Notes |
Recently arrived in the city, this woman whose face has never been seen is rumored to be breathtakingly beautiful. Accompanied everywhere by an impressive bodyguard, and mixing very little with Bakshaanite life, she nevertheless made remarkable appearances there. Once a year, on the first day of the year according to the Imperial Calendar, she distributes a Roy to the poor in the streets of Bakshaan. Only his hand protrudes from the curtains of a palanquin carried by slaves. A slender, pale hand with tapered fingers gently placing a penny in that of the needy.
Sarind’Loch, his steward, takes care of his business. It invests haphazardly in all kinds of adventures, and funds wacky explorers. His wealth seems inexhaustible. Rakmaen is a Half-Blood, which is why she is reluctant to show herself in public. She is indeed of an unreal beauty. From her Melnibonian father, she inherited an ancient treasure, a pact with a Demon and an immoderate taste for drugs and spicy pleasures.
Her bodyguard, a Demon linked long ago by her father, has been ordered to "Keep an eye on her", which is starting to get boring. The Demon is all too happy to have tied such a perverse pact. He has a sadistic and voyeuristic pleasure to follow his mistress everywhere, and to poison the life of one who can no longer have intimacy. She would give a lot to get rid of her guardian. But how to do it ? She is neither a witch, nor can hire anyone to kill or chase him, as it is certain that he would anticipate the least of his gestures.
She spends the money on this seemingly inexhaustible treasure, without counting. In honor of her father, she gives to the poor on the first day of the Old Kingdom. From her mother, she does not know much except that she is from the Bakshaan region. Rakmaen draws the wrath of the prince-merchants who have in turn proposed alliances or projects. She dismissed them all, gallantly but firmly. |