni, I'm not going to force you to submit to this wish. And I wouldn't carry things to a ridiculous extreme- - you'd just be like any normal mother when the subject is her children, that's all. I won't turn you into a warped exaggeration. But whether you do or don't, it won't change what I expect of you. You can have my children and like it, or have my children and not like it. Either way you'll be having my children. The decision's up to you. "
"Uhh..." Jon thought fast. She had the glimmering of an idea. It was crazy, but it just might work. In fact, she was a little scared that it would, "I have an offer for you too."
"How can you make me an offer?"
"I suppose if you accept it I might be more willing to agree to your offer, but you're right. I don't have much to trade," Jon implored him with her eyes in the way she had seen so many other women try to convince a man of something, "But listen, please?"
"Go ahead. Tell me your offer."
"You've been doing this weird thing about pretending you're concerned about me when we both know you're not. Calling me dear, acting like you're helping me, trying to be chivalrous while keeping me from escaping. I think you might even half believe you love me. Or maybe you just love the idea that Grandpa's grandson is yours. So here's my offer. You make a wish that you really are in love with me."
DeMorrell barked a laugh, "Why would I do that?"
"No reason. But if you're rationalizing to yourself that you do love me, it's going to be a lot harder to do that if you reject this wish. Or to rationalize it to me, unless you wipe my mind. We'll always know that you don't love me."
This was tricky because Jon only knew so much about DeMorrell. Evil people could act "nice" and "concerned" when it was just a way of exercising power--that they are so in control of the situation that they can do whatever they want. If so, DeMorrell wouldn't care. But on the other hand, he did send "Nora" away once Jon told him another woman in the house made her feel interchangeable and insecure. That showed he had some kind of feelings toward her, that he would defer to her in some ways. If so, he might be trying to rationalize his twisted, more vengeful side, to convince himself that he was really a good man, and that might lead him to agree to make that wish.
Of course, even if he agrees, some people can be possessive towards their loved ones, especially their wives. Loving Jon was no guarantee that he'd let her go, but at least it's a start. But what would his answer be? And what would Jon's answer be to DeMorrell's "offer" for that matter?
Lucius thought a moment and cracked a smile. "Very well," he said, "I wish that I'm in love with you."
Nothing happened, not even the sensation of an irritation in the eye common to stone wishes.
"It's some kind of trick," said Jon desperately. It couldn't be true, could it? He loved her? She didn't want it to be true.
"Some kind of trick for something I couldn't have predicted?" There was a trace of irritation in DeMorrell's dark eyes, but his expression softened a moment later, "Oh, I see. I could have predicted it with this stone. Well, how about this? I wish you'd know if I'm in love with you."
Suddenly, as quickly as it was said, Jon knew. Lucius was in love with her. The wish before didn't have any effect because it was wishing for something that was already true. She was his ideal woman, young, beautiful, intelligent, and completely, helplessly, totally in his power. Jon wasn't sure if this meant her plan was a success or not. Lucius wouldn't just kill her, but it was also obvious that the man didn't exactly think of love in the same way as people who lived a more wholesome life. This was a possessive kind of love, a belief that someone he desires should naturally be his, and would naturally want to fulfill his desires in every way.
"Now," said Lucius, "let's get down to business. You're my lovely fiancee, and you're going to be my lovely wife. We're going to be a family, you and me and our children. When I'm king of the world, you'll be queen, though I don't want you getting the wrong impression from that. Anyway, now that I took your offer, we can address the offer before that."
"The offer before that?" said Jon.
"Oh, don't play dumb, Jonni! You said that if I sent Nora away, you'd obey me, give me what I want, and have all the babies I want." The brief expression of fright on Jon's face was enough for DeMorrell to know Jon hadn't been completely sincere, "I could make you keep that promise, you know, using this rock. But I'm going to be lenient."
"I was telling the truth!" objected Jon, though the whimpered words sounded like a lie even to her own ears.
"Everything you said was the truth?" asked Lucius, a small smile playing on his lips.
Jon had no choice but to answer, "Y-yes". Answering the opposite way could have been very dangerous. Not that this was devoid of peril either. If Grandpa didn't manage to spring her from this place soon there might not be anything of the old Jon Gibson left. The baby kicked, prompting Jonni to rub her belly and force her plump lips into a smile, "Everything I told you was one hundred percent truth."
"Good," he said. "Then you really can't object if I wish for even a little bit of what you promised me - - just to make sure."
"You're going to force me to obey you and nobody would ever want that! Promise or no promise!" Jon's voice was shrill and accusing. This was her worst fear. If DeMorrell altered her mind there would be no escape for her ever.
"Getting feisty, now, Jonni? You should be more obedient, but for now I'll just leave it to you to learn that, not make a wish. Now, here's what I will wish for. First of all, you're going to find me, and no other men, attractive and sexually desirable. Furthermore, you can't cheat on me. As long as we are married, you can't have sex with anyone except me."
"You did that before," Jon whined. She hated how weak she sounded, but what else could she do except play upon whatever sympathy the man had for her? "You know what I think about that."
"I do and I'm considering your complaints, Jonni dear," DeMorrell smiled, "I didn't say 'very' desirable this time. Are you overwhelmed with lust and lose control of yourself when you think of a pretty girl? Of course not. I'm just making things easier on you. You can fantasize about me, and this will ensure sex with me is a pleasant experience for you."
He slightly raised his voice and continued his wish, "Next, you'll give birth to my children at least twice. And you and I will raise them together, of course, with me getting the last word, and you will have enough motherly instinct that this won't be total torment for you."
"Is that it?"
"Almost. You'll never hurt me, Jonni. And when we're married we will share a bed as husband and wife normally do. Now I wish for all that." This wish did go off, both Lucius and Jonni had to look away.
When Jon looked back at her captor she realized that Lucius was actually quite attractive. The thought of sex with any other man was still repulsive, but Lucius somehow brought up completely different feelings. Jon tried to push the thoughts away and concentrate on thoughts of escape, but she realized that it would be impossible to escape and still raise children with Lucius. There was so much they would need and Lucius could afford all of it and more. It would be wrong to deny her children the advantages his wealth and influence could provide them. Worse, with his ravening wolf-pack of lawyers he could easily gain sole custody of their children and her babies would need her to counterbalance her husband's influence on them.
Jon was struck dumb by the whirlwind of thoughts suddenly polluting her mind. The back of one hand pressed against her forehead as if that alone could hold back the insidious new ideas and emotions, she was briefly struck speechless. Noting the look on her face, DeMorrell chuckled.
"Now do be a dear wife and get in the wedding dress. The priest is waiting."
